Final Course Assessment Blog

During the past week of class, we have watched a film called the Stone Reader. Throughout this film, the director, Mark Moskowitz is desperately seeking the allusive author, Dow Mossman. Mossman wrote one of Mark's favorite books, The Stones of Summer, and then failed to produce another book. Moskowitz is incredibly interested to find out why such an amazing writer would write a book that received great reviews and then not publish anything else. Moskowitz has very little information to go on and spends two years meeting with people who have been associated with Dow and his book in their pasts. It was very interesting to hear what each of these people had to say about not only Dow, but other authors who have written books and then not produced any other work. Many people in the film claim that it is such an exhausting process that many writers simply wear themselves out and will not think of ever attempting it again. Dow's previous roommate said that sometimes he would watch Dow sit and work on his novel for 20 hours straight. I think it is rather ironic that just as these authors became obsessed with their precious novels, Moskowitz becomes upset with finding Mossman and asking his what happened. Along his journey to Mossman, Moskowitz meets with some pretty amazing people in the literary community. Just to name a few: Robert Gottlieb, the editor of Catch-22, Frank Conroy, and Leslie Fiedler. It was really neat to hear a lot of these people talk about writing and literature with such passion. I could tell it was something that all of them really enjoyed and never planned on giving up. I also liked the suspense the movie created. Maybe it was due to the fact that we viewed the movie over a three day time period, but after every class (especially Wednesday), I could not wait to find out what was going to happen next in Moskowitz journey. I found myself completely caught up in finding Dow Mossman. The movie also made interested in reading The Stones of Summer. However, if many of these men in the movie who read daily could not make it through the novel, I wonder if I would even last a couple of chapters. I found it funny that the place where Moskowitz finally finds Mossman, its the very same place where his life began, his childhood home. Although this has almost nothing to do with the movie, I was also a fan of the scenery in the film. I was so envious in the scenes where he was in Maine because it looked so beautiful, and I have always wanted to go there. Overall the film was very interesting and a lot better than I had initially expected. However, I now have a very daunting impression of pursuing writing as a career.

I have thoroughly enjoyed taking English 215 this year with Mr. Kudera. The range of material we read and analyzed was very diverse, and I feel like I have gotten a lot out of this class. Surprisingly, there was not one novel that I did not like at all. They were all entertaining in there own ways. It was very interesting to compare my high school English classed to a college English course. So many topics that seem to be "taboo" in high school were openly discussed in this class. I really appreciated this because it has always bothered me how entire aspects of literature I read in high school were overlooked simply because they were deemed "inappropriate." Saints at the River by Ron Rash was probably my favorite. I liked how Maggie, the main character, had studied at Clemson University, and that the the story took place so close to where we are. I grew up in a small town, so I could really relate to Maggie's experience when she returns home. My least favorite piece of literature that we read would probably have to be Glenngary, Glen Ross by David Mamet. I cannot really put my finger on what exactly I did not like about it, but it reminded me a lot of Death of a Salesman which I read in high school and was not a huge fan of. Aside from that, I really enjoyed pretty much everything that we read. Mr. Kudera was an excellent teacher who was very knowledgeable about all of the literature we read and the authors. I don't think I would have ever read some of the novels or short stories that we were assigned in this class on my own, so for that reason I am also glad that I took this course. I would recommend it to anyone who is interesting in reading some great books and having insightful discussions about them. It has been a very positive experience a much need break from my typical math and science courses!


