You're Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore.
Man did this story take some time to get through. The third literary analysis question asks what the importance of jokes are to Zoë and to the story as a whole.
Jokes are important to Zoë because they are something she hides her insecurity behind. She uses jokes as a device to defer peoples attention away from her actual personality and towards their interpretation of a joke. Her sick sense of humor distracts people from actually getting to know her. To the story, jokes play an important role in establishing the theme. That being that people hide behind aspects of their own personality to keep people from getting to know the person's whole personality. Jokes being just one of the defense mechanisms. In short, people get in their own way of finding love. This is one of those mind over matter kind of philosophies where our own mental attitude is what gets in the way of our success.
Going along with the importance of humor in this story, Zoë uses humor to hide her true feelings behind a sarcastic curtain. Often times, especially when she was talking to Earl near the end of the story, I sensed that her feelings were not being accurately expressed through her speech. Instead, it felt as if she was really hurt of angry at Earl for his actions toward her. The ending especially where "She smiled at him, and wondered how she looked" (Moore, 370) suggests that Zoë had something to lose with Earl, which contrasts with her actions toward him earlier in the story.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Unit 8. Post 3.
The Apparition by John Donne.
This poem caused a lot of confusion during group discussion last week. I sincerely apologize if I botch this interpretation of the text. What my group and me came up with is that the speaker is alluding the memory of himself in regards to his ex-lover to a ghost that is haunting his ex-lover.
"And that thou thinkst thee free From all solicitation from me" (Donne, line 2-3).
The speaker comes up with an excellent way of reminding his lover, or ex-lover, that he is not going to go away as easy as they think that the speaker will disappear from their mind. The speakers thought is that his lover will see him in every person that she has as a lover from then on. That will continue until she dies. This is one of those poems where the person scorned hopes for some kind of misfortune. This reminds me of a song by The All American Rejects called "Gives You Hell". If you've never heard it, you should, it is a good song.
Anyway, question three asks about diction and tone of the speaker. I believe that the tone of the poem being disdain and anger supports the contention the speaker is feeling toward the woman.
This poem caused a lot of confusion during group discussion last week. I sincerely apologize if I botch this interpretation of the text. What my group and me came up with is that the speaker is alluding the memory of himself in regards to his ex-lover to a ghost that is haunting his ex-lover.
"And that thou thinkst thee free From all solicitation from me" (Donne, line 2-3).
The speaker comes up with an excellent way of reminding his lover, or ex-lover, that he is not going to go away as easy as they think that the speaker will disappear from their mind. The speakers thought is that his lover will see him in every person that she has as a lover from then on. That will continue until she dies. This is one of those poems where the person scorned hopes for some kind of misfortune. This reminds me of a song by The All American Rejects called "Gives You Hell". If you've never heard it, you should, it is a good song.
Anyway, question three asks about diction and tone of the speaker. I believe that the tone of the poem being disdain and anger supports the contention the speaker is feeling toward the woman.
Unit 8. Post 2.
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin.
I really thought this story was funny in a dark and twisted way. The irony that exists in the situation that Mrs. Mallard went through has a bit of hilarity integrated into it. The fact that she did not die of shock when she heard that her husband was dead, only to figure out that he is not actually dead and proceeds to die from the shock from that realization is just unfortunate. I was not really sure how this story tied into the Love Me Not unit because for her to die from the knowledge that her husband was not really dead shows me that she loved her husband to the point that her joy at the sight of him was enough to aggravate her heart problem.
"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills" (Chopin, 327).
Like I said before, I did not really understand why this was in this unit, but I guess that is goes to show love and joy can be the cause your death if not kept in check.
I enjoyed this story, however, it made me extremely sad that someone who thought the person they loved was dead learned that person is actually alive, and they themselves die from shock. I am just thankful that I have the emotional capacity of a rock and that I have a healthy heart.
