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Post by Mr. Thomas on Oct 18, 2013 13:17:36 GMT -5
Post responses here.
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Post by matthewchan on Oct 18, 2013 19:39:15 GMT -5
Matthew Chan
Mr. Thomas
English 11
18 October 2013
C. What is Colombia? While reading the poem, the word Colombia appeared several times. I was confused at first because what is Colombia? Was Phillis talking about the country Colombia? Was she talking about Christopher Columbus? Was she talking about Colombia University? It was definitely none of the three. I read the poem a few more times and I figured out what Colombia meant. Colombia means America or the colonies. To me, the poem talks about how the colonies fought tirelessly everyday against the British so they can gain and win their independence.
A. So far in history class, we are starting the American Revolutionary War. This poem reminds me a lot about the class because both tide into one another. First of all, George Washington is mentioned in this poem and I quickly realized that this poem might have been written during the Revolution. Also, Phillis talks about the British and during this time, the American Revolution was going on.
D. I enjoyed the line “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy ev’ry action let the Goddess guide.” I think Phillis is telling George Washington to keep fighting and to never give up until you win the war and till you gain freedom and independence for the colonies. The Goddess mentioned might be the Goddess of Freedom or Bravery to protect and guide George Washington until the very end
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Post by frankclarke on Oct 19, 2013 14:57:31 GMT -5
Frank Clarke
Mr. Thomas
English 11
19 October 2013
D. I have no absolutely no idea what in the world is going on in this poem. However, the fourth stanza, I may be able to decipher some of it. I believe it’s talking about a free country, and how this relates to General Washington, leading the Americans to freedom. When Phillis says “The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!” Which could possibly mean that the 13 colonies are being defended by the heavens, because God wants us to all be free.
C. Who the heck is Colombia? The country? Columbus? Whut.. Also who is the goddess Wheatley is talking about? An influential woman leader during the time of Washington’s era? Washington’s wife? What does this even have to do with Washington. Some of these sentences do not even relate to each other, most of it is just mumbo-jumbo. Literally no clue what’s going on.
A. I tried to make the best connection to this poem and the American revolution, but I failed pretty dramatically. Literally have nothing else to say about this poem. If I had understood it better I might’ve been able discuss its ideas more.
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Post by odonnelle on Oct 19, 2013 19:02:33 GMT -5
I. Before this causes any more confusion: Columbia is the female personification of the United States. She is the goddess of liberty. Essentially, Columbia was the Statue of Liberty before there was a Statue of Liberty, and this personification existed before Wheatley could walk and talk. As such, Wheatley sings praises of America by singing praises of Columbia, and this all connects to Washington when she says…
E. “Thy ev’ry action let the Goddess guide.” In tandem with how Wheatley describes Columbia, this makes Washington seem like the sort of man who rides a bald eagle to the battlefield. For Wheatley to associate anyone with the goddess she describes in her poem is truly a wonderful compliment (and Washington did indeed reply most humbly to the poem), and this is particularly impressive because she wrote this poem long before anyone thought that the colonies MIGHT secede. Wheatley was a fervent supporter of the Union before it was cool.
D. Wheatley does something awesome in lines 29-34. She threateningly reminds the British of the colonies’ involvement in the French and Indian War. “When Gallic powers Columbia’s fury found;/And so may you, whoever dares disgrace/The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!” There is only one word to describe those lines, and that word is, “’Murica.”
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Post by johnmarano on Oct 20, 2013 12:10:00 GMT -5
John Marano
Mr. Thomas
English 11
October 20 2013
C. I questioned this poem. It didn’t really make any sense to me because I didn’t understand the language that was being used. Is the poem about freedom? I hope I am right because than I am on a different page. By the end of the poem, is Wheatley kind of telling Washington that he should continue to fight for freedom? It would make sense if it were being sent to Washington. Who is the goddess? I think the goddess is freedom? I don’t really understand it.
