"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

                Throughout Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the creative usage of the wallpaper is a symbol which reflects the narrator’s feelings and image of herself. At first the narrator refers to the wallpaper in their summer house as “almost revolting” (267) and “unclean” (267) because the pattern and color were so eccentric. However, after she begins examining the wallpaper more thoroughly she notices the paper’s “sub pattern in a different shade […] [which] you can only see […] in certain lights” (269) which eventually contributes to her sleepless nights. Her attempt to master the wallpapers design becomes a fixation as she is suffering depression, nervousness, and anxiety from her controlling and manipulative husband.

                While reading this story I began thinking that the wallpaper represented the narrator and the problems she’s facing. For example, after her husband once again belittles her she refers to the wallpaper as “torturing” (273). The fact that the wallpaper “changes as the light changes” (273) signifies instability which mirrors her moods as well as her relationship with her husband. The overall meaning of the wallpaper is exemplified when the narrator introduces her vision of the “woman behind shak[ing]” (273) the paper. The fact that the woman is behind the paper shaking it gives the reader the image of a prison which reflects upon the narrator’s feelings of the house itself and her relationship with her husband. The fact that the narrator then mentions that there “ are a great many women behind” (275) the paper forces the reader to ask how many woman in real life are really being abused by their husbands or boyfriends in a non direct way. The narrator further “wonders if [the women] all come out of the wallpaper” (278) as she did which hints that she’s escaping her husband’s indirect abuse.

                Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story because the symbolism was used in such a creative way. At first this story was difficult to grasp, but after reading it over again everything started to make more sense.  

Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

What is the story saying about the theme of war? Include specific quotes to bak p your points.

One of the major themes I noticed throughout “The Things They Carried” was emotional security. Throughout the story, many different items were mentioned which the soldiers would carry along with them voluntarily. Some were necessities, others were for purely for “superstit[ous]” (347) but either way the items they hold with them is for their emotional being. For example, the protagonist carries “letters from” (341) Martha in hope that those letters would become history of the beginning of their “love” (341) life. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross also carried not one but “two photographs of Martha” (342) demonstrating the fact that he longed for a loved one to essentially come home for. Having those pictures made him feel more secure knowing that there was someone that might be able to evolve into his significant other. The fact that one of the men “always took along his New Testament”(345) signifies the importance for his continuation of his spirituality which in terms brings people emotional security.

Masculinity was also a major theme I noticed. Even though everyone was afraid of death out in combat, they still “carried themselves with poise” (351) and dignity trying to prove they’re a man and they still have control of their egos.  It even states that even though the men were “afraid of dying […] they were even more afraid to show it” (351) which is an example of the men’s enflamed egos. Although, I can understand how men at war would have this kind of outlook because they are already stripped of everything they have. They are taken away from their homes and families and all they can keep a good grasp of is their manhood and “their reputations” (352). The men felt the need to show that they aren’t “cowards” (353) which also contributes to the basis of their manhood.

Jack London's "To Build a Fire"

Write a paragraph about the setting. Try to explain the time and place as if you were explaining them to someone who had not read the story.  

The setting in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” takes place in Canada’s Yukon territory in the freezing temperature of at least “fifty degrees below zero” (107) in the Klondikes. The narrator is on a trail towards his destination Henderson creek. At first the narrator isn’t afraid of the freezing temperatures because he is “without imagination” (107) and instead of concentrating on the temperature, he would focus on the facts about the temperature. But then he begins to feel the numbness overcome his body and he begins to get fearful. The weather in this story plays a significant role because the whole story seems to revolve around the setting.  Everything is about the narrator and his Husky’s challenges with this overpowering weather.  

While reading the story I imagined the setting to look a little something like this because London made it known that the sky was “cold and gray” ( 106) although he mentions the day to be clear, there was still “no cloud in the sky” (106).

Later down the trail the narrator comes across a “frozen bed of a small stream” which the narrator knows to be Henderson Creek.

A scene in the story that stood out to me was when the narrator sat down on a snowy log to eat his lunch. I think the reason why this stood out to me was because the narrator had nothing but his dog and his biscuits to eat.

The narrator stops and makes a fire where the dog and him stop to relax. His fire is run by "a supply of seasoned twigs" (111) where he stops to rest and thaw "the ice from his face" (111). 

 

Here is a pile of snow by what appears to be a tree. Towards the end of the story, the narraor made the "wise" decision of making a fire by a tree which he later discovers was a huge mistake since all the snow from the tree "descended without warning upon the man and the fire" (113).

Even though I saw this story as being repetative with the setting, once I put myself in the narrator's shoes it became more intense. I can definitley see why this is one of Jack London's most famous short stories.

"Cathedral" by Raymond Carter

Who is the mai character or protagonist of the story? Make a quick list of the character's physical, mental, moral, or behavioral traits. Which seem especially significant to the action of the story? Does the main character thave an antagonist in the story? How do they differ? Does the way the protagonist speaks reveal anything about his or her personality? If the story is told in the first person, what is revealed about how the protagonist view his or her surroundings? What is the character's primary motivation? Does the motivation seem reasonable to you? Does the protagonist fully understand his or her motivations? In what ways is the protagonist changed or tested by the events in the story?

