Project 3 Revision 2

            When people talk about history, or study it, they typically think of school and those awful history books that are unnecessarily long, completely dull that put pretty much everyone to sleep. What most people don’t know is that some of the best history can be pulled from novels and stories that were written in that time period to get an idea of what it could have been like in those days. “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett is one of those novels that entertain the reader while also teaching them about the history of that time. The book was written about the mid-30’s to late-40’s and it paints the perfect picture of what it could have been like to be a detective in San Francisco around those times. The novel reflects the period in which it was written by painting a vivid scene of San Francisco in the mid-30’s by using the brilliant dialogue to help create the image of the time that it was written.

            If you think about what San Francisco must’ve been like in the 1930’s, you would probably think about the stereotypical city life for that time period. Images of old cars like the Plymouth P2, tram cars and men in suits roaming around to their next destination. Another thing that would come to mind would be the mobsters and classic detectives trying to solve murders. All these images are clearly present within the novel and definitely reflect the period in which it was written. This novel also reflects the past by the fact that they had a massive lack of technology that we have now. This would make it incredibly hard for detectives to solve cases because they had to find out who committed the crime without the use of all the technology we have now. The novel states “Cairo coughed a little apologetic cough and smiled nervously with lips that had lost some of their redness. His dark eyes were humid and bashful and very earnest. ‘I intend to search your offices, Mr. Spade. I warn you that if you attempt to prevent me I shall certainly shoot you’” (Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, 45). This was what one of the police officers said to the main character because he was currently a suspect in a murder. The quote shows that the police had to consider even the unlikeliest of suspects and turn over every stone because there was that lack of technology. If this was present day, the police would most likely have some sort of video evidence of a suspect and be able to use different methods of finding the culprit. Also, The lack of technology on a forensics level. This story was written before DNA evidence became huge; they couldn’t rely on the convenience of DNA to help find their man. According to an article “We tend to think that before Alec Jeffries’ eureka moment in 1984, when he realized that genetic variations in DNA could identify individuals, crime investigations were really just guesswork,” (Phys.org). This also shows that back when the novel was written the police didn’t use DNA to find out who committed the crime, so they had to just have enough of their evidence to convict the person that they believed did the deed. This method was incredibly ineffective because think about it, all the “evidence” could point to a man who seems like he could have done it but was falsely imprisoned and couldn’t rely on DNA to prove his innocence. It is really neat to see how the police would conduct the investigation of the murder of Spade’s partner in the novel because it paints the picture of what it could be like back then to try to solve something as confusing as that.

            The next thing that reflects the time period that the novel is set in is its dialogue. The story has so much dialogue that it is practically only dialogue. This use of dialogue is what really paints the vivid picture of that time period. There is one passage in the novel that has a great use of the dialogue and it is "Spade's face became pale and hard. He spoke rapidly in a low furious voice: 'Think again and think fast. I told that punk of yours that you'd have to talk to me before you got through. I'll tell you now that you'll do your talking today or you are through. What are you wasting my time for? You and your lousy secret! Christ! I know exactly what the stuff is that they keep in the subtreasury vaults, but what good does that do me? I can get along without you. God damn you! Maybe you could have got along without me if you'd kept clear of me. You can't now. Not in San Francisco. You'll come in or you'll get out--and you'll do it today'" (Dashiell Hammett, "The Maltese Falcon", 110). This passage was a little on the long side, however, it needed to be to show the type of dialogue that is in the novel and how it creates the imagery and setting of the story. The way that this passage uses its language perfectly helps create the image of Spade being incredibly mad. Also, it really helps give an image about the time period, the way that the passage ended especially shows the type of grammar that would have been used back then. What makes the passage’s image more vivid is the fact that the author was from that time period, so he knew exactly what the language was, and the realistic sound is the help that the reader needs to create that nice clear image in their mind.

            In conclusion, the novel paints a perfect picture of what it must have been like to be a detective in the period that it was written. Anywhere from the use of language to provide clear vivid imagery, to the text’s lack of technology which furthers the believability of the novel. I believe the use of dialogue throughout the book proves that the novel is the best to portray the time period of the 1930’s.

Works Cited

Bailey, Penny. “Before DNA: 20th-Century Forensics.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 6 Sept. 2011, phys.org/news/2011-09-dna-20th-century-forensics.html.

