The Story of an Hour By Kate Chopin

Abstract
Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband has died in a railroad accident. This becomes an issue that is hard for her to cope with, but she is accepting of the fact that he is dead. It turns out Brently Mallard never died and everything was okay. Mrs. Mallard died that day from joy, because she had a weak heart.


Journal

“The Story of an hour” is short story that shows sorrow in not only Mrs. Mallard’s life, but also Kate Chopin’s life. This whole story is based on the knowledge that Mrs. Mallard’s husband Brently has been killed in a railroad accident. I think Brently’s character represents Kate’s father in her life. When Kate was four her father died in a railroad accident, which is how Brently Mallard supposedly died. Kate may be writing this story as an expression of hope. She was hoping that her father wasn’t actually dead and that he would come home alive, just like Mr. Mallard. 

                The tone of this story is very sad and happy at the same time. This tone seems ironic, how can there be happiness and sadness in one? Mrs. Mallard experience both of these emotions in this story. She was sad that her soul mate, husband, the one she had spent her life with was dead. This was devastating to her because what would she do the rest of her life? The answer soon was discovered, Mrs. Mallard was free. She didn’t have to worry about anyone but herself. I wonder why Kate would write a story on freedom because she was free all her life. She went through a lot of trauma, but never had to worry about another person except herself. Maybe she wanted to be free of the sorrow and unhappiness that she suffered as a child?

            One of the symbols in this story is a heart, the heart of Mrs. Mallard. She had a weak heart physically, but when she heard her husband was dead she had a weak heart emotionally too. The heart also represented Kate’s heart. She had a weak heart emotionally because she had gone through a lot as a child. She lost her dad, her brother, and her great-grandmother all within a couple years. Kate wrote this story showing how people grieve over lost ones. I think she wanted to show people that you will be sad, but something happy or good will also come from this event.

The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant

Abstract

Mme. Loisel and her husband were a couple struggling financially, and one day he comes home with an invitation to the palace of the ministry for a celebration, in which she doesn’t think she can attend. She borrows a necklace from Mme. Forestier, which she loses while out that night. The rest of M. and Mme. Loisel lives they spend making money for the new necklace that they had to by Mme. Forestier in the place of the lost one, which they find out wasn’t worth anything. 

Journal

The theme, characters, and tone of this story are representative of the life that Guy De Maupassant lived. In the start of this story the theme is clear, that the rich have nice things and are beautiful and the poor do not. But as the story goes on it becomes more apparent that that isn’t necessarily true. Madame Forestier is deceived as a wealthy and classy person whom shows her riches through her jewelry. This is the belief throughout the story and causes the struggles of the Loisel family. In the end of the story Mme. Losiel is faced with the fact that the necklace she lost of Mme. Forestier was actually costume jewelry and wasn’t worth anything. Not only does this surprised Mme. Loisel it is also shown in her appearance. She worked so hard to look rich that her beauty was taken away, which is found by Mme. Forestier at the end of the story.

The characters found in this story are those of who are found in Guy De Maupassant’s life. He lived in a troubled home, in which there wasn’t much financial or emotional support. This is comparable to the life that M. and Mme. Loisel were living in, “The Necklace”. They didn’t have the money to buy new things of go out. This is just like Guy’s mother she never worked when she was married to Guy’s father and then they got divorced. This cause a big economic change in his life, which is the life that M. and Mme. Loisel lived in the story, “The Necklace”.

The tone of this story is dark and depressing, because Mme. Loisel never has enough money to do anything. She feels as though she will never be beautiful because she doesn’t have jewels or a pretty gown. Guy De Maupassant has these same feelings towards his childhood as well. His parents got divorced when Guy was younger. This impacted the financial standing for his mother because his father was the one who worked and had all the riches.

Bartleby, The Scrivener By Herman Melville

Abstract
The lawyer hires a Scrivener, Bartleby, to copy his notes for him. Bartleby is the best scrivener by far that the lawyer has ever had. Although Bartleby refuses to do any work, he is still employed by the lawyer until finally he is taken to prison.


Journal

“Bartleby, The Scrivener” is a story that truly shows the history of the 1850s. In this story Bartleby represents those whom are protesting for their rights. For instance, the know-nothings are represented because they are refusing to speak when asked about the group. They were told to say, "I know nothing". Bartleby seems to take on this same tactic, but why? What is the reason for this non-speaking tactic or that he states, “He prefers not to” do what he is asked? This is the common theme throughout the book that Bartleby implies. He simply doesn't want to do the tasks the lawyer gives him, in which he has, no reason behind his preference. This element of the story puzzles me. I don't understand why he won't do what he is told or tell anyone of his past. In order to keep a job you must be able to do any jobs given to you, which Bartleby definitely doesn’t do. As for his past, I feel that there may have been a tragic event that scared him for life, which effects how he deals with issues.

