week 15

Act I

Troy and Bono sound just like a couple of drunks sitting around the house telling stories and the more they drink the bigger the stories. Lyons is a thirty-four years old and acting like he is 16. He does not have a job and is borrowing money from his dad. Troy gives it to Rose so she can hand it to Lyons like he is not the one giving the money. I do not see much difference in Lyons and my children except my children are teenagers and he is thirty-four.

Act II

Troy’s brother Gabriel comes to visit. Gabriel got shot in the head during the war. He has a medal plate in his head. This left him mental retarded. Troy feels guilty because he took the money the army gave his brother and bought a house for his family to live in, including Gabriel. He has taken care of Gabriel every day until Gabriel decided he wanted his own place to live. However, Troy still feels guilty about taken his money.

Act III

Cory, Troy’s son, tries to talk his father into letting him play football. Like most fathers he wants his son to have a better life than he did. Troy wanted to play ball and was too old even though he believes it is because he is black. Rose tries to talk Troy into letting Cory play but he refuses. Troy tries to teach Cory he has to depend on himself and nobody else. Cory thinks his father does not like him but what Troy is trying to teach him is it does not matter who likes you, all you need to worry about is if you are getting treated fairly in life.

Act IV

Troy tells his son what kind of father he had and how much better his son’s life is than his.

Act II

Scene 1, 2, 3, 4, &5

I was shocked at this scene. I thought Troy would get caught cheating. I never dreamed he would tell his wife that not only was the woman he was cheating on her with, was pregnant but that he also still wants to keep seeing her while he is still married to his wife. I am glad Cory came out of the house and stepped in between his mother and father. I think his father would have hurt his mother if he had not.

It is six months later Troy’s lover, Alberta, just died while giving birth to a baby girl. Rose is still living with Troy even though he was still seeing Alberta. Now, Troy has asked Rose to raise his baby and she agrees. Seven years later Troy dies and the family finally has some peace in their hearts.

week 14

My comments on

“A Raisin in the Sun”

I put this movie in thinking when will it be over. I must say I enjoyed the movie. I watched the newer version with P. Diddy. The movie tells of all their dreams not just that of Walter. The focus was on him but they all had dreams and I think all of them came true or will. The mother just dreamed of her children becoming adults. The daughter dreamed of becoming a doctor. The wife dreamed of a house of her own. The grandson dreamed of his own bedroom. The son dreamed of a better life. Although Walter was the one who lost the money that could have made their dreams come true, he is also the one because he lost the money that made their dreams come true. Walter learned that money was not the answers to his dreams. He was already living his dream if he would only open his eyes and see what he had or as his mother said,” Today he became a man.” I even cried a little during the movie. Ruth made a tough choice as to keep her unborn child or have an abortion. She was getting an abortion for the wrong reason having another child would make her life a little tougher but it would not stop her dreams from coming true. Lena only dreamed that her children would grow up and be someone she could be proud of. Her children did just that. The not only had to have dreams but have some of the crushed to see what their dream really was. Although Benita did not become a doctor yet and will still have a tough road to travel to become one, she did learn not to give up a dream just because there is a rock in the road. You may stumble a little trying to achieve your dreams but that does not mean you have to give up on them. A person just has to work a little harder or change their dream a little. To me the story tells me no matter what happens in life never give up on your dreams no matter how far away they seem to be. If your life is not going in the way of your dream change your life so your dreams comes a little closer to you and above all else stay true to the person you are love your family more during the hard times and you may just find you are already living your dream.

week 13

My thoughts on

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

This is a story about Jon Wrights death. He was killed in his sleep by being strangled to death by a rope around his neck. At first it all seems to lead to that the wife did it. She did not show any emotion, that she was sad or scared or well really anything. She just played around with her apron, staring off into space and rocking back and forth in her little rocking chair. And then, while talking with everyone they figured out that she had killed him, Mrs. Hale put the box with the dead bird into her coat pocket. She did not tell the men about the dead bird she had just uncovered. They had discovered how Mrs. Wright killed her husband. She "knots it" instead of "quilts it". They did not tell the men about the bird in the box because it was an act of loyalty for girls to stick up for girls. Mrs. Wright before she got married was Minnie Foster. She was a very cheerful person and full of colors in everything she did. She loved to sing. Then when she got married to Mr. Wright her life became dark and lonely therefore, it drove her insane and she killed Mr. Wright.


