The Red Convertible By Louise Erdrich

Abstract
         Henry and Lyman are brothers that live on an Indian Reservation. Lyman is the brother that has all the luck. He does various jobs and ends up owning a the diner that he first started working at as a bus boy. One day a tornado hits the diner. Lyman isn't too worried though because he gets insurance money for it. One day Lyman and his brother take off to buy a red convertible they saw. They take this car on a trip all the way up to Alaska, because they picked up a girl who needed a ride there. Once they get home Henry is called to the Vietnam War. Henry finally returns home after three years and appears to be different. He doesn't speak or stop moving around. Lyman wants Henry to look at the convertible, so Lyman goes out and breaks parts and bangs it up so Henry will have to fix it up in order to drive it. Henry finally gets all fixed up and they go for a drive. Henry insists that Lyman take the car for himself, Lyman says no, and they begin to fight. Lyman agrees to take it finally. Henry and Lyman stop along this river and start drinking. Henry says he's going to go for a swim, but the current carries him away. Lyman can't believe this and he pushes the car into the river after Henry.


Response

         “The Red Convertible” is a story that truly depicts the horror that a family goes through when having a member of the family go to war. Henry and Lyman are brothers and have a close relationship with each other. They get their money together and decide to buy a red convertible to share. This red convertible is that representation of their relationship. Henry and Lyman’s relationship starts out in good condition, just like the newly bought car. Then they take it on a road trip to Alaska. The car needs some fixing up, but still remains nice.

            Henry is called to war and has to leave behind his brother and car. This shows that he leaving or kind of abandoning his relationship with his brother. While Henry is away Lyman tries to write to him, but the enemy intercepts the letters and Lyman is pretty sure they never get to Henry. In this part of the story to can see the relationship is falling apart, so is the car. Lyman begins disassembling the car and taking out parts and re-doing them. This again proves that the red convertible represents Henry and Lyman’s relationship.

            After three years Henry finally returns home. He isn’t the same at all. He won’t talk and he is very jumpy, and can’t sit still. He continues to not talk or be social for many weeks. The only thing that intrigues him is the color television that Lyman bought for his mother. He likes this because it’s so real and doesn’t look like the past.

            One day Lyman goes out to the convertible and destroys it and breaks parts to see if Henry will notice. After a few months pass Henry finally notices and yells at Lyman for not keeping it nice. So Henry begins to fix it and re-do it. This represents that start to Lyman and Henry mending their relationship. After lots of hard work Henry finally gets the car running, and their relationship becomes mended and well.

            One day they take the newly fixed car out on a drive. Henry all of a sudden becomes white and furious. Lyman knows exactly what’s happening. Henry figured out that Lyman purposely broke parts and hurt the car so Henry would fix it. Henry explains that Lyman must have the car, but Lyman refuses. They stop the car and begin fighting. Finally they stop and laugh about it and Lyman says he’ll take the car.

            Henry says he’s going to swim quickly in the river along the side of the road where they stopped. Lyman hears Henry splash into the river but then it becomes silent. Lyman rushes to see what’s wrong. He finds that the current in the river has taken Henry and he can’t fight it. This saddens Lyman. Lyman goes and gets the car and puts in neutral and let’s in dump into the river. This is the end of the car and the end of Lyman and Henry’s relationship.

The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien

Abstract
         Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is that narrator in this story. He is telling the lives of soldiers during the Vietnam War. He explains what everyone carries and why. Henry Dobbins was a big man and he carried extra rations of food. Dave Jensen carried personal hygiene items. Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers like dope. Norman Bowker carried a diary and Kiowa carried a Bible. There were many others things that these men all had to carry that didn't differ between each other, but the things listed above were some things that differed depending on the person. Jimmy Cross always carried pictures of Martha and her letters. He would read them ever night. Whenever Jimmy was at war he would find himself day dreaming about Martha. This cost him a man on day. He wasn't paying attention and Ted Lavender was coming back from the bathroom and was shot down. This was a wake up call for Jimmy and he realized he couldn't dream about Martha any longer.


