Ellison, Invisible Man

In Ellison's the Invisible Man, it tells an interesting story of a man who goes through many hardships. In the beginning, it paints a vivid picture of an event that happens to him before he goes to school. He is put into a boxing ring with other men who are blindfolded, and forced to fight them. While this occurs, all of the rich folks are watching this happen. They are yelling slurs and degrading the men. As if what they were doing wasn't degrading enough, they have to put up with all of their yelling.
Following this event, the invisible man ends up meeting an interesting farmer. This farmer admits to him and another man that he slept with his daughter. This part really disturbed me and made the event a reality. Witnessing the family and all they have been through probably does a toll on a person. I know if I heard such a story told to me by a man, that I would never forget it.

Ralph Rush

House of Spirits

House of Spirits class reflection

In chapter 6, I noticed a paragraph which contradicted my values and morals. In this paragraph, Estaban wishes that he was younger so that he could sweep up a woman onto his horse and rape her. This is very wrong, and caught me by surprise. To read this makes his character a lot different. He is a very sick man. His only defense could possibly be the timeframe he lived in. He didnt seem to ashamed about talking about it. He even made it out to be normal. If he did this in today's world, he would not get far at all, but back then it went unpunished. His position of power probably helped him out as well. This is my example of how the ideology in this book is different than mine.

Duplessis

Question for Duplessis

My question for her after hearing her poetry reading would be,

How do you come up with such long poems, and do they always mean the same thing to you each time you read them?

I noticed her poems were very long, and I never seen any poems like hers before. I'm pretty sure others exist, I just have never been exposed to any like hers.

Antigone

Brecht, Antigone,

(p.29 line 375) The character Kreon the king states" The toughest iron yields and loses its stubborness, tempered in the ovens. It happens every day. But this one here enjoys making fun of the laws of the land. And to top this impertinence, now that she's done it, she laughs about it and boasts that she's done it. I hate that: when somebody's caught in a crime and tries to make it look pretty. And yet, though she insults me in spite of our family ties, I'll be slow to condemn her because of our family ties. Therefore I ask you: since you did it in secret and now it's out in the open, wouldn't you say, to avoid severe punishment, that you're sorry you did it? " Antigone is silent after this. She goes on to say that she is setting an example.
To me, this excerpt describes the overall feel of the piece. Kreon wants a confession out of Antigone, and she is not going to give him one. This shows the stubborness of both characters. Antigone feels she did nothing wrong, and to apologize for her brothers burial would be the worst thing to dishonor his memory. Kreon feels it is necessary, and by her not doing it, she is defying him as a king. It is a power struggle throughout the book, and was fun to read. I liked her attitude and it made me feel good to read about her strength.

Cortez

Ralph Rush --- Cortez


The story of Cortez is an inspirational story. The way they describe him as living is the way everyone aspires to live. He does whatever he feels like doing, and authority isn't a factor in his life. At least he does not seem to think so. I liked the spanish dialougue next to the english in the text. It helped me learn some words in spanish. The best part of the fable to me is towards the end when the people realize he was right. Nobody would punish him because they all felt he did the right thing. This was a life lesson to us, and it enforces the fact that we should always do the right thing no matter what. In today's time, this wouldn't work out as good because of our law enforcement community. It brings me back to the story of the family who robs the store for food because they are starving. Of course the act of robbing the store is wrong, but it was for the right reason. This is the message I got from this story, and I'm pretty sure it was meant to be given. Even though the story is not completely true because of the "phone game effect", the main idea was still passed to us.

Lorca, Blood Wedding

Ralph Rush

I liked Lorca's Blood Wedding. There is a strong tone throughout the story. A lot of focus is on the mother being responisble for his death. I personally feel he would've done it regardless of what his mom said to do. In reality, his mom was trying to calm him throughout the story. When she told him not to bring the knife was an important event. Once the bride runs away with Leonardo, she finally gives in and sends him off. If she would've told him to not go chase him, he wouldn't have listened to her. In the time frame the story takes place, it is common to fight to the death. The act of taking someone's wife on their wedding day is a good reason to fight to the death. In today's culture it would be looked at as wrong. I still feel that if it happened to me, it would be hard to not kill Leonardo. If it happened to me a hundred years ago, there would be no question in the bride and Leonardo dying. The relationship between mother and son is a strong bond. I see nothing out of the ordinary in their relationship. In Europe, customs are different and perhaps they show more affection. I could see the end coming from a mile away, and it was pretty predictable. It would've been better if the mother had killed the bride, because she had just as much to do with it as Leonardo. Blood Wedding was a good piece, and my attention was kept throughout the piece.

