Intro to Women's Literature: Blog #2

"Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves From the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian by Charlie

2007-08-03T11:02:00.001-05:00

2007-08-03T10:05:00.001-05:00

Jill Scott- The Fact Is (I Need You)

2007-08-02T11:27:00.000-05:00

The song “The Fact Is (I Need You)” by Jill Scott is definitely a song that demonstrates a grappling with gender roles. It is about a woman who is in love, but how seems to want to be independent. At first listen, it may seem like a simple love song, but upon further inspection, there is so much more to be discovered.
The song is a continuous battle between what she is capable of and why she feels like she needs her lover. The song seems to be a woman’s wish to be independent. She states several things she is able to do on her own, such as pumping her own gas, getting her own job, buying her groceries, and taking care of her physical appearance. She even goes as far as saying that she can raise her child by herself. Although she can do all these things, she still goes on to say, “I need you.” This is a mental grapple in which she is struggling to decide whether or not she wants to be alone.
The overall message of the song is not one of independence. The message I receive is one of strength. Most of the things she states she can do on her own are things that are generally deemed to be manly responsibilities or characteristics. For example, it is often seen as a man’s responsibility to help a woman pump gasoline into her car, or to be the financial provider for the family. Basically, she is saying that she has the ability to do whatever a man can do, which is a very empowering message. Although she can do everything on her own, she says that she needs her lover. This is not because she is not able to be on her own, but she needs him to love her.

Jill Scott- The Fact Is (I Need You)

I can pay my own light bill baby
pump my own gas in my own car
I can buy my own shoe collection
I've been blessed thus far
I can kill the spider above my bed
although it's hard because I'm scared
I can even stain and polyurethane
But some things just don't change
I need you
Sometimes so hard to say
I need you
Some thing remail
I can buy my own groceries baby
Get my hair thight my nails right
I can floss my own bling bling
Write the the words to the songs I sing
I can even raise the child we'll make
Make sure he's loved and knows what God gave us
I can teach him how to walk and stand
but I need you to help him be a man
We need you
Some things don't change
I could be congresswoman or a garbage woman
or police officer or a carpenter
I could be a doctor and a lawyer
and a mother and a "good gGod what chu
donet to me?" kind of lover I can be
I could be a computer analyst
The queen with the nappy hair raising her fist
or I could be much more and a myraid of this
Hot as the summer
Sweet as the first kiss
And even though Ic an do all these things
I need you
And even though I can do all these things
We need you
(and you need us too!)

It could happen to you

2007-08-02T09:40:00.001-05:00

For my media I chose to bring in the movie, "It could happen to you" this movie is a romantic movie about a cop who wins the lottery and gives a million dollars of his winnings to a waitress. I chose this movie because it fits into the cultural narrative of a woman needing to be saved by a man. The woman was bankrupt and had no way to make up all of the money that she owed and this cop had to come in and save the day for her, he ends up falling in love with her and the two of them live happily ever after. It is the same story that we have seen and heard a million times. The story that little girls are told that one day your prince charming will come and rescue you.

Breathe

2007-08-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

I'm bringing in the song "Breathe" by Anna Nalick. While the song is generally just a pretty tune, there actually are some difficult topics addressed, such as abortion. The first verse of this song is about a woman who calls her friend because she's pregnant and scared and needs some support. The friend agrees to go with her to an abortion clinic, but on the way, and even in the clinic, other people are judging them. I think this song grapples with a women's narrative because it not only touches on friendship (which has been a resounding theme in our reading for this class), but also on a much bigger, more difficult issue: abortion. Not a lot of people, even today, are willing to talk about the simple right of controlling one's own body. I think this song is not just beautiful, it's honest. Women's every day relationships with each other can be so different and complex. The two women in the song are friends; the women in the clinic are there "for the very same reason", yet they still give looks that speak a thousand words. The second verse of this song is about a man, but that doesn't mean it's not a women's narrative. This verse is about a man the singer loves, and his addiction to alcohol. I think this is an interesting narrative, because instead of being angry, I get the sense that she just loves the man too much and really looks past him being an alcoholic, and instead sees him when he smiles. I think this is a women's narrative because it's a big theme that women will look past the bad and see the good that not a lot of other people can see.

Pink song "Stupid Girls"

2007-08-02T08:34:00.000-05:00

PINK LYRICS

Stupid Girls

Stupid girl, stupid girls, stupid girls
Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

Go to Fred Segal, you'll find them there
Laughing loud so all the little people stare
Looking for a daddy to pay for the champagne
(Drop a name)
What happened to the dreams of a girl president
She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two or three
With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees
Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?
Oh where, oh where could they be?

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

(Break it down now)
Disease's growing, it's epidemic
I'm scared that there ain't a cure
The world believes it and I'm going crazy
I cannot take any more
I'm so glad that I'll never fit in
That will never be me
Outcasts and girls with ambition
That's what I wanna see
Disasters all around
World despaired
Their only concern
Will they **** up my hair

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

[Interlude]
Oh my god you guys, I totally had more than 300 calories
That was so not sexy, no
Good one, can I borrow that?
[Vomits]
I WILL BE SKINNY

(Do ya thing, do ya thing, do ya thing)
(I like this, like this, like this)
Pretty will you **** me girl, silly as a lucky girl
Pull my head and suck it girl, stupid girl!
Pretty would you **** me girl, silly as a lucky girl
Pull my head and suck it girl, stupid girl!

Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, stupid girl!

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
Porno Paparazzi girl, I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back
Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl

I picked this song because it has so many of the narratives that we have discussed in class in it. First when the song begins you hear Pink singing about acting a certain way to get a guy to call her back. She also sings about the stupid celebrity woman, that the girls today have to look up to. She describes them as being dressed scandalously and dancing around in music videos and acting dumb. This song would be really mean, except for the fact that most of what Pink says is just observation and is pretty much true. I can't remember who, I think it may have been Quinlin, but someone used images of woman in music videos as there collage and this part of the song reminded me of that. I also found it interesting that in the chorus Pink talks about flipping her "blonde" hair, this imediately made me think of the poem "When I Was Growing Up", the stereotype of blonde being the only thing beautiful. Pink also touches on the subject of annorexia and the image of being skinny that woman deal with today. She trys to show how ridiculous the whole being skinny thing is. She also speaks out against the cultural narratives and says she wants to see outcast girls and girls with ambitions. Now here in the song I don't think she means outcast as you and might take it, but more like an outcast from this crowd of women who follow the steroetypes willingly. I think she means girls who don't try to be skinny, or who don't want to be blonde if they are not. So that is another good point in the song. The last thing that you hear in this song is Pink talking about women letting themselves fall into the man's fantasy of only being a sexually object with push up bras and the last verse talks about some sexual activities where the girl is just trying to please the guy. I think this song is a good example just because it touches on so many issues that are wrong with the world today. It shows the many narratives/stereotypes that women and young girls have to face today. I remember last year when this song came out that many people were angry (mainly celebrities) but in my opinion a lot of what Pink says is true. It is sad...but true.

Aug 2

2007-08-02T01:04:00.000-05:00

Sister's Are Doin' it for themselves
Annie Lennox

Now, there was a time when they used to say
that behind ev'ry great man,there had to be a great woman.
But oh, in these times of change,you know that it's no longer true.
So we're comin' out of the kitchen,
'cause there's something we forgot to say to you.
We say, Sisters are doin' it for themselves,
standin' on their own two feet
and ringin' on their own bells.
We say, Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.
Now, this is a song to celebratethe conscious liberation of the female state.
Mothers, daughters,and their daughters too,
woh yeah,woman to woman,we're singing with you, ooh, ooh.
The "inferior sex" has got a new exterior.
We got doctors, lawyers, politicians too,ooh ooh ooh, ooh.
Ev'rybody, take a look around.
Can you see, can you see, can you see,
there's a woman right next to youou.
We say, Sisters are doin' it for themselves,
standin' on their own two feetand ringin' on their own bells.
Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.
Now we ain't makin' stories,and we ain't layin' plans.
Don't you know that a man still loves a woman,
and a woman still loves a manjust the same, though.
Ooh ooh oohooh ooh ooh ooh.
Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.
There was a time,oh, when they used to say that behind ev'ry great man,
there had to be a great woman.
In these times of change,you know that it's no longer true.
So we're comin' out of the kitchen,'cause there's something we forgot to say to you.
We say, Sisters are doin' it for themselves,
standin' on their own two feet and ringin' on their own bells.
Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.
Sisters are doin' itfor themselvesselves.
Sisters are doin' it, doin' it,doin' it, doin' it, doin' it, doin' it…
Sisters are doin' it for themselves,uhhuh, uhhuh, yeah.
Sisters are doin' it for themselves,uhhuh, uhhuh, uhhuh, yeah.
Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.I say, yeah, yeah,
Sisters are doin' it for themselves,standin' on their…
Sisters are doin' itfor themselves.

I read the lyrics to this song and I don't think that I could have wrote a song better for this class. This song sum's up the narrative of the role of women in the early 20th century (and before that) and where we stand today. Of us women coming out of the kitchen and our men not expecting us to just be housewifes. We now have a voice, and it is just getting stronger. My line in the song is "But oh, in these times of change,you know that it's no longer true.So we're comin' out of the kitchen,'cause there's something we forgot to say to you." I think this line is just so impowering to all of us.

2007-08-01T23:50:00.000-05:00

For the life of me I can't believe
The you're on your knees beggin' please
All the pushing' away and puttin' down
Can't you see you're gettin' the run around
Oh it's plain to see you'd rescue me
From my loneliness so called unhappiness
Oh I didn't mean to cause you pain
I've got nothin' to lose and nothin' to gain

And don't waste your heart on a wild thing
She's got a soul that won't settle on one thing
Whoa this bird can't sing when you've tied its wings
Don't waste your heart on me

It's funny how the girls get burned
And honey as far as I'm concerned
The tables have turned

And don't waste your heart on a wild thing
She's got a soul that won't settle on one thing
Whoa this bird can't sing when you've tied its wings
Don't waste your heart on me

And I'm here to apologize
My heart can't compromise
Don't waste your heart on me
-Dixie Chicks

I think this song goes against some of the stereotypes and narratives that we've seen in the texts read that have been cast on women especially focusing on relationships. I like how the singer realizes that men are sometimes used to cure a woman's loneliness. She recognizes why sometimes women feel they absolutely need a man. The singer also seems to really be in touch with herself and realizes that she wants to be free and wild without the attachment of a man. I think the; main character in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and; many of the other main women from the texts we read might of had some feelings similar to what's expressed in the song like the desire to be independent;. We've talked about how our society and culture raises girls to believe they need a man and should settle down when in reality women deserve as much freedom as men. Some of the Dixie Chicks other songs like "Earl" and "Ready to Run" also have lyrics that deal with women empowerment.

Collage

2007-08-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

For our "show and tell" type project tomorrow, I chose an idea that I had from HMK's narrative collage. Her collage was about women's strength, particularly through characters and superheros, and after looking at the images I noticed a trend with most of the women. It seems like there's no shortage of women superheros (though it's no comparison to men superheros), but one thing that is constant is the way they're drawn/created wearing skimpy clothes and having large breasts.

I realize that there is a certain style to comic book drawing, which I guess can be most accurately described as "exaggerated". To be fair, women's bodies aren't the only ones that get distorted in these depictions; men are drawn with huge muscles and a general body-builder physique. However, since this is a women's studies class, I decided to focus mainly on the depictions of women and so I gathered images of superheros like Catwoman, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman, as well as some human images of these cartoon characters like Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft and Xena. I wanted to include the real-life women in my picture to show how the style of dress is still exaggerated even in real life.

Before this class, I didn't pay much attention to these characters. Of course, I'm not the first person to notice this trend of scantily-clad, supposedly "powerful" women as cartoon characters, but I definitely noticed the trend more as a result of this class.

PINK-- You and Your Hand

2007-08-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

Check it out
Going out
On the late night
Looking tight
Feeling nice
It's a **** fight
I can tell
I just know
That it's going down
Tonight
At the door we don't wait cause we know them
At the bar six shots just beginning
That's when dick head put his hands on me
But you see

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight

Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh
Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh

Midnight
I'm drunk
I don't give a ***k
Wanna dance
By myself
Guess you're outta luck
Don't touch
Back up
I'm not the one
Buh bye
Listen up it's just not happening
You can say what you want to your boyfriends
Just let me have my fun tonight
Aiight

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight

Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh oh
Break break
Break it down

In the corner with your boys you bet 'em five bucks
You'd get the girl that just walked in but she thinks you suck
We didn't get all dressed up just for you to see
So quit spilling your drinks on me yeah

You know who you are
High fivin, talking ****, but you're going home alone arentcha?

Cause I'm not here for your entertainment
No
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight
It's just you and your hand

I'm not here for your entertainment
No no no
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
Just take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight
Yeah oh
__________________________________

I chose this song by Pink because it deals with the stereotype of women needing men to have a good time. Pink sings how she's not there for the guys' entertainment, but to have a good time, and they need to just leave her alone. I think it's an awesome song and I belt it out and nod along the whole way through it, everytime. It's soo true how guys think they're God's gift to women sometimes, and we don't need men to have a good time. "Wanna dance by myself....."

2007-08-01T18:23:00.000-05:00

Question, tell me what you think about me
I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
Only ring your cell-y when I'm feeling lonely
When it's all over please get up and leave
Question, tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me boy you get dismissed
Pay my own carnote, oh and I pay my own bills
Always 50/50 in relationships

The shoes on my feet
(I've bought it)
The clothes I'm wearing
(I've bought it)
The rock I'm rockin'
(I've bought it)
'Cause I depend on me
If I wanted the watch you're wearin'
(I'll buy it)
The house I live in
(I've bought it)
The car I'm driving
(I've bought it)
I depend on me
(I depend on me)

All the women who're independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollars
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that
Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that

Tell me how you feel about this
Do what I want if I would wanna live
I worked hard and sacrificed to get what I get
Ladies, it ain't easy bein' independent
Question, How'd you like this knowledge that I brought
Braggin' on that cash that he gave you is a front
If you're gonna brag make sure it's your money you flaunt
Depend on no one else to give you what you want

The shoes on my feet
(I've bought it)
The clothes I'm wearing
(I've bought it)
The rock I'm rockin'
(I've bought it)
'Cause I depend on me
If I wanted the watch you're wearin'
(I'll buy it)
The house I live in
(I've bought it)
The car I'm driving
(I've bought it)
I depend on me
(I depend on me)

All the women who're independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollars
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

(Wassup?)
You in the house?
(Sure 'nuff)
We'll break these people off Angel style

(Child of Destiny)
(Independent beauty)
(No one else can scare me)
(Charlie's Angels)

All the women who're independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollars
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

All the women who're independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollars
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

This song is called "Independent Women" by Destinys Child. I picked this song because they are giving the message that a woman does not need a man paying her bills or getting her things because she can make her own money. I think it goes along with the narratives we have been talking about because the stereotype is that women need men to be fulfulled, which is not true.

Song: I Am Woman

2007-08-01T12:01:00.000-05:00

(Helen Reddy and Ray Burton)
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Oh, yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long, long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh, yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

The most well-known version of this song was released in 1972. It became the anthem for the women's liberation movement. I think it definetly grapples with gender issues, because for it's time it was a step ahead when it came to women's empowerment. It describes women as strong, invincible, that they can face anything. A part I really like about it is the fact that it uses the word "woman" as almost a synonyme for strong. That was definetly something new back when this song was released. It takes the common cultural narrative of women being the weaker sex and describes them as strong and explains why they're strong. This is the classic feminist song, and I think I think it was the perfect anthem for the women's liberation movement.

Summer- Response

2007-07-31T21:40:00.000-05:00

I read what Trinity wrote and I was pleased that she chose different passages then my own, and ones that I must have glanced over without really thinking about at first look. The first passage she mentioned was the one about North Dormer in comparison to the rest of the world. Charity wondered how the rest of the world viewed North Dormer, and how it fit in with the rest of the world. She was hungry for information on what was outside her own town and for awhile she read every book she could get her hands on and then she just stopped. Trinity drew comparisons with North Dormer and the small town she was from. I can relate to this, but in a sort of differnt fashion. I'm from St. Charles, not really a small town, but it is true what they say about St. Charles, everyone is either distantly related to everyone or they know everyone. It has that small town feel, without really being a small town. I can see how the comparisons between small town life and city life are important throughout the rest of the novel. It is the big city that gets Charity in trouble, and it reverberates back on her town life. The gossip lovers of a small town and the "behind closed doors" attitudes that these gossip lovers practice. Everybody knows everybody's business, but they won't say it to your face, because its not really their place. I think small towns are hilarious, and very homey. I liked that the story was set in a small town with the little ol' gossip bittys.
The other passage she chose was about Liff Hyatt and how Charity wasn't afraid of him. I didn't think of Shadrack, the character from Sula, when I was reading about Liff. I don't know how I didn't though. It is a great comparison. They're both social outcasts in the town, but they dont' seem to be aware or if they are they don't care. It's how they are and they're fine with it. I think the fact the Liff was from the mountain, just like Charity, is kind of an important fact when you delve into the relationship/interaction between the two of them. Charity questions her heritage and so questions her association with Liff. This relationship also made me think of the poem "When I was growing up," again. Both Charity and the main character from the poem wanted to fit in and be like the others, yet they had this one very fundamental and unchangeable "flaw," if you will, that prevented this. I think this self doubt that Charity has influences her actions in the rest of the book. She is so drawn to Harney because he loves where she's from, something she is very insecure about, this likeness he has for the mountain people helped to influence the relationship that festers between the two of them. I say fester because it was like a bad sore that looks fine at first, set ends up getting infected and festering. It was bad news.

2007-07-31T17:14:00.000-05:00

Part two turned out so different than I expected! I feel like I got into Charity's character and really understood where she was coming from. These two scenes really shocked me and helped me develop a better understanding of Charity. "If all the people got married that folks say are going to you'd have your time full making wedding dresses," she said ironically. / "Why--don't you believe it?" Ally ventured. / "It would not make it true if I did-- nor prevent it if I didn't." / "That's so... I only know I seen her crying the night of the party because her dress didn't set right. that was why she wouldn't dance any..." / Charity stood absently gazing down at the lacy garment on Ally's knee. Abruptly she stooped and snatched it up. / "Well, I guess she won't dance in this either," she said with sudden violence; and grasping the blouse in her strong young hands she tore it in two and flung the tattered bits to the floor." p.142 This passage stood out to me because it was unexpected and showed part of her personality that we had not been exposed to yet in her acting out physically. For some reason throughout the book, I viewed Charity as kind of a passive character on the outside but who was in touch with her emotions and desires. Her thought process seems somewhat immature and she seems unaware of all the emotions that she's being faced with. This scene is almost like a tantrum and I was so glad to see some rage because it's almost like the exact opposite of what the town seems to expect from women and girls. Acting out how you feel or throwing a tantrum is almost like a stepping stone to understanding your feelings and what you want not what others want.
The second section that shocked me was, "I'm married to Mr. Royall. I'll always remember you. -Charity" The last letter she sent to Harney was a shock to me. Charity held so much in and I almost feel bad for her that she feels like she has to do what is "right". The ending shocked me so much because it left me with a few questions and I wanted to know more about what was going on in Charity's head. I felt like she let society and people's opinions get in her way of love and exploring the world which seems like what she wanted to do. It kind of reminded me of Victoria from "As Children Together" because I feel like both the characters wanted to get out but didn't believe it possible or felt like they were stuck.

I was reading over the blogs about part 1 of Summer and I like that KP recognized the passage at the beginning of the book and how it goes along with the narratives we've been talking about in class. I didn't recognize when I was reading how Wharton phrased the gender roles, it kind of flew by me so I'm glad KP caught on to it. When I read KP's comment about Mr. Royall not mentioning Charity's name when talking to Harney about the child he had brought down from the mountains it made me wonder too if he was not mentioning her name out of respect for Charity or not. When I first read that particular passage, I thought that Mr. Royall probably thought Charity might be eavesdropping on his conversation with Mr. Harney because he knew she was interested in the young man. I also thought he might have exaggerated his rescuing her to make her feel like he saved her. I'm not sure but I'm glad KP brought up that scene because it does make me question why he didn't mention her name.

2007-07-31T12:01:00.000-05:00

Indie Arie-"Video"

[Verse 1]
Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend of how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

[Chorus]
I'm not the average girl from your video
And I ain't built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally,
Because I am a queen

I not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be
India.Arie

[Verse 2]
When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's suppose to be
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my Lips, my eyes, I'm loving what I see

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Am I less of a lady if I don't where panty hose
My momma said a lady ain't what she wears but what she knows…
But I've drawn the conclusion, it's all an illusion
Confusion's the name of the game
A misconception, a vast deception,
Something got to change

Now don't be offended this is all my opinion
Ain't nothing that I'm saying law
This is a true confession
Of a life learned lesson
I was sent here to share with y'all
So get in when you fit in
Go on and shine
Clear your mind
Now's the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go on and love yourself
‘Cause everything's gonna be alright

[Chorus]

[Out]
Keep your fancy drink, and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive cars and your caviar
All's I need is my guitar

Keep your cristol and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of crystal
Don't need you silicone, I prefer my own
What god gave me is just fine…

[Chorus]

This song has been around since I was in middle school. Every time it would come on the radio, I would feel instantly better about any insecurity or worry about myself. Every line of the song carries such a strong, empowering message. I think Indie Arie really breaks a lot of the main narratives we've been talking about in class. Men as the sole provider, men as "buying" women into love, etc. Another big one, is that she breaks down the narrative of women wanting to look like the media and striving to be those perfect, air-brushed images you seen in magazines. In the lines, "And I ain't built like a supermodel/
But I learned to love myself unconditionally/Because I am a queen," she seems to accept her body and how she looks. She's not always worrying about being thin or about ways to perfect herself, she's content with how she is. That's a huge narrative in today's society. I think women are seen as the gender that is never satisfied and always dieting, always watching their figure, and constantly worrying about their body. However, I think men are just as self-confidence (maybe theirs is more internal) and women are a lot more accepting of their bodies than society thinks.

I also think the lines, "Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't/ Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't" break the narrative of doing everything for a man. I like that she's singing about doing the things she wants to do. A lot of times, I feel like we do things and dress up for the opposite gender or for potential love interests. I think in today's world, it's more accepting to think of women as the creatures always doing that. Society says we dress up to impress men, but why can't we just dress up or shave our legs because it makes US feel happy? We can, and we do!

Summer Part 2

2007-07-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

Marissa stated the following about Mr. Royall's attitude toward Charity, "His reputation in the town of being above everyone else and very powerful does not match his relationship with Charity. He does pretty much whatever she wants, when in reality he probably could force her to marry him or just be more aggressive with her in general. I think this says a lot about what a strong woman Charity is, and I think that's one of the big reasons I like her."

I think Mr. Royall didn't need to be aggressive or power her into marrying him. I think he just sort of knew it would always work out that way. I really started to like his character (minus him drunkenly calling her a whore on the fourth of July). He seemed like he genuinely cared about her and helped her out multiple times in the second half of the book. First, I feel like he knows that Luicius is going to leave her or already be in a situation. Royall is constantly on her about her liking him. Which, most of it seems to stem from he himself liking Charity. But he kind of scolds her about them spending so much time together. While I think that she should do whatever the heck she wants, I think that’s his way of caring for her and making sure she doesn’t get her heart broken.

