#25! Week 12 Characters Tlk Themselves Alive Through Speech and Action pg.887-888

Summary

Characters come alive through their actions and speeches. To comprehend characters, the audience and readers must watch, listen see how other characters speak about them and understand how they react to their surroundings, other characters and circumstances. Drama is made to bring out an engaged characters reactions to conflicts in their lives. Characters are separated into protagonist characters (lead struggler), and antagonist characters (character who struggles against the lead): these characters usually have conflicts with each other. Like fiction drama has round, dynamic, developing, growing, flat, static, fixed, unchanging, realistic, and nonrealistic characters. Drama also has stereotype or stock characters, some of the most popular include: stubborn father, clever male, shrewish wife, trickster, private eye, corrupt politician and stupid aristocrat. There are also ancillary characters, or characters that antagonize the main characters and also provide inside action about the main character. There are three types of these ancillary characters, which include choric figure, foil and commentator, all of which can be symbolic to the story or characters of a play.

Reader Response      

I knew that the point of drama was to bring characters alive, by using their actions and words. I also knew that there were protagonists, antagonists, flat and round characters in drama, in any literature actually. I also knew that drama more often than not uses stereotypes either to prove points, create a new view of them or to symbolize different meanings by the authors. And of course I knew that there is usually a character that medals in the main characters life, either to create more ciaos, drama, or help the main character. It is because of these things that make readers like me interested in dramas and keeps me coming back for more, this writing can even make people want there fore create more drama in their lives.

#24 Week 12 "The Dramatic Vision: an overview" pg.886-887

Summary

Drama focuses on many or one main character that face defeats or triumphs when dealing with other characters or challenges trough out a story. Drama develops situations through speech and action, they also often have poetic forms, and Drama is meant to resemble real life language as much as possible. Drama is also designed to be played by people for people (by actors for audiences).  Drama is an interesting genre because it can be discussed as three things: literature, drama and as a performance. Drama can be written in poetic forms by using rhyme and meter. Dialog, monologue and stage directions are important parts of writing Drama plays. Dialog gives the characters conversation, while monologue is spoken by a single character alone on stage and stage direction gives the performer’s instructions about what to do with their faces, voices, gestures, movements and actions. Language also allows Drama plays to give their characters depth, characters use language to reveal details about themselves and their lives. Drama writers use broad words and metaphors that can have a double meaning and different connotations.  Writers also take special consideration to the time period their characters where written in, thus also making sure there language matches up with that period.

Reader Response      

I did not know that Drama had so many similarities with fiction. I did know however, that many Drama plays, like the ones written by Shakespeare, are written like poetry. Although I did not realize, until I read this, that Drama is meant to resemble real life language (which looking back makes a lot of sense). Because of real life language plays can become more relatable to the audience and readers.    I also knew that dialog and language that a writer uses is meant to tell more about the characters, and must match up with the time period it is set in. I personally love the genre of  Drama, because it makes life interesting, in the plays at least. Ha! J

#23 Week 11 "La Migra" by Pat Mora pg.647-648

Summary

A narrator is telling someone to play a game with her. In the first stanza the narrator explains a different side of a story of border patrol agents using their authority.  She explains that because they have guns and Jeeps and power, they can abuse Mexican women. Since they cannot speak Spanish they don’t answer questions and sexually abuse women because they have the strength to overpower them and have their way with them. The narrator describes it as a sort of cat-and mouse game the border patrol plays with Mexican Immigrants saying “Get ready, get set, run”. In the second stanza the narrator reverses roles and says that because the border patrol agents don’t know Spanish and the land on which their vehicles trot that they cannot find the Mexican immigrants easily and all they hear is immigrants laughing and teasing them in the breeze. The narrator teases the agents by saying “get ready” perhaps for the revenge of her people against the corrupt agents.

Reader Response      

That was depressing, Ms. Ramirez! It was dark and told the other sides of the story, so to speak, about Mexican immigrants who are miss treated by American officers of the law. The first stanza was easier to follow than the second stanza, I think. But after you re-read it the message becomes clear, the narrator wants her revenge. I think after reviewing it, it was a good poem with a strong message and a firm tone. It tried to play off of a child game, making what the agents do seem even more corrupt. It had a creepy vibe to it but I think it had good imagery, I imagined right away a lonely desert where no one can hear the cries of Mexican women being rapped. It was a very powerful poem, to say the least.

