Summer- Response

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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).

"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"

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

“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

"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.

"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

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

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

"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.