Conscience of the Court

The testimony of the defendant was very real and matter of fact. I like how she did not hesitate to own up to the situation and clearly explained her side of the story. I guess what I found to be so moving was being able to read about a degree of justice that given the time and setting of the story, one would think was typically unheard of. For an African American woman of this time period to be facing charges, and to actually be able to represent herself in a court of law, and actually be found not guilty, is out of the ordinary.

I really liked this story because it was against the grain of this era. I really enjoyed the dialogue. The way Hurston used the phonetic sound of the dialect of that time period is fun. The testimony of Laura Lee was riveting and made the entire story. I found myself sympathizing with her very easily and the way Hurston described her in the beginning set us up to not really know one way or another if we were dealing with a real criminal, or someone who would be found unfairly guilty, or any number of things that were possible.

Spinster

I think this was an interesting story. There was a lot of building up to the final scene of Mr. Speed's collapse. The conflict seemed to be mostly Elizabeth and Mr. Speed's conflict. But its interesting, because it leads us to wonder if there can actually be conflict in the sense that I don't think that Mr. Speed had a real conflict with our main character. Clearly she had conflict with him, but if you really dig deeper, it is almost as if the entire conflict is Man vs Man, meaning, Elizabeth's conflict within herself. She practically demonized this man, who for whatever reason, walked around in a drunken daze. Essentially harmless was the old man, but potentially dangerous in the eyes and imagination of our main character. The idea of Mr. Speed representing a scapegoat comes to mind. The way that she projected her feelings toward her father and brother upon Mr. Speed, almost as if to cast her sin upon him, and then to fianlly see him die or nearly die in the end, it relieved an anxiety within Elizabeth. She was relieved to see that tension fall upon a sacraficial victim and all her problems be hurried away in the back of the wagon. If there was a conflict of Mr. Speed, I would say more than anything it was man vs society, he was an outcast, a social reject, a man with no one and nothing to offer society other than fear and anxiety. I liked this story, I feel most sympathetic for Mr. Speed, and I found the little girl to be most obnoxious and obsessive about insignificant things.

Chekhov

Although Chekhov uses a third person narration, how does he seem more involved with Dmitry’s character?

A good deal of attention is focused on Dimitry. being that he is the main character, the narrator really delves into his mind, thoughts and emotions. A lot of description is used to describe him and his view toward women, even right down to his mysogony and inflated ego when it comes to women. This is interesting because we do not have as much omniscience into the lady's mind, background, immediate thoughts and such, at least not near what we are given for Dimitry. I really liked the descriptive words, and the amount of words used to describe. It was not lacking in painting a solid picture of the events, and the characters.

Julian and Joy...and analogous too.

There definitely was a striking similarity between Julian and Joy (Hulga). We see the educated, less conscious of outdated social graces, young people, driven by their circumstances into being stuck with a mother that they seem to loathe. I feel that the two characters carried themselves as if they were enlightened with all understanding. I really relate to these stories, because I have a mother that, I honestly felt was being described in both these stories (respectivley). Just about the only things that seemed ultimately different between the two seemed to be the setting. I even found the mothers to be very similar. It seems to fit the style of the author to deal with these parent child relationships. Makes us wonder what Oconnor's relationship was like with her family, or if there is a simiarity. I like the use of her roman catholicism in the story...the martyr, the references to Rome and the imagery.

Good Country People?? Hardly....

In the story "Good country people," we are confronted with this notion that these "good" southern people, highly esteem themselves as upstanding citizens. But as we delve into the story we discover that those who hold this high opinion of themselves actually are anything but good. I like how the concept of false conversion, or this southern goodness will save us type mentality is exposed. It was courageous on the part of the author to work this angle, but the characters were accurate depictions of the bible belt.

I liked how the only genuine character that we feel the most sympathy for was the atheist girl, who was educated, had a wooden leg, and the more layers than an onion. She was the most out of place in her environment, but she was sincere, even in her awkwardness. Her disgust for false Christianity was from a pure place, and rightly so. I liked this story, but I found it hard to read. One of the first sentences in the story was a huge run-on sentence. It was good, with a weird twist, but I likely would not read it again.