D. Although I had a difficult time understanding the poem, I kind of understood some parts. I enjoyed reading this because Phillis Wheatley is a great poet. From what I have made out, the poem is about freedom. I believe that Wheatley is exposing the struggles America faced when trying to break away from Britain. A specific quote I really liked was, “The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!” I don’t actually know the exact meaning of this quote, but if I were to give an answer, I would say this means that America is meant to be free. Freedom is deserved for the American colonists. Wheatley uses freedom as an inspiration for Washington.
I. Evan O’Donell’s response helped me understand the poem a lot more. I was really confused when Columbia was being mentioned. I did not know that it was the “female” personification of our country. Without this information, I would just think that Columbia is where Wheatley is from. His explanation of liberty and the connections to Washington helped me understand the poem a little better. It was still a hard poem to interpret.
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Post by bourdonm15 on Oct 20, 2013 13:51:19 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10/20/13
C. Who is the goddess she refers to throughout the story? Could the goddess be the First Lady (George Washington’s Wife) or just someone else? One thing that we know about the “goddess” is that she has golden hair. To everyone else that was asking about “What is Columbia?” I’m pretty sure that Columbia is America as a whole or Washington D.C. but I’m not so sure myself honestly. The wording of this poem was honestly confusing most of the time.
B. Throughout the text it is evident that she really has love and respect for George Washington. “A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading WASHINGTON! Be thine.” These are powerful words that show evidence that she is basically praising and worshiping George Washington. She compares him to a mansion, to gold that never rusts or fades and always remains perfect, and to a throne that shines. Phillis Wheatley is over exaggerating the power and visual of George Washington. He isn’t half of what she is making him out to be. This text is significant because it shows how Phillis Wheatley thought of George Washington almost as some “god-like figure”.
A. The over exaggerating that takes place in the poem reminds me of early Puritan readings such as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Johnathan Edwards”. “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy ev’ry action let the Goddess guide.” This exaggeration reminds me of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God because it is all things that are over-exaggerated for no apparent reason and to try to come across with a point each are trying to make.
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Post by Sgarlato on Oct 20, 2013 18:59:42 GMT -5
Stephen Sgarlato
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10/20/13
C. Two problems that I had with the poem was that I didn’t understand who the goddess Phillis Wheatley was talking about. Was this actually a goddess or was it supposed to be a reference to a
glorified person or group of people. The other problem I had with this poem was that the language was incredibly difficult to read and therefore gave me trouble understanding the just.
A. According the Evan O’Donnell, Columbia is the femaile personification of the United States. She is the goddess of liberty. This pursuit of freedom relates to everyday life. We as people are
always searching for freedom in ourselves and in our social lives.
D. Even though I didn’t understand the poem very well because of its confusing language, I still can appreciate the parts I do understand. “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, thy ev’ry
action let the Goddess guide. A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, with gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine”. This last stanza is great because I think it describes America in general,
not just Washington. Its telling America to go on and be virtuous, free, and wealthy.
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Post by emmanuelluna on Oct 20, 2013 19:12:38 GMT -5
Emmanuel Luna
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10/18/13
D. I enjoyed the quote when Phillis says, “When Gallic powers Columbia’s fury found; And so may you, whoever dares disgrace The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!” I liked this quote because it shows the amount of pride she has in her country. It also shows nationalism beginning in to emerge. This quote also shows that they will do whatever it takes to defend their homeland.
B. The quote that i chose above is also important to the rest of the poem in its historical context because it shows the rise of nationalism. Nationalism is very important because it greatly contributed to the American Revolution. This spark of nationalism contributed to the revolution because it riled up the people to become self-sufficient and independent.
E. I overall enjoyed the poem because it shows growing pride amongst the colonists and their desire to gain independence from England. It also shows what a great leader George Washington was and how loved he was by the people. Since he was loved by the people it made it easy for him to ascend to the mantle of leadership and successfully lead the people. This is why i thought in general the poem was enjoyable and so was Geaorge Washington
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Post by johnrice on Oct 20, 2013 19:34:45 GMT -5
John Rice
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10.20.13
Discussion Board
D. I had no real idea as to what this poem was about. I had trouble deciphering the poem in the language that it was written in. It seems that I had to the same problem that a couple other of my classmates had, trying to decide what or who Columbia is. I was confused but a couple lines in the poem gave clues as to who Phillis is referring to when mentioning Columbia. "For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevail". I believe that Columbia is a reference to America. They fought, and they hoped that their fighting prevailed.
