Chapter 24

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Many loose ends are tied up in the last few pages of the novel. At the core is the resolution of nature vs. nurture. The creature, standing over his creator's dead body, states that "My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change, without torture such as you cannot even imagine," (Shelley, 164). The creature here brings to light Shelley's point that the true tendencies of man are innate. She is saying that every part of creation is fashioned with a capability for love, and it is only by experiencing the miseries of life the people resort to the cruelty and brutality displayed by both the creature and Victor. We are good beings by nature, and nurtured through our path of life.
Another important point in the story is Walton's decision to return to England. I think his return is a direct result of the demise of Victor. As he witnesses the fall of the man so driven by things similar to him, he becomes fearful, whether consciously or not, and turns away from this path before it destroys him too.

Chapters 22-23

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Rule number one about marriage: don't go into it with giant secrets. In Victor's case the secret is literally a giant. When the creature makes good on his threat to be with Victor on his wedding night and murders Elizabeth, you almost sympathize with the creature. Victor took his bride, therefore, he thinks he has the right to take Victor's lover. Finally, the creature's goal in destroying Victor is achieved with every member of his family dead. Then, the tables are turned, Victor's psychological strength snaps and he flips on the creature, swearing his demise as the creature once swore to him. The creature runs away from Victor, taunting him in the same way he was taunted: by consistently pulling away from him what he wants. The creature wanted a companion and Victor took it away from him, now, Victor wants revenge and the creature keeps taking the opportunity away from him. There is nothing but animosity between them now. Victor claims that "Liberty, however, had been a useless gift to me had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge," (Shelley, 147) stating that his sole purpose is against the creature is violence.
Both creatures (Victor and the creation) are moving away from sanity in their own ways. They both curse the powers that put them where they are. Victor calling destiny the reason for his fate, still refusing to take responsibility for his actions.

Chapters 19-21

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley


At the beginning of chapter 18, the reader feels a sense of de ja vu as Victor claims that "...in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction," (Shelley, 115). This scene mirrors Walton's scene with Victor on the boat in the first few chapters. While this may simply be Shelley's running out of foil characters to use, I think that the importance of this scene matching a previous one is to show the reader that there are many people out there who are like Victor, obsessed with their work and driven by a curiosity that is not satisfied with things merely of this world. Later, in chapter 20, as Victor works on the second creature, he is haunted by the words of the original creature calling him a "slave." In many ways, he has become slave to his own unfulfilled desires. The creature's statements are a possible foreshadowing to things that Walton and Clerval will do if they fall slave to their potential obsession also.

Chapters 16-18

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The trial for William's murder ends with Justine being wrongly accused and executed. Victor immediately assumes that the creature has committed the crime, but out of innate guilt and fear for himself, Victor says nothing even as the girl is led away to be killed and he assures Elizabeth of her innocence. The creature's predictions have come true of Victor: he will never accept his creation because he knows that everything the creature does he is responsible for. The blood of William and Justine are simultaneously on his hands and the creature's because, had Victor not created him, he would not have committed the crimes out of his frustration. The creature reminds Victor, "My vices are the children of a forced solitude that I abhor," (Shelley, 106). Victor displays an unattractive cowardliness as he refuses to speak up for the truth or own up to his actions because of how it will make him look. Victor is allowing this cycle of destruction to continue. In these chapters, the creature asks one thing of Victor to save him and his family: to create for him a companion like everyone around him has. Here Victor has a chance to make things temporarily right, to create a life in exchange for taking many.

Chapters 13-15

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

In these chapters, the creature learns through observation about the previous world civilizations. His education reveals to the reader the importance of history to human nature. We are consistently defined by our past. Cultures, customs, and traditions are the product of human nature's way of holding on to history. The creature realizes that he has no history, and therefore struggles with his identity. His problems with being solitary are augmented by his lack of origins and it drives him further to make connections with the family. Other books that he finds in the woods teach him about emotion and finally he can no longer stand being hidden from the the family. When he is rejected by Felix and the women, the creature swears revenge on the one person responsible for his lack of origin: his creator Victor. "But where was mine? (Creator) He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him," (Shelley, 94). The creature expresses so much hatred towards Victor, but keeps coming back to him in thoughts and traveling. I think he seeks out Victor not entirely driven by rage, but still by the longing to make a connection with someone. He feels closest to Victor, as he thinks of him as a father, and may still hold on to the slight possibility that Victor may accept his creation because it is a part of him.

Chapters 10-12

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Chapters nine through twelve begin the second phase of the frame story. This time, Victor's creation is given the change to tell his story. He explains his life after the creation and loss of his creator. In his lonliness and confusion, he runs away and hides in the woods, later coming upon a house where he observes a family and learns how to imitate their gestures. As noted previously in the novel, the creature, though full size, acts like a baby in his acumulation of knowledge and learning how to function. He describes traveling through each stage of early development as children do. At one point, he finds himself invincible telling Victor, "I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid," (Shelley, 71). Much later, with the discovery of the family, he learns how to understand emotion and reciprocates acts of kindness. I think that Shelley's point in allowing the creation to feel emotion and making him capable of good and evil is what makes this a horror novel. The creature is not the cut-and-dry stereotypical monster that is only made for evil and is mostly one-dimensional; Frankenstein's creation qualifies as horror in our minds because it questions where emotion and compassion come from. If this monster is capable of compassion, then where does it originate?