MEGHAN MCDONOUGH

"After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" by Ha Jin Blog

"After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" was a very anti-capitalism and anti-globalization short story. It all begins when an American man, Mr. Shapiro, opens up a Cowboy Chicken restaurant in China. It is an American chain and many of the Chinese citizens are thrilled about it. A red ribbon ceremony even takes place on opening day. The new American cuisine excites the community. Most of the employees, including the main character, Hongwen, are all Chinese and speak little or no English. Peter, the manager, does all the translating between the boss and the employees. A multitude of things continuously go wrong for the employees of Cowboy Chicken until finally they are "terminated." The whole entire story the employees are brainwashed to believe that they are making so much money and learning the American ways by working in the restaurant. The first sign of trouble occurs when the restaurant tries to open up a buffet. They set a flat rate at nineteen yuan and ninety-five fen in which upon paying this the customers can each as much as they want to. The employees don't understand why the buffet isn't simply twenty yuan. They say, "Why didn't he price the it twenty yuan even." Then Peter tells them, "...this was the American way of pricing a product. You don't add the last straw to collapse the camel." This is another jab at the capitalist-driven American economy and how it is only concerned with duping the customers into paying more than they should. The next disaster that occurs because of greed and the desire to be known and make money is when they try and throw a wedding banquet. The banquet goes smoothly and according to plan until the next morning when 1/3 of the wedding party call and demand that they have food poisoning. Peter is slick and covers it up by claiming the the Chinese stomachs may not be able to handle lactose that was in the deserts. This seems to work for the most part. Next, an angry costumer comes in claiming there was a fly in his chicken. Jinglin and Hongwen threaten this man until he agrees not to sue. This is another action that is driven by greed. One day the employees all follow Peter home and see that he is having a huge Victorian mansion built. This is when they first become skeptical about what is going on at Cowboy Chicken. They decide to follow Peter one day after work again and see that he burns all of the left over chicken. They question him and demand to know why he is wasting all of the food when people are going hungry. He simply replies that it is his job. They remind him that he is one of them. I thought this was interesting because Peter has gone to American and been educated in the American ways. Perhaps this is why he is okay with destroying good chicken. On payday, the employees take a peek to see how much Peter makes. They come to the realization that he is being paid a huge amount more than they are. They try to object and go on strike thinking that they are key components of the company. However, they are replaced within a day with new employees. They had love and pride for Cowboy Chicken. The feeling, however, was not mutual. The American company failed them.

VOCABULARY:
will-o'-the-wisp: also known as Ghost lights, are believed to be a natural phenomenon, such as ignited pockets of swamp gas, that hover and rise over swamps, ignite by natural causes and glow blue or green.
wrangling: having a dispute or argument

(DICTIONARY.COM)

The Lazarus Project, pgs. 249-292

The last section of the assigned reading begins with Brik having to say goodbye to Iuliana. You can tell that he really cares for her a lot. Rora asks Brik when he returns to the hotel, "Did you bang her?" Brik responds and says, "She has a husband." Rora comes right back with the response, "You have a wife." Brik, however, decides to ignore the remark. Brik then goes into detail about his wife's job and explains to Rora that she is a surgeon. Rora talks about his significant other, Azra, who also happened to be a surgeon during the raids in Sarajevo. When Brik is finally faced with the death of Rora, he is very unsure about what exactly he wants to do with his life. He does not know if he wants to return to America and Mary. They also talk about Rambo killing Miller and how brutal it was. This foreshadows Rora's fate when he returns to Sarajevo. I love the quote that Brik says when they return to Sarajevo. He says, "Home is where somebody notices your absence." I thought that this was significant because he is regarding Sarajevo as home as opposed to America. He is also somewhat implying that Mary has not noticed his absence or missed him at all. However, what he calls home still seems to be muddy. It is not here or there. It was also funny how buckling up was also brought up again in the cab on the way to Sarajevo. He asks Brik to buckle whereas all the other drivers along their journey have been very unconcerned. Maybe this is supposed to illustrate that Sarajevo is where Brik belongs and where he will be safe? I was not surprised that Lazarus's story ended how it did, however Rora's death completely shocked me. I was not prepared for him to be shot and this was very. I feel bad for Olga who is left alone, and Brik is also left dazed and confused with no idea what the future may hold for him.The novel ends with Brik saying, "I am going to stay in Sarajevo for a while."

VOCABULARY: 
Miljacka: is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina that passes through Sarajevo and East Sarajevo
politsyant: "policeman" 

