Irony Porphyria's Lover

In Robert Browning's poem "Porphyria's Lover" irony is a common theme. This is rather apparent as soon as the reader knows that the speaker has killed Porphyria. The reader does not know this, though, until after the speaker has given a detailed account of how much he loves Porphyria and her beauty. The scene is set up perfectly for a romantic engagement, wherein Porphyria has offered the speaker her bare shoulder. The speaker is so overwheled with how pristine the moment is, that he doesn't know what to do. This is where the irony comes in. Though the speaker is so in love with Porphyria, he kills her to capture the beauty of the affair.
This is the main theme of the poem, but it is not the sole sample of irony. At one point in the speaker's description of Porphyria, he is taken by her hair's gorgeousness. In the end of the story, he finally uses her hair to strangle her. This is obviously ironic.
The irony of Browning's poem is what brings the whole story together. Without it, we'd be left to think that the speaker is a senseless killer with some creepy tendencies.

"Ozymandias"

“Ozymandias” is a poem about a troubled tale and a rising and falling of a dynasty. “Ozymandias” was a man that’s insignificant and his efforts are hopeless when compared to the forces of time and nature. “Ozymandias” who once was the “king of all kings” (line 10). With many power, then he fell from his throne and did not stop falling till he hit rock bottom. Before the statue was destroyed, it was a representation of the king’s thought of the alertness, and the details of his behavior are much so expressed. Although the crushed statue seemingly contradicts the theme; the durability is not of importance. The length of the legend is vital to the understanding of the theme. “Ozymandias” is a figure representing all mankind, conveying our fragile lives. This poem was very hard to interpret but after reading it a few times you soon to find out about the poem.

"Doe Season" By David Michael Kaplan

In this story David Kaplan uses symbolism to represent the transition from childhood to adulthood. In the beginning of the story Andy says,"They were always the same woods" and "it was like thinking of the space between here and the moon" (pg. 456). The woods may be symbolic of Andy's world, her own safe haven, where everything is always the same. When she is out in the woods with her father and his friends however, the woods become unfamiliar. This symbolizes the transition that she is going through to become an adult. This experience is new and unfamiliar to her. When Andy spots the doe and is getting ready to shoot it she is thinking,"Why doesn't it hear us, why doesn't it run away" (pg. 464). When Andy is thinking these thoughts it symbolizes her fear and uncertainty of making the final move to becoming an adult (shooting the doe). There is another scene in the story where Andy is having a dream about the doe. There was a part in the dream where Andy "pressed deeper, through flesh and muscle and sinew, until her whole hand and more was inside the wound and she had found the doe's heart" (pg 466). This may symbolize the guilt that Andy feels from shooting the deer, she feels like she took everything away from the doe. The doe symbolizes the innocence that Andy possesses and by shooting and killing the deer she no longer feels that that part of her exists. Andy is transitioning into adulthood, and when she finally realizes how scary it is, she runs away.

"Doe Season"

Through out David Kaplan’s “Doe Season” There are several examples of symbolism. Firstly, when The story opens, the main character, nine year old Andy mentions that they are in the “same woods that lay behind her house” even thought they have traveled “for miles and miles” she is convinced that these are the same woods (Kaplan 456). Andy believes that these woods are the same as the ones behind her house to mask her fear of the unknown. In the mind of a nine year old, if there are the same woods, they are familiar. Andy compares the woods to the ocean, which she was afraid of because of its size, but in essence she is afraid of the woods. Finally, Andy spots a deer, and her father allows her to take a shot at is, because she is the one that spotted it. Andy is able to shoot the dear, however she is not able to kill it. She then experiences great guilt. In her sleep an owl awakens her, and nags at her. The owl is symbolizing her conscience, reminding her of what she has done, and the animal that is suffering at her hand. Finally they find the injured dear and begin to cut it. Andy runs, but she is running away from so much more than the blood and guts. She is running away from what her father has been trying to do, which is turn her into the son that he never had.

Work cited
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature : Reading, Reacting, Writing. 6th ed.Boston: Heinle, 2006.