#22 Week 11 "Homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton pg.636

Summary

This poem talks about hips, but just the narrator’s hips and not hips in general. The narrator describes the size of her hips and the room needed for them to get around. The narrator pokes fun at thinner hips calling the places those hips fit “petty”. She also describes her hips as having a mind of their own, free to roam where they please. The narrator clearly loves her assets and says that they can attract men from time to time, and put men under a sort of spell or trance.   

Reader Response      

Laugh, out, loud! Ha ha, this was a funny poem! I loved it; it was short, sweet and simple.  I liked how it had such a girl power attitude to it. I also enjoyed how it encouraged women to love their bodies no matter what. I also liked that it mentioned that having large assets, in this case hips, can attract men so easily. I think it was also pretty cool how in the mist of describing her hips the narrator mentions that they had “never been enslaved” telling her readers of her decent. Really good poem! Also makes the cut of one of my new favorites.

#21 Week 11 "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson pg.535

Summary

“Richard Cory” is told from the point of view of a beggar, or at least what the reader interoperates as a beggar. Richard was a soft spoken, gentlemen who was very polite to everyone around him, he would greet them daily. The way he spoke, made people around him get chills (the good kind) because he had a smooth, suave voice. Cory was a very wealthy man, who had more money than the king, and was well educated; he was such a great man, that he was the envy of other men. Cory worked until daybreak and did not eat meat and heated bread. One random evening, during the summer Richard Cory went home and committed suicide.

Reader Response      

This was a really good poem; I liked the voice it had. I again liked how it rhymed and told a great story by using such simple words. The message was clear, that even when you have everything and are a good person, wealth and the pressure of the world can just destroy you as a person and take a heavy toll on your life. I liked that Cory was an all-around mans-man, everyone wanted to be him because he was so kind and rich and smart. But I think there was a bit of irony because everyone wanted to be Cory, but when he ended up dead I think no one wanted to trade spaces with him anymore. Over all was well written and an awesome poem, probably a new favorite of mine.

#20 Week 11 "Sir Patrick Spens"-Anonymous pg.483-484

Summary

A king is looking for a Sailor to brave a trip for him across the sea. An old knight tells the king of a great sailor Sir Patrick Spens. When the king summons the sailor with a note, the sailor laughs at the request. Sir Patrick thinks the king must be kidding wanting to send him and his crew out on the open seas in such horrible weather: a storm was coming in. Never the less, Sir Patrick gathers his crew and obeys the kings orders of leaving in the morning. Sir Patrick knows the fait he and his men are about to face, the narrator describes what the sailors will face in a tone of voice that does not alarm the reader. The final part of the poem talks about what the sailors’ families will have to deal with and how the sailors will die and who they will go see (their gods). And in the last stanza talks about Sir Patrick and how he lies at peace with the sea and goes to his Scottish God’s feet.

Reader Response      

I am a little lost on who the narrator was, I think it was told in third person but I also think it could be the king or Sir Patrick. I think the beginning is told in third person and the second half of the poem is told by Sir Patrick. I liked the poem over all, it was well written and it rhymed which I love! I tend to enjoy and pay more attention to poems that rhyme because they just sound a lot better when they are being read, in my opinion. I thought Sir Patrick was kind of stupid for sailing out when he knew he shouldn’t, I think he should have at least told the king that the weather was not right or asked to post pone the trip. The poem was dark but with a light tone to it, it was kind of weird.

#19 Week 11 "Here a Pretty Baby Lies" by Robert Herrick pg.479

Summary

The narrator describes a normal setting and infant in the first three lines. The narrator lets the reader believe that the baby is healthy, normal, and is merely taking a nap: since he asks the reader to be quiet. However the last line completely alters the entire poem, the narrator reveals that the baby girl is dead and is being put to rest in the earth. The reader now interoperates the poem differently. When the narrator says the child is lying down, he means in a coffin. When he says lullabies are being sung he means the death march or perhaps the “ring-around-the-rosie” song which is ironic, since it has become a child’s song. And when he says to pray and be quiet, he means pray for the poor child’s soul and to stay quiet so that she and her family may be in peace. And the last line is describing (briefly) that her coffin is being buried and covered with dirt.