Response
           The character’s names in the story “The Things They Carried” are representative of their attitudes and what they carried with them in war. Another thing to look at is the significance of the title throughout the story. When looking at facts about Tim O’Brien I found that he served in the Vietnam War. I can evaluate this story on these things pointed out above and how they all have symbols in the story.

            The character that stuck out to me the most was Ted Lavender. Lavender is known to be a scent that is calming and relaxing. This idea is also represented by the things that Ted Lavender carries with him while are war. He carries dope and other tranquilizers. This is just like relaxing and calming him down so he feels no emotion or pain. So as you can see Ted Lavender’s name represents what he is carrying.

            Another name I found that represents what they’re carrying is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. As Jimmy explains in the story is that he loves Martha, who is a junior at Mount Sebastian. While he is at war he finds himself day dreaming about Martha, and not focusing on his job. This is why I think Tim O’Brien named him Jimmy Cross because he’s crossed between war and someone he loves. He is trying to do two things at once, but it’s not working because one of his soldiers dies.

The title “The Things They Carried” makes you think it’s just going to be a story about people who carried some kind of object. In this story the people are soldiers at war and they are carrying guns, ammunition, food, and things to stay alive. But not only did they pack these things they had personal belongings that represented them as a person. One guy carried a bible because he was deep into his religion. One guy carried extra food because he was large in size. It wasn’t just objects and material things they carried, but also memories and mental blocks. They carried memories of people who had died that they had seen, but got to the point that they could block it out. They also carried the thought to duck and run anytime they heard a gunshot. These men were trained to do this and they carried that training with them to fight and stay safe.

All the experiences found in this book we so surreal. It made you think that you were actually in the war while reading the story. Tim O’Brien was able to make this story so real because he fought in the Vietnam War, which this book was written about. I think that the characters and the events that took place within this story are modeled after what Tim saw. I’m guessing that all the characters were his friends and were in his troop.

Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Abstract
          There is a girl named Maggie and she has a sister named Dee. They aren't treated the same at all by their Mama. Dee is the skinny beautiful girl that everyone likes and she gets everything handed to her by her mom. On the other hand Maggie gets nothing, and appear different than others because she was burned in a fire. Dee is sent to college by her mother, and years go by and Dee comes back to visit. She has changed her name and dresses in African style clothing, also with her is her new husband. Dee starts taking old objects from the past. She takes a dash and some quilts. The mom see that Dee won't take cure and pass on the family heritage with the quilts so Mama takes them from Dee. Dee can't believe this is happening. Mama then gives the quilts to Maggie because she knows that Maggie will pass the heritage on to future generations by her sewings.


Response

            “Everyday Use” was a story that I thought was a good explanation of how women live their lives. If you think about the title and what it means, it defines women. Women are thought to be the ones who do the house work; they cook, clean, sew, etc. This is exactly what Mama had done all her life in this story. She passes these same trades onto Maggie. Maggie is the less-fortunate girl in the family. Her sister Dee is pretty and smart. The only reason Maggie is less-fortunate is because when she was younger the house started on fire and Maggie couldn’t get out of the house without getting her skin burned. At the start of the story Mama never pay attention to Maggie and this view transforms throughout the rest of the story.

            Mama never had an education and she wanted one of her daughters to have one, so she sends Dee to college. This was what Dee wanted because she always complained about living on a farm and doing outside work. Dee comes back years later and has changed her appearance. Mama doesn’t like the change and Maggie never really liked Dee in the first place.

            When Dee is looking around the house she sees objects that represent where she’s from. She asks Mama if she can have a hand carved butter churn and a dasher. Then she goes up into Mama’s room and takes the old quilts and garments from a chest. She explains how she is going to display all this stuff at her house. Mama doesn’t like this is idea at all and snatches the quilts from Dee’s grasp and gives them to Maggie. This angers Dee, and she says that Maggie won’t appreciate the quilts because she’ll use them for “everyday use”. Mama explains that Maggie knows how to fix them or re-sew a whole new quilt if needed.

