Cathedral

Cathedral is a story by Raymond Carver. This story is about the friendship between an older blind man and a woman who used to be his secretary. The man goes to visit the woman and her husband after his wife dies. The husband does not like the idea of this man coming over, but they become friends. This story fits in the chapter about sight and insight. Because even though the man can not see physically, he can still see. The husband is the opposite of this man. He can see but he cannot see. It is ironic that the man with sight does not see, while the blind man does. Their preceptions of life are different. In another ironic note, the blind man seems happier than the husband. The movie seen in class was very similar to the story, not too many changes.

The short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber

This story by Ernest Hemingway is about an American couple who goes on a hunting trip in Africa. Francis Macomber is potrayed as a week and unathletic man. He is the opposite of the white hunter, who is their guide. The white hunter sleeps with Macomber's wife. Apparently, they are in an unhappy marriage and she kills her husband at the end of the story. This story is entretaining and it involves many aspects of nature. The story takes place in the wilderness. The setting is related to the story, because had it been in a different place, the story would not be the same. Ernest Hemingway obviously had experience in this type of place. Some of his stories are about Africa and hunting. Francis Macomber finds happiness when he finds the courage to stand up to his wife. His new courage scares his wife because she knows he would get rid of her. She does so before he does.

The Storm

Kate Chopin story, " The Storm," is almost the opposite another story called, " The Story of the Hour." In this story a woman has sexual relations with her old boyfriend during a storm. He goes to her house to escape the storm. Her son and husband are at the store. Unlike the woman in " The Story of the Hour" this woman seems to be free and more mentally stable. She is not bothered or imprisoned by the position of men. Both of these stories were written around the same time period. This woman has the liberty of having an affair while the other one seems to be in a prison. Probably, " The Storm," was not a common story. The two characters in the storm made the best out of the situation.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Oh Brother, Where are Thou? is a movie based on the play by Homer, the Odyssey. The movie was good and it gave a different kind of twist on the classical play. Alot of the elements from the play were featured on the movie. The Sirens was one of these characters. They seduced men with their voices so that their ships will crash. In the movie, they did distract the men. Another element was the Cyclop. Although he had two eyes in the movie he was still similar in the play. In the play, they poked his eye out. In this movie, he almost had his eye poked out during a Klu Klux Klan meeting. Like in the play, he beat up on the smaller humans. Finally, another character was the blind prophet. He is seen at the beginning of the movie and at the end.

Oedipus Rex
Fate is unavoidable and predetermines the actions and life that people will do and have. Free will is the voluntary decision that people take over their lives. Fate and free will are connected to each other. Even though one has the liberty of choosing his or her own free will, fate cannot be avoided. Fate in our lives will occur without choice. The actions of free will can ironically lead to ones fate. This is what happens in a play by Sophocles. The theme, free will vs. fate in Oedipus Rex proves that even though one has the ability to make decisicions, what is predestined will happen.

Service Learning

At a food bank, different business and individuals donate food for those who needed. Some of this food goes to the food bank. There, it is donated to other organizations that distribute the food. While I was at the food bank, the volunteers taped boxes of food that were torn. As long as the food wasn’t touched, it was put in a box for distribution. Afterwards, we sorted the canned foods into boxes. There were a lot of donations. Some of it came from large stores like Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie. Their donations were mostly damaged merchandise. The foods that we sorted where donated from the community. Working at this food bank gave me the experience to do community service. I do not recall ever volunteering or doing something for someone without pay. Even though it was a small part, I felt like I was helping others. I would definitely participate in the service-learning program and for another organization.

The Lottery

" The Lottery" by Shirly Jackson is a story about the tradition a town has. In the story, whoever wins the lottery, gets stonned to death by the townspeople. The members of the town choose a paper marked with a black circle. The paper is drawn from a black box, which represents tradition. A woman named Mrs. Hutchinson wins the lottery and gets stonned to death. It is ironic because she marked that paper up for the event.
This story asks the question about ethic. Just because something is traditional, it does not mean that it is ethically correct or morally acceptable. The people in the town did not even know why they followed this tradition. They just did it because that is the way it had always been done. Some things in our lives are like the tradition of the town. Althought nobody gets stonned, things like Santa Clause can be considered one of these traditions. Nobody knows why or how it came about, but every year, parents have their children believe that Santa Clause will come and deliver them gifts on christmas.

Guernica

My report was on the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso. The subject of the painting was the bombing of Guernica. While I was doing research I found many interesting fact about the event. The town served as target practice for the Nazis. In the painting, Picasso uses a lot of symbols to show the suffering of humans affected by war. He uses a horse to symbolize the people of Spain. Another symbol is a flower. A dying soldier is holding the flower because it represents hope, peace, and beauty. This man obviously was holding on to his beliefs until the end. Another symbol in the painting is the bull. The bull represents evil and the Nationalists. The analysis of the bull is a controversial symbol. Some say that it is just a farm animal while others say that it stand for evil. Picasso never said what any of the symbols or meanings of his paintings were. He said that to different people it meant different things. He used the horse and the bull as the subject in many of his paintings. However, the meaning changes in each composition.