The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon, pgs. 1-50

I have really enjoyed the first fifty pages of The Lazarus Project. It was very quick read because I enjoyed it. It begins following Lazarus, who is suspected to be a Eastern European Jewish immigrant. He is walking through Lincoln Park in the 1900s, and everyone from the chief of police's maid to the owners of the local grocery store all treat Lazarus as if he is unwelcome and does not belong. At the grocery store the owners exchange suspicious glances with each other making it clear that Lazarus looks out of place: "Good morning, the woman says, haltingly, exchanging glances with her husband--they need to watch him, it is understood." Lazarus does not speak to them knowing that they will interpret his foreign accent. I can already tell there is going to be some critique of capitalism in the novel. When Lazarus goes back to the chief's house, they all assume he is some kind of anarchist and go crazy firing all kinds of guns off. I thought this scene was rather humorous because all of these people come in and start firing their weapons without and legitimate reason. They even end up shooting one another: "Chief Shippy shoots at the young man; blood gushes so hard that the burst of redness blinds Foley, who, being well trained and aware of Chief Shippy's dislike of drafts, is slamming the door shut behind him. Startled by Foley, Chief Shippy shoots at him, too, and then, sensing a body rushing at him, wheels around like an experienced gunfighter and shoots at Henry." I feel like the upper class of the 1900s was again being criticized when the press spins the story in favor of the chief, insinuating that Lazarus was malicious. Then the story shifts to the life of a writer Brik. He is researching the story of Lazarus with the intention of writing a book on it. He came to Chicago from Bosnia a while back. When Brik is first introduced he is at the annual celebration of the Bosnian independence day. I thought it was humorous how he talked about how when they get together, it is the one time of year where they all critique Americans and completely dissociate themselves from them. At the celebration they are all strictly Bosnian. Brik meets a wealthy couple, the Schuettler's. The wife, Susie, is particularly fond of Brik, and he ends up getting a writing grant from them to do his research on Lazarus. Brik is fed up with being supported by his neurosurgeon wife, Mary, so he is ecstatic to do something without a monetary contribution from her. At the celebration Brik runs into an old friend Rora when he snaps a photograph and Brik and Susie "dancing." After somewhat reconnecting with Rora over the next day, Brik decides he is going to bring Rora with him to Ukraine or Moldova to photograph and help him research. I am very intrigued to find out what exactly was in the envelope that Lazarus brought to the police chief. What was his reason for being at the chief's house?

VOCABULARY:
otiose: no practical purpose or result
Moldova: a land-locked country in southeastern Europe
Bosnian independence: Bosnia won independence from Hungary and endured as an independent Christian state for some 260 years. (August 29, 1189)

Saints at the River, pgs. 131-180

Chapter six begins with Maggie in her dark room developing a photo she took at the falls. It is of Herb Kowalsky looking down into the river were his daughter's remains lie. The photograph makes Kowalsky look defeated and shows him wiping away a tear from his eye. The photograph makes quite a splash in the office when Maggie begins to show colleagues. They are all very impressed with how powerful the simple photo of Kowalsky is. Lee says, "Sweet Jesus. That's the father?" You can tell right away that this photo is going to make quite a splash with everyone in Maggie's hometown because of the emotional response it is going to evoke regarding the Kowalsky's and their suffering. Shortly after Maggie shows Allen the photo, the two go to get coffee. When Maggie is crossing the street she is almost hit by a car. This hits close to home for Allen, and we finally hear the background story regarding the death of his wife and daughter. They had been on their way to pick Allen up from the airport. Allen and Maggie's romantic relationship also progresses in Chapter 6. Allen comes over to Maggie's for dinner for a date. On the date, Allen explains that writing this article has given him a second chance to be a good father. He says, "But this situation with Ruth Kowalsky, it's like I've been given another chance to be a good father by helping another man's daughter out of that river." Maggie tries to explain that Luke is not so different, but his good cause is the Tamassee River. Chapter 6 also goes into more detail about when Ben was burned, or more specifically his recovery and life after being burned. He had a difficult time being in public and social situations and their father only made things worse by forcing him to attend all the school dances and baseball games. Ben tells Maggie that she should let things go and forgive their father, but Maggie insists that she is not a big enough person to ever forgive her father. At the beginning of Chapter 7, Maggie receives and email from Luke regarding the picture she took for Allen's article. He says that he expected Hemphill would side with the Kowalskys but was disappointed in Maggie. He says, "A lot of people have devoted a significant part of their lives to saving the Tamassee. You have betrayed every one of those people." This later causes a little tension between Maggie and Hemphill. Chapter 7 also offered some insightful background on Maggie and Luke's relationship when they were younger. When it is time for the town meeting Maggie is surprised to see her father is present. She tells Allen that he is too sick to be here. She is even more perplexed when her father speaks about how dangerous the river is. Ellen Kowalsky speaks to the meeting about her daughter and every one in the meeting is immediately affected by her despair. Right away Luke and the river rats are aware that they have lost the battle. After the meeting Maggie's father approaches her and tries to apologize for Ben being burned that night so long ago. Maggie still can't seem to forgive him.

