“A Jury of Her Peers” is told in third person limited point of view. The setting is in the Wright house in Dickson (possibly Dixon) County Nebraska, near Omaha, during the cold, snowy month of March. The mood is cautious and lonesome. The protagonist and antagonist roles were unclear to me, because there were numerous conflicts. My best guess is the investigation party (the three men and two women) being the protagonists, and Mrs. Wright being the antagonist. The men are static and the two women are round characters and change views on how they think about the case. The context is essential to the plot, creating the life of a farm wife and troubles of being in a lonesome place with really no social contact. The way the women take every little thing, like the stitching in the quilt, and evaluate it, to come to some conclusion, is very important. The conflict of this story has many layers. First, is the Wright couple having problems (man vs man). Mrs. Peters wanted to tell what the women had figured out because she is “married to the law” (man vs circumstance). Mrs. Hale wishing she had visited Mrs. Wright more often (man vs self). Mrs. Wright not keeping the house tidy and clean, like women should, according to the men (man vs society). The theme is to not dismiss people or seem as if you don’t care about someone. Mr. Wright didn’t care about the bird, or what it meant to Mrs. Wright, he didn’t seem to really care about her. Mrs. Hale felt bad for dismissing the opportunities to visit Mrs. Wright. And the Men dismiss how intelligent the women really are. Symbolism is shown with the canary loving to sing, and Mrs. Wright loving to sing.
This story is really interesting. It’s the whole murder mystery thing that makes it fun to read. But it shows how women were so easily dismissed years ago, before people realized we’re just as smart. It shows how many conflicts can be going on, visibly, silently, with only hints. And it shows how people wish they had done things that it is too late to do.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall By Katherine Anne Porter
When I was reading, I was confused on point of view being either 3rd person limited or first person, because it seems to jump back and forth between the two within the paragraphs, but for the most part it is 3rd person limited. The main characters are Granny, Dr. Harry and Cornelia. Granny, I think, is the protagonist, and Dr. Harry and Cornelia are the antagonists because they both conflict with Granny rather equally. The setting was also slightly ambiguous, obviously Granny was bedridden even though her thoughts wandered to normal activities, but being either in a hospital of some kind or her own home was left for the reader to decide. I felt like the mood was kind of dreamy and sad, almost like a state where you’re too dazed to really feel a strong emotion, like with Granny moving in and out of her consciousness. Granny’s conflict was man versus circumstance, her fate, her life, being left at the altar by John, and George dying put her in a position where she had to do everything, and now life is taking the only thing she wants to do, which is be alive and carryout everything like she was before. The theme is that people shouldn’t discard others, or “jilt” them out of their lives, because everyone means something to someone.
This was a challenging story, not as much as The Yellow Wallpaper, but I definitely had to pay attention to the point of view and who was speaking when. It made me think about what was going on and what that means in the story and outside the story, applying it to me. Personally, I loved how Granny was basically bedridden but thought she could still do anything she wanted.
This was a challenging story, not as much as The Yellow Wallpaper, but I definitely had to pay attention to the point of view and who was speaking when. It made me think about what was going on and what that means in the story and outside the story, applying it to me. Personally, I loved how Granny was basically bedridden but thought she could still do anything she wanted.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Tell-Tale Heart & Catbird Seat
The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe
This short story by Poe is told in first person, stream of consciousness, point of view, by the protagonist. The protagonist is a man that is quite obviously insane, who believes he is clever in every act he sets in place in order to kill the old man, who is the antagonist. The old man is a tenant of the same building as the protagonist, his one blue-eye is fixated on by the narrator, and it is supposedly the reason why he is killed. The protagonist is a round character whom is very complex, the way he tells you what he is doing and how he is doing it and why he is doing it shows you everything. The setting is in an older time period, no electricity, gold is of importance on a private level, the floor is wood planks. Everything takes place at night or in the early morning. The mood of it is creepy and dark. I think the conflict is very much external, the protagonist is so fixated on the old man’s blue eye that nothing else matters to him except killing the old man just to get rid of the eye. There is also an obvious struggle internally for the protagonist, he’s definitely insane. The theme for The TellTale Heart I think is that when you know you’ve done something bad, your conscious will still haunt you about it, so you shouldn’t want something and realize it wasn’t a good choice. The protagonist didn’t realize that the “heart” beating under the floorboards while the police were there was probably just his conscious taking over.