SUMMER- response

2007-07-31T09:12:00.000-05:00

My response is to HMK's post. She chose the quote from page 19 "I know Mr. Royall is...trying at times; but hise wife bore with him; and you must always remember, Charity, that it was Mr. Royall who brought you down from the Mountain." HMK said she felt Charity was told this repeatedly to keep her in her place and keep in control of her. I felt a bit differently.
I felt like Charity was consistently reminded of her deliverance from the Mountain to remind her that she is in debt, for the rest of her life, to Mr. Royall. He basically guilts her into doing anything and acts like she is something he can control. When Mr. Royall is talking to Charity about marriage and she denies him (because that's F-ing CREEPY), instead of letting her leave, he pops in with another offer: to get Harney over as soon as possible for a wedding. On page 76, Mr. Royall says " I'll have him here in an hour if you do. I ain't been in the law thirty years for nothing...And I can put things to him so he won't be long deciding...He's soft: I could see that. I don't say you won't be sorry afterward - but, by God, I'll give you the chance to be if you say so." This made me kind of angry, like HMK, because it's just a reminder that Charity can basically make no decisions in her own life. She was brought down from the Mountain, she was forced to live with the fun and abusive Mr. Royall!, and now she can't make the decision on her own about her future. I think Charity is constantly reminded of her deliverance because it's another way of saying that her decisions will be made for her, because other people know what's in her best interest more than she does.
I also think that because Charity is constantly told that her life was better since taken from the Mountain, that's why she decided to return there. Like HMK said, Charity was told that she was brought down from the Mountain and for that she had some debt to repay. I think that because of this, the Mountain was the best place to go to find out what exactly she had been removed from and why, exactly, it was so important for her to get out. On page 153-154, Charity decides to go to the Mountain. "Almost without conscious thought her decision had been reached; as her eyes had followed the circle of the hills her mind had also travelled the old orund. She supposed it was something in her blood that made the Mountain the only answer to her questioning, the inevitable escape from all that hemmed her in and beset her. At any rate it began to loon in her now as it loomed against the rainy dawn; and the longer she looked at it the more clearly she understood that now at last she was really going there." I think this passage is very important because it is a full circle from the quote HMK chose. Instead of feeling guilty for being delivered from the Mountain, Charity decides to find out exactly what it was in her life she was taken from. And the best part it, she does it on her own volition.

Summer part 2

2007-07-31T09:02:00.000-05:00

I read the post by HMK about the first half of the book. The points she made were very good about the two passages she picked.
The first passage she picked was talking about the treatment that Charity received from Mr. Royall and Miss Hatchard telling her that she needed to just put up with Mr. Royall because she owed him for taking her out of the mountain. I too thought Mr. Royall to be awful in the first half of the book but as I read through the second part of the book I did notice that he seemed to really care for Charity. He had many flaws but he never let himself disrespect her or give her reason to fear him. Even after she has turned him down twice when he asks her to marry him, he still treats her somewhat decent and lets her live in his house. I saw that he was an okay man to Charity and even though she didn't love him you knew at the end of the book that he would take care of her.

The second passage that HMK picked was the passage where Charity and Harney go to the brown house. After leaving there Charity breaks down a little and cries. Harney comforts her and they share a moment. I agree with how HMK made comaprisons to the stories "Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eruasian", in all of the stories the girs are made fun of and looked down upon for where they have come from, their background. I also thought of a comparison to "When I was Growing Up" when I read the book Summer. Both the asian girl in the poem and Charity in the story wish they were different and see themselves as unfit or "unclean" because they are from different places. I also noticed how odd it was through the book Summer, that at first Charity doesn't want to be from the mountain people, then she decides to join them, then she retreats from their ways again and finally decides that is no place for her and her child. She struggles throughout the book with being from the mountains. This reminded me of a sort of narrative one might see today in our culture, either someone struggling with being from the ghetto or from the trailer park or etc. There are so many movies that depict this struggle that it seems that it is a narrative overlooked a lot of times. But I still feel that it is one that is given too much attention. I think that at the end of the book however that Charity has overcome a bit of the struggle. She gets some closure by seeing her mother's body and then realizes that no matter what, she does not belong on the mountain and her final thoughts are what really set her mind to leave. Her final thought was that the mountain was not the place she wanted to raise her baby. Even though she doesnt like where she is from she still accepts it in the end I think.

Summer part 1

2007-07-31T08:05:00.000-05:00

In the first part of the book I really got a sense of the town and how Charity felt in her life. One passage says:

"What, she wondered, did North Dormer look like to people from other parts of the world?She herself had lived there since the age of five, and had long supposed it to be a place of some importance....This initiation had shown her that North Dormer was a small place, and developed in her a thirst for information that her position as custodian of the village library had previously failed to excite. For a month or two she dipped feverishly and disconnectedly into the dusty volumes of the Hatchard Memorial Library; then the impression of Nettleton began to fade, and she found it easier to take North Dormer as the norm of the universe than to go on reading."

As I read this passage the image that came to my mind was one of my hometown. I come from a very small town that sounds simiar to the one in the book. Charity talks about how small it is but how at one time she had thought it was an important place. The above passage is a description of her first dose of reality and her first insight into just how big the world is and just how small her town is. I remember when I first starting realizing that Rich Hill ( my town) was not once what I thought it to be when I took my first few trips north to Kansas City. I remember seeing the skyscrapers and wondering why Rich Hill didn't have those. As I grew older I took a great interest in going beyond Rich Hill later in life. Now I am here in college doing what I can to make sure I don't end up in a routine life that I don't enjoy back home, just as it sounds in the story it happened to Charity. She talks about wanting to leave the town someday but stays because she feels sorry for how lonely Lawyer Royall is. She keeps herself there because of him. Now in my comparing this to my hometown I will say that I don'tlook down on anyone who stays in Rich Hill all their lives, it is a great little farm town and a great place to raise a family, but it is just not what is right for me. I have always been one wanting to get out and see the world outside of that tiny town. So I feel a bit of connection with Charity in the fact she too wanted out.

The second passage that I thought about was:

"Charity sank back on her heels and looked at him musingly. She was not in the least afraid of poor Liff Hyatt, though he 'came from the Mountain', and some of the girls ran way when the saw him. Among the more reasonable he passed for a harmless creature a sort of link between the Mountain and civilized folk, who occasionally came down and did a little wood-cutting for a farmer when hands were short."

When I read this I first thought of the character in Sula, the man who made up suicide day. I also thought of how this refelcted on Charity's character. She seemed to undestand this man and understand that she had some sort of connection to him because of their origin. Regardless of Charity's being "from the mountain", I still think that this scene shows that she is a very compassionate person. I think that this event relates to another part of the text where Charity doesn't leave town because she feels sorry for Mr. Royall. She has a heart and tends to put others above herself or at least considers their feelings. Here she talks to Liff as if he were just another person when she describes him as being someone who other girls run away from. This also gives the reader an impression that Charity is different from the other girls and is pretty tough. We see throughout the story that she is very independent and strong. She is not afraid of anything.
She fights some of the cultural narrative that women are passive and weak and scared of everything. The above paragraphs are a sort of example of that and another huge example is when she tells Mr. Royall off, when he tries to get into her room. She is not scared and puts him in his place. I think she is the total opposite of this narrative and there are many examples in the book of this.

Summer, Part Two

2007-07-30T23:10:00.001-05:00

Wow, the second half of this book was definitely more interesting than the first. Before I finished it tonight I didn't think I would really connect with the characters/plot in this book like I did with Sula, but I guess they're somewhat comparable now that I've finished this one. Anyway, the first passage that struck me was this:

"As she spoke she became aware of a change in his face. He was no longer listening to her, he was only looking at her, with the passionate absorbed expression she had seen in his eyes after they had kissed on the stand at Nettleton. He was the new Harney again, the Harney abruptly revealed in that embrace, who seemed so penetrated with the joy of her presence that he was utterly careless of what she was thinking or feeling."

Personally, I don't find anything endearing about my boyfriend staring blankly at me while I'm trying to communicate something to him. Yes, I recognize the "romantic" tone that could be associated with this, and Charity goes on to explain it rather well by saying something to the extent of, 'when they're together--- nothing/nobody else mattered'. Which would've been fine and everything, except for his affair with Annabel and everything else he deceived her about. I don't think she knew him long enough to trust this "vacant-but-loving" blankness to his face and take it for true love's spell or whatever. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but the point is, I think this is the first of many instances where Charity begins making excuses for Harney's behavior. Examples:

"It was not that she felt in him any ascendancy of character---there were moments already when she knew she was the stronger---but that all the rest of life had become a mere cloudy rim about the central glory of their passion."

"She hardly heard his excuses for being late: in his absence a thousand doubts tormented her, but as soon as he appeared she ceased to wonder where he had come from."

"I want you should marry Annabel Balch if you promised to. I think maybe you were afraid I'd feel too bad about it. I feel I'd rather you acted right."

"He was not trying to evade an importunate claim; he was honestly and contritely struggling between opposing duties."

"Harney had written that she had made it easier for him, and she was glad it was so; she did not want to make things hard."

And on and on... you get the idea. This illustrates that idea of "personal perception" that we discussed in class today; how people twist events and others' personalities in their mind to fit their own idea of the world and how it relates back to them, or how they want it to be. Obviously, we find that Harney was not the person she thought he was by the end of this book, and conversely, neither was Mr. Royall. While Royall played the "villain" and Harney played the "knight in shining armor" throughout this book, I think we come to realize that neither fit very nicely into those categories; both their actions were good and bad, on and off-- just like regular people. I think this also highlights a main point in Sula, where the characters get entangled in their ideas of "right and wrong, black and white", and the solution comes only when they're free of those shackles and free to think in the gray area.

Since I feel like this book focuses on two main relationships (between Charity and Harney, and Charity and Mr. Royall) I chose some passages relating to the second one. There were several instances where Mr. Royall bursts into the story unexpectedly. First:

"There was a fumbling at the padlock and she called out: "Have you slipped the chain?" The door opened, and Mr. Royall walked into the room."

And then when he picked her up as she was coming back from the Mountain, and again when he appears in their hotel room in the middle of the night seated across the room in a chair. Every time this happened, I was filled with fear. Yet every time, he ended up not acting like the monster that I expected him to be. I would cringe each time expecting some kind of highly uncomfortable, incestuous scene about to unfold-- and it never did. Especially in the hotel room after they were married, I was scared to read ahead and find that he would try to "consummate" their marriage later that night. But he never did. He knew what she needed and when, and never failed to provide it; both materialistically and emotionally. While I don't think this makes him the perfect husband, I do think it helped instill a sense of security in Charity. I don't think Mr. Royall or Harney were any kind of perfect, typical "soul mate" match for Charity--- but maybe seeking out that perfection leads us right back to where we started, and maybe it helps us to terms with what we ultimately need-- support, and understanding.

I haven't even mentioned the pregnancy yet. Wow! I kept waiting for her to tell Harney, or Mr. Royall-- somebody--- but she never did. I wonder how that played out? I pictured her coming up with some kind of story to tell Mr. Royall (maybe even eventually try to convince him it was his, if they ever ended up getting intimate shortly after their wedding), but I realized that a main factor of their relationship was that they had grown beyond lying to each other. By the end, I could just as easily picture her admitting the truth about her pregnancy, and Mr. Royall accepting it dutifully, without judgement, just like he had with most everything else. The interesting thing about this story is that she sort of became the girls she looked up to (in Annbel's case) and the girls that she looked down upon (in Julia's case). More evidence that her life didn't turn out perfect or disastrous (black or white) like she expected... but a little bit of both.

And Dr. Merkle is the devil. I never knew privatized health care was this much of a problem even way back when.

Summer 2

2007-07-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

The blog entry that I am focusing on is the blog entry done by Kim. In her entry she talked about how Harney had written her that letter telling her to met him when he went away. In her blog entry she wrote about how Charity really liked him and how this showed a vulnerable side to Charity. However, in the end she ends up marrying Mr. Royall but writes Harney a letter saying he will always be in her heart. I think this in a way flashbacked to when Harney had first written that letter to her. I think once again it showed her vulnerability and feelings for him, even though she was married to Mr. Royall.

Summer Part 2

2007-07-30T15:11:00.001-05:00

After reading over the blogs for part one of Summer, a part of Niki's really stood out to me. She talked about the part in the beginning where Mr.Royall seeks Charity's forgivness for trying to get into her room that one night. He tries to get her to forgive him by saying that he only did her wrong that once, and that other than that one time he's been good to her. After finishing the book, I realized that Mr.Royall uses this excuse once again later on. On page 133 he says,
"All I know is I raised you as good as I could, and meant fairly by you always,-except once, for a bad half hour. There's no justice in weighing that half-hour against the rest, and you know it." After finishing the book I realized that Mr.Royall had done her wrong for more than just that one half hour. Like in the second part of the book he called her a whore in front of everyone. He goes back to that one incident over and over as if it's the only thing he's done wrong to her, but in reality it's been more than just that one night. Even by naming her Charity he put his possession over her, and even though he didn't always express it, he felt that she owed him for "saving" her as a young child. I think it's a really sad situation all together, and actually have pity for Mr.Royall thoughout the novel.

SUMMER- Part 1

2007-07-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

The first passage that I picked can be found on p.19:
"I know Mr. Royall is... trying at times; but his wife bore with him; and you must always remember, Charity, that it was Mr. Royall who brought you down from the mountain."-----------------------------------
I chose this passage because it struck me as interesting and was also infuriating. The woman obviously knows what Charity is going through at the hands of Mr. Royall, and she almost says its what she deserves. She is putting Charity in her place, and saying she has to take what he does to her because he was so very generous bringing her down from the "savages." It really made me think of the era the book was written in and how people knew of the things that go on behind closed doors, but they certainly don't speak of them. That's just the way it is. You turn your head at the "unmentionable" actions and sum it up to the man's in charge and he can do what he wants. It makes me sick.
This passage made me think of "The Thirty Eighth Year" where the woman lays there and takes her husband basically raping her. The idea that men can do what they want if they're in charge of you. Like your husband, or guardian.

The second passage that I chose is on p.57-57:
"I saw you take out a dollar to give to that poor woman. Why did you put it back?" He reddened, and leaned forward to flick a swamp-fly from the horse's neck. "I wasn't sure---"
"Was it because you knew they were my folks, and you thought I'd be ashamed to see you give them money?"
He turned to her with eyes full or reproach. "Oh Charity---" It was the first time he had ever called her by her name. Her misery welled over.
"I ain't- I ain't ashamed. They're my people, and I ain't ashamed of them," she sobbed.
"My dear..." he murmured, putting his arm about her; and she leaned against him and wept out her pain.---------------------------------
I chose this passage because it moved me. It was very vivid and interesting to picture, easy to picture. They obviously have something between them, and Charity is so embarrassed by him knowing the mountain people are her "people." She hates where she comes from and hates that about herself. This passage really made me think of the two stories about the young girls who are ridiculed for their nationalities, "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian." All three girls face ridicule because of where they're from (or in the case of the two previously read narratives, their nationality.) It's just another example of prejudices at work and how hurtful they are. I really felt for Charity in this scene, it was very moving.

Summer

2007-07-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

The first part of the novel that really caught my eye was when Mr. Royall says "people ain't been fair to be-from the first they aint been fair to me." For some reason this really caught my attention. After he has just basically been scolded I cant help but picture a man whose ego has been very bruised walking out of the door, being terribly hurt. You can only think that it had taken him alot to get up the courage to ask her to marry him in the first place and then he was shot down so badly. The next passage that caught my attention also had to do with this first passage it is when Mr. Royall stands up and says, "see here, charity Royall: I had a shameful thought once, and you've made me pay for it. Isnt that score pretty near wiped out?... Theres a streak in me I aint always the master of ;but ive always acted straight to you byt that once. And youve known I would- youve trusted me. For all your sneers and your mockery youve always known I loved you the way a man lovesa decent woman." This quote really caught my attention again because it seems to inappropriate. A man trying to convince a woman to marry him, yet he uses the words decent woman and says I have always been straight with you except for that once. It just kind of made me laugh to hear what seems like a man wanting forgivness to apporach the subject matter in that way.

Summer Part 1

2007-07-30T09:22:00.000-05:00

"On such an afternoon Charity Royall lay on a ridge above a sunlit hollow, her face pressed to the earth and the warm currents of the grass running through her. Directly in her line of vision a blackberry branch laid its frail white flowers and blue-green leaves against the sky. Just beyond, a tuft of sweet-fern uncurled between the beaded shoots of the grass, and a small yellow butterfly vibrated over them like a fleck of sunshine. This was all she saw; but she felt, above her and about her, the strong growth of the beeches clothing the ridge, the rounding of pale green cones on countless spruce-branches, the push of myriads of sweet-fern fronds in the cracks of the stony slope below the wood, and the crowding shoots of meadowsweet and yellow flags in the pasture beyond." p. 34 This passage from the beginning of the book stood out to me a lot because it reminded me of when I was a kid. I used to get really bored and angry because I was so bored so I'd go outside and lay in the backyard to ventilate my anger from being so bored. This passage to me shows Charity's youth and her feeling of being confined in North Dormer. The description is written beautifully which may be another reason why it caught my attention.

"Harney and Charity sat down on a bench made of a board resting on two starch boxes. They faced a door hanging on a broken hinge, and through the crack they saw the eyes of the tow-headed boy and of a pale little girl with a scar across her cheek. Charity smiled, and signed to the children to come in; but as soon as they saw they were discovered they slipped away on bare feet. It occurred to her that they were afraid of rousing the sleeping man; and probably the woman shared their fear, for she moved about as noiselessly and avoided going near the stove." p. 54 This section reminded me a lot of some of the first mission work I ever did in West Virginia. The group I was with and I painted and repaired houses, did yard work, and hung out with locals while we were on our trip. It was a big surprise to me when we went to the first house and socialized with all the people who were living in it. I knew people lived in poverty and struggled and that poor people existed but I did not get a true sense of their situation until that trip which was very mind opening. This passage is similar except I feel that Charity is in even more of a shock that these are the type of people she came from. The people from the town ignored the people from the Mountain which I think also made it a big shock to finally see what she'd only heard a little about. This section also helps Charity see the lifestyle she might of been living if Mr. Royall hadn't taken her to the valley.

Summer Part 1

2007-07-29T22:46:00.000-05:00

The first passage of the book that stuck out to me was "North Dormer is at all times an empty place, and at three o'clock on a June afternoon its few able-bodied men are off in the fields or woods, and the women indoors, engaged in languid household drudgery." (Page 4) This was right at the beginning of the book and it struck out to me because it sums up what we have been talking about in class before when it comes to the traditional roles of men and women. That text is basically saying even in this small town the role of the man is to go work in the field and the role of the woman is to do housework. It just shows that the notion of men doing field work and women doing house work has been set for a long time. Also I think this is important to the novel as a whole because right before this she says "How I hate everything!" I think this is Charity's way of saying she does not like how that is what is expected of her and I think that plays into why she wanted to work in the library, so she could get out of North Dormer. I think this relates to the narratives we have talked about where the women is always conforming to the role that is given to her, such as the housewife.

The second passage that struck out to me was in chapter six when Mr. Royall and Harney were talking about The Mountain after dinner. "He told me he had a child up there-or thought he had- a little girl; and he wanted her brought down and reared like a Christian. I was sorry for the fellow, so I went up and got the child." This passage struck out to me because when he was explaining to Harney the one time he went up to The Mountain he was talking about when he went up there and brought back Charity when she was a little girl. However, while he was telling him this he never once mentioned the little girls name or made a reference to how he was referring to Charity. I think he did this because he did not want Harney to judge her because she came from The Mountain, even though Harney already knew that and thought that was why Charity was different than the other folks in the town. I think Mr. Royall might have done this out of respect for Charity.

7/30/07

2007-07-29T22:29:00.001-05:00

"Yes, sir: right after it. The fellow came down to Nettleton and ran amuck, the way they sometimes do. After they've done a wood-cutting job they come down and blow the money in; and this man ended up with manslaughter. I got him convicted, though they were scared of the Mountain even at Nettleton; and then a queer thing happened. The fellow sent for me to go and see him in gaol. I went, and this is what he says: 'The fool that defended me is a chicken-livered son of a--and all the rest of it,' he says. 'I've got a job to be done for me up on the Mountain, and you're the only man I seen in court that looks as if he'd do it.' He told me he had a child up there--or thought he had-- a little girl; and he wanted her brought down and reared like a Christian. I was sorry for the fellow, so I went up and got the child." He paused, and Charity listened with a throbbing heart. "That's the only time I ever went up the Mountain," he concluded” (Wharton Chapter 6)

I had a strong reaction to this passage, because I liked how it showed Charity’s vulnerability. So far in Summer, Edith Warton shows Charity as independent, a little tomboyish, and not concerned with romance. She kind of strikes me as a character from Jane Austen’s novels. Charity is a little bit sassy and does what she wants when she wants. The quote above shows a whole other side to her personality that was unexpected, but refreshing to see as a reader. Her being worried and embarrassed about Mr. Royall telling Lucius about her mountain past—even though he doesn’t directly mention her name—is a sign that she really likes Lucius. This observation says a lot about other events in the book so far. The whole book shows Charity as a little cold but completely aware of her surroundings. Developing a liking for Lucius makes her appear to feel a little lost and she doesn’t have control of the situation that she seems to love.
This passage in Summer seems to touch on the cultural narrative that men are strong and females are insignificant. The way Mr. Royall talks to Lucius about the Mountain and his experiences going up the mountain is kind of superior sounding. It’s as if he knows everything and these people in the Mountains are so inferior to him. And of course the passage shows Charity becoming a little weak about the situation and getting upset.

"Anywhere where I can earn my living. I'll try here first, and if I can't do it here I'll go somewhere else. I'll go up the Mountain if I have to." She paused on this threat, and saw that it had taken effect. "I want you should get Miss Hatchard and the selectmen to take me at the library: and I want a woman here in the house with me," she repeated" (Wharton Chapter 2).

I like this part, because it showed how Charity was strong. She stood up for what she believed in, told off Mr. Royall, gave him circumstances, and he met those. I got the impression that he was intimidated and surprised by her confidence towards the situation. I almost put the book down and clapped. Got to love that girl power!
This event in the book really connects with another one in the future. The passage where she tells off Luicus because she thought he sort of “told” on her for not being at the library is similar. She doesn’t hold back in that scene either. To me, it kind of showed her Mountain side. She’s a little unruly, headstrong, and aggressive—just the traits the Mountain people are supposed to bear (beside rumoring to be a dirty and ignorant people). This scene show that she is this type of women.

Summer, Part One

2007-07-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed several things about the first half of this book so far. After reading the introduction and first several chapters of this book, I expected Charity's character to act a certain way, and when she didn't, I was surprised. For example, when Charity is described as having a job at the local library, I thought this fit in naturally with her character. Furthermore, I envisioned her as a "dreamer", and pictured her spending her days at the library engulfed in a book, or organizing the shelves, or caring about the state of the building in general. Then I read this passage:

"Today the sense of well-being was intensified by her joy at escaping from the library. She liked well enough to have a friend drop in and talk to her when she was on duty, but she hated to be bothered about books. How could she remember where they were, when they were so seldom asked for?"

