Rantings of a Queer Pagan

English Journal - Short Story Unit

Where possible links to the actual text of the short story are included. No link, no usable Google results for it. :) Feedback deeply appreciated, I want to see if you think I'm getting it, or missing something. Reading comprehension and writting are critical to my new career, so help me out folks.


Journal 17
Story: I stand here ironing
Assigned: Write a description of a character from a short story. Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

Throughout the course of the story, Emily’s Mother’s actions and words reveal her to be a loving mother wrestling with her own guilt over her daughter's upbringing. She is someone who wants nothing more than to show her daughter, Emily, the love she has always felt but can never give her. Emily’s mother feels guilty over mistakes she made as a young mother with Emily because she feels she has not given her daughter the life she feels Emily deserves and that she may have caused Emily to have some of the problems she evidently now has. This is supported when the mother talks of the hardship they both endured when Emily was born: “I was nineteen. It was the pre-relief, pre-WPA world of depression”. Without the knowledge of how to raise a child or the necessary funds, she does not spend much time with her daughter, instead she takes Emily to the father’s family until she saves enough money to bring her back.

Journal 18
Story: The Resplendent Quetzal
Assigned: Write about the setting of one story. How does the setting contribute to the story as a whole?

In an attempt to escape from the truth of their failing marriage, Edward and Sarah go on vacation, and the location of the story symbolizes the state of the marriage. The story is set at the site of some ancient Mayan ruins somewhere in Mexico, now overrun with big-hatted American tourists and gold-toothed Mexican guides. The main attraction of the site is an ancient Mayan sacrificial well. It is large and mud-brown with "a few clumps of reeds" growing in the murky water. Sarah had envisioned something more like a wishing well, not this primitive, swamp-like hole in the ground. Sarah's expectations of what the well would look like symbolize what she thinks her and Edwards relationship should have turned out to be like. Instead, she is just disappointed. The Mayan ruins symbolize the remains of their marriage. The foundation and its structures have been destroyed leaving nothing but a dysfunctional pile of rubble.

To be on vacation is to go somewhere out of the ordinary and to take a break from ones everyday life. This is what Sarah and Edward hoped to do by going to Mexico, to get away from the unhappy reality of their marriage. They tried to escape the real world by entering a superficial one. The westernization of the village they are staying in and the commercialization of the Mayan ruins represent their superficial world. The "authentic" Mexican diner where they ate had a radio shaped like Fred Flintstone playing American pop songs, a crèche with an eclectic collection of holy figurines and a TV playing a dubbed version of "The Cisco Kid". The Mayan site was swarming with foreign tourists with their generic guidebooks, straw hats and large "tasteless" handbags. All this covers up the natural, real world for a supposed more appealing and beneficial one. The real world is seen in the ancient well, the ruined pyramids, and the fleas whose bites "swell-up" on Edwards legs however, not as pretty as the brochures no doubt made it out to be.

It goes to show that reality can be less appealing than we think, but will continue to exist whether it is acknowledged or not.

Journal 19
Story: A&P
Assigned: Examine how an author uses point of view in one stroy. Does the point of view change?

Author John Updike did a wonderful job using point of view in this short story. Webster's dictionary defines point of view as a position from which something is considered or evaluated. In this short story, first person point of view is used by the narrator, a nineteen-year-old boy who works at a grocery store called “A & P”. The story is written in first person point of view which allows Updike to demonstrate objectification of women, his overreactions as the story concludes, and the large array of Sammy's colloquial language.

Updike’s use of the first person point of view allows the story to be very narrow in perceptive scope, much like its narrator Sammy. Sammy's concern for the in his girls at the beginning of the story is limited, whereas at the conclusion he becomes attached and reacts in a way unseen for the situation. First person point of view creates vivid imagery used to describe the girls as a juvenile thought they were, not what everybody else thought. As Sammy shows his critical thoughts, the ironic ending shows that looks can be deceiving.

Journal 20
Story: Araby
Assigned: Analyse the language in one story. Pay close attention to how the author uses figurative language like images and metaphors.