            The term, “everyday use” is not a bad thing like Dee makes it sound. If you use something for everyday use that means it’s important to you. It means that you value whatever it is and want to make sure you’re reminded of it every day of your life. So when Dee refers to everyday use being bad she’s actually thinking illogical.

            The reason mother takes the quilt from Dee and gives them to Maggie is because she knows that the heritage of the family will live on. She knows that Maggie will be able to sew quilts to pass on to her family and so on. If she had given the quilts to Dee she would never pass them on and eventually they would be thrown away or sold to someone who had no appreciation for them.

            Not only does Mama transform throughout this story, but so does Dee. First of all she changed her name because her old name represented oppression. Dee also changes her lifestyle and her looks. By doing this Dee is losing her heritage and how her life is defined. Heritage is a key part of this story and that’s why Mama wouldn’t let Dee take the quilts. She knew that Dee wouldn’t appreciate them as much as Maggie and she wouldn’t take care of them as well.

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

Abstract
            Sylvia is a young girl living in the "slums". Throughout the neighborhood there are many other kids; most of them are cousins to Sylvia. None of these kids receive any education because their parents never have time to worry about them. Miss Moore is a large black lady who mentors these kids. She takes them on educational field trips. Sylvia always dreads going with Miss Moore because she's boring. All the kids get ready and take a trip into the city to fifth avenue. Once they get to fifth avenue they are all in shock to see all the nice clothing and toys in the windows. Miss Moore said that they could go into the toy store and look around but Sugar and Sylvia hesitate because they feel out of place. At the end of their visit to the toy store Miss Moore asks what they leaned and Sugar says that she learned that one toy boat is the same amount of money that could support their family's cost of food for a year. 


Response

            While reading, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara I felt it was all based on money and the social class of people. The criticism I immediately felt related to this story was Marxism. At the start of the story you know from the word choice that the narrator must not be well educated. The first few words are, “Back in the days when…” this shows that proper grammar is not being used. Whenever I read and hear someone with poor grammar or vocabulary I think that means they’re not well educated, which in this story is true. Sylvia the narrator lives in the “slums” they way Miss Moore states it. This makes Sylvia part of the lower class of socioeconomic standing.

            It is apparent that education is not important to these kids or their parents. When the children are talking to Miss Moore they talk about how they don’t know where their parents are. In one case one of kids says he doesn’t even have a home. This shows you just how poor the value of education is to these families because their parents don’t even manage to take them to school. In the story Sylvia states that she doesn’t even live with her mother. She lives with her aunt. Her mother lives up the street in an apartment with another lady. Sylvia states that she doesn’t know what they do but she suspects they sit around and drink.

            The children go on a field trip into the city with Miss Moore one day. She hands Sylvia five dollars to pay for the cab. This make Sylvia excited and she can’t imagine what she could all buy with this money. At one point in the story she wants to stop the cab and get out and run away with the money. This just shows how in need Sylvia is for money and how sacred it is to her.

            They arrive on Fifth Avenue and see that there are many people roaming the streets. The stores are all expensive and Miss Moore tells the children that the will walk around and look in the windows at all the different things to buy. At one point a kid spots a toy boat and the price says a thousand some dollars. The children can’t believe that someone would pay that much for a toy. Miss Moore tells the children that they can go into the toy store and look around. All the kids rush through the door eager to get in, but once Sylvia and Sugar reach the doors they stop. The feel like their being looked at as they enter. They are different than the others in the store. They also notice that the store is quiet. They expected it to be loud with songs and children playing with toys. This is such an experience for Sylvia and the other children because their families don’t have money for toys. They can barely supply their families with food. That is why they are so astonished with the toys and how expensive they are.

            When all the children are done looking they all come outside. Miss Moore asks them what they thought of the store and what they learned. Surprisingly Sugar speaks up saying that the cost of the sailboat could pay for what all the children eat in one year. Sugar expresses how she can’t understand why anyone would ever pay that much for a toy. This is the turning point in the story because this is the whole reason Miss Moore took them in the field trip. So they could see how others live and how people use their money on different things.