Reader Response      

At first I thought this was going to be a silly little poem about a beautiful baby, and the poem was completely normal then I got to the last line. I did not know how to intemperate it at first, I obviously understood that the baby was dead but I had to go back and re-read the poem to fully understand the true meaning of the poem. After reviewing it, I was stunned. It is crazy how words can be twisted and manipulated so easily and can have so many different means and connotations.  I liked the poem up until the last line, over all the poem is depressing and I didn’t really like it as a whole. It is too sad for my taste and too dark, I like dark like Edgar Allen Poe, but this is a whole other level of dark.

#18 Week 11 "Hope" Lisel Mueller pg.478

Summary

This poem is I suppose about Hope. Mueller compares many different aspects of life, objects and vivid detail to hope. Mueller is telling her reader to open their eyes to the world around them, and to realize that hope is in every little thing around us. Mueller tells her readers that they can see hope in all aspects of life, and explains that even blind people have hope which could be a play-on words for “blind hope”, which is somewhat ironic. Mueller gets her readers thinking about her points and eventually makes them agree that even the most normal things in life can become amazing, depending on how we perceive them. Mueller concludes by saying that hope can even be found in the very poem she is writing.

Reader Response      

Whoa, that was by far the weirdest poem I have ever read. I was a little confused about the two ending stanzas, because up until then I saw how hope was linked to the other examples Mueller wrote. I am still a little fuzzy on how Mueller’s poem itself has hope in it? I guess because Mueller hopes her audience will understand and like what she is writing in her poem. I think the poem would have benefited by ending with the word “Hope” in it, because if the title of the poem where not there I would have been totally and completely lost and not have understood the message.

#17 Week 11 "Schoolsville" by Billy Collins pg.467-478

Summary

“Schoolsville” is a poem, told from the point of view of an ex-teacher. Collins uses the use of metaphors and analogies to compare school items to everyday life. The narrator remembers the days when he was a teacher to all types of students; from the slackers to the hard workers. He gives examples of where the A students are in terms of the present and where D students wound up due to their “I don’t care attitude. The narrator states that over the course of his career he must have taught enough students to fill a small town, and says that he would be the mayor of that town if it existed. The narrator ends his poem by telling of his life now how past students still come by from time to time to ask him a question or two, and that many stare in his windows to watch him teaching past lessons to his possessions.

Reader Response      

This was a cool poem. I like the style it was written in, how easy the words were and how simple the metaphors are. I especially like how he is truthful of where A and D students ended up in life. It is interesting, how Collins is only twenty- seven yet he writes this poem from the perspective of an older literature teacher. Collins makes his narrator seem so old that he can no longer remember the names of any of his students. Over-all I like how realistic the poem was, the style and use of literary elements were awesome and related to me. But my favorite part was the reference to the Scarlet Letter. (I love that book!)

#16 Week 10 John Updike "A&P" pg.311-315

Summary

 Sammy a nineteen year old boy working at an A&P store one day, notices three girls walk in dressed completely different form everyone else in the store. The girls were all in two piece bathing suits and were barefoot. Sammy observes each girl and gives each of them a nickname “the fat one”, “the tall one” and the “queenie”. Sammy notes that the girls each have different feature and strange quarks. When the girls finally find the item that they were searching for, they go to Sammy’s cash register to get checked out, at the very same time Sammy’s manager walks in and starts to harass the girls. He tells them there is a dress code and they are not at the beach, the girls faces turn red with embarrassment as they finish paying and hurry out of the store: Sammy turns to his manager, Lengel, and says he quits. Lengel who is a friend of Sammy’s parents warns him that his parents won’t be pleased. Sammy takes off him apron and tie and leaves them folded nicely on the register. As Sammy leaves Lengel tells him that he will “feel this for the rest of your life”, Sammy agrees and exists the store. Feeling uneasy about the future ahead of him, Sammy knows he has experienced what the world can be like but knows that he can be the change in it.

Reader Response      

This was a cute story! Cute to me anyway, because Sammy stood up for what he believed in and for the girls and quit because his jerk of a boss was so rude for no good reason. I liked the moral of this story, which is to stick to your morals and always stand up for what you believe in. Although it kind of stinks because of the stories we have read before  that  have mentioned this story and the way it ends so really the whole story was spoiled for me. I think Lengel is just one of those ugly people who just like to make others feel bad about themselves so he can feel good about himself, which I think is pathetic. I felt however that Sammy, at the end of the story, felt like he had seen and witnessed how harsh the world was going to be but at the same time he knew that he did not have to be the same, he could be the good and different individual. Overall I liked the story, and I liked how it was written in a not so serious, joking way, it was funny.

