In "Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver, the theme of the short story is evident throughout the entire passage. Early in the passage, the author says, "Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too." This foreshadows that something very bad is about to happen. Towards the middle of the passage, the parents are fighting over the baby in the kitchen and accidentally knock over a flowerpot. This also foreshadows not only the death of the baby but the end of their relationship. At the end of the passage, the parents selfishly fight over who gets the baby. This shows that neither one of them really loves the baby but only wants it so the other can not have it. In their selfishness, they violently rip the baby apart because neither really loves it enough to let it go. It is evident from the beginning of the story that the parents had a fight and the husband is leaving (though it never indicates they are married). The setting of the story adds to the theme by supporting the idea that the characters in the story are not very good parents and will not stay together under any circumstances; even to raise their own child. This theme is also found in the Bible in the book of 1st Kings 3:16-28; two women are fighting over a baby and King Solomon offers to split it between them, but one of the women gives up the baby because she loves it enough to let it go if it will be safe. Neither of the parents in "Popular Mechanics" obviously do not care enough about the baby to mend their broken relationship even for the sake of their child.

August 25th, 2014

1) In the short story, Johnson is given the chance to change his life and turn it around but he just throws it all away. He reminds me of my uncle Jamie because of those things. My uncle joined the army young and developed a bad habit with alcohol and was soon released because of his inability to control his drinking. When he came home, the whole family was supportive of his recovery; all we wanted was for him to get better and fight his addiction. We gave him a roof over his head, clothes on his back, and food on the table but no matter what we did, he never gave up alcohol, not even for us. When my uncle was sober he was one of the most caring and kind-hearted people that someone could ever meet. Eventually, we gave up on him; we had all given him everything we had to offer. We had gone through hell and high water to make sure he got better but no matter what we did, he would never change. It was as if the alcohol was more important than his own blood, that’s what hurt the most.

 

2) In middle school, I played sports; that is what I was known for. When I got to high school, I realized that I was good at other things that did not involve balls. They put me in honors classes and I wanted to get it changed but I was not allowed to change into classes that where easier. So I grit my teeth and stuck out the first nine weeks and was surprised to find that I made all A’s. I honestly did not plan on taking anymore higher level classes but with the extra push from my friends and teachers I continued on to honors in 10^th grade. That is the year that I truly found my ambition to be the best that I can be. I found my thirst for knowledge that I still carry with me today. I am a dynamic character because throughout high school I have grown as a person and realized my true potential to make a difference in the world.

In "The Lame Shall Enter First" by Flannery O'Connor, there are many characters who's personalities greatly vary and change throughout the story. The most interesting character though is Rufus Johnson. Johnson grew up in a rough background and is a trouble maker; that tells one that he is a stock character. Typically, children who grow up in bad situations want attention and often do horrible things to seek it out. It is obvious that Johnson is also a round character because through out the story the reader often sees glimpses of a not so hardened side of the boy. In the story, Johnson says , "You Don't want to steal and smash up things when you've got everything you want already." In the story, Johnson, is also a dynamic character because in the beginning of the story he never showed Shepperd how appreciative he was of his gratitude but near the middle of the story, Johnson actually thanks him in his own way. Shepperd and Johnson are also foil characters, Shepperd is a kind man who volunteers in a reformatory on Saturdays and works five days a week. Johnson is a young boy who is four-teen years of age and steals, lies, and takes advantage of people who try to take care of him. Shepperd does not believe in God; when Johnson asks where his wife is he responds saying that she is nowhere. This makes it very clear that he does not believe in Heaven, Hell, or Satan either. Johnson, on the other hand, reads the Bible and truly believes that God, Satan , Heaven, and Hell actually exist even though he is a trouble maker. Throughout the story, Johnson seems to be developing into a seemingly better person but quickly reverts to his old ways and proves to Shepperd that he can not change.

