Diverse Voices

2006-05-03T18:21:00.000-04:00

Dorothy Allison has definitely created a very graphic text. The characters that she created are quite interesting. I feel a lot of sympathy for Bone, who can't even be safe in her own home or depend on her mother. She's betrayed by the women that she adores, and I can't imagine the amount of pain she must feel. She doesn't have a legitimate father and now she doesn't really have a mother either. When it comes to Anney, (starting when I read page 291) I decided that I hated her as a character. In the beginning I felt sorry for her because she was looking for a father for her children, and someone to help her take care of them and when she had to choose between them she was faced with a tough decision. However, after being present while her daughter was severely abused physically and sexually and still betraying her daughter I can't even imagine. I think for too long Anney wanted to deny that these things were happening to her daughter, and in some cases I feel that she was selfish because of it. Bone asked herself the question "Could she love me and still hold him like that?" (291.) In my opinion I don't see how she can watch her daughter go through not only this tremendous amount of physical pain but also emotional pain, and still claim to love her. However, the one thing I will praise Anney for is the choice she made at the end of the story. I think that by walking out of Bone's life she gave her the opportunity to be safe, and also the potential to find her identity. This makes me as a reader pleased with the ambiguous ending, because I'm able to hope that Bone succeeds.
While reading the last section of this book the one character I compared Bone to as Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. They were both in search of their identity throughout the novel, and we watched their stregth develop as the story progressed. Janie and Bone are both portrayed as victims and end up fighting back in the end to try to protect themselves. Janie fights back against Tea Cake, and Bone tries to fight against Daddy Glenn after being compliant for so long. Overall, I really enjoyed Bastard Out of Carolina. It was one of the easiest to understand the plot, which gave me the ability to look at the themes with more depth.

2006-04-26T13:58:00.000-04:00

Falling is my favorite of the James Dickey poems. The first thing that I noticed about it was the length, and strange paragraph/sentence breaks. As I mentioned in class one of the things that strikes me odd about this poem is the quiet tone that he begins with. When I read the except on the top of the page from the New York Times I wasn't sure if it was about Dickey's poem, or what he saw before he wrote the poem. Part of the reason I like this poem so much is because falling is something that happens quite fast, and you really have no time to think about what's going on. But in this case Dickey created thoughts for the stewardess. It's kind of abstract to think about but I wonder what it's like to fall from a plane like that. Maybe it really does feel like a drawn out process, and you are able to think about all these things and see your life in a different light. The one thought we didn't develop too much in class in towards the end when she strips herself of all her clothes. My thought on this is that she was trying to disclaim who she was. I'm not sure exactly why she would want to do that, but the connection that was mentioned in class seems to make sense. She wanted to be naked to bring herself back to a the state that she was born in. We are born naked, so I guess she wanted to die naked too. I'm sure I totally understand this concept. As the poem develops Dickey shifts to a more urgent tone, which would symbolize the fact that she was getting closer to her death, and the last seconds of life. Another thing that I found interesting was the connection Dickey made with water in this poem. "Do something with water fly to it fall in it drink it rise From it but there is none left upon earth the clouds have drunk it back The plants have sucked it down..." (Page 296) I think the connection Dickey made is the idea of water being connected with life. Especially in the beginning with baptism, and rebirth. Water is an essential part of living, and in this case it was the essential to breaking her fall. ("fall in it")
Although it's hard for me to interpret poetry with help from our class discussion I feel more confident in understanding Dickey's poetry.