#15 Week 10 Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour" pg.293-295

Summary

Mrs. Mallard, a young, pretty woman who had heart problems is unaware that her husband had just died in a terrible railroad accident. Her sister, Josephine, along with one of her husband’s friends Richards, go to break the news to Mrs. Mallard. When Josephine finally broke the news to her sister, Mrs. Mallard went to her room in tears, and wanted to be alone. She sat in a large comfortable chair facing a window. As she looked out the window at every little feature outside including the smell, Mrs. Mallard was overcome with an indescribable joy; she told herself repeatedly that she was “free”. The reader can only assume that Mrs. Mallard was often put down by her husband and possibly abused by him.   When she emerges from her room, Mrs. Mallard has come to terms with her husband’s death and is embracing life as she never had before. But at that very moment Brently Mallard walks through the door and had no idea a crash had even occurred, as Josephine and Richards run toward Mr. Mallard, in amazement Mrs. Mallard dies of heart failure, to do her overwhelming joy.

Reader Response      

This was such a weird story! I thought Mrs. Mallard was dying when she went to her room, and that she was having like a spirit like encounter with her dead body as a spirit. The story definitely had a cool twist of fate.  I liked how Mrs., Mallard was finally at peace and happy that her husband was dead, only to die a few moments after her husband arrived home. The irony in this story was just ridiculous, in a good way. I love stories that have such powerful irony like this one did I also like stories that have a turn of events and this story had not just a twist, like the majority of stories do, but two twists which really worked for the story. I also enjoyed the voice as well as the tone in this story, it was well written.

#14 Week 10 "Tone and Style" pg.286-287

Summary

Tone is how the authors/writers show the feelings or attitudes characters might have toward certain situations they are exploring or telling the reader about. Style is the way the writer presents his/her story to the audience: the way they organize their thoughts, arguments, and the way the write overall. Writers, depending on their subjects, give their readers credit on how much they know about their subjects as well as what they know. Authors also acknowledge their readers ability to comprehend the ways they present their materials. Writers often choose words that help their works according to circumstances, and differentiate their styles by using descriptive paragraphs and dialogs. A crucial part of style is the use of diction. Writers must choose words that work for their stories, and that are understandable, and precise, so that readers fully grasp their concepts. If the authors are successful in their works, their readers should be involved, curious, and interested in the work.

Reader Response       

I knew that an author’s style had a lot to do with an author’s tone. The way an author writes using diction, voice, descriptive words, and vivid details all help establish the works’ or the authors style which in turn establishes the author’s tone. I think it’s really cool how so many different literary elements can come together to create a tone or a style. I also love how the same literary elements and devices can also be used to make a completely different tone and style setting so many authors apart.

#13 Week 8 Edgar Allen Poe "The Cask of Amontillado" pg.226-230

Summary

A man who used to be very wealthy and prominent in society, one day his friend, Fortunato, had been teasing him as he often did. But, when Fortunato insulted his friend, his friend vowed to get his revenge. The man instantly thought of an ingenuous way to trick Fortunato into a trap. Fourtunato was an expert at fine wines, he knew practically every kind made, which when the narrator says he might have found a great and rare find, Fortunato cannot resist tagging along to see if the wine truly is real. The pair travel under the city in catacombs modeled after Paris’, the entire catacombs where one consistent wine cellar. The narrator knowing that Fortunato was ill at the time kept using reverse psychology on the man making Fortunato more persistent to reach the end cellar to see the fine wine. When the two reached the cellar with the wine, the narrator told Fortunato to continue on without him and he would be waiting when he returned. But all the while Fortunato was gone the narrator was sealing up the cellar with bricks to seal his “friend” in. When Fortunato returned and saw the wall he laughed thinking it was a joke, the narrators skin crawled at his laughter and placed the last brick in place leavening his friend s body to rot and never be found again.

Reader Response

This like Poe’s other works was creepy to read yet the ending was pretty predictable, since Poe likes to kill off many people in different ways in all his stories. Poe’s dark humor sets a tone for his story and his dark setting make his story that much more intense. It was not until I started typing that I realized the irony in Fortunato’s name. Fortunato in Spanish means fortunate, the irony in this work is that at the end of his life Fortunato is anything but fortunate in the way he dies. I have always oddly liked Poe’s work, and like the way he skillfully makes good things turn dark so fast.