Hammett, Dashell. The Maltese Falcon. Orionbooks, 2015.

Week 17 Literary Analysis: Literary Analysis of Golden Gate

For this week's analysis I decided to take a deeper look into the poem "Golden Gate" by Frank Bidart. This poem was a very interesting one to read, it was basically about a guy who was at his father's funeral imagining the things that he went through when his father was his age. I believe that the plot was the most interesting literary device because the plot was all about how his father went through all these crazy moments in history. Throughout the whole thing as well he was comparing his father's legacy to his and how they differed, but near the end of the story you see how he is contempt with his father's whole life and is ready to say goodbye to him. I believe the theme of the story is contempt. I say that because even though it really isn't apparent in the beginning or middle, you start to see it near the end where the author feels contempt with his father's legacy. I believe that this was the theme that stood out the most to me while I was reading the story. This story has a lot of cultural aspects in it as well because regardless of religion when most people die there is a funeral held for them. While at the funeral the family that is the most affected typically have that thought and wonder if the deceased actually led a good life. They usually find that reconciliation by communicating with family members and friends. Overall, the story was a very interesting read and I am glad I chose it for the last reading of the week.

Reading Notes W17: Orientation Part B

• its starts off by describing an office scene.
• he points out where someones cubicle is.
• its like the start of it is someone showing a new guy around the office.
• he goes on describing different strategies of getting the work done efficiently, recommends pacing himself.
• it then goes on to discuss some gossip about a couple workers.
• it also talks about a kind of love triangle.

Reading Notes W17: Golden State Part A

• It starts off pretty morbid, with a funeral of the boy looking at his father.
• It describes they way his father was presented for the family members.
• They share some fond memories of him.
• The rest of the poem seems to be a memory about his father and the son trying to imagine what his father did in life.

Project 3 Revision

            When people talk about history, or study it, they typically think of school and those awful history books that are unnecessarily long, completely dull that put pretty much everyone to sleep. What most people don’t know is that some of the best history can be pulled from novels and stories that were written in that time period to get an idea of what it could have been like in those days. “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett is one of those novels that entertain the reader while also teaching them about the history of that time. The book was written about the mid-30’s to late-40’s and it paints the perfect picture of what it could have been like to be a detective in San Francisco around those times. The novel reflects the period in which it was written by painting a vivid scene of San Francisco in the mid-30’s by using the brilliant dialogue to help create the image of the time that it was written.

            If you think about what San Francisco must’ve been like in the 1930’s, you would probably think about the stereotypical city life for that time period. Images of old cars like the Plymouth P2, tram cars and men in suits roaming around to their next destination. Another thing that would come to mind would be the mobsters and classic detectives trying to solve murders. All these images are clearly present within the novel and definitely reflect the period in which it was written. This novel also reflects the past by the fact that they had a massive lack of technology that we have now. This would make it incredibly hard for detectives to solve cases because they had to find out who committed the crime without the use of all the technology we have now. The novel states “Cairo coughed a little apologetic cough and smiled nervously with lips that had lost some of their redness. His dark eyes were humid and bashful and very earnest. ‘I intend to search your offices, Mr. Spade. I warn you that if you attempt to prevent me I shall certainly shoot you’” (Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, 45). This was what one of the police officers said to the main character because he was currently a suspect in a murder. The quote shows that the police had to consider even the unlikeliest of suspects and turn over every stone because there was that lack of technology. If this was present day, the police would most likely have some sort of video evidence of a suspect and be able to use different methods of finding the culprit. Also, The lack of technology on a forensics level. This story was written before DNA evidence became huge; they couldn’t rely on the convenience of DNA to help find their man. According to an article “We tend to think that before Alec Jeffries’ eureka moment in 1984, when he realized that genetic variations in DNA could identify individuals, crime investigations were really just guesswork,” (Phys.org). This also shows that back when the novel was written the police didn’t use DNA to find out who committed the crime, so they had to just have enough of their evidence to convict the person that they believed did the deed. This method was incredibly ineffective because think about it, all the “evidence” could point to a man who seems like he could have done it but was falsely imprisoned and couldn’t rely on DNA to prove his innocence. It is really neat to see how the police would conduct the investigation of the murder of Spade’s partner in the novel because it paints the picture of what it could be like back then to try to solve something as confusing as that.

