"A Rose for Emily"

At the beginning of William Faulkner’s “ A Rose for Emily” he talks about Miss Emily Grierson dying, and the fact that the whole town goes to her funeral. Whether its out of respect for her or if its just the towns obsession with her life and her business, remains a mystery to me. Throughout the story the narrator brings up different issues of Emily’s life. I’m still confused on the taxes issue he brings up. Why would they make up an excuse and tell her that she doesn’t have to pay her taxes?
Emily’s lifestyle choices confuses as well. What person in their right mind would want to keep their dead decaying father’s body in their house? As well as, her dead lover’s. I would think that the body would start to smell and that might be what smelt so bad around her house. How could she sleep next to Homer’s disgusting dead body, let alone have sex with him?! I’ve heard that they’re people in this world that do that but I didn’t think it would exists back in the 1930’s when the story takes place. I think it’s a blessing that Emily dies at the end of the story because now Homer can finally be buried as well as herself.

"A Rose for Emily"

When I first read "A Rose for Emily" I was very confused and didn't understand why people were so interested in Miss Emily's life. I think Emily has major trust issues because she wouldn't let them bury her father at first..."she told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body" (Faulkner 208). She then killed her lover and kept his body for many years after he was dead. "What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of th nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay..." (Faulkner 212). YUCK!
This story shows that wealthy people still want to be with lower class people and that they will do anything to be with the person they love. It was unfortunate that Miss Emily couldn't marry her love and live happily. I also think that not being able to marry him and make their relationship public had a lot to do with Miss Emily's bitterness. And I really wonder what the author had in mind naming this "A Rose for Emily"?!

The Story of an Hour

Even though we talked about how there are many suttle ways that point that she was not in an abusive relationship I still belive that she was. For me there are too many hints that point that it was an abusive relationship. First the obvious is when Mrs. Mallard says that "she loved her husband but most often not"(Chopin, 194). The reason I think that sentence is important is because alot of times women who are in an abusive relationship think that the man does'nt really mean to do the mean things and that they are truly sorry, but we know better, often if you ask a women if she loves the man that beats her she will say yes. The sentence that sticks out to me the most is when Mrs. Mallard says, "Free! Body and soul free" (Chopin, 194). That does not sound like a person that is sad about her husbands death, it sounds like she thinks the abuse is over and she can start over. Also, when the story starts it talks about Mrs. Mallards heart trouble and it leaves it up to you to interpret it. Heart trouble can be interpreted many ways: old age, sickness or maybe its a bad relationship that makes her sad. Overall I liked the story and thought the irony was that she got the bad news that her husband was dead when the whole time she was getting ready to die herself.

Story of an Hour

I absolutly loved this story. I was so shocked on how younger students understood this story. They thought that her husband was abusing her, because when he died she said "I m free, I'm free". The way I understood her was, she was free of having to always having to answer to her husband, and always doing what "he" wants her to do. When your in a long term relationship, you don't always do things that you want to, but what's expected of you to do. She was kind of relieved that she could finally live for her own needs, and wants. The younger students also thought that when he was actually alive, she died was because was going to get abused again. The way I took it in was, she was so happy that the love of her life was alive. I really like getting together as a class, and talking about what we read. It makes me look at a story in a new light.

"The Story of an Hour"

After reading “The Story of an Hour”, I came to the conclusion that Mrs. Mallard was sad that her husband had past away and would not know how to live her life with out him. Mrs. Mallard then went out of the room to grieve and look at the “tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.” (Chopin, 193). Knowing that the trees had a fresh start for the coming spring season helped show Mrs. Mallard that she to can move on and start a new life living without her husband. When she came out of her room to see her husband standing at the door way triggered her heart problem by making her excited “of joy that kills.”(Chopin, 194) that he was still alive; that it made her heart stop beating. Then going to class and discussing the story made me think of it in a different perspective. She wanted to be free from her husband, and that she was more relieved to here the breaking news that her husband had been killed; she was abused and was happy that she was now alone with out anyone to answer to or please. The line “spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of day that would be her own.”(Chopin, 194) helped me see that Mrs. Mallard will be able to enjoy the rest her life as happy ones.

