- I wanted to compare the narrators in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Yellow Wall Paper.
- These are the two stories that I have found to be the most interesting so far in my readings.
- They are both unnamed and unreliable narrators. I will explain why.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Short Story Paper Ideas
"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne & "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson Responses
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I really thought that this short story had some good points to make. The main character of the story is a trusting young man named Goodman Brown who lives in a town of very religious and good people. He is married to a woman named Faith and he comments on her child-like hair ribbons. At the beginning Goodman Brown expreses the uncontrollable impulse to go outside one day, even though his wife Faith begs him to stay home. As he travels through the forest he meets a "fatherly" old man who gives him directions. These directions lead Goodman Brown to the site of a satanistic ritual with all of Goodman Brown's fellow townsmen present and taking part. Goodman Brown sees his wife Faith as well and sees her hair ribbions being blown away. when Goodman Brown refuses to take part in the ritual he wakes up to find everyone in the town back to normal and his wife Faith wearing her hair ribbions again. Goodman Brown states that he never trusted others again.
I believe that the story is about a young man's loss of innocence and faith in others. In the story Goodman Brown was tempted by the devil (the old man) and saw what could be the evil in his fellow townsmen. The story makes a point that no one makes it their whole lives without being exposed to temptation. Goodman Brown's wife Faith symbolizes exactly what her name implies and her hair ribbons symbolize innocence. Just because she wears them does not mean that she is fully innocent of temptation. Even though it could have all been a dream, Goodman Brown never sees others in the same light again.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
I love the irony involved in this short story. A lottery is thought to be something in which the winner wins something worthwhile and the characters in the story certainly make it seem like so at first. The townsfolk are joking around and happy before the lottery begins. The children gathering up stones in a large pile like a fun chore the adults do not want to bother with. They remark as how they can not believe that other towns are stopping their own lottery. However, as the lotttery goes on, it is revealed that the winner of the lottery is punished by being stoned by the rest of the townsfolk. The happy tune of the story quickly becomes much darker as it takes a joyous game and makes it into something dreadful.
I really thought that this short story had some good points to make. The main character of the story is a trusting young man named Goodman Brown who lives in a town of very religious and good people. He is married to a woman named Faith and he comments on her child-like hair ribbons. At the beginning Goodman Brown expreses the uncontrollable impulse to go outside one day, even though his wife Faith begs him to stay home. As he travels through the forest he meets a "fatherly" old man who gives him directions. These directions lead Goodman Brown to the site of a satanistic ritual with all of Goodman Brown's fellow townsmen present and taking part. Goodman Brown sees his wife Faith as well and sees her hair ribbions being blown away. when Goodman Brown refuses to take part in the ritual he wakes up to find everyone in the town back to normal and his wife Faith wearing her hair ribbions again. Goodman Brown states that he never trusted others again.
I believe that the story is about a young man's loss of innocence and faith in others. In the story Goodman Brown was tempted by the devil (the old man) and saw what could be the evil in his fellow townsmen. The story makes a point that no one makes it their whole lives without being exposed to temptation. Goodman Brown's wife Faith symbolizes exactly what her name implies and her hair ribbons symbolize innocence. Just because she wears them does not mean that she is fully innocent of temptation. Even though it could have all been a dream, Goodman Brown never sees others in the same light again.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
I love the irony involved in this short story. A lottery is thought to be something in which the winner wins something worthwhile and the characters in the story certainly make it seem like so at first. The townsfolk are joking around and happy before the lottery begins. The children gathering up stones in a large pile like a fun chore the adults do not want to bother with. They remark as how they can not believe that other towns are stopping their own lottery. However, as the lotttery goes on, it is revealed that the winner of the lottery is punished by being stoned by the rest of the townsfolk. The happy tune of the story quickly becomes much darker as it takes a joyous game and makes it into something dreadful.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Short Story Paper Workings
Short Story Paper Basic(Very) Concept:
The Question of Poe's Narrators
Author(s): James W. Gargano
Source: College English, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Dec., 1963), pp. 177-181
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/373684 .
http://www.jstor.org/stable/373684?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=Heart&searchText=Poe&searchText=Tell-Tale&searchText=Edgar&searchText=Allen&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BTell-Tale%2BHeart%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3DEdgar%2BAllen%2BPoe%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=15&ttl=109&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
Doctoring "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Author(s): Jane F. Thrailkill
Source: ELH, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Summer, 2002), pp. 525-566
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032030 .