B. This text is important for a variety of different reasons. This poem gives a different perspective on the revolutionary war. It tells us about George Washington and the 13 colonies fighting the British without actually telling us. It is a poem that uses personification and allusion to convey a specific point about the colonies not giving into the Bristish rule, and fighting until the very end. It seems like this was a very feel good piece of literature that could have been read to uplift the soldiers during the war. But Im not sure when it was written.
I. Big shout out to Evan O'Donnelle for helping me understand this way more. Thanks alot for your comment and knowledge about who Columbia was. I had no idea she was the Goddess of Liberty. Knowing this, the comparison to the 13 colonies and the American Revolutionary War was made much quicker.
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Post by scanley73 on Oct 20, 2013 20:40:03 GMT -5
D. I’m not sure what exactly is going on in this poem. Multiple times I was lost and had to go back and read because I was confused with what was going on. Not much of it made any sense. The language was difficult and I had no knowledge of some of the things being mentioned. For example, what is Columbia? Are they talking about the country? I don’t see how that can logically fit into all of what has been put into this poem. Also the poem the language in this poem throws me off and it makes it hard to understand exactly what the poet is trying to say. Overall, I couldn’t make much sense of this poem and didn’t enjoy it.
C. Why is it that the person mentions Columbia? Surly the poet couldn’t be talking about the country. It had no involvement in the Revolutionary War. She also mentions “Gallic powers”. What in the world are those? I have never heard of something like that once in my entire life. This is one of the main points where she lost me in this reading. I was confused enough as is but this was the icing on the cake. After reading this I knew that there was no hope for me to understand what the poet was saying.
E. my overall reaction to this whole thing was that I don’t like it. I couldn’t make sense of anything that was written. I can’t understand why it was written. It’s al one big mess.
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Post by sean de los Santos on Oct 20, 2013 21:45:33 GMT -5
Sean de los Santos
Mr. Thomas
English 11
18 October 2013
Philis Wheatley discussion
A. The poem relates to the present in one very great particular way. This is very similar to present culture in which it represents America’s love for nationalism and our great leaders today. This is very present in the poem in which Phillis Weatley admires the power of the general at the time of the U.S’s early developments. This is very present today, in which our culture loves to admire the great leaders of our country. We admire our president in very specific ways such as art, speeches, posters, food, and many more. This poem represents the very beginning of the nationalism that becomes present in the early development of the U.S.A.
E. The one thing I notice about Wheatley writing this poem was how much details she puts into describing Washington. She explains how everything about Washington was like the Goddesses and the Gods went upon him. I also am surprised how she admires him so much. She wrote the whole poem about his appearance, his army, and he himself as a leader. It astounds me how she was very descriptive of George Washington. Even at the end she bids him farewell with good luck such as the Goddess and a crown.
C. Something that confuses me about this poem is the mentioning of Columbia. It’s really confusing in which no one really could tell why she would mention Columbia. Did she mean the District of Columbia? Was she from Columbia? It’s weird that she was mentioning Columbia in most of her poem.
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Post by rodriguezj15 on Oct 20, 2013 22:00:03 GMT -5
Joel Rodriguez Mr. Thomas English11 October 20, 2013 His Excellency General Washington I. To answer John’s question, it can be interpreted in couple of different ways but the most important thing to know when reading this is that the theme is freedom. I personally think that she wrote this poem to George Washington just to let him know that she got his back and the poem itself was like a pump-up speech for him going into the war. For example, she writes “While freedom’s cause…and nations gaze at scenes before unknown (lines 3-6) !” She is trying to say that every nation in the world has their eyes on the colonist as they rise against the Britain for freedom, so they can’t mess up. C. I am pretty sure I understand the central theme of this poem, freedom, but I have no idea what she means in a couple of her lines. For example she alluded to this Goddess in the second stanza, who is she? She also mentions “celestial choir” and “muse”, which I remember seeing it in The Odyssey, so I know it has something to do with neoclassicism, what does she mean? D. I thought of this poem as a pump up speech to George Washington so my favorite line was “Ah! Cruel blindness to Columbia’s state (line 37)!” She’s telling Washington that Britain thinks America is weak, so if this was a football game, the colonists would be the underdogs. |
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Post by georgebaroudos on Oct 20, 2013 22:01:45 GMT -5
George Baroudos
Mr. Thomas
English 11
19 October 2013
A – George Washington is such an essential part in the founding of this country. I have many memories as a small boy liking George Washington a lot for no real reason. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was on the one-dollar bill or because he was on the quarter. Whatever it is I was very fond of George Washington for some reason. This literary work shows me that I am not the only one. I like both of his skills in political and military aspects.
D – “A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine.” (pg. 6). This is such a strong way to end a passage. This shows their true faith within Washington. They see great prosperity in Washington’s career. They speak of his skilled military efforts and believe that he is their savior. The goddess will guide Washington into prosperity. Washington will have a crown or will become our first president. Will have a mansion, which is the white house and a throne that will bring him prosperity.
I – We have touched on this topic very slightly in English class, but in all history classes we have. One of the main x factors in the rise and prosperity of the United States is because of their gifted political abilities. One of the biggest factors was George Washington who is very underrated as a president. People are unaware of his true ability to compromise and ultimately make the best decision. Many politicians of this time were only looking out for their name. George Washington was looking out for the well being of our country. As the first president his foundations in many shapes and forms are still in place today allowing us to praise George Washington.
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djmat
New Member
Posts: 39 
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Post by djmat on Oct 20, 2013 22:11:29 GMT -5
Dj Mat
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10.20.13
D. To be quite honest I am very confused about this poem. I have no clue what Phillis Wheatley is trying to say and the parts i do understand still do not make much sense to me. I find it really hard to imagine what she is saying when every other line does not really match with the previous one. At one point she is talking about the Ocean and the very next line she starts talking about Autumn which really trips me up because i do not think those two have anything in common. The most that i know about the poem is that it was sent to George Washington and is about the revolutionary war.
C. If someone understands this poem could your please give me the main points it? Can you explain what point Phillis Wheatley is trying to get across. I know we are learning about American history now but would i have to dive deeper into American History to get a better understanding of what she is trying to say.
D. One of the few lines that i understood and found amusing was " One century scarce preform'd it's destined round,/ When Gallic powers COlumbia's fury found; and so may you, whoever dares disgrace/ The land of freedom's heaven- defended race!" This line was stuck out to me because Phillis Whatley calls the United States the land of freedom when we obviously it was not so free for everyone. It is also kind of ironic because Phillis Wheatley was and African American slave calling one of the biggest nations the land of freedom.
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Post by michaelannunziata on Oct 21, 2013 11:27:09 GMT -5
Michael Annunziata
Mr. Thomas
English 11
10,21,13
A. I can relate to the reading by which the way we live in society today in America. For example Phillis Weatley admires the power of the general at the time of the U.S’s early developments. Also this poem represents the very beginning of the nationalism that becomes present in the early development of the U.S.A. I can go on and on, there are so many things I can relate to. This was my favorite reading yet and I understand not many people in the class understood it but when you finally do understand it; it is clearly the best reading this year.
D. One of the things out of the reading that I really enjoyed was the line “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy ev’ry action let the Goddess guide. “In this quote I believe that Philis is trying to keep George’s head up and that she is trying to tell him to never give up until he wins the war because he has such a great chance at winning the war. And also so that he can give the colonies freedom and that he would be looked up to as a hero forever.
I. I would like to comment on Emmanuel’s response to answer E because I also agree with him saying that it shows growing pride amongst the colonists and their desire to gain independence from England. I agree with this because when ever there is something being said about the country I am apart of I am intrigued about the way we came about as a country.
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