The Girls In Their Summer Dresses - Facebook Style

We chose to do "girls in their summer dresses," which is a short story about a man named Michael and his "wandering eyes." We decided to do our project using the Facebook format. Being that the whole story deals with the couple spending time in New York going from place to place deciding what to do, and eventually ending up at a bar where the wife Frances confronts the husband's eyes for other women, we thought it would be fun to explain this via Facebook. We will start by adding them as friends on facebook and selecting that they are married, and with status updates we will explain their dialouge. We also thought it would be interesting to have them become "fans" of some of the things they mention, like The NY Giants, Courvosier, and Washington Square. We also have created some different types of fan pages for different ethnic groups of women that we will work Michael into becoming fans of theirs. We have also considered creating events that that will officially appear in the news feed, explaing the two's events together, possibly even the event of them spending the day together in NY City.

conversion

I liked the characters as they were porrtrayed by Roth in the short story "Conversion of the Jews." I can see that maybe the characters were a little stereotypical, but I felt that they were true to the stereotype. I liked that there was the driving force of the conflict of one generation to another. The way that the boy challenged the norm and the commonly held beliefs, not for the sake of rebellion, but in honest pursuit of answers.

The way the story ended seemed a little drawn out and a bit predictable, but the interaction that the boy has with his audience below was amusing. I suppose the point of the roof top display of all time was intended to further expose the hearts and motives of the characters, but I did find myself question why. Overall, it was a good story and a good use of characters.

Author's Note

My completed film adaptation proposal was a first round draft, but the careful consideration that led up to this final "thought" was a arduous one. I feel like there was a well rounded use of all of the ideas that could be injected into the film version of such a short story, but I will admit, there could have been a greater amount of content. With that same concern, ironically, there could have bee an enormous amount of content left out.

One angle I wished to have addressed would be who could produce the film. I know that projecting a collage of ideas and scribing a stream of consciousness in the way I did for this paper can be a bit convoluted at times and may not completely capture the film in its fullest. The film version of "Story of an Hour," could rest strongly on who produces and directs the film. Overall, I really enjoyed constructing this piece and I feel that the content and structure were solidly rooted on a good foundation of the story. I am confident that I did not stray too far from the intended theme, and I think the paper maintained the overall thrust of the short story and spoke loudly and clearly enough to the reader to paint a fair and persuading mental image.

What I liked most about writing this paper was really delving into the mind of Mrs. Mallard. I enjoyed trying to present the dark side of this story in a way that was persuasive to readers. I feel that I presented the darkness of this plot in a way that left us as readers in a guilt-free state for empathizing with the proposed main character.

The major questions that I have concerning this paper is if I should have ventured deeper into the roles for the supporting actors, and if so, does not doing so cripple the piece? Also, concerning the format of the paper, I found the introduction and conclusion to be the most vague and did they clearly express the intended content?

Intervention

The reason I chose the short story "Intervention" is mostly because I myself used to have a drug and alcohol problem. I have been clean and sober for over 4 years and when I heard the name of the story it immediately triggered a flood of emotions within me. As I began to read the story, I was able to relate to much of the abuse mentioned. It was a very realistic portrayal of what it is like to have moved well beyond the partying phase of alcohol or drug use and venture into the dark unknown place of using to be normal.

I really could relate to the concept of enabling and I not only know this role as I have experienced it with my parents always giving me money when I was strung out because the were afraid I would rob someone, but also known it as someone who would do copious amounts of drugs with my friends and then be the one to drag people to bed and stay up several hours to make sure they didn't die in their sleep. I now know, after losing right at a dozen friends to drug overdose and alcohol related deaths that there is an absolute zero tolerance to any use where there has been evidence of abuse. It is not worth the risk to take when you basically load a gun and put in the hand of a suicidal person by enabling an addict or alcoholic.

I was horribly disappointed but not surprised by the ending of the story. I wondered how secure Marilyn would feel in her fantasy of Sid always being there if he was going to die in his sleep unpredictably a week later. What is right doesn't always feel good and what feels good isn't always right. I would rather someone be able to live 20 more years with a hatred for me exposing their addiction, then love me for letting them continue their abuse and die tomorrow.

