Ethics

This poem was told through 1st person point of view and written with a rhythm of trochaic pentameter. By writing this story using free verse and open lines, the author was able to create a flow of words that made it easy to read. I thought that the use of free verse was symbolic of how quickly life goes by; all of the sudden the speaker went from a young student to a woman who was looking at a Rembrandt painting in a museum. The last lines of the poem represent the theme to me, "I know now that woman and painting and season are almost one and all beyond saving by children." This points out that nothing can every truly be saved; everything will be gone someday. Also this could just be a literal statement that children couldn't save the painting or the woman, she is now just realizing this answer because she is maturing. The description of the students as "Restless on hard chairs" is a great example of concrete imagery, I can just imagine them. The carelessness and fickleness of youth is pointed out in the lines, "We'd opt one year for life, the next for art and always half-heartedly."

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

This poem is written in four stanzas, each with two sets of end-rhyming couplets. The speaker of the story was a nephew or niece of Aunt Jennifer who has observed her and her embroidery of tigers. Using abstract imagery, the speaker describes the embroidery screen that the tiger's prance around as "bright topaz denizens of a world of green." Alliteration is used to describe Jennifer's "fluttering fingers." There are many symbols in this poem. "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band" was a symbol that they didn't have a very happy marriage and he was very controlling of her. "Her terrified hands" are symbolic of the fear and defeat she experienced throughout life. The fearless tigers are symbolic of what she has always wished to be, in control and unafraid. Aunt Jennifer escapes her miserable reality by embroidering tigers. In the eyes of the speaker, the tigers will go on prancing unafraid, which will carry on the unfulfilled desires of his aunt.

The Road Not Taken

This poem was an allegory; the split in the road is symbolic of the choices we all must make in life. Therefore, the speaker is a person who was at a crossroad in his or her life. The speaker knows that there is no turning back once the path to take is determined. This is symbolic of the impact of the choices we make; we can't go back and change what we did or didn't do. Choosing to take the path less traveled has made all of the difference in the speaker's life. The theme is don't be afraid to take chances and be different from others. A great example of imagery from the poem is "And both...lay in leaves no step had trodden black." The poem was told in 1st person point of view and has a dactylic trimeter rhythm. The rhyme scheme for each of the four stanzas is ABAAB.

How Do I Love Thee?

This poem is a petrarchan and is written in trochaic pentameter. The speaker is someone who is deeply in love, and the poem is addressing the one whom the speaker is in love with. The word "love" is repeated many times throughout the play to emphasize the speaker's love. Similes are used frequently throughout the play to describe how deep the speaker's love is. The theme of this poem is that love is ever powerful; if God chooses, their love will even survive death and be strengthened in Heaven.

I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud

The title of the poem itself is a similie. This poem is written in iambic tetrameter and incorporates quatrains followed by end-rhyming couplets. The speaker is in a dream-like state about nature. He is thinking of how beautiful the bed of dancing daffodils are. Personification is used to describe the daffodils; "Tossing their heads in a sprightly dance." This poem is a romanticism because it is about nature and the personal experience the speaker has shared with it. Repetition of the word "dance" is used throughout this poem; this creates a cheerful and vivid picture in the reader's mind. The theme of this poem is that our souls are truly content when they are in nature.

The Noiseless Patient Spider

This poem is written in free verse, which is in a way symbolic of the theme of the story. The author alludes to the fact that humans struggle to find something that they can connect and hold on to. The spider contradicts what we as humans have a difficult time doing, it is persistent and not intimidated by its overwhelming surroundings. The speaker of the poem represents the author's true feelings and he is addressing his soul. Repetition is used to emphasize the word, "filament," which means a thin thread. Although the spider can only spin thin thread, it ends up building a large web because of its pesistence. Aliteration was also incorporated into this poem, for example: "vacant vast" and "seeking the spheres."

Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments

Like most of Shakespeare's works, this poem is written in iambic pentameter. The poem has three quatrains, followed by a couplet. The ending words of every other lines are in assonance. Shakespeare uses alliteration a few times in this poem, for example, "When wasteful war" and "shall shine." The tone of this poem is serious, but uplifting. The poem points out that monuments and everything else that has been built will be destroyed in time or in war, but love is eternal. Love and memories are the most important things in our lives because they can not be taken away by anyone. A life full of love means more than a life filled with fame.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Marlowe wrote this poem in iambic tetrameter and used quatrains to separate his thoughts. Assonance occurs in the ending words of every line. The first and second lines rhyme, and the third and fourth lines rhyme. The shepherd is in almost a dream-like state of nature, where he is imagining him and his love spending their time together. This is the setting of the story. The persona is the shepherd and he is addressing the woman he loves. The mood and attitude of the poem is cheerful and hopeful. The shepherd is trying to persuade his love to come and live with him and be his love. The story has many concrete images, such as, "A cap of flowers and a kirtle embroidered all with leaves of myrtle" or "A belt of straw and ivy buds, with coral clasps and amber studs." The theme of the poem is that the most beautiful things in life are found in nature.

