Wendy Cope “Lonely Hearts”

This poem was appealing to me because it had a lot to do with feeling. In my opinion this poem is about the wish and desire of every person to find someone to spend the rest of their lives with. I thought it was funny though that all these people were put ads in the personals column to find someone. In my opinion that is no way to meet someone. I also thought that it was funny that all these different people were from the same place, “North London.” If there are so many people in the same place looking for their “special someone,” I would think they would go out and try to find them; not just put an ad in the personal’s column.

WORD COUNT: 125

Carl Sandburg “Grass”

This poem is very unique. It is told from the view of an inanimate object, grass. I found it interesting because it uses allusion to help make a point to the audience. In this poem different war battles are alluded to. For example, the battle of Austerlitz, Waterloo, and Gettysburg are named. When referring to these battles, the poem talks about the people who died in them. It says to pile the men high and bury them. Then the grass continues to narrate the poem and says, “let me work – I am the grass; I cover all.” I found it interesting to compare the men who died to the grass that will last forever. The grass will always be there and it will always cover those who die; however, I found the most interesting part at the end. The grass seems to erase what happened there, at the battles. When people go by they ask where they are like nothing significant ever happened there. After the grass grew over all the buried bodies, it’s like what happened there was erased or forgotten.

WORD COUNT: 182

Oedipus

Over all I really enjoyed the story of Oedipus. It was very interesting as a tragedy because one always assumes that the main character never has anything bad happen to them. They always end up surviving what ever killed everyone else and they are the hero. But is Oedipus a hero in this story? I've pondered this a while since we read it. In an obvious way, no he is not. He is the one that killed the last king and brought doom on his city in the first place. However, in the end he leaves the city. He does not return which, in a way saves the rest. So, the last thing we have to look at is motive. In my opinion, I have no opinion. This is a difficult decision because he was ignorant to his actions for so long and he had no idea about their consiquence.

WORD COUNT: 150

Outside Activity 5

During this semester I had the opportunity to listen to an accomplished writer with a disability read her work. It was an incredible moment. A young woman named Kelly came to speak and she has autism. It was very moving to listen to her talk about her family and her life with autism as she spoke to us and through her book. I think her main idea she wanted to get across was to not make fun of people with disabilities. She told us in her book and through her speech that she had many hard times in school because other students would call her retarded and it hurt her feelings. Kelly was a very nice and intelligent woman who has accomplished a lot. She is living on her own in a community with other people with disabilities and is very close to her family. She inspired me as an individual to help others and myself.

WORD COUNT: 156

Movie vs. Text

In class we watched a movies that was based on the text "A Worn Path." I really enjoyed getting this point of view from the movie. In the text, the narrator is an outside source that has nothing to do with what takes place; however in the movie, the narrator seems like it is the old woman herself. In the text, the author was very discriptive of the events that occured but the movie helped me understand more of what happened. It helps me a lot to see expressions on people's faces because you can tell a lot from how people are looking at you. Because of this, I was able to better understand the nurse in the doctor's office throught the movies than in the text. Another difference in the way the text is portrays and the movies is where the setting takes place. After reading the text, I assumed that it was taking place in the north because although the white man was somewhat racial toward the black woman, he was still polite in helping her. In the movie, however, the sign on the doctor's office said "colored" which makes me think more about the south and segregation.

WORD COUNT: 200

Outside Activity 4

This weekend I went to Burke's Book Store to listen to students from a different college read creative writings that they wrote themselves. It was very interesting; however, when poetry was read I got a little lost. I'm not much or a poetic person so most of the time it was over my head. The fiction stories were very enjoyable. I liked the first one read the best. The girl was very talented. I noticed a big difference in the way that I would write compared to her. She used a lot of details, adjectives, and different uses of language. There was a lot of fowl language which I appreciated because I was able to relate to it better since that language is used everyday anyway. The second fiction story that was told by the last reader was also a well written story. It too used very descriptive words which I was able to follow and visualize while listening. Our guest in Memphis were very talented and I enjoyed the experience a lot.