Naked Lunch by Michael Hollinger

Lucy and Vernon use to be lovers and they broke up. Vernon had Lucy over for dinner. He made her steak and corn. He got her flowers and pretty napkins. He also bought some wine. She would not eat the steak and only ate the corn. Vernon noticed that she was not eating her steak and asked her why she wasn't eating her steak. Lucy replied by saying she has decided to become a vegetarian and Vernon had no clue what she was talking about because she had always been eating meat while they were together. She told him that she had always been thinking about it for a while. He told her that she had never brought it up to him. And he wanted to know why she had never told him that she was thinking about becoming a vegetarian. They argued back and forth for a while before Lucy decided to give in to Vernon and eat her steak. He even cut it off for her. Then, they went on with their dinner. Vernon did this all to make up with Lucy and get her back, to make her the happiest girl in the world to be with him. During this story you could feel the tension between one another. I do not think the conflict between them ever got solved. I think they just ignored the issue and that is not good for their relationship. Communication is the key to good start and finish. I think that if Lucy would have explained herself and why she felt the way she felt about meat in the first place, when she started thinking about it. They may not have ever broken up in the first place or things would have gone more smoothly during the dinner.

week 12

my comments on

Bradstreet "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

Bradstreet talks about how she loves her husband. "Prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, or all the riches that the East doth hold." No money could compare to the way she feels about her husband. No gold is worth the life she shares with her husband. You could not pay her all the money in the world to leave him. She may be able to buy anything and everything she wants but she will still feel lonely. She will not have any love. She will not have anyone to share the things that make her the happiest. Money and things cannot buy you love. These things come and go but love stays forever. "Then while we live, in love let's so persevere, that when we live no more, we may live ever." Here she states that while they live their lives in love, she wants to keep it close to her heart and let the world know how she feels. And when they die and all is gone nothing will be forgotten. Their love will always remain here on earth and ever strong in the afterlife.

Housman "To an Athlete Dying Young"

Housman talks about how you are the star of the show one day and then next no one remembers your name. You may be the talk of the day, maybe even the week but nothing last forever. Everyone starts out with everyone cheering them on. They grow up thinking they are the best, they may even be the best in their hometown and then when they meet that one person who can do things a little better than them they cannot handle things. You may even be doing something you love and really do not care if you are good at it and everyone does not let it go and when you start to believe it, it could all be forgotten in a flash. You may not be ready for all the fame to go away but either you mess up and can never do it again or someone better and newer comes along and takes your spot light. And some people take things too far and think they have to be all that anyone talks about. One day they lose it all and no one cares anymore. You are just a name in the history book; well at least you made it that far, right?

Williams "Thinking about Bill, Dead of AIDS"

Williams talks about a period in time where they did not know how to feel about such diseases. They did not know how to treat people so they just shun them. They pushed them away and left them to deal with this by themselves. When it says "Thinking of friends afraid to shake your hand", it is like saying "Ewe, you have cooties, don't touch me." How would you feel if you had a disease and no one would come around you, even if they knew it would not harm them? William says " Stopping, though, to set our smiles at the door....We didn't know what look would hurt you least." How about showing what you truly feel. Even if you do not understand what people are going through? Even if you think that it could hurt you, it is hurting them and you are just setting them aside like a used rag, does not make them feel any better about dying. It just makes them feel worse, way worse than they ever could. We stereotype way too much and we need to learn to accept people for the way they are and deal with their mistakes. They do, so why can't we?

Williams "This is Just to Say"

Sometimes we do things that we did not mean to do, it just happens. You should not regret anything but sometimes we feel the need to. People take without asking, and thinking "Hey, maybe they need this" but never think twice about it. All anyone can ever say is I'm sorry and you can forgive them or just let it eat you alive. It is like when a small child does something they are not suppose to be doing, you cannot get mad and yell at them. They did not know any better. They did not know that it was uncalled for. They did not know that it would make you upset. They just wanted to have "fun". They just wanted to make you happy and proud of them. They were being thoughtless. Everyone is thoughtless at times, you just got to work through it and make the best of it. You want people to be honest and truthful no matter what they did to you. All you have to do is forgive them for their mistake, and let it go, and go on with your life. Life is too short to hold onto the past. Just work on the present and hope for a future.

week 11

My comments on

Danse Africanine by Langston Hughes

This poem gives me the image of a girl dancing and singing around a camp fire. The way she moves makes your heart pound and skips a beat. You can hear the beating of the drums but by the way she swirls around the fire you do not pay much attention. You get lost in the way the music lifts up the smoke from the fire. Everything begins to slow down but your blood flow begins to rise rapidly and it leaves you with shivers all down your spine.

