I really enjoyed this story, it is probably due to the fact that it is more modern than the stories and poems that we have read previously, and it is a situation that pretty much everyone in our CM1120 class could find themselves in one day as we all go our seperate ways to different schools.
The story is a huge mess in terms of the plot as there are random and very frequent time skips that completely confused me, but I understood them the second time around. We were tod in clas that this was to represent the effects the drugs that the protagonist, Jason, had taken, but I always wonder if the author truly wanted this to represent the drugs or he just likes to write jumpy stories, all though the second choice is probably a little less likely as authors seem to have all of these ideas planned out before they write them, unlike me with this blog.
A basic summary of this story would be kids in a club, flashback to subway ride, back in club, flashback to apartment, and then they are in the club again for a while after a significant amount of time has passed and then they leave. The characters in this story have taken ecstacy and the story revolves around Jason's feelings about his girlfriend, Sherry and his friend Doke's girlfriend Emily. What is amazing is that even though he is under the effect of drugs, he realizes that it is the drugs that are making him feel the way that he is feeling and he is able to retain some form of clarity and keep his senses, unlike Doke, who takes drugs that are laced with something else and pretty much passes out.
This story really interested me in the way that we were able to view the effects of this drug through the eyes of another, and we see his ability to still be able to rationalize his thoughts and his feelings. I think this may be one of my favorite stories because of the way that the plot and the elements of the story intertwine to help further support the possible themes of the story and overall the story intrigued me. I also know now that I will never do drugs, because it is cler that most people may not be able to stay themselves like Jason did.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Eveline
I really liked this story despite the fact that it was written by the same person who wrote the story Araby, a piece I did not enjoy and ended up forcing myself to read the full story. But Eveline was a little different to me because of the elements of sacrifice that is evident in the story. Eveline wishes to run away and travel with her boyfriend Frank, but she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would stay and keep the house. Eveline is completely and utterly bored with her life and wants to make an exciting change and a new life with Frank, she wants to leave her home behind and run off with Frank. But all the while the guilt is tearing at her that she is even considering breaking the promise that she made to her mother.
This is a very admirable quality in my opinion. She denies herself the life that she wishes for, to take up the mantle of responsibility, she knows that it would not be right to break this promise, so she reluctantly stays behind and sees Frank off. I do not know if I would be able to do something like that. While I don't belive in any form of afterlife, or ghosts that would haunt me if I disobeyed, a horrible fate that would occur if I were to break my word. I would still want to keep a promise that I had made to a loved one who has died, i would also want to make the decision that is right for me. While I think Eveline is a great character and a respectable person for keeping her promise, I also belive that everyone should live their lives the way that makes them happy as long as it does not inflict harm upon anybody else.
To me, Eveline is a symbol of selflessness, she sacrifices her own personal wishes, for those of others. While I think this is an admirable quality, I do belive that it was the incorrect choice.
This is a very admirable quality in my opinion. She denies herself the life that she wishes for, to take up the mantle of responsibility, she knows that it would not be right to break this promise, so she reluctantly stays behind and sees Frank off. I do not know if I would be able to do something like that. While I don't belive in any form of afterlife, or ghosts that would haunt me if I disobeyed, a horrible fate that would occur if I were to break my word. I would still want to keep a promise that I had made to a loved one who has died, i would also want to make the decision that is right for me. While I think Eveline is a great character and a respectable person for keeping her promise, I also belive that everyone should live their lives the way that makes them happy as long as it does not inflict harm upon anybody else.
To me, Eveline is a symbol of selflessness, she sacrifices her own personal wishes, for those of others. While I think this is an admirable quality, I do belive that it was the incorrect choice.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
A Worn Path
When I first read this story, I thought it was about some old woman, named Phoenix Jackson walking around in the winter talking to herself an awful lot. I was kinda bored so I was just skimming until I got to a part where Phoenix had a gun pointed at her and that really confused me since all she did was pick up a nickel the man had dropped. Then in class we were told that the story took place in 1941 and then it made sense due to the racism from the time.
