Third Essay

I am going to write my final essay as a short fiction paper. I came to this decision because I really enjoy reading and writing fictional stories. They allow you to make up stories and make them your own. I’m not very good at writing poetry or plays, mainly because I have a hard time with the structures.

I first read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in the 10^th grade of high school. I enjoyed the story very much. The ending was very surprising, because the title made the story seem like it would be about a happy event. So this really threw me for a loop. I felt the style of the story allowed for this surprising affect to happen for the reader. When I read the story again this semester I remember how the story progressed but this time around I was able to focus and analyze the story in a different way. I noticed that Jackson uses the third person point of view is really unique and cool. When I thought about the story I was going to use as a model this was the first one I thought of.

In my essay the main thing I want to include is the way “The Lottery” uses the third person point of view to hide the ending of the story. She does it in a way that the reader does not really know that the actually lottery was not a good thing. I have already thought of many ways my story can go. So we will see how this goes!

Violence and Sophocles' Antigone

While reading Antigone I noticed that the violent scenes were not included on the stage. They were usually told through a messenger and reported to the audience. This is seen in the play because the sentry told King Creon about the burial of Polynices and is also heard when the messenger tells the audience about the murders of Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice. This is unique to Greek tragedies and also made it easier to perform on stage. Had these scenes been acted on stage during these productions the audience may not have liked this so much.

Violence may not have been well received by the people of Greece. It is kind of violence seen in movies and television of today. Not all shows or movies are suitable for younger children. Violent movies, like the Saw series or any other gory movie, have ratings that warn parents about whether the movies or television shows can be watched by younger children. Traditional plays like Antigone were watched by all people and it was almost like a tradition that everyone comes see the productions. So had the Greek tragedies show violent scenes this would not be well received and not as many people would have come to watch the plays. They needed to be suitable for people of all ages.

I do not find the play as interesting without the violent scenes left out, but I suppose if I was a little younger then the violent scenes may have frightened me. I would actually really like to see a production of Antigone that includes the violent scenes. But of course that is just me!

I choose to write my second essay about Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony.” These two short stories were very interesting and both deal with a tradition that is out of the ordinary and are also both very gruesome. The two stories keep my attention and I found that I could write a lot in this essay. There are many things that I could come up with comparing and contrasting these short stories. The prompt states that I should pay attention to the language and imagery in my descriptions. This should not be a huge problem because I found a lot of imagery from both.

What really interested me in this particular prompt was that both stories had a tradition that they both felt needed to be continued because it has always been done. They were both almost meaningless and could both be dropped from the society. Many people were not sure why the traditions were being continued, and this makes me think about my life and if the traditions I practice are even practical or needed anymore. The people continue these traditions because it has always been done.

When I read the other possible prompts I found this one the best. The other ones did not stink out to me and I do not enjoy Edgar Allen Poe stories that much. His stories are full of sadness and I also found the other stories need interesting. This choice will hopefully be easy to progress with and I hope to write a great essay out of it. But we shall see!!

 

The Lottery

            “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was a very controversial short story written in the early 20^th century. Many people did not like this and some countries have even banned this story. This short story was about how a village continues a tradition that it started with the founding members of the village. The tradition is a lottery where a villager at random is stoned to death. The villagers all feel that this tradition is no longer needed, and it is also mentioned that several other villages have stopped using this tradition. Even after all of this the village still continues to do this.

            All of this just shows how much tradition influences people and that they do not like changing the way things are. We as humans as so used to things as they are and do not like change. Even though Jackson’s story was a little exaggerated it was all most like a wake up call to everyone. Some traditions are useless now or they influence our lives our lives. We continue traditions that were started so long ago even if we are not sure where they came from or why they were even started. Today we have many traditions that were started many centuries ago like wedding ceremonies. Why do we have ceremonies for weddings? Where did they come from? Or another tradition is Santa Claus. Why has Christmas changed so much that little kids want Santa to bring them toys and that they believe in a Santa Claus? Where did this tradition come from? People do not like change and continue a tradition throughout the generations and for what reason? These are questions that are hard to be answered but it is evident that everyone is influenced by traditions.