WORD COUNT: 173

The Barmaid Tells the Story

When the barmaid is first introduced into the story, a negative connotation begins to develop through the text chosen by the author. Words such as “semiwhore,” “doomed,” and “menace” are used to describe the character and her life (Baldwin 45). These words are consistent with the negative tone of the rest of the story as it goes on to talk about the life of Sonny. The narrator uses the barmaid to symbolize the underlying theme of the story when he uses these words to portray different characteristics. Baldwin writes, “When she smiled one saw the little girl, one sensed the doomed, still-struggling woman beneath the battered face of the semiwhore” (Baldwin 45). This is how the narrator characterizes the barmaid to his audience; simultaneously, the narrator is speaking of the conditions in every character’s life in Sonny’s Blues. Not only through words but also through different behaviorisms is the theme seen through the barmaid. When the narrator sees the struggling and doomed woman, she is dancing and singing. It is assumed that the dancing, singing, and music are her escape from the reality of menace, because when the music stops, the barmaid pauses and looks at the juke box until it resumes. That moment when the music stops is when reality is hardest. Sonny’s Blues is about the hard times in life and learning the right way to deal with them by finding an escape which is shown briefly in the character of the barmaid.

WORD COUNT: 245

Teenage Wasteland

I thought today's discussion in English was great. I really enjoyed listening to the song by The Who because they are not a band that I listen to and it was good exposure. When relating the song to the story we just read, I thought it was very appropriate. The story is about a trouble teenage boy. The narrator of the piece of literature is his mother, Daisy. Therefore the entire story is told from the perspective of parents and adults. They see a troubled kid who keeps getting into trouble and eventually runs away. The teenage boy, however, does not get to share his side of the story. Maybe he is feeling trapped. Maybe he is feeling like he is looking for something and the world around him is not providing it. He wants something more than what is in front of him. That is where the song comes in. I believe the song comes from teenagers points of view. The music sound chaotic but it goes along with the lyrics. Just as a teenager's life is not structured or organized. If they made the short story into a movie I could see this song beginning to play as Donny walk out of the exam and leaves.

WORD COUNT: 208

Parker's Back Reflection

After reading Parker’s Back a couple of times I have had time to reflect on the characters. They range from religious to not religious, young to old, black to white, and creative to plain. All of these contrasting attributes can be seen in either Sarah Ruth or O.E. I reflected more on the character of O.E. who I thought to be the most interesting.

When O.E. marries Sarah Ruth, he is not religious. Whether he believed in God and chose not to act on it or did not believe at all, the reader does not know. The reader, however, does know that he is black and has covered his body in tattoos except for his back. I think it is important that he has nothing on his back and the reason for it. He thinks that there is not a reason to have a tattoo on his back because he cannot see it. If he did want to see it he would have to position himself between two mirrors and he thinks that he would look like an idiot looking for the tattoo.

At the end of the story, O.E. has a major revelation when he gets the tattoo of Christ on his back. This image of Christ is a symbol of his revelation about religion. I found it interesting because the reason he did not have a tattoo there was because he could not see it, just as he cannot see Christ. I also liked that he found the eyes the most intriguing part. His back is the most appropriate place for this image as well. Although he cannot see Christ, Christ is always watching and observing what we do. The other reason he did not get a tattoo there was because he would look like an idiot trying to see it. This goes along well with how his friends questioned him about getting religion and made him feel stupid.

This story is a lesson to me that although not everyone may believe in the Lord, they may in time and in different ways. Not everyone has to come to Christ at the same time or the same way. Parker’s Back had many opposing characters that combined in some way to benefit the protagonist O.E.

WORK COUNT: 378

Outside Activity 3

This weekend I went with my boyfriend to see "Twelve Angry Jurors." FYI if you do not purchase a ticket and just get on the waiting list, you do not have to pay. So it was good entertainment for free.