#12 Week 8 Cynthia Ozick "The Shawl" pg.223-225

Summary

A Jewish mother, Rosa, and her two daughters, Stella and Magda, are walking in a death march during what the reader assumes to be the Holocaust. Magda is a fifteen month old infant who had been hidden the entire time of the march; she was wrapped in a shawl that lay across Rosa’s bosom, which made her undetectable. Magda was a quiet, happy child; she never cried which left Rosa thinking the child was born a mute. Rosa thought the shawl was magic, because after her milk dried and Magda had nothing left to suck on but the shawl, it kept her alive past the time she should have died. Stella always envied Magda, and wanted to be the one wrapped up in the shawl. Rosa always thought that the way that Stella looked at Magda was a way that carnivores look at their prey: Rosa felt that her daughter would eat her other daughter if given the chance. But one day in a concentration camp, Stella takes Magda’s shawl to cover her during a roll-call of the camp. Rosa always hind Magda behind a wall during roll-call wrapped in her shawl, Magda would never cry.  But one day, the day Stella takes the shawl, Magda starts to cry. Rosa notices and runs to a sleeping Stella to take the shawl she had stolen and wrap her younger daughter up in it before her crying became noticeable. But while running toward Magda, Rosa realizes she (Magda) has already been discovered by a Nazi guard and is being taken toward an electric fence. Before Rosa even has time to react she watches while her baby cries the loudest she has ever cried then is thrown to the live electric fence. It takes mere seconds for the child’s life-less, burned body to fall to the ground. Knowing she would be killed to if she tried to run to her fried daughter, Rosa falls to her knees and stuffs the shawl into her mouth hoping to be magically fed by it as her daughter once was.

Reader Response

This is a very powerful story that had me gasping from beginning to end. As I type this I have a giant lump in my throat and an upset stomach. I know just how gruesome the holocaust was and how many god awful things the Nazi’s did to innocent people. But it is this very knowledge that the writer wants the reader to go off of and recall while reading the story. This story is a good example of cultural and historical setting. It explores practically every aspect of that horrible time in history, the concentration camps, death marches, human ovens, and inhuman guards. This was a well thought out, well written story that explores a very touchy and hard to talk about subject but also sheds light on a horrible possibility that could very well have happened during that time in history. It is a very sad and moving story to read, but I’m glad I read it.

#11 Week 8 James Joyce "Araby" pg. 213-216

Summary
A young boy lives on a dead-ended street, in a house where a priest had died in. Across the street from him loved a lovely “brown” girl, named Mangan. He would spy on her daily; he knew her usual routine of playing out in her yard until her sister called her in for supper. He would wake up in the mornings and peek out a window in his front parlor waiting for her to come out of her house so she could walk to school. After Mangan emerged and walk down the block a bit the boy ran down a hall in his house and would rush out the door to follow behind her, and then pass her often saying nothing, but sometimes exchanging a word or two. One day however the young boy had a conversation with Mangan, they talked about an upcoming bazaar and asked each other if they were going. Mengan said she could not go because of a retreat she had to attend, the boy replied that if he were to go he would surely bring her back something. The day of the bazaar arrived and the boy waited for his uncle to return all day with money for him to go to the bazaar, when his uncle finally arrived he said he had completely forgotten about the matter but the boy could still go. After arriving at the bazaar the boy realized most of the vendors were already closed, and then he walked up to a stand that sold beautiful glass vases and tea sets. When the woman working at the stand approached the young boy and asked if he needed help, he responded “no” but lingered after she walked away admiring the different things the woman had to sell. When he finally turned to walk away he realized what a fool he was, foolishly in love with a person who showed nothing in return, which left the boy feeling angry and tortured inside.
Reader Response
This was a pretty confusing story to follow. It had vivid imagery but was a little weird. I don’t understand why the writer felt the need to mention the priest that had died, and the ending was really weird. I don’t understand why the boy felt so emotional, I suppose he realized that he was hopelessly in love with a person who barely noticed he existed and he was wasting his time trying to buy her a gift. But it the story kind of left me feeling like I did not know where the story was headed and left me with lots of unanswered questions. I liked the imagery in this story but over-all didn’t like the story.