Story of an Hour

Blog your plans for covering title, character, setting, plot/conflict, irony, symbolism in film adaptation proposal

In the film adaptation of "Story of an Hour," the title I believe is appropriate, even in the film version because making the story into a film that lasts an hour will make sense, being that it is assumed that all of the thoughts feelings and emotions that our main character experience, likely took place in about an hour as she sat and reflected on her life and future.

The characters I believe should be played by Angelina Jolie and Tommy Lee Jones as the husband. With support from the other characters by Owen Wilson and Liv Tyler. I believe the appeal of the younger and older characters is essential...reaching across generational lines to the viewers.

This should be set in modern day West Coast....likely in L.A. California. All of which will take place in a condominium. The entire plot of this film and the conflict will ultimately be internal as the main character Liv Tyler sits and reflects on her life and future. The conflict will be played out in a series of flash backs and prophecies of her future. The beginning of the film will deal with her diagnosis of heart disease and the irony of the ending will be her dying upon discovering her husband is not dead.

Symbolism will be played off of as she observes the very things going on outside her window that will trigger her emotions, a narrator with 3rd person omniscience will only begin to narrate as we slip into a day-dream and the narrator explains the significance of the symbols.

Minding the Generation Gap

In the first story, I really admired the little girl Hazel's honesty and genuineness. I felt like the time and place surrounding the fantastic life and obviously crazy family that she had made for an interesting portrayal of thier lives. It seemed to me that there was just such a gap in reality that the generational gap was small in comparison. Sure, the little girl was crushed by her uncle's decision to marry, but the family just seems so crazy as it is that it only figures the little girl has such a bizarre slant on life in general.

In the Everyday Use, I completely sympathized with the mother and true grit. I admired her matter-of-factness and how she was unyielding, and unwilling to compromise. I felt that her true sincerity for the value her family "here and now," as it exists in time and space, with real people and real emotions was synonomous with her struggles as an obviously single mother. The daughter Dee was overly eccentric and self centered, drawn to the romance of her "heritage" but almost so much so as to walk over everyone else to "preserve" it. she seemed vain and self righteous, where as she felt as if she was doing the world and her family a favor by taking an interest in preserving their roots, completely over looking the very family that those roots represent.

In the Girl story, it was an excellent example of the way one generation imparts wisdom to the younger generation, even though at the time it may even seem trite to the younger. It was informative and genuine. I feel that with all these stories there was that element of seriousness that out shines many of the other elements. We know that the worst thing a younger generation can do is disregard the older generation and claim they have nothing to offer.

This was a great collection of stories which clearly describes the gap between generations, the representation of differnt famlies and classes, and the over all transcendent wisdom that serves as the bread and water to every up and coming generation to come.

minority report + film adaptation

From what I can remember from the film, so far this story follows very much in sync with the movie. It really gives it justice as far as the feel for the setting and the way the characters are described. Obviously, there is a lot added into the film to develop the visual aspect of the plot and characters, but just as the movie is fast paced, the short story moves at a hurried pace.

It really salvages the same feel for the irony that I remember from the motion-picture. Right away, it just seems so ironic that the creater of "precrime," who is responsible for utterly exterminating violent crime from society, is later a potential criminal himself. I know that there is a twist, and that someone is framed in the very end of the story, but when I try to remember, all I can remember is being very confused at the time. So, I'm looking forward to seeing how the two compliment themselves in the end.

As I have been thinking about the elements of the story and how to translate them onto the silver screen, I feel that visual description is crucail. Being that, I am personally fond of artistic style films that have a lot of panning and focusing in on elements of the setting avoiding extensive dialouge at points, I think that using alot of third person camera views, just to observe, is a good way to really develop the characters, the setting, and the symbolism. In many of the short stories, I think adding some developmental aspects to the movie version is crucial and will allow for irony to be developed, especially if the camera is dualistically used as omniscient and first person. In that way, we can both "look in" on people's lives before, during, and after as well as gain perspective directly through the character's eyes.

The Bhave - Mallard Grief Cocktail?

...How does the grief of Mrs. Mallard compare with that of Shaila Bhave in "The Management of Grief"? How does the point of view impact our observation and understanding of the grieving process? How do the settings of the two stories impact their handling of the information?...