Chapters 7-9

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

At the beginning of these chapters, Victor is informed in a letter that his younger brother, William, has been murdered. This comes as a blow to Victor who has been busy recovering and surprisingly not caring about where his creation is or what it is doing. Victor returns home and is drawn to the spot where they found William; there, he sees what he believes to be the creature he created. In fully understanding the situation, he becomes fearful of that which he created which he identifies as a part of his soul, "I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind, and endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of my horror...my own spirit let loose from the grave, and forced to destroy all that was dear to me," (Shelley, 51). How often are we "killed" by our creations, the creations of our vices. It seems that the things we hold onto most closely are those that eventually bring us down.

Chapters 4-6

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Obsession: the great destroyer of man. Shelley uses pages upon pages of description to allow the viewer a glimpse into the tortured mind of Victor as he deals with an obsession with his creation project. Although he succeeds in the end, the obsession has already wormed its way so deep into his mind that he can't escape it. Paranoia sets in and Victor experiences hallucinations. "I imagined that the monster seized me; I struggled furiously and fell down in a fit," (Shelley, 38). His obsession makes him literally sick and almost incapable of functioning. Moreso, he can't get past his obsession with the creation because it is everything he expected. He knew he would succeed scientifically, but his drive for discovering something never before discovered blinded him from thinking past succeeding in his creation project. He didn't (or maybe couldn't) think about the effects of what he was going to do with it once he had given life to the random body parts he had stitched together.

Chapters 1-3

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

We begin to better understand Victor Frankenstein's background as he recalls his history from the very beginning. He recalls his childhood favorably, weaving the stories of his mother and father into his own to emphasis their importance in his sense of confidence as well as in his education. But still, Victor wants more. He claims, "It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn," (Shelley, 19). Thus begins Victor's quests into science first led by dated sources of Cornelius Agrippa, Albert Magnus, and Paracelsus who spark his interest in the "impossible." Professors Kremp and Waldman, while trying to deter him from exploring science for purposes of trying to make the impossible possible, acutally reveal to him that his ideas for exploration could be possible. With this challenge in mind, he moves to the first mini climax of the story: the creation.

Frankenstein - The Letters

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

In letters addressed to his sister, Margaret, new explorer Robert Walton presents the first scenes in the frame story that becomes Frankenstein. During the first letter, we are revealed the characteristics of Walton, characteristics that later apply to Dr. Victor Frankenstien. Among these characteristics are the desire for knowledge and innovation. While still early in his journey, literally and figuratively, he is introduced to Victor and begins to hear his story. While initially hesitant, Victor finally agrees to share his story with Walton are begins his cautionary tale with the words, "listen to my history, and you will percieve how irrevocably it (destiny) is determined," (Shelley, 13).

Later, we understand the steps that Victor believes sealed his fate, and the fate of many others affected by the drive for innovation he and Walton share.

APO 96225

APO 96225 by Larry Rottmann


This poem talks about things we think we want to hear, but we really don't. The son seems to know exactly what his mother can handle and tries to protect her from reality. Lies are better than the truth sometimes. When he seems to be failing, he tries giving her what she wants, the truth, but soon realizes that she does not really want that. Her husband then tries to protect her. But no one is trying to protect the son, who is the one in real peril of emotional damage and still they tell him, "Please don't write such depressing letters." (Rottmann, 846).

Much Madness is divinest Sense

Much Madness is divinest Sense by Emily Dickinson

This poem also expresses feelings about madness. The madness is compared to a chain that holds back assent and demur. Assent meaning an expression of approval at the oncoming madness to which the author says "you are sane," (Dickinson, 830). In deliberate contradiction, demur here means to raise doubts about the oncoming madness which Dickinson says is "straightway dangerous." Both ways of dealing with the madness come with different connotations for the author probably to represent the madness herself already taking its toll.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson

The speaker in this poem may be experiencing a spell of falling into madness or mental disease because of phrases used most specifically "And then  Plank in Reason, broke, and I dropped down, and down," (Dickinson, 776). The saddest part of this story is that the phrase above implies that the speaker is aware of their downfall. They are experiencing the emotions and sentiments involved with experiencing a death or loss. But in this case, the death is their own. As the speaker admits to themselves, "My Mind was going numb," (Dickinson, 776).

Miss Brill

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

This short story reminds us of the importance and fragility of perspective. "She was on the stage," (Mansfield, 185). That is how Miss Brill views herself towards the beginning of the piece, but at the end, we see her self-image take a plummet as a trivial, rude remark from a fellow actor on the stage hurts her deeply. Her emotional reactions are so deeply felt by her audience because we have all been in an elated situation with our heads so high in the clouds and our hearts so light that we think nothing can pull us down. But really, that is when we are at our weakest and most vulnerable. Without our guards up, people's untasteful comments sneak in and take advantage of our vulnerability, quickly pulling us down from the clouds and dropping us bewildered to the ground where Miss Brill finds herself at the end of the story.

Bartleby the Scrivener

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

I support the theory that Bartleby had a type of autism mostly because of his speech and physical behaviors. He is clearly unwilling to change, fails to initiate or even notice social cues in conversation, takes questions literally, and refuses assistance. But, despite these downfalls, Bartleby also displays the good characteristics of someone with autism, he is strongly self-disciplined. Even some of the most disciplined individuals cannot compete with their mind and body in order to successfully pull off a hunger strike. This also supports the theory that Bartleby's soul had died before his body; he had no reason to feed a body that only supported a miserable experience in this life. I think that the lawyer also feels this way, that his life is not worth living without his tedious work and schedules. "Established in my new quarters, or a day or two I kept the door locked, and started at every footfall in the passages," (Melville, 669). Who would want to live with such paranoia? This quote reveals how empty and miserable the lawyer's life is without his work.