            The next thing that reflects the time period that the novel is set in is its dialogue. The story has so much dialogue that it is practically only dialogue. This use of dialogue is what really paints the vivid picture of that time period. There is one passage in the novel that has a great use of the dialogue and it is "Spade's face became pale and hard. He spoke rapidly in a low furious voice: 'Think again and think fast. I told that punk of yours that you'd have to talk to me before you got through. I'll tell you now that you'll do your talking today or you are through. What are you wasting my time for? You and your lousy secret! Christ! I know exactly what the stuff is that they keep in the subtreasury vaults, but what good does that do me? I can get along without you. God damn you! Maybe you could have got along without me if you'd kept clear of me. You can't now. Not in San Francisco. You'll come in or you'll get out--and you'll do it today'" (Dashiell Hammett, "The Maltese Falcon", 110). This passage was a little on the long side, however, it needed to be to show the type of dialogue that is in the novel and how it creates the imagery and setting of the story. The way that this passage uses its language perfectly helps create the image of Spade being incredibly mad. Also, it really helps give an image about the time period, the way that the passage ended especially shows the type of grammar that would have been used back then. What makes the passage’s image more vivid is the fact that the author was from that time period, so he knew exactly what the language was, and the realistic sound is the help that the reader needs to create that nice clear image in their mind.

            In conclusion, the novel paints a perfect picture of what it must have been like to be a detective in the period that it was written. Anywhere from the use of language to provide clear vivid imagery, to the text’s lack of technology which furthers the believability of the novel. I believe the use of dialogue throughout the book proves that the novel is the best to portray the time period of the 1930’s.

Works Cited

Bailey, Penny. “Before DNA: 20th-Century Forensics.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 6 Sept. 2011, phys.org/news/2011-09-dna-20th-century-forensics.html.

Hammett, Dashell. The Maltese Falcon. Orionbooks, 2015.

Week 16 Literary Analysis: Close Reading of Casa

For this week I decided to look at an excerpt from the story "Casa" by Rigoberto Gonzales.

I am not a pet. I do not feel abandonment. Sometimes I don't even see you come or go or stay behind. My windows are your eyes not mine. If you should die inside me I'll leave it up to you to tell the neighbors. Shut thew heaters off I do not fear the cold. I'm not the one who shrinks into the corner of the floor because of whatever made you think this was a home with warmth isn't here to sweet-talk anymore.

I chose this excerpt because of the very literal sense that it takes. The story is about the house and what things mean to it. I really enjoyed how they personified the house and made it seem like a real person was talking but it was in fact the house telling the people who live there what it sees from it's perspective. The house takes a very literal sense on everything, it doesn't hold any sentiments like people tend to do. In the excerpt it talks about if the person dies inside the house the people need to tell the neighbors because the house physically unable to speak. Also, it started the passage off by saying it does not feel abandonment, this is true because the house is inanimate and doesn't have any feelings so there is really no reason to feel bad about leaving the house. It puts the sentiment in the person's court because we are the ones who will feel bad about leaving the house and moving or whatever but the house doesn't have those types of feelings. The feelings of abandonment come from the people that either leave the house for a vacation or move out in general. Overall, the story was very interesting and at first you are left guessing on who is speaking but then find out that it really is the house that is speaking.

Reading Notes W16: The Salve Trade Part B

This week I read the salve trade because I accidentally read this week's reading last week so I am going to do last week's reading this week.

• The story seems to be about the modern world, probably America.
• He says how he loves his people too much to be around them.
• Talking about a long sheet of improper names.
• He started reading his paper then ash flew from legs.
• They rub down and dance at the broke clinic.

Reading Notes W16: Casa Part A

• It starts out with the narrator telling whoever he is talking to not give a sob story.
• The narrator seems to be matter of fact.
• It leaves you thinking who the narrator could be.
• At the end it explains that the narrator is in fact the house.

Project 3

            When people talk about history, or study it, they typically think of school and those awful history books that are unnecessarily long, completely dull that put pretty much everyone to sleep. What most people don’t know is that some of the best history can be pulled from novels and stories that were written in that time period to get an idea of what it could have been like in those days. “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett is one of those novels that entertain the reader while also teaching them about the history of that time. The book was written about the mid-30’s to late-40’s and it paints the perfect picture of what it could have been like to be a detective in San Francisco around those times. The novel reflects the period in which it was written by painting a vivid scene of San Francisco in the mid-30’s by using the brilliant dialogue to help create the image of the time that it was written.

