California Fruit

California Fruit is about a young girl that moves to California with her mother after her father passes away.  She meets a boy and they sneak out at night to be with each other.  She is young and naive and he awakens her sexually.  He is exotic and exciting to her.  He was only there on vacation though and left without saying goodbye to her.  She was shocked to learn he was from Wisconsin and was disappointed it seemed that he didn't live there.  She was hoping to make connections there and find someplace to fit in, since she was new and lonely.  

I liked this piece because it was simple and yet interesting. I found it from the SmokeLong Quarterly and randomly picked it out of the long list of micro fiction stories.  I can see this story being very relatable to many young people who experience summer love for only a short period of time and before you know it vacations end and no contacts are left open for further developing.  The kind of summer love that is illusive and makes you look back with longing and fond memories.  

When the main character talks about her sunburn peeling in small white flakes like snow this allows the reader to connect the fling as just a summer love situation and with the peeling of her sunburn comes also the change in season and the summer fling is now in the past a long with her burn. 

Mix Tape - The Fiction Remix!

1.  Through the Wire - Kanye West

(This song reminds me of "Native Son" because of its overall meaning in overcoming life's hardest lessons of coming close to death but not giving up on life.  This is also an artist from Chicago)

2.  Fix You - Coldplay

(This song reminds me of "House on Mango Street".  Esperanza feels trapped in her neighborhood and desperately wants a house of her own away from Mango Street.  At the end of the story Esperanza decides that she will write for women all over, but especially for the women on Mango Street.  She will try to fix the oppression of women she sees done by men all over.)

3.  Wreck of the Day - Anna Nalick

(This is a song about being let down by life and love.  It's about trying to not fall to pieces because of the constant effort given but still not being accepted or understanding about yourself through fighting for love. This song reminds me of "Hairstyles of the Damned". 

4.  The Taste of Ink - The Used

("So here I am, alive at last, and I'll savor every moment of this!" It's a sort of anthom for a younger generation finally finding themselves and feeling acceptance and love in someone else.)

5.  Middle of Nowhere - Hot Hot Heat

(This song is about being open to everything and nothing at all.  "To give you something to go on, when I go off back to the middle of nowhere."  It's about being there for someone else when you are feeling lost yourself.)

Five Minutes?

If I had five minutes alone with Bigger Thomas, I probably would talk to him about he felt the first instance he realized himself as an equal to white people. 

According to the story, Bigger goes on to say that when Jan visited him in his cell, he opened up to Bigger and acknowledged his feelings, thus making Bigger for the first time on the same level as a white person. 

I would hope to show Bigger, in the five minutes we had to talk, that I too considered myself an equal to him.  I would also listen to his feelings and let him to the talking about how he has felt over his lifetime. 

I would expect Bigger not to want to open up to me at first.  He might even pretend to be subservient just to hide his emotions and cover up his uncomfortable feelings.  I would be openminded to him and try to help him express and alleviate the shame he feels because of his color.  I would tell him of the great strides our country has made in regards to racism and racial differences.  I would like to tell him about Barack Obama and give him piece of mind that ALL children born today have lots of opportunities at their feet, no matter what culture they come from!

"Harlem" by Langston Hughes

Harlem 
by Langston Hughes 

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

This poem does resemble Bigger from Richard Wright's "Native Son".  I enjoy reading this book because it makes me realize how awful and oppressed Bigger must have felt growing up in the 1930s in Chicago.  I am white and never had had to dealt with the extent of racism Bigger and many other African Americans have went through in their lives, but I imagine I would act and feel simaliar to how Bigger feels and acts in "Native Son".  He has a lot of pressure on him from his family and he resents the limited resources he has available to him in order to try and help his family.  He is oppressed and goes without.  Being constantly looked down upon can be very damaging to a person, especially a man who is expected to be the main provider for his family.  Times are tough for Bigger as well as every single black person at that time in America.  When people are held down for so long they will rebel and use force to try to fight their oppressors, white America.  If I were in Bigger's position I would feel anger inside, not necessarily to the point he does but then again I don't really know what it's like to be in his shoes. 

Diversity and Reactions

It is kind of hard for me to express exactly if my views have changed since reading these stories for this unit.  In part I believe that I already have learned a lot through my friendships with different races and backgrounds.  One story that did surprise me was Maugham's, "Outstation".  I found that the relationship of diversity which stood out for me the most was the concept of rich and poor.  

Many wealthy people are stereotyped as mean and not respectful of other cultures less endowed then they are, but in this case it was Cooper a lesser refined man in which bore strict prejudices towards the Malayan people in Borneo.  I found this to be very interesting and also a very good twist to a story which one might start out with preconceived expectations about the main character, Mr. Warburton.  

Self-Identification and Classification

From checking out this website, I found it very difficult for me to dicifer what people belonged to which racial category, and because of this I turned out to be off quite a bit with my choices.  I find it degrading to judge people by their color and facial features.  I try to never judge a book by its cover but in many cases its difficult not to because we are very observant of how we carry ourselves and even make the slightest judgements from each other based on our appearances. I believe we are all guilty of this and am offended when I hear white people singled out as being the only group that is racist. Times have changed and I believed we are all to blame for prejudices in our lives. 