I really enjoyed this play a lot. The acting was very good and so was the image behind it. After discussing it with my boyfriend on the way home, he brought up a very good question that made me reflect on society. How many jury committees rush through a trial because they have other things to do? I found this very interesting, because it would be easier for someone to just agree with a group in order to move on, especially when you do not know the person being effected by your decision. I admired the woman juror who stood up for her beliefs. She did not have a reason to doubt the guilt but wanted to discuss it any way. If she had not than they would not have found out that the victim was not guilty. The behavior of the other jurors and their motives make me question how we run things in courts. Who is to say that this does not happen? Most people dread getting letters for jury duty any way. You never hear someone who got jury duty say, "Yeah! Now I get to go spend days in a court room listening and being quite."

WORD COUNT: 240

Let's talk about monsters!

I've talked about the hero perspective of the class and now I wanted to take a minute to talk about the monster aspect. When I first saw this video I was truly entertained; however after being in this class it really made me think. Wouldn't it be nice if all kids thought this way about monsters? This kid seems to have no fear of monsters at all; unfortunately she is oblivious to the language she is using as well, but I progress. I know that when I was a child I was afraid of monsters in the closet, under the bed, down the hall, and in the bathroom. If I only had the confidence of this kid maybe I wouldn't be afraid of the dark now. Yes, it is sad. I am still afraid of the dark. Where do children get the ideas of monsters? Perhaps they get them from movies, books, or scary stories. This child seems to be an exception. Maybe she watched action movies instead of scary movies which shows the bad guy always getting beat up. Maybe this says something about the content of entertainment parents should provide their children with.

WORD COUNT: 195

Southern Pride

Author’s often use real life experience when writing different pieces of literature. Flannery O’Connor, for example, uses her background as a Catholic southerner to influence the plot of her short stories; however, she does not revolve the story around being a Catholic southerner. Instead, she gives the characters these different traits which determine their thoughts and actions simultaneously developing the story. O’Connor’s influence as a southerner is shown in many of her short stories such as “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Revelation,” and “Parker’s Back.”

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor’s southern background is portrayed in the grandmother and can be seen through speech and religious views. For example, the grandmother uses words such as “fellow” where in the north they would have said “guys.” Also, the way she speaks of “niggers” shows that she is truly southern. Near the end religion makes a huge presence as the grandmother talks continuously about Jesus and praying. This is significant because the south is known as the Bible belt and is very religious. These examples and more are what drive the plot in the direction it goes.

Another example of how O’Connor’s southern roots are put into her short stories is seen in Mrs. Turpin from “Revelations.” Her talk of disposition is one example of southern characteristics. A woman’s disposition is important in the south and is held to higher standards than in the north which is why Mrs. Turpin speaks of it so much. In this story, the term “niggers” is thrown around very loosely which is also evidence that this woman is given characteristics of southern roots. Finally, the fact that she lives on a plantation and has “niggers” working for them shows southern upraising. Without Mrs. Turpin’s southern characteristics, some of the events that took place in this short story would not have happened.

Finally, “Parker’s Back” has many references to southern living as well. This story is more from the south than either of the other two. Slang such as “aw”, “lemme”, and “ought” are used in every day conversations throughout the entire story. The reader may also draw the conclusion through witnessing the religious aspect of the story from Parker’s wife. Because she is from the Bible belt in the south, she is religiously devout in her ways.

By portraying her characters as southern, O’Connor allows the reader is not only able to understand them better but understand why the plot goes in the direction it does. In all of her short stories this southern trait plays an important role. This method of characterization is commonly used whether the reader knows the author’s back ground or not.

WORD COUNT: 446

This Weekend

So this weekend and during fall break, I learned more about my ideals for my future. In another class I am working on a group project that involves building a school, administration, mission statement, and everything. This project was kind of hard at first because I was not user what direction to go with; however, with this, I was able to reflect more on my ideals as a future teacher. After some research, I came to the conclusion that I am an existentialist. An existentialist is focused on the children and their main goal is for the students to find out who there are and what they want out of life. I decided this because I do feel that is the teachers job to help kids find their identity. I also believe that due to this goal, students should pick their own curriculum from a wide variety in order to learn more about themselves. Now I don't know what building a model of a school accomplishes, but I did have fun.

