My last blog

My favorite story this semester was The Veldt. I really enjoyed the sci-fi genre and the fact that it was set in the future unlike most of the stories we read this semester that are set way before my time. Also the twist at the very end, while somewhat disturbing, made the story that much more interesting. I also loved how the author left the outcome of the very end when McClean walks in the room up to readers whether the lions kill him as well or he escapes from the nursery. Another aspect of the story that made it very appealing was all the foreshadowing leading up to the death of the parents such as the parents hearing their own screams coming from the nursery.

My least favorite story was The Girl. The characters were so flat. It was one long boring sentence. The mom reminded me of my mom when she really gets on my nerves. I don't have much to say about this story but I really did not enjoy it except for the fact that it was a really short read.

Conscience of the Court

What conflicts does Laura Lee face in this story? Which one do you think is the most difficult for her to face?

Laura Lee faces many different conflicts within this story. One is man vs. man, in the fact that she is facing Clement Beasley in court. He claims that she attacked him when he tried to collect the collateral listed for a loan that Mrs. Celestine Beaufort Clairborne, the lady who Laura Lee works for, defaulted on. She also faces man vs. society simply, because as a black woman facing criminal charges in this time period, she most likely will not be treated equally. Also Laura Lee faces man vs self when she questions herself about whether her husband was right in saying that she can be too loyal to people sometimes. I feel that the biggest conflict she faces is man vs society because society at that point saw black woman as inferior to white people, especially men. So the struggles of getting a fair and unbiased trial was what I could see as the most challenging for her to face.

A Worn Path

Are you sympathetic towards Phoenix, or any other characters?

I am very sympathetic towards Phoenix because she is in no mental or physical condition to be making this trip by foot. However, she is fulfilling her duty as a caretaker to her grandson to walk all the way to town to get him medicine for his throat.

What's the effect of having an outside narrator?

By having an outside narrator opposed to having Phoenix narrate, the audience doesn't always know what is going through Phoenix's mind. She is basically crazy and without her verbalizing her thoughts it is hard for us to understand why she is behaving in certain ways and more importantly why she is going on this trip (which we later find out is for her grandson).

A Spinsters Tale

The story is a flashback to the past for the narrator. Explain why the author may have chosen to present the story in this manner. What is the significance of the title?

The fact that the audience knows how Elizabeth's life ends up gives the audience a chance to see what events could lead up to a little girl eventually ending up as a single woman who is very alone. Women back then are supposed to get married and have children, so this story gives insight into what events in a woman's life might cause her to never get married. Also, the audience never can have a sense of hope for Elizabeth since they know from the beginning that she ends up as a Spinster and has no hopes of a promising future before her.

The Lady with the Dog

What do you think of Dmitry when he is first introduced? Do you see any conflicts arising from his character?


I think he has grown to dislike his wife. He is bored with his marriage and is looking to meet someone who can spark his interest. "his wife now looked nearly twice as old as he did. She was a tall woman with dark eyebrows, erect, dignified, imposing, and, as she said of herself, a "thinker." At this point I did not want to read much more about this large, boring lady, and I inferred that Dmitry was as bored with his wife as I was at this point in the story. The story goes on to say that "the desire for life surged up in him" when we first saw Anna. This attraction to someone besides his wife was the first sign of a potential major conflict in the story.

Chrysanthemums

How and why does the man use Elisa’s vulnerability to his advantage?

Every time the man asks for some type of work that he could be paid for Elisa gets annoyed and tries to send him away. However, once he finds her weakness, her Chrysanthemums, and begins to express his interest in them she doesn't a have problem with giving the man some pots to repair. Not only does she give him the pots to fix, she also is actually really attracted to him and has to hold her self back from reaching out for him. Later on in the story she becomes upset when she finds the flowers on the side of the road and realizes he was lying the whole time about him needing the seeds for another one of his customers.

The Conversion of the Jews

I do feel he portrayed the Jewish characters in a negative light. He accomplishes this through the actions of the Rabbi and Ozzie's mother. Ozzie is an innocent boy trying to understand the Jewish religion. When he comes up with a question that the Rabbi cannot answer, he request to speak with Ozzie's mother. Eventually, when Ozzie brings up the question on another occasion, the Rabbi hits Ozzie in the face. His mother also hits him when he tells her why she has to go speak with the Rabbi. To me this portrays a people who resort to violence in the face of conflict and do not try and talk things out logically. This defiantly a negative portrayal of the Jewish characters.

Everything that rises...

I am most sympathetic with Julian and his mother. First I am most sympathetic with Julian because he has to deal with his mother. She is a close minded, racist. She grew up in a very different time and with a different mindset than Julian is. However that is why I am also sympathetic with his mother, because she is a victim of society and how she was raised. Her family used to own slaves and a huge plantation. Her background is a result of her ignorance and dislike for black people. Also, she goes on to have a stroke, which i would never wish upon anyone.