I believe that people base certain styles and ways of hygene with each nationality.  America has many stereotypes and at times they can be so insulting if not always.  People are unique and have many ways of expressing themselves these days, who are others to judge their appearance any way of how the person really is on the inside?? Sometimes we can all be unfair in our assumptions...I can only hope through the generations we will continue to change and grow as a country and nation to eliminate these prejudices!

Underground Exposed

"Nothing is as violent as the violence of the mind..." by Boxoffice magazine.  Truly interesting and very true.  We can sometimes not even express our anger and madness because there are no words or actions that would satisfy our thoughts, this is what makes this statement so true and brilliant.  This is why this film, "Notes from Underground" is considered the most violent film of the year.  To hold in all the anger and pent up frustration is likely to drive one mad and lead to a downward spiral for one's one health and eventually ending their life.  Violence of the mind can't be stopped because we cannot stop our human given right to think and feel.  To end our own thoughts and emotions is to end our life, but even to act out a suicide is less violent than to slowly let violence kill us from a psychological manner in internal anger. 

The protagonist is his own antagonist.  He is so spiteful because he is dying from internal violence of the mind besides the diagnosis of liver cancer.  Only he can cure and stop the violence of his mind, but it appears he revels in it.  Some people become so angry that they are dying that they actually let an illness take over all other thoughts in their mind.  They become bitter with resentment and spite and no matter what anyone else may try to do to help them they become consumed with anger.  This is actually making his life and death more painful because he is so spiteful and has such a negative mindset.  To have this raw emotion exposed on film can't help but be emotionally touching, because everyone knows anger to a certain extent and this film pushes our limits to someone who has anger at large seeping through their veins.   

Jackson Pollock and the art of fiction!

Jackson Pollock is a unique individual.  He is by far a leader in abstract painting and innovative artist.  With all extremely innovative individuals comes a great price. Society has a hard time sometimes understanding the basis and core of why people act a certain way.  New waves of art come along and in many cases they are not accepted or understood by the masses.  It isn't until later, sometimes much later, that they become appreciated and many even adored. It makes the artist feel alienated and secluded and even causes many more problems. They are not accepted and still many press on to have created masterpieces because their passion for art and creation could be stopped. Thank goodness for that!

The paintings created by Jackson Pollock are not simply wonderful because of what you see on the canvas, even though they are wonderful just in that sense alone, but in the process he uses to create them they are truly a work of art. He drizzles the paint in a very abstract and emotional manner all his own. His methods of creating the paintings are really a dance of emotion in which result below him in an abstract manner which expresses his intent.  He doesn't touch the surface of the paintings, what results on the canvas is from the falling of paint from his movements.  Amazing and creatively expressive in his imagination, even if you don't feel a certain love for the paintings itself you still appreciate the process and the technique for which he used to carry out the meaning in which drives him to create these pieces of art.   

The Role of the Fiction Writer

Kafka and Munch stick out in my mind for writers who excellently have written works of fiction.  I enjoy when writers use their imaginations and use the text and format of how they write to reach the reader. I believe that every angle should be explored when trying to bring your ideas across to the audience. The more unique and creative the better! 

 

The Role of the Artist

Two of Munch's works which seem to make an impression on me the most are, "The Dead Mother" and "Puberty".  These two situations are not commonly pictured in paintings and that is why I find them so interesting.  The child's facial expression and body language in "The Dead Mother" is so helpless and so naive. The innocence of the piece is impacting on my heart and my sympathy for that poor child that has to grow up without their mother. At the same time even though it is somewhat depressing Much seems to capture something very beautiful about the sadness in the painting. 

"Puberty" is the same kind of combination between sadness and beauty.  The little girl is losing her innocence and starting to become a woman. That can be a very difficult time for adolescents. They are trying to figure out who they are and come into their own person. They have so much to learn and in a lot of ways wish to just remain a child. It somewhat makes me sad when looking at it because the girl seems alone and scared to grow up. She is no longer care free and innocent. She now has to accept the responsibilities of becoming a woman and that can be very scary and intimidating for a child to accept.   

"The Yellow Wallpaper" Criticism Journal

The Writing's on the Wall: Symbolic Orders in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

This article was very helpful in making me understand more about the story that I had missed in reading it. Not until now did I find out the Jane had just given birth to her son and the initial sickness was provoked through post partum depression.  This information helps me to see what lead up to the story and also her being sick and feeling depressed.  I did find this article a bit dry and boring but it had a lot of good insight on Jane and John. Jane whose name was not revealed until the very end is named a very non-descriptive name. I agree with this and feel as though we were not supposed to put an basis or demographic on who this Jane really was.  John being her doctor and husband might have been too close to the situation to realize her condition and I found it interesting that in the article the writer states that after a while John starts diagnosing and controlling the very things that women are, imaginative and describes it as not being in self control. That is a point I had not really grasped until reading this article. 