This made me realize that this is a very strong woman, she crossed over creeks and barbed wire fences just to walk to town and kept her cool when she had a gun pointed at her, this is quite a task for anyone, but to imagine an elderly woman doing this is just amazing in my mind. Of course she does state that the journey is not easy on her by saying that her feet felt like they were chained. Phoenix eventually reaches town and we discover that she went to town in order to get medicine for her grandson, she manages to get the medicine for free and get another nickel from a hospital employee
The fact that she had to do all this to get the medicine made me quite sad because It made it obvious that she was poor, and that she was very lucky to get this medicine. Also, her grandson is the only family she has, and he is sick, she is very old and may not live much longer. When she dies, her grandon will be alone inthe world.
I really like this story, it really made me think of the effects of discrimination and racism, and the atrocities that were allowed to take place because people are a little different. It also amused me when I thought about how amazing this woman is for making a full days journey to town, and retrieving medicine for her ailing grandson.
This made me realize that this is a very strong woman, she crossed over creeks and barbed wire fences just to walk to town and kept her cool when she had a gun pointed at her, this is quite a task for anyone, but to imagine an elderly woman doing this is just amazing in my mind. Of course she does state that the journey is not easy on her by saying that her feet felt like they were chained. Phoenix eventually reaches town and we discover that she went to town in order to get medicine for her grandson, she manages to get the medicine for free and get another nickel from a hospital employee
The fact that she had to do all this to get the medicine made me quite sad because It made it obvious that she was poor, and that she was very lucky to get this medicine. Also, her grandson is the only family she has, and he is sick, she is very old and may not live much longer. When she dies, her grandon will be alone inthe world.
I really like this story, it really made me think of the effects of discrimination and racism, and the atrocities that were allowed to take place because people are a little different. It also amused me when I thought about how amazing this woman is for making a full days journey to town, and retrieving medicine for her ailing grandson.
The Chrysanthemums
When I read this story, it was at two in the morning when I got up to get a glass of water, and then suddenly realized that I was supposed to read this story for class the next day, so as you can imagine, I wasn't too happy when I started reading it. I also wasn't too happy when I finished it and did not understand what the heck had even happened by the end of it. So this woman, Elisa, who seems to have some sort of superiority complex when it comes to her flowers, meets some strange traveling homeless man living in a carriage, which in a way means that he is not homeless, he compliments her on the flowers and says that a friend would like them in her garden, Elisa decides to give him some of the chrysanthemum shoots and in return for giving her the pleasure in having her garden complimented, she lets him fix something for her. Then she goes out later and realizes that she was tricked when she sees him by the road with the plants dumped out.
I know that was a big run-on sentence but I'm tired, like always, so cut me some slack. After we discussed it in class I actually liked the story because when I realized that it had to do with limitations and isolation, like Boys and Girls, another story I really liked. I also realized that Elisa wanted to get out of the valley that she and her husband live in, and be like that salesman, but realizes that she never could, especially when she realizes that she was tricked. Elisa was never as happy as she lets on and it really made me sad to think that she can never have the type of life that she wants as she cried "weakly like an old woman."
Perhaps I was too hard on this story because I was tired when I read it and I didn't get it at first but when it was explained to me I really liked it.
I know that was a big run-on sentence but I'm tired, like always, so cut me some slack. After we discussed it in class I actually liked the story because when I realized that it had to do with limitations and isolation, like Boys and Girls, another story I really liked. I also realized that Elisa wanted to get out of the valley that she and her husband live in, and be like that salesman, but realizes that she never could, especially when she realizes that she was tricked. Elisa was never as happy as she lets on and it really made me sad to think that she can never have the type of life that she wants as she cried "weakly like an old woman."
Perhaps I was too hard on this story because I was tired when I read it and I didn't get it at first but when it was explained to me I really liked it.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Falling in Place
When I first read this story, I really couldn't understand what in the world it was about, the only thing I could garner from it was that an accident with a train had occurred. However, when we went over it in class, I found it really interesting, the author uses an odd method of writing that involves the change in point of view and changes the narrator as well.