            If you think about what San Francisco must’ve been like in the 1930’s, you would probably think about the stereotypical city life for that time period. Images of old cars like the Plymouth P2, tram cars and men in suits roaming around to their next destination. Another thing that would come to mind would be the mobsters and classic detectives trying to solve murders. All these images are clearly present within the novel and definitely reflect the period in which it was written. This novel also reflects the past by the fact that they had a massive lack of technology that we have now. This would make it incredibly hard for detectives to solve cases because they had to find out who committed the crime without the use of all the technology we have now. The novel states “Cairo coughed a little apologetic cough and smiled nervously with lips that had lost some of their redness. His dark eyes were humid and bashful and very earnest. ‘I intend to search your offices, Mr. Spade. I warn you that if you attempt to prevent me I shall certainly shoot you’” (Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, 45). This was what one of the police officers said to the main character because he was currently a suspect in a murder. The quote shows that the police had to consider even the unlikeliest of suspects and turn over every stone because there was that lack of technology. If this was present day, the police would most likely have some sort of video evidence of a suspect and be able to use different methods of finding the culprit. Also, The lack of technology on a forensics level. This story was written before DNA evidence became huge; they couldn’t rely on the convenience of DNA to help find their man. According to an article “We tend to think that before Alec Jeffries’ eureka moment in 1984, when he realized that genetic variations in DNA could identify individuals, crime investigations were really just guesswork,” (Phys.org). This also shows that back when the novel was written the police didn’t use DNA to find out who committed the crime, so they had to just have enough of their evidence to convict the person that they believed did the deed. This method was incredibly ineffective because think about it, all the “evidence” could point to a man who seems like he could have done it but was falsely imprisoned and couldn’t rely on DNA to prove his innocence. It is really neat to see how the police would conduct the investigation of the murder of Spade’s partner in the novel because it paints the picture of what it could be like back then to try to solve something as confusing as that.

            The next thing that reflects the time period that the novel is set in is its dialogue. The story has so much dialogue that it is practically only dialogue. This use of dialogue is what really paints the vivid picture of that time period. There is one passage in the novel that has a great use of the dialogue and it is "Spade's face became pale and hard. He spoke rapidly in a low furious voice: 'Think again and think fast. I told that punk of yours that you'd have to talk to me before you got through. I'll tell you now that you'll do your talking today or you are through. What are you wasting my time for? You and your lousy secret! Christ! I know exactly what the stuff is that they keep in the subtreasury vaults, but what good does that do me? I can get along without you. God damn you! Maybe you could have got along without me if you'd kept clear of me. You can't now. Not in San Francisco. You'll come in or you'll get out--and you'll do it today'" (Dashiell Hammett, "The Maltese Falcon", 110). This passage was a little on the long side, however, it needed to be to show the type of dialogue that is in the novel and how it creates the imagery and setting of the story. The way that this passage uses its language perfectly helps create the image of Spade being incredibly mad. Also, it really helps give an image about the time period, the way that the passage ended especially shows the type of grammar that would have been used back then. What makes the passage’s image more vivid is the fact that the author was from that time period, so he knew exactly what the language was, and the realistic sound is the help that the reader needs to create that nice clear image in their mind.

            In conclusion, the novel paints a perfect picture of what it must have been like to be a detective in the period that it was written. Anywhere from the use of language to provide clear vivid imagery, to the text’s lack of technology which furthers the believability of the novel. I believe the use of dialogue throughout the book proves that the novel is the best to portray the time period of the 1930’s.

Works Cited

Bailey, Penny. “Before DNA: 20th-Century Forensics.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 6 Sept. 2011, phys.org/news/2011-09-dna-20th-century-forensics.html.

Hammett, Dashell. The Maltese Falcon. Orionbooks, 2015.

Reading Notes W15: Don't You Wonder, Sometimes? Part B

• It starts off in the dark, then a Bowie like figure emerges.
• It seems like they are talking about David Bowie.
• He is staring at them through the dust.
• Dips into a deli in NYC
• The Author seems starstruck

Reading Notes W15: The Last Night of the World Part A

• This starts off with a man and woman talking hypothetically.
• She speculates that it might be a weapon or war that ends the world.
• They are talking about a dream.
• It gives the image of a man and woman layin on the grass lookin at the stars.

