rest of my journal entries

March 24th
I just finished reading “The Lottery” and I must say I don’t think I saw it coming. Until the woman started protesting that it wasn’t fair I was completely unknowing. The story starts out saying it was a clear and sunny day “with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day” this gives the impression its going to be a nice story with a happy ending, then I remembered we don’t usually read happy ending stories but I still thought there was a chance. Going back and reading it for the second time I realized there was some foreshadowing, When it says that Bobby Martin already stuffed his pockets full of stones I understood it the second time, but the first time I read it, it definitely went over my head.
With the word lottery, a positive connotation comes to mind. I think of winning hundreds of millions of dollars and never having to worry about anything ever again. In this story it brings a definite negative connotation, because the “winner” gets stoned to death.
The irony in this story is actually kind of sick and twisted, like how the man who conducts the entire lottery is so nonchalant about the whole thing. The women joke and laugh about getting dishes done. Kids make a game of collecting stones, its all kind of sick.
I think it can be compared to children and in school there is usually one person “chosen” to be the “weird kid” or the one whose picked on. In a lot of cases there’s no real reasoning behind it but just to make the others feel better by picking on someone weaker.

March 26th

The quote at the beginning is really interesting. “The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon”
It really goes with the story (obviously) I kind of felt like the quote was a warning to trust few, because they could turn into an enemy that you can’t get away from.
The grandma in the story reminded me so much of my grandma its not even funny. She believes what she wants is what needs to happen and doesn’t really take what others think into account.
I also found the children to be quite interesting in this story. They first off had very strange and unique names, like June Star. It makes me think the parents are hippies, but I don’t really know about that.
I found it ironic on page 449 where the man at the gas station was talking about letting some men charge the gas, and he asked why he would do such a thing, and the grandmother responds “because you’re a good man!”…I just found that quite funny, because she runs into the Misfit later on and tells him she bets he is a good man. I feel like the grandma is manipulative and will say pretty much whatever she can to get what she wants in life.
I really liked how outspoken the children are when the Misfit comes, it shows their personality a lot. I don’t really have much of an opinion on the scene where they all die, except for its sad. I’m sure more light will be spread on the subject when we talk about it in class.

March 30th

So yikes, I just read “Where are you going? Where have you been?” and yikes, it’s a crazy story. So the girl is really pretty and popular and gets all the guys she wants. She has a bad relationship with her mom and her sister. Her sister happens to be the favorite, particially because she doesn’t look like Connie does and that makes her mother feel better, because her mom used to be pretty.
The whole relationship with her mom reminds me a lot of some shows or movies I’ve watched where the mom is super jealous of the daughter so he takes out all her aggression and anger out on her. It’s the whole Snow white thing.
So I didn’t pick up on the foreshadowing of Arnold Friend until I read it again( I usually read stories twice because the first time I don’t pay close enough attention). In the part where he sees her and gives her a look that says “I’m gonna get you”. Thinking about it, its super creepy and if a guy said that to me I would flip out.
Her ability to be so calm when the guys show up at her house makes me feel like the story is unbelievable, because I know if I were in the same situation as Connie I would be totally freaking out. I think I would try to find a way to use the phone quicker than she did. I guess its one of those situations where you can’t know what you would do unless you’re in the situation, which hopefully I never am.
The story leaves it wide open for us to fill in the blanks on what happens to her. My prediction is that they raped and killed her…it sounds really insensitive when I type it out but I think that’s what we were obviously supposed to think. It kind of reminded me of the story “Lovely Bones” where the girl is telling the story from heaven. I don’t know I think the story could have continued and held my attention pretty well.

April 1st

I just got done reading “Everyday Use” and it reminded me of my sister in a way. My sister and I are very close, but I guess I’m closer with my mom, probably because I’m the baby and had a lot of time with my mom to myself, because my sister is so much older. The story is about a family, the mom and youngest daughter live together and the oldest daughter went away to college.
The mother and youngest daughter have a very simple way of living, while the oldest daughter(Dee) has become more educated and “cultured”. During the story Dee comes home to visit and wants to take a handmade quilt that was being used and hang it on her wall. The mother is not happy about it, and Dee doesn’t understand why they would use something so beautiful instead of using it as decoration.
The relationship between Dee and her sister is very interesting to me because it reminds me of the relationship I have with my sister. In the story the younger sister just kind of let Dee do what she wanted, and let her run over her. My sister and I have that kind of relationship where Sarah(that’s my sisters name) kind of rules the family because she is so strong willed and has a very strong sense of entitlement.
I like how in the story the mom put her in her place and wouldn’t allow her to take the quilts.