It is interesting to observe the two different reactions to the loss of their husbands. Again, I think that an important factor that plays into these two stories are the Eastern Western cultures and their differences. Even in the "Managment of Grief" Sailah makes a comment where she even compares the difference between how a wife loves her husband in thier culture, maybe never saying "I love you," and how the women in the western culture say it all the time as to have to prove it.

In Shailah's case we understand that though and arranged marriage, there still was a level of content and genuine love. Whereas in the marriage Mrs. Mallard has, we are led to almost believe that there may be some level of physical or emotional abuse, and we find surprisingly that she embraces the idea of being "free" with open arms, and in Shailah's case, she mentions how hard it was to move on and bide the time.

I believe that the settings of the two stories were different but not to the point of being so extreme as distract from the fact that grief is a very real process and emotion, not always lock-step the same for every individual, but very much the same that it is a part of life.

A Rose For Emily - Time and Setting

...While time and location are important, consider also the way cultural environment is linked to setting. Think about how the story might be different if set in a different time, place/region, and culture...

Given the setting of this story, it seems to bare all the characteristics of an atypical "southern" city set in the post-civil war era. We find heavy doses of sexism, racism and denominational generalizations, blended with the fact that the whole story is told as if being whispered over coffee by the town gossip.

I imagine what it would be like if it was present day, I don't know, lets say Dallas Texas. I believe given the region still being southern and bordering Mexico, we would likely find the "help" being Hispanic, rather than African American, and depending on which circle the story was told in, you may still find the heavy dose of racism and sexism injected into the dialogue. Given the amount of popularity that "Miss Emily" had acquired in the story, I could easily see this story across the present-day headlines of a tabloid..."Town icon, found dead...later discovered: HER DEAD HUSBAND..."

I can see that this story could possibly exist within certain confines of present day, but concerning authorship, I do not feel that the amount of racist remarks could be held in a high esteem within present day literature, not without baring a negative connotation. It is interesting to study the progression of society as told through literature, but I am thankful that it is not (as)
common place to refer to people by slanderous terms, coming from a time where where the N word was accepted, we're gratefully being hurled into a time where our president is half African American. It may yet be perfect, but It is light years ahead of the time and place where Faulkner wrote his fiction. Ok, not light years, but at least a good 79 years.

Greetings,
As you may have identified at this point, my name is Andrew Weatherford. I am a Senior Religion major / Sociology Minor. I enrolled in this course, kind of as a last minute decision. I originally was enrolled in Buddhism, and had an epiphany that I should drop it, so I did. I knew that consequentially I needed a LT requirement fulfilled for graduation, I weighed the pros and cons of intro to poetry vs intro to fiction vs intro to Shakespeare, and ultimately discerned that fiction could be more enriching since I do not read fiction. And voila, I am here. I hope that I am able to develop a better understanding of what the literary realm considers "good fiction" and on top of that, I will be glad to get my LT mark on my transcript.

So, not to come of as an illiterate, I will inject that I do enjoy reading, and I read frequently, just have never really enjoyed reading fiction on my own intitiative. I read the holy scriptures, and I enjoy reading research material, theology, commentaries, and news publications. I really enjoy writing, both scholarly and journalistically. I wrote op ed pieces last semester for the Daily Skiff and might be resuming that job this fall.

Lastly, I have contemplated what an interesting story could be and after sorting through the wholly inappropriate ones, I found peace with the greatest story of my life. In 2005, I came face to face with a supernatural God who instantly changed this drug addicted, homeless, unemployed, lying, theiving, god-hater into a man filled with love, joy, peace, and righteousness. I was literally dragged from the pits of suicide and despair, where as a dozen of my friends died or went to prison, by the grace of God I was delivered. I now have my own church, and I minister to homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, I am able to go out and pray for the sick we meet on the streets, and I have even been able to take in 6 homeless people and help them get back on their feet. In conjunction with that, I have been blessed with a full ride to TCU. So, thats me in a nutshell, I look forward to the rest of this class.

Andrew Weatherford
http://www.dbcfortworth.com
http://www.myspace.com/dbcfortworth


"I James Andrew Weatherford hereby conclude this blog by stating that I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus."