"A Narrative of the Captivity and Resoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson"

It's strange to me that we are reading this story. Just before school started my fiance and I took a trip to Gatlinburg, TN. We had to drive through the Smokey Mountains to get there. They were so massive that I can't help, but think of how scary and overwhelming they must have looked to the settlers, pioneers, and In the case of our story, Mary Rowlandson. The woman witnessed her family, friends, and townspeople being murdered right in front of her. She held her dying six year old daughter in her arms for nine days until she finally passed. She was kidnapped, starved, and beaten. All the while, she was trekking the Allegheny Mountains in February with the same company of Indians that she saw slaughter her family. I COULD NOT IMAGINE! What a feeling that must have been for her? Standing at the bottom of a freezing mountain, knowing you have no choice, but to travel over it. She said, "One hill was so steep that I was fain to creep up upon my knees, and to hold by the twiggs and bushes to keep my self from falling backward." I thought that drive through the Smokies was scary, I guess I don't know the first thing about scary!

Writers I want to write about!

These are my top 3 choices:

#1 Emily Dickinson- I think the story of Emily Dickinson is interesting. She is such an unusual character that it makes me want to learn more about her.

#2 Edgar Allen Poe-I picked Poe as my number two choice simply because his poems and short stories are well known and talked about regularly. I have read only a couple of his works, but I would like to read more.

#3 Herman Melville- The story of "Moby Dick" is one that I heard as a child. Out of my top three choices, it is probably the most recognized piece of literature.

How "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" by Walt Whitman applies to my life

"And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose."-Walt Whitman

My daughter is two years old now and considering the direction in which our society is going, I wonder constantly about her future and the future of her generation. I want her to experience the wonderful things I have experienced in my life. I hope they mean as much to her as they once meant to me. I want her to have a fulfilled life, but be aware that with ups come downs. I want her to know that hard times fell upon me and that they will fall upon her as well, but to be strong in knowing that she is not alone. I want her to have to tools to make the smallest or greatest outcome of whatever situation she may encounter. I encourage her to explore and to take on what the world has to offer. I also encourage the world to challenge her and open her eyes to the glories that are within her grasps everyday. What the future holds for Laurel comes into my thoughts throughout the day and like in Whitman's poem, it is the hope of accomplishment and the wishes of great things that keep me bound to the future.

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" Walt Whitman

This was the first time I actually sat down to read a Walt Whitman poem. Whatever you do, don't read it in your bed! If you do, sweet dreams. I felt like he kept going and going. I know my complaint about this poem is generic. I'm sure everyone says the same thing. However, I do think it was awesome how he took something so simple, like a ride on a ferry, and turn it into a poem people will read for ages. I will read over the poem a few more times and hopefully my next blog will have something a little more positive to say!