Thursday, March 24, 2011

Everyday Use and The Lottery

1. "Everyday use" represents the bond and legacy between woman of different generations. The connection and bond is strong but it can be very vunerable too. Walker chose this title because it refers back to the one's culture. Mama and Dee do not see the quilts as decoration and to be respected as folk art, but they acknowledge it as household items that they use everyday.

2. Dee views heritage as something of the past, dead, rather than thinking of it as an ongoing creation. Mama and Maggie defines heritage as family objects that were used by the family members everyday. They actually see the family traditions.

3. It is ironic that Dee changed her name to Wangero because she feels like it gives her a more feeling of her African heritage as displayed in the african culture clothes that she wears. But the clothes are insignificant. She has little understanding of her culture,so what she percieves to be more true to her culture is false. Dee does not understand her own heritage.

4. If Mama was not the narrator of the story, we would not be able to understand the two different views of culture and tradition during that time. The author was trying to show us the difference.

The Lottery

I believe that the purpose of the lottery was to show that an action or behavior is passed down from generation to generation without any question to it even if it cruel. Jackson was trying to show and give an example what happens when traditions are passed from generation to generation. The theme behind this story is the example of what can happen when people do not change or question traditions. The author is saying new generations should at least question a tradition.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Tell Tale Heart and Araby

Assignment: "The Tell Tale Heart"
The narrator is the protagonist and the antagonist. I feel like he is the protagonist because he is the main character. He is the one that brings the plot forward. The readers see everything from his perspective and we emphasize with him. I believe the narrator is also the antagonist because he brings the conflict to the story as well. The narrator antagonizes the old man to his death.

The conflict that needs to be resolved is the conflict the narrator has within himself. In the beginning of the story he has no problem with the old man just the old man's pale blue vulture eyes. But at the end of the story the conflict still lies within the narrator because of the guilt he has of killing the old man. He goes from being confident to being a paronoid man.

The climax is when the narrator guilt begins to get to him. It leads the conflict to be resolved because they he reveals the truth to the policeman. It no longer has an issue within himself because the eye is gone and his guilt is gone by admitting to the crime.

Assignment- "Araby"
The only time Joyce uses images of light is when she is describing the narrator's imagination. This images represent the love that he has for his friend's sister. For example, she states "i kept her brown figure always in my eye and, when we came near the point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed her." She uses darkness to represent the reality that the boy lives in. For example at the end when he realizes the bazaar is not what was expected and his love only existed in his mind. Joyce shows the darkness when she states "gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger".

The various things Araby (the bazaar ) might represent to the narrator is romance, mystery, and beauty. When he thinks of the bazaar he feels like it will change everything. He will get to be with his friend's sister because of buying her gifts and this might lead to romance for him.

The climax and falling action is when the narrator finally arrives to the bazaar and it is not what he expected.The narrator's eyes burned at the end because the bazaar was not what he had expected. It is beginning to close and he feels very useless. He simply gives up and realizes that he did not need to give gifts to the girl. He learns that his relationship with Mangan's sister is just a wishful idea and that he was just misguided by the idea of the bazaar.