2006-04-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

One of the most interesting aspects of Flannery O'Connor's stories is the characters she creates. The first thing we learn about most of her characters is that they are flawed, in one way or another. Mrs. Turpin definitely has flaws, although she tries to present herself as a character who is polite and invested in Christian values. However, throughout the story we learn that although she is polite with the words that come out of her mouth, most of the time she has much more to say than she actually does. She ends up letting the people around her know exactly what she's thinking (regardless of if they really want to know) with facial expressions, and gestures. We learn a lot about Mrs. Turpin by O'Connor's physical description. O'Connor states that she has a large body, this represents the fact that she is very controlling of everything around her. O'Connor also pays special attention to her "little bright black eyes." This type of eye is symbolic considering the way she looks at everyone through a very narrow gaze. Mrs. Turpin is extremely critical of others, we learn this when we see her placing people into "classes" with something as minor as what type of shoe they are wearing. Throughout the story we learn that she's much more concerned with social values, than the actual Christian values. Mrs. Turpin didn't like the feeling that Mary Grace was judging her with her eyes, even though she judges everyone all the time. One of the things that I see with Mrs. Turpin that we didn't discuss in class is the fact that she is obsessed with "whiteness" which we have seen many times before. She makes many references to white being the superior race, and she thanks jesus that he made her white. On the bottom of page 823 she states "That's what they all want to do, everyone of them, improve their color."All of these things contribute in making her a flawed character, that I really can't relate to. Although I enjoyed reading O'Connor's works, none of the characters that she created were ones that I could relate or empathize with.

2006-04-12T20:53:00.000-04:00

Overall I thought the presentations were excellent. I think everyone did a very good job researching and presenting about their topics. They were very interesting and informative to watch. I think everyone used good visual aids to help us really understand the topics. One of the most interesting topics for me was the music. To see something explained from the Southern viewpoint that's such a big part of our lives is interesting. I grew up loving Elvis as a young child, and it's nice to hear about him. I also enjoyed the presentation about the cultural divisions between the North and the South. I think it's something that's often looked past that still strongly exists. The explanation about the family really makes sense. Even in the stories we have read so far this semester we have talked a lot about families, and the importance of the extended families. Many times we talk about the importance of grandmother's and nannies on the lives of these characters. Overall, great informative presentations!!!

2006-04-05T18:23:00.000-04:00

In Flannery O'Connor's story A Good Man is Hard to Find, she has created some very flawed characters. The one thing we've been talking about throughout the semester is the idea of families, and the close relationship between them. However, this family seems to be missing a lot and one of the most important things they are missing is love. We don't see any real love in the family between the mother and father or between the parents and the children. The entire family tends to ignore grandmother, and treats her almost as if she is a bother to them. In this story O'Connor seems to dramatize the fact that they need love. Even though all the characters are flawed the one character that seems to have the most depth is the grandmother. She attempts to show the children the land, and share stories from the past but they want nothing to do with it. This leads her to the conclusion that children were much more respectful in the past. Also with grandmother there was a close similarity between her and Blance from A Street Car Named Desire. Both Blanche and grandmother seem to be preoccupied, or stuck in the past. They both attempt to represent themselves as the Southern Belle, although they are both getting up there in age which obviously makes this a little bit harder for them. The grandmother also appears to be manipulative, which fits in with some of the negative qualities that Blanche portrays also. Another interesting/flawed character that was part of this story was obviously the Misfit. He's portrayed as a person who has seen everything, and done it all but nothing seems to phase him. He's dipicted as crazy and even a sociopath. The Misfit has a physical appearance that doesn't seem to fit who he really is. He's an older man that has a scholarly look about him (especially with the description of his glasses), which wouldn't seem threatening to most but we obviously learn that he is.

2006-03-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

One of the most important details that Kazan really adds to the movie is the sexual tension/attraction between Stanley and Blanche. I think the script is defintely amplified here. One thing I noticed is whenever Stanley and Blanche talk they are extremely close to each other, and it seems that their body language really adds to the sexual attraction between the two. In the movie we can see more clearly that there is this suggestion of an attraction between the two which kind of gives us a little bit of foreshadowing for the rape at the end of the story.
On the other hand we are really able to see the relationship between Stella and Stanley. Stanley is very muscular which adds to him being dominant and masculine. While Stella is quite petite, which adds to Stanley having this great power of control over her. We also see how Stella is dependent on Stanley economically because there's the scene where she takes the money from his wallet, which obviously shows she has no money of her own.
One thing that we haven't discussed very much in class is the significance of the title, and I was wondering what other people's opinion were on that?