"Doe Season" by David Michael Kaplan

"Doe Season" by David Michael Kaplan carries the classic theme of a child entering adulthood. Andy, the protagonist is only nine years old, but understands that she will be entering adulthood soon. I see the doe hunt symbolizing a rite of passage for Andy. This is her first hunt, and she is innocently excited. She has watched her father hunt every year, and knows the enjoyment it brings him, and wants to be a part of it. "Please let us get a deer, she prayed."(462)This plead expresses her innocence as a child. Later, when she sees the deer and is pressured by the hunting group to "shoot", she is having second thoughts. She wants the deer to run before she has to shoot it. It doesn't and Andy shoots it, which catapults her out of the innocence she has only known. Now she has killed an animal, which she struggles with. "What have I done? Andy thought."(465)This moment in time has forever changed her. She will even change her name, showing her passage through childhood into adulthood. "And now they were all calling to her-Charlie Spoon and Mac and her father-crying Andy,Andy (but that wasn't her name, she would no longer be called that);yet louder than any of them was the wind blowing through the treetops, like the ocean where her mother floated in green water, also calling come in, come in, while all around her roared the mocking of the terrible, now inevitable, sea."(467) The sea symbolizing her inevitable advancement into adulthood.

"The Chrysanthemums" By: John Steinbeck

Elisa a struggling trying to find her sexuality, while her love and passion is her garden. She seems to have no children and her husband seem to admire there romance. First we see a sing of symbolism when she is working with the Chrysanthemums and he love and care toward them. She indicates that “No aphids were there, no sowbugs or snails or cutworms. With her fingers destroyed such pets before they could get started (Steinbeck).” In the quote the pets are harmful to the flowers. She is also referring to the Chrysanthemums a sing of symbolism to children of her own and that she is mending them and taking care of them so they don’t get hurt. As the story shows that Elisa takes great pried in her work and love what she does for her self, and have the ability to nurture beautiful flowers.
Getting more indepth of the story you come across another symbolism showing Elisa womanly side and sexuality side. When Henry her husband fails to see the beauty in the flowers and comment saying "I wished that you'd be working in the orchard to raise our apples big (Steinbeck)". the quote shows us how feminine she is and that she'd rather work in the garden than out in a field where that's a mans job.

"Doe Season" By David Kaplan

In the story “Doe Season” by David Kaplan it has a couple different symbols that go along with how Andy goes from being a daddy’s girl or a tomboy to becoming a woman. The point where Mac mad her mad and she wanted to throw snow at him but she didn’t cause she didn’t want to displease her dad.(458) Goes to show she is there to please her father. Also when she was given coffee by her father she held the cup like him and “She drank it even though it made her feel queasy” (459). One of the reasons her father let her come with is because she is good luck. “Animals, I don’t know how she does it, but they come right up to her” (457) Then when she does see a deer and they come to shoot it, her dad offers and then pressures her to shoot it. She didn’t want to shoot it. She wanted it to run away. She does finally shoot it with a clean shot it falls down, and then they go over to see the deer it got up and walked away. “What have I done?” “Please let it die” (465) she couldn’t believe that she actually shot the deer. She had hurt an animal and she didn’t want it to suffer. Then when she had a dream her arm was in the dear feeling its heart beat her hand was burning hot and she couldn’t get it out. She was feeling guilty for what she had done. So now when they started to gut the deer she couldn’t handle any of it she turned and started to run away. They hollered “Andy Andy, but that wasn’t her name, she would no longer be called by that” (467). This is where she realized that this was not her. She was not a boy, she was a girl.

"I stand Here iorning" by Tillie Olsen

While reading I stand here ironing, it is obvious that the narrator fells responsible for some of the behaviors that her daughter displays. She correlates her actions with the hardships her daughter possesses.
At a young age, the mother is forced to send her daughter away to her father’s family. This was the only decision that the mother could have made at that time. The mother struggled with this, as the age that Emily was send away is incredibly crucial for bonding between a mother and a child. It is never easy for a mother to leave a child, but in this case it was the only option to send her daughter away. The alternative would result in a hungry child with no child care.
The child in this story did not want to trouble her mother. It was her kind and good nature. Children learn to adapt, just as Emily did. While Emily was five, here sister was born. During her sister’s infant year the mother was so exhausted that she could not will her self to comfort Emily as she had night terrors, therefore as Emily grew she would call back to her mother “I’m all right, go back to sleep”(Olsen 285)
The guilt that the mother feels in this story is warranted, but she was doing what was best for her daughter. Society makes the life of a single mom’s live very difficult The narrator in the story made sure her daughter was fed and clothed, and sometimes that is the best that can be done.
Amanda Klepperich

"The Storm"

Answering question #9
This story tells a lot about cheating and lieing. This woman who loves her husband so much and loves her child decides to stay home one afternoon. She sits sewing and notices the big dark clods rolling over and she get up to close them. As she's up closing the windows she sees a man riding toward her house. She soon finds out that's its Alcee a man she once loved. He makes his way inside. He comes on to her very quickly and soon the storm passes.
In the story you can see that every one is responsible for there own actions and the storm does not bring it upon them. She must of had feelings for him still wich means she was not faithfuly comitted to her husban and same goose for Alcee. "So the storm passes and every one was happy (Chopin)" This qoute fits the story because they decied not to do anyhitng about there emotions to one another.

