Once upon a time

This was a great story. In this story, its funny how at first she says that she does not write children's stories. She says that she does not accept that she "ought" to write anything but, when she wakes up from a nightmare, she comforts herself with a fairytale. When I think of a fairytale I think of Hanzel and Gretel, or Sleeping Beeuty, or Cinderella, these are stories geered at children. I wonder if the message of this story is that we never really grow-up, we still tell stories and dream of fairtales, just the content and the deapth of these stories change. she uses the basic and world-known fairytale words in telling her story. she uses "happliy ever after," "a wise old witch," "theives," and "entanglement." She does not use them in the traditional setting, she already tells us about their happly every after life, they already had a son, a maid, and a gardner. The most interesting thing about this story is that they were trying to keep people from getting in. In most fairytales the prince is trying to save someone(getting someone out). I wonder where this story is set and what time period? I'm thinking its in Africa because of the word Tsotsis and Baas which is relevant to Africa. The story seems to have many other small fairytales in ti, the boy that cried wolf in is this story when the alarms are being tripped over and over again, "everyone soon became accustomed to, so that the din aroused the inhabitants of the suburb no more than the croak of frogs and musical grating of cicadas' legs." The setting of the story seems like it could be in a rural place that just recieved a suburb. I'm wondering does the author wants us to see the fairytale that is irregular to our previous beliefs of what a fairytale is, or does she wants us to she the shortstory as a whole?

A&P

This Story is very interesting. I have to say that I like it better that "where are you going, where have you been?" I love how he accurately tells of the female hierarchy. We all know that one pretty girl that everyone envies and we don't want to really succeed is going to be on top. While we have the less attractive on bottom. Well who is to say who is attractive or not? He gives great details of the girls he describes the pretty on as having a chin that was too long, he tells about her white primadonna legs. At first I thought that he was being to critical but this is how he felt. He is a great observer. I can picture him sitting on the porch looking at everyone and telling on everyone. He calls the leader Queenie which I though was interesting. Without knowing her at all he just assumes that she is the leader, without knowing any of the girls he just assumes that they are followers. I just love how he describes everyone as sheep, like the customers are part of a flock driven and rounded-up into these corrals(cashier lines). I love how the Author paints this picture. I want to know what Lengal thought was decent. Is what is decent what is posted on the television? Would we even know what decent was without this invention? The only reason why those girls caused so much unrest it because they upset the natural order of their little world. This is a small town with a church in the middle, the girls resisted the status quo and released the unfamiliar. The Cashier decided to quit because he thought there was going to be a parade and the girls were going to serenade their selves to him. It was a humbling experience and a wake up call to him to see that the world is not all that it has cracked up to be.

"Where are you going, Where have you been?"

This short story left me on the edge of my seat. It left me wanting more, I was not fulfilled. I think that was Joyce Carol Oats choice, she wanted to leave us wondering what happened to this vain girl in "where are you going, Where have you been?" The protagonist in this story is a dynamic character. She goes from a selfish, giggling high school girl to someone that is faced with a serious decision. She must decide whether she wants to save her family or herself. The doorway is a problem for me. Arnold Friend uses that to his advantage, we all know the doorway as being a portal to another world, to a new world; But on this doorway there was a screen. A net of entanglement that strangled her and clouded her mind. I hate the color of the car. I hate that its flashy and has to be seen. Ellie is an interesting character also, he seems to like music a lot. Or maybe he is trying to lure Connie to him. Another thing that strike my attention was that Arnold Friend has trouble walking, I think he was trying to hide something from Connie. I personally think that his feet were clubbed, or hoofed. He makes me feel uncomfortable with knowing everything about Connie. How did he know where her family was and what they were wearing? Connie has a strange relationship with her mother. Why would she wish her mother dead? Well, it was apparent that she could have had her wish fulfilled if she did not walk outside. In the end, she called to her mother and started to wine like a baby. This story seemed like a rite of passage or a coming of age story more than anything else. Connie grew up tremendously, with sacrificing herself for the lives of others. How Gallant of her?

Hero Movie

That movie was the most boring movie ever. The delivary of the movie was the most upsetting. However, with a great attention span you can appreciate the content value. The movie compared reality heros with mythological heros. The host was well informed about the topic and opened my eyes to a world of symbolisim in the media and our every day life.

ON THIS PAGE

This page is for the enjoyment of all, so that all may benefit from the wonderful, wacky world of literature. Please commit in any way about your expierence with literature. On this page there will be journal writing on readings and different papers.