Dream Variations by Langston Hughes

Hughes is defining every dream everyone makes. Everyone wants to accomplish their dreams and once they have what, what do they got left to live for. Dreams can go as far as the stars can reach and no one stops until they have reached them. I also, thought this poem as they live too lives. They show people one person but when no one is around they are a different person. Some people live to please other and when they are gone they show their true colors.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe talks about everything he would do for love. He would “Prove that valleys, groves, hills, and fields, woods, or steeply mountains yields.” Things would not stand in his way to make her happy. They would go for walks on the beach and watch the water hit the rocks and listen to the birds sing. He would make a bed of roses with every scent you could ever imagine. Clothes only made from the finest, shoes only for the best from the best, flowers of every kind. He would sing to her swirl her around. She could have all of this but only if she would be his lover.

The Hymph’s Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh

This poem explains that everyone leaves the nest. Everyone finds love and let their emotions run free. Just like birds cannot help but to migrate. Flowers begin to fade as people fall out of love. Every bud that freezes during winter blooms again and forgets, just as if it never happened, just like we do with our memories that were not too good.

week 10

My comments on

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Frost talks about coming to a path and having to choose between which ways to go. One was more grasser and pleasant. The other path was rough looking and more difficult to travel on. Most people would not even give the second path a second glance. Everyone likes to take the easy way out. But, sometimes that’s not the best choice. Because, what do you get to learn by doing that? Taking the most difficult path when making life decisions, it makes a huge difference. You can most likely predict what the easy path or the one most traveled will bring you. It just sugar coats the issue and brings up another one. Not everything in life is going to be easy and bring you happiness but those moments are what make and break you. Those are the ones you always remember and learn from.

Storm Fear by Robert Frost

I think Frost is describing a winter storm. During this storm he is looking out the window and sees snowflakes falling fast as fast as snowflakes can fall. He hears dogs barking to come out and play with them in the snow storm. He does not even attempt to move. As he is looking out the window the fire starts to die out and the winter chills start to settle in. He watches as the yard and roads start to be covered by snow. He fears that everything will be gone and nothing will be left.

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Some people are very passionate about the way the world will end, others just want it to end but be preserved. If the world ends with fire, then, everything is destroyed and the only thing remaining is its aches. Everyone has to begin again. We have to start over from the ashes and rebuild everything brand new. But, if the world ends in ice things get preserved and wait to be used again. Something’s might get ruined but most stay intact and is available to be reused and restored. Either way, you are going to have to start over, maybe not from the ground but pretty close. Something’s you are going to have to throw away. Something’s you can freeze and go back later to solve or use it again.

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking by Robert Frost

Everyone likes to help others. His is just a way of nature. Everyone gets a broken heart at some point in their life. They need someone who cares and tries to understand how they feel. Maybe, they need someone to talk to. Maybe, they just need to know that someone is there for them. Sometimes you cannot help. Maybe, you do not know what to say or do. Maybe, you do not know how to take on the action that has been done. You feel like you have failed at something and you just cannot deal with that. You cannot hold it against yourself if it does not work and you cannot heal that person who is hurting. But, you will cherish every moment spent, that you have restored a beating heart. Your comfort is all that is needed. Words cannot solve everything because not everything needs words.

Water Is Taught By Thirst by Emily Dickinson

Everything is made by something else. If you did not have one thing the other could not exist. Everything is a repeating cycle that never ends. You have to have scars to show how things have been proved. You have to fall off your bike to learn how to ride. You have to move to experience new things.

week 9

My comments on

“The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake

This poem is about a little girl whose mother died when she was very young and her father sold her. All she does is work from the break of dawn to dusk. She did not let anything get to her. She knew she was better than that. She liked to help people and make them feel better. When she helped one little boy, he told some of his friends what she said to him and that it made him feel better. Therefore, they would have hope too. Then later on, an angel came to Tom and talked to him. The angle told Tom that he was a good boy and that he had God and did not need anything else in his life. This made Tom super happy and he did not have a single fear in the world.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

This is a poem about someone that is used to being abused by someone that drank all the time. It says there was whiskey on your breath that could make a small boy dizzy. It says no matter what my mother frown would or really could not go away. Not only was she unhappy but the boy was too and even the father was unhappy. Maybe that is why he was drinking. But, this still does not give him a reason to hit his son! He is not going to solve anything. I wonder what happened to make things this way. Was it something between the wife and husband? Was it something that happened in his family? Was it something to do with his job? Maybe, it was something between him and his son. So, he drank to make himself feel better but drinking made him violent and made him beat his child.

“My Mistress Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun” by Shakespeare

This poem is about a girl, a girl that he has falling head over heels in love with. He compares her beauty to the beauty of the world. He said her voice is like music to his ears. Nothing can compare to his feelings for her. Nothing could be or get any better than her. Her body is like nothing he has ever seen in his entire life. He said her walk is like what you could imagine a goddess’s walk would be like. He is in heaven and nothing can compare to her, not a thing. Nothing is more pleasant than her.

week 8

Comments

 “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks

This is about people who think they are real cool. They think they are awesome because they quit school, stay up late, do things they are not suppose to do, and all they do is smile about it and think there is nothing  wrong with what they are doing. Then, they do something that makes them realize that what they are doing is not really that cool, it is actually pretty stupid.

