Harper's June 1855

My group is reading the June 1855 issue of Harper's and I was responsible for pages 75-112 of the issue, which included 5 articles. The first two were scientific or historical and the last three were stories or essays that could have been non-fiction or fiction. I actually found them all somewhat interesting, though some more than others. Through all of the articles, even the scientific/historical ones, I found the writing to be more creative than what I typically think academic writing to be. In the first article the author was discussing the human body's internal cycle of blood and its interaction with the heart and the brain. This could have been a very boring and matter-of-fact article, but the style with which the author wrote made it much more fascinating. He was so intrigued by all of this subject matter and the life that blood gives living things. He used metaphors and beautiful, awe-inspiring imagery to describe the life that pumps through us.
Another article was about a man's journey to China, which he had written a book about. I was pretty shocked by how ethnocentric and discriminatory the book and the Harper's article were about the Chinese people.
There were escapist stories about men and women torn between loves that seemed like they could be in one of our contemporary escapist magazines or plots for chick flicks.
My favorite essay was about associating people with animals based on their physical appearance and their demeanor. It then went on to hypothesize life stories for random people passing in a city. It was very interesting and creative; its fascinating to try to catch glimpses into the lives of strangers even if they pass through your own life only for a moment.