VOCABULARY:
Caulked: to seal a gap or hole with some substance
Blood Meridian: A western novel by Cormac McCarthy about a gang of scalp hunters who massacred North American tribes.

Orbiting by Bharoti Mukherjee

I really enjoyed the short story "Orbiting." Perhaps it was because it was very accessible and easily understood, but I also thought it was rather entertaining. The family dynamic in the story reminds me of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The parents in the movie are pushing their daughter to become successful and find a "suitable" husband as soon as possible. The parents in the movie respond to the daughter's American boyfriend in a very stand-offish way. Rindy's parents respond in a similar way to Ro and his distinct Afghanistan characteristics. Rindy's father expects Ro to enjoy drinking with the boys and watching sports, but these are both very foreign ideas to Ro. He had to fight for his life just to get out of Afghanistan and safely to America. It is very petty how Rindy's father judges him for not possessing these essential "male" characteristics when Ro has had to become more of a man than he is just to survive. Rindy's father's definition of torture was sitting in an office for thirty something years. Separate culture's definitions of masculinity are contrasted in this way. One line that again contrasts the different cultures and illustrates just how American Rindy is says, "When I think of Abdul, I think of a giant black man with goggles on, running down a court (pg. 65). It is funny how the first thing that comes to Rindy's mind is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer. At the end of the story, Rindy is in complete bliss when she realizes just how much she loves Ro. I am confused as to if this is really love because during the entire story she is referencing an ex-boyfriend, Vic. Vic seems to be the ideal boyfriend that Rindy's parents would love and approve of. Ro on the other hand is a complete 360 compared to Vic. As for the stories name-sake, Orbiting is mentioned at least twice in the play. However, I am unsure as to what the significance is. The first line that alludes to it is when Rindy is introducing Vic to the reader and says, "Who is he initiating now into the wonders of his inner space" (pg. 57). Another instance is on page 73 when Ro says, "For six days I orbit one international airport to another." I'm interested to hear the discussion in class as to what the title's significance is.

VOCABULARY:
Calabrian: A region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is separated from Sicily by the strait of Messina. 
King Cotton: song in which American military marches to

Glengarry Glen Ross, Act 1 scenes 1-2

As mentioned in class, I had to read a few pages of the play before I could catch on to the rhythm and understand exactly what was going on. The play begins with two men, Levene and Williamson, chatting in a booth at a Chinese restaurant. It sounds to me like they are in the sales business. Levene is begging Williamson to give him the good leads. The use of the word "leads" was a little misleading for me because then I thought that they might be in journalism. Levene is desperate to make the top of the "board," and it sounds as if his job depends on it. He is very temperamental and constantly is losing his cool and then apologizing for saying certain things to Williamson. I am not positive about Williamson's role in all of this. Is he a secretary for the bosses or is he one of the bosses? He often claims he will be fired and that he must do what he is told. However, it seems that the only thing that will sway Williamson is money that Levene does not have. This already hints at the capitalistic theme in the play that was mentioned in class on Monday. The system that the company has seems to me to be a bit flawed. They tell Levene that he must get back on the board, but they only give him second rate leads that are not going to make a sale. The whole entire first scene Levene is arguing for a lead and appears to making progress if he is willing to pay some money to Williamson, but by the end of the scene he still ends up with a lead that is on the "B-list." In the second act it is Moss and Aaronow sitting at the booth in the Chinese restaurant. They start complaining about the Indians who chat it up with them making them believe that they are going to make a sale and then are not interested. Moss says, "They're lonely, something." Once again the only concern is the money and not establishing a relationship with the customer. They talk about the hierarchy that exists in the office. If you sell the most, you get a Cadillac. If you do not sell enough, you get a set of steak knives. Finally, the worst two salesmen get fired. They mention a Jerry Graff who they claim runs a better business than Mitch and Murray. Moss actually suggests that someone should rob them and take their best leads. He plays this out like it is just an idea but Aaronow comes to realize he is serious and has even talked to Jerry Graff about it. Apparently Graff is willing to pay them for stealing the leads for him. Moss reveals that it may be more money than he let on but still plans to give Aaronow the same amount he said at first. He is also making Aaronow actually perform the robbery. Once again, this emphasizes the greed and importance of money.

