1945 to Present

Leslie Marmon Silko  “The Yellow Woman”

The yellow woman was enjoyable to me because i enjoy folktales and this reminded me of that. I love stories of the somewhat supernatural world and The Yellow Woman had that element where it drew me immediately. In most stories where the end is kind of left open to the readers interpretation i hate it, but in this story i appreciated it because it held significance value to the character and her being unsure and kind of feeling alone in it. It made her feel okay bout her affair because she had helped live out the legendary tale for the umpteenth time but nonetheless had become a part of history in her own right.

 

Audre Lorde “Coal”

Coal was a very intriguing read a so had to read it a couple of times and then section by section to even attempt to understand it. after group discussions the interpretation of it was very clear and also very beautiful.It represented self worth and recognizing it regardless of outside opinions. The way it described the way diamonds are made mirrored her speaking of how she was made, flaws and all.

 

Alison Bechedel “Fun Home”

Fun home was a peculiar read as the title threw me off from the start. My interpretation of the story was that the father acted as if she was one of the boys and failed to form that father and daughter bond that is so important. The way she wrote about him seemed as though she adored him from a far but despised him personally. She respected his ability to turn trash into treasure and appreciated his appreciation of having nice things but like stated, felt like the furniture antiques were more of his kids than they were. She spoke of him like a stranger would to someone who just studies someone from afar because that is what she did. A very good and unexpected read.

 

James Baldwin ” Sonny’s Blues”

I’ve read this story every year since 2011 and i am always still excited to read it. Sonny’s Blues is important because it teaches you to love one another and not judge. It symbolizes understanding and listening aside from forcing notions and standards down someones throat and just accepting them as they are. Through the bitterness of the narrator of losing his child and his brother to the sorrow within  Sonny’s eyes from losing his family. Not being accepted because of his love and joy for the music and how it itself is his drug, his therapy. When people try to understand versus try to control a common ground can be found eve through heartbreak and struggles and i love that message within this story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1910-1945

T.S. Eliot “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

i enjoyed this reading, it really embodied his style of work and all of the characteristics of modernism. Eliot strongly represented alienation, the mask versus inner self and stream of consciousness. His use of these characteristics kind of shed light on the negative aspects of modernism and the disconnect it was causing with the people of that era. I appreciated how the standards put on modernism, praised at the time for the new era and wave and changing of the people, was taken down from its pedestal for a moment to represent that there are cons to every thing good or great.

 

Zora Neale Hurston ” Gilded Six Bits”

Gilded six bits was a surprisingly good read. I enjoyed the sudden plot twist  and the ending especially. After the turn of events of Joe catching Missy Mae in bed with Slemmons i just knew he’d kill him and either put Missy ma out, shame her to the town or go out and be a single man in his eyes. Although the outcome may  not have been the entire message in the story i appreciated it greatly. i don’t know how any one is be able to turn the other cheek, sort of speak when someone cheats on them but Joe did it with such grace. I thought it was very courageous of him to stay with her, even though know one knew but them three and his mother he stayed, for better or worse.

 

Ernest Hemingway “Big Two-Hearted River”

This read was very relaxing although a little difficult to understand the message of it. in the beginning of it I followed and it  just seemed to be the opening of a good story, just setting the pace of it. After i read through it and it just ended in what seemed to be the middle of the story. reading the calming description of the activities that took place during his short hiking trip were interested and i had actually hoped it kept going. after coming to grips with it not completing itself and leaving me and my imagination to do the deed it was a very  calming read.

 

Ezra Pound ” The PAct”

This poem was a great example of the style of writing that pound embodied in all of his works. It was straight to the point and left nothing to the imagination, to not misconstrue the message. The poem was a letter to Walt Whitman, challenging his style of work and stating that he would have come for him sooner to change what was considered the normalcy of poetry and writing of the time, but his dad was in the way of his doings but no longer is.  i appreciate Pounds direct approach in his writing and his unapologetic will to be heard.

 

 

1865-1910

“A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It”

This story was especially interesting to me because it reflects how many kids that were cared for during slavery felt. Although they were aware of the lesser treatment their “babysitters” were receiving they didn’t fully understand it. In this story young Mark Twain was ignorant to the lives being lived around him and in most cases, the kids were to soon take over once of age. I enjoyed this story because it was a story of realism and showed the ignorance of the kids but the harsh reality of knowing the kids these women once card for would soon be like their parents.

“A New England Nun”

I really enjoyed this story because to me it was geared toward social standards and the social exile one could face if they go against it. I appreciated it because although this was hundreds of tears ago it s still relevant today. Social standards control so much of today’s world and although the “repercussions” of this time meant more depending on whom you ask its still the same. I liked the fact that although she wanted a way out as well as her soon to be husband she caught a break and took it, silently. The fact that she didn’t boast about what she’d done or what she knew and got to remain in the simplicity of her life was enough for her.

“A White Heron”

My appreciation for the white heron may be bias simply because i’m a lover of nature and animals so my understanding of her not giving up the location of the white heron, even though for a couple of dollars that they may have needed, could not buy the life of such a majestic creature. I’d consider this work of literature that of regionalism simply by the definition provided in class, ” empowers  the voice of regionalism characters, viewing them as agents of their own lives and create an empathetic connection..”

 

“Editha”

Although we were told we didn’t have to read this I already had. I don’t think that we had already talked about naturalism this story seemed to be in that category. For whatever reason the main character was associating war as honorable, and although it can be categorized as such it’s usually through an individuals will. Her guy didn’t have any urge in his body to be in the military let a lone go to war and lead a war he did it for the sake of her. At the end he died “honorably” but at what cost. She would never see him again which she knew was a possibility when she urged him to go in the first place but she failed to think about how others and him leaving and the possibility of him never returning could affect them.

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