With the changes in narration, the points of view change between being omniscient, first person, third person, and dramatic. The change in perspective gives the audience a viewpoint on human connection. The train accident in this community causes everyone grief and they discuss what has happened. In doing this, we; the audience observe the way that a community reacts to tragedy. For example, we see through the eyes of the mechanist, and how he feels about the accident. He feels guilt over what has happened, as he was not able to stop the train in time to avoid hitting Su Lin. We see the way that the news spreads when Su Lin's boyfriend has to overhear that she had died while he was in a coffee shop. And we can see into the mindset of Su Lin as well, she feels so depressed that she commits suicide by walking in front of a train.
Through this unconventional use of changing perspective, we get to see how a tragedy has an effect on a close-knit community of people. It is an interesting way to write a story and really made me think on how stories are written, and how much the point of view of a story has an effect on the way it shapes our opinions and the way we see the events that take place.
With the changes in narration, the points of view change between being omniscient, first person, third person, and dramatic. The change in perspective gives the audience a viewpoint on human connection. The train accident in this community causes everyone grief and they discuss what has happened. In doing this, we; the audience observe the way that a community reacts to tragedy. For example, we see through the eyes of the mechanist, and how he feels about the accident. He feels guilt over what has happened, as he was not able to stop the train in time to avoid hitting Su Lin. We see the way that the news spreads when Su Lin's boyfriend has to overhear that she had died while he was in a coffee shop. And we can see into the mindset of Su Lin as well, she feels so depressed that she commits suicide by walking in front of a train.
Through this unconventional use of changing perspective, we get to see how a tragedy has an effect on a close-knit community of people. It is an interesting way to write a story and really made me think on how stories are written, and how much the point of view of a story has an effect on the way it shapes our opinions and the way we see the events that take place.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Hills Like White Elephants
In class, we were taught that if a setting is very descriptive, then it is important to the story. The description of the setting in Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemmingway is an example of this because the story goes into great detail with the description of the setting and it actually has an effect on the story. The story is about a couple in Spain who are travelling together, the woman, known as Jig is pregnant and is trying to decide on weather or not to get an abortion. The man who is with her wants her to get an abortion but she herself is conflicted on what she wants to.
They are sitting at a train station waiting for their train and the area around it is described in great detail, one side is barren and dry with hills that look like "white elephants' and the other is lush green and fertile. The difference in the terrain around them is a representation of the choice that she has to make, if she chooses the barren side, she will get an abortion and her life will return to normal. But if she decides to have the baby, represented by the fertile side, her life will be changed forever, but possibly in a good way. In the end she chooses the fertile side , to have the baby.
This story is the perfect example of how the setting of a piece of literature can have an effect on the overall story itself. Without the description of the setting, the audience would have no clear idea of what the woman chose to do, or maybe even the choice itself. to be honest, even with the descriptive setting and symbolism, i didn't even begin to guess that it was about abortion, but i'm probably just bad at interpreting stories.
They are sitting at a train station waiting for their train and the area around it is described in great detail, one side is barren and dry with hills that look like "white elephants' and the other is lush green and fertile. The difference in the terrain around them is a representation of the choice that she has to make, if she chooses the barren side, she will get an abortion and her life will return to normal. But if she decides to have the baby, represented by the fertile side, her life will be changed forever, but possibly in a good way. In the end she chooses the fertile side , to have the baby.
This story is the perfect example of how the setting of a piece of literature can have an effect on the overall story itself. Without the description of the setting, the audience would have no clear idea of what the woman chose to do, or maybe even the choice itself. to be honest, even with the descriptive setting and symbolism, i didn't even begin to guess that it was about abortion, but i'm probably just bad at interpreting stories.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
My Papa's Waltz
This poem, written by Theodore Roethke, is a piece that really left me confused after we finished reading it in class. Roethke uses effective diction which leaves the audience confused about what the poem is actually about. The two most common beliefs about what is occurring in the poem is that the child is literally waltzing playfully with his father, they are simply roughhousing with each other. The other is that this is actually about an act of abuse between the father and son that is described as if it were a waltz.
I still can not really decide which I think the story is truly about, but I have been leaning more toward the waltz being a description of an act of abuse between a father and son. I believe this because of the type of language used in this poem. For example, the narrator states that his father "beat time on his head" which I believe to mean that the father was actually hitting his child in a forceful manner, not in a playful way. Roethke also uses the phrase "hung on like death," to describe the way that the child is holding on to his father when they are "waltzing." Holding on like death, in my opinion, describes the childs terror, in this situation, and he is holding on to his father trying not to be beaten.