The Sick Rose

The setting of this poem was during the night. Blake uses open lines frequently to keep the poem flowing from line to the next. The persona had a depressed and almost mysterious tone. The poem is written in two quatrains. Blake uses assonance in the last words of the second and last lines of each quatrain. To me, the poem was an allegory. I thought the rose was symbolic of a woman, the invisible worm was the man who was cheating on her, and his dark secret love was the mistress. By taking this view of the poem, the theme would be that having an affair easily destroys a person's life.

The Glass Menagerie

The setting of the story takes place in the home of the Wingfield family. Amanda, the mother, was abandoned by her husband long ago. Her daughter, Laura, who is 24 years old and is somewhat crippled, and her son, Tom, who supports them with money from his warehouse job, live with her in a lower-class apartment that can only be reached through a fire escape. Tom is the narrarator, using first person point of view to tell the story. There are many types of conflicts that occur throughout the story. First of all, there is a conflict that occurs between Laura and her circumstance; because she is crippled she has limited herself to a boring and mundane life and isn't successful academically or with gentlemen callers. Tom also faces a conflict with his circumstances; he dreams of being more than a warehouse worker, but is stuck in that job because he feels pressured to support his mother and sister. A conflict also occurs between Amanda and Tom throughout the entire story. Amanda is very controlling of her children and because of this, her and Tom get into many heated arguments. Laura is the protagonist of the story because the story is about her ultimately facing how inferior she has felt throughout her life. In the introduction, Amanda is depicted as a controlling and obsessive mother who desperately wants her children to succeed, Laura is described as a crippled, shy young woman who has never really developed any relationships with anyone other than her family members, and Tom describes himself as the provider of the family which forces him to deny himself of his dreams. The plot is set into motion when Tom asks a friend from work, Jim O'Connor, to join their family for dinner. Laura immediately becomes extrememly nervous because Jim is the boy she had a crush on in high school, although he probably had never even noticed her. A gentleman caller, such as Jim, is a symbol and somewhat of an illusion that the Wingfield family believes will lead them to happiness. Upon Jim's arrival at the Wingfield home, he is shyly greeted by Laura and then she nervously backs away. As they are waiting for dinner to be served, Jim and Tom talk about many things, including the difference between themselves, which is social poise. Jim reveals to Tom that he will soon be fired if he doesn't start pullling his weight at the warehouse. Jim serves as a confidant when Tom reveals that he plans to move soon. He tells him that instead of using the money for the electrical bill, he used it to pay his dues for being a member of the Union of Merchant Seamen. Tom reveals that he is like his father and can no longer care for his mother and sister. After dinner, Jim begins to talk with Laura, bringing about the climax of the story. At first, Laura is extrememly shy and can barely talk back to Jim. As Jim continues talking, she eventually starts to loosen up and actually enjoy their conversation. Jim tells Laura of how she shouldn't feel so inferior because everyone is a little different, she is just different in another way. He compliments her beauty and her personality and tells her to have confidence. For the first time, the reader sees an excitement inside of Laura. Jim hears music and persuades Laura into dancing with him. As they were dancing around, they accidentally bump into the table and a glass unicorn falls to the floor and its horn breaks off. Instead of being upset, like she was earlier when Tom broke a piece of glass, she tells Tom that now it will fit in with the other horse better, revealing her sense of humor. She decides to give the broken unicorn to Jim as a souvenier of their time together. Unfortunately, Jim reveals that he is engaged to another woman so he will not be calling on Laura again. Although Laura is saddened by this revelation, she is still filled with happiness and confidence from the conversation that had taken place earlier in the evening. After Jim leaves, Amanda begins to blame Tom for bringing a gentleman caller over who was engaged. Tom claims that he didn't know, but Amanda doesn't believe him, which results in another heated argument between them. Tom storms out, but this time he doesn't return home. He wanders around through cities feeling lost. Tom has tried to escape the burden of taking care of his mother and sister, but somehow he can't escape thinking about them. He does anything he can to forget about them and pursue his dreams. The story ends with Tom saying, "Blow out your candles, Laura--and so goodbye..." (1205). This is symbolic of Laura's dependence on Tom diminishing and finally trying to succeed on her own. The glass menagerie also served as a symbol of Laura's fragility. In the end of the story, however, she begins to break free of her fragility when Jim instills confidence in her.
This story was in some ways similar to Death of a Salesman. Amanda resembled Willy by wanting so badly for her children to succeed that she almost crippled them emotionally and mentally. Amanda went to so much trouble to make everything about their lives look presentable to the gentleman caller; she lived in a false reality, just like Willy did. She tried to make things appear so much better than what they actually were. This story was interesting to read because it was full of emotion and conflict. I thought it was funny how Amanda got so dressed up for the dinner they were hosting for Jim O'Connor. It was almost as though she was competing with Laura, trying to see if she still had what it takes to win over a gentleman caller. Many times in the story, Amanda relives her past and makes it sound like it was so magical. However, she probably has a false sense of her past, just as she has a false sense of reality. I was shocked that Tom just left his mom and sister to fend for themselves. Although Laura now had more confidence, I am not sure she would succeed right away in the real world. I'm not sure what was meant by Tom's last lines of the play; "For nowadays the world is lit by lightning! Blow out your candles, Laura--and so goodbye..." I interpreted this as Tom breaking free of the burden of his mother and sister and also Laura becoming less fragile.