Death, be not proud

"Death, be not proud" by John Donne

In his portrayal of death, Donne finds death to be easily manipulated by saying that it is "slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men" (Donne, 971). Most people have some fear of death and I think that Donne's bold way of "making fun of" death is his coping mechanism against the reality that it death. He is trying to make it smaller and weaker in his mind so that it doesn't scare him as badly. Calling death a slave is rather ironic since it is common knowledge that we cannot escape death. We may be able to postpone it or even challenge it in a mockng manner, but we can never fully escape it.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

Thomas uses the repetition of the lines "do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light," (Thomas, 968) alternating through the poem. The piece is intense with strong emotions exemplified in the words such as "lightning," "rage," "curse," and "bless." I think that author is asking people to hold onto life and not give up easily. Live the fullest and most furious as possible until you are taken, and if you are lucky, it will not occur during the night when you cannot defend yourself against death.

That Time of Year

"That Time of Year" by William Shakespeare

In the poem, Shakespeare compares the coming of the winter season to the approaching of death. He describes the changing of the trees leaves and the death that surrounds the once-alive plants and trees. Shakespeare indicates that the greenery is "Consumed with that which it was nourished by" (Shakespeare, 967). Meaning that they are suffering from an over consumption of once-nourishing water. In a different form (frozen) the water becomes too dense, too much for the delicate plants. Possibly signifying that the things we think are good for us are only good in moderation and that they can become too heavy for our fragile lives and lead to tragedy.

A Rose for Emily

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

Many of these passages about death revolve around fixations. For example, Miss Emily's fixation on the fact that she does not pay taxes, "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson," (Faulkner, 283). This smaller fixation relates to the bigger picture of her life. She is also fixated and motivated by the fear of being alone. She held onto her father's body for several days before the town took it away. Later then, she may have killed her almost fiance to keep his body in her upstairs room. She then became fixated on his memory and the life they could have had; this fixation exemplified through evidence that revealed she slept by his rotting corpse. The towns people (also the narrators) believe that she slept next to him because the repeated motif of "iron gray hair" that was found in an indentation in the pillow next to the corpse's head. In many ways, we feel sorry for Emily through the townspeople's feelings towards her; had they hated her, I believe that we would have an entirely different perspective.

The Lottery

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

"'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her," (Jackson, 271). Why does only one person, the scapegoat, find something wrong with stoning a person to death? Typically, we wander through life as followers, blindly following the traditions set out for us; this short story is a wake-up call to those sleep walking through the tedious routines of life. Irony is expressed throughout the passage, but especially at the end when Mrs. Hutchinson's little son is given a rock to throw at his mother. No one really wants to participate in the ritual, but cling so tightly to the idea of tradition that they will stone someone to death to fulfill their insecurity with change.

Menagerie - Scene 6

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

"AMANDA.  All pretty girls are a trap, a pretty trap, and men expect them to be...This is the prettiest you will ever be!" (Williams, 1263). In many ways here, Laura is a symbol for life. Often, life is perceived as the pretty trap that men expect it to be and it will never be more appealing than an illusion. The climax of scene 6 occurs when Laura's unicorn, an animal of fantasy. Laura and the unicorn are synonymous in the way that Jim broke what was unique about them both: their connection to fantasy. If Laura is a symbol for life and the unicorn is a symbol of Laura, then the unicorn can also be viewed as a symbol for life. When the specialness, the fantasy part of life is broken, reality seeps in and wakes those who built their lives on the assumption that fantasy could continue forever. But of course, fantasy only lasts as long as our surroundings. Jim brought the inside to Amanda, Tom, and Laura, ultimately driving Tom to leave. The final monologue admits the reason for the play - Tom is still haunted by the unreality of his past life. We are introduced to Laura's new role in his fantasy of life: "Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be," (Williams, 1289). She is now the ghost of a former fantasy now playing into his current illusion.

Menagerie - Scene Five

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

Scene 5 is about escape. As Tom moves closer and closer to leaving, his memories stray further and further from reality. His hazy mind is reflected in the staging of the play: music is played with more frequency, Laura is prettier, and Tom is expressed as more distant from the daily activities. Even the Amanda in Tom's mind refuses reality: "AMANDA.  Don't say crippled! You know that I never allow that word to be used!" (Williams, 1260). Even as a figment of Tom's memory, Amanda knew that they couldn't admit Laura's disabilities because that meant letting reality in. And even as a shadow of Tom's memory, Tom's character knows to leave for the movies immediately after his comment that may have admitted reality. Amanda and Laura make their wish for happiness and good fortune on the "silver slipper of a moon" showing that their desperation in Tom's mind meant little than wishes on a moon not even worthy to be called a moon. At this point, stage direction is the only implication of reality.

Menagerie - Scene Four

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

A central theme to the play is Tom's inner conflict of "freedom or duty." As the play goes on, we are enlightened to Tom's slow way of disconnecting with his familial relationships. When Amanda randomly asks Tom to promise her that he will never be a drunkard, Tom is indifferent to her fears. Already there is a disconnect between him and his mother. Amanda reacts, as usual, with the drama that Tom claims to despise, but ironically craves. "AMANDA (sobbingly).  My devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my children!" (Williams, 1251). While her dramatic nature is turning Tom away, if he is really looking for something to write about, he should look no further than his home. And this realization is where the play comes full circle - the reason Tom narrates the play is because he is realizing that his life was the story filled with the drama he was looking for. He will forever run away from it, because then it is more dreamy to him and therefore more appealing to his inner poet, but he knows that the story he sought was the one he was living.