WORD COUNT: 171

Peer Reviews

After going through the process of peer review on rough drafts of paper for nine years now, it is easy to come up with an opinion about them. I for one do not like the idea of peer reviews. The majority of the time the teachers are the ones who pair you in groups or with partners. I do not agree with this method of peer review because you may be paired with people you do not know. You may not trust their opinions and you also do not know the quality of their own work. So why would you want someone grading your work and correcting your papers if they cannot do well on their own. Another reason I do not agree with peer reviewing is because of the quality of laziness in some people. While they will answer the questions of the teacher in order to get credit they will not take the time to actually edit your paper. They may mark a few grammar errors but do not change anything nor provide any helpful suggestions, all the while giving you less than an A. If I were to have someone edit my paper it would be someone older and more experienced with writing skills that I know would make revisions and suggestions.

WORD COUNT: 215

Reality vs. Fantasy

Most literature has a deeper meaning than just entertainment; however, different people may interpret things in different ways. For example, someone may watch a movie and the movie may touch them emotionally because they may be able to relate to it. Others watching the same movie may just view it as entertainment because they have not experienced the same things. A piece of literature or dramatic viewing may also have a different inspirational story behind it according to different peoples view. This is also true for a play I recently saw, A Streetcar Named Desire. While viewing this play one may contrast the difference in one person’s reality and fantasy.

A Streetcar Named Desire may be viewed as an internal fight inside one person about external experiences. The different characters in the play represent different personalities and different desires. The internal problems one person has, perhaps Tennessee Williams, may be externalized in this way by letting the viewers see different personality traits and desires, or characters. This helps the audience view the difference in Tennessee Williams’ reality and fantasy throughout his life.

Some of the characters that portray Williams’ reality are Stanley and Stella. The character of Stanley represents Tennessee Williams’ father. He was a traveler and also abusive to his family as was Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. Stella’s character represented the reality of Williams’ mother. She lived in poverty and loved her husband in spite of his bad qualities. This was the reality of Williams’ life that he portrayed through the characters of his play.

The fantasy Tennessee’s family wishes to fulfill is seen in the character of Blanch. This character represents the fantasy of his mother just as Stella represents the reality she experiences. She fantasized about being a southern belle as well as having a perfect life within her family. She smothered her children as Blanch tries to smother Stella by telling her how she should be living. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanch finds out that a man she is dating is gay. This gay fellow represents Tennessee Williams himself. The audience can tell by observing that this truth is difficult to grasp by the way Blanch neglects to tell people. This event represents how Williams’ mother reacted to his situation due to the fact that she had a separate fantasy for her family that consisted of perfection and being visually appealing.

A Streetcar Named Desire is more than an entertaining piece of art. This story was inspired by the life of Tennessee Williams himself. The characters represent different people in his life and their realities and fantasies. While watching or reading other pieces of literature, try to guess the story behind it whether it was real or a fictional desire.

WORD COUNT: 459

Reflection on my paper

I wanted to take a blog to reflect about A Streetcar Named Desire and how I was going to incorporate it into my paper. I have decided to write about contrasting reality and fiction in this play. In my opinion I believe that this play may be considered one person, perhaps Tennessee Williams himself. The characters within the play could be different characteristic traits with in Williams or anybody. For example, while Stanley may represent anger and sin, Mitchell represents the love for others and family. So with this idea I extended it into reality and fantasy. I believe that while Stella represents reality, Blanch represents fantasy. I believe that everyone in the world has a contrast of reality and fantasy within them. Myself, in reality I am not rich but of average wealth. Sometime I do wish I was better off financially so that I would not have to pay for school or worry about bills. I will extend on this connection more in my paper.

WORD COUNT: 167

Outside Activity 2

This weekend I went to see the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. On my way downtown to view this piece I was beginning to expect less and less because I had never been to Hattiloo Theater and in my opinion it honestly looked like a whole in the wall. However, my opinions changed with the first scene of the play. I really enjoyed myself.

My favorite character was Stanley. Personally I am always drawn to the smart alack that makes me laugh. His character was a simple man in a loving relationship which shows that one does not need the world or anything material to have a wonderful love. His character did have some flaws as well though. His anger was not a good characteristic but it showed that no one is perfect.