2006-03-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

In Tennessee Williams "A Street Car Named Desire" Blanche is one of the central characters of the play. She's extremely materialistic and very concerned with her personal appearance. Gender roles also come into play and are relate to her as a character. She is portrayed as a Southern Belle that seems to be losing her good looks, money, and eagnerness to be involved with men. She expects people to wait on her, and she doesn't want to be bothered lifting a finger. Blanche wants to be the center of attention, especially for the males in the story. This is most evident in the poker scene. She says to Stella "wait till I powder up before you open the door." (647)
Stella has a much different personality than her sister Blanche. Despite the insults that Blanche sends her way about her husband, her living space, etc. Stella doesn't seem to be bitter, she's witty about the comments that she makes. She's very modest, and not preoccupied with material things. The relationship between Stella and Blanche is complicated and this is due to the fact that they have very different personalities. Although despite their differences they both want the best for each other, and neither shows jealously towards the other. Blanche criticizes Stella only because she wants the best for her.

2006-03-15T19:23:00.000-05:00

In Richard Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God the idea of self-definition is a theme. Wright talks about the suppression of self, and also the possibility of finding out who you really are. In Hurston's novel sense of self is a shaping theme. This first begins on page 8 where she mentions that Janie wasn't aware that she was African American until she looked at a photograph of herself. This is similar to what she describes about herself in "How it Feels to be Colored Me." She didn't learn that she was black until she was older also. Although Janie is a confident woman she has trouble realizing her true identity. I feel that Janie is also similar to how Hurston described herself in "How It Feels to be Colored Me." She appears to be self-confident and very content with the person that she is regardless of what other people may think of her. She really shows self-confidence with her optimistic tone, "How can deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." (418) It seems that Hurston only sees race as a dimension of her life, but she's more concerned with her internal traits which really shape her as a person.

Whenever I start to read a new author I am interested to know certain things that happened in their life which could have possibly shaped the stories that they have written, and I like to find out more about them. (Some might call me nosey) This is why I leave the links on here for other people who might be interested in the same things: http://www2.oprah.com/presents/2005/movie/book/book_main.jhtml

2006-03-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

While I was researching author's for my research paper/presentation I came across a few web pages that were dedicated to Katherine Anne Porter. Something interesting I learned from browsing on these pages was she spent some time living in Saratoga Springs, New York. I just thought that was interesting. I also learned that Porter earned a lot of awards for her writing. Something that I found that could have shaped some of the views evident in her stories was that she was married four times. (Although she had no children) In many of Porter's stories men are depicted negatively, and many times women rebel against what they are expected to do.
Porter's stories have a lot of common themes with other stories that we have read so far this semester. She especially has a lot in common with Faulkner, although they have very different styles of writing. They both use humor (even though we don't always catch on to it) but Porter has a lighter style and it's much easier to read. I really enjoyed reading Porter's stories. They are my favorite so far this semester.
Here's the website that I found the information about Porter if anyone wants to see it: http://www.famoustexans.com/katherineanneporter.htm
and...
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/porter_k.html

2006-02-22T13:35:00.000-05:00

I feel relieved to have conquered the whole Go Down Moses book. It was a struggle to get through it but at least we finished! I thought Delta Autumn was a good story. As with all of Faulkner's stories there's always something lying under the surface of the story that we have to search for to understand the whole concept. In this story we see the changes that the wilderness has made. It's become more business like with more civilization. I think Faulkner makes an interesting parallel between Isaac's existence and the existence of the wilderness. The wilderness has dwindled throughout his lifespan. "There was just exactly enough wilderness left when he was born for deforestation and development to not have completely annihilated it until he died."

In regards to "Go Down Moses" (the chapter) I felt it was strange for a title story. I didn't really see the connections of the negro spirituality throughout the rest of the book. Maybe someone can help point that out to me? Or at least better understand how the this chapter fits in as the title story. I know we discussed this a little in class, but I think I need more clarification. I understand that this chapter went along with the idea of racial misunderstandings, and the ongoing separation of the blacks and whites of the McCaslin family.

2006-02-15T21:33:00.000-05:00

While reading Faulkner's "Pantaloon in Black" I did not have any positive feelings towards the narrator. Although there were a few moments in the story that showed he was truly grieving over the loss of his wife's death. I feel that most of the time he acted on his impulses, and wasn't thinking logically(which made me not like his personality.) He fought with the white man over the liquor, and he killed the man at his job. These were acts to show he was truly "masculine" and wasn't "childish." However, in the end of the story when he was in the jail I really thought he was portrayed as cartoon like, rather than realistic. "A big mass of nigger heads and arms and legs boiling around on the floor and even then Ketcham says every now and then a nigger would come flying out and go sailing through the air across the room..."(154.) To me this sounded like a scene out of a cartoon, and even after all this he still laughed at the situation. It was as if he showed no emotion.