            As the story ends Sylvia starts thinking about how people become rich and why can’t she? It ends up all coming down to education. You must have a good education in order to get a good job and make money. Sylvia sees how people with money live better lives and are happier. I think this is turning point for Sylvia and will inspire her to learn more so she can get to where people are that she saw on her field trip that day in the city. She even states it at the end of the story that, “But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” This shows that Sylvia is determined to be better than her mother and the people that live in the slums.

Happy Endings By Margaret Atwood

Abstract
      John and Mary have met and there are different options you can read to end they story. One ending is that they both have good jobs and a beautiful house. They have two children and they travel with them. Eventually John and Mary grow old and die. The second ending is that Mary loved John, but John didn't love her. He used her for food and sex. Eventually Mary knows he's seeing another women and she kills herself. John gets married to the other woman Madge. The third ending is that Mary feels bad for John and so she stays with him although he has a wife. Mary is seeing a guy named James. One day John comes into Mary's apartment and finds James and Mary in her bed. This makes John mad so he goes out and buys a gun and kills them both and himself. His wife Madge mourns, but ends up marrying Fred. The fourth ending or D is about Madge and Fred. They survive and tidal wave and continue their life through the first ending stated above. The fifth ending is Fred and Madge and Fred dies of heart trouble so Madge devotes her life to charity work. The last ending or F is that Mary is a spy spying on other spies and John is a revolutionary in Canada and they continue on with ending A or one. In the end it comes down to however the story goes John and Mary will still die and that's truly the end.




Response
      When I started to read this story I was expecting to have a few endings to a story and they'd all be happy and fun to read. This was my initial thought because the story is titled, "Happy Endings". I was hoping to read about fairy tales with a princess and a prince. That is definitely not what I ended up reading. This whole story is based on the words happy and ending. When you think of happy you think of a good family with riches to share and the couple who are in love. The word ending just means the end of someone's life, which is death.
       As the options arise you find out that the two people you started with John and Mary, and you read different scenarios on how they live their live and how they're going to die. The main point here is that they are both going to die at some point, which the title explains when it says "endings". This is what Margaret Atwood is trying to convey throughout this whole reading John and Mary die; she even states it at the end of the story after option F. 
        Everyone is going to have an end to their life and that's death. It's the way you go about your death that defines it as being a sad or happy ending. While the whole time I'm thinking of unrealistic stories in which the ending of their life is based on the events prior to death. I never stopped to think that the ending to your life really isn't happy at all because you are leaving the world you have gotten to know so well to go to an unknown place that you're not familiar with at all. I think this whole story in a way was a play on words. It takes that thoughts you were thinking and totally destroys them. The title is completely morphed and becomes meaningless the more options that you read through the more it becomes apparent that endings will never be happy no matted what journey you take.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love By Raymond Carver

Abstract
         Mel and his wife Terri have their two friends Nick and Laura over. As they sit around the table drinking before they go out to eat they start talking. The main topic they talk about is love and how it's defined. At first Terri tells about her and Ed's love for each other and how he'd abuse her while saying he loved her. Mel said that wasn't love. Then Mel told a story about and older couple he saw in the ER. They were both in body casts and lived although no one expected them too. He explains how the man became depressed because he couldn't see his wife. This is pretty much the conclusion of the story and no definition of love is ever found.


Response

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” confused me on what meaning Raymond Carver was trying to express. I understood that all the characters were trying to define what they thought love was. They all justified what they thought it was by their own experiences. No one person would agree with another because they never had the same experiences.

As I evaluate this story based on formalism I find one thing very apparent. At the beginning both couples are respectful of each other and love each other. Mel loves Terri and keeps telling her that. Then Terri begins telling the story about her ex Ed and how he loved her so much. He one time dragged her by her feet around the house and told her he loved her as he was doing this. Terri knew that this was true love and that Ed truly meant it. When Terri and Ed broke up Ed was still following her and finally he killed himself. This was representing the love that he had for Terri or at least that’s what she thought. He died for her and that’s true love, from Terri’s viewpoint. Mel found that to be unacceptable. There is no way anyone can hurt the one they truly love. Terri and Mel always disagreed with this scenario and they discussed it no longer.