“We Old Dudes” by Joan Murray

This poem is about a group of people who do pretty much everything together. They like to play golf every chance they get and go to the mall. They pretty much spend every waking moment together.

“Marks” by Linda Pastan

This poem is about a wife and mother who thinks her work is not welcome anymore. Her husband says her cooking is amazing but the sex is not that great. Her son just thinks she is like every other mom, nothing is really different. Her daughter just sees her as yes, you are an okay mother or no, you are a horrible mother. The mother cannot take it anymore and wants to leave.    

“Root Cellar” by Theodore Roethke

This poem is really bah! It talks about a cellar. It talks about what is in a cellar. It describes what it looks like and what it smells like. It tells you about what you will most likely find in a cellar from all the old stuff to the new. It tells all about the stuff that lives and grows in there. Maybe, no one has been in that cellar in a very long time since it says “Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.” Everything has a meaning in that place. Everything has a place and it is in its place.

“Rearview Mirror” by Robert Morgan

This poem talks about how time passes us by. One second we are thinking about what we are going to do with the rest of our lives and the next second ten years have passed us by. We have accomplished so much but we also still have so much ahead of us. As soon as we make a plan for our future it is already in the past and it is time to think about the future again. Some people just live day to day and do not think about their future or think about their past, even though, it shapes you as a person and makes you who you are. Time fly’s by and you only have yourself to look at.

week 7

My comments on

The Secretary Chant By Marge Piercy

When I read “The Secretary Chant” I was a little confused near the ending. At first I was getting the picture that it was a woman, who was stuck at a desk helping people all day and she felt it was dragging her down. But then it said, “I am about to be delivered- of a baby” so, then I started thinking maybe it is a woman that is pregnant that works in an office and it does not make her happy. She feels used just like the equipment she uses. She no longer feels like a human. She feels like the office is taking over her body, mind, and soul. She thinks there is nothing left of herself. All she knows or can at least think about is being in her office. She has given up and compares herself to what she knows. What she has became.


Those Winter Sundays By Robert Hayden

This poem is about someone who was once a child, talking about their father. During the winters their father would go out in the cold, to warm up other people, and they never thanked him for what he did. He would come home and bring his frustration with him. The child did not realize he would cherish love and loneliness more than he ever would have thought about. The child hated waking up in the mornings, knowing what the day would be about. They feared it until they got older and looked back on their life and realized they learned a lot and it motivated them to be a better person in their own eyes.


Mountain Graveyard by Robert Morgan

When I saw this poem I was like what in the world. Then I started breaking it down into simpler form and this is what I got out of it. I think Robert is talking about the grave site itself. He said, “Stone, notes” as in the gravestone. The “Slate, tales” is the plate that they stick on the grave but at the end, “Sacred, cedars” I thought about the coffin. When he says “Heart, earth” I thought about the ground, the ground is the heart of the earth. He said, “Asleep, please” I think he is saying leave them alone. Leave them in peace. He also said, “Hated, death” I understood from that, he was saying maybe they were not ready to go or maybe that the family was not ready for them to go.


Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collin

This poem is about people who look at poetry and want the meaning to jump out at them. They do not want to look for the deeper meaning. They do not want to look for the story it tells. They do not want to look into its irony. Not every poem you read is going to come right out and tell you what you want to hear. In fact, not many will do that. It is all on your interpretation of it. It is all on what you want it to mean. Not everyone will see a poem the same way as you but that is what makes poetry so amazing. “Stop beating it with a hose”, as Mr. Collin says and look at poetry like you would the sun rising. It has a meaning but does not have to be right in front of your face to know why.





Theology by Gerald Barrax

When I read this poem at first I thought I understood it until it got to the second stanza, then as I reread it I began to understand it. The poet, he mentioned all must talk about something that was once there and has gone away, but is it really gone or is it just our imagination? Is it just what we want to believe is there? If this little girl can make it that simple why can’t we? What do they all have in common? What makes them different but so alike? They all see it in the simple form of a child.

poetry assignment

I read all of these poems and I must say I am at a loss. I did not understand any of them. Here is what I understood them to say.

Preacher Don’t Send Me I thought was about someone who is dying and is telling the preacher she is not ready to go. But, after rereading the line so what I need from you on Sunday has me rethinking maybe it is about a person going to church and telling the preacher I do not want your promises of a good life in heaven. I do not want a promise of milk and gold. I have lived a hard life and none of those matters. What matters to me, what I think is heaven is a family that loves no matter what, people who care even if they do not know you, and a peace that comes from within.