#10 Week 8 Setting Is a means by which authors structure and shape their works pg. 209-210

Summary

Authors use setting as a way to organize their stories, such as starting off with one setting and ending with another. Enclosed settings or framed settings are another means of organizing objects, place and time in stories. Framing can also mean that an author starts their story in one setting and ends with the same one, which creates completeness in the story. Authors can also express their ideas through settings emphasizing certain things in the setting that may become symbolic as the story begins to develop. Authors create atmosphere and mood by describing sounds, shapes, animals, winds, and light. For happy moods authors use bright descriptive colors while dark colors reflect gloomy moods. Adding references to smells and sensory responses can lead readers to respond the readings, perhaps recalling a moment in time they can relate to what the character smells or senses. A setting can also add to ironic times in a work, much like “The Lottery” where the setting was plain and calm which made the stoning at the end ironic.

Reader Response
I didn’t know that author’s use setting to organize their stories. I knew that settings can become symbolic in certain stories, and that that symbolic item can become the main focus of the story. I did not realize that irony could be portrayed through setting; I always thought irony was delivered by dialog or actions. Before this, I guess it never clicked that bright colors in stories meant happy moods and dark colors meant depressing moods. I think it’s over pretty cool how setting can affect so many aspects of a story without the reader ever realizing that it affects so many different things.  

#9 Week 8 The Literary Uses of Setting pg.209-210

Summary

Literary use of setting is meant to create meaning in stories, enhance credibility and realism, and to emphasize character qualities. The amount of detail varies depending on the individual author’s purpose in their story. In order for a writer to establish verisimilitude, they must describe particular objects in particular and detailed locations so that the story becomes believable or real. For example using real life places in order to  help the reader better visualize the location, or real life events to help the story sound plausible and even including everyday items to help the reader relate to the character and story.  The way characters react and or change to their surroundings can show the reader some qualities about said characters.

Reader Response

I really like how setting can be used to manipulate a story, characters and plot. I knew a setting was an important part of a story I just did not know that it could change so much in a story. I think it’s cool how writers can manipulate literary locations to make them comparable to other things almost like symbolism: for example a curvy woodland path can represent and unpredictable, deceiving, and risky life ahead. It’s also interesting that credibility can be established with a setting that is set in the real world.  I think that paying attention to certain details and trying to explain their role in a story is always kind of fun but I didn’t know it was “vital” to the plot of a story.

#8 Week 8 What is setting? pg.208-209

Summary

Setting is an environmental setting where stories take place and where characters are during the story. The setting can also include or be described by what the characters own know and experience throughout a story.  Characters can be hurt or helped depending on their surroundings; they can cause a scene with another character and even divulge secrets about themselves to other characters. Three types of settings are public and private places, outdoor places and cultural and historical circumstances. To make their stories more lifelike, and highlight character qualities, authors use details to describe many objects and places surrounding a character: such as park benches, halls, cars, books, and landmarks exc. When describing outdoor areas it is important that authors make the come to life by describing hills, valleys, conditions, lakes, and even wildlife. Physical as well as historical and cultural settings can influence character assumptions. For example a material object like Ms. Brill’s fur shawl can suggest isolation of a character. Setting can ultimately help give some background on a character, help or hurt a story and can influence character behavior.

Reader Response

I always knew setting was a vital part of writing; it helps the reader create a mental picture of the story being told. I also knew that authors usually give little details about the setting so the reader can get a better mental picture of what kind of setting the characters are in and if they can relate that setting with one they have come across in their own lives. I did not however, know that a fight can be started because of a setting. I also knew that depending on their surroundings, characters can tell a lot or a little about themselves.

#7 Week 6 pg. 67 Writing about texts

Summary

To be an active reader you must follow some guidelines to help focus and understand what you read. First get familiar with the writer’s style of writing, note interesting details that you notice, reread to make sure you fully understand what the writer is trying to say, and apply critical thinking strategies. Another thing active readers do is note what they are reading, annotating each paragraph and writing their thoughts about specific details and writing outlines on what they have read. To write and effective summary mention the title of the text, be objective, quote when needed and present only a few main points the writer talked about. Remember that the difference between a summary and an analysis is the question they answer: summary answers what and analysis answers how. When analyzing remember to relate key parts of the story, the writers effectiveness of telling the story and getting their points across and what questions did the writer leave un answered and answered.