While I now understand her disdain for having to spend her days indoors inside a dusty and practically abandoned library, at the time it was surprising to find that she was not enthusiastic about her job. This passage started to clue me in about the other things she was surprisingly un-enthused about. I guess I had a stereotype in my mind of a young girl living in the secluded country, so I'm glad that she doesn't exactly fit into that because I think it makes her character more dimensional.

The second passage I reacted to was when Charity received the letter from Harney after they met to say their goodbyes when he was supposedly leaving town. The letter said:

"I can't go away like this. I am staying for a few days at Creston River. Will you come down and meet me at Creston pool? I will wait for you till evening."

I can't say I was completely and utterly surprised by this secret-letter development. After all, this is obviously a love story where Harney is the object of Charity's affection, and surely he wasn't permanently disappearing from the story less than half way through the book? Although, I didn't expect his "return" to happen so suddenly. I thought he might leave town, and she would mourn him for days, weeks, or months before hearing from him again. It was nice to read the note and feel how Charity must have felt. Especially since the only sign of affection she'd had her whole life besides her interaction with Harney had recently come from Mr. Royall... which would obviously be upsetting. It was interesting to read and feel the contrast in affection that she received from two different relationships with two very different men.

Summer Part 1

2007-07-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

So far, I think this book is pretty good. I like the main character a lot and I'm excited to see what happens with her and that Harney guy..they seem so cute together.
There were two passages about flowers that stood out to me, only because in the beginning of this class we discussed how women are compared to flowers a lot. The first one is when Charity is in her room and they author compares her face to a rose. The other one is on page 84 when the author is describing Harney's feelings for Charity. It says,
"It seemed to be enough for him to breath her nearness like a flower's.."
This was talking about how he doesn't need physical contact with her to enjoy her, sort of like a flower. In this class, we sort of talked about comparing women to flowers in literature as a cliche, negative thing. But in this situation it's interesting because he compares her to a flower in the sense that he just enjoys her company; he doesn't need to touch her to appreciate her. This makes comparing her to a flower actually seem like a positive thing, and not the typical sexist comparison.

The second passage that stood out to me was on page 23 when Charity's power over Mr.Royall is described. It says,
"He had never spoken a word of excuse or extenuation; the incident was as if it had never been. Yet its consequences were latent in every word that he and she exchanged, in every glance they instinctively turned from each other. Nothing now would ever shake her rule in the red house"
This passage stood out to me because I keep thinking and Mr.Royall is going to be more controlling. His reputation in the town of being above everyone else and very powerful does not match his relationship with Charity. He does pretty much whatever she wants, when in reality he probably could force her to marry him or just be more aggressive with her in general. I think this says a lot about what a strong woman Charity is, and I think that's one of the big reasons I like her.

Hannah's Narrative Collage: The Strength of the Weak

2007-07-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

The idea being my narrative collage is that of women being known as the weaker sex. Throughout history women have been viewed as inferior to men, and this can be seen in popular culture, literature, and so on. The central image in my collage is "The Strength of the Weak," a blending of the idea of women being weaker and yet they have their own strength, own untapped resources. You can see on the left side images of women being attacked, silenced, raped, and even an image of a housewife. These are all images of women being weaker. Abuse and rape is about power, men wanting to feel stronger then the women. The woman with tape over her mouth is being silenced, like she has no voice, because she is inferior. The housewife is the traditional women's role because she can not work, that is a man's job. She can't do that job because she is weaker than a man. Under my central image I placed a magnolia, a white flower that came up more than once in my yahoo image search for "women" and "weak." I included this in my collage because we have talked extensively about women being associated with flowers in literature for many different reasons. The one particular reason for including it in my collage is that flowers are weak, they need proper care and attention or they will wilt and die. Kind of like women, according to men. On the right side of my collage are images of strong women, working women, and women in control. I especially liked the Wonder Woman image because it is so true. Women are strong, and independent and don't need men to get along. With my collage I really wanted to showcase the two sides to every argument or stereotype. Just as there may be some aspects of a woman that make her seem weak, there are aspects of a woman that make her strong. I chose a couple different quotes, from men and women, and one from text we've read in class. I think the quotes can pretty much speak for themselves, and what side they're on. I particularly liked the quote about women bearing burdens and wiping tears. That brought to my mind the image of a traditional housewife, yet it has a strong connotation to it because the woman is bearing burdens. I think women are constantly overlooked in their strengths and this quote displays both sides of this argument.

Readings for July 26

2007-07-27T09:33:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed these two readings and felt like the main thing that they had in common was that both girls deal with the issue of overcoming the prejudice people around them. They both face these hardships, however, seem to take a slightly different role of overcoming these hardships. I feel as if one of the girls seems to be stronger and deals with these confrontations head on. Whereas, the other young girl seems to be more passive and doesnt know exactly how to handle the situations.

"Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves From the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian by Charlie

2007-07-26T20:59:00.000-05:00

Several similarities exist between the works entitled “The Schooldays of an Indian Girl,” and “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian.” The first main similarity I noticed was the internal struggle with which each of the girls was faced. In the first story, the main character was forced to take up the ways of her white counterparts or to come back home and live among her own Native people. In the second excerpt, the main character is faced with a constant identity struggle; she does not feel as if she has a nationality. Both girls are faced with racism and ostracism due to their perceptions as “different.”
Some differences also occur. In the first story, for example, the girl seems to know she is different from white people, and to have already formed a sense of self-understanding in her culture. The girl in the second story seems to not know that she is different from the white people she encounters. She is forced to realize this difference through several life-altering events, including physical violence and torment. She also did her own research on her native country to discover why exactly people seemed to hate the Chinese, and to her surprise, she discovered that her country was among one of the oldest civilizations in existence. This gave her much pride, and over the years, her pride blossomed. She meets people who can relate to her later in the story, and begins to develop a greater sense of self-worth and appreciation for her people. The girl in the first story seemed to have slowly disassociated herself with her Native culture and customs. She knew that her mother would not be happy with her, but she continued her quest for knowledge according to the values of America. Due to being schooled, everything she learned as a small child was taken away from her as she was socialized. She held dearly her values and beliefs for as long as she could, but because of how she was taught, she was not able to maintain them. The girl in the second story was exactly the opposite; she immersed herself into Chinese culture in order to gain a sense of belonging, though she still felt that she did not have a specific race to call her own. I attribute these differences to the environment in which each respective girl was raised.

July 26 Readings

2007-07-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

I really liked these two excerpts. Maybe it's because I myself am a mixed race (including 1/4 Apache), but I really identified with these texts. I felt that "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" both touched on the topic of being different in their everyday lives. Both texts addressed the speakers' triumphs over the closed-minded people who surrounded them. I thought, however, that "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" addressed prejudice from a helpless standpoint. I felt like the speaker was more passive about maintaining her identity than was the speaker in "Eurasian". I thought the "Eurasian" speaker was mroe forthcoming about her identity. She was stronger-willed and did not keep silent about herself. She was proud, starting at a young age, to tell people her mother was Chinese and to seek out those who would accept her for who she was, even if it meant changing their prejudice. I thought both of these texts touched on a very difficult subject that is still prevalent today (i.e. our class discussion the other day about "Crash" and racism today). No matter what race somebody is, as long as it's different from white, there can be something 'wrong' with it.

2007-07-26T09:14:00.000-05:00

The two main characters in the passages The Schooldays of an Indian Girl by Zitkala-Sa and Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian by Sui Sin Far definitely shared some similarities. Both narrators are not white and they share some of the same prejudices growing up. They're stared at, snickered at, and laughed at by many people which forces them to do a lot of thinking and wanting to know their origins. The stories differ in that the Native American narrator is born in her own people's culture and taken away by the "palefaces" while the Chinese narrator is born not knowing much about her heritage or native tongue and is on more of a mission to get as close to her roots as possible. I felt like the main character in the second passage was happier to be half Chinese and more expressive of her origin then the Native American character. The main character in the first passage seemed to have undergone more of a shock in her childhood though. She was taken from her home, placed on a train, and sent to a school where her culture was not accepted and where she was expected to undergo drastic changes. The character in the second passage seemed to also be expected to be defiant of her roots and consider herself anything besides Chinese which she didn't do. Both characters seemed really strong to me because they both stood up and faced the prejudices being thrown in their faces and pretty much stood up for their race by continuing what they wanted to be doing and not pretending to be anything else.

July 26 Post

2007-07-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

I did not really like either of these stories but I think it was because I was having trouble understanding what was going on. I was confused because I had never read anything about these cultures. However, one similiarity I found between these stories is they are both centered around a young girl who is a minority in her neighborhood. Both of these girls are trying to figure out who they are and why they are being treated the way that they are. Another similarity I found between the others is that both girls are trying to hold on to their heritage. They are not trying to conform to what the mainstream culture is. However, in the first I think she managed to move more into the mainstream because she disobeyed her mother and went to college, which is not what she was supposed to do. Another thing that I noticed is that these two girls both stood up for themselves. For example, when she had to get her haircut or when her and her brother were getting picked on on the street. I think one main difference between these two stories is how they were written. Also, both stories are dealing with different cultures and different values.

Thursday, July 26th

2007-07-26T08:08:00.000-05:00

The two main characters in today's readings share a similar feeling of being different in American society. One, a little half-Chinese girl, and the other a little Indian girl. They are taken from their homelands at a very early age and are immersed in American society. Even at such a young age they both resist this westernization, knowing that it is not right.

The main similarities that can be drawn between the two stories is that as young girls both women hold fast to their Indian and Chinese nationalities. They resist westernization and stand up against it and ridicule for their unknown heritage from the "pale faced" people.
In the excerpt "from The School Days of an Indian Girl" by Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin,) the girl is embarrassed at the beginning by the "pale faced" children starring at her and pointing out her differences from them. Then a "pale faced" woman starts tossing her in the air, and bouncing her playfully, and she is insulted by such trifling. She holds hard to her heritage and fights the change into American ways when she is young. When they cut her long hair off she says she has "lost her spirit," and I think from this moment on she almost gives in to the change.
In the excerpt "from Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" by Sui Sin Far (Edith Maud Eton," at a young age she learns that she is something different, apart from the other children and while her mother might have forgotten, she has not. People and children alike ridicule her for having a Chinese mother, and she yells at some teasers one day, "I'd rather be Chinese than anything else in the world." (p.524) The ridicule sometimes becomes too much for her and she thinks of "mysteriously disappearing." however she soon learns from all her readings of China that people are just ignorant. At age 18 she can't understand why the others are ignorant of her superiority. Even in the face of ridicule from her boss and fellow townspeople she stands up and says that she is Chinese.
However, they both gradually come to accept the change over, while still holding onto pieces of their heritage in their hearts.

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," she ends up going to college after her schooling, against her mother's wishes, and even still there she is humiliated and ridiculed. Even though she bests her fellow students at a contest, this victory does not satisfy her heart, because her mother was holding a charge against her. The charge, not returning home to her homeland to live with her people, instead she goes to college to learn more American things.

In "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian," she travels back and forth between the East and West and recognizes that, "After all I have no nationality and am not anxious to claim any. Individuality is more than nationality. "You are you and I am I," says Confucius. I give my right hand to the Occidentals and my left to the Orientals, hoping that between them they will not utterly destroy the insignificant "connecting link." And that's all." (p.533)

The biggest difference that I noted was that in "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" she still recognizes her true home is with her mother and people on the plains. In the "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" she can't chose between the east or the west. She feels strong ties to both sides of her nationality and sites that being an individual is more important to her than having one nationality. I think the reason why in this instance the girls are different is because one is full blooded Indian and the other is Eurasian, a mix. The Indian girl is raised on the plains with her people and is taken away to be schooled. Her mother wants her to come home after the initial 3 years of school and return to her people. The Eurasian girl is born in America, and her mother does not recognize that she is Chinese. Her mother fully accepts westernization and wants to stay in America, not China, her nationality.

Blog for 7/26/07

2007-07-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

When I read the first story I saw some very interesting similarities between the girls when it came to the way they were treated and looked down upon. They were both of different backgrounds and heritages but they still were not white. Many people looked down on them and treated them like dirt. The Native American girl even said she felt as if she were a toy, so here they obviously were not seeing her as an equal human being. The differences seemed to be the social level of the families at least at the beginning of the "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of a Eurasian", the family seems a bit well off. Whereas the Indian families did not seem so lucky.
The thing that bothered me the most when looking at these stories is the treatment of the girl in the first story, "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl", when they cut her hair I feel that that was a big blow. The Indian culture prides themselves in their hair and do not wear it short unless, I believe she says, you are a coward. This just showed how much the others did not respect her or where she came from. I also really liked this character though because even after how she is treated, she seems strong. At the end of the story where it talks about her going to college I found that to be a very significant fact. Many people did not go to college back then, especially if they were Native American and female! Then on top of all that she also wins awards! I found that to be just such a neat story.

7/26/07

2007-07-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

The main similarity I see in the two passages is that both girls don’t want to conform to what others want them to be. They are trying not to steer away from their culture and looks. It seems like in other texts we’ve read as a class, the author or main character wanted desperately to conform to society and blend in. For example, in “When I Was Growing Up” directly contrasted with “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian.” In the first short story, the author, Nellie Wong, keeps telling the reader she wants to white badly. Wong thinks it would make her life easy and she would be treated equally as a white. In the latter passage, the author, Sui Sin Far, isn’t really in a hurry to get away from her roots, she just accepts them. She gives detailed examples of when she is disrespected, ridiculed, and picked on because of her Chinease connection. However, although she sees and feels all this hate against her, she still stays strong. I think what conflicts her most is that she seems torn between having an English father and a Chinease American. She doesn’t exactly know how to balance each side out. But, she’s never ashamed or ready to get rid of either side, but she’s neutral. The last couple of lines says it all, “After all, I have no nationality and am not anxious to claim any. Individuality is more than nationality” (pg.533).

In terms of differences, “The Schooldays of an Indian Girl” author is defiant on her roots and wants to keep them at all costs. Unlike Far, she doesn’t take the fence about where she comes from and resists when the paleface woman tries to cut her hair. It’s a big deal to her, because her hair is part of her nationality and “shingled hair was for cowards” (Barney 515).

2007-07-25T20:27:00.000-05:00

"The Schooldays of an Indian Girl"
by Zitkala-Sa

and

"Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian"
by Sui Sin Far

While both characters are faced with oppression due to their race, Sui Sin Far deals with it from birth where Zitkala-Sa learns of it at a very young age. Still, both children come up with some similar experiences, for example, situations involving their physical appearance. Sui Sin Far's Chinese heritage was not always obvious to the people around her, but once they realized it, had a "Eureka!" type moment where they act as if they knew it all along; describing the shape of her eyes and the tone of her skin as if they noticed it from the start. Zitkala-Sa deals with much of the same, with her long hair being sliced off by a "paleface", most likely due to the fact that it was considered uncivilized, or unkempt. I noticed that Zitkala-Sa received almost harsher treatment from the 'palefaces' around her than Sui Sin Far did. Perhaps this was because Far was half-English, and could use that to her advantage when need be. It's ironic that including both of the main characters in this story and all the white people as well, Zitkala-Sa was the one who's people originated in North America; yet she receieved some of the worst treatment.

Another similarity I noticed, was how certain remarks about their heritage and history where inaccurately made by white people, with both Sui Sin Far and Zitkala-Sa both failing to correct the assumptions, even though they seemed to know better.

For example, in Zitkala-Sa's story, a white woman tells her this about the devil:

"Then I heard the paleface woman say that this terrible creature roamed loose in the world, and that little girls who disobeyed school regulations were to be tortured by him."

But before that, she wrote:

"Among the legends the old warriors used to tell me were many stories of evil spirits. But I was taught to fear them no more than those who stalked about in material guise."

Which are obviously two conflicting viewpoints. The difference is, Zitkala-Sa's own people had no reason to instill fear in her; they weren't afraid of her, and they weren't trying to control her. The "paleface" however, was trying to control her, so instead of giving the young girl peace of mind, she scared her into behaving in the way she thought she should.

In Sui Sin Far's story, a white man tells her this:

"They tell me that if I wish to succeed in literature in America I should dress in Chinese costume, carry a fan in my hand, wear a pair of scarlet beaded slippers, live in New York, and come of high birth. Instead of making myself familiar with the Chinese-Americans around me, I should discourse on my spirit acquaintance with Chinese ancestors and quote in between the "Good mornings" and "how d'ye dos" of editors."

And while this "suggestion" from her editor is not directly designed to instill fear in her, it still plays of a fear of her not being accepted the way that she is--- a fear all his own that he is trying to impress on Sui Sin Far.

I think the common link between these two passages is the occurrence of the white people in Zitkala-Sa and Sin Sui Far's lives insulting their intelligence. The oppressors automatically assume they know what's best for the girls, whether it's how to dress, how to behave, where to live, how to talk, etc. Even though Sin Sui Far isn't enrolled in a school aimed at "civilizing her" like Zitkala-Sa, it's apparent from this passage that their whole lives are filled with people trying to "educate" them on what they already know, and better.

"The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian"

2007-07-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

I definetly noticed several similarities between these two texts. Both of the girls mentioned being stared at, and how that alone gave them the worst feeling of all. It seems that when people would actually come out and say hurtful things, they were able to stand up for themselves and not feel quite as bad as opposed to when the "pale faces" would just stare. I feel like people discriminated against them in the same way in both texts, but in the first one they are actually trying to change her. The discrimination comes from trying to "save" the indian people by making them more American and Christian. The part that really stood out to me in the first text was when they made her fear the devil. They tried to change her beliefs so much, thinking that by scaring her with the devil they would be able to convert her. In the second reading, people didn't try so much to change the Chinese, but were just rudly curious about them. The part that stood out to me in that text was when the finace asks the girl to tell his friends and family that she is actually Japanese, because they would be more interested in a "little Japanese lady". This just shows how ignorent people really are about the importance of your nationality. Even though Japanese and Asians may look the same to most people, there is a big difference between them and it is a big deal to say you're one of them when you're actually the other. People in those days didn't realize that, and I think that even today people don't make an effort to see the difference between Chinese and Japanese.

July 24 Post

2007-07-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

In"Seventeen Syllables" I did not think it was a typical romance narrative. When the mother was talking about how her marriage was arranged and telling her daughter not to marry, I did not think those were features of a romance narrative. However, there were some characteristics such as having the man lust after the woman, as in Rosie's case and when the mother was referring to how she wanted her husband to save her from her problems. You don't often see romance narratives where the marriage is being arranged. Usually they are two people who are falling madly in love, not two people who are being forced to love each other. The only part of the story I liked was seeing Rosie in love. I felt bad for her because her mom was trying to persuade her otherwise because of her own problems that she had with love. I felt bad for her because she was seeing her parents marriage fall apart and it was affecting her relationship. I think it makes a difference that it was not really following a romantic narrative because I was not as interested in the story. I love stories about romance and falling in love and this to me was no that a story about that.

"Men in your life" in my opinion was more of a romantic narrative because this woman is talking about the man she is going to marry, by choice, and why she wants to marry him. It follows more of the romantic narrative because she is talking about how she really loves Eddie. Even though Eddie does not have a lot of money, she loves him for the things he does and the things they do together. I liked this story a lot more than the first one because she was putting love over money which is I think is a good thing to do. Also, I really liked this story because the friend did not like her boyfriend which is something that is common in my life and with my friends. There is always that one friend that for some reason does not think the boyfriend is good enough. But I liked how the woman did not listen to her friend and went with how she felt. I think that is an important lesson.

Narrative Story Brainstorm for 7/25

2007-07-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

There are several stories that demand repeated attention in society today. Thinking about it, I realized that many of them have to do with disrimination or violence of some kind against a certain group of people. The clothesline project raises awareness about violence against women, and there are millions of other organizations that raise awarness about other issues like gay rights, race issues, poverty, child abuse etc. For child abuse in particular, I read a book called "A Child Called It" in middle school. It was based on a true story, and written by a man who was abused by his mother as a child. Writing is just one of the outlets people find to raise awareness about these issues. There are several funds/organizations that deal with child abuse, and even telephone numbers to call and get help. I've also seen people appear on talk shows like Oprah to tell their story and help raise awareness in order to stop it all together. Although these outlets do not solve the problem completely, they're a step in the right direction and they all add up to make a difference.

Tuesday 7-24

2007-07-24T11:43:00.000-05:00

Seventeen Syllables

I think this story follows the typical theme of the women having a problem that she needs a man to solve for her that alot of romance narritives have. Her mom saying that she almost commited suicide and how her husband came to the rescue, even if it was an arranged marriage, she thought that getting married would solve all of her problems but its obvious that down the road it wasnt a "happily ever after" ending. It goes against the norm of having everything work out in the end and i think it goes to show that we can't depend on someone else to solve our problems for us, we have to solve them on our own and make ourselfs happy before we can let anyone else into our lives.

Men in Your Life

I think that this goes along another different common theme of alot of romance narratives. A lot of times the conflict between the two people is class or background. This goes along with that theme because the women went on all these dates with men that had money and were well off but in the end she realizes that even though Eddie doesn't have money, what she thought she wanted, she loves him for his effort and she loves him for him. In the end it is kind of a "love conquers all" story. It doesnt show what is going to happen when the stress of being poor gets in the way of their relationship, because a lot of the time it does.

Men in your life and Seventeen Syllables

2007-07-24T09:10:00.000-05:00

The story Seventeen syllables starts off telling the story of a young girl and almost right away goes into talking about how her mother is persuing her writing and it has left her father and her almost lonely. The story basically describes a husband and wife falling apart, and then their young daughter falling in love for the first time. I guess, this text was a romantic narrative, although, I am not positive how I feel about that. The second text, Men in your life, I believe is a true romantic narrative. In this text the woman is talking about the man that she is going to marry, Eddie. She is telling stories of things that they have done together and she is talking about the different reasons that she loves him. It differs from the first story because in the first story the young girl was telling the story of her love life, but also the destruction that was happening to her her parents love life. Both stories dont really put all that great of an outlook on love. The first one ends with a mother asking her only daughter to promise that she will never marry, and the second one seems to just be listing different reasons to marry a man because of the things that he does for you. Neither approach love or marriage as something you do because you really love and care about another person.

Romantic movie

2007-07-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

My favorite romantic movie would probably be Dirty Dancing, a plot line that I am sure we are all very familiar with. Basically, a young girl from a well to do family goes to a summer resort with her family and falls in love with the dance instructor there. No one approves of their relationship but they fall in love anyway. This resulting in him getting fired from the resort. On the final night of their stay he comes back to get her though and puts on the end dance performance even though he isnt supposed to. This is my favorite part, and probably favorite line of all time, "no one puts baby in a corner." I think that I like this scene so much because it is very corny. But also, the dancing actually is really good and throughout the whole movie I just sat there wondering if they were going to be able to work it out. Finding out that they were was the exact ending that I was wanting.

2007-07-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if the text "Seventeen Syllables" by Hisaye Yamamoto follows a typical romance narrative or not but I think it does contain a lot of questions of romantic love. The narrator's mother seemed to almost wish to be saved by being married to a man and made me think it was kind of like a happily ever after story gone wrong. She married her husband because to prevent herself from committing suicide and not because of true love. She ruins the image of love for her daughter by telling her to never get married and almost instills a fear in her of ever falling in love. Her passion for the haiku is very romantic and the strong reaction of her husband destroying her prize too. This text is an example of why most marriages where people marry for other reasons than love don't normally work out. In contrast, the second text "Men in Your LIfe" by Alice Childress definitely has more romantic characteristics. The narrator marries the man Eddie despite the fact that he is poor and has a list of specific characteristics that she loves about him. She marries him because it feels like love, not to escape a problem which seems more romantic.