                Wide Open, These Gates is about a young person growing up, remembering what a wonderful life he/she has had. He/she spent the summers with his/her grandparents, and thought fondly of them. Now he/she is almost fully grown and it will not be long before he/she will embark on the world, never to spend another summer with his/her grandparents.

                Country Lover just says it all in six little lines. To me, this is about a woman who dated a man that was all about a good time. The line “Funk blues makes me think they are in a bar and “keen toes shoes, high water pant, saddy night dance, and red soda water” makes me think they are enjoying dancing. The line “and anybody’s daughter” makes me think this man only wants to have a good time.

                Diamonds, what a beautiful love story, this man is poor and wants to give his wife the world but has no money to do so. They live on top of a mountain and life is hard. He thinks of her as a princess and teases her by calling her “Queen of the Meadow.” She in return shows her love for him and the life they have together by licking the diamonds off the leaf.

                My Mother Shoots the Breeze is another love story about a school teacher who falls in love with another teacher. The story goes about telling how their romance gets it start. I did like the fact that she shot the kite. He sent the kite up about every two weeks. Maybe that was his way of flirting with her. She, in shooting the kite, told him enough is enough and it sparked a romance that ended in marriage.

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway

For me this story was hard to understand at first. I do not know if the author intended it to be that way or not. I was lost trying to figure out what the story was about until I realized they were hunting animals. I thought the story was going to be about the types of animals they were hunting and a woman being on an animal hunt. After I finished reading it, I realized the story is about their marriage. This is not the first time Margaret t has cheated on her husband. She knows he will never leave her and that is why she does it. She tries to push her husband to become a man that is not a pushover. Francis Macomber was a man that was easy going. He let his money tell him what he should do, or at least as far as his marriage was concerned. He would not leave his wife because he was not strong enough to marry a woman as pretty as Margaret and she would not leave him because she had lost some of her looks and was afraid she would  not find a man as rich as he was. Their marriage had been in trouble many times before but they managed to work it out. I wonder if that was the times when she had slept with other men. Macomber was hurt when he found out Margaret had slept with Wilson. She had promised it would not happen again. When Macomber killed the buffalo it changed something inside him, made him a man on the inside. Margaret knew it had changed him, she knew it gave him the strength he needed to leave her. Wilson seems to be convinced that she aimed to kill him.   I am still not sure if she shot to kill him or to save him.

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

Wow, what a story I did not see the end coming. I knew he was planning on killing him but I thought he might shoot him or hit him over the head. I never dreamed he would bury him alive inside a wall. The story was hard to follow mostly because of the language, I think it was Italian.  I did not understand all the bones. Were these men in the mob? Obviously, these men had been friends at some point, or at least on the same team. Fortunato seems to trust him; why else would he go down into the tunnel. Even at the end when he only had one brick to place, Fortunato thought it was some kind of joke.  I think Fortunato may have gotten the last laugh. This man was waiting for Fortunato to beg for his life so he could get some comfort in killing him. He enjoys listen to him struggle with the chains, he even stops his work to listen. He looks over the wall a couple of times to see if he can see the disbelief on Fortunato face. I do not know if this is what Edgar Allan Poe wanted the reader to take away from this story, but what I took away is this man was upset with Fortunato for insulting him and nothing was going to stop him from getting revenge on Fortunato.  Nothing was going to stop him from making Fortunato die a slow and painful death.

"Girl" by Kincaid

“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

This story, I think, is about a mother giving advice to a girl as she grows up. Maybe even Jamaica Kincaid’s mother. Things to remember, to use as a grown woman to help with life, the same sort of advise we give our own children as they grow into adult hood. The girl may just be remembering all the things that her mother had taught her because of the mother’s death or some other tragedy that is happen in her life. It is obvious that these are life lessons because of how she goes from back and forth from child lessons such as “don’t walk barehead in the hot sun”  to adult lessons such as “cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil.” Throughout the story she is going back and forth leading me to believe she is remembering her mother, telling about what kind of person she was/is. The mother tries to teach her daughter many things but the one she is most concerned about is the daughter not growing up to be a slut. Kincaid mentions at several different times during the story do not grow up to be a slut. In the end I think she drives the point home when she says “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” To me that sums it all up. By saying after all I have taught you, you are still going to be a slut.

"Barn Burning" by Faulkner

“Barn Burning” by William Faulkner’s

                Colonel Sartoris Snopes, who goes by Sarty, is a 10 year old boy that is called into a court room to settle a dispute about whether or not his father burned down a barn. Sarty is torn between telling the truth and telling a lie that will clear his father’s name. Sarty’s father, Abner Snopes, had a pig that kept getting lose his neighbor gave him three chances to fix the pen, even supplying the fence to fix it with. After the third time his neighbor refused to give the pig back until the pen was fixed. The next night the neighbor’s barn burned down. The neighbor knew it was Abner who burned it down but he could not prove it.