I agree with our discussion in class. To me this story didn't seem as if it really fit in this part of the book. There was no family geneology linked to this story, like the others. However, I enjoyed reading this story because it was easy to follow.

2006-02-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

In "Desiree's Baby" Kate Chopin obviously recognized that everyone at that time was preoccupied with race, and being white. As we discussed in class it's ironic that everyone was concerned with miscegenation, even though it's surrounding them. In the beginning of the relationship Armand was passionate and impulsive, but once he learns that his baby is part African American he wants nothing to do with the baby or Desiree. Armand acts as if the baby is diseased simply because it's African American, and to me that is such a terrible thing. I can't understand how he can practically disown his family because of something like this. They started out as such a happy family, and everything went down hill simply because of the "one drop of black" in their heritage. James Welden Johnson's "Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man" represents the same obsession with "whiteness" that Chopin's story does. Both stories represent the idea of "passing" as being psychologically hard to handle. Both the families in these two stories started off happy and ended up being distrought to find out that their was African American blood in their heritage.

2006-02-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this post in response to my feelings towards Fredrick Douglas and his slave narrative. As I read this narrative I immediately felt sympathy for the slaves. I obviously knew that things were bad for slaves, but Douglas paints a very vivid and lifelike image of what it was like to be a slave. Part of the reason I liked his narrative so much is because of they way he portrays himself as a character with an extremely reasonable tone. I think Douglas was very persuasive for the white, Northern audience he had intended. One of the specific moments from his narrative that stand out to me is the fact that he has hardly no recollection of his mother. Although she used to take the long journeys to see him, he really didn't have much of a bond with her. He wasn't even present when she died. I can't imagine how life would be without a family to rely on. These slaves were denied the basic bonds of humanity. He also portrays a very detailed scene when he talks about seeing his Aunt get beat. This is another very emotional moment by Douglas that stirs up all different types of the readers emotions. Overall, I thought his narrative was effective, and well written. I enjoyed reading it.

2006-01-29T11:16:00.000-05:00

In John Pendleton Kennedy's Swallow Barn, Frank Meriwether is dipicted as the stereotypical southern gentleman. One of the ways he fits this representative example is his physical apperance. Not only does he have a "handsome face with dark blue eyes" but he also dresses to impress and carries himself in an attentive manner. In chaper II in the first paragraph we learn that he is both good cheered and good tempered. This makes him enjoyable to be around and contributes to the fact that he has a lot of friends. He is also laidback which fits him into my views of how the south is. Although he is described as "unambitious" and "lazy" he is a kind master and considerate towards his slaves. He has many slaves but they are all happy to be under his command. Meriwether's kindness contributes to Swallow Barn being a very positive place to be. One of the things that stood out to me about Meriwether is that he had no problem taking a general stranger into his house and giving them hospitality for a week. This tells a lot about his kind-hearted personality. Meriwether is prosperous and has a high social status but people enjoy being around him and find it a pleasure to see him.

2006-01-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

In response to the question in class what my views are about the south the first thing that comes to my mind is definitely the differences that remain between the north and the south. It seems to be two totally different lifestyles to me. In the north it seems like a mad dash to get where you're going and do what you're trying to do. While everything in the south seems much slower and laid back to me. Another thing that I relate with the south is slavery. Last semester I read Fredrick Douglas's Narrative, and this gave me a clear image in my head as to what it was like to be a slave. Reading his Narrative is part of what contributes to how I gained my views about the south. However, my grandparents spend half the year in the south and we visit them every year while they are down there. That contributes to my first hand account of what it's like in the south. The warm weather is nice, but some of the things that I don't like down there are things like the traffic problems, and the way we are viewed since we are from the north. In my opinion the south is a great place to visit, but it's not somewhere that I would like to live.

2006-01-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Wanted to make sure that this was working right...