Symbolism in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Symbolism is a concept the author Shirley Jackson doesn’t seem to take lightly. Her short story “The Lottery” is teeming with objects and concepts that don’t show the reader their true meaning without a little digging. Three of the symbols that are very important to the story are the black box, the stones, and the pieces of paper.

The black box holding the lottery tickets is a symbol that holds a lot of mystery in the story. We don’t really know what is going on or the purpose of the story throughout, and the box represents this. It also serves as a symbol for death. Black is often associated with death and evil, which is how the story ends. Also, the box plays on the idea of a coffin holding dead people. One of the persons at the lottery are going to die, and the black box reflects this.

The stones are a symbol for tradition. Rocks are ancient and remind one of a simpler, more basic time. The traditions that the people follow are barbaric in nature and have been around for a very long time.

Another noticeable symbol is that of the pieces of paper. They represent the fragility and feebleness of life. This can be seen in the story wen Jackson says “he dropped all the papers but those on to the ground, where the breeze caught them and lifted them off” (Jackson 410). It shows how the people’s lives are just like the papers, insignificant.

Jackson truly shows how symbolism can add much depth to a short story. Without it, "The Lottery" would seem to be nothing more than an entertaining mystery tale.

"The Storm"

In "The Storm" by Kate Chopin they try to use the storm as an excuse to do the things they do. The two people in the story that committed adultery were both married. There is never an excuse to commit adultery. The husband of the women in the story was not feeling well about having to stay in the store while and leaving his wife home alone while the storm was coming so he bought her shrimp (256). Alcee, the man that committed adultery, showed up at Calixta's house and used the on coming rain as an excuse to get in. The storm was no reason to commit adultery but there is never a good enough reason to do that. The fact that neither of them felt guilty makes it even worse. At the end of the story the wife laughed with her family like nothing ever happened(259). The man sends a letter to his wife that she can stay away in another town.

I Stand Here Ironing

In “I Stand Here Ironing”, the narrator feels very guilty for the way her eldest daughter Emily was raised. Overall the narrator loves Emily in her own way and was doing what she thought was right, or what she simply had to do. “I was nineteen. It was the pre-relief, pre-WPA world of the depression.” (284) That would have been an extremely difficult time to be a single mother. Jobs were limited to females and money was tight even for people in upper class America. The narrator was perfectly just in “[having] to leave her daytimes with the woman downstairs” (284). I also don’t blame her for having to send Emily to her father’s family, but in other ways the narrator has every right to feel guilty. “With all the fierce rigidity of first motherhood” (283) she denied Emily milk when she was a hungry infant. She never rationed milk for the rest of her children. She forced goodness upon Emily rather than letting her throw tantrums like the normal four-year-old. The narrator never even smiled at Emily. That is a very scarring thing to a child. When Emily was sick and had nightmares the narrator didn’t go to her room and comfort Emily instead she yelled out “now go to sleep, Emily, there’s nothing to hurt you”. It is true that a child needs to learn to be independent and not afraid, but I think that underneath the fear Emily just wanted her mother to be with her. It was fortunate for the narrator that Emily had talent or else she would be feeling a lot more guilty than she does in the story.

"The Storm"

Question Number Nine
In "The Storm" by Kate Chopin, two adults, Calixta and Alcee, are brought together under the same roof, as a storm approaches and builds. These two adults were past lovers. The building of the storm leads to the progression of adultery between Calixta and Alcee (255-259). The storm that approaches is no excuse for breaking the strong commitment of marriage between two people. Calixta and Alcee are both married in the story. When two people are committed in marriage, there should be no reason that either of them commits adultery. While the storm brought Calixta and Alcee, two past lovers, together under the same roof, the feelings of fear of the storm that they felt does not excuse their behavior during the storm. Adultery is inexcusable on any level. Also, Alcee goes home after the storm and writes to his wife that they may stay longer at Biloxi if they would like (259). This shows that the behavior of Alcee and Calixta is no longer excusable by the storm because there is no regret for their actions afterwards. In fact, Alcee is looking for more opportunities to have time with Calixta in the future. If the behavior would have been heat of the moment and excusable by the storm, both characters would feel some sort of regret after the incident took place.

