The Joy of Cooking 1, 2, 3

The Joy of Cooking by Elaine Magarrell came off to me in a very abrasive way. The author seemed to be attacking the problems that she faces in her life head on. She directly constructs a disturbing image of her sister's tongue as a dish that she is preparing. More than just giving a description, she adds comments that I do not understand very well. The inclusion of sauces to go along with her tongue really bothered me. The second half of the poem discussed a comparison to her brother's heart. The second reference to sauce did not really make sense once again. Maybe if i knew more cooking terminology I could recall the braising method and what a source sauce effect would have on the meat. I think that the tongue was an attempt to show more than just saying that she had a loud mouth. Instead, this visual allowed room to describe how the words were effective and used. The heart described a little bit more as someone that was supposed to be thriving and alive. The personality of the author was revealed in the comparisons because of the siblings. I found that personality can be established through the idea of being an influence of these lives and their descriptions. I liked the way that a cook can do so many things to these people. "Prepared, scrubbed, skinned, trimmed, carved, slow cooked, and served," are all actions taken on the two items by the cook. This shows the influential personality that the author must have on their lives.

Those Winter Sundays 1, 4

The poem Those Winter Sundays written by Robert Hayden contains a short insight into a life during wintertime. This poem builds up a household run by a father that cares for his son. The diction used throughout displayed the dedication and care that this father has for his son. The details included a lot about the poor conditions that the father was living under. His physical condition came off as worn out and his emotional condition seemed one that was enduring a lot. Line 14 included the words, "Austere and lonely offices"(14) to describe the reminiscing on the appreciation that the son now wishes he would have had for his fathers actions. It comes off that he is disappointed in the way that he treated his father in the past. His neglect towards the good deeds his father had done for him now is bringing forth emotions that contain dissatisfaction and remorse. A change in spirit has occurred in the span that has happened between the father doing these actions and the looking back on the actions. Because of the repetition in line 13, I have come to the conclusion that his father has passed away. It seems that it took some serious thought to come to the reality that he really did love and miss the actions that his father took. The description of love as austere and lonely seemed to be the knowledge of how tough life really is for one to endure.

The Drunkard

The Drunkard, written by Frank O'Connor, is by far my favorite short story read in class so far. This story entails the inner workings of a family's struggles and how sometimes the wrong decisions can lead to the best outcomes. I found it very interesting how accurately Frank was able to detail the way that a real alcoholic might fall back into struggle. This probably had to do with some sort of insight into his own life in one way or another, but nevertheless it remains impressive. The irony displayed throughout the story seems very out of place considering this should be a time of morning. It all began when Mr. Dooley, "Must reappear at our gate to give us the lowdown on the next world"(P3). This diction choice did not seem appropriate at all considering Mr. Dooley had just died! After this the actions and words spoken continued to reveal the author's intent to have parts of the story come across as humorous. He used the situational irony to bring the father to the understanding that his drinking was an issue. He also used dramatic irony when the father had not figured out that it was his son that drank the alcohol and not any thief. I knew that the son had drank, but the father had no idea!

A Worn Path

This short story written by Eudora Welty, A Worn Path, revealed how dedication can reveal a true, unconditional love at the end of the trek. The beginning of the story described a grandmother in full display. She began the story with movement that helped me figure out what state she was currently in. Understanding age and physical condition played an important role throughout this short story because of the revelation at the end. The use of simile and metaphor relay the message that this grandmother has difficulty making the seemingly pointless journey at the time. They accurately describe her features and movements as, "Pendulum in a grand father clock"(P1) and "Whole little tree"(P2). I thought that this was so important to the story as a whole because the journey ended up being entirely for medication for her sick son. This made her willingness to endure all the greater. Not only did she overcome the physical battle that ensued, but she had to display courage when she crossed path with complete strangers. Facing the barrel of a gun is not an easy thing to do. The fact that she had to go from a complete state of wilderness into an entirely new city environment very accurately displayed the love she had for her son. Going from one terrain to the next only allowed for a new pack of dangers to become alive. She went from from worrying about animals to being concerned of the complete strangers surrounding her, and she did it with utter confidence.

Once Upon a Time

In this story Once Upon a Time, written by Nadine Gordimer, the author builds starts off by writing of a time when she felt fear herself. She was in her house and she hears a sound, and this sounds invokes her to begin to attempt to figure out what is creating that sound. Eventually, in an attempt to get back to sleep, she decides to tell herself a story. That story is of a family attempting to keep themselves safe. I enjoyed the background intro including the author leading up to the actual story within the story(totally inception) because of the intense suspense build up. While reading it I thought for sure that someone was going to attack and demand she her to write a children's story. That would have been some situational irony. But instead, she builds up this story of a completely safe place for a wonderfully nice family, and creates the ultimate situational irony. In a complete accident the couples son attempts to cross the barrier of metal doom and diminishes within. This is situational irony because it is completely unexpected. The realization of the danger that the parents provided became evident when she wrote, "The little boy was hacked out of the security coil"(236). It most definitely is not what should happen in the story subsequently making it one of my favorite children's stories of all time.