Menagerie - Scenes Two and Three

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

"AMANDA (in an awful voice).  I won't speak to you - until you apologize!" (Williams, 1243). While this scene could have represented a simple argument between child and mother, in Menagerie, it signifies the weakness of a neutral third party in the situation. Laura's vulnerability and nerves are brought to light even more in her reaction to the argument between her mother and brother. At the end of the argument, Tom breaks one of Laura's glasses; this represents a pivotal moment for viewers. It signifies that Tom and Amanda are only breaking Laura when they fight; they are both strong enough to withstand the tension, but Laura can't handle it. She begs Tom to apologize to Amanda the next morning and he complied finally. His concern for her connects to his final monologue where he reveals that he cannot shake Laura's memory and his regrets in leaving her.

Menagerie - Scene One

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

Stage direction plays a more forward and prominent role in this play than in the others we have studied so far in the year. Stage directions indicate literal movements on the stage as well as indirect characterization. For example, we learn that Amanda is preoccupied with her past in a fantasy-driven manner, "(TOM motions for music and a spot of light on AMANDA. Her eyes lift, her face glows, her voice becomes rich and elegiac,)" (Williams, 1238). Characters are revealed by their actions as well as their words. Amanda is revealed as delusional during the first scene in the sense that she is unable to accept the face the fact that her daughter is not going to attract the suitors she claims to have had. The way that she goes on about her former life and gentlemen callers and our knowledge of her absent husband leads the reader to believe that she quite possibly never had the suitors or life she claims and in some way connects this fantasy with her daughter's life.

Those Winter Sundays

Those Winter Sundays - Robert Hayden

From the beginning, mostly indicated by the chilled setting, the narrator has some reservations about his father and his indicated gruff manner. They seem to be strangers living in the same home, as the son describes, he was "speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold," (Hayden, 782). But in the larger sense, the narrator is exploring the motivations of his father's morning ritual of warming the house before he wakes. Though he describes the furthered distance between them, in the end it is indicated that the narrator understands that his father's motivation is love.

Edward

Edward - Anonymous

This poem could be considered a ballad because it reveals the story of a son murdering his father. The poem is presented in a series of conversations between mother and son and in the end son blaming his mother for telling him to murder his father telling her "The curse of hell from me shall ye bear, Such counsels you gave to me, O," (Anonymous, 978). The author uses repetition to focus the reader on the "Mother, Mother" and "Edward, Edward" which are set apart by the repeated phrases. Finally, Edward says that he will leave on a ship away from his family in order to escape his impeding fate as a murderer or possibly to escape his mother.

The Drunkard

The Drunkard - Frank O'Connor

In this piece, we witness use of dialect to characterize setting and characters. While their speech is slightly undereducated, the narrator of the story still places his father in a position of intelligence and importance at the beginning of the story (later juxtaposed at the end) saying, "in his own limited way Father was a well-read man and could appreciate an intelligence talker," (O'Connor, 342). This shows an important loyalty that the narrator has to his father, a loyalty that is tested later in the story when he is called on to save his father from his own vices. While the title may represent the father, in the boy's eyes, the drunkard is still his father. And, in saving him (though almost accidentally) he begins to understand a little why his father acts the way he does as he loses total control of his mind and body.

Once Upon A Time...Ironic

Once Upon a Time - Nadine Gordimer

Gordimer presents the reader with dramatic irony in the ending of the story with the little boy's death. His demise is ironically brought on by the parent's over precaution when trying to shield their boy from the outside world. The story reveals that the boy was pretending to be "the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life..." (Gordimer, 236). After his mother read him the fairy tales and sheltered him from the real world outside, the boy was unable to judge dangers for himself and ended up hurting himself by acting out a fairy tale in his supposedly ultra-safe habitation. Turns out that the fairy tale life that we can try to achieve cannot shield us from the dangers outside of our minds or the pages of a fairy tale.

A Worn Path

A Worn Path - Eudora Welty

How often do we wander through life in auto pilot, not really feeling or sensing what we are doing? Phoenix, the protagonist of the story, is described as "Moving slowly and from side to side, she went into the big building, and into a tower of steps, where she walked up and around and around until her feet knew when to stop," (Welty, 228). Phoenix is characterized as failing to correctly interpret her surroundings or purposes. For this reason, I believe that her grandson is no longer living, but she is keeping his memory alive in her mind through denial or fantasy. Her hallucinations prove that at least some part of the boy is lurking in her mind only. Her loyalty to his memory touches many people in the story, but few recognize its power. The hunter, the woman on the street, and the attendants in the hospital are not unkind to her, but do not feel that this old woman could have any kind of profound impact on their lives.

A Raisin in the Sun - Who Are You?

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

Three Categories of Characters:

1) Make Things Happen:

• Ruth was in constant motion to make sure that she was doing the best she could for her family; she was the first one awake in the mornings and never stopped working throughout the play. She was the one who proactively kept the peace in the family and in turn kept them together.
• Mama also took positive action to do what was best for her family; she went out to buy the house for her family and worked to encourage her children to follow their dreams, to the extent that they became more idealistic than realistic and practical.

2) Watch Things Happen:

• Walter, through his selfish and bitter actions, watched his family fall apart trying to accommodate him and his dreams. He skipped work and drank his money away while his wife struggled to feel it was appropriate to keep their unborn child. He expected Mama's money as he accused Benethea of it. While he is given credit at the end of the play for telling Mr. Lindner that they will move into the house, it is really his family's support speaking.

3) Wonder What Happened:

• Benethea seems distant throughout the play as revealed through her spouting spells of injustices and African ideals. She is so wrapped in her own mind and fantasies that she becomes oblivious to the sacrifices that others are making around her because she views them as assimilating because they are not as vocal or radical as she is.