Death of a Salesman (Act II & Requiem)

Act II starts out with an optimistic vibe; Willy is buzzing with excitement about Biff's meeting with Oliver and he is going to talk to Howard and tell him he cannot travel anymore. He believes that Biff and Happy are finally going to achieve the American dream and on their way to being successful. This is one of the underlying themes of the story, the endless desire to be successful and well-liked but this actually brings about the Lomans' downfall. Since Willy put so much emphasis on being successful and had to much pride, he ignored what he was really good at and really enjoyed which was carpentry. However, Biff doesn't even meet with Oliver because he doesn't even recognize him so he didn't get the loan he was counting on. Biff finally realized that he has been living a lie his entire life. His dad has always puffed him up with so much ego that he hasn't been able to take anyone else's orders and never feels like he is successful enough. At dinner that night, Bif tells his father that he never had an interview with Oliver and Willy reveals that he has been fired from his job as well. This sparks another argument between them because they are both frustrated in each other's lack of success. They can't seem to communicate with each other and understand what the other is going through. Willy starts to have a flashback of when he was staying in Boston for business. Biff came up to ask him if he would talk his math teacher into bumping up his grade so that he could graduate. As they were talking, a woman appears from the bathroom and Biff becomes aware that his father is having an affair. This news stuns Biff and he is so disappointed in his father. He doesn't even want his father to ask his teacher to bump up his grade anymore. Biff was too upset with his father to care about anything at that moment. This is the reason for their ongoing conflict throughout the story. After this mishap, their close relationship seems to fall apart and they struggle to even talk to each other. During this flashback, Biff takes off and Happy follows, leaving their father alone in the restaurant. On his way home, Willy picked up some seeds and begins planting them when he arrives home. Biff and Happy show up later and Biff is determined to let his father know how he really feels. After a few minutes of confrontation, Biff breaks down and begins crying. This shocks Willy and makes him realize that Biff does love him. Later, Ben appears to Willy in a dellusion and begins encouraging him to go to the jungle to get rich again. The climax occurs when Willy starts up his car and drives off into the night.The story ends with Willy's family and friends mourning over his grave. Linda can't cry because she doesn't understand why Willy would do this to her. She doesn't know how to feel sad about this. Arthur Miller incorporates a twist of irony into the end of the story because Willy and Linda were finally able to pay their last payment on the house, but now Willy is dead. They were free of their debt, but now Linda has no one to enjoy it with.
A lot of the questions that I had throughout Act I were revealed in Act II and the Requiem. For example, I found out the reason for Biff and Willy's ongoing conflict, the reason Biff hated to see Linda knitting stockings, and why Biff didn't graduate from high school. The story is told through third person omniscient point of view. Since the story is told through this point of view, I could understand why characters acted the way they did. The theme of the story was if a person becomes to obsessed with being successful and well-liked instead of doing what they truly love, they are setting themselves up for failure. This was the reason for Willy's failure; he thought he was too good to do carpentry work even though he was really talented at it. He also instilled this into Biff and Happy, which brought about their struggles to find success. The story started to pick up after Act I and was pretty interesting to read.