I really like this story; I like most of Poe’s work. The protagonist is so creepy that it’s interesting; you just can’t put the book down after you’ve started reading it. Its one my favorite short stories. I can’t imagine someone fixating on something to the point of wanting to kill someone over it, that’s just crazy.
The Catbird Seat By James Thurber
The Catbird Seat is written in third person limited omniscient point of view. The protagonist is Mr. Martin who is a very intelligent man who doesn’t drink or smoke, and has a regular schedule for everyday. He is a round character, complex in thought, and hard to predict what he will do. Mrs. Barrows is the antagonist; she is very annoying and obnoxious. She is a static character because she never changes, she is predictable. The setting is in New York, in 1941 and 1942, in the office of F&S where Mr. Martin has worked for 22 years. The conflict is external, the protagonist Mr. Martin is against his department at F&S being changed under the decisions of Mrs. Barrows and he tricks her into making herself seem crazy mentally. The theme is to take charge of what you do in life, or in the workplace, to make the right choices. The social context of the story is that women in the 40’s didn’t work much in offices, other than maybe being a receptionist and that could be why Mr. Martin disliked her so much. There were allusions to quotes used by the Brooklyn Dodgers announcer. It was ironic how Mr. Martins plan was carried out, making Mrs. Barrows seem insane. It was also ironic that Mr. Martin did eventually “sit pretty” in the catbird seat, still having his job, and how he wanted his department in the end.
For the longest time in this story I thought Mr. Martin was going to murder Mrs. Barrows, it just seemed that is what he was up to. But, the foreshadowing with getting the cigarettes told us otherwise I suppose. It was an interesting story, not what I expected it to be, not that I expected it to be boring, just that it took turns in directions I wasn’t expecting.
This short story by Poe is told in first person, stream of consciousness, point of view, by the protagonist. The protagonist is a man that is quite obviously insane, who believes he is clever in every act he sets in place in order to kill the old man, who is the antagonist. The old man is a tenant of the same building as the protagonist, his one blue-eye is fixated on by the narrator, and it is supposedly the reason why he is killed. The protagonist is a round character whom is very complex, the way he tells you what he is doing and how he is doing it and why he is doing it shows you everything. The setting is in an older time period, no electricity, gold is of importance on a private level, the floor is wood planks. Everything takes place at night or in the early morning. The mood of it is creepy and dark. I think the conflict is very much external, the protagonist is so fixated on the old man’s blue eye that nothing else matters to him except killing the old man just to get rid of the eye. There is also an obvious struggle internally for the protagonist, he’s definitely insane. The theme for The TellTale Heart I think is that when you know you’ve done something bad, your conscious will still haunt you about it, so you shouldn’t want something and realize it wasn’t a good choice. The protagonist didn’t realize that the “heart” beating under the floorboards while the police were there was probably just his conscious taking over.
I really like this story; I like most of Poe’s work. The protagonist is so creepy that it’s interesting; you just can’t put the book down after you’ve started reading it. Its one my favorite short stories. I can’t imagine someone fixating on something to the point of wanting to kill someone over it, that’s just crazy.
The Catbird Seat By James Thurber
The Catbird Seat is written in third person limited omniscient point of view. The protagonist is Mr. Martin who is a very intelligent man who doesn’t drink or smoke, and has a regular schedule for everyday. He is a round character, complex in thought, and hard to predict what he will do. Mrs. Barrows is the antagonist; she is very annoying and obnoxious. She is a static character because she never changes, she is predictable. The setting is in New York, in 1941 and 1942, in the office of F&S where Mr. Martin has worked for 22 years. The conflict is external, the protagonist Mr. Martin is against his department at F&S being changed under the decisions of Mrs. Barrows and he tricks her into making herself seem crazy mentally. The theme is to take charge of what you do in life, or in the workplace, to make the right choices. The social context of the story is that women in the 40’s didn’t work much in offices, other than maybe being a receptionist and that could be why Mr. Martin disliked her so much. There were allusions to quotes used by the Brooklyn Dodgers announcer. It was ironic how Mr. Martins plan was carried out, making Mrs. Barrows seem insane. It was also ironic that Mr. Martin did eventually “sit pretty” in the catbird seat, still having his job, and how he wanted his department in the end.