I also found the title "A Streetcar Named Desire" interesting as well. In my opinion, the streetcar was a symbol for how much the audience was tossing between desires there was. For example, the story goes from the desires of Stanley, Blanch, and Stella. Blanch desired for the world to notice her. She wanted to be the center of attention. Stella and Stanley both had the desire for each other. Stanley wanted Blanch to leave in order for him and Stella to be happy again. However, he also desires Blanch which is shown in the scene where he rapes her. All of the emotion thrown around from character to character sets the name of the play, "A Streetcar Named Desire."

WORD COUNT: 256

=Harrison=

I really enjoyed the story “Harrison Burgeron” that we read outside of class. It was basically telling how some people think the world should be. So many people now days demand equality and uniformity, but do they really know what they are asking for. If everyone were equal and the same than what would make anybody unique? Everyone has different characteristics, talents, and features so no one can truly be equal. If this were not true than this world would be boring and we would never accomplish anything. For example, if everyone were equal creatively then we would always look at the same art and read the same literature. How boring would that be? The story “Harrison Burgeron” takes this idea to the extreme. In my opinion he is being over dramatic in order to make fun of those who want equality and uniformity. He uses drastic examples to give the readers an idea of what some people in society want.

WORD COUNT: 161

Outside Activity 1

This weekend I went to see Cigarette Girl at the Brooks Museum. It definitely was not what I expected. I went expecting it to be somewhat like spiderman or batman because it was previously a comic. I expected her to be some kind of hero and stop people from smoking. Instead, she was more like a monster. If she wasn't smoking then she was killing people because it made her feel better. She just happened to be killing people that were hurting others. I think she would have killed even if it didn't do anyone any good. Now instead of her being a slave to cigarettes, she is a slave to something much worse. In my opinion, this movie had a much bigger underlying meaning. I believe it is a metaphor for society today. For example, the movie shows that cities have a designated smoking area and you can not smoke out of it. In society today we have begun that already by outlawing it in building and restaurants. In the even bigger picture, the government enforced the same idea when segregating Indians into reservations that are only in certain parts of the country. Also, when the US segregated African Americans the same idea applied. I believe that the writer could have been portraying something more than just smoking is smoking. For instance, even when you think you are correct in your actions you could be starting a war that is way bigger than you.

WORD COUNT: 245

Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

The short story “Where are you Going? Where have you Been?” contains all the characteristics of a piece of literature. The author does a good job of developing the setting and the characters while also using metaphors and hidden meanings.

In this short story, Connie is the protagonist. Her character is fully developed so the reader knows her background, her appearance, and all her actions throughout the story. Knowing the inspiration of this piece of literature, some people might think that Arnold Friend was mean to be the protagonist, but in my opinion he is the antagonist because he is against the main character.

An important metaphor, Connie’s house, is also used in the story to explain the main character. Her house was in desperate need of repairs. As was Connie’s image of herself. Her mom was in the middle of making over the exterior so it looked two different ways, old and new. Connie had a similar appearance. She looked one way around her parents and another when she went out and about.

Another important characteristic of the short story is the use of symbols. One symbol used was the numbers painted on Arnold Friend’s car, 33 19 17. After researching, I believe that the numbers stand for a bible verse. If you count backwards in the Old Testament, the 33rd book is Judges. When you look at the 19th chapter, 17 verse it says, “and the old man said, ‘Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?’” This is the title of the short story, “Where are you Going? Where have you Been?” In my opinion that is not a coincidence.

Finally, the setting was an important element of this piece of literature. Oats choose this setting according to her inspiration. Actual even that occurred in Arizona were very similar and in the same small town. I think if the story took place in another place, like a city, would not have the same effect. Being able to run across a highway to get to the local burger joint gives more of an opportunity to get in a bad situation with strangers. If you were to drive around in a car in the city you would be less likely to meat strange people. The setting provided allows for the reader to put themselves in the small town as well.

WORD COUNT: 390

Working Together

When writers write their stories they usually narrate through a character. Using this method to tell a story is interesting because you not only know what is going on in the story but you know what is going on within the narrator. However as one reads it must be kept in mind that the narrator is providing only one view of the story. All the other characters within the piece have their own story to tell from a different perspective. Although the view point of stories is sometimes different, all the different versions can work together to give the reader a better understanding of the entire story. Different versions allow the reader to better understand different characters. Oats’ Where are You Going? Where have You Been? is one version of a story that was told from a different perspective by many other people as well.

The first story read in class was Where are You Going? Where have You been? by Oats. She wrote the story from the view point of a girl named Connie. Connie saw Arnold Friend as any other girl did; he was appealing with his muscles, clothes, and his voice. However this version of the story also allows the reader to develop their own opinion from the way his character is portrayed. The movie Smooth Talk also tells the piece from Connie’s perspective, however the viewer has the chance to see the character of Arnold Friend and make another opinion from his actions toward Connie as one watches.

Murder in the Desert was written from the perspective of Schmid’s, aka Arnold Friend, lawyer. According to this lawyer, Schmid was different from other kids; however, the words he uses to describe him make the reader think of him as better than others such as: good looking, high school gymnastics champion, polite, and mannered. When reading this article one may assume that because this is Schmid’s lawyer it is his job to make him look good. This piece of literature like the others so far still serves a purpose even if it is biased. It shows another view of Schmid from someone else’s eye. One finds out about Schmid’s murder conviction with the help of his two friends. Lastly, in this version another view is pointed out. At the end of the story, Schmid wants to take back his plea of guilty because he claims he did not murder this girl. He takes drastic measures like uncovering the body to prove that there was no fracture in the skull; however once the body was uncovered there was a fracture. Schmid honestly believed there was no evidence that he killed her. This detail may lead people to think he had a mental illness but it is just another piece of the puzzle.

Two reporters told their stories about Schmid in two different lights. In Crime Secrets in the Sand “Arnold Friend” is portrayed much the same way as his lawyer said. He was well muscled, a gymnast, had cars, money, and girls. He was made out to be the most popular, the best. The reporter of Arizona: Growing up in Tucson describes Schmid as “sick”, blabbermouth, a dropout. In this report Schmid is made to look like the worst of the worst. He was the bad man who killed people’s daughters.

These stories and few others change the way Schmid, aka Arnold Friend, is viewed. All these stories are also important because they are from different perspectives. After reading all the information one is able to formulate an opinion about this boy. This is how all different iterations can work together.

WORD COUNT: 602

Ingredients, Process, "Made Thing"

To any decision there is a process that precedes it. Whether that decision is an everyday choice or an important decision that may affect one’s future there is a mental process that is gone through to make the final choice. This is also true with literature. The author must first decide what they are going to write about which may be considered the ingredients of the story. Ingredients of a story may include the following: sources, inspiration, setting, plot, theme, grammar, point of view, tone, voice, and word choice. After the ingredients are decided upon, the author must go through the process of putting the story together. This could be in the form of an essay, short story, poem, play, or any visual text. Finally, when the story is put together you have a “made thing” that may consist of an idea or underlying meaning. This is the process that was taken when writing A&P, Rites of Passage, and The One Girl at the Boy’s Party.

When reading A&P, the reader may take away a particular meaning from the story, but when broken down into its different components, A&P has many different meanings. The story takes place in an A&P supermarket in a small town. The customers are described as sheep and Sammy, the protagonist, is the cashier. Some other important ingredients that stood out to me were the three girls in swimsuits, the word Queenie used to describe the leader of the girls, the manager and his words that embarrassed the girls, Sammy’s “I quit”, and the girls ignorance to what happened. The way Updike put all these things together added to the “made thing”. He used the trope of a rich girl/poor guy to appeal to the reader. Also, the use of conversation was very effective toward the meaning of the story because the reader could tell by quotation marks what the characters were making public knowledge by saying aloud and what only the reader knows from the characters thoughts. The description of the girls was a process used as well. When putting all of this back together, you get the “made thing” which may include: don’t start something that you don’t want to finish, sometimes good deeds go unnoticed, or the right thing might not always be the easiest.