Chopin, The Awakening

Ralph Rush

This novel is about marital infidelity. I think that Edna makes her life out to be worse than it is. She had servants cooking her food, cleaning her house, watching her kids, and doing anything she asked. It is not like she is leading a rough life. The fact that her husband goes and hangs out with the guys is a problem she could've discussed with him. She is very wrong in this novel, and in the end finds herself torn. Instead of cheating on her husband with Robert, she also manages to meet Arobin. This shows that she was up to no good the whole time. Maybe if she would have to clean and cook she would have had something to do. I don't want to sound out of line, but the fact that she did nothing probably caused her whole "Awakening." To conclude the story she finds herself in a small house, with no man at all. She only has one servant, but still she is not living bad. The author does a good job describing her feelings and builds up the suspense throughout the story. I feel Kate Chopin took her side, and tried to justify her actions. It appeared that she would give valid reasons why she would be unfaithful and almost tried to make the reader feel the same way. I am bias to take the family's side because my parents divorced when I was a kid. I feel she is selfish, and no matter what way you look at it, she was wrong for moving out unexplained. Her children suffered more than she did. Even though throughout the story, it is the servants who take care of them. I thought this novel was stupid, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Gillman, Yellow Wallpaper

Ralph Rush

Gillman does a good job in painting a picture of what it is like to be mentally ill. In the beginning, she starts off mildly ill, and still in touch with everything. In the end, she loses all control, and is crazy. The ending was interesting and surprising. Perhaps Gillman was attempting to tell the audience that leaving people alone for long periods of time is not healthy. This led to her eventually going insane. I think Gillman as an author might not be the best person for the job. Anyone who thinks that there is a person in the wallpaper, and eventually becomes that person isn't that reliable. It is hard to tell what is true and what is not. On the other hand, she is the only one who experienced it, so it would be hard to have anyone else write. Gillman sparked interest in me, and I was into the reading for the most part. Her husband John thought that she was getting better throughout the story. This worries me about people who have mental disorders. The fact that they can appear to be getting better, when they are becoming sicker. John was a good man, even though he went about things wrong. In the beginning, Gillman talks about John not even believing that she was ill. He would tell her that she wasn't. He also refused to take down the wallpaper. He felt this would lead to taking other things out of the room. If I was John I would've taken that wallpaper down. It would be better than her thinking that she climbed out of the paper! The woman behind bars in the paper was symbolic of her being stuck in that room with bars on the windows. I feel that had a huge impact in her sickness. I enjoyed this piece better than Douglass. This was easier to read, and had some suspense involved.

Douglass Part 2

Ralph Rush

Douglass wrote a powerful description of his life. It changed my perception of slavery. I knew it was hard times, but to see what he saw is horrible. He really captured my attention from the moment he started to write. The first six pages was not Douglass and didnt do it for me. After that, it was smooth sailing as I read and learned about his hardships. His character was unmatched and his determination was remarkable. To teach himself how to read and write by spreading small lessons out was genius. I couldnt imagine trying to do that myself, it takes a lot to be that dedicated.His relationship to his mother made me upset. When she died, he said it was like a stranger dying, and did not effect him at all. This hit home with me, and really captured the mindset of being a slave. It was really sad, and showed how tough Douglass had it. She would visit him occasionally and he saw her a few times. I knew my grandfather for a very little time, and didnt see him much. When it was his time to go, I was still effected by his passing. To not be effected by your own mother passing shows that his mind was in a different place.I liked Douglass's narrative. It opened my eyes to parts of slavery I did not know existed. Also, he made me think of my own life, and things I could do to better it. He went out of his way just to learn to be literate. If I apply that same determination to my life goals, then I should be okay. He will be in the back of my mind every time I need to accomplish something and feel it is too hard.

Douglass Part 2

Ralph Rush

Douglass wrote a powerful description of his life. It changed my perception of slavery. I knew it was hard times, but to see what he saw is horrible. He really captured my attention from the moment he started to write. The first six pages was not Douglass and didnt do it for me. After that, it was smooth sailing as I read and learned about his hardships. His character was unmatched and his determination was remarkable. To teach himself how to read and write by spreading small lessons out was genius. I couldnt imagine trying to do that myself, it takes a lot to be that dedicated.His relationship to his mother made me upset. When she died, he said it was like a stranger dying, and did not effect him at all. This hit home with me, and really captured the mindset of being a slave. It was really sad, and showed how tough Douglass had it. She would visit him occasionally and he saw her a few times. I knew my grandfather for a very little time, and didnt see him much. When it was his time to go, I was still effected by his passing. To not be effected by your own mother passing shows that his mind was in a different place.I liked Douglass's narrative. It opened my eyes to parts of slavery I did not know existed. Also, he made me think of my own life, and things I could do to better it. He went out of his way just to learn to be literate. If I apply that same determination to my life goals, then I should be okay. He will be in the back of my mind every time I need to accomplish something and feel it is too hard.