Project Planning Week 14

Topic 4: Choose a reading selection. Then choose one of the following questions, and write an argument in response to it: 

• How does the work reflect the period in which it was written? 
• What does the work reveal about the cultural behavior contemporary to it? 
• How are class differences presented in the work? Are characters aware or unaware of the economic and social forces that affect their lives? 

I really like this topic because I could use my interest in history to be able to write a piece that could definitely explain how the reading is definitely perfect for it. Plus, if I were to pick this topic I think that the novel that I am reading would be a perfect match especially because of the dialogue used in it. I hope to find out how the novel would fit one of the questions above.

For this topic I am going to be using the novel that we read for the classed. The name of the novel that I read was The Maltese Falcon and I think that this book would be best for any of the questions that I would choose to do. I think I would use the literary device of setting and imagery to answer the questions. For this I would use the dialogue to show that stuff. 

Week 14 Analysis: Literary Analysis of The Maltese Falcon

For this week I am going to be doing a literary analysis of "The Maltese Falcon". I decided to use the setting and imagery as the literary devices. This novel is great at painting a picture for the readers and the way that it does that is through its dialogue. Pretty much the entire novel is dialogue and I don't think that we would get the same effect of the imagery if there wasn't as much. I think the excessive use of dialogue helps the reader paint a picture on the period that the book takes place in. They use a lot of slang and abbreviated words to highlight the lifestyle that the people back then lived. The theme of the story definitely has to be mystery. I say that because the whole story is a goose chase on who murdered Spade's partner and we are left guessing the entire time. The story takes place in the early 30's to late 40's and the use of dialogue is clear that it is definitely that time period. It shows the lack of technology they had to solve a murder as opposed to nowadays. I think its really neat to see people that didn't rely on all that technology to properly solve the murder.

Reading Notes W14: The Maltese Falcon Part B

• The story is starting to reach the resolution part of the novel.
• It turns out that the murder is being solved finally.
• The major theme of this third has to be betrayal.
• There is also the theme of ease or clarity because the true culprit was found and we as a reader no longer have to worry about it anymore because its over.

Reading Notes W14: The Maltese Falcon Part A

• Spade is given a few one-thousand dollar bills
• This is cool because it shows the different bills that were used
• Cairo is upset for betraying Wilmer.
• Thursby was killed by Wilmer
• Spade told Brigid that he is turning her into the police for the murder

Topic Brainstorm

Topic 7: Choose a reading selection. Explore the relationship between elements of the selection.

I think this would be really interesting because I always love to see how different elements of a story connect and influence one another. In the past, I've had to read a lot of novels for different English classes and we would always look at this specific idea of how the relationship between different elements of the story. I hope to learn about how a specific setting or plot could really influence different characters in the way the develop.

Topic 1: Compare and contrast elements of two different texts.

This topic seems interesting because I think it would be a lot of fun to compare a couple texts' different plots. I think it would be neat to see their similarities and differences, and if they possibly line up or are completely different. In high school, I had AP English and we would do a lot of comparing and contrasting to a few different texts or excerpts. I really hope to learn how to distinguish the differences in a few different stories' plot without having to really dive deep into both of their plots, so I feel like this topic would really help with that.

Topic 4: Choose a reading selection. Then choose one of the following questions, and write an argument in response to it: 

• How does the work reflect the period in which it was written? 
• What does the work reveal about the cultural behavior contemporary to it? 
• How are class differences presented in the work? Are characters aware or unaware of the economic and social forces that affect their lives? 

I really like this topic because I could use my interest in history to be able to write a piece that could definitely explain how the reading is definitely perfect for it. Plus, if I were to pick this topic I think that the novel that I am reading would be a perfect match especially because of the dialogue used in it. I hope to find out how the novel would fit one of the questions above.
 

Week 13 Analysis: Close Reading of The Maltese Falcon

For this week I did a close reading from "The Maltese Falcon" and I chose a very interesting excerpt that'll really add to the imagery of the story.

