This week I finished the book called, Norwegian-American Studies Vol. 19. It truly disappointed me. I was hoping for intriguing information about deep things and group history of Norwegian-Americans. Unfortunately I was in for something else.
After I read the general article about the immigration of Norwegians I began an article on a man named Rasmus B. Anderson. This article seemed promising at first but soon it told of his harsh personality and his whole history. This article revealed nothing intriguing about him and it was also really boring. It went on to tell all the things that he did which no weight in what happens today. To me, this great Norwegian immigrant seemed like a cranky and selfish man who never was happy with the way things were. The next articles I read with an easy manner. I focused little on what they were about. Often times they were about specific family in some small town. It might be interesting to some but I found it to be bland and have no effect on what is going on today. It was especially boring because the articles didn’t try to keep you interested. There were just too many articles about how an area was settled and what the neighbors thought of each other. I sifted a few good facts from the article, one of them being that immigrants often found and connected with immigrants from their own valley rather than just fellow countrymen. But I picked up another volume with what seems to be more interesting subject matter so we will see about how I like that next week.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Post #2
This week I started reading a book called Norwegian-American Studies and Records. It is a collection of articles about Norwegian immigration and the notable people of Norwegian fame. The article that I just read was called, Norwegian Migration to America by Einar Haugen.
I found the article to be very interesting. I usually love anything that has to do with Norway and this didn’t disappoint. The style of the writing was half the fun of the whole article. It was written in such a proud but modest voice it kept me wanting to read more. The main focus of the first few pages was the reasons for emigration from Norway. The article listed reasons such as a desire for adventure and more thoughtful reasons when to me the reason is clear, being there wasn’t enough land to go around for all the people and some of them had to leave. Norway only is about 3% arable land so the population growth before the mass emigration couldn’t last forever. But they also did mention something that I think did have truth behind it. People left because they could go and do something. If they stayed home the would sit on the same plot of land and go nowhere in life so I am sure that there were people who didn’t want to be a farmer and this was the only way out. The latter half of the article talks about where the Norwegians settled in America. Many of them came to the Midwest as well as quite a few stayed in New York. They stayed in Brooklyn and I find it very interesting because I was in Brooklyn this summer and we stayed at a former Norwegian church. The pastor had told us that the whole neighborhood had been full of Norwegians a few decades ago, which was now a predominantly Mexican neighborhood. Thinking back from that event with the context of the book in mind, I realized that things constantly are moving. This is a great book and I am excited to read more.
I found the article to be very interesting. I usually love anything that has to do with Norway and this didn’t disappoint. The style of the writing was half the fun of the whole article. It was written in such a proud but modest voice it kept me wanting to read more. The main focus of the first few pages was the reasons for emigration from Norway. The article listed reasons such as a desire for adventure and more thoughtful reasons when to me the reason is clear, being there wasn’t enough land to go around for all the people and some of them had to leave. Norway only is about 3% arable land so the population growth before the mass emigration couldn’t last forever. But they also did mention something that I think did have truth behind it. People left because they could go and do something. If they stayed home the would sit on the same plot of land and go nowhere in life so I am sure that there were people who didn’t want to be a farmer and this was the only way out. The latter half of the article talks about where the Norwegians settled in America. Many of them came to the Midwest as well as quite a few stayed in New York. They stayed in Brooklyn and I find it very interesting because I was in Brooklyn this summer and we stayed at a former Norwegian church. The pastor had told us that the whole neighborhood had been full of Norwegians a few decades ago, which was now a predominantly Mexican neighborhood. Thinking back from that event with the context of the book in mind, I realized that things constantly are moving. This is a great book and I am excited to read more.
Friday, September 19, 2008
First Post
This week I read an article about Sarah Palin and the link is http://www.newsweek.com/id/156472.
I found the article to be very interesting. The article starts out with such a humble picture of Sarah Palin, she’s holding a fish that she has caught. She is unlike any other candidate or politician that I have ever seen. The article then portrays her as a busy mother who is trying to juggle everything in her life and that she enjoys every minute of her busy life. She has a certain personality that is so accessible compared to other politicians. Her life is not one of elegance and prestige. Sarah Palin grew up in a town of 7000 people and there was little glamour in that town. Her only experience with glamour and the prestige of high city life was her entrance in the beauty competitions. She became the Miss Wasilla in 1984. She later came to regret doing this because it was embarrassing for her to recall. She is what believe to be a typical Alaskan. She hunts, fishes, and has been a proud member of the NRA her whole life. Palin describes herself as person who likes to get her way. She is a known as a maverick in her own state. She fostered many reforms and attacked the republican powers that had held and corrupted the government of Alaska. She cut the spending and turned the government around and ended the corruption. Palin did this, and enjoyed every minute of it. I think that she is a great person and although she is a little inexperienced in the international relations, I think that her charming personality, and maverick qualities suit John McCain.
I found the article to be very interesting. The article starts out with such a humble picture of Sarah Palin, she’s holding a fish that she has caught. She is unlike any other candidate or politician that I have ever seen. The article then portrays her as a busy mother who is trying to juggle everything in her life and that she enjoys every minute of her busy life. She has a certain personality that is so accessible compared to other politicians. Her life is not one of elegance and prestige. Sarah Palin grew up in a town of 7000 people and there was little glamour in that town. Her only experience with glamour and the prestige of high city life was her entrance in the beauty competitions. She became the Miss Wasilla in 1984. She later came to regret doing this because it was embarrassing for her to recall. She is what believe to be a typical Alaskan. She hunts, fishes, and has been a proud member of the NRA her whole life. Palin describes herself as person who likes to get her way. She is a known as a maverick in her own state. She fostered many reforms and attacked the republican powers that had held and corrupted the government of Alaska. She cut the spending and turned the government around and ended the corruption. Palin did this, and enjoyed every minute of it. I think that she is a great person and although she is a little inexperienced in the international relations, I think that her charming personality, and maverick qualities suit John McCain.
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