"Happy Endings"

"Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood

I was interested in the story from the first three sentences. then when I went on to read plot "A", I was thinking was this all? Proving the point about how "happy endings" can be quite boring because they're unrealistic. Then from plot "B" of the story, I started thinking about how some women have this whole notion that they can change a man and only see a man for what that woman wants him to be. So women try to do everything right and play little games to sway a man into marring them. Then they get upset when the games don't work and a man finds another he really loves.



Also throughout the story, I loved how the author used some of the same names. This made reading the story more interesting and I had to keep in mind that the other plots didn't connect together, until the last four. The last few plots didn't give alot of description. They just talked about "what" happened and no explantaion as to "why" or "how." While reading this story I thought about how we as humans (mostly women), tend to plot our own lives and hope for a happy ending. Yet, why do we get upset when things don't go according to plan? It's interesting how one's life can go in many directions over time, and your plans end up being obligated to change.

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte P. Gilman

The narrator, or the wife, seems to be kind of sarcastic in the beginning. She described John, her husband, as practical and impatient and who's a physician. I sense that she is in an unhappy marriage also. I noticed that at the beginning the wife is writing about the house and how she says it's "haunted", then after talking to her husband and how he's so controlling and seems to know what's best for her, she goes back and writes how the house is "beautiful" instead of haunted. I got the impression that she contradicts herself often.

She feels like she should get "permission" from her husband all the time. "John says this....and John says that.." When she was describing the nursery she was talking about how unattractive the wallpaper was. Why does she dislike this wallpaper so much? she considered it as "unclean." Towards the end of the story, I started to think that the wife was mentaly ill or something, or that maybe John is convincing her that she is ill, when she probably isn't. Everything that the wife suggests, he shoots it down. It's like he's selfish, but acting like he's looking out for his wife's best interest. I noticed that when the wife asked about moving her resting room downstairs where it was more attractive, he instisted that she will go into he cellar.


I kept wondering what was it that John was hiding from his wife? Why couldn't she go downstairs or see her family? John was keeping her locked away and she longed to get out.

"A Rose for Emily"

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

In the first paragraph, I instantly thought that Emily was a women of high standard and that she was also in a way very secretive and had kept to herself. I got that impression from the part of the story when the women came to her funeral just to see the inside of her house. This proves that Emily wasn't very social with the rest of the community. It's as if she was to good for them. I asked myself why would the women care so much, and be so curious about Emily's house, even after she's passed away?! As I read on, the story talked about how she hasn't paid taxes and that Colonel Saratoris had gave permission that she didn't have to pay taxes, yet the Colonel was dead for over 10 years.

Emily seems to be detached from society and modernization. Emily and her family had a reputation to the town as being all "high and mighty" then once she lost her father and was left with the house, people had a chance to feel sorry for her and pity her. It's like the people wanted her to"humble-down" and be like them and struggle. I wondered, as I read on, why did Emily want to buy poison? and I also thought that she was going to kill herself just like the townpeople thought, but instead she killed her Yankee lover, Homer. Another question that rose to my head was about her Negro worker. Was he happy that Emily passed away? and what was there relationship like? All throughout the story I think that Emily missed her father and kept a hold of anything that reminded her of him. I think that she was depressed and once she found someone like Homer, she was so out-of-it, she killed him. Maybe she felt like she couldn't be loved. By her staying in that house for years and years, she probably lost touch of herself.

"Hills Like White Elephants"

"Hills like White Elephants"
by Ernest Hemingway

While reading the story, I noticed that there is ALOT of dialogue going on here. It's like I can, picture the conversation in my head, but at times I did forget which character was talking. The girl, Jig, that is with the American seems to not know what she wants. She has to always second guess herself and ask for the Amercan's decision. She's seems to agree with everything the American does or suggest. Throughout the story, I kept wondering what was so simple that Jig had to do and why did she have to do it in order to be happy with this American man? The american keeps requesting drinks for her, so I'm also wondering if these people are drunk? I noticed that on one side of the river, there was shade and the other side there were bare white hills, I kept asking myself what was the significance of it? Towards the end of the story, I was starting to think that the "operation" was to get Jig to "shut-up". When people are drunk, they tend to be really talkative. I couldn't figure out why Jig was so concerned at whether or not she should do "it". I wondered to myself whether or not they are comfortable and I think the American was just trying to be dominate towards Jig and taking advantage of her because she's naive and gullible.

"Lady with Lapdog"

"Lady with Lapdog"by Antov Chekhov

At the beginning of the story, I found it interesting how the narrator said that Dmitry was interested in new arrivals, then comes this lady walking downt the street with her Pomerianian. That right there got me thinking that Dmitry was going to try to pursue this woman. I noticed the attitude Dmitry had toward his wife, it seemed like he had no love for her at all.Yet I couldn't figure out why he was "afraid" of his wife. Maybe he didn't have a voice in the relationship, that could make one want to wander off to to someone who let's them have a voice. He seems like a perosn that always needs to be entertained because he's easily bored. When Dmitry figured he would try to seduce this lady, he only pursued her to get one thing. He wasn't expecting to have all the baggage that came with getting to know her. Towards the end of second part, Gurov shows his confidence that he could win her over. He kept telling himself that she had no idea of anything really and how there's something pathetic about her. This makes me think about how guyss go for women who are vulnerable and insecure. It's sad how they trick these women into believeing that they care and at the end and break their hearts. It's crazy how this stroy overall came about. This man and woman are married, yet are falling inlove or falling inlust with each other. Gurov only intention is to sleep with Anna and Anna later on feels like it's wrong. When gurov's alone without Anna he starts talking bout how he loves her, but earlier, he was no where near loving her truly.

Second Essay

I'm still pending about what to do for the second essay. All the stories that we've read have given me many ideas but I think I'm going to go with an essay on parenting. I found a greater interest in this after seeing "Ordinary People". I noticed how it's hard to find a balance in family and marriage life as seen by the Mother of Conrad in the movie. I could also get some research on why people divorce and how the roles of parenting and marriage have shifted. Another idea I had was about protection in families. I've kind of stayed away from this idea because it seems like a pretty obvious idea to talk about because it's played throught out all the stories we've read. But I don't know, we'll see what happens.

Ordinary People

While I was watching all the parts of this movie, I noticed alot of things. One of the things I noticed was the relationship between the parents. The mother is more introverted then the father. She keeps her feelings hidden from herself and others. I think that since her older son had died, she faults Conrad for his death. She doesn't have a relationship with Conrad like she did with her her olde son, Buck. Conrad had some mental issues involving his brother's death. He's been taking the fault himself. However, the parents feel like they need to keep Conrad straight and the mother feels that the family issues should stay within the family. The mother in a way reminded me of myself. I can be a very private person and I can keep to myself at times which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I noticed alot of things about parenthood. It's like a constant struggle within the parents relationship. This whole notion about "worrying" about your children and how you shouldn't because it's a waste of energy. I do think that that is true to a certain extent. It's natural for parents to worry about there children, but there is a time when parents need to learn that they can no longer control their kids. It's a time when the kids have start to use there own judgement and use what their parents have instilled in them. Another thin about Conrad's mother was that she is a very selfish person and also insecure. I got to wondering about how couples change in marriages. I thought about how important it is for BOTH parents to be level-headed and balanced in order to keep there families and marraige together. It's a big struggle being in a marriage and parenting, it's not all you see in movies and stories. It can be a big sacrifice, one that you may not be willing to take.