Desiree's Baby

There were two main twists in the short story "Desiree's Baby". The first is when we find out that Desiree's baby is black, leading Armand to believe that Desiree is black. I had no idea that the story was heading in this direction until the point in the story when Desiree starts to panic and falls to the floor crying. The next twist was the very end when Armand reads the letter from his mother to his father revealing that Armand's mother was black. This was also shocking to me but not quite as shocking because he was described earlier in the text as having dark skin. This to me was a bit of foreshadowing that alluded to his secret heritage. The question I have is are both Desiree and Armand of African American decent or just Armand?

Good Country People

The phrase 'good country people' is used many times throughout the short story "Good Country People''. For me as a reader, it seemed to be a foreshadowing that one of the supposed 'good country people' would turn out to be not so good. It seems to me that Mrs Hopewell find all country people to be good and the moment the boy convinces her that he is from the country she finds him to be a nice young man, however he ends up taking advantage of her disabled daughter.

Our group chose...

Our group chose to do our project over "A Worn Path". This story is about an elderly woman who walks from her home in the country to a neighboring town. Through out the story the reader never really knows why she is walking until the end of the story when we find out it is apparently to get her grandson who she claims is still alive some medicine. We chose this story over "The Jillting of Granny Weatherall" because we seemed to have an easier time interpreting the story and setting up a time line of events.

Author's Note

My film proposal for "The Veldt" has been completed and turned in via email. I believe i did a thorough job on this paper. I enjoyed this story and would actually like to see a film version of "The Veldt". I feel as though I could have touched more on the symbolic meaning behind the children's names (Wendy and Peter) and the fact they called the room a nursery. This is my first formal literary analysis in a LONG time and I am very curious as to any adjustments I could make for my next paper, even though it will not be in this class.

Paul's Case

The first two paragraphs in this short story have many adjectives to explaining the main character, Paul, and the way in which he presents himself. The narrator describes how Paul had outgrown his suit. This tells the audience that this attire is not what Paul wears on a normal basis. He goes on to describe the red carnation in the button hole of Paul's suit as not being "properly significant of the contrite spirit befitting a boy under the ban of suspension". The narrator also tells the audience that "Paul entered the faculty room suave and smiling". Both of these things tell the reader that Paul is not concerned about the outcome of this meeting. Also, early on in the first paragraph, the narrator explains how Paul's father "confessed his perplexity about his son". When I first read this I initially thought that Paul's dad actually was surprised by Paul's wrong doings. But after reading on further in this paragraph, I think his dad might have been just saying that but, because of Paul's character traits, this could be a common occurrence.

Intervention

I chose to read "Intervention". I basically just picked to read it over the other story by random choice. Good thing I did because I really enjoyed reading this story.

This story is based around many different conflicts within this one family. The conflict between generations within this family is one of the main focuses. One conflict we see is how the different generations deal with major problems within the family. Very early on in the story, Sally tries to confront her mother about Sid's drinking problem, however Marilyn stops at nothing to avoid the conversation. Another conflict presented between generations is the value put on ones family. Tom obviously does not see how much his kids mean to Marilyn and Sid. Therefore, they never get to see their grand kids, but they are thrilled every time they get to speak with them on the phone. One thing that Marilyn and Sid dream of is Tom and his ex getting back together so that the family would be whole again. Another conflict between generations is the motives of how each one acts within the family. I think that Sally and Rusty insist on an intervention because that's what society would see as "right" but Marilyn's first concern is what is best for Sid, not what society would think of her if she did or didn't go through with the intervention.

Film Adaptation

I am choosing "The Veldt" as my short story to adapt to film. I am going to keep the same title because I feel a title should reflect a key element in the story but not give away the main point or focus of the story.

I am going to propose that the film version keep all of the same characters. I could see some possible changing of the parents names, however I feel that it is important that their are no other main characters added to this story. I think that focusing on the two adults vs. the two children is one of the things that makes this short story effective. The only other character in short story is Mcclean. He is the only outside influence outside of the inhabitants of the house that this story needs. He provides the story with much needed sanity and it is clear to the reader he is the only one in the story that hasn't been, to some degree, driven insane by the technology of the house.

The setting of the film would need to appear as some time in the near future in rural America. The audience needs to be able to believe that this affect that technology has on the family in the story can to some degree happen to their own family if they allow technology to run their lives. Obviously the story isn't trying to persuade the audience to believe that because of technology their children could kill them, but just that there can be serious consequences for allowing technology to take over their lives. I feel that setting is key to allowing the audience to relate the story to their own lives and that's why rural America is an obvious choice for me.