"A Rose For Emily"

This is a story of a woman who the readers of “A Rose for Emily” really do not know that much about. The only information that we do get might be completely elaborated and misconstrued. The townspeople have retold and retold the stories of Emily Grierson’s life. She happened to be the town’s entertainment of the moment, the mysterious life of Emily. She is a woman who didn’t seem to handle change very well. When her father died, it took her three days for her to accept it. She wouldn’t accept the fact that times were changing and the people who use to take care of her, for example, Colonel Sartoris, were no longer around. This would mean that she should have to start paying taxes. However, we learn that she wasn’t going to accept that as an option. She had an agreement with Colonel Sartoris and that’s all that Emily cared about. When told that she had to start paying, Emily response was to kept repeating, “I have no taxes in Jefferson” (Faulkner, 207).
The most important moment of the story to me was the ending. When I first read the story by myself, I didn’t comprehend what it meant when she had kept Homer Barron locked in her house. It was a complete shock to find out that he was dead. I realized that Emily bought the poison for him so he didn’t have a chance to leave her. This was another change that I don’t think Emily was willing to accept. If he didn’t want to stay by choice, he would end up staying by force. The part of this situation that really got to me was in the class discussion when I realized that she was still lying with Homer. I didn’t realize the significance of the grey hair on the pillow. That really emphasizes that idea that Emily wasn’t willing to accept change in her life. The murder, in a sick way, kept him unchanged for herself.

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Literature, reading, reacting, writing. Thomson Wadsworth. compact sixth edition. Boston: Michael Rosenberg, 2007. 206-212.

The Story Of An Hour

Ok, this story is completely different from what I interpreted it as. I was very glad that we got to discuss this in class to get all the others' views and points to make me realize what this story is really about.
The first time I read this story I thought of a Mrs. Mallard as a women that was sick who was beaten by her husband. When she learns of his death she is in joy because she doesn't have him in her future. But when a knock at the door brings to her suprise her husband was still alive and she keels over inspite of it.
Wow was my version different. When discussing it with classmates we ask ourselves why we think she was abused? It didn't say that? We all just assumed from the text she was. Certain sentences led me to believe this. First off when she hears of the news it says she goes to her room alone with no one to follow. (Chopin 193) Telling the readers of a arm chair that seems so relaxing. Now if I were to get news like that I wouldn't be thinking of some nice comfortable chair, unless I was happy. If a death occured and a person was happy you would believe it was because the person was evil, which then leads us to think of some kind of abuse. A few other phrases gave me the same impression. Under her breath she states "Free, free, free". (Chopin 194) and yet she loved him- sometime, often she had not. (Chopin 194) Now can you see why that would make someone to point towards an abused relationship. After a death you usually aren't acknowledging the fact that you are free if you just lost a spouse but the fact that you will be lonely forever.
So like I said before I think this story could lead people in many directions. By having a group actually pick out parts that you believe and ask for evidence is what directed my thoughts to a whole new version.

"A Rose for Emily"

In Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" there is an absolute progressive conflict. After our group discussion I believe that the strongest conflict displayed can be characterized as Man vs. Nature. In this case nature wouldn't be the typical member of our wildlife, but it would be the passing of time. I found this to be represented through three different ways: dust, hair, and death. I, at first, did not see the dust as a huge importance until we identified how much it was really saying. "When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows-sort of tragic and serene." (Faulkner. 208) Emily's hair was spoken of numerous times in the story, each describing a different time period. Death was an obvious part of nature that was talked about of her father as well as the man she wished to marry.
I think that everybody battles conflict within themselves, but in this story Emily especially develops a conflict which can be characterized as Man vs. Self. I found the way she tries to hold on to the past and all the expectations she was told to uphold were both examples of this battle.
The last conflict, Man vs. Man, was the most common conflict shown. Her father, who had driven away all the men he believed were not good enough for Miss Emily, is an example of this conflict. Another example would be the man she hoped to marry, but who was said to have more of an interest in men as opposed to women. The talkative townspeople and the small town's city authority, who came with constant tax reminders also contribute to this conflict.

Source:

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Literature, reading, reacting, writing. Thomson Wadsworth. compact sixth edition. Boston: Michael Rosenberg, 2007. 206-212.

A Rose for Emily

"A Rose for Emily" was a really fun story to read. It was confusing at first, but after I was done reading the whole thing it made more sense. I thought that everyone liked Miss Emily at first so I was confused until I got further into the story and everyone seemed to dislike her. It all makes sense why they came to her funeral. They just wanted to know what was going on inside the house. As we said in class, everyone knows what is going on in everyones life in small towns. So they had to be nosey and find out.
When we talked about symbols in the story i thought that her hair could have been a symbol. I'm not quite sure what her hair could mean, but it is brought up several times in the story.