7.24.2007

2007-07-24T08:17:00.000-05:00

“Seventeen Syllables” is a text that somewhat follows the narrative of many modern romantic love stories. This is a sort of double love story: a mother’s and a daughter’s. The mother’s love story is familiar because it involves heartbreak, as many love stories do. She fell in love with a man she was deemed inferior to, and their love had to be hidden from their families. This is another theme that often appears in modern love stories. Mrs. Hayashi knew the pain of heartbreak and lost love, and she tried to urge her daughter not to marry, seemingly to help her avoid misery. Because she was not able to be with the man she actually loved, Mrs. Hayashi began writing poetry as an outlet to express herself. This, yet another theme that appears in modern love stories, is upsetting, because she will never again be with the love of her life. This text, in my opinion, follows the narrative of a romance narrative far more than “Men in Your Life,” but I don’t think that it closely resembles any one specific narrative. It has elements of different types of narratives integrated throughout, but the ending is not only ambiguous, but seemingly negative, with the mother calling her daughter foolish for wishing to marry Jesus, the boy whom she has feelings for. In many love stories, the mother encourages the daughter to chase blindly after her love at all costs, as long as she is sure he is appropriate, but Rosie’s mom discourages her.

I don’t think “Men in Your Life” follows a romance narrative, because the women in the story are not in need of salvation, nor do they seem as dependent on men, as the women in many narratives do. In addition, Tessie’s husband is far from Prince Charming, with his constant complaining, nagging, and mumbling. His brother Wallace is not much better than he. Wallace, an affluent man, took the narrator to dinner at a fancy restaurant, and although he was very capable of buying her whatever she wanted, he offered her hash, for he knew that was what she was used to. I was very disgusted with this, as was she, for he clearly assumed that since she was not too familiar with fine cuisine, she would simply settle for a better version of hash than that to which she is usually accustomed. Any man that has the means to provide a woman with what she wants but offers her less than that to which she is entitled is not deserving of her company; this is an indicator of how he will treat her in the future. I loved the relationship between Eddie and the narrator for many reasons, especially since it did not seem to follow any common narrative at all. Eddie, a poor man, gave her everything he possibly could, even though that was close to nothing. This is true love. He washed dishes for her and babysits her cousin’s children, jobs that are usually believed to be designed for women. Not only did he make the best of what he had, but he also used his imagination to expand that to become even more meaningful. I also appreciate the fact that neither of them has more power than the other. The only thing that seems to resemble a romance narrative is the happy ending, with Eddie and his love living poorly but happily together. This text offers the concept of romantic love as something shared equally between two people, regardless of financial stability. It also implies that men and women should both be respected equally. I appreciated the fact that the narrator was not a woman in distress, but in stead, knew exactly what kind of person she wanted to marry. The details of this story definitely make a difference in demonstrating that a woman does not always need to be submissive in relationships, nor does she need to be the courted party to find happiness. The story also implies that the traditional house in the suburbs, white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and the little dog are not mandatory items for a happy life.

Readings for 7/24/07

2007-07-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

"Seventeen Syllables"

I thought that this story was not following the usually romantic narrative. First I thought about the mother and her predictament when it came to love and such, and I got the impression that she had never really experienced great romantical feelings for her husband. She even tells her own daughter never to marry. She tells about how her marriage was arranged and to be honest I can understand why she sort of felt how she did. I know that I would like to have my family pick out my husband for me. You can't force love. This story also showed a side of young love when talking about the daughter, Rosie. Rosie meets a young man who is also college aged and he puts a move on her. She continues to think back to his kiss and touch and she seems to be scared but in a way happy at the same time. She avoids him the next day but is pleased to see that he keeps looking toward the house where she is suppose to be. I think this is more a physical attracion right now than it is love. Although it could turn out to be so, they are still young. I think the story was a bigger look into the many ways that love can appear. It isn't always happy stories that talk about love and meeting your soul mate. What about stories like this that talk not about the abundance of love, but the lack thereof?? It was definitely new type of love narrative.

"Men in Your Life"

In the story I think you can see some of the normal romantic narrative. Such as, love is all you need. If the man whom the narrator loves is poor but they love each other, she believes they will be fine. In the story she talks about her date with Wallace, who seems to be a real sleeze ball. He is cheap, and seems to only want one thing from her all throughout the date. It is sad but there really are so many men out there. They are successful yes but not in the romance department. They have steady jobs but not relationships. I found this story to be a bit more happy than the last one because it seems like the guy, Eddie, that the author is thinking about marrying is a very good guy. He is a bit poor, but that can be overcome, you can always find a job. But you can't always find love or someone who is going to treat you right.

2007-07-24T00:35:00.000-05:00

"Seventeen Syllables"
by Hisaye Yamamoto

This was an interesting story about a Japanese family who is struggling with each other's goals and ambitions, and daily life in general. I think this story was centered around a romantic narrative, but it wasn't a positive one. The husband and wife are an average, working class, migrant family with the exception that the wife happens to be interested in haiku poetry, and pursues her writing by contributing to a local newspaper. It's obvious from the start that the father is not supportive of her endeavors, and takes his disapproval out on her and his daughter in a number of ways. I think this disapproval stems from the basic, common narrative of men being insecure with women's interests that aren't necessarily "traditional women's duties". Writing, for example, is not directly beneficial to the family in the way that say, cooking and cleaning are. Therefore, while the mother is creating the haiku's, I got the sense that the father disapproved because he was insecure with her doing something "outside the box".

Traditionally, everyone is aware of the fact that men are supposed to be the "head of the household", or basically just superior to women, and this system has provided men with the option to do express themselves artistically. They're free from the mundane routines of keeping a house and caring for children, and thus able to express themselves in other ways at will. If this woman hadn't been married, she would've been more free to write poetry without fear of repercussion from her husband. In the end, the mother reveals to Rosie the real reason she had married her father, and the strict nature of their relationship begins to make sense. Even from the beginning, the woman makes it clear that she didn't marry him for love; she married for stability and to escape the tragic events that had just occurred in her life in Japan. A marriage that doesn't even begin with out of love and understanding will almost never evolve into one that does; therefore when the mother tried to express herself emotionally, it's no wonder that she came into conflict with a husband who took a different angle on their relationship, and wasn't willing to budge or compromise or accept the fact that his wife had outside interests.

And I shouldn't forget to mention Rosie's role in this story, and her blooming relationship with Jesus. It's sad that while she is experiencing honest, brand new emotions with a male for the first time in her life, her parents are acting out the opposite of what that love could turn out to be; cold, distant, and demanding. I think it's important to be aware of the contrasting relationships in this story, and realize how they shed light on each other's positive and negative qualities.

"Men in Your Life"
by Alice Childress

It took me a while to get used to the way this story was written. From what I can tell, it's a passage where two women are discussing men; their behavior, their good and bad traits, how to raise a boy to become a good man, and sharing specific stories of their encounters with men on dates and such. The first few pages are where the women describe all the bad qualities of the men they've known. The last half of this passage is a woman recalling all the reasons she likes a man named "Eddie", as opposed to all the other unworthy men that she has dated. Not only do they compare what they consider 'good' and 'bad' behavior for the men in their own life, but they discuss a friend's husband and their disapproval of him as well. Basically, these women are comparing their own experiences in relationships as well as others' experiences and trying to come up with some kind of "solution" for who is the correct type of man to forge a commitment with. I think this, in itself, is a type of "romantic" narrative; how to choose a mate based on certain criteria. This passage seems fairly contemporary, and so the women's discussions are more or less relatable to every day life in today's world. The funny thing I noticed about the description of the undesirable character in the first half and "Eddie" from the second half, was that the two men seemed to possess some similar qualities. For example, she says (about Eddie):

"But what I really like about him is that sometimes when I ask him to do a lot of things, one comin' right after the other, he will say, "You runnin' a good thing in the ground, and furthermore I don't feel like it, what do you take me for?" I'm glad when he does that, too, 'cause just like I don't want nobody walkin' all over me, I sure wouldn't have any use for a man that's gonna let people trample him!"

and then says about the "other" guy:

"Neither had I told him to pick out a expensive restaurant, so I went ahead and ordered me some spring lamb chops with a salad on the side! I can stand a broke man but I dearly detest a cheap man! And he was just pure cheap!"

There is something similar about these two descriptions. Even though she's recalling an event from a person she loves and admires, and a person she didn't like at all, there is still a parallel in the men's behavior. Eddie and the other guy have both voiced their opinions to her about something. Eddie didn't want to take orders, and the other guy didn't want to pay a lot of money for dinner. In fact, the other guy seems like he was probably more polite about his request than Eddie was. However, the difference here is the woman's own opinion of each man. She likes Eddie, therefore she sees everything he does through rose-colored glasses. She was not fond of the other guy, therefore she described everything he did as just another reason why he was "cheap" or otherwise undesirable. Why she decided to describe these (probably) similar behaviors so differently was probably the most interesting thing about this story to me.

TUESDAY: 7-24-07

2007-07-23T23:59:00.000-05:00

Hisaye Yamamoto: "Seventeen Syllables"
Romantic love in this short story wasn't really a romantic narrative. I wasn't really feeling the romance anywhere, actually. It dealt with the break-up of an arranged marriage, that Rosie thought most of her life was a happy one. She turns to Jesus when the break-up becomes too much to handle. Here she is starting this new relationship, falling in love for the first time, and her mother is warning her off of getting married. The idea in the story, of comparing your relationship to that of anther's (like your parents) is an interesting one. There's this saying that women look for men like their brothers and fathers. They gravitate to them. Another saying, look at a woman's mother, because that's who she'll be at her age. These sayings, along with the story, furl together to make one interesting point. A person can't help but compare relationships to ones they have known already in their lives. Whether it is their own or anther's. So, Rosie seeing her parent's relationship crumbling, and having her mom tell her marriage is a bad idea, is making things a little difficult for Rosie and Jesus. The timing is pretty awful. However, you don't know what Rosie decides to do, and I tend to think she follows her heart. Young love almost demands it.

Alice Childress: "Men In Your Life"
I really liked this short story. It was humorous to read about the girl not liking her friends boyfriend. Who hasn't been there before??? It was gratifying to read further on though, that the bad mouthing friend was ignored though. You really can't listen to other people, you have to listen to yourself, trust your own instincts, and make your own mistakes. That's life. The girl spoke of how she likes to be with this less than perfect person because it made her feel better about herself. I would have to agree with the author here. That's kind of sad, but again, pretty true. It's hard to be in a relationship where you're not pretty equally matched in looks and personalities. It festers distrust and jealousies. Also, she didn't want a man who would take care of her financially but ignore her emotionally. I thought that line was pretty true too. I want to be a teacher, and there's not much money there. My previous boyfriend wanted to be a social worker, my dad said we'd be the poorest people on earth. However, it has never been about money for me. Enough to get by with a little cushion for emergencies is good enough. I would much rather have someone that I loved, worry about being poor for the rest of my life, and spend it with a man who gives all of himself to me. Just like in the story.

Both of these stories are non-traditional romances, and neither one followed the idea of a romance narrative. They dealt with the harsh realities of love, and made no other pretenses.

7/24/07

2007-07-23T22:22:00.001-05:00

I think the texts take up the questions of romantic love in certain aspects. The romantic parts are more subtle than noticeable in the passages. In “Men in Your Life” I didn’t feel like I saw the romantic narrative until the very end. It’s kind of typical and reminds me a bit of the scene shown from the movie When Harry Met Sally. Like Harry, the main character and her man, Eddie, find love through their unique traits. The author and main character had went out on a date with a man who seemed perfect on paper, very consistent, and financially stable on paper. But Eddie was kind of like a breath of fresh air and completely opposite of the main she went on a date with. He is inconsistent, spontaneous, easy-going, and I got that he was kind of quirky. It goes back to the narrative that everyone has their own perfect person and you can’t plan who that will be or try and force it.
In “Seventeen Syllables,” I felt like the romance narrative was basically with Rosie and Jesus. In the middle of the story, Jesus stereotypically tries to sweep Rosie off her feet and unexpectedly kissed her. I feel like this happens in half of the “chick flicks” and love stories I watch. Half of the time, you know the first kiss between lovers is coming and it’s completely obvious. Or, it’s the opposite. I figured when he said, “I have a secret to tell you,” it was that he was going to do something. But for her, it was unexpected. It plays on the older boy and younger girl theme that happens in a lot of love stories. People just seem to be more comfortable and accepting of men being older in love situations. However, after Jesus kissed Rosie, she ran away. Although it does mention that she thought about the way Jesus’ hand touched her face, I got the impression that she wasn’t necessarily turned on by that. I think maybe she was too young to feel or know what love was and if she felt it for Jesus. So that seems to go against the stereotypical romance narrative. However, if the story would have gone on longer, it would have been interesting to see if they got together in the end. So many love stories in the movies are like that.
I think both stories hint at a romance that is didn’t from the stereotypical romance narratives. They both look at a harsher and more realistic kind of love. “Men in Your Life” gives the bad side of having someone. The author and her friend rant about the imperfections of men. The author (speaking as the main character) talks about her friend Tessie’s husband Clarence and all his annoying habits. “Seventeen Syllables” talks about regretful love. Rosie’s mom makes her promise “never to marry” because her own husband stifles and is jealous of her dreams. Basically, they aren’t in love at all.

Romantic Love Post

2007-07-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

"SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES"

I thought the author's approach to addressing young love was interesting in this story. The story is not at all based on Rosie's budding young love with Jesus, but rather on the demise of her parents' relationship. I felt like the author was trying to say that Rosie was trying to escape her parents and their marriage by running off to Jesus. For this reason, I don't think this is necessarily a romantic text. Though, upon further review, I guess this text could be seen as a romance narrative because Rosie thinks of her feelings for Jesus to escape her parents arguments. I think this text suggests that young love begins when one realizes what he or she wants, and one may use his or her parents' relationship as a basis of comparison. I thought it was an interesting approach to address Rosie's infatuation with Jesus through her disdain for her mother's haikus.

"MEN IN YOUR LIFE"

I loved this text. For some reason, it really rang true for me. I understand what the author meant when she was talking about her friend not liking her boyfriend. I really liked that she disregarded her friend's judgment and listened to herself, because the only people who are affected by a relationship are the people in it. I think this text takes an alternative approach to a romantic narrative because the speaker makes it clear that there are lots of men out in the world whom she could be with, but she's seen the other side and would rather be in a relationship with somebody less than perfect because he makes her feel perfect. I think this text addresses romantic love on a different note: I felt that instead of this woman saying she was in a perfect relationship with Prince Charming, she blew off the warnings and said she was in a relationship that was perfect for her. I loved that even though this was written in 1956, this woman seemed strong enough to know that she didn't want a man who would take care of her financially but ignore her emotionally, that she would rather have to worry about being poor for the rest of her life if she could only spend it with a man who gives all of himself to her.

7/23/2007 Movie Blog (The Notebook)

2007-07-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

The movie The Notebook has a very romantic plotline. The story takes place in the form of a story, which is read to an elderly woman by an older man. In this movie, two kids fall in love at a young age. However, the girl’s family forbids their love, because she comes from wealth, and the boy (Noah) does not. Allie’s parents randomly decide to move back to New York earlier than they originally planned and informed her the evening before. After she left town, Noah wrote her one letter everyday for an entire year, but her mother hid the letters, since she did not approve of Noah and Allie’s relationship. While away from Noah, Allie becomes engaged to a wealthy soldier named Lon, who, of course, her parents love. Meanwhile, Noah was away at war.
As a teenager, Noah promised Allie that he would one day fix up an old plantation house for the two of them. He decides to do just that once he discovers that she is engaged, and he hopes this will bring her back to him. Allie sees a story in the local newspaper about his finished house, and she decides to visit him and they fall back in love. Oddly enough, the old man is Noah, and the woman is Allie, who has suffered from memory loss. Noah visits Allie everyday and reads her his story, hoping that she would remember. At the end of the movie, she finally remembers, but soon forgets again and Noah is a tragically a complete stranger once again. Noah ends up having a heart attack, and he visits Allie in the hospital. Surprisingly, she remembers who he is, and they embrace and die in each other’s arms.
My favorite scene is the final scene. I liked this scene because it was probably the most romantic scene in the movie. After a long, hard life of chasing love, Allie and Noah are finally able to spend time together in which they are familiar with one another. Although Allie suffers from memory loss, I liked the fact that they were finally able to be together eternally, in death. This plotline reminds me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with Allie parallel to Snow White in her deep sleep. Noah is her prince that saves her from a life of loneliness. This plot is different from other plots because eternal true love was actually fulfilled in the end through their dying together. It is very similar to others due to the boundaries created between the two lovers by differences in class and background.

"Seventeen Syllables" and "Men in Your Life"

2007-07-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

"Seventeen Syllables"
I thought this story offered two different sides to love. It focused on her parents relationship, which we found out at the end is not true love. They had an arranged marriage, which her mother had not been happy about, and eversince, their marriage had become even more worn out and non-passionate. This was bad timing for Rosie to find out that her parents marriage isn't all that great because she is just falling in "love" for the first time. Jesus and Rosie's relationship is brand new, exciting, and actually real because they were meeting by choice. It's disapponting in the end because her mother warns her to never get married, only because she ended up unhappy. This is different than most romance narritives because it sort of ends in a negative view point on love. Usually romance plots/narritives end with a hope for the future in love, and I feel like this one didn't really because of her mother's warning at the end. It could be viewed as hope for the future in a way too though, because we can assume that Rosie doesn't listen to her mother and ends up marrying for true love eventually.

"Men in Your Life"
This reading also presented two sides. In the beginning, the two women are talking about the wrong kind of guy; the kind you don't want to marry. I could actually relate a lot to what they were saying, because I've seen that kind of behavior in men and have trouble understanding why women put up with it. The second part, one of the women is describing her boyfriend, Eddie and he seems to do all the things that any woman would want from a man. The part that really stood out to me was the part where she talks about how Eddie does really nice things for her, but doesn't let her walk all over him. To me, that is exactly how it should be. Because you don't want someone who isn't considerate and thoughtful but you also don't want someone who will do whatever you say. Balance is important in any relationship, and I like that this text mentions that. This isn't a typical romance narrative at all, because I think it's really realistic. It sounds like complaints and appreciation have for and against men in real life, even today.

Closer

2007-07-23T09:27:00.001-05:00

So, I picked probably to most depressing romance movie of all time. In "Closer", two women and two men are connected through their relationships with each other, and have their own relationships on the side over the years. In one scene in particular, there is an argument between Natalie Portman and Jude Law. He has just come home and confesses to her that for the last year, he has been sleeping with Julia Roberts and tells her that he's in love with her and that he will be leaving to be with her. Natalie Portman's reaction is heartbreakingly real, as she goes from being angry to sad and back to angry again. She finally tells him, "I'm always the one who leaves" and when he goes to make some tea for her so she'll calm down, she runs away without saying another word.
I chose this movie because I felt like it was more realistic than most romantic movies. The arguments in most romantic comedies are contrived and petty, but this aargument, I feel, is actually an argument a lot of people have had. It's hard to be hurt by the person you love, and it's even harder to leave him or her. I feel like this movie, as depressing as it is, goes to show how severely messed up a lot of relationships are and how difficult it is to break free of someone you love, even though you know it's the right thing to do.

When Harry Met Sally

2007-07-23T09:03:00.000-05:00

I decided to choose the movie When Harry Met Sally. This is a classic movie that I have loved since the first time that I watched it. In this movie these two people meet and they drive across the United Sater states together. They do not like each other at first. Later in life, they meet again and they eventually become friends. They both go through divorces and after awhile they become best friends. They do everything together and eventually after one of them goes through an emotional crisis they end up sleeping together. After they sleep together, things get awkward and their friendship ends. However, they both really love each other, it is just a matter of when one of them confesses that to the other. In the end, which is my favorite scene, it is New Years Eve and Sally is at a party. Harry finally realizes how much he loves her and runs to meet her before midnight. He shows up and gives her this speech about how much he loves her. The speech he gives her is the best couple lines in the movie. It is very romantic because they end up kissing right at midnight on New Years Eve.

Romantic Movies....[sigh]

2007-07-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

I chose the movie Center Stage because it is the only romantic movie I have here in Columbia, and it is one of my favorites. For the record though, the first and only movie that came to mind when this assignment was announced was The Notebook, my ALL time favorite movie, and I'm upset that I don't have my copy with me so I could do that one.
The movie is about getting into the American Ballet Company, and the struggles along the way. The main character, Jody has bad feet, but is all heart. She wants to be a dancer more than anything and hers are the struggles the movie focuses on more. She falls for a professional dancer but he turns out to be a jerk. The other main characters must manage their ambitions, romances and heartbreaks, and prove to Jonathan, the ballet companies artistic director, that they are the best and worthy to become prefects in his company.
The best romantic scene in Center Stage, I would have to say, is when Maureen goes back to Jim's after Eric falls during rehearsal and injures himself. She has been throwing up after eating to stay "in shape" for dancing, and Jim catches her. She's at his front door and asks him: "how much of what you liked about me was because I was a ballet dancer, and how much was because of me?"
I chose this scene over a couple of different ones because it was moving and real. What Maureen was going through is something a lot of girls face, and not just dancers. Jim loves her for it anyways, and stays and works with her to get better. I love how Maureen just puts herself out there in the scene and he just grabs her and hugs her in response. The scene is pretty similar to other romantic scenes in movies, with one slight difference, it deals with anorexia/bulimia and the life altering effects it has.

