FALL 2017
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
And at this moment, when Mike has nowhere to hide and nothing left to tell himself, then he can hear, and he knows that he is not alone, and he knows what it is that he must do. It has been done before, even by Him who speaks, the Father of All, who gave His […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 14th, 2017
I’m not religious in the least, but my mom was raised strictly Baptist and ended up leaving the church completely in her twenties. My mom and I have had many conversations about God and religion; how some people utilize religion to find purpose and stability in their lives, a moral code, or to better serve a personal […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 13th, 2017
I myself have been in the shoes of Frank and I have experienced people like Frances, who are ready to fight till the end. It is in those moments that every single word that comes out of your mouth matters the most. Though what I feel Tobias Wolff has captured the best in his short […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 11th, 2017
But her husband had never been thrown across a room, or kicked, or slammed headfirst into a door. No one had ever spoken to him as her father had spoken to Frank. He did not understand what it was to be helpless and alone. No one should be alone in this world. Everyone should have […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 9th, 2017
In the short stories by Belle Boggs, they are all set in a rural setting. Even though two of the stories, “Deer Season” and “Election Day,” do not explicitly say where they are set (county or state), the reader can picture the ruralness of the story. But in her stories “Good News for a Hard […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 9th, 2017
“Skinny, who was not skinny at all…” (Good News for a Hard Time, 14) (Homecoming, 3) This passage came form both “Homecoming” and “Good News for a Hard Time.” I found it interesting how Belle Boggs wrote “Homecoming” and “Good News for a Hard Time” as stories that ran parallel and at the same time […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 8th, 2017
Rather than talking about one of Belle Boggs’ short stories I would like to address how she connected “Good News for a Hard Time” and “Homecoming” so that they both have the same setting, the rural county of King William, Virginia. This county just so happens to be the county that Belle Boggs grew up […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
Below are the beginning paragraphs from an essay by the author Aminatta Forna in the magazine World Literature Today. You can read the complete essay here. Human beings tell stories. This is a fact. Every society, however differently organized and structured, whether founded on the values of matriarchy or patriarchy, whether agricultural, sea-going, peaceful, or warmongering, tells […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
“You’ve left me in a real place.” Out of the three stories by Belle Bogg’s I found “Election Day” the most interesting story. I found it interesting not so much because of the plot, but because of how it was written. The immense amount of description in the story creates a very vivid picture. When […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
If this story were told using only one perspective, it would lose a lot of the emotion the author wrote in it. Using more than one perspective means we can see multiple views on the same event. We see how each of these characters goes about the day affected by the first day of hunting […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
A parent’s absence in a child’s life can have a negative impact on the child’s ability to be a parent in their adult life. In the short story “Good News for a Hard Time” by Belle Boggs, the struggles of a woman without a mother are addressed by how she feels about her pregnancy. Ronnie, the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
The title of this story implies a certain amount of hope that is sharply contrasted by the narrator’s sense of dread towards her current pregnancy. When she says, “Part of her wished she could just stay pregnant,” (7) she does not mean it as a sweet sentiment but rather the hope that she will never […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
Anyway, Mrs. Hayes probably thinks Jason wishes he were out hunting, ha, what a joke. Jason’s dad offered to take him…but then he never called back when he said he would. He was probably waiting for Jason to call him back, and Jason was busy…Jason doesn’t think he could shoot something as helpless as a deer anyway.” This […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
Belle Boggs’ “Good News for a Hard Time” explores the ways in which the loss of a parent can impact a child, while also touching on differences in social classes and the additional struggle this can cause. Ronnie is understandably resentful of her mother’s leaving and her father’s simple acceptance of this, but shows a clear inability […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
Belle Boggs’ “Deer Season” is written in the third person and consists of characters that fit into common stereotypes. Among the stereotypes explored in this story are the gender roles different characters assume. Gender roles are seen in this story when most of the male students don’t attend school so that they can go hunting, while the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
On the first day of dear season the high school is deserted of all the boys. This is expected by the teachers, who will chat with the girls and show movies all day… (3) The irony of Belle Boggs’ “The Deer” being the focus on the story on the girls in the school, and the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
It was like love, she thought. Something you thought you should have until it was right there in front of you and you realized you were committed to it whole. (20) Throughout this story the reader can grasp the sense that Ronnie is not exactly happy in her relationship with Jeremy. It seems as if […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 7th, 2017
Belle Boggs’ “Deer Season” takes the reader through the minds of all of the characters in the story, and portrays what the first day of deer season means to each of them. What is so beautiful about this story is that the reader feels a personal connection to each individual character due to the switch […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 6th, 2017
The point of view lets the reader see the thoughts of the staff and the remaining students on the first day of deer season. Each person seems to be lost in their thoughts: The principal thinking of tomorrow’s conversations, Jenny thinking about her charcoal drawing of dried roses, Mrs. Hayes thinking about the sinkhole in […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
Haruki Murakami’s “The Elephant Vanishes” is written in first person point of view; the perspective we are given is of a man who works at a magazine company who is interested in the elephant. From his point of view, we are not able to find out exactly what happened to the elephant or his keeper, but the narrator […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
I felt like this a lot after my experience with the vanishing elephant. I would begin to think I wanted to do something, but then I would become incapable of distinguishing between the probable results of doing it and of not doing it.(465) This story represents anxiety and closing yourself off to the world. The […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
The most reasonable explanation for this would be that the keeper had unlocked the ring, removed it from the elephant’s leg, and locked the ring again… despite the fact that the keeper had no key. (457) This story is told from the first person, retrospective point of view. The narrator holds a factual retelling of […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
For example, the article used such expressions as ‘the elephant escaped’ but if you looked at the entire piece it became obvious that the elephant had in no way ‘escaped.’ It had vanished into thin air.” With the peculiar disappearance of the town elephant, the main character becomes almost obsessed with the event. There is […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
“The elephant and keeper have vanished completely. They will never be coming back.” “The Elephant Vanishes” by Haruki Murakami was not as complicated as it appeared to be. It is exceedingly intriguing; like a mystery novel in a short story except there is no resolution. Various possible themes have crossed my mind but the only […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 2nd, 2017
“The chain coiled around the door of the elephant house reminded me of a huge snake set to guard a ruined palace in a thick forest. A few short months without its elephant had given the place an air of doom and desolation that hung there like a huge, oppressive rain cloud.” (459) Haruki Murakami uses figurative language, […]