As the story continues you can see how the love that Mel and Terri have fades. Mel starts to drink more and more gin. As a heart doctor he has to work every day and never has the nights off because he is on call. This one night he is free and so that’s why he’s having dinner with his wife and friends. That’s also why he is drinking so heavily because he needed to relieve stress. This drinking starts to make Mel’s talking and thoughts blurred throughout the story. This relates to the story because its gets more scattered and confusing towards the end. In the end I don’t even understand the definition of love if there even is one.

Throughout this whole story there is no apparent definition found. They just give examples but never explain how this relates to love and how it’s defined. I think love it hard for them all define because as Mel says they are young and there is so much more to their lives to learn. They won’t know what love is until they’re older and they’ve lived their life to the fullest. This is how the story is constructed too. There is no definite answer in the end because we must find it out on our own; no one can define it for us. We must define love by the actions we take and the relationships we have.

Where are you going, Where have you been? By Joyce Carol Oates

Abstract
         Connie is a fifteen year old girl who is into her appearance and being popular. Her mother always criticizes her and tells her that she is worthless in a sense. When Connie and friends would go out they'd go to the "mall". Although actually they went across the street to a diner where all the older kids hung out at. Connie loves the attention that she receives from the guys when she walk through the diner. One night she is asked by Eddie to go to his car with him, and Connie follows. The rest of the summer Connie does the same thing and meets many other guys. One day she is home alone and hears a car pull up in the driveway. She goes to the door to see who it is and finds out it's a guy that noticed her earlier when she was at the diner with Eddie. This guy claims he's only little bit younger than Connie and says that she should go for a ride with him in his gold car. She declines and he keeps persuading her to come with him. At last he gets mad and comes up to her door and says he won't come in as long as shes comes out and leaves with him. She finally gives in and goes outside to meet this man.  


Response

The roles women play society has changed over the years, but one thing that will never change is the effect they have on men. All women have the desire to impress men, and will do anything to achieve it. In the short story, “Where are you going, Where have you been?” Connie, the main character is caught up in her appearance and how to convey herself to the male species. She dresses up and does her hair just to go to the mall with her friends.

During the summer her and her friend’s get bored at the mall so they walk over to the diner across the road. This is the hot spot for teens in her town. It is known that all the older teens go here to hang around out. As she walks through the diner she is looking to impress the guys around her. All women do this at some point in their life, and they know that the guys will stare. By Connie taking part in this act contributes to what happens later in the story.

            One night when Connie is flattered by Eddie and is walking to his car she sees a guy that shows interest in her and he says, “Gonna get you, baby”. Connie doesn’t think anything about this encounter at all, until the day an unknown car pulls up to her house, one Sunday afternoon. Connie is immediately confused and excited about a guy coming to see her. She stands in the doorway as he talks to her and tries to lure her into his car to go for a ride. Connie keeps refusing, and doesn’t understand how this guy knows where she lives. He continues to tell her that she’s his lover.

As I look at this story I realize that this closely relates to the scenario that many teen girls encountered when being attacked by The Pied Piper of Tucson. This man was a serial killer in the 1960s that would lure girls to him by his good looks and wealthy background. The character of the mysterious man in this story directly relates to The Pied Piper of Tucson. They both stumbled up their stuffed shoes to make them appear taller. They both had the cole black hair with the make-up painted face. I feel like Joyce Carol Oates was directly affected by this killer, and so she decided to write at story about him and how a girl felt when being preyed upon by him.

            Not only can you conclude that women are taking roles in impressing men, but also the history behind this story greatly affects how Joyce Carol Oates writes. The way Connie dresses and portrays herself makes more susceptible to the Arnold Friend. She made herself be noticed and that’s what hurt her. So maybe, as a teen girl I can see how impressing someone isn’t helping yourself, although you may think that it is. Just be safe and in the end Connie should have listened to her mom.

            The history behind this story is shocking, and I can’t believe it is based on a serial killer. Everything that is explained about Arnold Friend is similar to The Pied Piper of Tucson. Also the fact that this story was written to Bob Dylan shows that it’s probably a response to one of the songs that he recorded.