VOCABULARY:
Lead: the identity of a human or entity potentially interested in purchasing a product or service, and represents the first stage of a sales process
(WIKIPEDIA)

The Same River Twice Blog, pgs. 54-109

As chapter 5 begins, the author speaks of how he has finally been paid for one of his short stories, so his wife is extremely pleased. He states, "The check validates her decision to have a child with me, proves that my days as a bum are gone." This line really shows how Rita expects Chris to become the bread winner that society expects of men when they have a child. Society places a large emphasis on materialistic possessions and being able to spoil your child. He talks about how the money is immediately spent on things like dinner on the town and curtains for the baby's room. The name of the book is also mentioned in this chapter when Chris goes down to the river. He explains the origin of the quotation and how a Greek named Heraclitus said, "You can't step into the same river twice." Honestly at this point I had no idea what he meant. Of course you can step into the same river twice. Chris then goes onto explain and says, "...and it occurs to me that you can't even step on the same bank twice. Each footstep alters the earth." This is an extremely profound statement. Rita insists on getting amniocentesis to verify that their child will be healthy and well. Toward the end of the chapter we learn that that baby is doing well. In chapter 6, the author continues to express his desire to search for and find something with meaning. There is a lot of water imagery in this chapter, which seems to be a common theme throughout that memoir. You really get a sense of how important Chris's journal is becoming to him. He talks about how his supplies and backpack are dispensable, but the journal is not. In the following chapter, Rita takes a Lamaze class and continues to worry about something going wrong with the baby. The pressure of being too inadequate to be a parents is again a central idea in this chapter. Again the selfishness surrounding being the best parent and having the best things consumes Rita. In chapter 8, Chris is picked up by a missionary, Al. Al immediately starts talking religiously about how it is God's will that they be riding together today. Al believes that Armageddon is coming. He says, "The prophecies are being fulfilled, my friend. Men and women live unmarried and sex is on TV. Grocery stores have electric machines that read invisible numbers. The Antichrist lives in Nevada." Chris also soon meets a man named Winner at a truck stop who seems to be a crystal meth addict. Much of this chapter is the ramblings of these two men. It was hard to follow at times. In Chapter 9, Chris reflects on parenthood. He thinks about how parents are expected to be aware of everything. He says, "A father must face everything. I try to open my vision in the way that helped me see the watermark on the trees." He is trying to use what he learns from nature and the woods and apply it to his life, more specifically being a father. In the final chapter of the reading assignment, Chris talks about the circus and the Parrot Lady who worked there. He says that the dwarfs refer to "upper crustacean" entertainment. Her show was for men only. She undresses during the show to reveal that she has tattoos of exotic birds all over her body. She swallows a giant light that makes her body "glow from within" and illuminates all of the exotic birds and their colors. Most of the chapter involves events taking place while Chris is working on the circus, but ends with him once again heading onward to a new place. He says, "...I was loyal to no direction. I was neither kinker, nor freak, yankee, nor reb, boss nor bum. I wasn't much of a playwright either."

VOCABULARY:
Kinker: A performer in a circus
Dexedrine: a form of amphetamine

"Emergency" by Denis Johnson Blog

The short story "Emergency" by Denis Johnson was a pretty intense read, filled with violence and drug abuse. The story revolved around the lives of the narrator and his friend, Georgie. They both work at a hospital with what is described as a highly incompetent team. It seems as if the author is trying to send a message about the medical system of today. When a victim (Terrence Weber) comes into the emergency room with a knife stuck in his eye, the doctor on duty has no idea what to do. He replies, "I'm not touching that head. I'm just going to watch this one." The narrator and Georgie are high on drugs for most of the story, so it is hard to tell whether or not the events described actually happened or if they were some hallucination dreamed up when they were high. At one point in the story the narrator gets confused as to whether or not he is recounting the story correctly. He says, "Or maybe that wasn't the time it snowed. Maybe it was the time we slept in the truck and I rolled over on the bunnies and flattened them. It doesn't matter."  When I was first reading the story it seemed to me that Georgie had something mentally wrong with him. Throughout the story he is talking about how he can't see and what not. However, I believe that this is just a result of heavy drug use. Something that I found odd is that although Georgie is portrayed as somewhat reckless and inept, he ends up saving the life of Terrence Weber and preserving the life of the baby rabbits for a little while. Toward the end of the story Georgie and the narrator pick up a hitchhiker. It is revealed that he has been drafted into the war and is trying to flee to Canada. I am assuming that this is referring to the Vietnam War, which took place in the late sixties and seventies. This helped bring the drug use throughout the novel into perspective a little bit. This was time when using drugs was a more common thing.

