The Live's of Women in The House on Mango Street vs. Juliet's life in Romeo and Juliet

     In both Romeo and Juliet and The House on Mango Street women lives are in a sense lived for them. In The House on Mango Street, many women characters including Rafaela, Sally and Esperanza's great grandmother are imposed on by the male figures in their families. Esperanza's great grand mother is taken away by her great grandfather and forced to live inside, this is the same with Rafaela who is also forced to stay inside the house at all times. Their dreams are cut short by men. Juliet's life is also controlled by her family. Her parents want her to marry Paris even though she resits because she is married to Romeo, which they do not know. Her will is of no value to her parents, they are willing to kick her out of the family and on to the streets if she does not marry Paris. In both books the women do not have many alternatives, the only option they seemingly have is to run away. But even that is not easily done because they are locked inside the house. These two novel have much in common when it comes to women but they are under different circumstances. Both novels reflect the machismo attitude.

Incidents blog #4

     It is great that Jacobs has finally made it to freedom, but she is not totally free because of the Fugitive slave act. " He told us he was a Southerner by birth, and had spent the greater part of  his life in the Slave States, and that he had recently lost a brother who traded in slaves. 'But,' said he, 'it is a pitiable and degrading buisness, and I always felt ashamed to acknowledge my brother in connection with it" (162). It was great that the captain helped her even though that he is a Southerner and he even has family who traded slaves. These people must have been rare at the time but not as rare as I once thought, many people helped slaves but they were greatly outnumbered. Another interesting part was she saw her daughter for the first time since she left from the South. " I turned, and there stood my Ellen ! I pressed her to my heart, then held her away from me to take a look at her" (170). This must have been a great feeling for Jacobs and her daughter. This could have been a great conclusion to the book. But will she ever find her son, or does she after she is finished writing the book.?

Incidents blog #3

     The book has been very good so far, Jacobs has finally made it away from her masters house but she is still close. I wonder why she is staying so close to Dr. Flint, why doesn't she make her way to the north. " When spring returned, and I in the little patch of green the aperture commanded, I asked myself how many more summers and winters I must be condemned to spend thus" (123). She says she has been staying a long time but why doesn't she move, she is getting crippled in the hole. If she stays any longer she will be permanently crippled and will never be able to run away. Another thing is that Dr. Flint still continues to look for her. This is a good example of how valuable she is to him. " The summer had nearly ended, when Dr. Flint made a third visit to New York, in search of me" (127). After many years he still continues to look for her in New York, why doesn't he try another place or just give up? Ms. Jacobs why do you still stay at your Grandmothers house why don't you continue your voyage to freedom?

Incidents Blog #2

     Pages 87 to 107 were the best part of the book so far. Many new events happened that will change the book from now on. A very interesting part was when she decided to run away even though she would have to leave her children and hurt her grandmother. " I was about to risk every thing on the throw of a die ; and if I failed, O what would become of me and my poor children? They would be made to suffer for my fault" (97). This was a shocking way to leave to me because I expected she would try to take her children with her instead of abandoning them. But she had a plan because she wanted Dr. Flint to sell them but he didn't he put them in jail. Another shocking part of this section was she did not write with lots of emotion when she heard that her children were put into jail. "When I heard that my little ones were in a loathsome jail, my first impulse was to go to them" (103). This part struck me also because her children are very young and as a mother she would want to be with them but she did not go. She did not talk about this event in too much emotion after this but anyone else would go on and on about this event and would return to them. But under her circumstances I understand why she did not return. I have one question for Jacobs. How did knowing that your children were in jail because you ran away and the only way you could get them out was to return to slavery?

Incedents Blog #1

These chapters are very interesting to me. First, with all the events that happen Jacobs shows very little emotion for things that some one today would write pages and pages about.  When she is not allowed to marry the man who proposed to her she shows a little emotion at first but later after she is confronted by her master on the subject she shows no great effect. " If you must have a husband, you make take up with one of my slaves.' What a situation I should be in, as the wife of one of slaves, even if my heart had been interested"(38). The master doesn't even consider her proposal to let the man to buy her. Another interesting thing is that her mistress despised her so much that she asked her about Jacobs and her husband. Jacobs promises to tell her the truth and the mistress protects her for a little but then turns on her like a pit-bull. "She changed her tactics. She now tried the trick of accusing my master of crime, in my presence, and gave my name  as the author of the accusation"(33). Before I heard this I thought that Jacobs could use her mistress for a little safety but I realized that her mistress was not trying to help her at all. This was a very interesting reading but I do have one question for Jacobs, why did you not run away when your master was abusing you and set yourself free from those things, why did you put up with it?

Blog #1

     School can be fun but some things could change. For example lunch needs  more choices  like healthy ones. Instead of pizza and fries we could have smoothies and lots of good stuff like that. Also for tests they need to be more interactive we could have no trick questions and be able to write on the tests because it is easy to make mistakes on a scan tron. Which can make the difference between passing and failing. teachers could also make class more interesting by doing more experiments in science to watching more videos and using the Promethean board more as a hands on learning tool. for writing we need more prompts and graphic organizers that are understandable. Using the Promethean Board can make school more appealing to some kids and could lead to a better education, kids will want to use it which will help them learn and intern make schools better. the ideal school would be one that is interactive in ways of learning. It would also have consistency on things like writing and projects. This school would also have many interesting field trips to places that are also beneficial to what is being taught during that time period. Finally it could have a short break so that students could expell some of their energy and be more focused. Schools in Montgomery County are good but still have room for improvement.