The Prince and Me--Trinity's pick

2007-07-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to pick the movie, "The Prince and Me", because I have the dvd and it is one of my favorite love movies. The movie's plotline is one that tries to put a new twist on the old tale of the Prince finding his princess. In this film a very irresponsible and spoiled Prince from Denmark decides he wants to attend a college in the US. He doesn't want to go to college for an education but more just to get a fun college experience before he has to take over the throne for his father. As his gets to the University of Wisconsin, he soon realizes how hard actually taking care of yourself is. He meets a girl named, Paige, whom he is immediately interested in during his first night at the University. He decides he wants to try and live a normal life and not let his identity be known to anyone except his butler who has traveled to the states with him as well. The Prince who is now known as "Eddie", tries to get on Paige's good side but throughout the first half of the movie all he manages to do is irritate her. Finally, however, Paige starts growing a bit fond of Eddie and then invites him to spend Thanksgiving break at her family's farm. Eddie and Paige end up kissing after a few days together and return to school as an "item". Things seem to be going Eddie's way, but only a few days after arriving back from Thanksgiving break, the paparazzi discover his whereabouts and hunt him down. Unexpectedly Eddie has to tell Paige who he really is. She doesn't know to react, and she leaves him. Eddie then returns to Denmark, and Paige continues with her finals. But she soon realizes that she made a mistake and that she loves Eddie. She then scrapes together enough money and travels to Denmark. She finally finds Eddie by a act of luck. She also becomes aware of her celebrity in Denmark. Everyone knows who she is and know that she is with Eddie, thanks to the paparazzi. She joins Eddie and on her first day there he proposes to her. She says yes and soon plans for a royal wedding are in order. Eddie and Paige are soon swept up in the hustle of royal life. For a while, Paige does well and is happy but soon she starts feeling the weight of possible queenhood. She starts to reflect on all the things that she had wanted to do with her life and with her career in medicine. She starts thinking of all the dreams she had wanted for herself, and with a heavy heart she tells Eddie she can't marry him. She leaves Eddie just days before he takes the crown, and she goes back to finish her last year at the University of Wisconsin. But, at the end of the movie you see Paige graduating and unexpectedly Eddie shows up to congratulate her and he tells her his is willing to wait for her. Thus giving the movie a happy ending.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie, is when Paige and Eddie first arrived at the farm for Thanksgiving break. In the scene they meet her parents and also her two older brothers and her brothers and her father tend to get a little overprotective. They give Eddie such a hard time that it cracks me up. One of the reasons it is my favorite is because of the humor and because I can also relate to Paige in this scene. My dad is very overprotective and his has intimidated all of my dates. So I feel sorry for her when she gets embarrassed because I have been there!
I think the difference that this plotline has from another romantic movie is that it is more real life (well as real as it can be for a love story). Everything doesn't go smoothly and the couple almosts ends up apart two different times. It also is not all a fairy tale like movie, the couple is faced with the reality of the royal life and also all the problems that can happen. I think the biggest diffence that this movie has from others is the fact that the girl who is asked to marry a Prince, turns him down. How many other movies does that really happen in? Not many. They usually end things with them riding into the sunset with a happy ending. But in this movie she leaves him, yes they end up getting back together in the end, but it is the Prince who comes back to her. That is why I feel this movie is a bit different.

2007-07-23T07:25:00.000-05:00

I chose the movie "The Sweetest Thing" because it's the only romantic dvd I have here at school. It's a big chick-flick and kind of has a weak plot, starring Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair. The main character Courtney and two of her girlfriends start out single at the beginning of the movie and go out to a dance club one night where Christina meets this guy who she feels is her perfect match. He tells her to call his room if she wants to meet up but she calls too late because of nerves and he already had left the hotel. Christina and her friend Courtney find out that Peter's brother is supposedly having a wedding so they take a roadtrip to go to it so Christina can tell Peter how she feels about him. When they get to the wedding, it's Peter's wedding, not his brothers so they leave embarrassed. Peter's wife breaks down and says she's in love with someone else and Peter said he didn't want to get married either and he finds Christina's address in a dress shop she had been to in town. He goes to her apartment and waits for her, first is rejected, then they fall in love. One of my favorite scenes is when Peter and Christina finally get together at the end. It's really cheesy but cute at the same time. This plotline isn't too great and follows a typical romantic plotline with meeting Mr. Right then there being a conflict and they happily ever after. The only thing a little different is that this movie's setting is more modern and humorous.

The Notebook

2007-07-23T01:18:00.001-05:00

I picked "The Notebook" for my romantic movie because it has always been my all time favorite movie since the day I saw it. I have always been a hopeless romantic and movies like this keep my hope alive. I’m sure mostly everyone has seen this movie, it being so popular and all, but it is about Ali and Noah, who fall in love as teenagers one summer. They lost contact when Ali’s parents moved away after their summer-long stay. One of the reason’s that I love this movie so much is because of the way Ali loves Noah despite their different backgrounds. She sees him for who he is, not where he came from. After years apart Ali and Noah are reunited when Ali goes back to Noah’s town in search from him, trying to know once and for all if their love was over or not. My favorite scene is when Ali is trying to storm off form Noah’s house after they have had an arugment about her fiancé and it is what Noah says trying not to lose her for the 2nd time. Noah says, “So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.” What makes this different from other plot lines and romantic movies is because it is real. Right here he is admitting that they are going to have to work at it, and that not everything is going to be perfect just because they are in love and that is what real love is. In a lot of movies it shows love being so easy and effortless and so many times the endings are “happily ever afters” which is not reality. This brings me back down to earth. They didn’t meet each other and never go through hard times. They spent years apart, Ali got engaged to another man, Noah dates other women and becomes an alcoholic, but in the end, it’s their love that conquers all.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2007-07-23T00:19:00.000-05:00

I chose the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" because it's been one of my favorite "romantic" movies ever since I first saw it. The story follows Joel and Clementine from the very beginning of their relationship until the end, and everything in between. It's difficult to explain this movie, because things don't happen in chronological order; but in a movie about having your memory erased I don't think it would be appropriate if they did. Toward the beginning, the pair decide to break up, and Clementine makes the first move toward having her memory of Joel and their entire relationship erased from her mind. When Joel finds out, he seeks out the same doctor and insists on having the same procedure as Clementine. The bulk of this movie is centered around the memories that Joel is having erased--- and in the middle of everything, he decides that he doesn't want to forget her after all. He tries to save his memory from being erased while the procedure is happening (and he's practically comatose), so he has to come up with some creative ways to "hide" events involving Clementine in other parts of his brain where they won't be found and thus deleted forever. This attempt is unsuccessful, and the memories are eventually found and erased. However, in the end, Joel and Clementine meet again as strangers, and hit it off immediately just as they had the first (first) time they met. A disgruntled employee of their former memory-erasing doctor decides to send all of the patients back their information involving memories they erased, and Clementine happens to get her "package" while riding in the car with Joel. They listen to the audio tapes they each made describing everything they hated about each other, which is all news to them at this point having met again as perfect strangers. Regardless of knowing the outcome of their former relationship, they decide to try and start fresh again.

One of my favorite scenes happens in the middle of Joel having his memory erased, where he's re-living a random dinner at a restaurant with Clementine. While they're eating, his voiceover wonders if they've become one of "those" couples--- who don't have anything to talk about over a meal, and sit silently across the table from each other. His negative suspicions are confirmed when Clementine unexpectedly (and humorously) starts nagging him about removing the "goddamn hair" from the soap after he takes a shower. As someone who lives with their boyfriend, I can relate to this scene. Not because of the hair on the soap; but because of the animosity that is created just out of familiar things. How going out to dinner, or anything, can turn into a disaster when people are looking for a reason to fight with each other.

I think this movie is unique for many reasons, but mostly I enjoy the honest way it portrays a relationship that is going sour. In most "romantic" movies, the couples go through some totally unrealistic events; you laugh, you cry, they get back together and everything is swell again. Of course, there's nothing realistic about actually having your memory erased; but it's forgivable to me just because it's a creative and interesting idea-- and still completely relatable, somehow. And while Joel and Clementine do end up together in the end, their relationship is never picture-perfect.

How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days

2007-07-22T14:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves a good love story or “chick flick.” They’re even better when the romance is completely and ridiculously far fetched. I think I like those best, because those are the stories that don’t make me feel down about not having someone. Besides Sweet Home Alabama, my other favorite love story is in the movie, How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. There is one scene that gets me every time. Kate Hudson (playing Andi in the movie) is trying on the promotional jewelry at Matthew McConaughey’s advertising banquet. I love how he gets to see her in a carefree, natural light. She smiles and giggles when the necklace is put on her and the old jeweler flirts with her harmlessly. The best part is when they look at each other. Those are the best moments in movies. Kate and Matthew’s characters looked at each other breathlessly, like they were seeing each other for the first time, but were obviously completely in love.
When I was a senior in high school, I bought a dead-on replica of that gorgeous yellow dress Kate Hudson wore in that scene. I mostly bought it because it looked good with my tan skin and blonde hair. Part of me did think back to that scene in the movie though. Another reason why I like the scene was because Kate Hudson wore it so confidently and it was modern. It stood out. It sounds silly, but if she would have worn something else in the scene, I wouldn’t have liked it as much. The yellow lit up her face, and it was kind of like she was symbolically the light in the room and Matthew’s character’s life.

Movie Blog

2007-07-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

The movie I chose is "Moulin Rouge". It's about a prostitute who falls in love with a writer. As a prostitue, Nicole Kidman's character puts a wall around her heart, making it seemingly impossible to fall in love. It isn't until the writer persues her for true love rather than just sex that she lets the wall down.
My favorite scene in this movie is in the beginning where the writer pretends to be The Duke and gets a special "appointment" with Nicole Kidman. They are up in her room,and of course she expects that they're going to have sex, but she gets confused when he starts reading her poetry and singing her songs. It actually turns into a really funny scene because she keeps trying to turn everything he does into something sexual, like she's playing along with what he's doing but really has no idea what's going on. It's kind of sad too, because she isn't used to men who see her as something other than a sex object.
This romantic plot line is a little different than most because the woman in the relationship has a really strong heart, and doesn't fall as easily as women in classic romantic plot lines do.

Intro to Women's Literature: Blog #2: 7/17/07

2007-07-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Intro to Women's Literature: Blog #2: 7/17/07

7/19/07

2007-07-19T16:06:00.000-05:00

“It’s just as well that I left. Soon I would have torn the flesh from his face just to see if I was right about the gold and nobody would have understood that kind of curiosity. They would have believed that I wanted to hurt him just like the little boy who fell down the steps and broke his leg and the people think I pushed him just because I looked at it” (136-137).

This passage confirmed what I thought about Sula all along. In class, it was brought up in part one of Sula, that there were several instances where she was fascinated by out of the ordinary situations. For example, when the little boy drowned and her mother was burned alive. The book makes sure to mention how she was memorized and in a daze when her mother was burning alive. Also, as much as I lost respect for Sula in the second half of the book, I loved how the passage above was so honest. I had always thought she was kind of “off” and naïve, but she recognizes that people would blame her wrongly for certain things.
It kind of relates to every major event that has happened in Sula. The line “nobody would have understood that kind of curiosity” sums it up pretty well. In every strange occurrence that’s happened in the book, Sula’s presence has been there. She observes, but never takes any action to help or hurt the situation.
I think one of the questions of the book is, “Who is Sula as a person?” She is such a complex character and the book gives you glimpses of the different sides of her personality. The reader is constantly learning new things about her as a character.

“It had been the longest time since she had had a rib-scraping laugh. She had forgotten how deep and down it could be. So different from the miscellaneous giggles and smiles she had learned to be content with these past few years” (98).

My first reaction about this passage was how perfectly it describes a belly laugh. Reading it almost makes you laugh and think about the last time it happened to you. I like how Morrison sees the simplistic beauty and power in a good laugh. It also made me think of my best friends from home. There are only a few friends that can make your genuine “gut” laugh come out. Those are my “gut” laugh friends. We have a bond that knows what will make us laugh, when we will laugh, and what we will laugh at.
This passage relates to Sula and Nel’s bond as friends. Morrison states that, “it had been the longest time since she had a rib-scraping laugh.” It highlights how Sula and Nel have a past, know what make each other tick, and really love each other’s company.
This plays in the theme of friendship. And not just friendship. Deep, soul mate friendship. The kind that overcomes obstacles, forgets jealousies, and loves unconditionally.

Sula Part 2

2007-07-19T12:05:00.001-05:00

One of the quotes that I found the most interesting throughout this part of the novel is on page 144. "it matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anyone else. Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. you dont get nothing for it." I found that I had a strong reaction to this quote and I think the reason is because it is very true. Although, it is not the most positive way to go through life, it is the truth. You dont always benefit from being nice to people. For example, Nel was nice to her husband and he left her anyway. I just feel like Sula has a really good point here and I feel like she makes strong arguments throughout the entirety of the book. She may not handle all situations in the best way and she may not always act the way that she should. However, she does, in a wierd sense, have a grasp on the world. She realizes that not everyone is perfect and you dont always get the things that you deserve in life. What matters to her is her friendship with Nel, and nothing else. I just found this to be a very sad, yet true way to think about life.
The second image that caused a strong reaction for me was the last image of Nel realizing that it was Sula she had been missing all this time. Not only is it a very powerful statement but it just ends the novel so well. The entire time I knew that she would miss Sula and when it looked as if she may not I was really upset. I believe that this book is a tale mostly about friendship and the bonds between two women. Sometimes, these bonds are so strong that they really can endure anything and I think that is the most important thing to take from this text. When Nel realizes that it has not been her husband that she has been missing, but her best friend, that is incredibly powerful.

Sula

2007-07-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

A passage that stuck out to me was when Sula talks about the paper dolls she had when she was young and compared losing her head and kind of falling for Ajax to the dolls heads falling off. "I did not hold my head stiff enough when I met him and so I lost it just like all the other dolls." I reacted at first because I had a set of paper dolls when I was little and thought they were really cool. I think this passage shows how much Sula doesn't want to be an ordinary dependent women and how she thought she would never fall for a man until she met Ajax. It brought out a completely different side of her that I'd not seen before. She seemed like she could live a normal life with Ajax and would be willing to. Once he leaves, she goes back into her normal mode and realizes that she could never have a relationship with a man that would be as close and as special as what her and Nel had.

"How you know?" Sula asked
"Know what?" Nel still wouldn't look at her.
"About who was good. How you know it was you?"
"What you mean?"
"I mean maybe it wasn't you. Maybe it was me."
This passage caught my attention because I always think about how people usually jump to conclusions in making judgments on whether a person is "good" or "bad". I think it's important to recognize that we all have flaws and just because some people enjoy certain things or live a different lifestyle, it does not make them a bad person. The town viewed Sula as a devil when in reality I think she had a good heart and was lost in depression from all the various things she went through. Nel was the person who's best friend seemed to have betrayed her so the town deemed her the "good" one. This conversation is interesting and gives makes the reader think from a different perspective which is why I like it.

Sula--part 2

2007-07-19T07:53:00.000-05:00

After finishing this book I don't know if I would call it one of my favorites but I did like it. It was written so well and had so many underlying things in it. It was about a friendship with two women who really didn't know themselves and the only time that they felt they had a center was when they were with each other.

In the second half of the books I picked two different passages that I reacted to the greatest.

The first passage is:
"Sula was smiling. 'I mean I don't know what the fuss is about. I mean, everything in the world loves you. White men love you. They spend so much time worrying about your penis they forget their own. The only thing they want to do is cut off a nigger's privates. And if that ain't love and respect I don't know what is. And white women? They chase you all to every corner of the earth, feel for you under every bed. I knew a white woman wouldn't leave the house after 6 o'clock for fear one of you would snatch her. Now ain't that love? They think rape soon's they see you, and if they don't get the rape they looking for, they scream it anyway just so the search won't be in vain. Colored women worrying themselves into bad health just trying to hang on to your cuffs. Even little--white and black, boys and girls--spend all their childhood eating their hearts out 'cause they think you don't love them. And if that ain't enough, you love yourselves. Nothing in this world loves a black man more than another black man. You hear of solitary white men, but niggers? Can't stay away from one another a whole day. So. It looks to me like you the envy of the world."

When I read this it stuck in my mind as odd. It is said in a way that you know Sula is using a bit of humor but then again it gives you an insight to just how strangely her mind works. She has an odd way of thinking about things and taking them in. Here she lists all of these things about black men that most would not associate with "love" or feelings of "envy". But she twists the things around in a way that could be taken into account. It would take someone with just as far out-of-the-box thinking as Sula to actually believe and listen to her. I think that is why Jude and Nel laugh. Sula laughs too, but in a way I think she meant everyword, yes I think she wanted to mix in some humor and use the statement to get a laugh out of her friend and her friend's husband, but I also think she wanted to get that point out. I think this by just knowing her background and reading the book, having the knowledge of Sula and how oddly she works I can assume with confidence that she thought this passage had truth to it.

The second passage I picked is:

"Her body did not need oxygen. She was dead. Sula felt her face smiling. 'Well I be damned,' she thought, 'It didn't even hurt. Wait'll I tell Nel."

This small line in the story stuck out to me because, here we have an example of Sula being in one of the darkest times in the whole book and who does she first think of? Nel. Even though the two woman have fought, not seen each other for years, and don't talk anymore, she thinks of Nel. This just goes to show that all along under all the other stuff between them and under all the stuff that Sula does, the strong bond of friendship is still there. This line showed that, it showed a glimpse of the friendship that was so evident in the first half of the book. We see this with Nel and some of the thing she says in the story as well. After Nel's husband leaves her for Sula, she still has thoughts that show the connection is still there. Nel is going through a tough time and seems very depressed and emotionally distraught, and there is a time where she even says,"She would have to ask somebody about that, somebody she could confide in and who knew a lot of things,like Sula, for Sula would know or if she didn't she would say something funny that would make it alright. Ooo no, not Sula. Here she was in the midst of it, hating it, scared of it, and again she thought of Sula as though they were still friends and talked things over. That was too much. to lose Jude and not have Sula to talk to about it because it was Sula that he had left her for."
Nel says this, says she wishes she could talk to Sula about her problems, but then realizes that Sula caused the problems. She talks about hate and not being friends but it almost seems that no matter how hard she tries she can't get rid of the bond that she shares with Sula. This is seen at the end as well, when Nel realizes after Sula's death, that the feeling of something missing and sadness that she thought was caused by Jude was actually caused by her missing her best friend.

This story was odd because of the weird lives the girls led, the things they did and the connection they shared even after everything had happened. If one took out the biggest message of the book it would probably be that some friendships last forever and are to strong to break.

sula part 2

2007-07-19T00:47:00.001-05:00

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get into it because it was a little confusing to me at first but by the end I could not put it down!
The first passage that I had a strong reaction to was when Nel caught Sula and Jude in the bed room.
"Her chin was in her hand and she sat like a visitor from out of town waiting for the hosts to get some quarreling done and over with so the card game could continue and me wanting her to leave so I could tell you privately that you had forgotten to button your fly because I didn't want to say it infront of her, Jude. And even when you began to talk, I couldn't hear because I was worried about you not knowing that your fly was open and scared too because your eyes looked like the soldiers' that time on the train when my mother turned to custard."
First of all this part of the book I had a strong reaction to becasue I thought it was so unexpected and it totally caught me off gaurd. I took this passage and got the image of Sula sitting on the bed leaning on her hand with this attitude look towards Sula, like a snotty little teenage girl that knows she did something wrong but refuses to admit it, so she has an attitude. I also found it interesting how Nel went into shock. All she could think about was the button on his fly, she didn't want Sula to notice becasue she thought it would be akward for her to look at that part on Jude, which would be a normal reaction but not after they had just saw each other naked. I think I would react in a similar way that Nel did, obviously not really knowing how I would but I think I can relate to her state of shock.

The second passage was a quote from Sula that just made me stop for a second and think about what she had just said.
"I was good to you Sula, why doesn't that matter?"
Sula turned her head away from the boarded window. Her voice was quiet and the stemmed rose over her eye was very dark. "It matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anybody else. Being good to someboidy is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it."
The part of this that caught my attention, is Sula saying that being good to someone is just as risky as being mean to someone, and it is totally true. Being nice to someone is probably more risky than being mean , because you don't have a garentee that they are going to be nice back and not mean. It is like love, it is a risk, but it is also a risk of losing something great if you don't love. For once in this part of the book, Sula makes sense, even if I don't agree with her saying that it only matters to Nel that she was good to her.

Sula Part 2

2007-07-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I agree that it's hard to pick just two quotations from it. But, the first one that stuck out to me in Part 2 was on page 127 where it describes why Ajax is interested in Sula. "Her elusiveness and indifference to established habits of behavior reminded him of his mother, who was stubborn in her pursuits of the occult as the woman of Greater Sait Matthew's were in the search for redeeming grace." This reminded me of our discussions of other readings in class, how men in the past prefered women who were passive, who fit cultural norms of what a woman shoudl be. The fact that Ajax is attracted to a woman who is independent, seemingly un-emotional and stubborn, shows that even during that time period men could appreciate those traits in a woman. It seems that the only reason men didn't appreciate those traits were because of the cultural norms that called for passive women. I really like the description of why Ajax fell for Sula, because it seemed like it was for real reasons, rather than because she fit the cut-out of the ideal woman of that time period.
The second quotation I found didn't pop out to me until the end of the book. It's on page 145 when Nel comes to see Sula when she is sick. Sula says, "Oh they'll love me all right, it will take time, but they'll love me." This quote comes full circle near the end of the novel after Sula's death. The cold takes over The Bottem, and once women don't have a reason to pay more care and attention to their reationships, they don't. Once Sula is gone, people don't have an example of someone they don't want their children to become, and therefore start beating them and overreacting about the smaller things. Everything that was expected to change for the better after Sula's death ended up changing for the worse, because they didn't have that extreme to compare things to. That's why the quote came full circle, because even before Sula died she knew that in the end, she would be appreciated.
The end of the book unveiled the underlying theme throughout the novel for me. I found that through all of the hardships and betrayl, Sula and Nel's friendship never went away. At the end, Nel realizes that the "grey fuzz" or cloud that is following her isn't a deep sadness over the absence of her husband, but sadness for the absence of Sula. It is evident that Sula felt the same way, because when Nel went to see her on her death bed there was a quotation that said "Leave it to Sula to pick up friendships exactly where they left off." This shows that Sula does not see Nel's relationship with her husband on the same level as their relationship. She doesn't feel that she's betrayed Nel because no relationship is stronger or more important than the one between her and Nel.

Sula: Part Two

2007-07-18T22:12:00.001-05:00

I would have to agree with Kim, this was an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was also hard pressed to pick just two pieces from the text to explore. However, here is the first one:

"Accompanied by a plague of robins, Sula came back to Medallion. The little yam-breasted shuddering birds were everywhere, exciting very small children away from their usual welcome into a vicious stoning. Nobody knew why or from where they had come. What they did know was that you couldn't go anywhere without stepping into their pearly shit, and it was hard to hang up clothes, pull weeds or just sit on the front porch when robins were flying and dying all around you." (p.89)
I chose this intro scene to the second half because it was funny to me. The author equates Sula's return with a "plaque" of robins that shit everywhere. How is that not hilarious???? The children were fascinated by the robins, and people couldn't go anywhere without stepping in their shit, or having them fly and die all around them. I think another interesting idea behind this passage is how the author mentions the death of the birds "all around you." In the first part of the book, when Sula was growing up in Medallion, death was all around. And her return to Medallion is heralded in by the onset of more mass deaths. "Nobody knew why or from where they had come," that's kind of how people looked at the birth, presence, and return of Sula. People weren't really sure about her strange behavior and occurrence in their town, but they did know they were sick of stepping in her shit. That's a metaphor obviously, but you get the point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next passage I liked was the one where Nell finds Sula and Jude together. . .
"Her chin was in her hand and she sat like a visitor from out of town waiting for the hosts to get some quarreling done and over with so the card game could continue and me wanting her to leave so I could tell you privately that you had forgotten to button your fly because I didn't want to say it in front of her, Jude. And even when you begin to talk, I couldn't hear because I was worried about you not knowing that your fly was open and scared too because your eyes looked like the soldiers' that time on the train when my mother turned to custard." (p.106)
I like how the author describes Sula as a visitor, yet the words she uses makes me think of Sula as a visiting child, "her chin was in her hand." I think it's rather funny that Sula is also described as looking like she's waiting for the card game to start back up again. That's kind of how Sula looked at life, as a game, and she wasn't very aware of the more serious sides of life. The way Nell wants to tell Jude his zipper is undone in private, and not in front of her friend. That's humours to me as well. I picture this subservient woman who just caught her husband cheating on her, with her best friend, and she can't even stand up for herself. All Nell can think about is the impropriety of the situation she comes across. I picture Nell acting just like her mother might have in this scene. It was really enlightening reading this scene, and I liked the imagery associated here as well.

Sula Part 2

2007-07-18T22:03:00.000-05:00

"All I know is I'm scared. And there's no place else for me to go. We all that's left, Eva and me. I guess I should have stayed gone. I didn't know what else to do. Maybe I should have talked to you about it first. You always had better sense than me. Whenever I was scared before, you knew just what to do" (Pg. 101)

This part of the text struck me because Sula was being open with her emotions. I had not felt in the first part that that was a usual characteristic for Sula. She was showing emotion to her friend, Nel, saying she felt she could count on her and trust me, like no one else. When she was having a problem with Eva, she came to Nel for help. I think this passage really shows the friendship between these two women. I think it shows that even though they have not seen each other in ten years, they can still come back, laugh, talk and be best friends. This reminds me of my relationship that I have with friends from childhood. Even though we might not see each other a lot we still enjoy each others company when we do see each other and no matter what we are there for one another. However, this passage also struck me because afterwards in the next chapter she sleeps with Nels husband. I was confused all through that part because I couldn't understand why she would do that to someone she had just confided in.

"All that time, all that time, I thought I was missing Jude." And the less pressed down on her chest and came up in her throat. "We was girls together," she said as though explaining something. "O Lord Sula," she cried, "girl, girl, girlgirlgirl."

The very last part of the book struck me as I was reading it. I felt that at the end of the book Nel was realizing that she had missed her friend. She was crying for her. Nel had been the one to call the police and she was the only black person to stand near her grave site. Even after everything that Sula did to Nel she was still being a good person by mourning her death. I believe that by saying "all that time, all that time, I thought I was missing Jude" that she meant she actually realizes now that it was Sula who she had been missing, her friend who made her laugh like nobody else. I believe that even though Sula did what she did and was now gone, Nel still loved her. I think this is shown when she cries and says "we was girls together." I can not think of anything specific to relate this to but I think it is a good example of women bonding with each other even though things are not the best between them.

Sula, Part Two

2007-07-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. I can't believe I finished it in two days... it makes me wonder many books I could've read in my life if I had always read at this pace. But anyway, it's hard to choose just a few passages that I had a strong reaction to, because there were so many. Here's the first one, describing the people of Medallion's behavior after Sula died:

"The tension was gone and so was the reason for the effort they had made. Without her mockery, affection for others sank into flaccid disrepair. Daughters who had complained bitterly about the responsibilities of taking care of their aged mothers-in-law had altered when Sula locked Eva away, and they began cleaning those old women's spittons without a murmur. Now that Sula was dead and done with, they returned to a steeping resentment of the burdens of old people. Wives uncoddled their husbands; there seemed no further need to reinforce their vanity."

I think this passage illustrates the phony attitudes the people of Medallion took on after Sula returned to their town. When she was still alive, they acted out all sorts of good-samaritan behavior just to prove how "good" they were, as opposed to Sula's "evil". It's as if they needed a clear symbol of what "evil" was; and as long as Sula was alive, it was easy for them to know the right thing to do... it was simply defined as everything Sula didn't do. I'll admit, When she stole Jude away from Nel, I was ready to hate her instantly, just like everyone else in the book. But when people only do good things in spite of one person and stop when that person is gone, then what does that say about their actions? It makes good deeds seem selfish, which is exactly a point that Sula goes on to make later in the story. For lack of a better phrase, it's as if the people of Medallion were "showing off" in front of Sula. Like they're saying; "Look how bad you are, and look how good we are. Look what great morals we have compared to yours." It reminded me of the relationship between my older brother and I (and most other siblings, I'm sure) when we were younger. Every time he made a mistake, I was ready to jump in and play the role of "good child", because my parents at that moment were hypersensitive to our behavior, and if I prove myself right at this minute, it'll make more of an impact than simply being good all the time. In short, I think the people of Medallion used Sula to inflate their own egos about their mothering skills, loyalty to each other, and religious beliefs, among other things. Nothing brings people together like an enemy, right?

The next passage is the part where Nel comes to visit Sula when she hears of her illness, and they finally have a chance to discuss the affair. Sula says:

"It matters, Nel, but only to you. Not to anybody else. Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it."

and she goes on to say,

"What you mean take him away? I didn't kill him, I just fucked him. If we were such good friends, how come you couldn't get over it?"

They talk about it in more detail, but the point is that Sula offers no apology at any point in the story. She maintains that what she did was neither good nor bad, just there... and Nel was just supposed to accept it. I had a hard time liking Sula after reading this. I know there will be lots of people who stand up for her until the end, but I just can't jump on that train without giving some thought to what was said here. First of all, I think she's incredibly stubborn not to offer up an apology to Nel after all this time. I got the feeling that Nel wanted to forgive her, all she needed was a little push in the right direction, some sign of regret from Sula. I think it's hypocritical of Sula to say, "if we were such good friends, how come you couldn't get over it?", when she isn't willing to get over herself, and give Nel an apology. I realize there are deep complexities to Sula's personality, and she lives in a world where "right" and "wrong" have less bearing that her individual wants and needs. She's more interested in finding a deeper level of existence that doesn't involve putting stake in other peoples' lives. I think Sula has the kind of mind that you love to read about, but would hate to live with. Or I would, anyway. Maybe I just don't have things figured out like she does, though.

Also, by this point, Sula had been in a sort of 'relationship' with Ajax. She had felt what all those women she never identified with in the past had felt: possession of another person. I thought that after this revelation, Sula might understand why Nel rejected her after the affair with Jude. I thought the story was heading in the direction where Sula might realize how Nel felt, and therefore apologize to her, now that she was able to have walked in her shoes. Obviously, that last part didn't exactly happen, so that surprised me.

I could go on and on about this book. I can't declare whether I'm a Sula-supporter or a Sula-hater at this point, but I don't think I'm supposed to be either. I think Toni Morrison did an incredible job of creating inner and outer dialogue between these two women that was completely un-biased about who was ultimately right or wrong. She never really leads you into siding with Sula or Nel; but rather to just appreciate the story for what it is.

However, there is one thing that Nel said to Sula that I thought was really funny, and insightful at the same time:

"Well I guess that's it. You own the world and the rest of us is renting. You ride the pony and we shovel the shit."

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Sula - part deux

2007-07-18T13:48:00.000-05:00

"Sula, like always, was incapable of making any but the most trivial decisions. When it came to matter of grave importance, she behaved emotionally and irresponsibly and left it to others to straighten out. And when fear struck her, she did unbelievable things. Like that time with her finger. Whatever those hunkies did, it wouldn't have been as bad as what she did to ehrself. But Sula was so scared she had mutilated herself, to protect herself" (101).

This passage stood out to me because in my previous post, I felt that Sula did not have any feelings for other people. I thought she was almost sociopathic in her actions, disregrding how it would affect others emotionally or physically. But this passage changed my mind. I think this passage really addresses how Sula interacts with other people and it explains her actions. She is emotionally unstable and to protect herself from everyone who could possibly hurt her, she hurts herself first. She does not get attached to the men she sleeps with, she does not care what anyone in town (even her own family) thinks of her, and she has no problem hurting the people who care for her (i.e. Nel). I thought this passage not only helped to explain Sula's actions, but her character in general. She grew up with a mother who loved her, but did not like her and slept with several men without having meaningful relationships with them. A grandmother who cared for her children, but burned her own son to death. I think her relationships as a young girl taught her to do what she had to to get whatever it is she wanted, even if it meant hurting somebody else. And I found it interesting that in order to protect herself, she would hurt herself before somebody else could.
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"Ajax blinked. Then he looked swiftly into her face. In her words, in her voice, was a sound he knew well. For the first time he saw the green ribbon. He looked around and saw the gleaming kitchen and the table set for two and detected the scent of the nest. Every hackle on his body rose, and he knew that very soon she would, like all of her sisters before her, put to him the death-knell question 'Where you been?' His eyes dimmed with a mild and momentary regret" (133).

This passage made me quite sad. For the first time in her life, Sula opened herself to the possibility of a relationship. I felt like she genuinely loved Ajax and insead of reciprocating those feelings, he became disappointed and left. I don't necessarily feel bad for Sula, considering she slept with her best friend's husband, and I feel like finding and losing Ajax was her karma. In that moment, I could feel the disappointment that she would feel once he left. I think this was the last straw for Sula, that she had been able to avoid being hurt for so long that when she finally loved and got screwed over, it was too much to take. Sula's life was not necessarily the best, by any means, but she didn't try to make it any better. It was sad that when Ajax left her, she withered away and died. I think it was all of those years of avoiding pain that caught up with her when the first person she truly cared for, other than Nel, left her to die.

Sula

2007-07-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

A quote throughout the reading today that I had a very strong reaction to can be found on page 68. "I didnt mean that, mamma. I know you fed us and all. I was talkin' bout something else. Like. Like Playin' wit us. Did you ever, you know, play with us?" This quote is in reference to her asking her mother if she ever loved them. Her mothers response was obviously I loved you, you are alive and I fed you and put a roof over your head. This sparked a strong reaction in me because I feel like so many people in this day and age deal with this kind of situation. Parents feel like as long as their children are fed then they have been loved. There have been so many times when I have been teaching at a school and just find a student that is starving for some sort of attention from anyone, which is why many kids act out or dont follow the rules. This quote just reflects the way that some parents really do raise their children. It just shows how starving these children are for attention. Also, it really sets the tone for the type of relationship that these two have throughout the novel.
A second image that really caught my attention was, "Even from the rear Nel could tell that it was Sula and that she was smiling; that something deep down in that litheness was amused." This is after Nels wedding when Sula dissappears from the wedding and the two dont see eachother again for ten years. I like this image alot because it just kind of shows the realtionship that the two have. Sula doesnt really have to say anything, if anything, leaving the wedding like that was rude. However, the two are close enough that Nel can tell that Sula is happy for her, and somewhere inside herself she is smiling for Nel. I think this is important because I think that everyone has a friend that you dont always have to communicate with or talk to all the time but you know that they are always thinking about you. It just shows the bond that these two women have and it shows that in their own way they understand eachother.

readings for July 16

2007-07-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

For the readings in class today there were a few quotes that caught my eye. While reading "The revolt of mother" the scene that really sparked interest in me was the image of the little boy sitting next to his mother combing his hair as his mother finds out about the new barn that his father is building. He tries to not pay attention to his mother and is obviously trying to not be involved in the situation. This shows alot about the text right away. It is clear that a womans opinion is not valued in this household nor is it even taken into consideration. I just feel like it really sets the tone for what is about to happen in the story and for how woman are going to be treated throughout the story.
When I started reading "Trifles" the very first scene caught my attention. While the woman is just sitting there with her husband dead upstairs, the first thing that I thought was that she was in shock. I had no idea that the woman would have been the killer. The first image that popped into my head was that the man had killed himself and his poor wife had found him, she didnt know what to do, and was in complete shock over the whole situation. Obviously, I was wrong. I think that this scene is important because it sets a tone for the text. Clearly, the author didnt want us to know right away who the killer was and I feel like it was intentional to create a scenerio where the wife could either look guilty or horrified by the situation.
While reading the poem "As children together" the last lines"If you read this poem write to me. I have been to paris since we parted," really caught my attention. Throughout the entire poem I felt like it was written sort of as "in your face." I feel like the author is not happy with her friends decisions in life and if anything thinks that she is better than her friend. I realize that there are other ways to read this work but I couldnt shake that feeling throughout the entire poem and I feel like the ending lines really just make my case even stronger. The author feels that she is better than her friend because she got out of that town.

Sula 1

2007-07-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

"They wanted to see the joy in her face as they settled down to play checkers, knowing that even when she beat them, as she almost always did, somehow, in her presence, it was they had won something. They would read the newspaper aloud to her and make observations on its content, and Eva would listen feeling no obligation to agree and, in fact, would take them to the task about their interpretation of events."
I reacted to this passage because it personally reminded me a lot of my grandmother. She has lived in Memphis, Tennessee for about fifty years, forty years in the same house. She engages with the whole community and every time I visit her there's always someone stopping in without even knocking to say hi or do her yardwork or just have tea with her. When we go out to eat, she'll know the owner of the place and a good portion of the employees. It's weird to me how people are so magnetized toward her and i think this passage states some people's ability to gravitate people toward them by just being a good person and making others feel good just by socializing. I think my reaction emphasizes Eva's presence in the community. Whenever Eva was in trouble, people liked her and were willing to help. She's like a grandmother to a lot of people.

Another passage that I reacted to was when Hannah caught fire and Eva was desperately trying to help her and saw "Sula on the back porch just looking." It's probably bad to say or even to compare to but for some reason when Hannah was on fire and described as a "dancing figure" I thought of the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz melting when Dorothy poured water on her. The text described her death so dramatically and the witch's death was also dramatic which I think is why I thought of it. I think my reaction contradicts the story, although it could be possible that Sula could have something to do with her mother's death, I'll just have to find out.

SULA

2007-07-17T08:19:00.000-05:00

"A shucking, knee-slapping, wet-eyed laughter that could even describe and explain how they came to be where they were. A joke. A nigger joke. That was the way it got started. Not the town, of course, but that part of town where the Negroes lived, the part they called the Bottom in spite of the fact that it was up in the hills. Just a nigger joke. The kind white folks tell when the mill closes down and they're looking for a little comfort somewhere." (p.4)

I chose this passage from the reading because it has vivid imagery and is very depressing. In the beginning of the passage, where the author describes the laughter, you can picture somewhere laughing that hard, you yourself might have laughed that hard at one point in your life. It was just easy to see that person laughing so hard they cried. The depressing part of the passage was the fact that since the Negroes lived in a certain area it was referred to as the Bottom, even though it was up in the hills. It just reminds you of the severe racism of the time and, at least in my case, was just another depressing memory. I can think of countless times in my life when I've laughed so hard I've cried, but never at such a "joke." The passage though does remind me of the movie "Rosewood" with Jon Voight, made in 1997. The movie is another depressing portrayal of racism out of control, but one particular scene in the movie reminded me of this passage. Where the lynching mob is really out of control and they are torturing a black man to get answers out of him, but they're laughing while they're doing it. It was all just one big joke to them. It really sad that throughout history "white folks" have perpetuated this stereotype of racism, and it makes me sick.

"The day was cold enough to make his breath visible, and he wondered for a moment at the purity and whiteness of his own breath among the dirty, gray explosions surrounding him."(p.8)

I chose this passage because the word choices were very interesting to me, and vivid, easily pictured. I liked the whole description of the scene of Shadrack at war, but I chose this particular passage from the whole tale because of its use of the word white and how it was used. My image cluster was based on the image of white purity and desire. The idea of white being the symbol of cleanliness and purity and desire a man has for a woman. I like how the author used that same idea, to an extent, in the book. The was she associates his white breath with purity in the midst of darkness, it was a great image to picture and easily done. Everyone can remember being young and realizing its so cold out you can see your own breath so you pretend to be a dragon or something else. That's what this passage made me think of at least. My story and my image cluster are the first things I thought of when I read this line, and they're probably why I had the reaction that I did. One of nostalgia and one of intrigue. I was intrigued that another author would make the comparison between white and purity.

Sula Part 1

2007-07-17T00:42:00.000-05:00

The first passage that stood out to me was on page 48 :
"The two women did not speak, for the eyes of each were enough for the other."
This reminded me a lot of the unspoken bond/friendship between women. Although they are mother and daughter and obviously know each other better, they still don't have to say anything to understand each other and come to the same conclusion. This happens at a very disturbing part of the novel, after Eva has lit her son on fire. In that moment where they are both looking at each other, they both know what just happend and there is an unspoken agreement to ignore the cause of the incident. It's hard to imagine how a mother would be capable of doing that to her son, but then I remembered the part in the beginning of when he was a baby- she put him out of his misery. To her, she was doing the same thing all over again. When Evan and Hannah are looking at each other in that moment, Hannah realizes what her mother had just done and for the time being chooses to say nothing. I can't really figure out why she didn't say more about it, but then the part where she actually sets herself on fire seems to represent all of her anger towards her mother bottled up over the incident.

The second passage I found was on page 83 when Jude's thoughts on his marriage to Nel are described:
"Without that someone he was a waiter hanging around a kitchen like a woman. With her he was head of a household pinned to an unsatisfactory job out of necessity. The two of them together would make one Jude."
This passage reminded me of the discussion we had in class about women's a men's roles and jobs. Without Nel, Jude feels "womanly" working in a kitchen, but if he is married it makes him "the man" or the head of the household. His marriage to Nel gives him the position of authority he longs for, and this is obviously an unhealthy reason to get married. Once he has a wife, he is in a higher position and can feel better about himself, creating "one Jude" as it stated in the passage. He doesn't feel whole until he has that bit of power that he isn't getting out of his career, so he needs to rely on a woman to make him feel manly. To me, this is kind of ironic. If men claim to be naturally smarter, more powerful and manly, why do they need a woman to prove this? If it is their natural character, and if they are so much better than woman, why is a wife such a vital part in making them feel powerful. It's sad that Jude needs someone he can dominate and use as an excuse for him unsatisfactory and "womanly" job in order to feel like a man.

2007-07-17T00:16:00.000-05:00

The first passage that I had a strong reaction to was when she was talking about Hannah be able to make love to practically anything, but she wouldn't sleep with just anyone because it meant she would have to trust them (pg. 43). I don't know why I had a strong reaction to this but I immediately had a flash back to the movie Pretty Women, where Julia Roberts character that was a prostitute, said she would sleep with anyone but would never kiss on the lips. I just think it is very weird how even back in the early 1900's it could be found where women mixed up making love to be a impersonal thing and making kissing and sleeping beside and so on a more personal thing then the actual act of love making. The way this effects my life is that I have personally seen a lot of friends and girls my age go through this and I think it is a problem with a lot of teens out there.

"Knowing that she would hate him long and well dilled her with pleasant anticipation, like when you know you are going to fall in love with someone and you wait for the ahppy signs. Hating BoyBoy, she could get on with it, and have the safety, the thrill, the consistency of that hatred as long as she wanted or needed it to define and strengthen her or protect her from routine vulnerabilities."

This second passage was very strong and womenly. I had a strong reaction to it because right after I read it, I sat back and just wanted to smile for her. I have had times in my life, when either boys or others have done me wrong and for a while I always let it run my life and I finally realized that whatever I have to do to get on with my life, its okay to do. I was also surprised when I read it because so many times we hear to never hate someone, that it isn't healthy to have hatred in your life, but when it comes to those circumstances that it takes all that you have not to hate someone and if not hating them means you live your life miserabley, I think this is a great example of when it just feels good. She knew she would only use it until she didn't need it anymore, but more power to her that she can use it to better her life, instead and letting what he did run it.

Sula--Part one

2007-07-17T00:10:00.000-05:00

"In the safe harbor of each other's company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things"

"Their friendship was as intense as it was sudden. They found relief in each other's personalities"

Theses two parts from the text were something that stuck out to me when I first read the story. The many ways the author uses her words to describe the close relationship of the girls is truly amazing and beautifully written. There are many instances were words are used in such a way to help one understand the closeness of the two girls but I just picked these two because they were my favorites. I picked them and reacted to them because I too have a friend that I feel such a strong bond with. We have been friends since grade school and it is truly a blessing to have someone so close to share things with and be around. My family went through some hardships when I was a child (although nothing like the situations in the story) but I was able to connect with the girls in the way that they were able to rely on each other and find relief with one another. This is also vice versa, in High School my best friends dad died and so I was able to be her relief and safe harbor. I think it is a rare thing to find such a friend that you feel you could share anything with, knowing no matter what they will understand and you don't have to worry about them judging you. A friendship like that is hard to put in to words and I think this story includes some of the best and most accurate accounts of how friendship is.

Now the biggest thing that I reacted to in the story were a series of several parts that I am going to list below:

"Eva looked into Hannah's eyes, 'Is? My baby? Burning?', the two women did not speak, for the eyes of each were enough for the other. Then Hannah closed hers and ran toward the voices of neighbors calling for water."

"Sure you do. You love her, like I love Sula. I just don't like her. That's the difference."

"When he slipped from her hands and sailed away out over they could still hear his bubbly laughter. The water darkened and closed quickly over the place where Chicken Little sank. The pressure of his hard and tight little fingers was still in Sula's palms as she stood looking at the closed place in the water. They expected him to come back up, laughing. Both girls stared at the water."

"The sheriff said whyn't he throw it on back into the water. The bargeman said he never shoulda taken it out in the first place."

"Eva said yes, but inside she disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn, not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested."

All of the things above that I took out of the story got a strong and similar reaction from me for all of them. I was almost sick when I read these parts of the story. The lack of love, emotion and compassion makes it a difficult read. I wanted to know what in the world would cause a mother to burn her own son. I wanted to know why a mother would not like her own daughter. The way the girls just stare after drowning a young boy made me wonder what sort of things these two must feel and have lived threw to make them react this way, just staring. I wanted to know how someone could be so cold when talking about the body of a dead child. How could the sheriff have said that? Finally why would the daughter just watch her own mother burn? These questions came to me and I was appalled at the reading's lack of emotion. It is so dark and sad to see these things happen, but it is even worse to know that they happen in real life every day. Many of the things remind me not only of other text I have read or movies I have seen, but also of things that I see on the nightly news on a regular basis.
A woman kills her own children because she is sick of caring for them, a husband murders his pregnant wife and unborn child, these are things that people in our society today deal with when they watch the news and read the paper. So many instances are like this, and it would be nice to say that the author has a big imagination but we can't because she is merely reflecting things in today's world. I guess what probably made me react this way is because I come from a close family where there is nothing but love. I have never had to question whether my mother loved me as Hannah did to Eva, or ever had to wonder if my mom even likes me as Sula's mother Hannah did not. I just can't take these things in because I am filled with disbelief at how things like that could happen. It makes me glad and also guilty at the same time, glad that I have a loving family but also guilty that many do not, and problems, such as the ones in the story, are part of their everyday life.

Another thing I was reminded of from the text was the passage with Chicken Little. Throughout the story I have been getting a mental image of Sula and it reminded me a lot of McCaughly Culkin's character in "The Good Son", (if you have not seen this film I recommend it). In the film McCaughly's character is a very dark and troubled child with detached emotions and a sense of danger about him. His character gradually builds up through the movie through numerous acts, some of which start out smaller and harmless until he ends up trying to murder his own sister. In one scene that reflected the text Culkin is ice skating with his younger sister and he starts to spin her around and around and lets her go out onto thin ice where she falls though and the camera flashes back to him and he is just standing there...staring, just as the girls were. The only thing I saw different between the text and movie is that Culkin did it on purpose and I don't think that Sula meant to throw Chicken into the water, but it is an idea that I won't dismiss quite yet. I hope to discover a bit more about her character and I read further and then will I have a sense of how to judge her.

Sula - first half

2007-07-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

"Her daughter was more comfort and purpose than she had ever hoped to find in this life. She rose grandly to the occasion of motherhood - grateful, deep fown in her heart, that the child had not inherited the great beauty that was hers: that her skin had dusk in it, that her lashes wer substantial but not undignified in their length, that she had taken the broad flat nose of Wiley (although Helene expected to improve it somewhat) and his generous lips" (18).

This passage struck me because I found it so odd for a mother to be silently competitive with her daughter about her looks. It's actually quite immature and silly of her to do this, but that's why some people shouldn't be parents. I thought it was quite sad for Nel to grow up with a mother whose main concern was how she appeared to others, which is also apparent in Helene's desire to be more attractive than her own young daughter. Nel aspires to be as beautiful as her mother, but she doesn't know that her mother secretly takes joy in the fact that she's more attractive than a young girl. I felt pretty sad for Nel to have to grow up in the Wright home. I think Nel's uptight mother is one of the important figures in this story, and her feelings for her daughter are important, too. When Nel grows up and marries Jude, it's not because of some undying love they have for each other, but because Nel has no spirit left. Her mother made sure to break her spirit and always keep her from being anything extraordinary (certainly not extraordinary looking) and that's precisely why Jude picked her to marry. I think this theme (Nel being suppressed, meek, simple) is important because she has a huge secret (Sula's accidental killing of Chicken LIttle). I think this will come to play later in the story.

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"She remembered something else too, and try as she might to deny it, she knew that as she lay on the ground trying to drag herself through the sweet peas and cclover to get to Hannah, she had seen Sula standing on the back porch just looking. When Eva, who was never one to hide the faults of her children, mentioned what she thought she'd seen to a few friends, they said it was natural. Sula was probably struck dumb, as anybody would be who saw her own mamma burn up. Eva said yes, but inside she disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested" (78).

This passage really struck me because Sula does not seem the sociopathic type to just watch her mother burn to death. But then, after thinking about it for a bit, it started to make sense. She "accidentally" killed Chicken Little, but was it really an accident if she lacked enough emotion to do anything but watch her mother burn? It seemed odd to me, and I think this theme of Sula's lack of feelings for others may be important later in the story. Sula seems to either be a bit mental, or she's seen so much horror in her young life that nothing, not even witnessing the painful deaths of innocents and loved ones, can really shock her anymore. But I doubt it. I think Sula's character is a little strange, as she comes from an odd family of drug addicts, sex addicts, and triplets that aren't related. Maybe I'm judging her too quickly, but she seems to have either very bad luck or bad luck follows her. Interested to find out, though!

Monday's Reading

2007-07-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

"The Revolt of Mother" by Mary Wilkins Freeman
An excerpt that caught my attention was when Sarah states that "However deep the resentment she might be forced to hold against her husband, she would never fail in sedulous attention to his wants." / "Nobility of character manifests itself at loop-holes when it is not provided with large doors." I reacted to the passage where she was religiously making her husbands favorite pies because even though she disagreed with her husband and his decisions, she still played her role and did what was expected of her faithfully and was not one bit rebellious. I thought of this and my own maturity. When I was little and got into an argument with my parents, I'd purposely be a mess and do whatever I could do not to please them until I grew up and released that the way to get people to listen to you is to be mature and do what's expected of you. I think this line ties in with the rest of the text because it seemed like the minister, hired workers, and everyone in the town expected her to be punished for her actions but since she maintained her character and took good care of her husband it's almost as if she was rewarded for sticking to her faithful chores and responsibilities. By being noble, she found the loophole through her husband and got what she wanted.

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell
The passage where Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are looking through the house and find the dead bird in the box stood out to me because at that point I was wondering what a dead bird was doing in a box, it just seemed really strange to me and was definitely unexpected which is why it stood out to me the most. I think the bird in the story represented Mrs. Wright's happiness or voice in some way. The bird being locked up in a cage is similar to her being confined to her house, responsibilities, and her loss of freedom when she got married. Mrs. Hale stated that Mrs. Wright used to "sing real pretty herself." which I took as even though she was unhappy in her "cage" she would still sing just like the bird. I think the husband got fed up with the singing of the bird or of his wife's voice and some conflict must have arose where he either put a stop to the bird's voice by strangling it or his wife's by punishing her in some way. Overall, I believe the bird is a sign that something happened between Mr. and Mrs. Wright and represented a prelude to Mr. Wright's death.

"As Children Together" by Carolyn Forsche
"You hummed blanche comme la neige and spoke of Montreal where a quebecoise could sing, take any man's face to her unfastened blouse and wake to wine on the bedside table" This line stood out to me most because I was picturing two innocent little girls having fun together and didn't expect Victoria to know so much about the quebecoise from Montreal. The line almost alludes to what Victoria's becomes later in life and was almost like her childhood dream. The narrator states after this line that "I always believed this Victoria, that there might be a way to get out." I took it almost as if the two girls had completely separate dreams, Victoria's being to become someone similar to a quebecoise and the narrator's to "get out" of where she grew up (which is why she state's later that she is in Paris). It seemed to me like the narrator was blind to the fact that maybe her friend and her didn't want the same lifestyle for their future.

7/17/07

2007-07-16T20:16:00.001-05:00

“The summer came. A summer limp with the weight of blossomed things. Heavy sunflowers weeping over fences; iris curling and browning at the edges far away from their purple hearts; ears of corn letting their auburn hair wind down to their stalks. And the boys” (Morrison 56).

When I first read this passage, I was swept away by how beautifully written it was. It is just like the season it’s describing—intense, laid-back and smooth. Sentences or books about summer always really get to me. It’s because I’m a summer girl and always have been since I was really young. Summers are a time of promise, of learning and making fun mistakes, of rebelling, and a time for adventure. I like how the author, Toni Morrison, uses the phrase “limp with the weight of blossomed things.” It’s as if there is so much possibility and transition in the summer months that the season can barely hold itself up. I pictured a scale here. Winter, fall, and spring are all balanced on the scale. However, when the steamy, heavy but light months of June, July, and August come along, the scale goes nuts.
This brief passage relates to every summer I’ve had in my twenty years of living. Some summers run together a little bit, but most of them are full of new, spontaneous adventures. I always hung out with two of my best friends from home during the summers and do anything random we could think of. It’s great how the author mentions boys. Each summer—even up to our senior year in high school—we would write in a special book. My best friend Samantha bought the book from a now closed toy store on the Plaza when we were in middle school. It was a plushy plastic material, pink, and was a sort of memory book. There were pages with certain categories on them and we’d write our name and what our answer was for the category question. The passage above made me smile, because about three-fourths of the book was questions about boys. For instance, one of the categories was “cutest boy.” Chasing and flirting boys were definitely a key part of summer. Boys were a lot of the adventure.

The passage kind of relates to the theme of the cycle of life and personal growth Sula brings up. To me, it seems that Morrison is using seasons to show the changes in all the characters.

“Nel and Jude, who had been the stars all during the wedding, were forgotten finally as the reception melted into a dance, a feed, a gossip session, a playground and a love nest. They began to dance, pressed in among the others, and each one turned his thoughts to the night that was coming on fast” (Morrison 85).

Morrison described the wedding perfectly. I like how she said it was melted. That’s how a lot of weddings are. The wedding and the reception tend to go by so fast that it is kind of like a blur. But when I read it, I was happy. I really like Nel’s character a lot.
This section reminded me of my brother’s wedding in Jamaica last June. After they got married at our resort, we all ate at the outside eatery that night. The air was balmy, sweet and everything did kind of blend together. People in colorful outfits, the music, and the laughter was all stirred up together into a pot of happiness.

I think the above passage is foreshadowing a theme that is to come. I read the back of the book summary, and it says that Nela and Sula grow apart for circumstances. I think that Nela’s happiness in life may have something to do with it.

Sula Part One

2007-07-16T19:26:00.000-05:00

I absolutely loved the first part of Sula. I could not put it down! The first passage that really struck me was when the boy, Chicken Little died and Sula and Nel were at the funeral for him. It was the part after the coffin had been laid to rest and the author says, "They held hands and knew that only the coffin would lie in the earth; the bubbly laughter and press of fingers in the palm would stay aboveground forever." The two girls stood there together holding hands and continued to do so while they walked away. This passaged really struck me because the two girls were there for each other in a hard time. They both understood why the other was so saddened by this death. This also shows the relationship and the bond that these two girls had. They held hands to help each other through the hard time. This passage complements a time in my life when I was going through losing someone. When my grandpa died and I was at the funeral I watched his coffin get lowered into the ground. To get me through this I kept thinking of all the memories I had with him and I reminded myself that even though he is not here anymore, all the memories will forever be with me. Also, it reminds me of my friends being there for me when my Grandpa died. This complements the passage in Sula when Nel and Sula are watching the coffin be lowered because they are making themselves feel better by recognizing that the laughter and the fingerprints they shared with the boy will forever be with them.

The second passage that struck me was when Hannah had asked Eva if she had really loved her children. When Hannah asked her this, Hannah asked her why she never played with her children. Eva responded with "I'm talkin' bout 18 and 95 when I set in that house five days with you and Pearl and Plum and three beets, you snake-eyed ungrateful hussy. What would I look like leapin' round that little old room playin' with youngins with three beets to my name?" This part struck me because I felt she was being really cold with her daughter. Instead of calmly explaining the circumstances back then she was very rude to her daughter in her response. Also, I think this passage shows how times were much harder back then and how getting food on the table for the children was much more a challenge than it is today. I know there are still people who suffer and cannot provide enough food but back then it was a much more common thing. Also, I think this passage can reflect womens roles in the home, to make food and put the food on the table. This relates a lot to other texts we have read that talk about womens roles that have to do with making food and putting it on the table.

Sula, Part One

2007-07-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

This book is great so far, and it's hard for me to just pick two passages that I relate to. The first one that sticks out in my mind, is the part where Hannah comes to Eva one afternoon with the question, "Mamma, did you ever love us?"

As soon as I read it, I knew she was in for an earful from Eva. But I welcomed that earful, I couldn't wait to hear this woman's response to seemingly obvious question. So I was a little surprised when Eva first answered with, "No. I don't reckon I did. Not the way you thinkin'." Of course, that answer was somewhat facetious on Eva's part, and she went on to explain to Hannah all the hard knocks she had withstood just to keep her children alive, which, to her, was more demonstrative of "love" than any amount of playing or horsing around with the children. My favorite part of Eva's explanation was this:

"I'm talkin' 'bout 18 and 95 when I set in that house five days with you and Pearl and Plum and three beets, you snake-eyed ungrateful hussy. What would I look like leapin' 'round that little old room playin' with youngins with three beets to my name?"

... There was more to Eva's dialogue with Hannah about the subject of caring and loving for her children than this, but for some reason these few sentences are what had the greatest impact on me. I think it's because of the sad humor that Eva creates with her words. I'm not saying there's anything funny about a single mother raising her children in extreme poverty, but when Eva says, "What would I look like leapin' 'round that little old room playin' with youngins with three beets to my name?" I couldn't help but smile a little bit, imagining this poor woman dancing around a dark, one-room cabin with a pitiful little fire, the children wrapped in blankets staring at her like she's lost her mind (in my mental image, anyway.) In a way, Eva is mocking Hannah's question of "why" there was no playing, but she's also giving her an honest answer... even if it's in the form of a story she's repeated a million times before. I could actually hear the sound of her voice when I read this.

Eva reminds me of my great-grandmother, who got sick when I was just a kid, and lived the rest of her life after that with my aunt as her caretaker, in the very same house she had raised her children and grandchildren in. She rarely said anything, but if you made her angry, or asked her a question she either thought was interesting or ludicrous--- she'd let you know all about it. Like Sula's family, mother's side of the family is very matriarchal; all the men have either passed away or left for other reasons, and the women are left to care for each other and oversee things within their extended family. With the exception of my mom, basically everyone from my mother's side still lives within five miles of their childhood home. Because of this, I can easily imagine the dependency between the women in Sula's family, as well as the close bonds they have. I think it's because of these close relationships that Eva was able to answer Hannah's question the way that she did; with no frills, no sugar-coating, just pure honesty with a dose of dark humor. But like Tony Morrison states in the very beginning of this book, "... the laughter was a part of the pain."

The second passage that I really enjoyed was the part where Eva's estranged husband, BoyBoy, comes back to pay her a visit. I thought it was odd the way they interacted, without any mention of the children or the insufferable situation he left her in as a poor, single mother. Regardless, they go on exchanging pleasantries and it seems like he leaves her house on a good note, until she witnesses him whispering something into the ear of the woman in the green dress, who had been waiting against the tree during their visit. It never says specifically what BoyBoy whispered about to make the woman laugh so hard, but I'm assuming it was something about Eva. More specifically, I imagined he had made a joke about her missing leg when I first read it. The remark itself isn't important, it was Eva's reaction to it that I enjoyed the most:

"Knowing that she would hate him long and well filled her with pleasant anticipation, like when you know you are going to fall in love with someone and you wait for the happy signs. Hating BoyBoy, she could get on with it, and have the safety, the thrill, the consistency of that hatrd as long as she wanted or needed it to define and strengthen or protect her from routine vulnerabilties."

This description really hits home for me. It's hard to explain why I can relate to this passage so much, but I've never read a description of embracing anger that has been so accurate of how I personally feel about it. I think Toni Morrisson did a wonderful job explaining this, and it's hard to compete with her by building off that idea and explaining it even deeper than she already did with Eva's situation. However, I will say that I think anger is a great motivator. A negative one, but an effective one. I know there are people who can write wonderful stories and paint beautiful pictures in a state of complete happiness, but I connect more with stories and art that come from a more "angry" place. Not that the end result of their art is angry, but if what moved them to create it was a feeling of injustice or emotional damage, I find that really interesting. For Eva, I think it brought closure to her relationship with BoyBoy. Up until that point, she kept repeating the sentence, "she was not sure what she felt", but afterward, she was explicitly sure that she hated this person. And therefore she was able to move on from that place and know in the back of her mind that she was sure about something.

Readings for Monday July 16th

2007-07-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

Mary Wilkins Freeman, "The Revolt of Mother"
"Adoniram was like a fortress whose walls had no active resistance, and went down the instant the right besieging tools were used." (p.40)
I really liked this passage for a number of different reasons. First, in the end "mother" got her wish, and moved "father" into doing what she wanted. The imagery in this quote, "right besieging tools," fit in very well with mother's tactics at getting father to build the house he promised her. The use of the word besieged making you think of ancient times when an army would attack their enemy and besiege them, cutting off their food and water supply, until they gave in and surrendered. The passage functions into the text as a whole in the way mother finally gets father to surrender and she is no longer not in the know.

Susan Glaspell, "Trifles"
"Mrs. Hale: [Her hand against her pocket.] We call it--knot it, Mr. Henderson." (p.406)
I particularly like this quote because of the irony in it. Mrs. Hale is referring to what Mrs. Wright was doing to the blanket, and yet at the same time she was letting slip the significance of her "knotting" and not quilting. She was practicing knotting on the blanket for when she tied the knot of the rope around her husbands throat. The passage fits in with the rest of the text because it is where the women silently reveal the murderer and their intelligence in the face of the ignorant men who thought the women themselves were the ignorant ones.

Carolyn Forsche, "As Children Together"
"You were ashamed of that house, its round tins of surplus flour, chipped beef and white beans..."
I like this quote because it is humorous to me how Victoria is so ashamed of her poor family and run down house, when she's like this perfect person that the narrator looks up to and thinks is so beautiful. It's like her one ugly flaw that keeps her from being so perfect. It's also kind of ironic how in the end of the poem she lives in a trailer in a similar fashion to how she grew up. She tried to grow up fast and move away from her childhood and become something, but in the end she's nothing more then a poor married woman living in a trailer looking back on life with what ifs. That is also how it fits into the passage as a whole. The whole poem's about this girl who is envied by the narrator and how she longs to be someone and move out of her small town and small life, and yet in the end she's just like her parents did, right back where she started.

Monday 7/16 Readings

2007-07-16T11:54:00.000-05:00

"The Revolt of Mother"
One part of this reading that stood out to me was the conversation with her daughter. She told her that women have learned to complain about what men do just as they would complain about the weather, as something they can't change. It is surprising to hear her say all of this to her daughter, because you wouldn't expect her to actually believe this and want her daughter to go along with this mindset that she has to do whatever men tell her, no questions asked. I think she might have given her daughter this talk knowing that she would prove it wrong later. Maybe she felt her daughter needed to hear the talk in order to truly appreciate what she would be doing later; so that she could see that she was in fact going against the norms of society and standing up for herself.
"Trifles"
I really enjoyed reading this play. I thought it really showed the unspoken bond that all women have, even if they aren't the greatest friends to begin with. It shows that women stick together, and I found it sort of comforting. The two women eventually find out that Mrs.Wright committed this terrible crime, but they help her out in little ways (bringing her quilt to jail) and big ways (hiding evidence). They were able to relate to how Mrs.Wright was feeling, and felt sympathy for her. What also stood out to me was how the men neglected all of the little things, when really they should have been investigating Mrs.Wright's sewing box and other tasks around the house. Only the two women were smart enough to come across those things, because women understand each other. I thought it was interesting how the two women could tell what Mrs.Wright was feeling at the time, based only on her belongings and faint memories of her in the past. The men should have been asking the women about the crime, but they were too ignorent to take it into consideration.
"As Children Together"
The part that struck me about this passage was the white shavings mentioned in the beginning and at the end. The white shavings seems to be associated with the drunken father, who may or may not have been abusive and violent. At the end, the shavings are mentioned again, except in refferal to Victoria's husband (instaed of her father). This shows that Victoria got exactly what she didn't want in the end, which was to be living in a household like the one where she grew up. She wasn't in Paris living some glamourous life, but back in the same town, living with a husband exactly like her father. To me, the image of the white shavings is depressing because it represents the life that Victoria was trying to leave. It was sad to see them mentioned again at the end, because it sort of represents that she was unsuccessful in attaining her goal.

7/16/2007

2007-07-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

“The Revolt of ‘Mother’”

“You ain’t found out yet we’re women-folks, Nanny Penn… You ain’t seen enough of men-folks yet to. One of these days you’ll find it out, an then you’ll know that we know only what men-folks think we do, so far as any use of it goes, an’ how we’d ought to reckon men-folks in with Providence, an’ not complain of what they do any more than we do of the weather.”

I found this quote extremely ironic. Mrs. Penn’s body language and tone are surely indicators of some resentment. She accepts her position of inferiority to men, namely her husband, but her daughter has yet to understand the way relationships operate between men and women. This I found very interesting, because the two women had very different beliefs. Mrs. Penn states that men are to be respected as people respect God, and that men are the determiners of women's intellect and ability. The imagery I pictured when I came across this quote was that of an older woman who was a servant to her husband, but who also possessed more knowledge than he cared to recognize. I found this interesting because her final decision to move into the new barn he built was completely contrary to her statement. This took extreme courage, and the fact that her husband actually gave in to her and respected her wishes proves even further that she was a strong woman.

“Trifles”

“When I was a little girl- my kitten- there was a boy that took a hatchet, and before my eyes- and before I could get there-…. If they hadn’t held me back I would have- hurt him.”

I imagined a group of cruel kids torturing a little girl in this scene. There was obviously more than one person at the scene of the killing of Mrs. Peters’ cat, for she was being held back and forced to watch its death. This quote connected the murder of Mrs. Wright’s bird to the killing of the cat. Because the animals were all both women had and loved, their cruel murders drove them to anger. They felt as if the only things they loved had been taken away, along with their happiness. This, I believe, caused Mrs. Wright to snap and kill her husband, and Mrs. Peters admits that she too would have killed her cat’s murderer. At first, I didn’t know how I felt about this quote, but after rethinking, I believe that it is a definite cause for one to snap. Mrs. Wright had evidently been in an unhappy relationship, and she only had her singing canary to make her happy, but when her husband took that away, she had nothing else to look forward to. This quote actually made me somewhat sad, because I can’t imagine having the one thing I loved taken away from me.

“As Children Together”

…and when one of the men who had gathered around you took my mouth to his own there was nothing other than dance hall music rising to the arms of iced trees.”

A first kiss is definitely a memorable experience. I could almost imagine a dance hall and trees in the middle of winter as I read this passage. The woman lost herself to her first kiss, and all she was aware of was the beauty that surrounded her. I think her first kiss inspired her in some way. It also familiarized her with the life her childhood friend had spoken about so often. She definitely misses her memories with Victoria.

Readings for Monday the 16th

2007-07-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

"The Revolt of Mother"

I think the story as a whole conveys the message of woman rebellion and shows just how much power (or lack there of) woman have sometimes. The mother however, is able to overcome this and use her power to get her way. "I'll--put up the--partitions, an'--everything you--want, mother.", that is the direct quote from the father at the end of the story and it is proof that the mother's work had paid off.
The part of the story that I liked because of the imagery I got was after reading, "The spring air, full of the smell of growing grass and unseen flowers, came in their faces. The deep yard in front was littered with farm wagons and piles of wood; on the edges, close to the fence and the house, the grass was a vivid green, and there were some dandelions." After I read this part I had the perfect picture of the family's farm, yard and house. You see I live in the country and have all my life, one of the neatest things about where I am from is that there are many Amish communities around my town and home. I immediately pictured one of their houses when I read that part above about the farm wagons and such. I pictured their many gardens near the house and the fields near by. It fitted the text well.

"Triffles"

THe part of the text that stuck out to me was where the sheriff is talking with Mrs. Peters, the county attorney and Hale, he says "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves", I found this to be odd. It was just another part of the text where I thought the woman had acted differently than she should have. First she is pleating her apron and then she is worrying about her preserves and fruits and whether they are going to freeze. I find it really strange, because if her husband had just died why would she be worrying about these things? I pictured her sitting there in her chair after her husbands death, sitting as calm as can be in the rocking chair.

"As Children Together"

When I read this poem it struck me as a sad reflection on childhood. It talked about two girls slipping out of the house and sneaking to a dance hall where one of the girls seemed to have gotten physical with many guys at a young age. This was sad because, even though I don't know what their age was here, it seems that the author is suggesting a younger age than most would do this stuff at, "and lied your age to adulthood," that is the line that gave me this impression about their ages. The other aspect of the poem I found sad was that the girls are not friends anymore and not only that the author doesn't even know what has become of her friend. The author says," I don't know where you are now, Victoria." and then describes what some have told her about where Victoria is. Finally the last thing that I found sad, is that Victoria, had seemed to want all this glamorous stuff when she was a young woman, and the author says that many think Victoria has kids and now lives in a trailor and then the last line of the poem is, "I have been to Paris since we parted." This is sad because it means the author must have went on to live a fuller life than her friend Victoria. Victoria had wanted to do those things and did not get to.

Passages - July 16 Reading

2007-07-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

"THE REVOLT OF MOTHER"
"It took no more genius and audacity of bravery for Wolfe to cheer his wondering soldiers up those steep precipices, under the sleeping eyes of the enemy, than for Sarah Penn, at the head of her children, to move all their little household goods into the new barn while her husband was away" (37).

This passage was wonderful. I touched on a wide range of emotions and thoughts on Sarah Penn's part. I could feel her growing agitation through the text, and when she packed up their house and moved it to the new barn, where the new house was supposed to be, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pride for a fictional character. I could completely understand why she was upset with her husband, so much so that she actually let her actions speak louder than her words. Because he wouldn't so much as listen to how upset she was about the new barn, I think it was brilliant of her to take matters into her own hands. This passage was so important to this text, in my opinion, because it relates Sarah Penn's actions to hose of a military. She was so frustrated with her husband that she used a military tactic, gathered her army (her children), and just took over what she fel was hers. (Good for her!)

