Endearing Pain

Frederick Douglass, a former slave and later an abolitionist, depicts the dawn of his anguish as a slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. One comprehends what he felt because one has had some repressed feelings, yet these do not compare to Douglass' misery. "A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege," (page 17) says Douglass explaining his unhappiness. When one has a desire of information there is a possibility of learning the truth, yet sometimes we frustrate when it is impossible. Knowing nothing about one's origins must generate continual desires about these, but Douglass was unable to learn much about them. Knowing where I come from gives me assurance and comfort: I have a family I can rely on. Douglass and innumerable amounts of slaves had none of these because knowledge was restricted for them.

The restrictions in Douglass' time were so vast that slaves never learned a variety of humane behaviors. Douglass recognizes  he lacked the affection of a mother when, "Never having enjoyed… her soothing presence… I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (page 19). This hollowness in someone's life projects the "glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery" (page 28). It deprives men of affectionate qualities and they suffer under savage conditions. Douglass struggled to alleviate his afflictions and recognized the dehumanization around his time. Yet, this is just one of many cases of exploitation where humane qualities were lost. For example, the Belgian exploitation of rubber at the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 19th century was characterized for the enslavement and abuse of natives. Slavery not only deprives men of proper social and humane development, but as Douglass narrates, it makes men confuse real happiness with sorrow or pain. 

The lack of knowledge, affection, and humane behavior makes slaves deviate from proper human behavior. They do not simply suffer. They learn to cope with pain and cherish the lesser torments because they had no real pleasing occurrences. 

Dreams in the Green

                                          Reading of The Great Gatsby

Bloggers' Common Mistake

Blog: a Web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.

"This Is a Blog Post. It Is Not a "Blog."", by Forrest Wickman, thoroughly argues about the misconception between a blog post and a blog. Right from the beginning of the post (article, piece, or blog post) Wickman illustrates the determination of his arguments by capitalizing "is" and not" in the tittle. While some may perceive this as a mistake, it is not. This irregularity is a simple overstatement that blogs are not the same as blog posts. Titling the article "This is a Blog Post. It is not a "Blog."" would also be correct, but the unusual capitalization encapsulate the whole article's point: blogs are web sites were blog posts can be found. 

I had never thought about the difference between blogs and blog posts, but actually it is very clear. As Wickam says, it must be stopped. Seeing Roger Ebert, a notorious film critic, was misusing the word "blog", notes how common this mistake is. Moreover, it shows a great error that Ebert should have avoided: this blemishes his work in the eyes of scrupulous readers. As a writer and a reader I agree with Wickman: a simply mistake like calling this post a blog, will undermine a writers writing. It proves carelessness in a writer's work, whether it is a successful one like Roger Ebert or a simple high school student. One should write correctly whether one is chatting, writing an article, or writing in any other medium. 

Wickman did me a favor by posting his blog entry and probably saved me from getting "judged" by one or two scrupulous scholars. They are right to do it. Confusing a blog with a blog post is just as wrong as confusing "that" and "who". Lastly, this is the last blog that I will write. From now on in this blog only entries and posts will be posted. Like Wickman "blogs blogs" all the time, I have done so before, but from now on I will write and post blog entries.