“Cathedral”

This was one of my favorite stories. It was about a man and his wife, the wife was having a good old friend come visit who happened to be blind. Her husband was not sure how to deal with him being blind and had strange feelings towards him at the beginning.
The relationship between the husband and wife struck me as the most interesting, it seemed as though they weren’t exactly happy together. It seemed as though the woman was very naggy, and kind of mean. The looks she would give him after he talked, and the way she was jealous of the new found friendship between the blind man and her husband.
The way the blind man and the main character interacted was quite strange to me. I think its funny how they smoked pot and then that opened them up enough. I’m sure if I was his wife and I woke up and saw my old friend and my husband sitting on the ground furiously drawing while holding each other’s hand, I would be semi worried.
I can’t quite figure out why Cathedrals were chosen to be the topic of the drawing. I wonder if its because Cathedrals are thought to be majestic and huge and one of those things that can’t be explained with words. I can remember seeing Notre Dame Cathedral and there is no way I could ever explain with just words. I liked that in the story I could feel the anticipation and mounting energy as the man and the blind man were drawing together, like they were creating a masterpiece, which they did.


Red Convertible

This story made me quite depressed actually. It made me think of soldiers coming home from Iraq, with the tie to the Vietnam War. It reminded me of Stop Loss, a movie I just saw, where one of the soldiers came back and couldn’t adapt to everyday life after war. He ended up committing suicide because he just couldn’t handle it. I assume that was what the older brother in the story was going through. I can’t even imagine going to war and being thrown back into society.
The relationship between the two brothers was really cool I thought. They were tied together with this car. I think in a way it symbolized their brotherhood. When they took the trip to Alaska the car was in top shape as their brotherhood and friendship was. When the younger brother beat the car up in order to get his older brother up and doing something, he had to make the car ugly and messed up, which their relationship was ugly and messed up because of the war.
The fact that his younger brother pushed the car in didn’t really surprise me. I doubt he would want a car that represents their relationship to be lying around without the person he built it up with. His brother was the reason it meant so much, and so it really belonged to him.




Welcome to Kid World
I absolutely loved this story. It was one of my favorites by far. I loved how honest it was about what being a kid was like. We talked about embellishing stories, and how this was a little made up but it still didn’t seem over the top or made up, it seemed like that was what his life as a child was like. It triggered so many memories from when I was a child, like playing cops and robbers, and going swimming everyday. I loved the attention to detail in the story. When he was talking about him getting hurt and how it made you extremely popular was absolutely hilarious, because of how true it really was back being a child. Also I really liked how descriptive he was when he was talking about how he remembers how certain things smelled or felt like. Also, he said he know every inch of his house, which I can relate to because I lived in my house for 19 years and could tell you about every crack, spill, or hole. I just really enjoyed his detail and even though we didn’t have the same exact experience, it was triggering so many memories that I had when I was a child.


Romeo and Juliet- The book version

I have read ­­Romeo and Juliet a lot of times for various reasons and classes. I liked the way we did it though because it wasn’t line for line and tearing it apart. It was more of the concept and what the message that was being conveyed. I really enjoyed that we got to compare it to the movie and the staged version. Getting a lot of different perspectives helped on understanding the concepts the play were trying convey. In the book version I think that Romeo is my favorite character. I think his monologues are really strong and emotional and I think without his emotion the story would lack and probably not be as popular as it is. I know that a lot of people see him as whiney in the play but I don’t feel like he is at all in the book, I think he is full of emotion and obviously if I was in his place and banished to a nearby town away from the person I loved, I think I’d complain a little too. I also like how Tybalt is portrayed in comparison with the movie. I don’t think Tybalt is a bad character, I think that he is just trying to defend his name and it went too far. In the movie he is seen as a the devilish character(the costume symbolizes this) and I didn’t necessarily agree with that version of Tybalt.

Romeo and Juliet- The movie

This is actually my favorite movie. I’ve watched it a countless amount of time and each time I love it more. I think the music in it is a huge pull factor and makes it great, but I also really enjoy the way the did it. I really like how it is set in modern times with modern clothes, but the language and story is completely the same. It gives a good message about how this story is timeless, and that no matter what year it is everyone can relate to it. The only thing I had a problem with was the way Tybalt was portrayed in the film version. I thought that he was made out to be the “bad guy” when in the book version I didn’t feel like he was that bad of a character. The symbolism of the dance showed this because his costume was the devil ears, while Juliet, his cousin was wearing angel wings. This shows that Juliet and Tybalt were seen to be complete opposites. I liked that Romeo’s costume was a knight in shining armor type of costume, like he was supposed to save Juliet. The costumes were very symbolic. I also really liked how they used guns because it was set in modern times but to make it work with the dialogue they named the guns sword and dagger. They did a lot of clever things in the movie like that, such as having the Prince be the chief of police and be Officer Prince, or how the Capulets and Montagues were major cooperations, and how the narrator was a newscaster. It was all very clever and well planned out.