A Raisin in the Sun - Trapped

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

Every character in Raisin is trapped or held back by something. I think that Walter is trapped by his own mind more so rather than the society he claims in oppressing him. Throughout the play, Walter is "more talk than walk." His attitude does not move him in a positive direction but rather emits a bitter reluctance to move forward in a world he thinks is dominated by the Anglo-Saxon way of thinking. He wants wealth and success handed to him because he feels entitled to it. "He made an investment!" Benethea says, "With a man even Travis wouldn't have trusted with his most worn-out marbles," (Hansberry, 520). Walter feels so suffocated by his job and home that he skips work, goes out and gets drunk night after night, makes bad deals with money that isn't his, and mistreats his family. He takes a selfish road to achieve what he thinks is rightly his. Here is where he is wrong and can take some lessons from his mother and wife: No one is born entitled to anything.

A Raisin in the Sun - No Greater Love

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorriane Hansberry

The play also explores the motivations of the characters. I think the greatest example of this is found in the story of Ruth. While many people will wonder why she could even consider killing her baby, in her eyes she really had no reasons to keep it. Ruth was greatly motivated by a great love for her family. She only wanted what was best for them. She loved her baby so much that she realized that bringing it into the current situation might be the worst thing she could do for it. Having the baby would have torn her family apart. As Mama described to Walter who could not understand his wife's actions, "When the world gets ugly enough - a woman will do anything for her family. The part that's already living," (Hansberry, 476). While Ruth is never as vocal as her husband or sister-in-law, she has her own dreams of a home for her family and thinks that she can achieve them by supporting her husband Walter.

A Raisin in the Sun - Listen to How I Speak

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

Vernacular plays an important role throughout the novel to reveal aspects of characters. As Hansberry points out about Benethea's manner of speaking, "her speech is a mixture of many things; it is different from the rest of the family's insofar as education has permated her sense of English" (Hansberry, 444). Education plays a major in the play as we understand Benethea's desire to help others and spread ideas through her college experience. When Walter's bad investments seemingly ruin her chances of continuing her schooling, Benethea feels that she has nothing else to live for. When any of the characters feel inferior in a situation, for example when Walter is going to talk to "The Man" Mr. Lindner, they revert to the older ways of speaking with less education. While Walter sees an elevated pattern of speech a symbol of assimilation, Benethea finds that it makes people listen more to her ideas and ideals.

A Raisin in the Sun - Adjustments

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

The play is peppered with references to external and internal conflicts and the areas in which they overlap. These conflicts are brought to light by use of setting. As Benethea and Walter try to overcome their current surroundings, Mama and Ruth actually take the steps to relieve their poverty. External conflicts involve the bigger picture of injustices in society vs. the dreams of man and also the tension in relationships between the members of the family. Internal conflicts drive the external conflicts. Benethea wants to make ideals of justice the reality of the world; Walter wants to feel like a man in equal with the rest of society; Ruth struggles with keeping her baby or aborting it to protect her family; and Mama has wanted her whole life only for her family to be happy and safe. The setting of Chicago during this specific time period opens the audience to a discrimmination that we have probably never experienced. The appearance of the apartment reflects the inner appearances of the characters' feelings and emotions. For example, "BENETHEA...is spraying insecticide into the cracks in the walls," (Hansberry, 459).

Interpreter of Maladies

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

The central conflict of the story is unfulfilled desires. Both Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi have dreams that they were unable to realize because of the vague duties of life. At the start of the story, it is obvious that they both need something from each, the conflict is not fully resolved in the end, but I think they both received what they needed. Mrs. Das, in asking Mr. Kapasi about how she should handle her current situation, is forced to face the possibility that she is responsible for her own unhappiness, not her husband, Raj. And, Mr. Kapasi, in talking more with Mrs. Das, realizes that all her initial perfections cannot change her deeper flaws. While neither one is perfectly suited for their partner, they must work on compromising in order to view their situations for the best. Mrs. Das must move forward and reject her "urge to throw everything I own out the window, the television, the children, everything," (Lahiri, 163). Even while she is talking to Mr. Kapasi, she knows that her feelings are that of someone who has already given up and even while he is daydreaming about her, he is aware that his fantasies can never come true. This story, in one aspect, is simply a description of the daily snippets of daydreams that we have with people we meet by chance with whom we plan a escape from our reality, knowing full well that we cannot leave the reality we have created for ourselves.

Everyday Use

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

I think that here, Walker presents us with a strong story of loyalty. I really enjoyed her descriptive writing and how she so vividly portrayed the emotions of her characters. After a lifetime of passiveness, the speaker finally takes up the courage to stand up to her daughter's dominant personality and give what is rightfully due to her other daughter. Walker explores the speaker's inner conflict as she struggles to grasp the life her daughter chose versus the life that she herself leads. A technique that Walker uses to highlight the heightened sense of separation is her progressive use of Dee, then Wangero, then both, then Miss Wangero at the end. In a way, she is closing the door on the ideals that her daughter has picked up or created in her time away.

I found it ironic that the speaker knew everything about the clothes used to make her quilt and her daughter later accused her of not understanding her heritage, when in reality, Dee had no knowledge or desire to learn about her true heritage. At the end of the short story, she symbolically covers her identity again when "She put on some sunglasses that hid everything above the tip of her nose and her chin," (Walker, 181).

Hazel Tells LaVerne

"Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Katharyn Howd Machan

Machan utilizes indirect characterization to tell us about her poem's speaker. By eliminating use of capitalization and punctuation combined with the use of uneducated speaking Machan tells us that her character is from a lower social class, probably a maid or servant. Repetition of "me a princess" makes the reader believe that the speaker does not have foolish aspirations or even dreams. I think the poem has a sad tone because of this aspect. The fact that someone finds it absurd that they could move out of their current situation, that they don't have dreams. The speaker rejects the frog's invitation with a repulsed attitude. Her attitude towards him is expressed in connotative diction such as "sewer" and "pervert." All the details of the original Frog and Princess are included besides the fact that she chooses not to kiss the frog.