"I Stand Here Ironing"

"I Stand Here Ironing" explores the intense guilt of a mother who feels she did not live up to her duty as a mother. It is entirely possible that these events could occur in our world today. Single mothers face just as many challenges today as they did in the Depression era. It's not only much more costly to provide for a family, but the expectations put on parents to provide have only increased since that time period. Today, parents are faced with the pressures of providing name brand clothing, and the newest toys and games that most single parents are simply not able to afford, especially in these tough economic times that are being compared to that era.

Emily's mother states, "We were poor and could not afford for her the soil of easy growth. I was a young mother, I was a distracted mother. There were other children pushing up..." (Olsen 288) Emily's mother has not, in reality, done anything wrong. In this life, each of us can only aspire do our best with our children; this is an incredibly difficult task for anyone, but especially for a single mother of multiple children, struggling to provide. She has been a good mother to Emily. She states, "I used to try to hold and love her..." (Olsen 286) The best she could do is try.

I Stand Here Ironing

Answer to Question #3:
In "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily's mother feels a tremendous amount of guilt. This feeling is definitely warranted. There is a whole history of neglect to this first child, for example:"They persuaded me at the clinic to send her away to a convalescent home in the country where "she can have the kind of food and care you can't manage for her, and you'll be free to concentrate on the new baby."(285) It seems Emily's mother was easily influenced, and had skills of justifying her actions, which led to serial events of neglect. Now she is reminiscing about the past and understanding that she could of done things differently, feels it is "too late for Emily"(285). I think that it would be impossible for a mother not to feel guilty about the up-bringing Emily endured. I don't hold Emily's mother completely responsible for the neglect, as life is a huge obstacle, and the bills need to be paid somehow, but she could have made better choices. I believe she is an adequate mother because she did what she needed to do at the time, and Emily turns out alright, in-spite-of the events of her childhood. Now mother has insight and hopefully will try and make-up for lost time with Emily.

"The Storm"

In “The Storm” Calixta and Alcee happened to get together due to the bad weather which lead up to them committing adultery. I do not think that the storm is an excuse for adultery. It just so happened to be that there was a storm that day. It probably would have happened at any other day if Calixta’s husband wasn’t home and she knew that she was safe. Obviously Alcee had feelings still for Calixta the way he spoke of her such as” she was a little fuller than 5 yrs ago, but she had lost nothing of her vivacity.”(pg. 256). He remembered her quite vividly so he still had a thing for her. The worst part of it is he wrote his wife telling “her not to hurry back, but if she and the babies liked it at Biloxi, to stay a month longer.”(pg. 259) Clarisse thought he was being kind hearted when in fact he is not. He is hoping to get together again with Calixta. So then it goes to show that the storm had nothing to do with the adultery.

"The Storm"

In Kate Chopin's short story "The Storm" two past lovers end up in each others arms and follow their feelings of passion, committing an forgettable sin, adultery.
When a sin is committed like the one in this story there is never and excuse for it. The storm is no excuse for Calizta and Alcee's actions. The storm may very well be the reason for why they end up under the same roof, the power of the dangerous storm bringing out their past feeling for each other, that are very strong, and powerful like the storm. They obviously still passionately care about each other. The storm in not the reason to act on those feelings. No they cannot control the strength of there feelings which my reflect on the power of the storm, causing Calizta fear, that leads her into Alcee's arms in the first place. The storm my be to blame for them being in each other company, but they can do the right thing and strictly only take cover to stay safe and out of harm. Instead Alcee's move to comfort Calizta end up causing more harm in possibly hurting the people they love along with themselves. They are responsible for their own actions and cannot use the storm as an excuse.

The Storm

In this story a chain of events lead to a characters adultery.

In the Beginning of the story Calixta's husband (Bobinot), and son (Bibi) get stuck at Friedheimer's store waiting out a bad storm. Calixta is at home alone during the storm until M'sieur Alcee (A former fling) unexpectedly rides up on his horse. Calixta welcomes him inside to wait out the storm. Calixta and M'sieur Alcee are both well aware that they are married, but the temptations are too strong. Soon their lips are locked...and so on.

I do not think that the storm is an excuse in any way for Calixta's and M'sieur Alcee's affair. When two people are committed to each other in such a way as marriage there should be no excuse for those actions. When God wrote the seventh commandment (Thou shall not commit adultery), I doubt he viewed a storm let alone anything as an excuse to break that commandment. No matter how hard life is at the time or how big of an argument you are in with a partner, there should always be an alternative to cheating. My favorite quote in this story was, "So the storm passed and everyone was happy". It is the people who wait out that storms that are able to think about everything more logically.

