Response #14: Last of the Mohicans

Last of the Mohicans was a tragic film that employed lots of romantic techniques. However, it was not solely a love story because it showed a much deeper depth - the disintegration of a culture. The first theme shown by the film was the increasing demise of Indian tribes. The Indian tribes, under the threat of invading Europeans, were forced to abandon their old ways of life in order to survive. Those who cannot adopt faced death. Their villages burned and their land taken, the Indians were dying out one by one. Maqua, the villain in the movie was a prime example of such tragedies.

A second theme illustrated was the involvement of Indians in European affairs. This often caused them to fight each other. For example, Magua seeked revenge on the British, using his hatred of Munro, the French allied him. Nathanial and the Mohicans became involved in protecting British frontiersmen and eventually got pulled in along with the Munros into the European conflict. Consequently, Indian tribes that were originally peaceful now became enemies. Instead of uniting to fight the European threat, they suffered from internal strife.

A third theme was the mixing of race within Indian tribes which forced new loyalties. Nathanial was the prime example. He was "the white guy" adopted by Chingachgook and even though he considered himself more of an Indian than a white man, he still couldn't escape helping his fellow British families and falling in love with Cora. This loyalty eventually precipitated the death of his full-blood Mohican brother, Uncas. A real tragedy, Uncas wasn't even killed by the Europeans, instead, he was killed by another Indian while fighting for the British cause (and maybe a little bit out of love for Cora's sister). All in all, that marked the end of the Mohicans.
- posted by Maria Gao @ 5:18 PM

 
Response #13: Summarize p.125-127 in IR.

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were both famous poets of the nineteenth century. Even though they were similar in their impact on future poets, their personality and writing style were the antithesis of each other. Whitman was a very sociable man who loved company and loved to travel. Dickinson enjoyed her seclusion, where she observed the beauty of nature and spiritual influences at the comfort of her own home. Whitman sought to speak to the public; the world was his audience. Dickinson's poetry consisted of her private thoughts kept safe in a box up the attic.

Aside from constrasting personalities, their writing styles were of two different extremes. Eager to join in the chorus of a brilliant American democracy, Whitman wrote with boldness and passion. His poems were rivers of his thoughts. The verses and lines poured out freely, employing no rhyme or meter, that was known as free verse or cadence. Dickinson, on the other hand, wrote with precision and structure. The stanzas were neat and proper characterized by meter and rhyme. Everyword she used was carefully chosen to fix a thought in the mind.

Even fame came differently to the two poets. Whitman's fame was a typical American success story. He worked several jobs before he published Leaves of Grass at his own expense. This piece made him famous world-wide. Dickinson's fame was achieved posthumously. She expected no fame and preached to no audience. However, both Whitman and Dickinson's poems influenced later generations. Free verse is still a huge part of our literature today. Rhyme and meter also appeals to writers who wish to portray poems as experiences rather than statements.
- posted by Maria Gao @ 6:25 PM