Mr. Z = Hillary Clinton

He dressed and spoke the perfect part of honor;
chose prudent, raceless views of each situation, and became
'One of the most distinguished members of his race.'

However unfortunate for the members of society with the previously superior Y chromosome, women are rapidly entering into jobs once thought of to be "man's work." Before I continue, I will make the statement that I do not condemn men for what they are consciously or unconsciously doing to women entering the work force, I very clearly see that it is a trend and mindset of society that could have just as easily happened the other way around. The trend that I am referring to is the loss of feminine identity that can sometimes occur when women attempt to tread on men's territory. As a nation, we have ingrained in us an image of  the ideal power holder, an image of the person who should be in charge. This image is most often a distinguished man in a suit with a deep voice and excellent speaking abilities. Today, as women, who by definition cannot obtain some of the qualities described, begin climbing the workforce ladders, "glass ceilings" are falling on top of them simply because they don't look or act the part. Fighting the system doesn't work, because the system is run by men and we certainly don't want to come off as a whiny third-grade girl who didn't get to play with the boys because they won't let her wear a dress, so we change ourselves to fit in. This concept is deeply explored in Holman's poem "Mr. Z." The character explained in the poem is clearly changing himself and shedding his true identity to fit in with an equally challenging society. As African Americans entered society newly freed, in order to get ahead they had to cover who they were and mold themselves into the Anglo-Saxon way of thinking and acting. Only then, would they receive the title of the "most distinguished members of his race." The more he became like them, the more he was accepted. I believe history is repeating itself today. Do you notice how the most successful women of today dress? carry themselves? fix their hair? Everything is carefully calculated in order to fit the mold. For example, one of the most successful women in current politics is Hillary Clinton. When she entered the political arena solo, she immediately cut her hair short, now wears mostly dark pantsuits, and applies little makeup. The more like men we become, the more successful we are; similarly, the more Mr. Z became like the white race, the more he was revered and respected.

Mr. Z's Dream Deferred

Works: "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes
            "Mr. Z" by M. Carl Holman

Both authors present a message of smothered hopes and dreams. But, while we are presented with a stock character in Hughes's poem, Mr. Z is described with details that form a round character. Hughes's character could represent the African American slave whose dreams were crushed by his bonds. This character is highly explored in the world of literature. Mr. Z is the slightly more modern African American, probably living a little while before the resurgence of African American pride movement. He feels the need to cover his ethnic identity to fit in with the Ango-Saxon ideals. The poem is peppered with ironic tones, especially in the last line. Still, we find the throwback use of "Z" to replace the "X" that was used to symbolize the non-identity of an illiterate person. Holman takes off from the idea Hughes started. Hughes's general ideas of smothered dreams inspire Holman's more specific message of how we can squash our dreams to fit in with the rest or to get ahead.

Perrine Blog Post

"A writer should not be his own interpreter."
This quote by E. A. Robinson stuck out the most to me within the packet and initially made me feel that my previous opinion that all poems are open to all interpretations was correct. In reading the paper, I have not changed that view, but have edited my criteria a bit. I understood and liked the concept that an interpretation must be well explained and uncontradictory. I believe that ideas can be "far-fetched" and also correct though. Because the creativity used to construct the poetry was unbounded, I believe that the creativity used to interpret the poetry should not be restricted either. Much like the article we read which explained that novels should be complicated to read and understand because they were complicated to write, I think the same rules apply to the reading of poetry. There are no "wrong" answers, but there are interpretations that are more accepted because they are more logical to the majority of people.

A mostly logical case can be made for all pieces of poetry. And this, I view as the beauty of creative expression in writing. A single combination of words and lines can mean so many different things to various different people. Poetry gives the freedom to explore our interpretations of a piece and why we feel a certain way about a poem based on life experience, current situation, or the influence of a thousand other factors. While poetry analysts need a few great answers for the capabilities to draw general conclusions, poetry is open to the world for interpretation. In my mind, reading poetry is like prayer. Each person has their own style. There are forms that are more accepted within the realms of society, but in the privateness of their own thoughts, people can draw whichever conclusions or inspirations from the written words of others.

Favorite Quotes

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

"We heard it from three people so it must be true," (Fitzgerald, 19).

This quote pokes fun at the foolishness of society and how truth is twisted into all forms. Fitzgerald uses this to point out the shallowness of Daisy and how she is so easily sucked into the stupidity of the "hype" that surrounds gossip.

"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay," (Fitzgerald, 78).

This shows Gatsby's misplaced, undying love for the Daisy he remembers from his youth. Unable to forget the past and move on, Gatsby tries so hard to get close to Daisy physically and emotionally only to be shut out by her unrequited love.

"She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll  be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool," (Fitzgerald, 17).

I like this quote because it shows that Daisy does have some depth to her and could have decided to leave with Gatsby. I think that this quote is still applicable today in situations where a girl has not been taught to stand up for herself and be independent. While this image of a desirable, foolish, and weak girl is fading from our society, remnants of this persona still haunt us as glass ceilings and old prejudices hold some women back.