A&P

In A&P Sammy gives a lot of information about himself and how he was raised. He was brought up thinking that work was very important and him and his family sounded very close. It also seemed that his family did not have a lot of money. This is important because it could not have been easy for him to quit his job so easily. But the reason he quit was because he felt his manager embarrassed some customers and one he happened to be attracted to. The fact that he quit over this shows that he lacks some immaturity but at the same time it shows he is very strong person and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

"A & P"

John Updike's short story "A & P" is an interesting insight into the inter workings of a teenage male's mind. Throughout the work, Sammy shows signs of maturity and some utter immaturity. Updike uses the first person the first person point of view illustrate these qualities in his protagonist.

That Sammy says, or thinks, the things he does about the girls that come into the store shows that he has obviously not reached a level of maturity that society may deem acceptable. However, that he quit his job in the interest of upholding his own principles may prove otherwise. It can be argued that this is also a sign of lacking maturity, but I tend do disagree. Yes, Sammy may not have taken some important things into account (like not having a source of income after he'd made his decision) when determining the finality of his actions. But, to me, this is not a reflection of immaturity. I see this as an act of some integrity. Sometimes these things have to be disregarded when the sole aim is to act on one's principles. We would not be able to see this if we weren't allowed to see into Sammy's thought process. I think it is best shown when he says "... and my stomach kind of fell when I knew how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." This is indeed an admission of maturity. Sammy knows what he did was hard, but, in his own mind, ultimately right.

"A&P"

When reading this story about Sammy and the "A&P", Sammy makes him self sound like a little boy. As you read you soon to find out that he comes off as a teen boy. He works at a grocery store and one hot summer day these three girls walked in. It looked like they just walked off the beach with there swimming suites still on. He starts to describe them like there the best thing he has ever seen, and in a prude way. In a way he makes it sound like he forgets all about his job and is more focused on the teen aged girls. This shows what kind of person Sammy is and how he presents him self.
At the end of the story Sammy decides to quit his job. After all his boss was being rude to those girls that he was watching. Then in the end everyone is happy when Sammy rebels and quits his job after his boss got upset about the girls not dressed appropriately. There was some other factors that motivated Sammy in quitting is the nice warm weather. He also seemed like he did not like his job.

"Story of an Hour"

In Kate Chopin's short story "Story of an Hour"a young woman is thrust into a short-lived, however violent, emotional roller coaster. The same feelings would be reflected by anyone going through the same ordeal she does. Learning of the death of your husband is enough to send anyone into a very long period of depression and grief, but the main character in the story deals with it wholly differently. The author uses imagery as a way to show how the character does feel, hopeful and free.
The fifth paragraph in the story is one that shows the true feelings of Mrs. Mallard. When she looks out the window, she sees a picture of absolute renewal. This shows that her husband's death acts in this way, a certain rebirth. This is further explained when Chopin uses the phrase "suspension of intelligent thought" to show how Mrs. Mallard is looking forward into her bright future, rather than considering her married past. These thoughts are later addressed in paragraph ten when she realizes that freedom has entered her life. The last line of the story sums up just how the human condition is represented throughout. It seems the people in Mallard's life assumed her happiness in her marriage and were too ignorant to see that she wished to be freed from it all.

A&P

Sammy was always talking about the girls from the moment they walked into the "A&P", which tells me that he is in that adolecent part of his life where girls may be his main priority. Instead of paying attention to his job he was focusing on what the girls were wearing and trying to figure them out. He also comes off as a bit shollow when he says, "and the plump one in plaid, that I liked better from the back." Throughout the whole story he makes comments about the "A&P" such as,"I could see Lengel in my place in the slot, checking the sheep through." and "I bet you could set off dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists." By him making these comments it give me the feeling that he feels isolated and has become bored with his job.

I think that Sammy's primary motivation for quitting his job was to impress the girls, which is why he said it loud enough for them to hear and he looked back to see if they had heard him. I also think that there was more to it than just trying to be a "hero" for some random girls. Like i said before it seemed that he maybe felt isolated and bored with his job. I think that throughout the story Sammy began to find himself and realized what he really wanted out of life. Ever since the girls walked in there was one that stuck out and that he admired (Queenie). At the end of the story when he saw how she stood up for herself, I think it gave him the motivation to stand up for himself and do what he has been wanting to do for a long time....quit his job.

