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.