VOCABULARY:
Orderly: A nursing assistant who ensures the comfort, safety, and general well-being of patients in hospitals. He or she might help a person get out of bed, get dressed, and move around.

The Crying of Lot 49, Chapter 6

It is in Chapter 6 of the novel that Oedipa finally begins to give up hope on the whole Tristero theory. She begins to turn down opportunities to meet with people that might be able to tell her more about the Tristero. Oedipa starts to consider that she could possibly be going insane or that maybe Pierce plotted against her and planned this whole thing. She meets up with Bortz who is able to tell her lots of information on how the Tristero came to be. This doesn't satisfy Oedipa. She is eager to find out why Driblette used the alternate line in his version of The Courier's Tragedy. ("No hallowed skein of stars can ward, I trow, who's once been set his tryst with Trystero.") It turns out that Driblette drowned herself in the ocean, so Oedipa never finds out. When Oedipa goes to see Fallopian at the Scope to talk about all of the updates she has discovered, she realized even he is doubting her. He wants to know if she has considered the possibility that Pierce set the entire thing up. He says, "Has it ever occurred to you, Oedipa, that somebody's putting you on? That this is all a hoax, maybe something Inverarity set up before he died?" This really upsets Oedipa and seems to be one of the last straws. Now even the biggest conspiracy theorist she knows doesn't believe in her. Oedipa also finds out what W.A.S.T.E means ("WE AWAIT SILENT TRISTERO'S EMPIRE") This seems like it would be a big deal, but Oedipa still doesn't really understand what it means. Oedipa is feeling more lost than ever. She's lost her husband, Metzger, and all aspects of her old life because of Pierce's death and her obsession with Tristero. Her last hope is Pierce's stamp set. Genghis tells Oedipa that a mysterious individual is interested in the auctioning off of the stamp collection. They think that this possibly could be a member of Tristero trying to keep the stamps concealed. At the end of the book Oedipa decides to go to the auction out of curiosity to see who the mysterious person could be. However, the book ends before it is revealed. THIS ABSOLUTELY KILLS ME! I wanted to find out if Oedipa ever got any kind of absolution.

DEFINITIONS:
Pony Express:  A system of mail delivery operating from 1860–61 between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, using horse riders.

William of Orange: King of England and Scotland and Ireland; he married the daughter of James II and was invited by opponents of James II to invade England; when James fled, William III and Mary II were declared joint monarchs (1650-1702)

The Crying of Lot of 49, Chapter 3

Chapter three of The Crying of Lot 49 was very odd, and it was also somewhat hard for me to understand. The chapter begins following Oedipa's infidelity with Metzger. She gets a letter in the mail from Mucho. Is this supposed to serve as reminder to Oedipa that she is married woman? Oedipa finds a misprint on the envelope that read, "REPORT ALL OBSCENE MAIL TO YOUR POTSMASTER." The typo of the word postmaster really perturbs Oedipa for some reason, but Metzger just brushes it off. Oedipa and Metzger go to a bar nearby called the Scope where they run into many locals. They meet an eccentric character by the Mike Fallopian who runs a secret society. He proceeds to tell the "couple" about where his club got it name, "The Peter Pinguid Society." Fallopian talks about a lot of politics and history to explain what the group is all about. I became a little lost in this discussion. A mail man comes into the bar with vast amounts of mail, and as it turns out, the town is running a secret mail service. They are going against the government by doing this. At this point, it seems to me that Fallopian is somewhat of a comical conspiracy theorist. The chapter finally got interesting for me when Oedipa went to the ladies room and sees a flyer with a indistinguishable image on it. It looks like some kind of trumpet to me. It is a very vague flyer, and under the picture it says "WASTE only." I have no idea what this means, but it gave me something to look forward to in the novel, sort of like a mystery. The intrigue increases when Oedipa, Metzger, and the Paranoids run into Manny Di Presso while illegally borrowing a yacht. Di Presso is in full scuba gear and informs them that he is running from a client interested in suing Oepida's dead ex-husband over some business related to bones. Towards the end of the chapter Oedipa and Metzger decide to see a play that the Paranoids have mention, "The Couriers Tragedy." Pynchon takes the reader through all of the acts of the play. This portion of the chapter was probably my least favorite. It reminds me of a frame story, which I think is a story within a story. Oedipa hears the word "Trystero," which immediately catches her attention and she becomes paranoid. I am unfamiliar with the word besides the fact that mentions it in the very first sentence of Chapter 3. Chapter 3 left me with numerous questions, which I hope will be answered soon enough in the rest of the novel.

