Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Today In Class
It is Wednesday and I'm in English 113. The week is almost over! Today in class I began by finishing evaluating Liz's paper and writing my thoughts, suggestions, and ideas down on the evaluating sheet. After doing so, we logged into our gmail accounts and made sure our first draft for paper #1 was in google documents. I realized I sent mine in a day later than Frailly wanted it, and I apologize; it is, however, better late than never. Speaking of my paper, I am glad with how its coming. I think that revising process will be fairly easy. I can't wait to share it!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Conversation With My Father
Perhaps the conversation between the daughter and father in Grace Paley's "A Conversation With My Father" reveals Paley’s beliefs on how real life should be represented in fictional writing. The major conflict between the two resides in their different experiences of life and, therefore, different expectations for fiction. As they speak, the narrator relays the fact that her father was once a physician and then an artist and so, he has a keen interest in detail.
I did not find it surprising that the father was not pleased with the story the daughter originally drew up because we as readers had already discovered that her father was displeased with her writing style. However, it came as a complete surprise and quite ironic that when the daughter does come up with a better, more detailed, and tragic story, her father is saddened with the story and wonders how his daughter could write such a sad ending! How dare he! His daughter bends to his wishes and now it’s not what he wants anymore.
It seems to me that the ailing father will never be completely satisfied with his daughter’s fictional stories. Is his sickness the cause of such doubt in his daughter? Perhaps it is because he is sick that he feels like he knows tragedy like the back of his own hand. Yes, his sickness is reality, and yes, it is very sad, but that does not mean that his daughter does not know tragedy. Maybe she has yet to experience real tragedy, but when is that ever a bad thing? I think it will be hard enough on her when her own, doubtful father, dies and she loses one she loves. Just because someone is not in touch with tragedy as others out there, does not mean they don’t know what tragedy is. Every person who is alive and breathing and walking sees the good and bad events in everyday life.
I did not find it surprising that the father was not pleased with the story the daughter originally drew up because we as readers had already discovered that her father was displeased with her writing style. However, it came as a complete surprise and quite ironic that when the daughter does come up with a better, more detailed, and tragic story, her father is saddened with the story and wonders how his daughter could write such a sad ending! How dare he! His daughter bends to his wishes and now it’s not what he wants anymore.
It seems to me that the ailing father will never be completely satisfied with his daughter’s fictional stories. Is his sickness the cause of such doubt in his daughter? Perhaps it is because he is sick that he feels like he knows tragedy like the back of his own hand. Yes, his sickness is reality, and yes, it is very sad, but that does not mean that his daughter does not know tragedy. Maybe she has yet to experience real tragedy, but when is that ever a bad thing? I think it will be hard enough on her when her own, doubtful father, dies and she loses one she loves. Just because someone is not in touch with tragedy as others out there, does not mean they don’t know what tragedy is. Every person who is alive and breathing and walking sees the good and bad events in everyday life.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Yellow Wallpaper
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is by far my favorite short-story we have read for homework yet. This storie explored the effects of postpartum depression and how insane a woman is capable of becoming, because of her raging hormones and the effect of confinement. This story, therefore, displays two key concepts: the effect of postpartum on a mother and the effect of confinement on any individual.
It is ironic that the woman's husband, John, confides her in the nursery upstairs in their summer home for "recovery" because it is in fact having recently given birth to a baby that has sparked the flame in her insanity. This story reminds me of something Stephen King could have come up with. It is creepy, yet intriguing, and makes the reader want to keep reading further. The confinement is what leads to the narrator's obsession with the wallpaper.
Since the window is barred and the stairs gated, she has only the wallpaper to stare at and imagine all sorts of things. The pattern and color of the wallpaper is fascinating to the narrator. Eventually she imagines figures that are later recognized as woman, creeping behind the patterns in the wallpaper. As the story progresses she feels that she was one of them and tears at the wallpaper gradually to prevent anyone from pulling her back into the wallpaper. Others see the tearing of the wallpaper as normal because of its awful smell and color. It astounds me that anyone that comes across the narrator in these acts dismisses them as having any harmful effect.
The fear of getting pulled back into the wallpaper drives the woman to want to jump out the window, yet she is scared of the women outside that she imagines. The ending really made me say "wow" when John breaks into the room, his wife tells him the wallpaper has made her insane and he faints as she continues to creep along the perimeter of the bare-walled room.
It is ironic that the woman's husband, John, confides her in the nursery upstairs in their summer home for "recovery" because it is in fact having recently given birth to a baby that has sparked the flame in her insanity. This story reminds me of something Stephen King could have come up with. It is creepy, yet intriguing, and makes the reader want to keep reading further. The confinement is what leads to the narrator's obsession with the wallpaper.