The article also goes on to talk about Jane's psychotic tendencies and it also compared her character to the Lancan studies of psycho-analysis, which I found somewhat interesting but also a bit difficult to comprehend. Overall, I agree with the criticism article and I am glad I was able to get further insight on Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". 

Rape Fantasies Kept Hidden...

Atwood's "Rape Fantasies" is a light discussion on the topic of rape and the reaction of women in an office environment setting. They discus their fantasies and their reactions are varied. Estelle is the main character which whom speaks to the reader directly as if in a personal conversation.

I believe that "Rape Fantasies" was removed from the American Edition of "Dancing Girls and other Short Stories" because at that time in the 60s and 70s people in America were not comfortable yet in openly talking about sex and other obscene topics, especially hearing these types of topics coming from a woman author. Sex and violence appeared improper for women to talk about and women were supposed to remain private about serious happenings like this in society because overall women didn't have the same rights and opportunities as men did. The battle for women's rights and being treated equally has come a long way and today women are more outspoken then ever before, which is a great liberation that many of us younger generations seem to not appreciate as much as we should.  

I do agree that it helped when Norton published Atwood's "Rape Fantasies" and allowed such literature to get in the door and women were finally beginning to be taken seriously. It was all Atwood of course that created her own success. She is a brilliant writer and her views on such topics makes her way before her time!

Definition of a Short Story

"The Cask of the Amontillado" is a short story by Poe, which he further categorizes as a literary genre.  Poe defines short stories as literary genres because they are tales told about an event or occurrence between one or two people. There is not a lot of details regarding their backgrounds or much in depth on the setting or cause for the tale. A short story is more about bringing in the reader emotionally. To be as descriptive on the single happening going on as though the reader were actually with the characters in the act. 

I believe Poe was correct in his definition of a short story from the reading, "The Brief Prose Tale".  From further reading "The Cask of Amontillado", I sense the relationship between Fortunato and the narrator.  The emotions overall are felt when the narrator is building the wall and hears the moans coming from the catacomb...the shock and anxiety for escaping alive from this dark damp tomb where many mans remains were left to waste prior before this tale. 

A short story is to evoke the overall emotions and underlying theme that the author expresses in this event.  Regardless if you are aware of the events previous to this or later, you will learn about this moment and understand through the event the characters partaking in the situation. 

the Truth of Fiction...Awakening

Any fictional story needs to be inspired in one way or another. Therefore, I see that there is truth in all fiction, some more true to life than others although.  A specific instance in which a story appealed to be true to my life is when I read the book, The Awakening. 

Now for obvious reasons I do not connect with the main character Edna. I am not married therefore do not have children and I do not plan on ever committing suicide. Other than the obvious characteristics of Edna, I did and still do understand and relate to her character.  Women in this day and age have a lot more freedom and independence then women in the 1800s. Aside from that Edna was really a women ahead of her time. I think through her awakening she truly became a strong woman. I feel that through art, relationships and solitude as well we find ourselves and we evolve. 

Being able to travel or experience different events from which we are accustomed to, we in return learn more about ourselves and discover our dreams and wants. I feel that an "awakening" is a continuing experience and that is what makes me saddened that she committed suicide at the end of the novel. She did escape from societies limitations but at what cost to her own awakening evolution?  I think women feel a lot stronger now to push forward and lead their own lives even if it is against what others around then deem right or "correct". 

I found The Awakening is true to my life because through independence in college I have discovered many things about myself I would have never realized by staying at home with my family. I learned how to take care of myself and really develop my artistic abilities.  Now since I have been on my own and am back for the summer at home, I do feel limited sometimes. I have grown and become more independent but my parents have not yet gotten used to the fact that I'm becoming a woman. Throughout the next few years I will continue to evolve and become more independent and fully be able to be on my own, something that Edna was only able to fully accomplish at the end by committing suicide. Thankfully times have changed over the years and women are not driven to such circumstances.  

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mickingbird is one of the most significant pieces of literature that everyone should read at one point and time in their lives. I first read this book my sophomore year in high school. I have always believed in accepting and even celebrating the cultures around me. Growing up many of my friends were of different backgrounds and races then me, and this continues on today.

To Kill A Mockingbird focuses on the troubles of prejudices in the south before civil rights fully took affect. It's a wonderful book in the sense it involves innocence as well as rough and tumble truths to what racism people experience. It really is a good read for adolescents to open their eyes to the struggle that African Americans dealt with in society. It shows hope that even though many Caucasians at that time were racist and had preconceptions, there were still people who believed in justice and made a change. It affected me positively. It reaffirms that as long as you really stick up for what you believe in and never give up you can make a difference. Change doesn't happen overnight, but in time we can overcome many of societies hurdles no matter what they may be; race, sex, wealth and poverty.

I believe that the manner in which this book was written led me to see multiple points of view, thus making it a great tool in teaching people to over come prejudices in society.