Death of a Salesman (Act I)

The setting of the story takes place in the home of Willy and Linda Loman. Willy is an older man in his sixties and is a struggling business man. In his old age, he has began experiencing dementia, causing him to have memory loss and contradict himself quite frequently. Although he is not a very successful salesman, Willy is preoccupied with "success" and being "well-liked" by others. Many times throughout Act I, Willy emphasized the importance of being well-liked to his two sons, Biff and Happy. Both Biff and Happy haven't really matured over the years; they are both living at home and are always struggling to find their own "success," just like their father. Even before Biff appears in the story, the reader becomes aware of the constant conflict between Biff and his father. The reason for the ongoing conflict between the two is because Biff keeps failing to live up to his father's expectations of himself. Toward the end of Act I, Linda reveals to her sons that their father is dying and at one point says that Willy's life is in the hands of Biff. She will not stand for Biff to stay in their house if he continues to disrespect his father and make him upset. Concerned by this, Biff decides to go into business with the help of a former boss, Bill Oliver. This pleases Willy and he gives him advice on how to impress Bill during the interview, during which he contradicts himself many times. Act I ends with Willy and Linda discussing how successful Biff was at sports in high school. They are convinced that someone who was once so great couldn't just fade away; Biff would surely be successful someday.
This story was a little hard to follow because it was written in the form of a play. It was hard to decipher when Willy was experiencing dymensia and reminiscing of if the action is actually occurring in the present tense. I didn't understand who the woman was that Willy was talking to. Was it young Linda? Was Willy's brother, Ben, really there or was he just reminiscing about a visit he once had with him? One of the underlying themes of the story that I started to pick up on was the endless desire to be successful and well-liked. Why didn't Biff end up going to college to play football? Did he graduate from high school? Willy is one of those parents who didn't accomplish what they wished to in their lives, so they try to live through their kids' lives. This is a big contributing factor to the main conflict of the story between Willy and Biff. Another conflict takes place in the story as well, Willy vs. circumstances. This I though this story started off a little slow, but I'm hoping it will start to pick up.

Night (p.85-120)

Throught the entire story, Elie and his fellow inmates were treated as though they were animals. They were refered to as "flea-ridden dogs" and herded around as if they were cattle. This inhumane treatment began in the very beginning of the story when the inmates were forced to take off their clothes, be completely shaved, and branded with a number that soon became their identity. As the story progressed, they were treated more and more like animals and their sense of humanity began to diminish. An underlying theme of this memoir is faith. Elie talks a lot about his faith, as well as his fellow Jews' faith. Although Elie was always in a constant struggle to keep his faith, deep down he still believed, which helped him to survive his terrible circumstances. Ironically, many of Sighet's religious leaders' faith crumbled under the horrendous circumstances they went through. I don't know how Elie was able to keep his faith after going through everything he did and watching so many religious figures fall to the power of the Nazis. The mood of the story was dark and terrifying. A symbolic setting of the story was night. Night seemed to prevail in the story because of its darkness and depressing vibe. Elie does a great job at incorporating similes and metaphors into his story. Toward the end of the story, it is winter and the snow is falling heavily. Barely dressed and fed, the inmates were forced to march on for days and days. On page 89, Elie describes with the use of a metaphor and simile, "These human waves were rolling forward and would have crushed me like an ant." Many of the inmates gave up any desire to live and simply layed down in the snow to sleep, and most likely never wake up. Death seems to be surrounding Elie, especially during the final days leading up to their liberation. It's amaing that Elie was able to overcome his circumstances and make it out alive.
Although this memoir was tough to read at times, it was a great experience for me to read it. It's so hard to imagine the pain that the concentration camp inmates endured and that some still endure today. After reading this book, I really want to meet Elie Wiesel and find out what he is like now as an elderly man. I'm sure his experience in the Holocaust has had an impact on him throughout his entire life. It's interesting how Elie wrote about giving his father a few drinks of water while he was infected with dysentery. "With these few mouthfuls of hot water, I had probably given him more satisfaction than during my entire childhood..." Because of the extreme circumstances they were in, Elie's father was given such satisfaction at this small gesture of love. To most people, giving someone a glass of water would seem so insignificant, but not to Elie' father. Elie and his father's love and need for each other were obvious. Elie stated many times that his father was the main reason he fought to stay alive. I wonder if Elie still feels guilty about almost feeling relieved at his father's death because this increased his chances of survival. He might also realize that the reason for such an extreme feeling was brought about because of his horrifying circumstance and it really wasn't his fault. That is what the concentration camps had done to him; he no longer had a regard for humanity by the end of the story. The motto "Every man for himself" was obvious especially in the end of the story. This story was extremely touching and has already had an impact on my life. By reading this, I see how unfair it is for the world to remain silent as others endure so much pain and hardship. As Elie said in his acceptance speech, "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim." Hopefully now if I see a person being treated unfairly because of their race, religion, or sex, I will have the courage to step in and stop it from continuing.