"Spade's face became pale and hard. He spoke rapidly in a low furious voice: 'Think again and think fast. I told that punk of yours that you'd have to talk to me before you got through. I'll tell you now that you'll do your talking today or you are through. What are you wasting my time for? You and your lousy secret! Christ! I know exactly what the stuff is that they keep in the subtreasury vaults, but what good does that do me? I can get along without you. God damn you! Maybe you could have got along without me if you'd kept clear of me. You can't now. Not in San Francisco. You'll come in or you'll get out--and you'll do it today'" (Dashiell Hammett, "The Maltese Falcon", 110).

This passage is from the second third of the book and I think that it paints a pretty good picture of how the times were back in San Francisco in the mid-30s to late-40s. The one thing that really stands out in the novel is the use of dialogue to create imagery throughout the entire book. The excerpt that I picked has a decent amount of dialogue but there is a whole lot more that also creates a great picture. It's crazy because I believe that the novel really depends on the use of its dialogue to create a picture of what is really going on but the way that it is used makes it like you can't really imagine reading the book without that use of dialogue. The passage's use of dialogue allows us to visualize Spade being upset and having a sort of argument with the man and that couldn't have been accomplished without the dialogue.

Reading Notes W13: The Maltese Falcon Part B

• What I noticed is how this novel relies heavily on dialogue to create imagery.
• The different dialogue paints a picture on what it must have been like in those times.
• The dialogue even has the slang that they used back then too and has that old gangster mob kind of sound that you would imagine someone like al capone would have.
• currently Spade and Polhaus are talking about the death of Miles (Spade's partner) and come to realize that Thursby (The man Miles was following) was the one that shot him.

Reading Notes W13: The Maltese Falcon Part A

• "Spade's face became pale and hard. He spoke rapidly in a low furious voice: 'Think again and think fast. I told that punk of yours that you'd have to talk to me before you got through. I'll tell you now that you'll do your talking today or you are through. What are you wasting my time for? You and your lousy secret! Christ! I know exactly what the stuff is taht they keep in the subtreasury vaults, but what good does that do me? I can get along without you. God damn you! Maybe you could have got along without me if you'd kept clear of me. You can't now. Not in San Francisco. You'll come in or you'll get out--and you'll do it today'" (Dashiell Hammett, "The Maltese Falcon", 110).
• Shows passion for job.
• Does not like his time wasted.

Project 2 Revision

                “Our nation is built upon a history of immigration, dating back to our first pioneers, the Pilgrims. For more than three centuries, we have welcomed generations of immigrants to our melting pot of hyphenated America: British-Americans; Italian-Americans; Irish-Americans; Jewish-Americans; Mexican-Americans; Chinese-Americans; Indian-Americans” (Ami Bera). This shows the diversity that makes up Americans and the people wanted to seek better opportunities here. Throughout this paper I will talk about how this work reflects history’s social, political and economic context. When it comes to history there is nothing better than a primary source and the four different stories from the Chinese immigrants are the greatest examples of the hardships that they had to go through to experience a so-called better life in America during the Gold Rush.

            First up, the social aspect of history that these immigrants had to go through. They faced a ton of social hardships for how hard they worked. A lot of Chinese immigrants moved to the U.S. during the gold rush in hopes of becoming incredibly wealthy. However, they didn’t receive the warmest welcome, they faced racism, robberies and murders while trying to make a living mining. According to an article written by PBS a Yankee miner said, “Chinamen are getting to be altogether too plentiful in the country” (pbs.org). This shows that there were many negative thoughts about how the Americans welcomed the immigrants. Instead of greeting them with open arms, the Americans shunned them for being a different race and how they talked and certain mannerisms that they would consider weird but to the immigrants it was their culture. The same article states “In May 1852 the state imposed a Foreign Miners Tax, the second such tax on non-Americans in two years. This time, a levy of $3 per month was explicitly directed at the Chinese miners. And, as predicted, violence increased” it was also stated that “200 Chinese miners had been robbed and four murdered at Rich Gulch” (pbs.org). They went through all this struggle to come to America to become social pariahs. It’s crazy to see how they were specifically targeted because they were different than the others. Socially, these Immigrants were definitely not at the top of the food chain of society. It’s almost haunting to see how we could have treated these people so horribly. In our text book we see that four different immigrants decided to speak out on how they were living, and one in particular shows how he was treated horribly by his peers and, because of that, was given a terrible outlook on life. He stated “he holds the pipe as his family fortune goes down its hole. Look at him: Soon he will be six feet underground” (Anonymous Chinese Immigrants, 355). This man put his entire family fortune into pursuing the riches in the American land but quickly finds out that Americans are ruthless and will do anything to put someone down for a profit especially a recently emigrated minority.