The protagonist in “Cathedral” is the narrator who is never named throughout the story. The narrator towards the middle of the story mentions how he has “waited in vain to hear [his] name on [his] wife’s sweet lips” (86) but instead of ever referring to him by his name, she would just call him her “dear husband” (86) which irritated the narrator. The narrator has very negative traits, not only with himself but with everyone around him. He proves himself to be very selfish in various places. For example, while describing when his wife and him started dating, after hearing the poem his wife read aloud he “didn’t think much of the poem” (82). When his wife tells him of her blind friend, he gets bored mentioning how she told him “more detail than [he] cared to know” (83). While praying at the table, everything he mentions while praying is all for the benefit of him instead of others, “pray the phone won’t ring and the food doesn’t get cold” (86). Finally, instead of giving the guest the most comfortable chair in the house while gathering around the T.V he makes the effort to mention how he himself “took the big chair” (86) In addition to being selfish, he proves himself to be shallow. He hated just the thought of a “blind man in [his] house” (81) because he thought he wouldn’t have anything in common with him. Also, while referring to the blind man’s wife, instead of talking about how wonderful it is that there’s someone out there for everyone, or how great it is that a woman can see past the man’s blindness, he spits out how he can’t believe that someone could go all this [time] without [the blind man] having ever seen what the goddamned woman looked like” (84). This proves that he cares more about other people’s looks rather than what’s on the inside. He refers to the blind man throughout the short story as “pathetic” (84) and “creepy” (85) and while gathering around the living room talking he simply has “no opinion” (87) on anything that seems to come up in conversation.

The blind man is obviously the antagonist in the story because the narrator feels challenged by him. It seems as if the narrator fells he has to compete with the blind man for his wife’s attention. This is a weird motivation which the protagonist strives for because obviously his wife loves him dearly however he is jealous of the fact that she is talking so highly about some man friend of hers. However, I don’t believe that the protagonist is fully aware of his jealousy throughout the short story. The narrator deliberately wants to put down the blind man, constantly wanting to talk about things he does not know about. For example, out of all the things to ask the blind man, he is itching to ask “about the scenic ride along Hudson” (85) proving his disrespectful nature.

The antagonist and the protagonist differ greatly. For example, the blind man seems very open to ideas and trying new things such as “smoking dope” (87) for the first time, with someone he just met. The blind man is very positive about his outlooks on things. He doesn’t dwell on the fact that he doesn’t know what a cathedral looks like, or that he can’t see what his meal looks like, or what his wife looks like. Instead the blind man serves as the complete opposite of the narrator, forced to focus on people’s personalities and the real meaning of things while the protagonist focuses on people’s appearance. The thing that made them differ the most was the fact that the blind man wanted “a chance to talk” (89) with the narrator showing that he really wanted to get to know him on a different level.

Towards the end of the story the blind man and the narrator were watching T.V in the family room. The channel they had on was about cathedrals. The cathedrals served as a symbol which reflected the antagonist and the protagonist themselves. While mentioning the cathedrals it was said how the “differences in the Portuguese cathedral and compared with the French and Italian were not that great but they were there. Mostly the interior stuff” (90). This proved how the blind man and the narrator may have had some exterior differences, but inside they were very similar. The blind man then goes to say how “they’re no different from the rest of [them]” (90) proving that in the end, everyone has things in common and individuals should not be judged by their appearance. This finally makes sense to the narrator while he is spending quality time with the blind man, drawing the cathedral while the blind man follows his pen. The narrator closes his eyes with the blind man and mentions how “it’s really something” (93). This quote is sort of an open quote because it has multiple meanings. The protagonist can be referring to the cathedral he just drew, or the “view” of seeing through the blind man’s perspective.

If I had to cast a male actor as the protagonist of this story, I would definitely choose Charlie Sheen. His outlook seems to be very negative and he is commonly known to be very selfish. He plays a major role in the popular T.V show "Two and a Half Men" with his character being very negative, sarcastic, jealous, and selfish. I think he would be a perfect fit for this role.

"A Rose for Emily"

What is the point of view of the story? Who is telling this story? How is this unusual? Why would Faulkner select this point of view? How does the point of view fit with the theme of the story? What specific lines in the story give you clues about who is telling the story?

William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" appears to be in the limited omniscience third person view. The narrator uses the words "he" and "she" often and "sees into one character" (29) throughout the short story. The protagonist's name is Emily who is narrated by an unnamed narrator. The narrator plays a big role throughout all the events in the story but seems to know mostly about Emily and her life rather than everyone elses.