Reader Response

I think that taking the time to outline a story or visual before writing a summary can be useful but I also think that it is a waste of time. Although an outline can help the reader organize his/her thoughts, I think outlines should be saved for more challenging writing assignments like a paper about the story: then an outline would help but to waste an outline to write something as simple as a summary is foolish. However I think going through stories and writing little side notes to yourself and analyzing important paragraphs can be helpful and useful when writing summaries and analyses. I also didn’t know that summaries were supposed to answer what while analysis’s answer how, that should help me write more effectively.

#6 Week 5 "Two Kinds" pg.193

Summary

A Chinese immigrant mother who has moved to the united states after losing everything including her husband and twin daughters, now has one child whom she puts all her attention on. She wants to make her child a famous prodigy, and quizzes her on random facts and tries to make her a Chinese version of Shirley temple.  After Tan (narrator and daughter) shows no interest in her mother’s trivial pursuits her mother decides to find her daughter a piano teacher after seeing a similar child play on a popular TV show. When Tan realizes her instructor is death and can’t see very well, she decides not to try as hard and that a few wrong notes aren’t worth stopping and correcting. After playing an embarrassingly awful song at a talent show Tan realizes she has not only let her mother down but lets her self-down as well. Although Tan feels like she has failed her mother, she shows no signs of trying to fix that, she refuses to play piano anymore and pushes her mother further and further away from her after rubbing her twin daughter’s deaths in her face. Years pass and Tan’s mother dies and leaves Tan the piano she had bought her years earlier, in the bench Tan finds two music scores “Perfectly Contented” and “Pleading Child”. This symbolizes her mother who was always content with what Tan did no matter what and Tan always pleading with her mother to stop pushing her, after playing them both Tan realizes the songs go together to make one big beautiful song.

Reader Response

I thought at the beginning of the story that it was going to be about a loving mother and daughter duo that rise to fame and have an everlasting love and respect for one another. But Tan’s hatred toward her mother is made very apparent throughout the story line. It is sad that Tan never realized that her mother just wanted her to succeed and always believed in her even when Tan didn’t believe in herself. I don’t understand where Tan found such hatred for her mother and never realized how much stuff her mother put up with from her. It is a sad story that makes me glad that I have a great relationship with my mother.

#5 Week 5 "The Necklace" pg.187

Summary

Mrs. Loisel is a middle class French woman who was born into the wrong life. She had always dreamed of being a rich debutant who wore the finest clothes and jewels and lived in a mansion with a gorgeous, rich husband and had several servants and the best and most elegant decorations around her mansion. She was never satisfied with her life until one evening when she found herself invited to a dinner by her husband’s bosses. At first mention of the dinner she refused to go having nothing presentable to wear among the high society people that were to attend. After a few crocodile tears her husband gave up his savings to buy her a dress, and as if an overly priced dress wasn’t enough for her Mrs. Loisel had to borrow jewels from her rich friend Mrs. Forrestier. Mrs. Forrestier gave Mrs. Loisel her pick from her collection, after borrowing a diamond necklace and wearing it to the event Mrs. Loisel was a hit but when she arrived home the necklace was gone. After a desperate search came up empty handed, the Loisel’s decide to replace the necklace taking out loans here and promising impossible thing there. After ten years the necklace has been paid off and Mrs. Loisel sees Mrs. Forrestier in the park and decides to tell her what happened so many years ago. After Mrs. Loisel finished explaining all Mrs. Forrestier had to say was that the necklace was a fake.

Reader Response

From the get-go I thought Mrs. Loisel was a selfish greedy, never- satisfied, ugly person. I thought that yes anyone dreams of a better more extravagant life but we don’t all obsess over it like Mrs. Loisel does. I thought that her husband was the sweetest man for putting up with her first of all and giving up money he had saved or himself to make her happy. I was upset to know that after her stupidity her husband was the one who suffered the most having to work extra jobs to pay off a debt that shouldn’t have been his to pay in the first place and all that happened to her was being even less happy with her life and having to learn how to clean and wash. I’m glad she learned a lesson though because what goes around comes around, she finally was able to have a nice piece of jewelry but never able to enjoy it because of all the pain it caused her. She got what was coming to her in my opinion.

#4 Week 4 Types of Characters:Round & Flat pg.160

Summary

There are two types of characters: round and flat characters. Round characters are usually the main characters and are often three-dimensional, because the reader is given enough information to come to their own conclusions about the character. Round characters are also thought to mainly be dynamic although they can, in some cases, be static. Dynamic characters undergo changes and growths throughout stories, while static characters are the complete opposite; it is because of their lack in growth throughout a story that makes them stay static or flat. Flat characters are not complex, often one-dimensional and play minor roles in stories. Flat characters can also be classified as stock characters who find themselves repeatedly in the same cliché scenarios which are also considered a stereotype character.  Flat characters, although mostly static, can also be static or dynamic characters.

