FALL 2017
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2017
Deborah Eisenberg’s “The Girl Who Left Her Sock on the Floor” is about a girl who must grieve the loss of her mother. Her school sends her to say her goodbyes to her mother and to mourn. During this trip, the narrator finds out her father is still alive and has been living a different life […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2017
Three years earlier he had driven Frances’ car into a highway abutment and almost died, then almost died again, in detox, from a grand mal seizure. Now he wanted to preach sermons at her. She was supposed to be grateful. She said she’d give him ten minutes. (637) “The Night in Question” is about the narrator’s brother, Frank, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2017
“As if love were about the truth” (pg. 512) The world’s perfect idea of love revolves around this notion that there is perfect communication and honesty, and that is exceedingly unrealistic. It is a goal most couples strive to achieve and that most fall short of. At the end of the day, everyone is human, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2017
Sometimes she let herself imagine what would have happened if he had been killed instead of wounded. (pg.9) One of my biggest fears has always been that I will some day be a burden to whomever I end up marrying. Everyone gets old, and with every passing day the likelihood of some kind of tradegy […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2017
In “Deer Season,” Belle Boggs writes about the school’s dynamic changes when the majority of the boys leave to shoot deer. This story offers not only a commentary on feminism but also a demonstration of how girls and boys affect the atmosphere of the school. “He thinks [the girls] dress more casually on this day, no […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 27th, 2017
This, then, could be our last evening as an innocent, complete family; my last night with a woman I know almost everything about and want no more of. Soon we will be like strangers. No, we can never be that. In this story, the narrator ,who is a father and a husband, is planning to […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
In “The Green Man” by Jeanette Winterson the theme is about man’s fragile masculinity. Throughout the story various things happen that display the main characters masculinity being shattered and mocked. The first sign we see of this in the story is the characters pride in his grass. It is a very stereotypical man thing to […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
While reading Can Xue’s “The Child Who Raised Poisonous Snakes” I felt the connection between the child and the snakes was similar to the struggle many parents have over allowing their child to grow older. Sha-yuan told his parents he was able to appear to be near his parents when in reality he was else where, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
First and foremost, this story confused me thoroughly. Just when I believed I knew what was occurring, the next paragraph would throw me a curveball. Despite this, however, I feel as though I may have an understanding of one theme of this story. This story portrays the confusion of being an adult. What happened to […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
“He has been a well-behaved child,” his mother explained to me. “The only trouble with him is that he should never be allowed outdoors.” (644) When I began reading Can Xue’s The Child Who Raised Poisonous Snakes, I believed the story would be about a child with over protective parents, but the parents were not overprotective since […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
“The parents stopped watching Sha-yuan’s behavior as if they had lost interest and become oblivious. But they appeared anxious and from morning till night they checked their watches constantly. Obviously they were waiting for something. ‘Waiting for their deaths,’ Sha-yuan said. He tapped his belly, which was flat. There was no sign of anything inside. […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
To honour. To mock. To fear. To hate. To be fascinated. To laugh out loud. (629) In Jeanette Winterson’s short story “The Green Man,” the main character is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He goes back and forth between things that do not relate and brings them back […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
To honour. To mock. To fear. To hate. To be fascinated. To laugh out loud. (629) This was a complex story, mainly because it was filled with so many switches in the narrator’s train of thought. I felt that this added a sense of realism in the narration. By switching the narrator’s train of thought, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
“The Green Man” tells the story of a man struggling with feelings of emasculation, dissatisfaction, and even fear as he realizes his daughter has reached an age of potential sexual awakening. Winterson also portrays the appeal between “wild and tame” in the dynamic between the gypsies fair and the repressed suburban setting the narrator comes from, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
“We dont care if he will be somebody.” the mother said. “Both his father and I are only ordinary people. How is it that we should have a son who is involved in such a shameful business? Raising poisponous snakes, that’s frightening.”” In China, the “concept of face” has been a part of their culture […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 16th, 2017
“where did you get the name Sha-yuan?” I asked abruptly. “I’ve been wondering about it myself. Nobody ever gave him that name. where did it come from?” the mother said, looking confused.(649) I too wondered where this name came from, as it felt as if “The Child Who Raised Poisonous Snakes” by Can Xue played […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2017
To honour. To mock. To fear. To hate. To be fascinated. To laugh out loud. This story starts out differently then most other short stories I’ve read. It starts with the above quote, which is very unusual. This story is told in first-person. As the reader, you are showed the thoughts of the unnamed male […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2017
“The Night in Question” by Tobias Wolff is a third-person narrative about the death of Benny Bolling, the son of Janice and Mike Bolling, who died after being crushed by machinery while at work with his father. He deliberately disobeyed his father and went to the mechanical room that is deep below the surface of the bridge. […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2017
What I fear, I avoid. What I fear, I pretend does not exist. What I fear is quietly killing me. Would there were a festival for my fears, a ritual burning of what is coward in me, what is lost in me. Let the light in before it is too late. (633) In Jeanette Winterson’s […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
“The Night in Question” by Tobias Wolff at its core represents the difficulty of making choices. Whether they be simple decisions or complex ones that require a great deal of thought, some things are not easily decided. As a person who is painfully indecisive and emotionally charged all of the time, I can understand the difficulty. […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
For her brother she’d fought neighborhood punks, snotty teachers, and unappreciative coaches, loan sharks, landlords, bouncers. From the time she was a scabby-kneed girl she’d taken on her own father, and if push came to shove she’d take on the Father of All, that incomprehensible bully. She was ready. (642) The truth of the matter […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
“I’m down in the mill, Frank. I’m stuck in the gears and here comes the train with Mother Teresa and five hundred sinners on board, whoo whoo, whoo whoo. Who, Frank, who? who’s it going to be?” This story makes it very clear that Frank has two main receivers of love in his life: his […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
He did not understand what it was to be helpless and alone. No one should be alone in this world. Everyone should have someone who kept faith, no matter what, all the way. (639) This passage shows the relationship between Frances and her brother, Frank, in Tobias Wolff’s “The Night in Question.” Frank was abused […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
They were hoping for a whole houseful of kids, but the Lord decided to give them one instead, a very special one… Benny came out in high gear and never shifted down. This quote from Tobias Wolfe’s “The Night In Question” stands out to me the most because, despite the fact Frank didn’t sound similar to Benny, many […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
This story expresses a question often presented to people of Christian faith: Would you risk your loved one for complete strangers? Pastors often preach that one should love others as their God did; allowing his own son to be killed so that others could be saved from sin. The main characters of this passage show […]