For the longest time in this story I thought Mr. Martin was going to murder Mrs. Barrows, it just seemed that is what he was up to. But, the foreshadowing with getting the cigarettes told us otherwise I suppose. It was an interesting story, not what I expected it to be, not that I expected it to be boring, just that it took turns in directions I wasn’t expecting.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
First Confession & A Clean Well-Lighted Place
First Confession By Frank O’Connor
First Confession is written in innocent eye point of view and told by the protagonist, Jackie. Jackie is a young seven year old boy who lives with his parents, older sister and grandmother. He is a dynamic character, because he changes from being an unruly, rude, and fighting child, into a truthful confessor at the church with the priest. The antagonist is Nora, Jackie’s sister, she is mean to him throughout the story, attacking him verbally and a few times physically. She is a static character because she never changes her ways of being mean, hypocritical, and lying. The setting of the story is in two locations, at Jackie’s home, which has a feeling of anger and repulsion, as the location changes to being in the church, confessing his sins, it turns humorous and lighthearted, almost happy. The conflict is both external and internal. External being Jackie’s disagreements with Nora and his grandmother, internally being his anxiety and overall not wanting to go to confession. The conflicts are essential to the plot. The context is religious, not that one would need to have a vast knowledge of Christianity, the context in which it is used is simple enough to not need a lot of background knowledge. Overall the theme for this short story may be that telling the truth isn’t as bad as it sometimes may seem. Some symbolism I seen was perhaps when Nora and Jackie were going down the steep hill to the church, it being similar to his thought of going immediately to hell because he didn’t want to confess anything. Also an allusion, Adam leaving Paradise can refer to John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, where Adam and Eve are forced to leave “paradise” or the Garden of Eden.
I actually liked this story, more than I thought I would, honestly. It related to me in a few ways, especially with the communion teacher. She reminded me of my confirmation teacher, with the exception of her ranting on pre-marital sex, not the general sinning. So it kind of made me laugh. I also liked the priest, being protective over Jackie when Nora basically hit him in the hallway of the church and really going easy on him, kind of laughing it off but still being serious with him. This story was kind of a nice surprise, I really like religious type fiction, or sermons from back in the day, like Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Its just really interesting to read, peoples views are always different.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway
Third person, limited omniscient presides over this short story. Characters in this story are the Old Man, the young waiter and the older waiter. The protagonist is the older waiter, because he keeps his mind positive about what is going on, and tries to bring the concept of people having a need to be in the café at night. The antagonist is the younger waiter. He continually complains about everything – wanting to go home, being tired, having a wife and not being with her, and so on – he is also very gossipy and rude, he argues with the antagonist that the café doesn’t need to be open late. They are both static, because they stick to their thoughts throughout the story. The setting is in Spain, from anywhere around 1869 to 2002, the peseta mentioned when the old man left a tip, was currency in Spain within that time period, the Spanish language throughout the text also hints at this. The mood of the café section was sad and irritated, moods expressed respectively by the older waiter, and younger waiter towards the old man. The customs within the setting fit, being out late is somewhat normal for Spain, at least from what I know, also the high religious expectations which the older waiter mocked while saying the “Our Father” prayer, repeating the word nada or “nothing” over and over. The conflict was external in a man versus man set up (or young man versus old man), being the older waiter arguing with the younger waiter. The theme, I thought, was to not judge people you don’t know, because of the gossip over the old man being suicidal, and the older waiter having apparent insomnia. You never really know someone so you shouldn’t judge them on their reasoning.
This story was interesting. It really showed how people are different, and why they think differently. The foreign setting made me more interested in it. Something I disliked, not necessarily about the story but in general, was that the younger waiter was so rude and really talked about the old man in a gossipy way. How does he even know if the old man tried to commit suicide, really? It’s a pet peeve of mine.
First Confession is written in innocent eye point of view and told by the protagonist, Jackie. Jackie is a young seven year old boy who lives with his parents, older sister and grandmother. He is a dynamic character, because he changes from being an unruly, rude, and fighting child, into a truthful confessor at the church with the priest. The antagonist is Nora, Jackie’s sister, she is mean to him throughout the story, attacking him verbally and a few times physically. She is a static character because she never changes her ways of being mean, hypocritical, and lying. The setting of the story is in two locations, at Jackie’s home, which has a feeling of anger and repulsion, as the location changes to being in the church, confessing his sins, it turns humorous and lighthearted, almost happy. The conflict is both external and internal. External being Jackie’s disagreements with Nora and his grandmother, internally being his anxiety and overall not wanting to go to confession. The conflicts are essential to the plot. The context is religious, not that one would need to have a vast knowledge of Christianity, the context in which it is used is simple enough to not need a lot of background knowledge. Overall the theme for this short story may be that telling the truth isn’t as bad as it sometimes may seem. Some symbolism I seen was perhaps when Nora and Jackie were going down the steep hill to the church, it being similar to his thought of going immediately to hell because he didn’t want to confess anything. Also an allusion, Adam leaving Paradise can refer to John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, where Adam and Eve are forced to leave “paradise” or the Garden of Eden.