A Worn Path

"A Worn Path," is about an old African-American woman in the south. The woman lives in the woods and walks a long way to Natchez. On her way to Natchez, a dog almost attacks the woman. A white hunter shows up and scares the dog away from her. He drops a nickel and she steels it. He also points the gun at her but dosen't kill her. She goes to Natchez to buy medicine for her grandson's throat. The movie we saw in class and the story show the injustice that the black people had to suffer. When she goes to the doctor, she struggles to go up the stairs to his office because the black and whites had separate services. This story is also about strength. The old woman is very stron in her old age. She has a lot of courage. There is proof of this in the long walk she takes to Natchez. She shows her strenght when she tells the hunter that she is not afraid of anything. Although her mind is forgetful in her old age, she is persistant.
The interview with the author was interesting because it gives the reader information about the story. For example, the author talks about the name Phoenix. In mythology, Phoenix was a bird who burns and then rises. This name is appropriate for this woman.

The Story of an Hour

The story by Kate Chopin, " The Story of an Hour," is about a woman living at the turn of the century. This woman is apparantly trapped by the circumstances of life and the little power woman had in those days. This woman finds out that her husband dies. She is so happy about it. She's happy because she feels completely free, both body and sould. Sounds like this woman was living in some sort of prison. An hour later, her husband walks in the front door. Looks like someone made a mistake when they were listing the dead. The woman dies of a heart attack when she sees her husband. In the end they say "she died of joy that kills." But she obviously died because she was going back into prison. This story gives the reader insight as to what woman in the past felt. It seems that woman were imprisoned by their husbands. This story also shows that the spiritual and the physical are connected. I think that her unhappy state of mind caused her physical body to have heart problems. When she sees her husband, thats why she dies.

A Good Man is Hard to Find

The story, " A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor is a sad story. The story takes place in the south and it involves a family who is on a road trip. The grandmother convinces her son to take a detour because she wants to see a house that has a secret panel. She is not really sure on what state the house is but she takes a wild guess. The family gets into an accident. Three men pull up and kill the whole family. The grandmother is the last one to die. Before she goes she tries to convince one of the men that he is good and that God loves him. She is wrong, the guy kills her too. This proves you can't trust anyone, especially strangers. And definately, you should not take detours when you're lost. Not a very good idea. This story was written in 1955 but it sounds like something that would happen today, if it wasn't for the description of the cars. When the grandmother said, " People are certainly not nice like they used to be." She was proven right in the end. It is ironic that she goes looking for treasure and she finds death. This blogger looks like the news!

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe's story the tell-tale heart is a pretty gruesome story. Like most of Poe's story it is dark and evil. The story is about an old man with a clouded eye who gets killed by his caretaker. The caretaker killed the old man because his eye bothered him. He kills this man while he sleeps and then cuts the body up. He then burries him under the floor. The police show up because the neighbors heard a noise. Out of guilt, the killer confesses to the murder. He felt guilt because he heard the heart pounding from the bottom of the floor.
This story is almost like a scary movie. Its interesting how in this story the killer burries the body and then he hears the heart pounding. This is almost similar to another one of Poe's story, " The Cask of Amontillado."But in this story he actually burries the guy alive. Pretty sick!

The Shape of the Sword

The shape of the sword is a very interesting story. Most of the story is about an "Englishman" living in South America who is telling a story about his involvement in the rebellion in Ireland. The title, shape of the sword, refers to a scar on his face. In the story, he talks about this man who betrayed him and tried to have him arrested. But, in the end, the readers find out that the traitor was actually the "Englishman," and not the other guy. He tells the story from the point of view of his opponent.
This story is very suspeceful and suprising. I like the story very much because the ending caught me off guard. I did not expect him to be the actual traitor. In the stories I've read by Jorge Luis Borges, there are always suprises and unexpected events.

A & P

A & P is a story about a guy who quits his job at a grocery store because he disagrees with his boss. His boss scorns three girls who go to the store in their bathing suits. Sammy thinks that it was unfair of Lengel, his boss, to say anything to the girls. Lengel was friends with Sammy's parents.
The story is very detailed. John Updike, the author, describes everything about the girl. He is also very descriptive about the objects in the store and what teh girls buy. Its a good story but I would agree with Sammy's family that it was a sad one. I think if we all quit our jobs because we didn't agree with the company or our supervisors, then we would go through a lot of jobs in our lives. The story obviously takes place in the 1960's. I don't think anyone now days would care about what anyone wears.

Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota

In the poem, " Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota," the author James Wright thinks about his life. Wright feels that his life has passed by and he has not accomplished his goals. Life has not changed for him in years. Wright has his goal but he feels that the desire to reach for what he wants is dimming. Several passages in the poem suggest this is happening. The poem mentions two animals, a horse and a cow. The horse is fast and powerful, while the the cow is slow. One passage says," The cowbells follow one another Into the distances of the afternoon." Another day has passed by and nothing has changed. In another part of the poem he mentions the droppings of a horse from a year ago. Coming from the horse, he describes them as golden stones. I think that this suggests what he could have been but didn't get there. At the end of the poem he admits that he has wasted his life

What is Literature?

Literature is the process by which people use words to express their feelings, emotions, and personal views. Writers use words to convey their thoughts. This is a form of expression in which people write what's on their minds. What they write could be a story, a poem, an essay, or drama. When the writer creates his work, other people might read it or it could be kept for personal use. When a person reads the literary works of others, they can interpret the work in their own words and meanings. The story could have different meanings to different people. Writers do not necesarily expect the readers to get the same meaning or message since different people see things in a different way. Literature also serves as a means of entretainment. It can transport an audience to a different time in history or to an imaginary future. Whatever the purpose of the literary work may be, it can show people a different and new way of thinking or looking at other topics.