Night (p.47-84)

After enduring much pain and torture at the various concentration camps Elie has been kept in, his journey is not over. His father and he are moved once again to a labor camp known as Buna. At this camp, a dentist was removing any gold fillings the Jews had in their teeth. Elie had one gold filling. Trying to desperately to find a way to avoid the dentist, he claims that he has a fever. The dentist agrees to meet him again when he is feeling better, but to not make him coming looking for him. Elie goes back a week later, but says he still isn't recovered. The dentist appreciates him coming back on his own and agrees to see him once again when he is finally over his fever. A few days later, the dentist was thrown in jail because he was keeping the gold for himself. Elie got to keep his gold filling for a few more weeks until his gold crown was taken from him by Franek, the foreman. He manipulated him by torturing his father. Since Elie was extrememly attached to his dad at this time, he couldn't stand to see his dad suffer, especially because of Elie's stubborness. Elie finally gave in after a few days and his gold crown was removed with a rusty spoon. When the Russians bombed Buna, the inmates weren't even scared because they no longer feared death. With every bomb that hit, they were filled with excitement and hope of escaping this terrible place. In most circumstances, any person would be extremely terrified of being near bombs, but since these people were treated so inhumanely, their instinctive fears of death had disappeared. Elie also talks about many people who began to lose their faith and had no desire to live. According to him, those were the ones who were picked for selection the quickest. Elie's neighbor in the infirmary said to him, "I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people. What a sad statement. This man really shows the emotional and mental effect the concentration camps had on their inmates. Although Elie knew how important it was to keep his faith alive, he often struggled with doing so. How could God let this happen to them? What had they done to deserve this? Although he was often questioning his faith and upset with God, he still had a strong enough faith that he still believed. Elie incorporates irony into his story once again when his father and he have the choice to stay behind in the infirmary or to be evacuated with the others. Fearing they would be exterminated if they stayed, the decided to march on with the others despite Elie's swollen foot. After the war, Elie found out that those who remained in the infirmary were liberated by the Russians two days later. They were so close to being liberated, but by once simple choice, their liberation took a lot longer.
As I read this story, I can feel Elie's pain and anger as if I was right there with him. I can't imagine the emotional toll these events had on Elie. How could you enjoy life after living through something so horrendous? How could you forgive the world for remaining silent while you suffered endlessly? On page 51, Eli talks about Ekiba Drumer discovering a translation into numbers from a verse in the Bible that allowed him to predict redemption in the weeks to come. If all Jews would have been able to hear this prediction, maybe they could have forced themselves to hang on just a little bit longer. Maybe this helped Elie have strength to endure the awful situations he faced at Buna. I can't believe the inmates were forced to watch people be hanged. Even after they witnessed the hanging, they were all forced to look straight at the corpse as they walked by. How morbid is that? I can't imagine how all of the inmates felt as they stood their watching helplessly as their fellow Jews were hanged. There was nothing they could do stop it or escape from watching it. This is another example of how Hitler instilled terror in the Jews so it was easier to control them.

Night (p.1-46)