I actually liked this story, more than I thought I would, honestly. It related to me in a few ways, especially with the communion teacher. She reminded me of my confirmation teacher, with the exception of her ranting on pre-marital sex, not the general sinning. So it kind of made me laugh. I also liked the priest, being protective over Jackie when Nora basically hit him in the hallway of the church and really going easy on him, kind of laughing it off but still being serious with him. This story was kind of a nice surprise, I really like religious type fiction, or sermons from back in the day, like Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Its just really interesting to read, peoples views are always different.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway
Third person, limited omniscient presides over this short story. Characters in this story are the Old Man, the young waiter and the older waiter. The protagonist is the older waiter, because he keeps his mind positive about what is going on, and tries to bring the concept of people having a need to be in the café at night. The antagonist is the younger waiter. He continually complains about everything – wanting to go home, being tired, having a wife and not being with her, and so on – he is also very gossipy and rude, he argues with the antagonist that the café doesn’t need to be open late. They are both static, because they stick to their thoughts throughout the story. The setting is in Spain, from anywhere around 1869 to 2002, the peseta mentioned when the old man left a tip, was currency in Spain within that time period, the Spanish language throughout the text also hints at this. The mood of the café section was sad and irritated, moods expressed respectively by the older waiter, and younger waiter towards the old man. The customs within the setting fit, being out late is somewhat normal for Spain, at least from what I know, also the high religious expectations which the older waiter mocked while saying the “Our Father” prayer, repeating the word nada or “nothing” over and over. The conflict was external in a man versus man set up (or young man versus old man), being the older waiter arguing with the younger waiter. The theme, I thought, was to not judge people you don’t know, because of the gossip over the old man being suicidal, and the older waiter having apparent insomnia. You never really know someone so you shouldn’t judge them on their reasoning.
This story was interesting. It really showed how people are different, and why they think differently. The foreign setting made me more interested in it. Something I disliked, not necessarily about the story but in general, was that the younger waiter was so rude and really talked about the old man in a gossipy way. How does he even know if the old man tried to commit suicide, really? It’s a pet peeve of mine.
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Yellow Wall Paper & The Lottery
The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
In this literary fiction, the protagonist is an unnamed narrator who tells the story through first person point of view, she a subdued woman who is fighting to be well, to be free from behind the walls she is kept in. She is a round character that is complex in thought and how she acts as she pushes to be heard by her husband. The antagonist is the narrator’s husband, John. He believes there is nothing wrong with the narrator’s condition of depression, anxiety, and slight hysteria. He is a physician and thinks he knows what is best, and although John wishes narrator well, he is really not helping her to get better. John is a static character who never changes his ways of taking care of his wife. The story is set in early America at an old family estate, or a “haunted house” as the narrator called it at the beginning of the story. The change between night and day changes the setting within the room that the narrator must stay in, in the day things are calm and relaxed, at night she stays awake and concentrates on the wallpaper, on the woman held barred behind it. The social condition is in which women were thought of as child bearers and to take care of home life, the protagonist had decided or couldn’t take on those roles, she feels she has lost everything because of misunderstanding. The mood is depressed, dark, and curious. Conflict is first internal when the narrator is battling her illness, trying to convince John she needs to be around more people. Conflict turns to external when she tries to help the woman in the wallpaper escape, “woman” turns into “women”, the conflict issue becomes a slight anger towards society. The external context was that of society’s view of women as a whole. The theme is that women have talents, and knowledge that have a need to be respected.
When I read this story the first time, I was entirely confused about what was going on. Parts of it made sense, but putting it together as a whole I was lost. After rereading and taking breaks away from it to think, it started to slowly click together. Grasping the concept of this story was not easily done, its very complex, which I liked and disliked at the same time it was a brainteaser on a huge level. To what the protagonist’s condition was it really didn’t make sense, but that wasn’t the main part of the situation. In the “Essay on the story” section it was relayed to post partum depression, which would tie in the “nursery” and why she was not let near the baby. For the most part it was about facing down the personal issue with John ignoring her, and the larger view society has for women at the time. It was a very interesting story to pick apart and read.