The Story of an Hour

In paragraph 5 Chopin uses imagery to explain what is happening in the outside world. I think it is one of the first times she has taken the time to look around herself when she is not in the grips of her husband. "The suspension of intelligent thought" simply means there is nothing else going on in her head besides the things she views in the outside world. Her eyes are the only things that are processing information to her brain. I believe the one sentence that epitomizes the human condition in this story is , "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself". All humans should always live for themselves and never try to live for another or be under the control of any one person.

"A&P"

"A&P" is a story of an experience in which a teenage boy makes a decision which does, and will continue, to allow him to grow as an adult. Sammy's ignorance, dislike of his job, and modest upbringing are all vital pieces of information which provide motivation for his rash decision.

In the beginning of the story we learn that Sammy is young at age nineteen. He is attracted to these girls, and because of this makes a rash decision to quit his job. However, he makes it clear from the beginning that this job is unpleasant. On page 220, he describes a customer, "She's one of those cash-register-watchers... and I know it made her day to trip me up." We also know of his modest upbringing, which Sammy describes on page 222, "when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade..."

His initial motive may have been to impress these girls. On page 223 we experience his decision through his young, naive mind. "I say 'I quit' to Lengel, quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero." However, I feel there are deeper, underlying factors which cause Sammy to make this decision. Perhaps he feels stuck in a rut, not wanting to live a modest existence as his parents do. He may want to branch out, and although he feels fear in doing this, stated in the final phrase of the story on page 224, "My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." he doesn't turn back. I feel this is admirable, and will allow him courage in future decisions.

"A&P"

Sammy gives the readers information about himself throughout the story through his descriptions of others and situations that take place in "A&P." We learn that he is interested in women through the distraction he describes the girls that entered the store had caused for him. We also see his interest through his detailed descriptions of the three girls as they move through the store. In the middle of the story, we learn that his family is of a lower class than the leader of the girls through his description of serving lemonade versus serving herring snacks to guests on page 222 of the text. We also learn that Sammy has this job because of his parents' friendship with Lengel, which is described on page 223 of the text. We see that Sammy has a lot of respect for his parents and does not want to hurt them. All of these descriptions of Sammy tell us that he is a boy struggling with the emotions and hormones of a boy, which is consistent with him telling us that he is nineteen. Hormones can cause us to do crazy things when our beliefs and morals are challenged in the presence of those we are attracted to. This type of situation is unraveled for Sammy through the story's progression.
Sammy's primary motivation for quitting his job seems to be the urge to impress the three girls that were embarrassed by Lengel. We see this because he says that he watched for them to stop and look back at him, but they keep walking. Another reason he quits seems to be that his beliefs were challenged in the way Lengel publicly embarrasses the girls. Finally, we see his belief to always go through with your actions as his final motivation to go through with quitting his job.
Overall, we see Sammy struggle with his own personal beliefs being challenged and how to handle it without disappointing his parents. In the end, he quits his job regardless of how his parents will feel about it.

"A Story of an Hour"

I think that paragraph 5 means that she has accepted what has happened and that she is ready to start her new life over. Even though her husband’s death was tragic she realize that life still goes on around her.

I think in paragraph 7 that “suspension of intelligent thought” meant that she just didn’t know what to think about anything. She was just stunned by her husband’s death and not sure how to think. She felt like she was in opposite state of being because nothing felt real it is hard to imagine living without her husband.

The Passage where she said “Free, free, free!” It seemed that she was almost happy he was gone. She loved him and he was good to her but, she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life with him.

A&P

Throughout the entire story the main character Sammy tells a lot about himself, but most of it is indirectly. The disgust he shows when talking about everyone's mundane routines shows that he has rebellious tendencies. He describes the girls in such detail that it becomes obvious he has entered the phase of chasing women. Towards the end when Lengel mentions how Sammy doesn't want to quit and do that to his parents he thinks "It's true, I don't" which shows he cares about his parents and wants to do good by them. Sammy's primary motivation for quitting his job is to break away from the status quo. He does not want to end up like Stokesie and the rest of suburbia. There is a revolution about to happen and he wants to be a part of it. The girls came in and showed him that social norms aren't always right and dont always make sense. Aside from that I think he was very attracted to these girls and wanted to impress them by standing up for them.

"Story of an Hour"

I feel paragraph 5 is significant because it puts the reader in the room. It takes us right to where she is. Not just in the physical realm, but also in her state of mind. I think that "suspension of thought" is that point when you are stuck on something, stuck on a thought, but it has a purpose. We can have many dazed moments in life, but not all of those moments have a purpose. Sometimes we just have wandering minds. I think the opposite would be in paragraph 19 when she is thinking about all that is to come, a life alone, a long life. This was a good story. It brings to light some of the emotions that one might have if they loose their significant other.