"TRIFLES"
MRS. HALE: I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be - for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things - it's all just a different kind of the same thing. [Brushes her eyes; noticing the bottle of fruit, reaches out for it.] If I was you I wouldn't tell her her fruit was gone. Tell her it ain't. Tell her it's all right. Take this in to prove it to her. She - she may never know whether it was broke or not. (404)

I understood this passage to be an important one in explaining the relationships between women, even those who do not speak much. I found it very interesting that these two women pretended to be stupid about the situation to protect their neighbor. Because Mrs. Hale felt so bad about ignoring the bad things that went on in her neighbor's house, she tried to protect her neighbor from so much. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters don't want the men in the house to know they found the strangeled canary, but they want to prove to the neighbor (Mrs. Foster) that her fruit is not frozen. It is as if because they could not protect her from the evils in her house, they wanted to protect her from all the small things that could send her over the breaking point.

"AS CHILDREN TOGETHER"
"You were ashamed of that house/its round tins of surplus clour,/chipped beef and white beans,/relief checks and winter trips/that always ended in deer/tied stiff to the car rack,/the accordion breath of your uncles/down from the north, and what/you called the stupidity/of the Michigan French" (309).

I really liked this passage. It says so much about the narrator's friend and her life growing up without obviously saying that the girl was a little poor and a little country. I felt like I could feel the girl's shame and irritation with her family and situation. I think it is a beautiful way to describe the life that this girl loathes and desperately tries to escape by growing up quickly. But, she just ends up right where she started. I think this image is central to the poem as a whole because the narrator is first jealous of what her friend has and does because she does not have those things. But, in the end, the narrator is the one who escapes to Paris, who has the life that the Victoria (the friend) wanted.

July 16, 2007 Post

2007-07-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

In "The Revolt of Mother" written by Mary Wilkins Freeman, the image that struck me the most was "she held her head as if it bore a crown." This struck me the most in the text because she was standing up for what she wanted and back then you did not find that a lot. Often the women just sat there and watched their husbands run their lives but finally she was standing up to her husband. I can just see her standing in the doorway with a crown on her head with her head held up high. This image reflects the poem as a whole because in the end when her husband in away she finally takes action and moves into the new house without her husbands approval.

In the play "Trifles" written by Susan Glaspell the image that struck me the most was "and just went on pleatin' her apron." This image struck me the most because I was shocked that a woman who just lost her husband was just sitting in a rocking chair and pleating her apron, like nothing even happened. This reaction came about because I would of thought she would have been hysterical. I felt sorry for the woman that she was so alone. This image plays into the text as a whole because the woman ends up in jail, being accused of killing her husband. However, if she had reacted differently to the murder maybe she would not have been in jail.

In the poem "As Children Together" written by Carolyn Forche, the image that struck me the most was "the buttons of your blouses in their teeth." This image struck me the most because it showed very explicitly what this woman did that the writer was talking about. This woman was having intimate relationships with a lot of men. This image reflects the poem as a whole because she is writing to this woman about her past and her being with a lot of men is a big part of her past that she is writing about.

7/16/07

2007-07-16T08:14:00.000-05:00

The Revolt of “Mother”

“Adoniram was like a fortress whose walls had no active resistance, and went down the instant the right besieging tools were used. ‘Why, mother,’ he said, hoarsely, ‘I had no idea you was so set on’t as all this comes to’ (Freeman 40).

I quoted this passage from the end of the short story. It was a relief that the story had an ending like this. I liked how the author showed the vulnerable side of the controlling husband Adoniram. The imagery of a fortress was powerful too. To imagine a huge, looming wall that is supposed to be strong, unwavering, and protective fall down, is an image that was ingrained in my head after I read the passage. At this passage, gender roles are definitely reversed. Now “mother” is the fortress and Adoriram is the citizens behind the fortress. He relies on the fortress for strength and protection.
To me, the passage as a whole shows a theme of stereotypes being broken down. All throughout the short story, the author highlights stereotypes of males and females. Adoriram does whatever he wants and doesn’t ask the opinion of his wife. “Mother” on the other hand, dutifully cleans and cooks without complaint. The passage shows that woman can do just as much and be just as bold as men.

As Children Together

“They say you have children, a trailer in the snow near our town, and the husband you found as a girl returned from the Far East broken cursing holy blood at the table where nightly a pile of white shavings is paid from the edge of his knife” (Forche 310).

This section of the poem really stuck out to me. I got the sense that Victoria, the author’s friend, was getting beaten by her husband. The first time I read it, the movie Forrest Gump can up. The character of Victoria really reminded me of Jenny. In the movie, Jenny was desperately trying to get away from her downhill life, grungy house, and a father that molested her. However, she used her body and men’s attention to try to put her past as far behind her as possible and move up in the world. The section that said, “…a trailer near our town” was striking too. It’s crazy how Victoria went everywhere and had to suffer through lots of bad experiences, just to end up where she started.
This passage contributes to the whole poem, because it shows a women being trapped by her life and the violence of men. The image of her husband having a, “pile of white shavings,” symbolically represents her white skin. Every night, he whittles down Victoria a little more, until she is carved into the person he wants.

Trifles

“Well woman are used to worrying about such trifles” (Glaspell 396).

This line really bugged me. I think—even in today’s society—women are always joked about as focusing on such trivial matters. We are showed loving shopping, being over-dramatic, and fussing over every little thing. In reality, women are obviously way deeper than that. And sometimes those “trifles” are details that other people are missing. And seeing those details are the key of life. A lot of things just overlooked because details are missed.
The passage helps show my above point throughout the story. The husbands of the main female characters—Mr. Hale and Mr. Peters—and the county attorney all initially poke fun of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters throughout the story. Earlier in the story, Mrs. Peters noticed Mrs. Wright’s (the suspect in question) fruit preservatives had frozen from the cold, the men laughed because she was into fruit instead of a murder case. In all actuality, that detail could have been a major clue in the case. I think the above passage is hysterical, because it shows how women outsmarted the men without them ever knowing. In the end of the story, I got the vibe that the women successfully solved the case and covered it up too.

July 16th readings

2007-07-15T23:37:00.000-05:00

The Revolt of the Mother
Passage:
"Stop!" she cried out again. "Don't you put the hay in that barn; put it in the old one."
"Why, he said to put it in here," returned one of the haymakers, wonderingly. He was a young man, a neighbor's son, whom Adoniram hired by the year to help on the farm.
"Don't you put the hay in the new barn; there's room enough in the old one, ain't there?" said Mrs. Penn.
I had the strongest reaction to this part of the short story. I think I had such a strong reaction to it because this was when Mrs. Penn decided that she was going to do something about the animals having a better place to stay than her own family, and do something about the fact that her daughter doesn’t have somewhere to get married at. I think this was when Mrs. Penn kind of snapped and decided, no matter how scary it was that she was going to do something. I think this was significant to the text as a whole because it was the turning point when we as the reader realized that she was going to stand up to her husband for the first time. There was no turning back from this point on.

As Children Together

Passage:

“I don’t know where you are now, Victoria.
They say you have children, a trailer
In the snow near our town,
And the husband you found as a girl
Returned from the Far East broken
Cursing holy blood at the table
Where nightly a pile of white shavings
Is paid from the edge of his knife.”

I had the strongest reaction to this passage because it brought the whole poem together for me. I had a hard time grasping what Carolyn was saying in this poem but after a couple times of reading it, this passage finally made me realize that it was a childhood friendship. This passage is sad, the author talking about how she has heard about her friend, and not the best things that she has heard. She has heard that the things that she was doing as a child and young adult didn’t bring Victoria to where she wanted to be. The guy that she would run to when she was younger turned out not to be the greatest husband, coming back from war “broken” and “cursing” as the author put it. This is a childhood friend that grew apart and grew different from her.

Readings/Response for July 16

2007-07-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

"The Revolt of Mother"
by Mary Wilkins Freeman

I felt sympathy for Sarah Penn when she first tried to discuss building a new house instead of a new barn with her husband. I thought that after he walked out on their conversation, all hope was lost and there would be no new house for the family. What struck me most about this story, was the way that stay-at-home mothers even in today's world can empathize with Sarah's problem. As a homemaker, she is forced to go along with her husband's plan even when she disagrees with it, and only wants what's best for her family. A woman who depends on her spouse financially is put in an awkward position when she is faced with pleasing them, as well as dealing with the needs of what she thinks is best for her family. There is a book called The Feminine Mistake by Leslie Bennett that just came out, and it deals with this exact problem. I guess the book was on my mind when I read this story, so Sarah's role as the traditional "non-breadwinner" but primary "family caretaker" is what struck me most. However, I was delighted to see her push through what seemed like a dead-end, and move her entire family into a barn instead of putting up with her husband's stubbornness for the sake of her family. I think this added not only interest to the story, but a sense of hope as well. One might have thought that after her husband declared, "I ain't got nothing to say", that the decision had been made and there was essentially nothing Sarah could do to change it. I'm glad it turned out the way it did.

"Trifles"
by Susan Glaspell

Even though the focus of this play was about a murder, I think the more obvious, overall message was about women's friendships. I'm sure most women would be glad to have friends like Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, who basically solved this entire murder investigation, and came to their own conclusion about how to handle the conviction of their fellow housewife, while the men walked around without a clue. I think the County Attorney was the villain in this story, not Mrs. Wright. If he had been any kind of investigator, he would've asked the women for their insight on another woman's thought process and household duties instead of criticizing and belittling them.

Even though Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are protecting a person who may or may not be a murderer, I think the reader still identifies with them and is hopeful that they'll conceal the evidence they've found, based on their dialogue about Mrs. Wright herself. They describe her as a lively woman before she was married to Mr. Wright, and come up with a number of other indirect excuses for why they should continue to hide what they know from their husbands and the law. The reason why we as readers are able to side with them is because they are justifying their actions with emotions, and doing what's morally right as opposed to lawfully. While the women respect the law, they seem to recognize that there is a higher set of laws to live by, and punishing one of their own is not something the women are prepared to live with. It's as if the women feel guilty about not coming to Mrs. Wright's rescue before things came to this, and feel that concealing evidence of her crime is a way to make up for that. I especially like this passage, which I think best explains their actions in their own words:

"I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be--- for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things---it's all just a different kind of the same thing."

"As Children Together"
by Carolyn Forche

I had to read this poem several times before I understood the relationship between the author and Victoria. Now I understand it to be a message from a woman to her childhood (and maybe adolescent?) friend, who she's since lost contact with. It seems to me that the girls grew up with similar backgrounds and experiences, and Victoria became the more "adventurous" of the two; and took off in search of---

"Flowers wrapped in paper from carts
in Montreal, a plane lifting out
of Detroit, a satin bed, a table
cluttered with bottles of scent."

I compare this to a modern day young women running off to Hollywood to become an "actress", or moving away from their hometown in search of something greater. For Victoria, this path apparently included getting involved with a variety of different men, who seemed to take advantage of her and rob her of her innocence.

I can relate to this because I have several childhood friends that I have lost contact with, and it ends up being more of an emotional obstacle than a distance one. What I mean is, the author states at the end of this poem that she knows Victoria is rumored to have "a trailer in the snow near our town", which means that she has ended up living not too far away from her long-lost friend; yet somehow, they no longer have contact. I have several childhood friends who have grown up in the same hometown as me, and now come here and gone to the same college as I have, who still live in this town... and we still don't see each other but once a year. The situation between the author and Victoria is a sad one, because it involves the seemingly crushed dreams of Victoria, who has retreated from her life of debauchery and would-be adventures.

However, the author obviously still cares about her, but the thought of them facing the innocent life they once had together seems more depressing than just staying separated. While the author calls for a reunion, she still writes this poem like she knows there isn't going to be one.

7-12-07

2007-07-12T22:08:00.000-05:00

“Daystar”

“Later that night when Thomas rolled over and lurched into her, she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour-where she was nothing, pure nothing in the middle of the day.”

This passage evoked a strong reaction in my mind because of the imagery created by the word “lurched,” and the phrase “a place that was hers.” This makes me feel like her husband may be raping her. The word “lurch” is not only a word that stimulates thoughts of discomfort, but also of involuntary and non-intimate submission. The fact that her eyes ere closed as he lurched into her also struck me, for she was obviously either asleep or attempting to fall asleep as he initiated such intercourse. In addition, the fact that she had to imagine a place that was hers indicates not only that she may be in an unhappy relationship, but also she feels as if her ownership of her body does not belong to her, but to her husband. Her mental escape to her daytime getaway proves even further that this is the only time that she has to herself for reflection and comfort.

“A Pair of Silk Stockings”

“The play was over, the music ceased, the crowd filed out. It was like a dream ended.”

This quote made me feel like Mrs. Sommers definitely used the fifteen dollars to make herself feel like a queen. Due to her obligations and responsibilities, she was not able to take time to herself, as was mentioned earlier in the story. I am personally glad that she used the fifteen dollars to show herself a good time, since she obviously puts her children first at other times. She needed some stress relief, and I’m glad she took it. This particular quote adds a sense of reality to the story; she temporarily escaped what was weighing her down and enjoyed herself, which she seemed to not have had the opportunity to do before.

“Why I Want a Wife”

“And I want a wife that understands that my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible.”

This quote caught my attention because it says a few things. First of all, it tells another side of the story. Usually, men are applauded for promiscuity, while women are frowned upon and called sluts. This quote shows that men justify their infidelity with poor excuses. It also shows that women have the desire to have a sex life that is not restricted to the confines of a strictly monogamous relationship in which she is left unfulfilled. She wants to escape this kind of a relationship, in whatever way this may be. I also feel like this quote contributes to the fact that women should be viewed as more than objects to use for their husbands’ sexual pleasure. Women should be appreciated, and sex should be an act that is enjoyable, as well as passionate, for both parties involved. Finally, this quote indicates that women do, in fact embody the concepts that she is alluding to. For the overall work, this quote adds to the fact that wives are something to be appreciated and not taken for granted.

readings for July 12th

2007-07-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

When i was reading the poem, "Daystar" the first stanza caught my attention with the image of the doll slumped behind the door. I can picture in my head so many times where the house is a mess after the children have played all day and like the mother the doll is also slumped into a tired position on the floor. I felt like this poem showed the love that this mother had for her children, yet, the need that she had to be alone sometimes to. I believe that so many mothers look forward to their childrens naptime. Just so that they can catch a break. I also really liked the story "A pair of silk stockings" but the part that really caught my attention was the ending. "A man with keen eyes, who sat opposite to her, seemed to like the study of her small, pale face." I liked this so much because I feel like everyone can relate to a time when you shared a moment with someone and you felt as if they were staring at you or they were intrigued by you. Or, you have looked at someone and automatically wondered what their story was and why they are the way that they are. lastly, "why I want a wife" was one of my favorite readings. the entire work is totally sarcastic, yet, I believe I have heard my mother say it all before. Not only that, but it is true. In my household my mom does take care of all the appointments, the children, feeding everyone, etc... Although, my dad tries to help out it doesnt always work the way that my mom would hope. I believe that alot of women feel like that and I just found the whole piece very funny.

posts for July 11th

2007-07-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

When I was reading They Yellow Wallpaper the quote, "I cry at nothing and i cry most of the time" really caught my eye. When i first came across this quote I pictured an image of a woman sitting alone crying really sticks out to me. Being that my friends mom has recently passed away this image really hit home to me. My heart automatically went out to the lady and really made me feel for the woman. I can only imagine being locked up in a room searching for a way out and feel as if my wallpaper is staring at me. When I went on to read "Aint I a Woman" the quote, "Den dat little man in black dar, he say women cant have as much rights as men" caught my attention because I feel as if this is an issue that is still very relevant in todays society. There are many people who feel as if this is true and reagardless of how far women have come they are still very much below the male race. This quote brought out feelings of frustration in me and also helped me to feel how long this struggle has been going on and how long it may exist. The entire poem, "Lady Lazarus" caught my attention. I can not really point out a specific line that I felt my attention being drawn to because I felt that way throughout the entire poem. This poem just made me feel so sad and I felt bad for a woman who would try and end her life so many times. You cant help but feel a horrible sense of sadness while you read this work. The poem, "When i was growing up" had many wonderful images in it, however, the one that caught my eye was "when i was growing up, my sisters with fair skin got praised for their beauty and I fell further, crushed between high walls." This caught my attention because it is something that everyone with a sister can relate to. So many times you are compared to your syblings and many of these times it only brings your confidence down. It seems as if the woman in this poem didnt mind being compared to the rest of the world, however, there was jealousy in her relationship with her sister and this comparison struck closer to home. I thought that the poem, "the 38th year" was a really sweet poem, despite the saddness that exists in it. I liked the last stanza which said, "I had expected more than this. I had not expected to be an ordiary woman." I liked this line because I felt like the woman in this work realized at this point that there was nothing wrong in being an ordinary woman. She realizes how much she respected her mother and her children will feel the same way about her because she is an "ordinary woman" It was this line that provided a turning point in the poem for me.

Thursday July 12th text reflections

2007-07-12T09:13:00.000-05:00

"Daystar"

When I first read this I felt very connected to the author, not because of motherhood but because of the following line, "and think of that place that was hers, for an hour where she was nothing", I felt connected to this because I used to have a spot out behind my house where I would go when I lived at home because in that spot I could just be...and do nothing but just sit and think and relax. When I read that part of the story I instantly thought of my spot back home and I remembered how nice it felt to just wind down and go outside and sit and just enjoy nature as the author is doing. I remembered how nice it was to take a break out of the hectic schedule that was my life to just breathe. I don't get that as often as I would like in college, but maybe after reading this poem and remembering how nice it was I will have to try and remind myself to make time for me in the future.

"A Pair of Silk Stockings"

In this story when I read it I started to picture this small little woman, I pictured her as someone poverish but still with an air of elegance. I could see her shopping and wanting all the things she got, and I could picture the items in my head. I thought of certain movies that are portrayed in this same kind of time and then the movie "Vanity Fair" came to mind and the similarities between the movie and the story are numerous. In the movie Reese Witherspoon plays a poor woman who grows up to marry into wealth and she is constantly doing all she can to get more and more of the luxuries that she didn't have as a child, only thing is that as this goes on she ends up losing everything. She loses her family and her dignity and eventually all the stuff that she thought she had wanted so badly.
One part in the text that gave me a good mental image (there were many) was when she said, "There was a restaurant at the corner. She had never entered its doors; from the outside she had sometimes caught glimpses of spotless damask and shining crystal, and soft-stepping waiters serving people of fashion", I had this perfect image of this lower class women looking in through the window of this fancy restaurant, with chandeliers and beautifully lit candles and rich coupes dining. I really liked this story because the author uses a lot of detail like in the segment above and it really was easy for me to picture the story in my mind from beginning to end with all that she gives us.

"Why I Want a Wife"

After reading this story I laughed. I laughed because my own mother has said something so similar to this when she was displeased with my dad and when she was being sarcastic. She would say, "Well, I wish I had a wife to do all the stuff I do for your dad, for me! Why I would love that...someone to take care of everything for me. That would be great." This wife in this story sounds just like my mom, im sure she doesn't really want a wife but the idea of someone who does everything for you is a nice one. It sounds like to me that in her relationship this woman has al the responsibilities, I will say that my father and mother do share a lot of things. The husband in this story sounds like he takes for granted all the stuff his wife does and she is finally realizing that. The part where she says, "As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife." made me have this very clear picture of a woman standing at an ironing board looking somewhat similar to Mrs. Cleaver and all those 50's sitcom mothers. I pictured her standing there in her little apron ironing away and suddenly stopping and looking up as she has an epiphany. I imagined a look of total shock and realization going across her face as she brews up this thought of what if she had a wife. That was the picture that I got in my mnd and then I pictured my own mom doing the same thing, only without the apron and she was doing dishes instead of ironing, but the look was the same. That is why I really enjoyed reading this short story.

Thursday July 12, 2007 Post

2007-07-12T08:48:00.000-05:00

In the text "Daystar" written by Rita Dove, I found the quote "but she saw diapers steaming on the line" to be the most vivid image in the text. I had the reaction to this part of that text because she was vividling point out an image of motherhood. Also, she seemed like a sad mother and this helped describe that. I had a strong reaction to this image because I love babies and children and changing diapers is a part of that. I think this image functions in the poem as a whole because the mother is describing what is keeping her from having her own life. She has to think about faraway places in order to be happy. In that line she is saying that diapers are awaiting her so she cannot stop to think.

In the text "A Pair of Silk Stocking" by Kate Chopin, the image that I had a strong reaction to was "and to feel them glide serpent-like through her fingers." My reaction to this was imagining a pair of silk stocking gliding over something. I had a happy reaction to this compared to how I felt when she was talking about the hardships about her life. I think this reaction was evoked because I felt for the character and she was showing a different emotion when she tried on those silk stocking. I think this image functions in the poem as a whole because it is the beginning of when she finally spends some money on herself. She is almost in her own world at that moment and at the end she has to go back to reality.

In the text "Why I Want a Wife" by Judy Syfers the image that I had a strong reaction to was "I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure that I am satisfied." I had a strong reaction to this part of the text because I was angered by it. I thought it was absolutely ridiciulous but at the same time I was thinking to myself that men actually do think like this. Obviously, not all men do but there are some that still do think like this. My reaction to this part of the text was evoked because I hear male friends of mine joke around about this topic and say things such as this and now I understand that that could be playing into this image of women as being sex slaves to men. This part of the text functions in the poem as a whole because it is another characteristic that he wants his wife to have.

Intro to Women's Literature: Blog #2

"Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves From the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian by Charlie

Jill Scott- The Fact Is (I Need You)

It could happen to you

Breathe

Pink song "Stupid Girls"

Aug 2

Collage

PINK-- You and Your Hand

Song: I Am Woman

Summer- Response

Summer Part 2

SUMMER- response

Summer part 2

Summer part 1

Summer, Part Two

Summer 2

Summer Part 2

SUMMER- Part 1

Summer

Summer Part 1

Summer Part 1

7/30/07

Summer, Part One

Summer Part 1

Hannah's Narrative Collage: The Strength of the Weak

Readings for July 26

"Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves From the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian by Charlie

July 26 Readings

July 26 Post

Thursday, July 26th

Blog for 7/26/07

7/26/07

"The Schooldays of an Indian Girl" and "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian"

July 24 Post

Narrative Story Brainstorm for 7/25

Tuesday 7-24

Men in your life and Seventeen Syllables

Romantic movie

7.24.2007

Readings for 7/24/07

TUESDAY: 7-24-07

7/24/07

Romantic Love Post

7/23/2007 Movie Blog (The Notebook)

"Seventeen Syllables" and "Men in Your Life"

Closer

When Harry Met Sally

Romantic Movies....[sigh]

The Prince and Me--Trinity's pick

The Notebook

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days

Movie Blog

Intro to Women's Literature: Blog #2: 7/17/07

7/19/07

Sula Part 2

Sula

Sula--part 2

sula part 2

Sula Part 2

Sula: Part Two

Sula Part 2

Sula, Part Two

Sula - part deux

Sula

readings for July 16

Sula 1

***SULA***

Sula Part 1

Sula--Part one

Sula - first half

Monday's Reading

7/17/07

Sula Part One

Sula, Part One

Readings for Monday July 16th

Monday 7/16 Readings

7/16/2007

Readings for Monday the 16th

SULA