The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
With third person limited omniscient point of view covering the text, I didn’t feel a grab towards either protagonist or antagonist upon any one of the characters. I felt that maybe the lottery and the village were in those categories but I was not sure. Even though the “lottery” is inanimate it seemed similar to a dynamic character in the fact that the idea of it changes from the beginning to end of the story, occurring ironically in a sense from lottery being generally thought of as a chance at winning something good, to changing to winning a stoning, and possibly death. The setting was very precise in it being June the 27th, on a clear sunny day in a village square. The mood was happy - almost excited, and anxious for the lottery to begin. Conflict is classical Man versus Circumstance, in this case the chance of winning the lottery. The context of the story was very social, with importance on tradition. I felt the theme was that tradition is of high importance, and that however high some traditions are held it doesn’t necessarily mean they are morally/ethically right.
It was hard to get over how extremely ironic this story was and how surprising the abrupt change in what I believed the lottery game was. Even though the young boys foreshadowed the stoning, with collecting rocks and pebbles, etc in the beginning, I still did not expect the denouement. I thought it was odd that the people of the village felt that tradition was of utmost importance but rituals were not, and how critical of other villages that were not keeping traditions when their lottery was so brutal.
In this literary fiction, the protagonist is an unnamed narrator who tells the story through first person point of view, she a subdued woman who is fighting to be well, to be free from behind the walls she is kept in. She is a round character that is complex in thought and how she acts as she pushes to be heard by her husband. The antagonist is the narrator’s husband, John. He believes there is nothing wrong with the narrator’s condition of depression, anxiety, and slight hysteria. He is a physician and thinks he knows what is best, and although John wishes narrator well, he is really not helping her to get better. John is a static character who never changes his ways of taking care of his wife. The story is set in early America at an old family estate, or a “haunted house” as the narrator called it at the beginning of the story. The change between night and day changes the setting within the room that the narrator must stay in, in the day things are calm and relaxed, at night she stays awake and concentrates on the wallpaper, on the woman held barred behind it. The social condition is in which women were thought of as child bearers and to take care of home life, the protagonist had decided or couldn’t take on those roles, she feels she has lost everything because of misunderstanding. The mood is depressed, dark, and curious. Conflict is first internal when the narrator is battling her illness, trying to convince John she needs to be around more people. Conflict turns to external when she tries to help the woman in the wallpaper escape, “woman” turns into “women”, the conflict issue becomes a slight anger towards society. The external context was that of society’s view of women as a whole. The theme is that women have talents, and knowledge that have a need to be respected.
When I read this story the first time, I was entirely confused about what was going on. Parts of it made sense, but putting it together as a whole I was lost. After rereading and taking breaks away from it to think, it started to slowly click together. Grasping the concept of this story was not easily done, its very complex, which I liked and disliked at the same time it was a brainteaser on a huge level. To what the protagonist’s condition was it really didn’t make sense, but that wasn’t the main part of the situation. In the “Essay on the story” section it was relayed to post partum depression, which would tie in the “nursery” and why she was not let near the baby. For the most part it was about facing down the personal issue with John ignoring her, and the larger view society has for women at the time. It was a very interesting story to pick apart and read.
The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
With third person limited omniscient point of view covering the text, I didn’t feel a grab towards either protagonist or antagonist upon any one of the characters. I felt that maybe the lottery and the village were in those categories but I was not sure. Even though the “lottery” is inanimate it seemed similar to a dynamic character in the fact that the idea of it changes from the beginning to end of the story, occurring ironically in a sense from lottery being generally thought of as a chance at winning something good, to changing to winning a stoning, and possibly death. The setting was very precise in it being June the 27th, on a clear sunny day in a village square. The mood was happy - almost excited, and anxious for the lottery to begin. Conflict is classical Man versus Circumstance, in this case the chance of winning the lottery. The context of the story was very social, with importance on tradition. I felt the theme was that tradition is of high importance, and that however high some traditions are held it doesn’t necessarily mean they are morally/ethically right.
It was hard to get over how extremely ironic this story was and how surprising the abrupt change in what I believed the lottery game was. Even though the young boys foreshadowed the stoning, with collecting rocks and pebbles, etc in the beginning, I still did not expect the denouement. I thought it was odd that the people of the village felt that tradition was of utmost importance but rituals were not, and how critical of other villages that were not keeping traditions when their lottery was so brutal.
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