In "The Paring Knife" by Michael Oppenheimer; the paring knife that the speaker finds under his refrigerator while cleaning is a symbol of the past marital problems that the characters in the story experienced. In the story, the speaker says, " I showed the knife to the woman I love and she said, "Oh. Where did you find it?" After I told her, she put the knife on the table and then went into the next room and continued to clean." This shows that the authors' wife is reluctant to talk about the argument they had and they are both once again avoiding the issue between them, just like they did on the night of the incident. When the speakers' wife enters the kitchen again, she immediately grabs the knife and slides it back under the refrigerator where her husband happened upon it in the first place. This symbolizes the problems the characters were having in the past and the fact that the wife wants to leave them there. The speakers' wife believes that there is no need to bring up long forgotten events when it is obvious that it is a mile-stone that they have long surpassed together. She does not throw the knife away because even though it is remembered from a bad experience, she does not want to forget a challenge that they over-come together and keeps it as a symbol of their past and a token of what only made their relationship stronger. The knife also symbolizes a old wound in their relationship that may be forgotten but not quite healed. By placing it back under the fridge, the characters are unconsciously saying that that wound will not be re-opened and the knife, which represents the argument they had, has to remain under the fridge so that they do not remember the pain the wound caused.

Chapters 25-27

Chapter 25 -- Don’t Read with Your Eyes
After reading Chapter 25, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century.

In, On Being brought from Africa to America, Wheatley says that if she had never been brought to America then she would not know who God is. This was quite common back then because African Americans where still thought of as heathens and were not introduced to Christianity or allowed to go to church because of their color. In this day and age, this poem would be found quite heart-breaking and moving because having to think about what African Americans dealt with is sad. A contemporary reader, would view this poem as sincere and moving because it is the harsh truth that African Americans where treated badly and where fortunate to luck upon a nice owner.

Chapter 26 -- Is He Serious? And Other Ironies

Select an ironic literary work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.

The Bible itself is an ironic literary work, One of the ten commandments is though shalt not kill. In the Bible when God parts the Red Sea to let his people pass, he brings the sea down on the Pharaohs' army killing all of them. It is ironic that he wants us to follow his commandment about not killing anyone yet he himself kills many people through out the Bible.

Chapter 27 -- A Test Case

Read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. Then compare your writing with the three examples. How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of Mansfield’s story?

I understood that the story signifies the significant difference between the upper and lower class. I did not really understand how it does it.

It makes me appreciate Mansfield's story more because it shows the drastic difference between the upper and lower class. Persephone lived on Olympus with her mother but when she married Hades she had to live in the under world. That was a drastic change in life style and scenery. It was the same for Laura, she was used to garden parties and fancy hats but when she descended into the world of lower class people she noticed the big differences in scenery and gloominess.

Chapters 22-24

Chapter 22 -- He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know

Chapter 23 -- It’s Never Just Heart Disease...

Chapter 24 -- ...And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the “principles governing the use of disease in literature” (215-217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism

In A Walk to Remember, Jaime who is only a teenager, dies of leukemia. Her death makes the love between her and Landon all the more tragic. In the book, when Jaime tells Landon about her disease, it adds to the plot of the movie because she says, " I'm dying Landon.". Which puts him into immediate shock because he thinks that she is absolutely perfect in every way. 

In The Last Song, Ronnie does not know why she and her brother have to stay with their father for a whole summer. Her parents divorced three years earlier and she had been resenting him ever sense. Only when Ronnie discovers that her father is slowly dying does she learn to reconnect with him through their love of music. When her father dies, it changed her outlook on life because she had been reminded just how much she loved music and the whole reason she started playing; because of her father, Steve.

Chapter 20-21

Chapter 20 -- ...So Does Season
Find a poem that mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. (Submit a copy of the poem with your analysis.)

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the different.

In The Road Not Taken, Frost mentions a yellow wood and leaves on the ground which means that it is Fall. He uses it in a traditional way because when one steps on leaves they begin to rot into the ground. He says in his poem, "In leaves no step had trodden black" which means that no one had stepped on them, thus it being the road less taken.

Interlude -- One Story
Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a literary work with which you are familiar.

Definition: a theme that is repeated over and over again in a different context. An archetypal story is the story of Romeo and Juliet. They loved each other but there was conflict that kept them from being together. In A Walk to Remember, Landon and Jaime love each other but she  has cancer whic in the end kills her. In this story, cancer is the conflict that keeps them apart.

Chapter 21 -- Marked for Greatness

Figure out Harry Potter’s scar. If you aren’t familiar with Harry Potter, select another character with a physical imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization.

Harry Potter is only famous because of his scar. Voldemort killed Harry's' parents and then proceeded on to kill him but failed in the attempt; that is where Harry acquired his scar. Had Harry not obtained the scar in the first place, he would not evolve into the courageous young man that ruthlessly chased after Voldemort because he wanted revenge for the death of his parents and many other loved ones. When Voldemort gave Harry the scar, he instilled in him a sense of hostility that in the end led Harry to killing him with no regrets.