Bartleby is a hard worker and never stops to eat or take breaks like the others in the office. What makes Bartleby feel he has to work this hard? Is it something that he was told when he was younger that encourages him to work even harder at his job? When you think of Wall Street you think of those whom are committed to their jobs and have no time for other things in life. Is this how Bartleby feels he must be too, since he works on Wall Street?  

As the story continues Bartleby doesn’t do his work so he is asked to leave the office. The lawyer gives him six days to leave. Bartleby doesn’t leave and doesn’t explain why either. This stance that Bartleby takes is just like the issues of the 1840s through the 1850s because people were protesting for rights of blacks. Some states were changing to anti-slavery, while others stayed as slave states. If the anti-slavery states hadn’t taken a stance and stood firm on their beliefs we might still have slavery today. The real question though is why would Bartleby take a stance, he seemed pretty happy with his job because he never complained. This is something that was brought to my attention when reading this story. I just don’t completely understand why Bartleby wouldn’t do what he was told. Although there is a lot of historical meaning in this text I feel there are still some unanswered questions that leave me puzzled.

The Cask of Amontillado By Edgar Allen Poe

Abstract
A man is seeking revenge on another man named Fortunado. The way he will seek his avenge is by attacking Fortunado's weakness, which is his love for wine. This ends up getting Fortunado in trouble and eventually is enclosed in a catacomb.


Journal

The Montresor's are a well- known family and are very wealthy. They have the power and money to do whatever and buy whatever they want. The narrator of this story is using his wealth in order to get what he wants, or in other words, manipulating. He buys a cask of Amontillado which is quite expensive and uses it you lure Fortunado to his death. I don't understand how someone of such wealth would want to use it for evil. When you think of those whom are wealthy in our times, they usually give back to the community. The Montresor's never really show this in the story, “The Cask of Amontillado”.

The socioeconomic of this story does make a difference in how people are treated and respected. Obviously the Montresor’s are well respected and known because of their money and that is why Fortunato is so easily lured into Montresor’s catacombs. Not only does Fortunato trust Montresor, but he also has a deep love for wine. As Fortunato, he doesn’t have the money to buy expensive wine, so when the opportunity arises he must take it. This is the plan of Montresor, because he knows that Fortunato will fall for this trap. The plan is easily executed because of the power Montresor has as wealthy person. He is able to tell the servants that they don’t have come to work because of the carnival going on. This give Montresor the opportunity to lure Fortunado into the catacomb, where he chains Fortunato to the wall and put a brick wall up so Fortunato will never be able to escape.

Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Abstract 
Young Goodman Brown is going on a journey, leaving his wife Faith behind. He encounters many other good people of the town all going to this evil place, which confuses Goodman. His curiosity gets the best of him, so he follows the others to see where they're going and finds that they are participating in some kind of wicked practices.

Journal
The first thing that came to my mind when reading this story was confusion. I was trying to figure out why Young Goodman Brown was leaving his wife and where he was going? The story  goes on to tell how he is taking a journey and he's meeting people along that way that were part of his past or are part of his life right now. As Goodman goes on this journey he is affected by his superego because he knows that he's approaching an area that there is evil, and this goes against his Puritan morals, but he still does it anyways. This is his ego telling him that it's okay to see what the others are doing. I feel like Goodman feels he is doing no wrong and nothing will happen if he just watches what goes on at this ceremony everyone else is attending. His instinct or id throughout this story is to turn around and go back home to Faith, his wife that he feels terrible for leaving. The others convince him otherwise, they say that he should walk with them on this path because Goodman's friends did the same and they returned by midnight back home. By the others saying he should travel on this path it justifies he's doing no wrong, which is Young Goodman Brown's ego. Throughout this story Goodman struggles on what he is to do and I feel as a reader I struggle to understand also. The outcome of this story makes me even more confused because I don't know whether to think that this was all a dream or is this story and actual real life occurrence for Young Goodman Brown.

Notes-1

Writing about Literature

• Reading literature can be enjoying or not depending on past experiences.
• Writing  about literature teaches you about real life even if the story is fictional
• Thinking about what we read open new ideas and opinions for ourselves

Chapter 1- The Role of Good Reading

• In order to understand information read you must slow down ans reread what you have already read
• When reading literature you must critically read which means ask yourself questions about what you're reading and 
• Most texts actually don't have hidden meanings you're just not actively reading which means you won't find what that reading is actually trying to tell you
• Take notes within the reading to know what's important
• Highlight passages that area important, -then make notes on why you did this -ask questions - have an open mind -look for language that sets a mood and gives information on the style of writing - make annotations simple and easy to understand
• If you don't a word look it up in the dictionary
• 4 categories of ?s- Text, Author, Reader, Cultural Context