"A Jury of Her Peers" March 10th

I really liked this story. I thought it was well written. At first when I was reading I was a little concerned that the wife was innocent and that she was going to end up paying for the crime even though she didn't do it. What I really liked was the buildup to the ending. There was a lot of imformation and a lot of dialogue and details that just made the story work. I think the story was pretty female oriented. I really enjoyed how the men were doing all the walking around and investigating and poking fun at the women for discussing her quiliting, fussing over the preserves, and the general state of the house. The men didn't pay attention to the details such as the bird cage that had been forced open, they took the women's word for it when they said the cat got it. I think this story was to give women a little more credit in life and I really ejoyed that. I also liked the details like the quilting square that was very different from the others, like she was worried, the men didn't notice that. I was surprised in the end that the women stood up for Minnie Foster and didn't show the bird for evidence. It shows the common bond women have with one other and they were in a way standing up to the oppression of men.

"Cask of Amontillado" March 6th

I really enjoyed this story. At first I didn't understand exactly what was going on but I came to find out through class what was going on. To summarize, the main character had some animosity towards the other character and was planning on killing him for revenge. We never know exactly what the guy does to the main character but I guess if death is necessary than it was a pretty bad thing he did. So he plans to kill him by leading him down into the Catacombs and walling him in. I think this story has a lot of Irony in it because he's killing him in a dark place where death is frequent. The ironic thing however is that he is walling him in alive. The setting here is very important because at the end of the story he says that no one has disturbed his resting place, if it was anywhere else someone would probably happen upon him. I don't exactly know why I liked the story, probably because it was kind of dark and scary, but also because the main character was very munipulative, he would use reverse psychology in order to lure the other man down in the catacombs by telling him his health is too important and he wouldn't want him to get sick from being down there. I just overall really enjoyed the story.

"Happy Endings" Feb 27th

I don't know how I felt about "Happy Endings" It was kinda cool to have all the different endings and different ways the story could have gone, but it was mildly depressing. The whole message was that no matter how it goes you die in the end anyway. So that made me think that why do we try to live a life that has a purpose if it all really doesn't matter because we die at the end no matter what. So then I got depressed and didn't like that theory anymore, because I don't really believe it. We all die, this is true, but we can either die happy or sad, fullfilled or empty, rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, there are so many variables that can change the course of our lives. For some of us death will be a sad thing, an end to a happy life, leaving the one you love, for some its salvation, an out to a horrible life, some it may be just a thing to expect. Some of us will die with loved ones surrounding us, and some may die all alone. I don't think that death should be categorized in a story like this as inevitable and the end, but its more of the resolution to a complicated series of events that lead up to death, and the ending feeling when death comes should be what its all about.

My final project ideas

I was thinking about what I should do for my final project. I was thinking I might look up literature about the Holocaust. I think it is one of the most interesting events in history and I think I would find a lot of good poems and stories about it. Because of all the emotion I think it could be really good to use, It would be an easy subject because it was so famous and people were really effected by it and therefore wrote a lot about it and how it did effect them.
Also, my other idea was to write about relationships. I think there are a lot of stories and poems about relationships, good ones and bad ones, I'm one of those romatics who love sappy movie and book, like Nicholas Sparks, I just really enjoy a good romance novel or poetry about love.
I also was thinking about beauty, because I really enjoyed Shakespear's "My mistresses eyes are nothing like the Sun" and how it talked about her lack of beauty, but it could also come with more modern literature such as literature about eating disorders and women struggling to be beautiful, Ive read a lot of modern poetry about young women struggling with beauty, whether it be plastic surgery or the media. I'm going to have a tough time deciding what I should do.

two versions of America Feb 16th

I think in Whitmans poem hes seeing the world in a blind way. I don't think he understood that black sloves were American too. He was from the north and while he didn't condone slavery he probably didn't put blacks in the same category as white people. I don't think in his poem he meant to exclude blacks but in his time they weren't really considered citizens...more property. Even in his poem he leaves women out in a why by saying yes they were singing america but when all the men went out at night, the women were not included in that group. When Langston Hughes was responding to his poem he was simply saying that blacks are just as American as Walt Whitman portrays those in his poem. He was saying that even though they were not treated as such that maybe they should have been included.

Feb 13th- My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

I chose to write about the poem "my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.
I really enjoyed this poem, and it seems weird that I like it so much because it's a man talking about how his girlfriend is really not that great, she could be better.
I guess I took it as the man was saying you don't choose the one you love. In a lot of relationships, outsiders don't realize what the person sees in the other, but the people in that relationship completely understand. They may not think their significant other is the most attractive or interesting person they have ever met but they love them despite their downfalls. I think that is what the author is trying to say. Toward to beggining of the poem he talks about how her lips are not as red as coral, and her skin is not fair, and she doesn't have pretty hair, but at the end of the poem he confesses that his love is rare, and real. I feel like he wrote this poem to tell his girlfriend that he loves her no matter what she looks like or lacks in any way, because their love is not surface deep, its real and its not going to be thrown away because there are things that aren't perfect about her.