I really thought this story was funny in a dark and twisted way. The irony that exists in the situation that Mrs. Mallard went through has a bit of hilarity integrated into it. The fact that she did not die of shock when she heard that her husband was dead, only to figure out that he is not actually dead and proceeds to die from the shock from that realization is just unfortunate. I was not really sure how this story tied into the Love Me Not unit because for her to die from the knowledge that her husband was not really dead shows me that she loved her husband to the point that her joy at the sight of him was enough to aggravate her heart problem.
"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills" (Chopin, 327).
Like I said before, I did not really understand why this was in this unit, but I guess that is goes to show love and joy can be the cause your death if not kept in check.
I enjoyed this story, however, it made me extremely sad that someone who thought the person they loved was dead learned that person is actually alive, and they themselves die from shock. I am just thankful that I have the emotional capacity of a rock and that I have a healthy heart.
Unit 8. Post 1
Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver.
This story was really depressing to me. The setting from the beginning of the story made me think that this was not going to be a sunshiny happy story. The descriptive language such as "melting into dirty water" and "it was getting dark inside too" makes the reader realize the true attitude to come in the story. I would like to think that the author was taking the expression "ripping the family apart" to a exaggerated extreme.
"In this manner, the issue was decided" (Carver, 335).
Question one asks what the issue was and I think that it asks how it was decided. The issue that was focused on in this story was that of custody of a child. The child, being an innocent baby, was caught up in a bitter divorce between a husband and wife. The decision of the dispute was left up to the reader to imagine, which I imagined a gruesome and violent scene where the child is torn limb from limb by the parents in their blind rage at each other. There is one thing that I thought the author did rather well. He left a lot of the plot up to reader speculation. For instance, why are these two fighting, how old are they, who is at fault, and most of all, what exactly did the child endure.
Stories structured to give the reader opportunities to create part of the story are great, this one was just a bit too dark for me to enjoy though.
This story was really depressing to me. The setting from the beginning of the story made me think that this was not going to be a sunshiny happy story. The descriptive language such as "melting into dirty water" and "it was getting dark inside too" makes the reader realize the true attitude to come in the story. I would like to think that the author was taking the expression "ripping the family apart" to a exaggerated extreme.
"In this manner, the issue was decided" (Carver, 335).
Question one asks what the issue was and I think that it asks how it was decided. The issue that was focused on in this story was that of custody of a child. The child, being an innocent baby, was caught up in a bitter divorce between a husband and wife. The decision of the dispute was left up to the reader to imagine, which I imagined a gruesome and violent scene where the child is torn limb from limb by the parents in their blind rage at each other. There is one thing that I thought the author did rather well. He left a lot of the plot up to reader speculation. For instance, why are these two fighting, how old are they, who is at fault, and most of all, what exactly did the child endure.
Stories structured to give the reader opportunities to create part of the story are great, this one was just a bit too dark for me to enjoy though.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Unit 7. Post 4.
Bright Star by John Keats.
I might not be getting the full picture from this poem but I am going to throw this at the wall and what sticks is what sticks. I believe the image of the star in the sky is a metaphor for the speaker admiring his love from a distance or that the speaker is never going to be able to reach or achieve his love. Looking at the lifespan of the author and it being from 1795-1821, class difference might have had some impact on the speaker's ability of loving his crush. The speaker seems to be longing or yearning for something more than admiration from a distance but he knows that he will never be really capable of achieving her love in response to his.
"The moving waters at their priestlike task of pure ablution round earth's human shores" (Keats).
Certainly many people today secretly have someone that they admire from a distance but they feel that they can never really express their feelings openly and publicly for the fear of public humiliation or some form of anguish. I am one of these people. The thing that I am taking away from this poem has really noting to do with the poem itself. The lesson that I encourage readers to take is that there is never just one right person out there and that any goal has the possibility of being achievable.