While I still have a hard time understanding this poem, I did enjoy it. It was probably my favorite poem that we had read in class because it has a way with words that leaves everyone with a different opinion, even the similar ones vary in someway or another. In conclusion, I really like this poem, and would recommend it to people who have not read it. I know that was a very bad conclusion but..... I can't really think of anything else to write.
I still can not really decide which I think the story is truly about, but I have been leaning more toward the waltz being a description of an act of abuse between a father and son. I believe this because of the type of language used in this poem. For example, the narrator states that his father "beat time on his head" which I believe to mean that the father was actually hitting his child in a forceful manner, not in a playful way. Roethke also uses the phrase "hung on like death," to describe the way that the child is holding on to his father when they are "waltzing." Holding on like death, in my opinion, describes the childs terror, in this situation, and he is holding on to his father trying not to be beaten.
While I still have a hard time understanding this poem, I did enjoy it. It was probably my favorite poem that we had read in class because it has a way with words that leaves everyone with a different opinion, even the similar ones vary in someway or another. In conclusion, I really like this poem, and would recommend it to people who have not read it. I know that was a very bad conclusion but..... I can't really think of anything else to write.
Stones, Summary and Opinion
The story Stones by Timothy Findley brings a very important issue into plain sight that is often experienced by many families. This story does an excellent job of illustrating the life of a family, living with someone who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder upon returning from WW2.
This story is told from the point of view of a man named Ben, he is reminiscing about the days when he was a kid, before and after his father went to war. Ben realizes soon after his father returns from the war that his personality has completely changed. His father is extremely hostile, he swears in front of his kids, and made everyone feel like they could set him off at any moment. He even assaults Ben while he is in bed and breaks his collar bone. The family covers for him all the while until the father assaults Ben's mother, and she eventually leaves him. It is revealed that Ben's father fled at the battle of Dieppe, allowing his men to die and deserting the army. This guilt is what caused the father's erratic behavior. In the end, the father is completely abandoned by his family. Only Ben shows up to the hospital when he is dying because his siblings "could not be reached."
In my opinion this story does a very good job showing the type of effect that post-traumatic stress disorder can have on a family. Along with dispelling some of the stigma associated with it, due to the fact that before his death, the father apologized to Ben for his behavior. In truth, I actually didn't read the story when I was supposed to so I wasn't prepared for class when we went over it. But I went back and read it after and I was really glad that I did because in my opinion this is an excellent story.
This story is told from the point of view of a man named Ben, he is reminiscing about the days when he was a kid, before and after his father went to war. Ben realizes soon after his father returns from the war that his personality has completely changed. His father is extremely hostile, he swears in front of his kids, and made everyone feel like they could set him off at any moment. He even assaults Ben while he is in bed and breaks his collar bone. The family covers for him all the while until the father assaults Ben's mother, and she eventually leaves him. It is revealed that Ben's father fled at the battle of Dieppe, allowing his men to die and deserting the army. This guilt is what caused the father's erratic behavior. In the end, the father is completely abandoned by his family. Only Ben shows up to the hospital when he is dying because his siblings "could not be reached."
In my opinion this story does a very good job showing the type of effect that post-traumatic stress disorder can have on a family. Along with dispelling some of the stigma associated with it, due to the fact that before his death, the father apologized to Ben for his behavior. In truth, I actually didn't read the story when I was supposed to so I wasn't prepared for class when we went over it. But I went back and read it after and I was really glad that I did because in my opinion this is an excellent story.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Opinions on "Boys and Girls"
The short story "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro is filled with excellent uses of symbolism and characterization that lends support to the theme of gender roles.
The foxes that the father keeps on his farm to ultimately slaughter, and skin to sell the pelts, represent the girl. The foxes are trapped in their cages, unable to roam free, they are kept behind high guard fences in a world that was "made for them." Similarly the girl is suck on the farm, as if it were the same kind of enclosure that the foxes are trapped in, and she believes that if she were to leave, she would not be able to survive, metaphorically speaking, just as the foxes are only able to leave their pens, when they are killed. This is also supported when she releases Flora the horse from the confines of the farm, knowing that she was about to be killed. Only to have her die outside the farm within mere hours of her escape.