Reader Response

I knew that there are flat and round characters and that they are usually static or dynamic characters but I did not know there were so many (basically) synonyms for flat characters.  Round characters are usually more relatable to the reader and are given more detail than the minor characters in a story. Flat characters are usually characters that pop-up once or twice throughout a story and are never really given a backstory or any information more than a name and where they came from and how they know the main characters. I usually associate round characters with dynamic and flat characters with static although I know in some instances the dynamic and static can flip.

#3 Week4 How Authors Disclose Character in Literature Pg.158-160

Summary

There are five ways authors bring their characters to life, characters actions, the author's description of the character, what characters say, what others say about the character, and finally what the author says about the character. A lot can be said for a character depending on his or her actions, it can tell the reader if the character is devious or honest. Characters actions provide insight to their own character. The surroundings of where characters live, work, play can tell the reader what social class they come from, if they are trying to climb up the economic ladder and even give great background on the character. Of course how characters act and talk can tell the reader about their personalities, traits and the type of person that character is. By the same token what the surrounding characters and author say can per sway the reader to either agree with the main characters beliefs or completely appose whatever the main character is saying. Because of this authors usually prefer to keep their commentaries out of their writing so that the reader can come to their own conclusions about the character.

Reader Response

Author's always want the readers to be able to connect with their stories, be it relating to the reader's own life or the author getting the reader involved. Authors also want the reader to be able to come either to the same conclusion or their own conclusions about their stories and or characters. While it is important to try to get their points and views across most authors like to keep their opinions outside of their books so they cannot sway fickle minded people in one direction or another. It is important to bring characters to life through many different perspectives so that the reader can connect with the character as if the character were real.

#2 Week 4 Character Traits/ Distinguishing between circumstances and character traits Pg.156-158

Summary

Character traits are qualities or habits that can be both negative and positive. Traits can be described in a character's facial expressions and actions and can help tell a lot about the character: a character who supplies moral support could have a caring, loving or sympathetic trait, or a character that is always up for a challenge and enjoys risk could have an ambitious or careless trait. Traits can describe a characters personality, thoughts and actions. It is important however, to be able to tell the difference between circumstances and traits, if an event happens to a character and does not have some kind of background story about how this event has affected the characters life in any way then the event is a circumstance but if the event is followed or brought up by a brief tale of how the character arrived there it would be considered a trait.

 Reader Response

I had never considered that facial expressions could be considered a trait I thought blemishes on a face could be considered a trait but never expressions. Before reading this my definition of trait was a special quality a character had but now I realize that it can be the way a character thinks, acts and expresses through their body language and facial expressions. Before reading this I also did not know that there was such a fine line between circumstances and character traits, and that if the reader looks deep enough within an author’s description of the character then traits are a bit easier to come across.

#1 Week 3- Modern Fiction Pg.63

Summary

Fiction did not become popular until the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries after people started questioning monarchy and the church. Because people started thinking for themselves, fiction was able to focus on attention to detail so that the writer could let the reader get to know the characters on a more personal level.  The writers studied human nature, and how they react to different interactions thus making more dynamic and round characters. Novel in those days became a term used to distinguish fictional works from the normal romance books of the age. In the eighteenth century, due to the high level of educated people fiction was better received and diversified the works of the era. It was also a big era for published works since people had the education to read for themselves fictional writings became widely published and read. The genre became so popular that writers would put out monthly installments of the same story but would twist plots leaving people to guess what would happen next, thus a new major genre was created in literature.

Response

I never really realized that fiction is so powerful because it can become so personal and at times even feel real. Fiction really appeals to us because writers imbed real events and places in their writing thus allowing the reader to believe that what is being told through writing could actually be a plausible scenario in real life. I didn’t realize that before the eighteenth century people were so illiterate and that once the literacy levels grew, so did reading fiction novels. It is cool how fiction came about and has grown through the centuries.

#99 Week 100 Intro to Life, pg. 89

This chapter was about how you learn to live and how not to be nervous. It's all about being a happy person. Reading makes you smarter!!!