"A Rose for Emily"

This story is great for class discussion. Being it has many different view points and after hearing a few of them from others, I find myself re-thinking mine. Having the setting begin in the late 1800's, you have to have a mind set in that era plus on top of that it was in the "deep" south. Women were viewed a lot differently as that are now. Being rich didn't necessary mean you have money but how much land and slaves you had. Being that Emily went from these kind of mind sets of changing generations, to me it seemed like she didn't welcome the changes that well.In the beginning of the story, I really didn't follow why Emily was so sheltered. Her father didn't think any man was good enough for her, that left her alone in the end. When her fathers passed away, Emily didn't know who to trust or how to handle conversation. Having that mindset that she is above to working class citizens set her apart for socialization. Through the times of change the townspeople didn't really know Emily well enough to understand her actions. So having the story told by them was a bit vague. We will never know why exactly she kept Homer in her house. A part of me thinks that she didn't want to get rid of someone that knew her, by Homer passing away, Emily would be alone again. I was trying to think of why she bought the rat poison. There was really no reason why she would have to kill Homer, but she did seem a bit crazy. I have a feeling the writer wanted us to get thrown off by that action and have us think that Emily was going to kill Homer but really she had rats she wanted to kill. In the long run, this story is both sad and confusing because you don't know what to think of Emily.

"Rose for Emily"

I agree with the class discussion, that this story had many of layers to it. It was hard to keep track of what was going on.
I thought Emily was a rich lady, and everyone else was beneath her, but after the discussion today, I agree with the class that her, herself was poor.
I think Emily is a true example of Erickson's stage, intimacy vs. isolation. I Think by keeping her dead boyfriend in the home for thirty plus years shows that she chooses intimacy vs. isolation. Even though Homer was dead, she still laid her head on him, which shows intimacy. But yet she stayed isolated in her home.
I don't know, I think Miss Emily had a lot more problems than we, the readers are aware of. The first signs of that was when she was in denial of her father passing away.
I enjoyed the story, it really made you think after you read it, that someone could actually keep someone dead in their home for that long, and be lying next to it.

The Storm

The Storm was a rather interesting story. Being based off of the love affair that takes place in this story, I think it was interesting how they contrasted the weather outside with what was happening in the bedroom. It was apparent that Calixta and Alcee had something between them in the past that they never let go of. They took advantage of the opportunity and gave into temptation. It appeared that Alcee and Calixta had a chemistry that lacked between Calixta and Bobinot. I found this story at times was hard to follow due to dialogue. The dialogue contained many phrases and southern slang that I am not accustomed to. I would make the comparison that not only there was a storm created by nature, but also a storm of lust and temptation. It seems as though now that Calixta has given in to the temptation, she will not be able to pass up any other opportunity to be with Alcee. I think that this affair is far from over and there is much more that could be in addition to this story. Overall, the story was not too bad and provided some rather interesting details with an ending in happiness.

The Storm

"So the storm passed and everyone was happy." The ending was classic. " As Clarisse finished the letter from Alcee, she then had a sigh of relief." " The sun peered out of the blue Mississippi sky and the warmth of it made her calm." I could see that as addition to the story. The whole plot to me was great. The metaphors are fabulous." Sombre clouds rolling with sinister intention." Absolutley! That was the way Alcee was making the move on Calixata. Pretty smooth, I would say. Alcee took the situation to his advantage. This is definitly a story of natural danger, seduction and deception. It could also be called "The Storm of lust" it was a really interesting tale

"The Storm"

Dear Journal,
I have just read the story "The Storm". It is very confusing at the beging becasue I wasnt sure If the women waiting for her family to come home, was day dreaming about her visitor. Who is the visitor that wasnt so clear? Toward the end it all became more clear. Also I enjoyed the fact that it was kind of a love story. This story was very enjoyable and I really liked the fact that this was in Biloxi (becasue I used to live there) and really helped me imagine the story's setting.

Story of an Hour

I thought that Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour” was an excellent story, with a twist. I did not expect Mrs. Mallard to be excited by her husband’s death. I had to read (194-14) before I understood that she was extremely excited, not depressed. From her reaction of excitement, I could only conclude that she hated her husband. The thought of abuse that came up in class, makes me think that she was psychologically abused, since “there would be no powerful will bending her”(194-14). Since she had said “It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long”(194-19), I am led to believe that she hated her husband so much that life was unbearable. Now that he was gone, she would be extremely happy, after she got over the death of a human being that she was close to. I think that she found out that her husband was alive and since she had “heart trouble”(193-1), she could not take such an unpleasant surprise. When “she was striving to beat it back with her will”(194-10), referring to an attempt to not get excited about his death, she shows a human side. During the group discussion I was exposed to the thought that she loved her husband, and free could mean dying. I still think that the evidence points overwhelmingly to her hating, but not wanting to hate her husband. For the most part, I have only increased the support of my original interpretation of the story.