Character Profile - Daisy Buchanan

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Daisy, the object of desire during the novel, is presented in the last few chapters as a coward. Her initial wisdom that is introduced at the beginning of the book quickly dissipates as she shrinks under the power of her husband during the time when she could stand up to him and leave with her past love Gatsby. The sad part is that Daisy has now had two chances to change her fate. The first being at her wedding where she almost did, "She groped around in a waste-basket...and pulled out the string of pearls. 'Take 'em down-stairs and give 'em back to whoever they belong to. Tell 'em all Daisy's chane' her mine. Say: 'Daisy's change' her mine!'" (Fitzgerald, 76). I don't believe that this is anything but a fickle young woman speaking. Daisy does not have the qualities worthy of anyone but Tom. While he is abusive to her, she is intelligent enough to leave him if it gets too bad. But, leaving Tom means leaving money and it is clear that she is unwilling to do that.

Chapter 9

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Watching Gatsby's funeral through Nick's eyes, we see vividly the sadness of the event. Though his life was entirely dedicated to the enjoyment and serving of others, no one cares to take the time to celebrate or mourn his life unless they could make money or fame off the rumors surrounding his death. Nick finds himself disgusted with society and especially the two people that he blames for the Great Gatsby's demise: Tom and Daisy. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made..." (Fitzgerald, 179). Nick concludes that he will never understand their actions, nor does he want to. As the novel concludes we see what type of person Gatsby was. His self-improvement schedule and backstory shock the reader because they know that it was only the imagined love of a woman that brought on his demise.

Chapter 8

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

In this chapter, we witness the weight of promises. Gatsby spills his love story with Nick, admitting that after they made love Daisy promised to wait until after he returned from the war to marry him. As we know, her plans fell through with her marriage to Tom. I'm sure that if Gatsby was not such a gentleman, he would say something like what the man in Lady Antebellum's song Things That People Say is saying to his lost love. But all of Gatsby's regrets mean little as his tragedy comes to an end with his murder. How ironic that the one avenging Myrtle's death is her "lifeless" husband, not her lover with whom she had rathered to spend her time. George acts out some of the same emotions that Gatsby has felt throughout the novel: betrayal, a broken heart, despair, and anger while he takes his own life. Now the blood of two men trapped in unrequited love is on the hands of Daisy. "It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete," (Fitzgerald, 162).

Character Profile - Jay Gatsby

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The "Great" Gatsby receives his title from Nick who is characterized throughout the book as an impartial observer. In many ways though, Gatsby is only a great dreamer. Staking everything on the dream that he could have Daisy if he made himself wealthy enough, Gatsby proceeded to destroy his life.

"So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight - watching over nothing," (Fitzgerald, 145). That is truly what Daisy had become for her old love Gatsby: nothing. She was not his and could never be his because she had already given herself to someone else. This made Gatsby go mad with desire and underlying grief. He lost his grip of reality as most of us would having our entire life's work torn to bits by a blubbering ex without a backbone. In the last chapters, Gatsby dies protecting the memory of what he and Daisy once were and still are in his fantasies. His incapability to refocus and live in the present led him to Daisy's side where his loyalty and honor led him to die for her. In the bigger picture, Gatsby is a symbol for his entire 20s society and the conspicuous consumption that led to their demise in the 30s.

Chapter 7 (Part 2)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The car crash. The body. The aftermath. All results of desperation brought on by wealth or lack there of. Though Myrtle's ripped corpse is swept to the side of the road, the battle for her revenge takes off with a running start. For Tom, Gatsby has crossed him for the last time. Knowing this and knowing Tom's violent reactions, Gatsby again reverts to the hopelessly in love gentleman and hides out at Daisy's house to make sure that Tom does not hurt her. At this point, he must accept reality. He must accept the reality that Tom and Myrtle's husband George think that he killed Myrtle and that he will pay for sins that are not truly his. Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby are the only ones who know the truth: that Daisy was the driver of the car and hit Myrtle, and trust me, none of them are going to say a word. Inexplicably, Gatsby is sacrificing himself for the very woman who just denied him. Here we leave Gatsby for his night vigil:

"'How long are you going to wait?'

'All night if necessary. Anyhow, till they all go to bed,'" (Fitzgerald, 144).

Chapter 7 (Part 1)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Action and heated discussion characterize this chapter as Gatsby and Tom come head to head for the possession of Daisy. Notice that here I do not use the word "love." I don't believe that either Tom or Gatsby truly loves Daisy at this point. Gatsby is chasing after the shadow of what they once were together, ignoring the woman she is now, and Tom only sees this as another match, another football game in which he will be the victor. Tom and Gatsby mudsling like a couple of politicians dangerously close to the prize while Daisy slinks towards the clear winner: her cheating, clever husband. Again and again during the meal we see Gatsby's inability to see reality. When Daisy and Tom's little girl enters the room, Nick notes Gatsby's shocked haze, "Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don't think he had ever really believed in its existence  before," (Fitzgerald, 117). Gatsby can't let himself accept the child because, in doing so, he is accepting that Daisy is not his, that she had a life without him, that she went so far as to create something that is half Tom's and that she can't leave every part of her new life for him. In Tom's victory in the argument, he rubs one last taunt in Gatsby's face by telling him to drive home with Daisy after their trip to New York.

Character Profile - Tom Buchanan

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tom's role in the novel is ultimately the antagonist. Everything Gatsby wants is destroyed by Tom's mere presence. His "jealous husband" act keeps Daisy from fulfilling her desires and his bullying personality stops his wife Daisy and his mistress Myrtle from reaching their full potential. His standards for everyone else are lowered for himself as he evaluates his actions. His entirely self-absorbed demeanor is viewed as unapproachable and unattractive, but his money allows much of this to be looked over by business associates and women who place the value of the dollar over integrity. Tom's fear of Gatsby only allows him another arena in which to exert his power. Daisy, wanting so much to leave him, still crumbles under his invisible hold and ends up staying with her abusive and oppressive husband. He is the classic bully who pulls on people's weaknesses by exerting himself as super self-confident and in charge. Intimidation is his primary tool for keeping people under his control and so far, his reign has not been threatened by the society he is in.