Elie Wiesel really draws the reader in right from the start in his memoir Night. He paints a clear picture of himself as a young boy; a very religious, family-oriented, and good-hearted kid. The setting of the story takes place in Transylvania in 1941. Moishe the Beadle, Elie's mentor, is the first example of foreshadowing. He told of his narrow escape from the Gestapo, who were forcing all of the deported foreigners to dig their own graves right before they were killed. No one believed him and claimed that he had gone mad. Slowly, the German forces began tightening their grasp on the Jews, but the Jews were oblivious to the fact that they were being manipulated into doing whatever the Nazi's ordered them to do. The Jews were full of false hope, which was extremely advantageous to the Germans. The protagonists are the Jews and the antagonists are the Nazis. After being stripped of their homes and their freedom, the Jews were finally deported to concentration camps, which they thought were just safe places away from the front lines of the war. Elie uses foreshadowing again when they are in cattle cars travelling to the concentration camp. An elderly lady screams out many times, "Jews, look! Look at the fire!" Everyone thinks she is crazy and they even resort to physical abuse when she refuses to stop screaming. Once they finally arrive at their destination, they see the monstrous flames of the crematorium awaiting their arrival. Elie's love for his family is evident when the males and females are separated, separating him and his father from his mother and sisters. He would give anything to remain with his entire family, but since he cannot, he is determined not to be separated from his father. The Nazi guards at the concentration camps are extremely cruel, treating them as if they were animals. The Jews were herded around, hit with clubs, forced to get naked, get completely shaved, and wear clothes that didn't even fit them. All of this made them feel as though they were less human and took away any pride they ever had. Although they tried to help each other, the motto "Every man for himself" was definitely in effect. Over the course of just a few days, young Elie was transformed from an innocent, religious boy to a nearly emotionless boy stripped of everything he cared most about in life.
This story was hard to put down once I started reading it. Filled with terror at what I was reading, I couldn't help but find out what was going to happen next. I cannot believe this happened about 70 years ago. The Jews were treated with such cruelty it's almost unbelievable. If I was Jewish, I don't know if I could ever really let it go and form relations with any German. It's amazing how in just a few days, Elie grows up so much and does what he has to do to survive. Most kids his age think that losing a basketball game is such a disaster, but young Elie had way bigger problems to worry about.

The Catbird Seat

The protagonist of the story is Mr. Martin, who has worked at his company for more than twenty years. He is faced with Mrs. Ulgine Barrows, his antagonist, when she is brought into the office to become his boss' special adviser. Right from the beginning Mrs. Barrows had irritated Mr. Martin for two years, stammering down the hallways and screaming ridiculous questions at him, such as, "Are you sitting in the catbird seat?" Later this phrase was explained to Mr. Martin by his assistant who told him it meant to be sitting pretty, such as a hitter with no errors. Mr. Martin was convinced Mrs. Barrows was ruining the dynamic of the company and would most likely soon cause it to crumble to the ground. He decided to take action to get rid of Ms. Barrows. One night he showed up at Mrs. Barrows house around 9:30. The way James Thurber describes Mr. Martin's intentions, readers are led to think he will murder Mrs. Barrows. Mr. Martin arrives at the house and begins to look for an object he could use as a weapon while Mrs. Barrows is in the kitchen. Unable to find a weapon, party because of his conscience stopping him, he begins talking with Mrs. Barrows and the climax begins. Cleverly, he decides to have a cigarette and a drink because that is highly unlike him, or so his boss thinks. Mr. Martin begins insulting his boss and talks of killing him. Mrs. Barrows is shocked by this and decides to tell Mr. Fitweiler about what happened last night. He doesn't believe her because he thinks it is so out of Mr. Martin's character to smoke and drink and talk badly about his boss since he has been so loyal for over 20 years. Mr. Fitweiler decides that Mrs. Barrows is suffering from a mental breakdown and having hallucinations; which causes him to fire her. Mr. Martin does indeed appear to be "sitting in the catbird seat" now with Mrs. Barrow's out of the picture and without letting anyone know of what really happened that night.
Mr. Martin was a clever man. Not only did he get rid of his problem, Mrs. Barrows, he did it in a way that didn't weigh to heavily on his conscious. If he would've murdered her, he probably would have suffered because of his strong conscious. It's ironic that the phrase "sitting in the catbird seat" is used to describe Mr. Martin's position at the end of the story. Mrs. Barrow's annoying phrase somewhat serves as a foreshadowing device of what will happen to Mr. Martin later on in the story. This was a very interesting story to read.

The Found Boat

The setting of "The Found Boat" is a flooded area that formed a lake. The protagonists are Eva and Carol and the antagonists are Frank, Bud, and Clayton. As Eva and Carol were exploring the newly formed lake, they found a boat, or what was left of one. Three boys were there; Frank, Bud, and Clayton, and they quickly came rushing over and carefully removed the boat from the water. The boys carried the boat to Clayton's house and the girls followed. Eva and Carol felt desperate to be included because they were the ones who actually found the boat. The boys barely even noticed their presence.This boat seemed like the group's own little mystery. For the next few days, they worked on the boat in Clayton's backyard and didn't let anyone see what they were working on. Finally the day came when the boat was ready to be tested out. They all took turns riding in the boat and they became exhilirated by it. They spotted an old station and decided to eat lunch in there. As most kids do when there is nothing else to do, they played truth or dare. Frank dared everyone to take off all of their clothes; and they did. The nude kids ran and skipped into the river. Eva stood up in the water and so did Clayton; they just stood there staring at each other about a yard apart. From hints earlier in the story, it was obvious that Eva had feelings for Clayton. The climax of the story occurs when Clayton took a mouthful of water and shot the water at her breasts and he began to hoot. Eva was so embarrassed and hurt by this act of Clayton's. The boys began laughing and joking amongst themselves and finally left. Eva is glad they are stuck with rowing the boat back up the river because that is the hardest work. She says to Carol, "Who cares? Anyway. It never was our boat." The story ends with Carol asking, "What if they tell?" The girls might be worried they will tell people about what Clayton did to Eva or about their mysterious boat.
This story was pretty entertaining. I think any kid can relate to finding something new and being completely ecstatic about it. The story makes you feel like you are living their adventure with this boat with them. I am a little confused about why Clayton spit water on Eva and what Carol was so worried they would tell about...