Araby author James Joyce did an impressive job of discussing very deep issues through his skills in using images of light, vision, and beauty. He is able to discuss things like religion, infatuation, and inner human feelings simply through descriptive words in what seems like a simple story at the surface.

On the surface, Araby is a just the story of a boy’s trip to the market to get a gift for a girl he has a crush on. Yet after careful consideration, the short story turns out to be a young man’s struggle with religion, his love, and the realization that he is a very shallow person for being infatuated with the physical beauty of a woman. With the very first line of Araby, Joyce is being critical of the church during his time. “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free.” Interestingly, James Joyce describes the street in terms of vision. He calls the street and its people “blind.” Perhaps they are blinded by religion. Another very critical point here is that he describes the boys being “free” when they leave their Christian school at the end of the day. It seems as though at one point, even the boy had been a victim of his church’s beliefs.

Later, this same setting of the area where a priest died, is also the location of the boy meeting or dreaming about his love. Furthermore in describing the religious state of his neighbours and his own home, he uses very dark descriptions. There are “dark muddy lanes behind the houses” and “dark dripping gardens” where him and his friends played. These are very contradictory to connecting religion with light. When describing his playmates and himself, he contrasts it to the description of the neighbourhood. Their shouts “echoed in the silent street” and their “bodies glowed” in the cold air.

After the reader is exposed to the religious situation of the boy and his neighbourhood, he is also introduced to the boy’s love interest. Here, Joyce again uses light, vision, and beauty to describe the situation. Unlike the dark and gloomy neighbourhood that is full of conformists and apathetic worshippers, the romantic part of the story is slightly different, full of light and heaven-like descriptions by the boy.

Journal 21
Story: A Good Man is Hard to Find
Assigned: Explain how the plot of a story is developed. Does the author build suspense? How? Is the story suprising in any way?

I think that Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is written partially in order to “convert” people who have not yet fully accepted the Christian faith. An example of this involves the grandmother’s strong, southern heritage. She dresses with the intention that anyone who finds her dead on the road will know she was a lady, and she is always telling stories of southern gentlemen courting her. Then, the Misfit, whom she “knows” is of quality, southern blood, shoots her and her family, despite her belief in southern hospitality. Grandma is a woman who believes in God, but it seems that her belief isn’t really strong up until her confrontation with the Misfit.

It is an exceptionally well-written short story with both tension and provoking religious content. The ending doesn’t come as much of a surprise, though, it still is good for a short story. The plot may be a bit illogical when given more thought, but overall this is an exciting and interesting work, which can be enjoyed by non-Christian readers as well.

Journal 22
Story: Everyday Use
Assigned: Find an object or element that acts as a symbol i a story and explain what it means, and how it adds to the story as a whole.

Maggie is a symbol of functioning heritage. She is truly wholesome, compassionate, understanding, and an intelligent woman of culture. She is able to genuinely appreciate the history and meaning of the quilts. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” whereas Dee sees them merely for their “Priceless” social value. Maggie receives the quilts from her Mama not just for a wedding present, but also due to the fact that she understands the importance of the quilts from a point of personal heritage and culture.

Everyday Use shows that one's culture and heritage are taught from one generation to the next, not suddenly picked up or acquired. A person who possesses real heritage and culture make use of it every day of their life.

Journal 23
Story: Dead Men’s Path
Assigned: Explain the theme of a story; you might like to make a comarison between 2 stories with a similar theme.

Arrogance can be hazardous to ones well being

In Dead Men's Path the character Michael Obi made the point of going against the villagers by trying to destroy their traditions. By using what he thought was his good and modern judgments and beliefs, in the end however, by refusing to listen to the community, it was that attitude that destroyed him. Similarly in Oedipus The King, Oedipus listened only to himself and by that he destroyed himself and the people who were close to him. Personally, I stand behind the ideas that I believe in. Sometimes though, being stubborn as I am, I create more problems by trying to prove my point of view. Ultimately, sometimes trying your hardest to do the “right thing” can be the wrong thing to do.

posted by Kasper @ 02:30