As one reads Rites of Passage the same concept may be applied. Some of the ingredients include: men, six and seven, the phrase “kill a 2 year old”, small bankers, turret, the phrase “I could beat you up “, generals, and war. The setting is at the narrator’s son’s birthday party. Similes were used to compare the boys to men, bankers, and generals. As the author used processes to put all of the ingredients together, she made a big impact on how a reader would perceive the poem. As she wrote, she used a pattern of man vs. child vs. man vs. child repetitively. This shows the reader the difference it men and children but simultaneously shows the similarities. Using italics for the conversation of the children was also another intentional process. Differentiating between the children’s conversation and the narrator’s thoughts shows the reader exactly what the boys said and not just an interpretation from the narrator. When all the ingredients and the process by which everything was put together are looked at, the reader can interpret the “made thing”. In this case, the poem shows the relationship between boys and men. Also, this poem shows a parent and son’s relationship and the parents view of growing up from mentioning a 2 year old, them being 6 and 7, to the relationship of men.

A final example of how this procedure works can be shown through The One Girl and the Boy’s Party. This story takes place outside at a swimming party. Other ingredients include: math scores unfolding, curves of their sexes, bathing suit, hamburgers and fries, and prime number. The description of the girl is the best process used in my opinion. She is described as very smart at math, pencil lead hair as she gets out of the pool, and hamburgers and fries on her swimsuit. These images on the swimsuit may or may not be real according to the reader. They may just be a metaphor depending on how one understands the process. Another process used was the starting point and growing up. The author wrote this poem in such a way that it may be interpreted as the girl growing up. He used words such as unfolding that may represent her maturing. In my opinion the made thing in this story is a parent’s perspective of their children growing up.

Although all of the “made things” were different in each story, the stories were similar in that they all went through the same process of being able to be broken down and put back together to make some kind of “made thing”. This procedure can be used on any literature to help the reader better understand a certain piece.

WORD COUNT: 835

Sharon Olds' Hero

As I read the poems "Rites of Passage" and "The One Girl at the Boy's Party" I compared Sharon Olds' heroes to Updike's hero Sammy. Updike's Sammy quit his job in response to how the girls were being treated. This was a brave act of heroism. This like many other actions taken at that time was a start/aid to the feminist movement.

In "Rites of Passage" the son is a hero in his own way according to Olds. He does not aid to a major event or quantity of people like Updike's character, however, he makes a change for a few. He stops the arguing and bickering among his friends and creates peace.

In "The One Girl at he Boy's Party" the girl is also a hero much like the son in "Rites of Passage". She does not make a major jester like Sammy but stands for something similar. The girl is the only girl among many boys, and because this story was written a couple of years after the feminist movement, I believe she stood for women's rights. Also, Olds brought out her knowledge of math which I believe stands for her ability to succeed as much as the boys.

According to these stories, Updike and Olds have different views of a hero but both there heroes make/stand for some kind of change however big or small.

WORD COUNT: 228

Updike's Views

After listening to the interview with Updike, I realized that his intention of the story A&P was different then I perceived it. Updike had intended for Sammy to be a hero. He said Sammy's intentions were noble and he was meant to be the girls hero. His action of quiting his job was related to the feminine protest and wanting to find his own way. I now see Sammy differently than when I read it the first time. Having the knowledge of the author's intent for Sammy helps the reader to see how he was suppose to be a hero even if they did not agree because of the way the story was written.

WORD COUNT: 114

Definition of Hero

There is a fine line between hero and role model, but the difference is very important. Not everyone who is a role model can be considered a hero, yet every hero can be considered a role model. Dictionary.com defines hero as, “A [person] of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” The key phrase in this definition is “noble qualities” because it is very often over looked. When defining someone as a hero, that person must meet all the characteristics outlined in the definition: distinguished courage or ability, brave deeds, and noble qualities.