A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily is not your typical story to say the least. One of the things that make this story more of a mystery is the fact that it is told in an objective 3rd person point of view. This point of view gives the reader very little insight, in an effort to encourage more of self interpretation from the reader. Something that is certain is that Emily killed her beloved homer, the only man that had had the opportunity to love her. Emily never truly learned how to have a relationship with someone of the opposite sex because of “all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 208). Instead of going through the biggest change in her life and trying to learn how to become a couple, Emily decide to make things easier and kill her husband. She no longer had to hold a conversation and withstand the awkwardness; however she was still able to sleep next to him every night, for the rest of her life. Amanda Klepperich

Am I doing this right?

Hello! This too is my first blog experience. I hope that i learn how to do it!

The Yellow Wallpaper

The protagonist in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is actually very sick despite what her husband and brother (two doctors) believe. She knows even in the beginning of the story that something is just not right about herself. She gets moved out to a empty colonial mansion that she is not comfortable with from the start. She does believe it is a beautiful place but she still does not like it. John her husband had moved her to this Manson in the belief that is it for her benefit. He truly believe she will be able to get all the rest and fresh air out in the strange lonely place that she needs to get healthy again. She loves to write which her husband insists will not help her get better faster. John does not want her thinking or exercising her brain at all. So to respect her husbands wishes she keeps him in the dark about her writings. The longer she is there the worse it is, she is getting sicker even thought her husband seems to think she is getting better. She attempts to express her feeling with her husband but he does not have the time for her foolishness and he is in denial to her condition. Toward the end of the story her illusions have become even stronger. At first she believes there is a woman in the wall shaking and moving around, crawling through the wall. This happens at night because during the day the woman or women are outside creeping around the garden and shaded lanes. She is unsure how many there are because she sees them everywhere. Is it because there is more than one or is it because the woman creeps so fast, she wonders. At the end, her sickness as become so bad that she is intensely involved or preoccupied and affected with madness, that she now believes that she is part of the wallpaper and only comes out during the day. She is intensely trying to get all the wall paper off the walls so she will not have to be put back in there when night falls. She has come to believe that her husband is the one that has been keeping her trapped in the wall and she was bound and determined to stop him.

The shifts of the plot change a little closer to the end in the last section starting at paragraph 18 or 20 when the protagonist starts to realize that she the woman in the wall.

A Rose for Emily

Trying to dig deep into this short story was hard and took some time to read and re-read. I have found that the narrator was someone who knew all the characters all so well. It made the story end up to be something that I had not expected. The narrator seemed like they where a single person. something all a long.
What Emily dose to Homer is unreal. She get poison to kill him but when others think she is trying to kill her self. After everyone started to know that he has gone and is missing the towns people started to wonder about Homer. The thing is Emily dose not say anything about him and gains weight and is not see out side her home as much. I feel as if Emily wanted him so much that she just had to kill him and keep him close.

The Story of an Hour

The significance of paragraph 5 is to help the reader realize that Mrs. Mallard is actual at peace with herself, her husbands death, and her surroundings. Despite the tragic news about her husband, she is still able to notice the beauty, and other life around her that still goes on. "Suspension of intelligent thought" (p.193 paragraph 8) simply means that Mrs. Mallard is expressing absolutely no thoughts at this very moment. Her mind is still.
When Mrs. mallard was thinking that she had loved her husband but also was aware she didn't love him all the time (paragraph 15). She new it didn't matter whether she loved him all the time or not, she was a strong and indepentant person.
The passage about Mrs. Mallard realizing that her life is now her own. All the days to come and she knows they will come fast (going through the seasons) but it will seem "life might be long." (paragraph 19). Because now Mrs. Mallard knows she will be alone.

"A&P"

Sammy's background might have gave him some motivation to quit his job.
Sammy's family was not very rich in sense of " When my parents had someone over they get lemonade"(para. 14). So when he caught his eye on a fascinating girl in which he named "Queenie" he fell for her. He pictured her family as eating "herring snacks on toothpicks off a big plate"(para. 14) which meant that they were well off. There was three girls and she was the leader. "She had oaky brown hair that the sun and salt had bleached, she held her head so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders, looked kind of stretched but I didn't mind." (para. 4). So then when Lengal happened to see the girls he was upset. Lengel stated "Girls, this isn't the beach"(para. 13). They got upset and made a comment back and became embarrassed. In which turn upset Sammy, he had a thing for Queenie. So to catch her attention hopefully as she was walking towards the door he stated "I Quit"(para. 22). The girls kept on going, but now that he had started he had to finish. Ended up quitting and running out the door hoping that the girls would of been there. They were already gone. So he lost a job to impress a girl that he liked, in turn he ended up with nothing.