            Next up is the political aspect. It’s funny, currently Americans have a problem with the Mexican immigrants that move to this country and most are being incredibly racist and targeting them politically to try and “preserve” American ideals. But, look about three centuries ago, and find that the same politics ruled, just targeting the Chinese-Americans as opposed to the Mexican-Americans nowadays. The pbs article stated that “the court extended California law that African Americans and Native Americans could not testify in court to include Chinese. The reversal made it impossible to prosecute violence against Chinese immigrants” (pbs.org). I find it crazy how that was able to be allowed to pass. It shows the political racism that the Americans had toward these immigrants. History has been littered with political racism in America and you would think that would have changed but, according to recent politics, that is not the case. They say history repeats itself and it couldn’t be any more true.

            Finally, the economic context. Within the four different poems written by the anonymous immigrants, the different economic status was different for each one. The fourth poem shows how they are trying to make a living and wishing others “may you claim a mine full of gold. May wealth soothe your soul. Hosts and guest, so gaily, raise the jade winecups” (Anonymous Chinese Immigrants, 355). This shows that they were actually doing well for themselves despite the challenges of immigration. They were drinking wine, which in most historical writings, highlighted wealth and importance. So, it seems like they were economically doing well. Even though it seems some did well, a lot didn’t as well. The pbs article states “Chinese men moved into other occupations, including the laundry business, domestic service and later railroad building” (pbs.org). This also shows that they were forced to leave the gold mining and pursue other jobs. But, because of their status as immigrants they were forced to do jobs that provided a service to the Americans. That is not fair at all to these immigrants because they worked hard to make a fortune but because they are not white Americans, they are forced to work for them not with them.

            Throughout this paper I showed how the four different stories from the Chinese immigrants are the best primary sources of what they had to go through as people who tried to seek a better life. I also talked about the history of racism and hardships that came with the immigration. I believe that the Gold Rush was not as great as it seems because it harmed many people of a different race but then again, that has been the theme throughout all of American history for all races.

Works Cited

“Chinese Immigrants and the Gold Rush.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-chinese-immigrants/.

Hicks, Jack, and James D. Houston. The Literature of California. University of California Press, 2000.

Week 12 Analysis: Literary Analysis of The Maltese Falcon

The novel "The Maltese Falcon" so far is a really fun read about a P.I. Currently, where I am in the story the plot hasn't really taken shape yet. But so far, Spade and his partner got job from a lady who is looking for her sister in San Francisco. His partner goes and tails the guy that the lady is going to meet up but around 3a.m. is found dead in an alley way. The plot is very interesting because it paints very vivid imagery of San Francisco in the early 40s to 50s. The theme of the story is not clearly present yet, I think farther in we should be able to see the theme a lot more clearly, but from what I could guess is that the theme would be mystery. I say mystery because his partner was just murdered and it seems like we need to piece together what happened to Archer because of the time gap between the murder of Archer and the suspect that they were tailing. The historical context of this story shows what it must have been like in the mid-1900s and be a P.I./Detective and to have to deal with a lack of technology to solve the murder of a dear friend. Overall, the book is very interesting so far and I am looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Reading Notes W12: The Maltese Falcon Part B

• It starts by introducing the main character and describing all his features and how they all seem to make a v
• Says he looks pleasantly like blond Satan
• the secretary introduces a client who is very pretty.
• use of alliteration to describe the sound of a type writer
• the client talks about her missing sister who apparently ran off to San Francisco with some guy
• she hasn't seen her sister but only the guy and is assuming the worst.
• they set up a stake out and the chapter ended.
• the next one started with a call to Spade where he acknowledged a death.
• they found the dead body of Spade's partner
•  

Project 2

                “Our nation is built upon a history of immigration, dating back to our first pioneers, the Pilgrims. For more than three centuries, we have welcomed generations of immigrants to our melting pot of hyphenated America: British-Americans; Italian-Americans; Irish-Americans; Jewish-Americans; Mexican-Americans; Chinese-Americans; Indian-Americans” (Ami Bera). This shows the diversity that makes up Americans and the people wanted to seek better opportunities here. Throughout this paper I will talk about how this work reflects history’s social, political and economic context. When it comes to history there is nothing better than a primary source and the four different stories from the Chinese immigrants are the greatest examples of the hardships that they had to go through to experience a so-called better life in America during the Gold Rush.