Even though it is difficult to tell who exactally is narrating the story, I imagined the narrator being one of Emily's neighbors in the town while I was reading. The narrator refers to the setting as "our town"(33) while indroducing the scene of Emily's funeral. The narrator also uses "we" quite often giving the reader a sense that there is some kind of unity within the characters. The narrator makes numerous comments about
For example, after discussing the death of Emily's father, the narrator starts sentances off with "we did [...] we believed [...] we remembered [...] and we knew"(36-37) justifying the fact that he isn't only talking about himself, but is also representing others. It is unusual that a story so focused on one character is written in this perspective. However, this perspective brings great mystery and suspense to the plot. It makes the reader wonder why this narrator, out of everyone else, is narrating the story. One of the specific lines in the story that gave me clues to the narration was "we did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that"(36) referring to the taking away of her father's corpse. Another that really stood out to me was "so the next day we all said 'she will kill herself' and we said it would be the best thing"(38). These quotes also proved the fact that the narrator was speaking for others as well as themself.

Faulkner uses this point of view with the ongoing theme of death and distance because we feel a sense of space between us and the main character of the story.  By distancing us from Emily it puts us in her shoes since she was separated from everyone she loves. First with her father's death and then with her husband to be leaving her. While mentioning the desertion of her husband to be, the point of view helps us feel her distance and abandonment by stating "the one we believed would marry her-had deserted her"(35). In addition, during the funeral then women came "out of curiosity to see the inside of her house"(33) proving that she was distancing herself from the rest of the community. Also, with the narrator being an onlooker of the protagonist it makes the reader more curious. It gives us a sense that we are spying and watching the protagonist just as the neighborhood is with her.

I enjoyed Faulkner's organization of the plot. By dividing the story into sections, it made everything more suspensful and interesting to read. I also enjoyed the flashbacks because they gave us more detail about Emily and her past. We can often tell alot about people and their personalities by learning about their past.

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Conner

Does the plot suprise you? Why or why not? When you started reading the story, what did you think would happen? If you have seen any films by the Coen brothers ( especially No Country For Old Men), can you see how they were influenced by Flannery O'Conner?

The plot of this story definitely suprised me because at first glace I expected it to be some kind of love story. I expected it to be a cliche story about a woman searching for her "perfect man". However, the story shocked me with its sort of morbid tone and theme of morality. The plot's exposition begins with the family leaving for Florida against the grandmother's will. The grandmother, whose name is never revealed, would much rather go to Tennesee not only to visit some friends, but to also avoid the Misfit that has escaped and is on his way to Florida also. Meanwhile the grandmother is so caught up in her idea of being "a lady"(357) that she feels obligated to throw her morals upon everyone around her. Since she is a lady, she seems to believe that she is in a sense above everyone else around her. She spends most of her time telling people how others should be and act, essentially judging her surroundings. The grandchildren of the protagonist are essential in the story because they help show how the grandmother is always trying to shove her ladylike morals upon them. The granddaughter, June Star, upsets the protagonist by calling Red Sam's tower a "broken down place" that she "wouldn't live in" (359) since she was being too blunt and rude. It is quite ironic how the grandmother spends so much time pointing fingers at everyone else around her for their faults while she never stops to evaluate her own actions. For example, she proves that she is deceitful and egocentric by sneeking her cat Pitty Sing into the car knowing that her son would not be approving of the idea, and also lies about the secret panel. Towards the end however, thanks to the encounter with the Misfit, the grandmother stops focusing on judging other people and begins to realize that she isn't as perfect as she thinks she is.

While reading the story I honestly couldn't tell what was going to happen next. At first I thought that after their first stop at the tower the rest of the story was going to have at least three to four other pit stops. At each pit stop I predicted that the grandmother would run into other men that essentially fit her definition of a good man, each being better than the first. I never apprehended that the house she reminisced about was "not in Georgia but in Tennessee"(362). It didn't suprise me that she never mentioned the truth about the house to her family. This also helped illustrate her egocentric personality since she was only thinking of how things would benefit her instead of putting her family first.

Overall, I really like the writing style of this author. Suprisingly I enjoyed the gloominess and morbidity of the text. The fact that she had June Star be dissapointed about "nobody [being] killed" (362) in the accident just blew my mind. Never in a million years would I imagine a little girl saying that about her family in a story. Her writing is humorous to me since you never know what the characters are going to say next. I thought it was really funny that the grandmother but on such a feminine outfit so that "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know that she was a lady"(357). Flannery O'Conner's story really kept me on my toes. I actually do want to find some of her other works.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Sara Schlie and I'm 19 years old. I am currently in my second year at PCC as a nursing major. After finishing my general education at PCC I am hoping that I will get accepted into the nursing program at Azusa Pacific.

Some things that I enjoy doing are reading, cooking and baking, hiking, rock climbing, running, pretty much just staying active. Getting out of my comfort zone is a must, so I am always willing to try new things. I am a representative for a perishable food buisness called Premiere Action Group.Pretty much all I do is drive to multiple stores and check up on our stock.Sounds boring but it's actually really fun because majority of the time I'm just driving around listening to music. I also volunteer at Huntington Hospital once a week in surgery where I answer phones, deliver supplies in the operating rooms, take specimin to the different labs, pick up and drop off blood, and make packets for the staff. Every once in awhile I am able to see some surgeries which is pretty exciting!!