The family moved to a new house, one of many they had lived in because the father had no respect for his family or others, causing them to move for one reason or another. When they arrived at the new house Abner decided to go talk to the man who owned the house, his neighbor and the man he worked for. Abner made Sarty go with him to talk with his neighbor; one could say to maybe teach Sarty how to handle people. After being told by the help that Major de Spain was not home he barged into the house, with mud on his boots, leaving a foot print on the very expense rug. When Major de Spain returned he took the rug to Abner and insisted he clean the foot print off.  Abner, after making his daughter’s clean the rug, ruined the rug. Upon seeing the rug Major insisted he pay for the rug. Abner who thought the price was too high took him to court and got the price lowered. Abner was still not happy. Abner knew Sarty was not a spiteful person. He made the mother hold Sarty while he went to the neighbors to burn down there barn. Sarty broke loose and ran to tell the neighbors what his father was doing. The neighbor went out the door with a gun and two shots were heard. The story ends without an ending.  The author leaves it up to the reader to decide how the story ends. Does the father get shot?   Does the father die? What happens to the family, to Sarty after that night? Did the events that happened that night turn Sarty into an honest man or a man just like his father?

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by Lawrence

“The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D. H. Lawrence

                I loved this story. It is about Mabel Pervin, a girl who is depressed. When her father was alive he took care of her. He was rich and she never wanted for anything. She felt this gave her some respect, a place in the community. Her mother died when she was fourteen leaving her and her sister the only females in the house. After her sister moved out, the only time she ever talked to another female was at church or social functions. I am sure this helped to deeping her depression. Her father had remarried after some time but Mabel did not like his new wife very much. Maybe, because Mabel was taken care of her father and brothers and she felt this second wife was taken her place. Her brothers did not treat her very well, most of the time ignoring that she was in the room, talking about her and around her. After their father’s death the family was heavily in debt. The family was forced to move out. They all decided to go their separate way. Mabel had decided where she was going but refused to tell anyone, she was going to commit suicide. On the day she decides to die, she had one thing to take care of before she could go. She needed to take care of her mother’s grave, make sure it was trimmed and clean. Jack Fergusson, the doctor, was a family friend. He had stopped by the house earlier to tell the brother goodbye but he never gave Mabel a second thought. He had noticed Mabel in the grave yard cleaning her mother’s stone. He felt an attraction to her. He could not take his eyes off her although he did not know why. After cleaning the stone, Mabel headed to the pond. The doctor making his rounds had seen her walking into the pond. He watched as she walked into water over her head. He ran to the pond to save her. Carrying her back to her house he sat her down by the fire, undressed her and wrapped her in a blanket.  When Mabel became aware of where she was she asked the doctor why he had saved her. The doctor ,who was not sure himself, at first thought it was because he was a doctor but the more he looked into her eyes, he realized he had rescued her not just because he was a doctor but because he had fallen in love with her as she had fallen in love with him. Mabel in her darkest hours had found love.

Revelation by Flannery O'Connor

Mrs. Turpin comes across as a lady with good manners. One who was raised and lived with money and respect. At first I was put off by the way she talked about white-trash and niggers, how she seemed to put down anyone who did not have as much as her. However, she did try to help everyone but was it because she really wanted to or because she felt it was her place in society to do so. The fact that she noticed the shoes that everyone wore tells me she sizes people up by their shoes. People with nice shoes have money, People with worn shoes worked hard, People with worn out shoes was poor.  Mrs. Turpin thought everyone had a place in life no one was equal. I must say if I was in the waiting room I might want to throw a book at her too. To call her an old wart hog from hell did more damage than any book could have done. Those words tugged at her. She could forget the pain and bruise but those four words would not leave her mind. I think Mrs. Turpin realized that she was not as nice a person as she thought she was. Even in talking to the niggers in the back of the truck, she told them her story but looked down on them for taken her side and telling her what a nice, pretty, white lady she was.  She went to the pig parlor to see if she could see any of herself in the pigs. I think what she learned that day is we are all equal and when she gets into heaven it is not going to matter what color your skin is or how worn your shoes are. I think she learned maybe she needed to change her ways.

Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor

                Good country people this can mean a lot of different things depending on where you come from. I think it is a complement to be called good country people. I also think this is the way Mrs. Hopewell meant for it to be interpreted as, an honest, hard working, and trustworthy person. Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman are a lot alike. They are both nosy people. I believe that’s why they get along so well. I was surprised to see the story turn to Joy I thought it was about Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman. As the story turned to Joy I could see why she did some of the things she did. Both she and her mother thought she was an ugly woman because of her wooden leg. Joy changed her name to the ugliest name she could find Hulga, perhaps this was because that’s the way she felt about herself. Although she was well educated, her mother still felt she was dumb. I am sure that must have had an impact on how she felt about herself. When the bible salesman showed up at the door and Mrs. Hopewell invited him for dinner I think it showed how much of a good country person she is. She did not like this young man nor did she want him to stay for dinner, yet she invited him anyway. Hulga was intrigued by the bible salesman, maybe because she was an atheist and he was a Christian, maybe because he had showed an interest in her although she felt she was ugly, or maybe it was because she thought he was a good country person. Either way it allowed her to put her guard down and to trust him. When he meets Hulga at the gate, I also had trusted him. I thought he had brought the case that he carried the bibles in so he could surprise her with a picnic and maybe try and convert her to his beliefs. I still believed he had falling in love with her up until he would not give back her leg. I am still shocked at the way he took her leg and left her in the loft. What kind of man does this to women? What kind of man pretends to sell bibles only to prey on the handicap in order to take their most private belongs as a trophy?

A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

I did not like this story at all. I found the family to be rude to the grandmother and each other. The father seems to be disconnected from the family. He is so engrossed in his own life that he ignores the rest of the family most of the time. The children are rude to the grandmother and nothing is said to them. In a way I think the father is responsible for their deaths. It is obvious that the grandmothers mind is not all there, yet the father chooses to follow her directions. It is quiet ironic that the reason the grandmother took the cat was to keep it from hurting itself and burning down the house and the cat is the one who caused the car wreck which in the end lead to their deaths. The misfits are three cold hearted killers. Bobby Lee and Hiram follow the directions of the misfit, their leader. Although the two of them seem to enjoy killing people. The misfit on the other hand, even though he does not think twice about killing someone, appears to have had a good life until one day something went wrong. He killed his father but can not remember killing him. The misfit to me, is torn between right and wrong. I was surprised to see him kill the grandmother straight out. I thought she would be the only one to live. She seem to communicate well with the misfit. I thought she was getting through to him. Over all, the story tuned out like the grandmother predicted in the beginning, even though she was only trying to convince her son to go to Tennessee instead of Florida. She used the story of the misfit in the newspaper to try and prove her point only to have her story come true.

"The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I feel sorry for Aylmer. He cannot see the forest for the trees. Aylmer cannot see that he has a perfect wife. One who loves him for who he is not for what he looks like?  It is a shame that he cannot love Georgiana the same way. When he married her this birthmark was not so important in his life. He could see the beauty that she beholds. Why did it become so important for him to remove it? Why was the love she felt for him not enough to satisfy him? Was her life not more important than a birthmark? Georgiana thought she married a man who loved her for who she is, only to find out that he could not stand to look at her because of the birthmark. How it must have torn at her heart to choose life with a man who cannot look at you without seeing the disgust in his eyes or death.

                In today’s world there is a lot of Men and Woman who are consumed with their looks. Some will not leave their house unless, in their eyes, they look perfect. Beauty comes from within. When I meet someone I never look at them and think I am not going to like this person because they do not look perfect. Aylmer had the world. He had a woman who would and did anything he asks of her. Unfortunately, for Aylmer he put science first. Because of his love of science he could see the imperfections in his wife instead of the love in her heart.  Aylmer loved his wife. He just could not look at anything and not see how he could improve upon it. The only imperfection that he could find in his wife was her birthmark. In his books he told of all the failures he had before he had success, now his wife has become one of those failures. I wonder, after her death at his hands, if he still thinks the birthmark is something he cannot live with.

"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" by Stephen Crane

When I read, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, my mind could not help but wonder to the TV show Gunsmoke.  Like Matt Dillon, Jack Potter is a strong man, who’s only family is the town.  Obviously, the town thinks the world of him and holds him in the highest regard. Otherwise, he would not have felt so guilty about not telling the town that he had gotten married. The train ride back to Yellow Sky must have been a lot longer for Jack than his bride. With the thought of how he had betrayed his town, his family by taken a bride and not so much as a telegram to let them know of this wonderful occasion. 

                On the other hand, Jack was the marshal and it is his job to keep peace in the town. Scratchy Wilson is a character that I can associate with. During my childhood and into my adult life, I have run into some friends and neighbors that I would not trade for the world while they are sober. Although, it only happens on occasion, their minds get the better of them and they start to drink. Once one has taken that first drink it is easier to take a second than to deal with whatever is plaguing the mind.  After one becomes drunk they let it all hang out so to speak. Scratchy is this sort of man. When he is not drunk he is the best neighbor any one can ask for. Scratchy knows that Jack will keep him in line, will not allow him to hurt anyone or himself that is why he went to Jack’s house looking for him.