            First up, the social aspect of history that these immigrants had to go through. They faced a ton of social hardships for how hard they worked. A lot of Chinese immigrants moved to the U.S. during the gold rush in hopes of becoming incredibly wealthy. However, they didn’t receive the warmest welcome, they faced racism, robberies and murders while trying to make a living mining. According to an article written by PBS a Yankee miner said, “Chinamen are getting to be altogether too plentiful in the country” (pbs.org). This shows that there were many negative thoughts about how the Americans welcomed the immigrants. Instead of greeting them with open arms, the Americans shunned them for being a different race and how they talked and certain mannerisms that they would consider weird but to the immigrants it was their culture. The same article states “In May 1852 the state imposed a Foreign Miners Tax, the second such tax on non-Americans in two years. This time, a levy of $3 per month was explicitly directed at the Chinese miners. And, as predicted, violence increased” it was also stated that “200 Chinese miners had been robbed and four murdered at Rich Gulch” (pbs.org). They went through all this struggle to come to America to become social pariahs. It’s crazy to see how they were specifically targeted because they were different than the others. Socially, these Immigrants were definitely not at the top of the food chain of society. It’s almost haunting to see how we could have treated these people so horribly. In our text book we see that four different immigrants decided to speak out on how they were living, and one in particular shows how he was treated horribly by his peers and, because of that, was given a terrible outlook on life. He stated “he holds the pipe as his family fortune goes down its hole. Look at him: Soon he will be six feet underground” (Anonymous Chinese Immigrants, 355). This man put his entire family fortune into pursuing the riches in the American land but quickly finds out that Americans are ruthless and will do anything to put someone down for a profit especially a recently emigrated minority.

            Next up is the political aspect. It’s funny, currently Americans have a problem with the Mexican immigrants that move to this country and most are being incredibly racist and targeting them politically to try and “preserve” American ideals. But, look about three centuries ago, and find that the same politics ruled, just targeting the Chinese-Americans as opposed to the Mexican-Americans nowadays. The pbs article stated that “the court extended California law that African Americans and Native Americans could not testify in court to include Chinese. The reversal made it impossible to prosecute violence against Chinese immigrants” (pbs.org). I find it crazy how that was able to be allowed to pass. It shows the political racism that the Americans had toward these immigrants. History has been littered with political racism in America and you would think that would have changed but, according to recent politics, that is not the case. They say history repeats itself and it couldn’t be any more true.

            Finally, the economic context. Within the four different poems written by the anonymous immigrants, the different economic status was different for each one. The fourth poem shows how they are trying to make a living and wishing others “may you claim a mine full of gold. May wealth soothe your soul. Hosts and guest, so gaily, raise the jade winecups” (Anonymous Chinese Immigrants, 355). This shows that they were actually doing well for themselves despite the challenges of immigration. They were drinking wine, which in most historical writings, highlighted wealth and importance. So, it seems like they were economically doing well. Even though it seems some did well, a lot didn’t as well. The pbs article states “Chinese men moved into other occupations, including the laundry business, domestic service and later railroad building” (pbs.org). This also shows that they were forced to leave the gold mining and pursue other jobs. But, because of their status as immigrants they were forced to do jobs that provided a service to the Americans. That is not fair at all to these immigrants because they worked hard to make a fortune but because they are not white Americans, they are forced to work for them not with them.

            Throughout this paper I showed how the four different stories from the Chinese immigrants are the best primary sources of what they had to go through as people who tried to seek a better life. I also talked about the history of racism and hardships that came with the immigration. I believe that the Gold Rush was not as great as it seems because it harmed many people of a different race but then again, that has been the theme throughout all of American history for all races.

Works Cited

“Chinese Immigrants and the Gold Rush.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-chinese-immigrants/.

Hicks, Jack, and James D. Houston. The Literature of California. University of California Press, 2000.