DEFINITIONS:
encapsulation (pg. 31): to be enclosed; to be summarized or condensed
allegory (pg. 31): a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
Czar Nicholas II (pg. 35) : Russia's last emperor  

"The School" Blog

It was very difficult for me to try and decipher what the underlying meaning of this short story was. The only thought that came to mind the first time I read the story through was, "Wow, that was depressing." The story begins with the class of children planting numerous orange trees that eventually end up dying. Soon the reader comes to find that this is only one of many occurrences in which something that involves this particular class dies. I like how the the narrator is speaking as if he is casually telling a story to friend or two. "Well, we had all these children out planting trees, see, because we figured that...that was part of their education..." The language is easy to understand and straight forward. As the story progresses, the subjects that die become more and more shocking. It begins with orange trees, snakes, herb gardens, tropical fish, and a salamander, but it soon advances to a puppy, parents and grandparents of the children in the class, and even two classmates. At the end of the story, the children address the teacher and ask him where all of these things that died went? "They asked me, where did they go? The trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, Edgar..." He answers them honestly saying he  doesn't know. The children then go deeper and begin to ponder whether death is the meaning of life. At this point I began to question the age of these children. From the beginning I assumed that they were rather young, but at the end of the story they seem to be so bright and wise. For example in this line, "Then they said, but isn't death, considered as a fundamental datum, the means by which the taken-for-granted mundanity of the everyday may be transcended in the direction of--" I definitely was not speaking like this when I was a child. Then the class begins to ask the teacher about sex. I am not really clear at all on what the meaning of this portion of the story is. Perhaps a loss of innocence? Finally at the very end of the story a new gerbil is brought into the classroom and "The children cheer wildly." Does this represent hope perhaps? Even though the children have had rotten luck in the past, they are optimistic that the new gerbil will be a turning point and break the curse. Maybe he will actually survive. This is how I wish to interpret the ending. However, it could just be an endless cycle, and the gerbil may soon bite the dust, just like those who came before him.

VOCABULARY:
Gristede's: A chain of small supermarkets

"The Flowers" and "Girl" Blog

The short story "Flowers" by Alice Walker seemed at first glance to be a tale of the joyous wanderings of a young girl named Myop. I was stunned when it took such a devastating turn, and Myop discovered a decaying body in the woods. I have actually read Alice Walker before in one of my high school English courses and recall that she is an African American writer. It seems that Myop belongs to a family of sharecroppers, "Turning her back on the rusty boards of her family's sharecropper cabin." Because Alice Walker often writes of African Americans, I assumed that Myop was an African American whose family is bound to sharecropping as a means to support themselves. The majority of the poem speaks of Myop happily talking a walk and admiring the beauty of her surroundings. On a whim she decides to take a new path instead of keeping to the path she normally takes. When she finally decides to turn back, she immediately senses a change in her surroundings. "But the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep." It is at this point in the poem that I noticed a drastic shift in tone. The carefree tone quickly changed to a gloomy one. Myop then discovers the body of a man. The describe the man wearing overalls which automatically made me assume the man was a worker, possibly a sharecropper. It makes me wonder if this could have been a racial crime. They describe the remains of a noose which makes me believe he was hung, or hung himself. The poem ends with the line, "And the summer was over." Perhaps Walker was referring to the not only the end of a season, but the end of Myop's childhood and the loss of her innocence.

VOCABULARY:
Myop: Possibly short for myopathy meaning "nearsightedness

"Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid is composed of a mother's harsh instructions to her daughter regarding cooking, cleaning, love, and how to behave in certain social situations. Because the name of the story is "Girl" and not woman, I assume that the mother is talking to an adolescent. "Girl" is also a rather vague and impersonal description, as opposed to something like daughter. The mother is very stern and detailed in her instructions to the daughter. She obviously feels as if she cannot handle much on her own or without any guidance. The mother is also very judgmental of her daughter, often referring to her as a slut. "...on Sundays try to act like the lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming." I also noticed that many of the mothers instructions revolve around the men in the society. The poem must take place in a time when gender roles were predominate in society. "...this is how you behave in the presence of a man..." Obviously women were portrayed as subordinate to men. Almost the entire poem consists of these directions and accusations the mother imposes on the daughter.