The characterization techniques used by the writer also help to support the theme of gender roles. For example, the girl's name is never spoken throughout the entire story, whereas her male counterpart, Laird, has a name that means lord, this creates an even larger rift between the view of boys and girls in this time period. They do the same work as well but when speaking about the girl, people refer to her as "only a girl," and by the end of the story this phrase hurts her even more than before, signifying that she has completed her "transformation" into a girl. Laird does the same work as her, sometimes less, but is praised for his efforts.
Through the use of these devices, the theme of gender roles is prevalent in this story. I liked this story myself, but it was frustrating to have such a good, well rounded character forced into a stereotype of being "just a girl", an opinion that I believe to be very barbaric, chauvinistic, and quite frankly, just really really stupid.
The foxes that the father keeps on his farm to ultimately slaughter, and skin to sell the pelts, represent the girl. The foxes are trapped in their cages, unable to roam free, they are kept behind high guard fences in a world that was "made for them." Similarly the girl is suck on the farm, as if it were the same kind of enclosure that the foxes are trapped in, and she believes that if she were to leave, she would not be able to survive, metaphorically speaking, just as the foxes are only able to leave their pens, when they are killed. This is also supported when she releases Flora the horse from the confines of the farm, knowing that she was about to be killed. Only to have her die outside the farm within mere hours of her escape.
The characterization techniques used by the writer also help to support the theme of gender roles. For example, the girl's name is never spoken throughout the entire story, whereas her male counterpart, Laird, has a name that means lord, this creates an even larger rift between the view of boys and girls in this time period. They do the same work as well but when speaking about the girl, people refer to her as "only a girl," and by the end of the story this phrase hurts her even more than before, signifying that she has completed her "transformation" into a girl. Laird does the same work as her, sometimes less, but is praised for his efforts.
Through the use of these devices, the theme of gender roles is prevalent in this story. I liked this story myself, but it was frustrating to have such a good, well rounded character forced into a stereotype of being "just a girl", an opinion that I believe to be very barbaric, chauvinistic, and quite frankly, just really really stupid.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Opinions on Aunt Jennifer's Tigers
In class, we read the poem Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich, and I really enjoyed this poem as a whole. I believe that the theme of pride is supported in this poem with excellent use of poetic devices and symbolism. There is also an interesting use of a symbol that is usually associated with something else. Pride is a theme in this poem and is supported thought the use of symbols like the tigers on the tapestry created by Aunt Jennifer. These tigers are a representation of Aunt Jennifer's wish to be as courageous and as prideful as these tigers, Unfortunately, she fails in life to do this in life, but in death, her art lives on forever to symbolize her wish to mold herself into the perfect embodiment of the traits that these tigers represent.
Another thing that made this poem interesting to me was the use of the wedding band as a negative symbol. Typically the wedding band is regarded as a universal symbol for love, but in this poem it is described as heavy, which gives the wedding band a negative symbol. It represents the bad relationship that Aunt Jennifer is in and the problems in her life that she wishes to get away from. It is the sadness and the possible controlling that she experiences in her life, which in a way supports the theme of pride, as it inspires her to create her art works, which depict the tigers, the way that she wishes she could be.
All in all I believe that this is a very good poem, with an excellent use of symbolism, it is probably one of my favorite ones that we have done this semester and I would recommend people to read it.
Another thing that made this poem interesting to me was the use of the wedding band as a negative symbol. Typically the wedding band is regarded as a universal symbol for love, but in this poem it is described as heavy, which gives the wedding band a negative symbol. It represents the bad relationship that Aunt Jennifer is in and the problems in her life that she wishes to get away from. It is the sadness and the possible controlling that she experiences in her life, which in a way supports the theme of pride, as it inspires her to create her art works, which depict the tigers, the way that she wishes she could be.
All in all I believe that this is a very good poem, with an excellent use of symbolism, it is probably one of my favorite ones that we have done this semester and I would recommend people to read it.
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