A Worn Path

The setting of the story starts out in the wilderness as an elderly black woman, Phoenix Jackson, is walking along with her handmade cane. Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist of the story and the antagonist in the story is society. She has taken this journey so many times that her mind is free to wonder because her feet know the path by pure instinct. During Phoenix's long, rough journey the author, Waltey, gives the reader insight to what is going on inside Phoenix's head; making the point of view third person omniscient limited. Finally, Phoenix makes it to her destination; Natchez. The reason she takes this journey is to get medicine for her grandson who has been ill for quite awhile. As she is waiting to get medicine for her grandson, an attendant treats her as if she is inferior; which is symbolic of how all black women were treated at that time. Finally she is treated with some compassion by a doctor who gives her the medicine for her grandson. Phoenix takes the medicine and begins her long journey back home. This shows that even though Phoenix, and other women like her, faced many hardships, they still had to let it go and move on with their lives.
I though it was interesting that the author chose not to tell the reason for Phoenix's journey until nearly the end of the story. It kept me wondering what she was doing and if she even had a reason for taking such a long journey. In the beginning, Phoenix seemed a little odd to me; talking to animals and dancing with a scarecrow. Later on, however, I realized that she was making the best of a hardship that she faced in life. I think it's amazing that a lady as old as Phoenix would have the motivation and energy to make such a treacherous journey as often as she did. Her heart was pure; she did it out of pure love for her grandson.

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

The opening setting of this story takes place on a train traveling from San Antonio, Texas to Yellow Sky, Texas. The protagonist, Jack Potter, is seated with his bride on the train. While they are happy about their marriage, they are worried about their future together in Yellow Sky, which is Jack's hometown. He is the town marshall of Yellow Sky, but he hadn't decided to tell anyone of his intentions when he left for San Antonio. His main duty in town is to fight with Scratchy Wilson when he gets drunk to help prevent him from injuring any of the townspeople. As Jack and his bride are nearing his home, they spot Scratchy Wilson in the street. Scratchy was looking to fight Jack, but suddenly backed down once he found out that Jack had gotten married. Scratchy said, "I s'pose it's all of now," and walked away. It seemed as though Scratchy realized their fights were childish and now that Jack was married, he needed to move on with his life. Scratchy seemed disappointed that their fighting came to an end.
I didn't really enjoy this story very much. I don't understand why Jack didn't tell anyone in his town that he was going to get married. Would they really be upset? Would they be upset because now he wouldn't be able to fight Scratchy when he was drunk to protect them? Or would they be upset because this was how they were entertained? The story seemed a little confusing to me and it didn't seem to really capture my attention like I hoped it would.

A Rose for Emily

"A Rose for Emily" is told through through the eyes of the townspeople in third person point of view. Emily, a mysterious, prominent, old woman is the protagonist of the story. The setting of the story begins with her funeral. The men of the town attended out of respect and the women the attended out of curiousity of what the inside of her home actually looked like. Throughout Emily's life, her dad was quite controlling of her and wouldn't let any man date her. However, Emily's dad passed away when she was a little over thirty.and she was deeply troubled by his death for a long time. After a few months passed, she began dating a man named Homer Barron. Fearing that Homer wouldn't end up staying with her, Emily decided to poison him with arsenic. The townspeople didn't have any idea about Homer's death until the day of Emily's funeral, when they broke into her room and found him laying there on her bed. Faulkner added an unexpected twist to the story by adding this factor in. The conflict in this story exists between Emily and her circumstance. Emily always feels like she doesn't have too much control in her own life and is desperate to do something about it; which results in her poisoning Homer.
This story was really odd to me. It seemed hard to follow because it wasn't layed out in a very organized manner. I still don't understand why the story is titled, "A Rose for Emily". The significance of the rose is unclear to me. To me, it seems like Emily lived a lonely and desperate life.