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032030?seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=Paper&searchText=Wall&searchText=Yellow&searchText=Perkins&searchText=charlotte&searchText=Gilman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BYellow%2BWall%2BPaper%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dcharlotte%2BPerkins%2BGilman%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=15&ttl=383&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
"But One Expects That": Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the Shifting
Light of Scholarship
Author(s): Julie Bates Dock, Daphne Ryan Allen, Jennifer Palais, Kristen Tracy
Source: PMLA, Vol. 111, No. 1, Special Topic: The Status of Evidence (Jan., 1996), pp. 52-65
Published by: Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/463133
http://www.jstor.org/stable/463133?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=Paper&searchText=Wall&searchText=Yellow&searchText=Perkins&searchText=charlotte&searchText=Gilman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BYellow%2BWall%2BPaper%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dcharlotte%2BPerkins%2BGilman%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=5&ttl=383&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
- The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (pg.36) & The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (pg.436)
- Comparing the narrators and themes in each story.
- How the authors placed themselves within their narrators.
The Question of Poe's Narrators
Author(s): James W. Gargano
Source: College English, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Dec., 1963), pp. 177-181
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/373684 .
http://www.jstor.org/stable/373684?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=Heart&searchText=Poe&searchText=Tell-Tale&searchText=Edgar&searchText=Allen&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BTell-Tale%2BHeart%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3DEdgar%2BAllen%2BPoe%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=15&ttl=109&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
Doctoring "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Author(s): Jane F. Thrailkill
Source: ELH, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Summer, 2002), pp. 525-566
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032030 .
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032030?seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=Paper&searchText=Wall&searchText=Yellow&searchText=Perkins&searchText=charlotte&searchText=Gilman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BYellow%2BWall%2BPaper%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dcharlotte%2BPerkins%2BGilman%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=15&ttl=383&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
"But One Expects That": Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the Shifting
Light of Scholarship
Author(s): Julie Bates Dock, Daphne Ryan Allen, Jennifer Palais, Kristen Tracy
Source: PMLA, Vol. 111, No. 1, Special Topic: The Status of Evidence (Jan., 1996), pp. 52-65
Published by: Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/463133
http://www.jstor.org/stable/463133?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=Paper&searchText=Wall&searchText=Yellow&searchText=Perkins&searchText=charlotte&searchText=Gilman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3DThe%2BYellow%2BWall%2BPaper%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dcharlotte%2BPerkins%2BGilman%26f1%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D&prevSearch=&item=5&ttl=383&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
"The Yellow Wallpaper" Response
I was happily surprised when I read or reread "The Yellow Wallpaper". I read it before a few years ago and I realize that I really did not understand it very well. Before I found it so dull that I quickly forgot what it was even about. Normally when I read a story it sticks with me or at least certain details do. However, with "The Yellow Wallpaper" I could not remember anything at all other than that it obviously had something about yellow wallpaper in it. I found the story to be much more enjoyable this time around. I believe I picked up on alot of things I missed the last time.
I think that the most important thing about the story is what the yellow wallpaper subconciously symbolizes to the narrator. The narrator in the story is the main character, an unnamed woman. All we know about her is what she tells us and I also got the interpritation that she was an unreliable narrator. I love unreliable narrators like this woman and the murderer from "The Tell-Tale Heart". Just like the murderer, the readers cannot tell whether or not the woman is crazy or not. For the mostpart she seems strange enough, yet some things like seeing moving images in the wallpaper seem like an oddity. She eventually seems to at least lose some sanity at the very end when she finally rips away the wallpaper. Yet, too her credit, it was obvious that she did not like her room.
I think that the most important thing about the story is what the yellow wallpaper subconciously symbolizes to the narrator. The narrator in the story is the main character, an unnamed woman. All we know about her is what she tells us and I also got the interpritation that she was an unreliable narrator. I love unreliable narrators like this woman and the murderer from "The Tell-Tale Heart". Just like the murderer, the readers cannot tell whether or not the woman is crazy or not. For the mostpart she seems strange enough, yet some things like seeing moving images in the wallpaper seem like an oddity. She eventually seems to at least lose some sanity at the very end when she finally rips away the wallpaper. Yet, too her credit, it was obvious that she did not like her room.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reader-Response Criticism & An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily"
"Reader-response criticism attempts to describe what happens in the reader's mind while interpreting a text." (Pg.2044)
Along with the given explaination above and the rest of the explanation in the text, I interperated reader-response criticism to be a method of explaining the variations in the reader's responses to written works. As it is impossible for every individual to read a text and comprehend it in the exact same ways, reader-response criticism analyzes and explains the analyzations of the readers. In this manner, the reasons why each reader deplicted and felt was indicated by the works to be can be explained.