Think about the police officer brought up in class. A person joins the police force for a living, yet his motive for doing so is to become the news on the front page of the paper. He goes to his job day in and day out. Then one day there is a robbery at a neighborhood house while the residents were there. As the police officer makes his way to the scene, he thinks that this is his chance to get in the news. He arrives at the house and apprehends the robber simultaneously saving the family form harm. In this scenario, many people would call this police officer a hero for saving the family and taking the robber in to custody. However, according to Dictionary.com he would not be considered a hero, because this officer did not meet all the expectations. His motive for doing what he did was not noble at all. He saved the family purely to benefit himself. This situation would be completely different, however, if his intentions were not known. If this police officer had joined the force and saved that family but no one knew he did it for fame then his intentions would be considered noble to everyone around him. In this new scenario the police officer would be considered a hero according to the definition because he not only exhibited courage and brave deeds but also nobility as far as the eye could see.

In the story A&P, the reader knows that Sammy is quitting his job in order to get the attention of the girls. In this perspective he would not be considered a hero. From the perspective of a character in the book, Sammy may have been viewed as a hero. His friend at the other checkout counter watched as Sammy stood up for the girls when the manager embarrassed them. However, he had the courage to quit anyways. To his friend at the other checkout counter and to the other customers watching he could have seemed like a hero because no one knew his intentions were not noble.

Heroism can be a very touchy subject. What one person defines a hero as might not be the same as others. According to the definition on Dictionary.com, there are certain expectations to meet to be considered a hero. Nobility is one characteristic that is debatable because no one truly knows what someone else is thinking or their motives.

WORD COUNT: 505

Fiction Literature pg. 19

The Details in the story are true to life in many ways. For example, the girls in swim suits being gawked at by the men, and also the head of the pack. These details and more help the reader to relate to the situation.

The character of Sammy is not portrayed particularly well. The audience gets the idea that he is only interested in material thing by the way he talks about the girls and stares a lot. Although he wanted the girls to notice the hero in him I don't necessarily think that makes him any less a hero because he knew that he would have trouble after he quits.

The exposition of the story is given in the first paragraph. It sets the story in a grocery story it portrays it to be about the three girls in swim suits. "Queenie" is carefully portrayed in the story in order to capture the attention of the audience and make them feel the way Sammy does.

As the story progresses, Sammy seems to feel the same way toward the girls throughout.

The dramatic conflict in the story becomes apparent when the manager walks in. The crisis arrives when he tells the girls they can not be dressed like that while in the store. The climax takes place when Sammy says he quits.

Sammy quits his job because he believes that the manager treated the girls unfairly and should not have embarrassed them.

I didn't see anything in the story earlier that would have foreshadowed Sammy's actions. I was surprised when he quit.

After Sammy quits his job he says that the world is going to be hard. Maybe this is said because it is hard to get a job at this time. The object the girls bought did not cost much. Maybe this story took place a long time ago and money and jobs were hard to come by.

Updike, through Sammy, make the comment that society at the supermarket are like sheep. They do what they always do and don't mind anyone else's business.

WORD COUNT: 345

Fiction Literature pg. 8

The exposition of the story takes place in the first two sentences of the story. The Prince of Ch'u sends is two officials to interview Chuang Tzu who is fishing to work for his government. Chuang Tzu uses only two sentences to set up the dramatic scene for the rest of the story.

Chuang Tzu uses the example of the tortoise in order to provide an example that the officials can relate to. Although he already knows the answer to the question he asks, he asks it anyways relating himself to the tortoise and making the officials realize why he wouldn't want to assist in his government.

Chuang Tzu seems peaceful and wise.

WORD COUNT: 113

Fiction Literature pg. 6

The North Wind and the Sun have different personalities. The North Wind is aggressive and uses all his might at one time. The Sun is patient as he entices the traveler.

The North Wind was ineffective in his method because he was using force. He used all his strength to blow his wind but it made the traveler cold so he bundled up tighter.

The Sun's method was effective because he was appealing to the traveler. He made the traveler comfortable wearing his cloak then shined his hardest and the man got so hot he wanted to take it off.

The traveler serves the purpose of the judge. Unknowingly he is deciding who is the strongest by taking off his cloak.

The moral is persuasion is better than force. This pertains to the story in that the North Wind uses force and is unsuccessful in getting the man to take off his cloak. However, the Sun persuades the man by appealing to his senses. He gets hot enough that he has to take off his cloak to stay comfortable.

WORD COUNT: 179