"The Story of an Hour"

"The Story of an Hour" tells the story of Mrs. Mallard's experience in learning of the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. Paragraph 5 is detailed in explaining the views outside her window as she encloses herself in her room. Although this description does not move the plot along, I feel that it does bring something to the story. This shows that although Josephine Mallard sits in a frame of mind described as, "suspension of intelligent thought," the world was still moving around her. There were events taking place. The beauty and the bustle of the outside world does not end, even as a person faces intense emotional grief, the kind of grief that can suspend all rational thought processes. The opposite of this state of mind occurs during Mrs. Mallard's revelation in paragraph 19. She, "breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." I feel this paragraph is the epitome of the story. Life can change overnight; life can change in mere minutes. The world continues on, as do we.

practice post

I'm finally able to figure this out and get started on unit 2 :)

"A Rose for Emily"

"A Rose for Emily" is told by a close neighbor that watches over Emily and the estate. The narrator makes it very interesting in the way that the story is told by keeping you in suspense. Emily only had her father and when he passed away there was nothing except the house. Men came when her father was alive but he drove all of them away. She had been alone for a short while and then met Homer. A man that took her out on Sundays in the buggy and made her feel good again. She must of known that Homer wouldn't of married her. "He liked men and drank with younger men in the Elks club, he was not a marrying man"(line 34-35). She was still in love with him no matter what and didn't want to lose him at any cost. She wanted to marry him but had some intuition that he might not. She had bought the arsenic before he had arrived the second time in which ended up killing him. She now had him forever and no one could take him away. She felt at peace when he was there and she could lay by him and know he wasn't going anywhere.

"A Rose For Emily"

The narrator of "A Rose for Emily" is an outsider within the community that Emily lives in. The narrator is someone that can see deeply in to Emily's life. This is seen in the great description of the letters Emily received in paragraph four of the first part of "A Rose for Emily". Only someone that knew Emily well could know such details of the letters received by Emily. The narrator also seems to know a lot of insight in to the happenings of the community as seen in section two where the Board of Aldermen meet and then go to Emily's house to spread the lime to rid of the smell. Because the narrator is an outsider looking in, it seems that we are given the story as the narrator remembers it, which is not in chronological order. As the narrator tells the story, each even triggers the memory of another event, which is then described. Also, by hearing the view of an outsider, it leads to immediate opinions, which may be negative, about Emily. However, by digging deeper those original negative opinions may become opinions of sympathy and understanding.
Emily poisons Homer. In paragraph three of section four, Emily and Homer seem to be preparing for a wedding. This shows that there are some true connections of love between the two. Although, we see a line of insanity in Emily's family, I do not believe this is necessarily the case for Emily herself. Three paragraphs before section three, we see that Emily was only left with her father's house after he passed away. In the next paragraph, Emily has trouble accepting her father's death and allowing him to be buried. The burial of her father was another loss to her. Poisoning Homer seems to be Emily's attempt to keep Homer in her life. By not allowing others to realize that he died, his body would not be taken away to be buried. This especially seemed to be the case in the last few paragraphs, where we see that Emily had laid next to Homer's deceased body. She truly just wanted to keep Homer in her life forever.

Practice Blog

Yeah! I think I figured out how to blog.

"A Rose for Emily"

The narrator in “A Rose for Emily” is a member of the town in which Miss Emily lives, making the point of view first person. The narrator starts with the present day and how the funeral of Miss Emily has turned into a town event of sorts. This makes us wonder what events lead to that conclusion. He or she then goes on to allude to the “smell” that is coming out of Miss Emily’s house after her father had died and shortly after Homer Barron “deserts” her. This furthers our curiosity at what happened inside Miss Emily’s house and what sort of a person she was. Then the narrator goes all the way to the beginning of the story and finishes it in chronological order, helping us put together the other missing pieces. I feel that the point of view used adds to the mystery since the narrator can’t get into Miss Emily’s head nor does he or she know what is actually going on inside the house. The narrator just gives the general information and the town’s assumptions. I feel that Miss Emily was lonesome after the death of her father and wanted a new male companion. Homer might have had feelings for Miss Emily, but he had no intention of being tied down. When Miss Emily learned this she poisoned him so he would be with her forever.