I found the An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily" text to be rather confusing to follow even through a second and third read. As Eskimo reading is defined by Holland in the text as unacceptable because it lacks the proper stratigies for properly analyzing the text by limiing the interpretations that the text's words can provide. At first I believed that the explaination would be followed by a written criticism response. However, it was instead followed by the contraditions evolution of the Eskimo strategy. The text described the Eskimo strategy as becoming "the process of dislodging or expanding interperative strategies." I felt that the text was an article on the history and evolution of the Eskimo strategy that was once claimed to be unethical.
Either of the two readings, READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM and An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily", focus on the methods of interperative strategies of the reader's mind. the Eskimo strategy in the latter being just one form of the various methods of reader-response criticism mentioned in the first.
Along with the given explaination above and the rest of the explanation in the text, I interperated reader-response criticism to be a method of explaining the variations in the reader's responses to written works. As it is impossible for every individual to read a text and comprehend it in the exact same ways, reader-response criticism analyzes and explains the analyzations of the readers. In this manner, the reasons why each reader deplicted and felt was indicated by the works to be can be explained.
I found the An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily" text to be rather confusing to follow even through a second and third read. As Eskimo reading is defined by Holland in the text as unacceptable because it lacks the proper stratigies for properly analyzing the text by limiing the interpretations that the text's words can provide. At first I believed that the explaination would be followed by a written criticism response. However, it was instead followed by the contraditions evolution of the Eskimo strategy. The text described the Eskimo strategy as becoming "the process of dislodging or expanding interperative strategies." I felt that the text was an article on the history and evolution of the Eskimo strategy that was once claimed to be unethical.
Either of the two readings, READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM and An Eskimo "A Rose for Emily", focus on the methods of interperative strategies of the reader's mind. the Eskimo strategy in the latter being just one form of the various methods of reader-response criticism mentioned in the first.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Tell-Tale Heart Response
"Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me." (Pg. 37)
I think that this quote by the narrator of the story is very significant. Quite possibly the biggest question in the story being: is the narrator mad? The narrator explains throughout the story that although his actions and thoughts must seem crazy, he is not. The narrator's major arguement being that madmen are unintelligent while he is in fact very clever and therefore, not mad at all. The narrator claims that all his workings throught the story were genius, even though from the point of veiw of the readers, all of his actions were rather simplistic. However, he himself is most likely the only one who thinks of himself as not mad, as the narrator's entire thoughts revolve around the old man's "vulture eye". Why the old man's eye brought such fear to the narrator is uncertain, but since he compares it to the eye of a vulture, commonly associated with death, then perhaps he felt threatened by the old man's eye.
The narrator's relationship to the old man is never laid out either, althought the most likely case would be that the narrator is a servant of the old man. The narrator claims that the old man was never cruel to him (as if it would have been acceptable for the old man to be so), nor was he interested in the old man's gold (hinting that the old man was rich).
Even if the narrator was mad, he was not mad enought not to think that he completely was not; at least he realized that what he was doing must have seemed mad. Three different kinds of insanity: when you do not know, when you know, or when you do not believe you are even though you acknowledge you must seem so(denial).
I think that this quote by the narrator of the story is very significant. Quite possibly the biggest question in the story being: is the narrator mad? The narrator explains throughout the story that although his actions and thoughts must seem crazy, he is not. The narrator's major arguement being that madmen are unintelligent while he is in fact very clever and therefore, not mad at all. The narrator claims that all his workings throught the story were genius, even though from the point of veiw of the readers, all of his actions were rather simplistic. However, he himself is most likely the only one who thinks of himself as not mad, as the narrator's entire thoughts revolve around the old man's "vulture eye". Why the old man's eye brought such fear to the narrator is uncertain, but since he compares it to the eye of a vulture, commonly associated with death, then perhaps he felt threatened by the old man's eye.
The narrator's relationship to the old man is never laid out either, althought the most likely case would be that the narrator is a servant of the old man. The narrator claims that the old man was never cruel to him (as if it would have been acceptable for the old man to be so), nor was he interested in the old man's gold (hinting that the old man was rich).
Even if the narrator was mad, he was not mad enought not to think that he completely was not; at least he realized that what he was doing must have seemed mad. Three different kinds of insanity: when you do not know, when you know, or when you do not believe you are even though you acknowledge you must seem so(denial).