As for the plot, I love the way this short story is set up. It has a great story line that can be adapted into film, which is one of the reasons I chose this this story. Obviously there needs to be some lengthening of the story to be able to turn it into a full length film. I think that the film should start with the purchasing of the house that eventually leads to the deaths of the parents. Then I think that the time period between the initial purchase and the deaths of the parents will take up the majority of the movie. This portion of the movie will consist of scenes showing the family progressively getting more and more reliant on the house as well as foreshadowing to the last big scene which would be where the actual short story picks up. I plan to virtually go line by line and word by word once the point in the film reaches the first paragraph of the short story.

Conflict

I did not side with any specific gender, race, or age group. I sided with the characters that i felt i had gone through a situation similar to theirs.

In Gorilla, My Love I sided with Hazel when she first realizes what the movie is actually about. I would personally be frustrated if I went to go see a movie and it turned out to be about something I was not interested in seeing what so ever. But once Hazel being acting rude in the theatre and confronted the manger was when I changed my view. It was no ones fault but her own for not knowing what the movie was about. The manager nor any of the staff at the theatre was in the wrong and Hazel was acting out for no reason.

In the story Girl, i connected with the girl being taught. I didn't connected with the way she reacted as much as just what she had to listen to. While reading this story I began to lose focus on all of the instructions being given to the girl and began to think about other things while my eyes were skimming across the words. I often find myself acting in the same way when I am receiving directions from my own parents. My ears hear the words but my brain does not register the instructions.

I do not personally relate to either character in Everyday Use because I never felt i had a rivalry with either of my two younger brothers. However, I feel that my two brothers do currently have a rivalry between themselves. The older of my two brothers feels like the "baby" of the family always gets his way and never gets in trouble. While my youngest brother always feels picked on by his older brother. Unlike the story, however, I do not see one being "out done" or "intimidated" by the other.

Movie Proposal

I am going to do my move proposal over either "The Veldt" or "The Conscience of the Court". The Veldt is a great science fiction story about society's dependence on technology. The Conscience of the Court is a short story about a black woman in court facing charges of attempted murder. Both would make for great movies.

Minority Report

I have never seen Minority Report. However, I do recall some previews. I feel like the setting was sometime in the future and it is almost a Sci Fi film. I feel that a movie adaptation of the short story could be very similar to the short story. I feel that keeping the same name would be appropriate as well and character names. I feel that giving the film adaptation as many special effect opportunities as possible would help keep the viewers' attention. One way to add in these special effects is to have a scene featuring the Pre-Cogs. I think that they should appear very strange, almost as if they were aliens. Also the machines that read the thoughts and sounds of these Pre-Cogs should be featured in the film. Allowing the audience to view the machines and Pre-cogs reinforces the setting as well as serves as a possible symbol of this type of government intervention. They were described as the "three gibbering, fumbling creatures, with their enlarged heads and wasted bodies." This is not a pleasant description by any means, and I feel that this is could be a symbol very early on about the authors views on government intervention in citizens lives. The author goes on talking about how whatever was coming out of their mouths was "incoherent utterances" and "random syllables". Again i feel like these beings play a very large role as symbols early on and should most definitely be featured in the film.

Hills Like White Elephants

Looking back on the story, list the evidence that tells what kind of operation Jig is confronting. How risky is it physically and emotionally?

The operation that is being discussed in this short story is an abortion. The man in the story is trying to convince the woman, and probably believes it himself, that if she went through with the procedure, she would not be putting her physical health at risk. He tells her that their relationship will be fine after the operation, just as it was before. He also tells her that he "knows lots of people that have done it." Later on he tries to convince her they can "have the whole world", implying that if she does not go through with the operation that the couple would have to settle down. Also in the passage, Jig states multiple times that she will go through with the procedure because she doesn't care about herself. All the while, it is obvious to the reader that Jig is deeply concerned about going through with the abortion and that it will most likely cause emotional trauma after the fact.

My name is Drew and I am a Junior Accounting/Finance double major with a minor in Energy. I am originally from Burkburnett, Texas where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I currently work for XTO Energy in downtown Fort Worth as an intern in their Cost Accounting department. Once I graduate from the Neeley School I would like to get my masters of accounting from Neeley as well as become a CPA. After all that school, hopefully I can work for one of the big four accounting firms. I love to watch sports, water and snow ski, and listen to music.

The first reason I am taking this course is to receive credit for Literary Tradition. However, I do hope to improve my ability to analyze literature. My freshman year I took a comp seminar that focused on British literature so I have had a class at TCU that touched on lit.

I enjoy reading magazines and the Wall Street Journal, but I do not read many books. On occasion I will read a nonfiction book that catches my eye but the past couple years I have not read much fiction outside of my freshman comp class.

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which is a contract for this course.