Chapter 6

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

"He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to tom and say: 'I never loved you.' After she had obliterated four years with that sentence...they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house - just as if it were five years ago," (Fitzgerald, 109).

Gatsby truly believes that he deserves this. His crazy fantasies have taken over his actions, and now, his expectations and perceptions of others. He doesn't know, or won't accept, that Daisy cannot be that person for him, she isn't strong enough. Something brought up in this chapter that I believe contributes to Gatsby's inability to move on is his abstaining from alcohol. Unlike the rest of the people at his parties who can wash away their worries every night with his outstanding supply of liquor, Gatsby remains sober due to experiences in his past and therefore has no escape to the memories of Daisy that torment him.

Chapter 5

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

In this chapter we are enlightened to Gatsby's entire purpose for life: Daisy. After they finally obtain their meeting at Nick's house, Gatsby is as tongue-tied as a school boy with a crush and Daisy is embarrassed as I'm sure she is re-living their moments together as a couple. Finally, they reconnect after Gatsby takes her on a tour of his mansion and points out how he can see her house from across the water. "'If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay,' said Gatsby. 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock,'" (Fitzgerald, 92). Daisy understands his undying affection for her and breaks down to cry again. Gatsby epitomizes happiness for her as she epitomizes everything Gatsby has ever worked for. Gatsby's whole life has been aimed at pleasing Daisy. He bought the mansion and filled it with society people, he held parties for nights on end, he became rich, all for her. And, just as the child-like persona that met Daisy in Nick's house, Gatsby cannot understand that she cannot reciprocate this love he has for her because of her marriage and weakness. Although she is now so close to him, Daisy is just as far from Gatsby's reaches as when he was stationed overseas.

Chapter 4

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

As Gatsby and Nick speed down the road and are pulled over, the audience is introduced to just how far Gatsby's influence spreads. Just as Gatsby gives favors to his party guests, Gatsby is given favors with the law and society people. It makes one wonder whether or not things like this happen in our world today. I would say yes, but have no proof. Despite Gatsby's easy life, he seems unhappy to Nick who later gets Gatsby's backstory from Jordan who summed the Gatsby-Daisy love story, "I came into her room half an hour before the bridal dinner, and found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress - and as drunk as a monkey. She had a bottle of Sauterne in one hand and a letter in the other," (Fitzgerald, 76). Immediately, we begin rooting for true love and the story of the underdog. Fitzgerald gives a whimsical feeling to his writing here with the fantastic descriptions attached to the flashback story and the dramatic retelling of the story because the readers can understand that the Gatsby-Daisy love can only end in tragedy. Their relationship now is well painted in the song by Reba McEntire and Brooks and Dunn If You See Him, If You See Her.

Character Profile - Myrtle Wilson

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Myrtle Wilson, though a relatively minor character, plays an important role later in the novel as well as the beginning as we learn what type of person Tom Buchanan is. On the surface, Myrtle is someone who wants everything that she doesn't have and doesn't appreciate the things she does have. But, when you dig deeper, Myrtle is a victim of the society she so desperately want to be a part of: a society that places much emphasis on objects and possession. Without fully realizing it, Myrtle is simply a possession of Tom. He does not love her, nor want to be with her or take responsibility for her for more than his choice weekends in his New York apartment. Her husband, George, adores her, but cannot fulfill her need for excitement and status. Her story is one greatly explored in music and literature. I think that her voice can be summed in the song Stay written and performed by Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. She knows that when Daisy wants him back, Tom will leave and once again become the respected member of society.

Chapter 3

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

As chapter three progresses, we are offered a peek into the character of Gatsby and his lavish lifestyle through Nick's eyes as a newcomer. There are grand descriptions of Gatsby's mansion and the favors he provides for his guests; for example, "...the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and..." (Fitzgerald, 40). Gatsby seems to need to display his wealth in a very conspicuous manner which is characteristic of the time period. Though, when Nick finally meets Gatsby, after fighting through throngs of drunken guests and friends of guests, Gatsby appears surprisingly sober and distant from the events occurring in his own home. Nick is immediately drawn to his demeanor and admits his respect for Gatsby's lifestyle, a topic that will be later explored in the story as Nick discovers more about Gatsby's past. The conspicuous consumption of the 20s, we know, was followed by a period of depression. But, the people at Gatsby's party are certainly "living it up" and refusing to look ahead to the consequences of their actions, foolishly believing that it can be like this forever.

Chapter 2

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

We discover Tom's "girl" and their not-so-secret life together during this chapter. Almost a mirror image of the affairs in The House of Mirth, the married couples in The Great Gatsby, plagued by discontent steal away for a few nights with their lovers in another city to spend time together. Here, Nick learns that Tom and Myrtle cannot be together because Daisy is catholic and doesn't believe in divorce. To which Nick refutes in his mind, "Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie," (Fitzgerald, 33). This begs the question: why is Daisy lying? We have obviously seen Tom's cutting manner towards her in public and his physical abuse which is introduced in the first chapter with Daisy's finger and furthered by his breaking of Myrtle's nose in the second. Does Daisy think that she is protecting herself or her daughter by staying with him? Or does she simply know that she has no where else to turn as she is not nearly as eligible in her thirties with a child from another marriage? Her depth in weaving this lie is in immediate contradiction with the way she acts and speaks in public, leaving the reader wondering: who is Daisy?