Miss Brill

The setting of the short story, "Miss Brill," takes place in the park where Miss Brill goes every Sunday. The point of view is omniscient limited. She is dressed in a fur coat that hasn't been worn in ages. She seems to address her coat as a "thing." While Miss Brill is at the park, she likes to observe everyone around her and eavesdrop on their conversations when it is possible. She can relate to some of the people she observes. To her, going to the park and observing all of the different people is like a play to her. They are all actors and the park is their stage. As Miss Brill sat on the bench, she noticed a group of people who were always there on Sundays, just like her. They looked odd to her; they were silent and looked as though they had all just come out of a dark room. She doesn't stop to think that she is part of the play as well until a young couple sit across from her on the bench and begin to make fun of her to each other. Miss Brill returns home without getting her piece of cake that has become a ritual on Sundays. She enters her dark apartment and sat there for a long time and finally takes off her fur coat and puts it back in the box. She thought she heard a noise when she put it back.
Miss Brill is a lonely lady who hasn't really experienced life for a long time. Her fur coat is symbolic of that. She takes it out of the box and brushes off all of the dust. She was delighted to be at the park because it lets her escape from her own lonely life and live in the lives of others for a little while. Miss Brill finally realizes she is quite lonely after the young couple make fun of her fur coat. They see her as a wacky old woman who has no business being at the park. She had no idea people were observing her as she was observing them. The story ends with Miss Brill realizing the loneliness in her life by taking off her fur coat and putting it back in the box.

The Story of an Hour

In the short story, "The Story of an Hour," the story takes place in the home of Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist. Since Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition, her sister has been sent to inform her of her husband's death from a railroad crash. This sets the plot into motion. As any wife would do, she began to weep. After some time passed, she was sitting in an oversized chair and looking out the window. Mrs. Mallard began muttering, "I'm free!" and quickly became ecstatic knowing that for the rest of her life she would live for herself. She would no longer feel pressured to compromise what she wanted for anyone else. Later on, her sister guided her down the stairs as someone opened the front door with a key. It was Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard's heart suddenly fails and she dies of heart disease. The story ends with the climax.
This was a short story that was packed with intensity. In just three pages, the reader is exposed to Mrs. Mallard receiving news that her husband has died, how she really feels about her marriage, and the truth that Mr. Mallard isn't really dead which causes Mrs. Mallard to faint. I can't believe Mrs. Mallard was so unhappy with her marriage that she would actually feel relieved by her husband's death. This story leaves me wondering what Mrs. Mallard would have done if she wouldn't have died from heart disease. Would she have realized she wanted to be free and decide to divorce her husband? Or would she choose to stay with him because she felt guilty for feeling free?

The Necklace

The short story, "The Necklace," portrays the lives of two run-of-the-mill middle class couple and is told in omniscient limited point of view. The main character, Madame Loisel, always feels ashamed of the life she is living and feels she deserves to live a fancier lifestyle. The plots gets set into motion when Mr. Loisel gets tickets to an elegant dinner. His wife becomes upset because she doesn't have a proper dress to wear to an event like this. After Mr. Loisel gives up his $400 for Madame Loisel to buy an elegant dress, she still isn't satisfied. She now wants jewelry to wear to the dinner, as well. He suggests borrowing jewels from her friend, Madame Forrester. Madame Loisel borrows a beautiful necklace from her friend and wears it the night of the dinner. After having a terrific evening, Madame Loisel begins undressing and notices the diamond necklace is gone. This was the climax of the story. The necklace was nowhere to be found. The Loisel's borrowed money from friends and neighbors to pay for a necklace to replace the one borrowed from Madame Forrester. It took them ten years to pay off all of the money they borrowed and they lived in poverty all the while. Once the debt was paid off, Madame Loisel ran into Madame Forrester and decided to tell her about what really happened. It turns out that Madame Forrester's original necklace was a fake and only worth about 500 francs.
The underlying message in this story is to be happy with what you have. Even though life can seem so tough at times, there is so many more things that could go wrong. Just by being unsatisified with what she had, Madame Loisel ended up ruining her and her husband's life. This story was entertaining for me to read because as a woman, I can relate to Madame Loisel's desire to live a fancy life and be admired. However, I hope that I wouldn't become so possessed by greed that I would end up ruining my life, as well as my significant other's life.