??

On Short Stories

We are just starting to learn about short stories in my intro to literature class. I had to read three short stories: "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams, "A Visit of Charity" by Eudora Welty, and "Sleepy" by Anton Chekhoy. All three stories were interesting and I found that all of them did not have an optimistic ending:


"The Use of Force" is a story about a doctor from the early 20th century and his visit to a patients home. When I read this story my first reaction was, why is this child being so stubborn? I am not used to doctors making house calls, and I have only heard and seen it in the movies. Apparently this child, Mathilda is very sick. Diphtheria is going around to children and it is possible this child may have it. If I were the doctor I would have been very frustrated if this child did not listen to me. All he wanted to do was look at her throat. If this child have the illness then she could die, why didn't the child understand this. So by force the doctor had to get this child's mouth open. So it's understandable where the author get the name for this short story. The child did have Diphtheria. I liked the way the author ended this story.

Eudora Welty's short story was a very interesting story. The child seemed very shy and she did not like elderly people from what I could tell. She was a "Campfire Girl" and was taking flowers to a home for the elderly to receive points. The women in this story were very amusing and very talkative. The child seemed scared of them as well. I did not understand the ending though. Why did the little girl run when the elderly women asked for money? Why did the little girl leave an apple by the bush and not bring it in with her? Was the little girl scared of the elderly or just of the two women? This is probably why I enjoyed this one the most because it left the most unanswered questions.

"Sleepy" was a story about a servant and nanny to a very rich family. She was always busy and never found time to rest. The family she worked for was very demanding. The woman would find herself drifting to sleep when she was rocking the baby to sleep. Was she dreaming about real events about her dying father? If she was, then did she have to work for this family because it was the only way for her to make a living? It seemed like she never got any sleep. The sleepiness must have caused her to go mad at the end of the story because she killed the baby in order to get sleep. The most interesting part of the story was the last sentence. It really made you think about things.

I read the poems Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold and My Husband’s Back by Susan Minot, and first of all I found that both of these poems were very depressing but they both talked about how they hoped love could some how take them both out of their depression. I have to answer this question that went along with this assignment too: Would you agree with some critics who see the speakers in these two poems as stereotypically male and female? Why? Well I would agree that the poem by Susan Minot is stereotypical of a female but I would not agree with Matthew Arnold’s poem as being stereotypical of a male.

           

The poem by Susan Minot talks about a woman who is going through rough times at home. The baby is sick with the flu and she is stuck at home trying to cook. It seems like it is winter time and fire won’t light and she is very tired. Many women have these kind of days, especially mothers, when things just are not going well and they need rest but have to keep going even through the pain. She looks toward her husband and his love to get her through the tough times. It is clear that she is very much in love with him and that she looks toward him for strength to make it to the next day. It is stereotypical for people to think that women are weak and need a man to help them.

Matthew Arnold’s poem Dover Beach talks of a man who doesn’t see any joy in life. He sees the misery in the world. It is possible he is talking about war and many problems going on in the world. The speaker seems to be on the beach just watching the waves rolling and thinking of his life and how he needs love to be happy. He speaks his feelings and how love is a beautiful thing.  A stereotypical male usually tries to act strong and doesn’t show their feelings. Like the quote says “grown men don’t cry.”

My Song Choice

We had to choose a song that we listen to regularly in my intro to literature class to discuss if this is a good example of poetry. My song choice is a Taylor Swift song called "The Best Day." I purchased the album almost two years ago and this song was my favorite! It actually made me cry when I listened to it the first time. The song is mainly about Taylor Swift's mother and how she was always there to help while she grew up. She sings about days that they spent together, and she also talks about her father and brother in the chorus of the song. This song really got to me because I really connected to the song, and I understood what she meant that she had the best days with her family. Family really means a lot of me and they have always been there for me. I still listen to this song all the time and that is why I chose this song. I also can't wait to analyze this song to see if this is an example of poetry. I already know that imagery is used in this song which is an element of poetry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq4W68_h6rw