Since the window is barred and the stairs gated, she has only the wallpaper to stare at and imagine all sorts of things. The pattern and color of the wallpaper is fascinating to the narrator. Eventually she imagines figures that are later recognized as woman, creeping behind the patterns in the wallpaper. As the story progresses she feels that she was one of them and tears at the wallpaper gradually to prevent anyone from pulling her back into the wallpaper. Others see the tearing of the wallpaper as normal because of its awful smell and color. It astounds me that anyone that comes across the narrator in these acts dismisses them as having any harmful effect.
The fear of getting pulled back into the wallpaper drives the woman to want to jump out the window, yet she is scared of the women outside that she imagines. The ending really made me say "wow" when John breaks into the room, his wife tells him the wallpaper has made her insane and he faints as she continues to creep along the perimeter of the bare-walled room.
Boys and Girls
"Boys and Girls" stood as a symbol, in my mind, for women's rights, and women's equality in society. This story displayed the hardship and success of descending into adulthood. After reading this story, I think that gender stereotyping and relationships definitely play a role for many children in becoming an adult. Because the narrator was unnamed, I assumed, as playing a role in the story's theme, that the narrator is undignified as an individual because of her sex. Since her brother's name is Laird, which is another name for "Lord", I came to the conclusion that by the virtue of his gender alone, will one day become a master, like his father.
The narrator even states that she would rather work outside helping her father with the foxes, rather than stay inside helping her mother with "dreary and peculiarly depressing" work in the kitchen. It's significant that she calls her mother's housework "endless" and her father's work outside "ritualistically important" (Munro 513). The narrator kind of hypocritically states that her mother "was not to be trusted" (Munro 513). She is now stereotyping her mother as she wished others would not do to her. She goes on to say that "you could not depend on her, and the real reasons for the things she said and did were not to be known" (Munro 513).
One point that just bestowed me was when the narrator said that she did not expect her father to listen to anything her mother said and did not expect her brother to do the work she does. She is, again, assuming she is great and her brother is not, yet her mother is not important simply for being a woman. This story has quite conflicted views and because of that, I loved it. I found "Boys and Girls" very interesting.
The narrator even states that she would rather work outside helping her father with the foxes, rather than stay inside helping her mother with "dreary and peculiarly depressing" work in the kitchen. It's significant that she calls her mother's housework "endless" and her father's work outside "ritualistically important" (Munro 513). The narrator kind of hypocritically states that her mother "was not to be trusted" (Munro 513). She is now stereotyping her mother as she wished others would not do to her. She goes on to say that "you could not depend on her, and the real reasons for the things she said and did were not to be known" (Munro 513).
One point that just bestowed me was when the narrator said that she did not expect her father to listen to anything her mother said and did not expect her brother to do the work she does. She is, again, assuming she is great and her brother is not, yet her mother is not important simply for being a woman. This story has quite conflicted views and because of that, I loved it. I found "Boys and Girls" very interesting.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
"The Lame Shall Enter First"
I really enjoyed this story. The fact that a child only ten years old was capable of hanging himself was a huge shocker. This story definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I thought it was although kind of Sheppard to want to help and enlighten Rufus, it was pitiful how naive and ignorant Sheppard was to his own son's need. Spiritually, Rufus believes in good and evil and is convinced he is under Satan's power to do evil. Unintentionally Rufus does, however, reveal to Sheppard the neglect his son was experiencing.
Norton, grieving his mother's death is in utter need of love and compassion that he is not receiving from his own father. Rufus, refusing the telescope Sheppard gives him, convinces Norton to look through the telescope to find his mom, and that he indeed can join her, but must die young in order to do so. Consequently Norton takes his own life, just short of his father's sudden compassion for him.
Lack of belief in God is the real antagonist in this story. Sheppard does not believe in God or Heaven and believes that helping others in the most important thing to do at this time. It is his lack of belief in God and empathy that blinds him from his son's need for love and creates a false understanding of what "good" really is. Moral good does not come from doing good, but from love and compassion.
*The Lame Shall Enter [Heaven] First* and all sins with always be forgiven.
Norton, grieving his mother's death is in utter need of love and compassion that he is not receiving from his own father. Rufus, refusing the telescope Sheppard gives him, convinces Norton to look through the telescope to find his mom, and that he indeed can join her, but must die young in order to do so. Consequently Norton takes his own life, just short of his father's sudden compassion for him.
Lack of belief in God is the real antagonist in this story. Sheppard does not believe in God or Heaven and believes that helping others in the most important thing to do at this time. It is his lack of belief in God and empathy that blinds him from his son's need for love and creates a false understanding of what "good" really is. Moral good does not come from doing good, but from love and compassion.
*The Lame Shall Enter [Heaven] First* and all sins with always be forgiven.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