Chapter 2- The Writing Process

• Chose a topic to write about that your care about and that interests you
• If you are given a topic research it and find out how it might interest you
• Develop a thesis by making it original, relevant, debatable, and appropriate
• Gather information for your thesis that is from the text iteself, other's resources and your own opinion
• When writing you have an argument or something you are going to prove or show is logical
• When drafting you may not write in order of the paper, you may write one point and then skip to another. Also you may have to reorganize to make sense
• You may have to change your tone of your paper as you draft and take out any passages that are controdictory or that don't make sense
• Peer editing look at the content of the paper not the small things like grammer, punctation, etc.
• Manuscript is just a rough draft that is MLA

Chapter 3- Common Writing Assignments

• Summary- write down important points on the plot, characters, the tone, and other parts about the literature
• Explication and Close Reading- take a poem or short prose and mae and explict idea from it tell what the meaning is of the writing in your own words
• Examine the literature on word choice, sentence structure, grammer, the style or elements that contribute to the style of the literature
• Evaluate the poem as a how on each specific topic and not by lines
• Analysis- take apart a peice of literature and analyze the peices and how they are effect the story as whole
• Comparison and Contrast- take 2 literature pieces and compare and contrast them on characters of plot line or only parts that contribute to the story
• point-by-point- compare one subject that relates to both stories in 1 paragraph  
• item-by-item- present one point and then another in seperate paragraphs, then compare or contrast or analyze in a third paragraph
• Literary criticism and theory- 
• Criticism
• Interpretive- look at literature as  and analyze, clarify the meaning and significance of the literature
• Evaluative- like book reviews, They look at how well developed the literature is and where it should be placed within history
• Literary Theory- The base on which you evaluate literature
• Formalism and New Criticism- focus on structure, tone, characters, setting and symbols. Look at the literature on the actual text and relate parts together and finding symbolism, etc 
• Feminist and Gender Criticism- looking at the roles the females play in the story you are reading, the roles men play in stories as being the protectors and providers for the family
• Marxist Criticism- evaluate based the socioeconomic of a person, based on the ruler Karl Marx and how everything was related to economics
• Cultural Studies- Our society tends to pick literature from males, whom were middle-upper class and also those of British dialect, this is because these are acceptable in our society
• Historical and New Historicism- evaluate based on the history and the times in which the literature you read was published in, also connect it with events that happened in history
• Psychological-  Your thinking based on your subconscious mind gives you motivation. Look at the motivation of characters based on their thoughts might also look and the motivation of why the writer wrote this story. Special attention to the symbols found.
• Reader-Response- Read the story and male sure you understand and then respond based on how you feel and your beliefs. use your imagination and think about how things might be based on descriptions and fill in the "gaps" the reading
• Structuralism- look at the text and think about the meaning of what it says referred to other things in life and then answer your questions from there
• Poststructuralism and Deconstruction- There is no true meaning because all meanings are connected to another and they're always changing based on reality
• Essay Exams- be prepared on the material you are to be tested on, also review what you've done in class a few days before so you can remember the information, if needed
• If it's open book, book mark stuff you want to use so you don't spend time looking for your information, also write some notes down
• If it's closed book use your memory and try to recall specific references to use

Chapter 4- Writing about Stories

• Elements of Fiction- 
• Plot-  avoid retelling the plot when writing, just write reminders to the readers on the key parts in the plot
• Character- look at the development throughout the story, ask yourself what motivated the author to develop this character, what made them grow- protagonist and antagonist
• Point of View- sets the tome of the story and whether it's first-person (which can be unreliable) or third-person being more reliable because it's based on another story or facts) 
• Setting- a back drop, but also can so significance in the values of  the values of the writer and how they want to depict their character to look like
• Themes- short stories usually have themes like; love, war, friendship, revenge, art, etc. which is shown through the characters, plot line, and setting
• Symbol- something in story that carries throughout it and has some meaning to the character or the story itself
• Style- this is shown through the tone you first feel when reading a story
• Look at theses elements and analyse them and how they contribute to the story
• Do Not just summarize that's how you write about a story

Chapter 5- Writing about Poems

• Elements of Poetry
• Narrative poem has a plot, setting, and characters and all depict a point of view
• The narrator is who is suppose to read the poem
• Images- are things that appeal to your senses and make you imagine things and dream in  a sense
• Rhythm- repeated sounds my suggest tone or the patterns make certain sounds

Chapter 6- Writing about Plays

• Elements of Drama-
• Plot- what's going to happen in the story
• Characterization- why characters are develop and how they help tell the story
• Theme- what are the characters showing? love, war, friendship, etc.
• Diction- How the character sounds? Smart? Stupid? Country? British?
• Melody- chant words and make it sounds kind of like a song
• Spectacle- what we are seeing when we watch a play. The props, outfits, etc.

Hey!
My name is Amanda. This is my first blog ever!! :)