I might not be getting the full picture from this poem but I am going to throw this at the wall and what sticks is what sticks. I believe the image of the star in the sky is a metaphor for the speaker admiring his love from a distance or that the speaker is never going to be able to reach or achieve his love. Looking at the lifespan of the author and it being from 1795-1821, class difference might have had some impact on the speaker's ability of loving his crush. The speaker seems to be longing or yearning for something more than admiration from a distance but he knows that he will never be really capable of achieving her love in response to his.
"The moving waters at their priestlike task of pure ablution round earth's human shores" (Keats).
Certainly many people today secretly have someone that they admire from a distance but they feel that they can never really express their feelings openly and publicly for the fear of public humiliation or some form of anguish. I am one of these people. The thing that I am taking away from this poem has really noting to do with the poem itself. The lesson that I encourage readers to take is that there is never just one right person out there and that any goal has the possibility of being achievable.
Unit 7. Post 3.
Delight in Disorder by Robert Herrick.
I would like to think that the point that this author had intended with his work is that each person, even when they are in disarray and disorder, are beautiful and that is what makes each person unique. While that is what I like to think, that might not be the point. What I saw in the images created by the diction was someone admiring a woman who is dressed in a hurried and incomplete manner. The speaker seems to be attracted by the reality of a woman who does not look as if she came from a plastic sealed box.
"I see wild civility; Do more bewitch me than art Is too precise in every part" (Herrick, 979).
I believe that this poem has a valid point to make in society today. We all look for perfection in some manner when we are seeking a relationship. It is not perfection that makes us perfect, it is our flaws and our imperfections that make us perfectly human.
I would like to think that the point that this author had intended with his work is that each person, even when they are in disarray and disorder, are beautiful and that is what makes each person unique. While that is what I like to think, that might not be the point. What I saw in the images created by the diction was someone admiring a woman who is dressed in a hurried and incomplete manner. The speaker seems to be attracted by the reality of a woman who does not look as if she came from a plastic sealed box.
"I see wild civility; Do more bewitch me than art Is too precise in every part" (Herrick, 979).
I believe that this poem has a valid point to make in society today. We all look for perfection in some manner when we are seeking a relationship. It is not perfection that makes us perfect, it is our flaws and our imperfections that make us perfectly human.
Unit 7. Post 2.
Eveline by James Joyce.
I was stumped by this story at first. I was really confused by the ending when I first read it and I thought this story was about how an abused child can have fantasies about escaping that abuse but in reality, she could not because of her psychological attachment to her father beating her. After I read it again, I began to think that she was torn between her love of her father and her passion for getting away from her father. The psychological ideology that she was attached to her father because of two reasons: she realized that without her to care and look after him, her father would not be capable of keeping himself or the house together, also that no matter how abusive or cruel a parent, there is still a mental attachment because they are still a parent. That is my psychologist diagnosis of Eveline.
"No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish!" (Joyce, 222)
Aside from my amateur analysis of Eveline and her mental state, I think that it is important that we all recognize that we all have some secret desire for some way to escape our parents or go off on some long winded adventure. That might have been the intent that the author was trying to get us to see. Not all dreams are as glamorous as they first appear.
I was stumped by this story at first. I was really confused by the ending when I first read it and I thought this story was about how an abused child can have fantasies about escaping that abuse but in reality, she could not because of her psychological attachment to her father beating her. After I read it again, I began to think that she was torn between her love of her father and her passion for getting away from her father. The psychological ideology that she was attached to her father because of two reasons: she realized that without her to care and look after him, her father would not be capable of keeping himself or the house together, also that no matter how abusive or cruel a parent, there is still a mental attachment because they are still a parent. That is my psychologist diagnosis of Eveline.
"No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish!" (Joyce, 222)
Aside from my amateur analysis of Eveline and her mental state, I think that it is important that we all recognize that we all have some secret desire for some way to escape our parents or go off on some long winded adventure. That might have been the intent that the author was trying to get us to see. Not all dreams are as glamorous as they first appear.
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