VOCABULARY:
barehead: having your head uncovered
fritter: a piece of fruit

"Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year" and "Daddy" Blog

One of the poems we have been assigned to read in class is "Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year" by Raymond Carver. From what I can tell, the speaker in this poem is looking at a photograph of her father on fishing trip from when he was a young man, 22 years old to be precise. I immediately assumed that the speaker was a female, but I think that was simply because I was trying to identify with the speaker. In reality, it probably makes more sense that the speaker is male because he is talking about fishing with his father. The son begins the poem describing the surroundings in the picture, and it is in this first stanza that I concluded the father was on a fishing trip. The speaker says, "...he holds in one hang a string of spiny yellow perch." In the second stanza the speaker talks about how his father has always wanted to be something he isn't, "He would pose bluff and hearty for his posterity, wear his old hat cocked over his ear. All his life my father wanted to be bold." In this last statement I sensed some resentment from the speaker. It seems as though he was saying that instead of yearning to be a good father to his son, he instead yearned to be revered by his comrades. I could not recall the exact definition of posterity, so I looked it up at dictionary.com and discovered that it meant future generations of. This was consistent with how the second stanza was describing the father's facade. It is in the final statement that the son makes his resentment towards his father especially clear. He says, "Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either, and don't even know the places to fish." This makes it apparent to the reader that the speaker's father was never there for him as child or even an adult. He holds a grudge against his father for not being there for him like a father should be, for not taking him on fishing trips or spending quality time with him. This is what I gathered from the poem, and I look forward to seeing what my classmates thought in class tomorrow.


The poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath was a little more difficult for me to understand than Raymond Carver's poem "Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year." From what I gathered, the poem is about a woman whose Nazi father died when she was very young, but the memories of him still haunt her. She ends up searching for a husband who resembles her father, and the speaker describes her husband as a vampire who "drank her blood" for seven years. The speaker also talks about attempting to kill herself while trying to rid herself of these men in her life. I get the impression that by the end of the poem the speaker finally shuts them both out of her life, "staking them in the heart." At the beginning of the poem the speaker compares her father to black shoe that she has had to live in. Not only does this evoke images of being trapped, but the color black also brings about negative connotations from the very beginning of the poem. "...black shoe in which I have lived like a foot for thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to breathe or Achoo." These lines in the first stanza describe the speakers fear of her father really well. She describes her father with terms like God, statue, and big which let us know how helpless she felt around him. Because her father is said to be a Nazi, she assumes the part of the Jew or the victim. "An engine, an engine chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may as well be a Jew." To compare her feelings toward her father to going to a concentration camp is a pretty big deal. It illustrates again how deathly afraid of him she was. Stanza 8 is really confusing to me. I think the speaker is describing some of the landscape of Germany. She also speaks of her "gypsy ancestress." I suppose this means that at least one of her ancestors was a gypsy, but I am not sure of how this is relevant. I vaguely remember learning about the Nazis exterminating gypsies, but I am not 100 percent sure. In the next stanza the speaker admits how she has always been scared of her father with his "neat mustache" and "Aryan eye," which is again speaking of his Nazi qualities. The mustache reference seems to put her father in a category with Hitler. In a following stanza the speaker says, "...a cleft in your chin instead of your foot but no less a devil for that..." This statement confused me at first because honestly who has a cleft in their foot? However I typed cleft foot into google and discovered the often times the devil is portrayed as an animal-like creature with hoof-like feet. This is consistent with the rest of the line when the speaker discusses the devil. Finally the speaker tries to kill herself in the 12th and 13th stanzas to reconnect with her father but fails. She then begins searching for a man who resembles her father. This man is describes as black and evil, but she decides to marry him, "And I said I do, I do." In the final stanzas the speaker overcomes both her father's haunting memory and the man she has married who resembles her father. She says, "If I've killed one man, I've killed two---" and "There's a stake in your fat, black heart..."

VOCAB:
Tyrol: Part of the Alpine mountain region, it borders Germany
Aryan: Hitler's perfect race, blond hair and blue eyes
Panzer-man: German tank drivers
Luftwaffe: German word for air force
(FOUND ALL OF THESE TERMS ON WIKIPEDIA)

Meghan McDonough
MWF 9:05-9:55

Test Blog

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.