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A Rose for Emily Response
I found William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily very enjoyable. I thought that the story implied the darker side of people and society in a way that I found most clever. The characteristics of A Rose for Emily all work together to bring about the ideas of how the ideals put forth by society clash with its very own inhabitants. Faulkner's story seems to focus on the aspect of society preferring to look down upon and ignore what it has dubbed as not normal. The most common cases being issues of the various internal aspects of humans. I will not use "problems" or "illnesses" for I do not feel that certain mental states can be fairly justified and proven as such. I feel that the story did an excellent job of acknowleging society's issue of neglect as a true social problem.
I was struck specifically by the unique characters Emily Grierson and Homer Barron. These two characters show how simple similarities between people does not mean that they are totally alike. The major aspect that Emily and Homer have in common is that they are both outsiders. However, while Emily is shunned by her community due to her secretive nature, Homer's outgoing personality makes him the center of attention. Likewise, everything else about the two is different: Emily is a higher class Southern woman while Homer is a lower class man from the North. The most important difference between the two characters is revealed to be the state of their internal differences. Emily shows various time throughout the story to be a person who is insanely controlling or at least fiercly against change. As such, Emily is very resistent to the rule of authority and law. Emily refuses to give up her father's body, refuses to pay taxes, allow numbers to be put on her mailbox when the new mailing system was invented, and even tell the druggist what the poison was for as demanded by the law. Emily's desire for complete control eventually lead her to murdering Homer with poison. She keeps his body for years until her own death, supposilly even sleeping in the bed where she kept it. In this manner, Emily is not only keeping Homer from leaving her, but also allowing her to have complete control over him. Homer is revealed to be a symbol of uncontrolable change. Homer is a man of travel and does not like to stay in one place, perhaps for an implied hatred of unchanging environments that would make him feel trapped. Homer claims to be "not a marrying man" and that he "liked men" implying that Homer might be a homosexual. What William Faulkner truly intended to imply by making Homer a homosexual is not fully clear, however, it most likely was another social aspect that Faulkner felt that society looked down upon and, thus, is neglected.
Each character has an internal aspects to them that society marks as abnormal and refuses to recognize. Even though Emily lived in the same house her whole life mostly as a shut-in, she became more of a charity case than anything. Rather than completly recognizing Emily's behaviors and working to help her, the people in town mostly chose to leave her be and simply continue to refer to her as "poor Emily". Nobody even knew that she murdered Homer and kept his corpse for many years. The most they did was complain about a bad smell.
I was struck specifically by the unique characters Emily Grierson and Homer Barron. These two characters show how simple similarities between people does not mean that they are totally alike. The major aspect that Emily and Homer have in common is that they are both outsiders. However, while Emily is shunned by her community due to her secretive nature, Homer's outgoing personality makes him the center of attention. Likewise, everything else about the two is different: Emily is a higher class Southern woman while Homer is a lower class man from the North. The most important difference between the two characters is revealed to be the state of their internal differences. Emily shows various time throughout the story to be a person who is insanely controlling or at least fiercly against change. As such, Emily is very resistent to the rule of authority and law. Emily refuses to give up her father's body, refuses to pay taxes, allow numbers to be put on her mailbox when the new mailing system was invented, and even tell the druggist what the poison was for as demanded by the law. Emily's desire for complete control eventually lead her to murdering Homer with poison. She keeps his body for years until her own death, supposilly even sleeping in the bed where she kept it. In this manner, Emily is not only keeping Homer from leaving her, but also allowing her to have complete control over him. Homer is revealed to be a symbol of uncontrolable change. Homer is a man of travel and does not like to stay in one place, perhaps for an implied hatred of unchanging environments that would make him feel trapped. Homer claims to be "not a marrying man" and that he "liked men" implying that Homer might be a homosexual. What William Faulkner truly intended to imply by making Homer a homosexual is not fully clear, however, it most likely was another social aspect that Faulkner felt that society looked down upon and, thus, is neglected.
Each character has an internal aspects to them that society marks as abnormal and refuses to recognize. Even though Emily lived in the same house her whole life mostly as a shut-in, she became more of a charity case than anything. Rather than completly recognizing Emily's behaviors and working to help her, the people in town mostly chose to leave her be and simply continue to refer to her as "poor Emily". Nobody even knew that she murdered Homer and kept his corpse for many years. The most they did was complain about a bad smell.
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