When he comes face to face with Jack I thought the bride would be the one to get shot. I should have known that Jack would not have felt the need to carry a gun. He was going to get a bride not going to a gun fight. Yet, I was surprised as was Scratchy to learn he did not have a gun on him. When Jack told Scratchy that he was married it seems to sober him up, as if his feelings had been hurt at the thought that Jack was married without him known it. Perhaps, this is the shock that Jack was afraid of.

" Killing" by Andre Dubus

It must be hard to lose a child. My brother passed away several years ago, and it is still very hard to think about. I cannot begin to think of how much pain Matt must have been in. To live with seeing this man every day, walking the streets free, living his life and the only hope of easing this horrific pain for Matt and Ruth was that one day the man who brought their world crashing down would die too. That somehow his death would ease the pain of losing their child. It must have been a great torment to see this man every day. To know if it had not been for this man, their child would still be alive. Not only did Matt have to try and deal with the unthinkable pain of losing his son, he also had to deal with seeing the pain on his wife’s face. The pain she had to endure of seeing this man walking around, breathing, living his life, knowing that her son could no longer do the same. I know, for me, seeing my brother’s wife and in my heart knowing she must have had something to do with his death, sometimes is more than I can bear.  I don’t think I could ever kill someone, but I certainly understand why he would want to. Matt was a wonderful husband and a good father, constantly worrying, as most parents do, for his children’s safety, keeping a watchful eye on their every move until one day, their all grown up.  I would have liked to think that when it came down to it Matt would not have been able to pull the trigger.  However, that all changed when he walked over and shot Strout in the head. Up until this time he had broken a few laws but ones he might have been able to live with. Once he pulled that trigger for the last time he assured his life was over. Matt is still living and breathing, but now instead of having to live with one death, he has to live with two. Matt will live with the memory of this night for the rest of his life. The question is can his heart live with this memory.

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

When I read the title I thought the story was about a girl, maybe a teenager who had gotten her first date, first kiss or maybe even turning sixteen. I was surprised to learn it was a spinster. Emily seems to be a woman overtaken with grief, not just from losing her father and boyfriend, but the grief of growing up to be taught she is better than anyone else. I have to wonder if the man who cared for her all those years did it because he was paid or because he had some kind of secret love for Emily. The town’s people look upon her as an old woman who has lost her mind and I believe they do try to take care of her somewhat. The men sent her notices to pay her taxes but they never enforced it, they secretly sprinkled lime on her property to help with the smell, rather than to ask her to do something about it. It would appear the women were a little jealous of Emily, even though she had nothing. The women of the town almost seem to get pleasure out of knowing she has nothing. When her father died, Emily took it very hard. That was a turning point in her life. She began staying home most of the time. I can only assume he was her life and when he died her soul died with him. There was new hope brought back into her life when she met Homer. I think Homer was going to leave her so she killed him. Her days had been lonely and he had renewed her life. Emily was too fragile to lose another man that she loved. I was surprised to read she was sleeping with his body every night. I think this story could be a lesson to all of us. One never knows what the mind will do for the heart.

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

I love this story. Not long after I started reading this story, I started crying with Mrs. Mallard. To lose her husband in such a terrible way, to lose the man she loved. I felt empathy for her but not just her also for her sister Josephine, having to be the one to tell her sister that her husband was dead. Also for Richards, who had to bring the news of his good friend’s death! He seemed to be hurting as much as Mrs. Mallard. My empathy turned to shock as I read of her feelings of freedom. Although, she loved her husband, she felt trapped. Not just in her marriage but all marriages. She felt marriage was an entrapment of some kind. I suppose you could say it is just the era in which she lived. People were quick to get married years ago. A woman was raised to get married, to bare children, to do what their husbands ask of them with little or no questions. It should have come as no surprise that she felt this way about marriage. Yet, I was surprised. I would have been searching my mind for the answers to questions that must be answered. What would I do without someone to take care of me? Where would I live? How can I live without the man I love? Mrs. Mallard had a bad heart; I was worried, as so was the people in her life, that the news of her husband’s death would kill her. I was overjoyed for her when she walked into the hallway and the front door opened and low and behold there stood her husband. Safe and sound, having been far away from the accident when it occurred. I wonder if the shock of seeing her husband alive or the thought of losing the freedom she had just gained only minutes before had killed her.

week one assignment

Hi, my name is Patty Tomblin. I am a little nervous about this class. English is not one of my strong subjects. I like to read but find little time to do it. The last book I read was about outside of class work was James Paterson's Women's Murder Club. I love those books and usually buy one within a week or two of its release. I am not fond of poetry so this will be a challenge for me.