A Raisin in the Sun

I found Walter, a character in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, to be an antihero. He was an antihero because of the qualities that he displayed to his family and then the actions that he took when they were not around him. He constantly made wrong decisions while seeming to have the right intentions.
Walter was a central character in the story because of his background and abilities. He was the oldest male left in the younger family so naturally he would take the head of the family. Surprisingly, his mother held this role while seeming held back from being able to submit it to her son. He struggled with maintaining his job as a chauffeur and consistently let down his wife and mother.
"I'm telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be"(107), was the moment that Mama relinquished the position as head of the family onto Walter. Even after his mother seemed to hand over the responsibility in the family to Walter, he still made bad decisions and did not look out for the rest in his family. He invested all of their money in shady characters that then lost it. This resulted in him being broken. Broken in the sense that his mother beat him, his family was disappointed in him, and he was torn up with internal conflicts inside. He lost his pride and fell to a place that made him want to take money in order to prevent his family from moving up in their social order.
These qualities put together led me to believe that Walter should have made better decisions in order to be the appropriate hero for his family, but instead he displayed all of the qualities to make an applicable antihero.

The Raisin in the Sun

In The Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, I found that many of her uses of various literary devices helped show how some characters struggle in many ways. She used the displaying of conflicts in her characters of Mama and Walter very effectively.
I thought that the way that Mama spoke of the money coming to her in the mail showed that she had an internal conflict going on. It appeared that she was not sure how to spend the money that she was about to receive. The dialogue that she had with Ruth revealed to me that she had indeed been thinking about ways to spend the money, but not the way that she wanted to spend it quite yet.
The incorporation of an external conflict between Mama and Walter deemed itself intriguing. I found it intriguing mostly because I do not know exactly what mother son relationships were like in this time. So when Mama came at Walter angry this revealed a new side of the relationship. Instead of caring and forgiving Mama showed this new angry and disappointed side of herself to her son. "Quite without thinking about it, starts to beat him senselessly in the face(129), describes the emotions that Mama feels coming into action after her son loses all the money that had come from his fathers death.

A Raisin in the Sun # 10

Walter, a character in A Raisin in the Sun written by Larraine Hansberry, changed significantly in the story. At one point, he embraced the role as head of the house and began to act and live like a man. He changed from a person that neglected the feelings of his wife and mother, and instead took his own wife on a date and had the courage to hold her hand. Despite his continual selfish behavior, he was attempting to better his family and their living conditions as a whole when he invested the money his mother gave him. The forces that seemed to bring about the change in Walter came from his mother. She had money left over that was rightfully hers and she made the conscious decision to relinquish it on Walter to now be in charge of for their family. He understood what she was trying to do. No longer could he continue to live as though his success was the only important thing to happen in this family's life. The handing over of the money seemed to represent the leash of the power being given to Walter. From then on he dealt with people with respect. It was expressed in the scene three of act two when Walter welcomed their guest and treated him as a man. He introduces himself as the son of Mrs. younger and then formally introduces the newcomer to his wife and sister. Then he shows the pride of the family by saying, "What can we do for you, Mr. Linder!"(Act II, Scene III). This was one prime example of the new Walter overcoming the new Walter by treating a guest like a guest in his own house.

A Raisin in the Sun #9

In A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter is a character that feels trapped by circumstances. He continually looks for a means to an end in desperation. Despite the fact that he is continually unhappy, Walter cannot stop himself from being unhappy with his family and forgetting about financial success. Only thinking about himself, he invests the only money that is left of his father in money that he wants to make. He neglects his mother's orders to put some of it aside for his sister. This is one example of how Walter tries to escape the place that he is in. Another instance was more in the center of the play when he skipped work several days in a row and just tried to leave the city to see other places. It comes off as though he has trouble expressing these feelings of being trapped. His actions come off as spontaneous and poorly thought out. The saddest example of how Walter feels as though he is trapped is his issue with drinking. He looks for an out, an escape. So he goes to a bar over and over to drink and listen to music. "You can just sit there and drink and listen to them three men play and you realize that don't nothing matter worth a damn(Act II, Scene II), is an example of Walter expressing his inability to escape the situation that he so desperately is trying to rid himself of completely. Tired and annoyed of life, Walter attempted to drink himself out of his bad moods only to realize that this was not the way out.

A Raisin In the Sun #2

During A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, the setting effects the characters in so many various ways. Two in particular seem to be effected so drastically. Walter is so influenced by the location of the play. It all occurs in Chicago which is and has been a huge business capital in America. This would influence the majority of the ways that he viewed his life in light of success and materialism. It seemed that his motivation was greatly effected in the sense that he was now consumed with the thoughts of materialism. Comparing himself with those that majorly built their lives on business associated dreams, Walter consistently felt as though his job as a chauffeur was not good enough for his family. He dreamed of doing something greater. Becoming an icon in the business world that everyone around him kept up with so intently. Walter thought less about the people in his family and more about the conditions that his family were in. He fell to materialism and constantly wanted more for those in his life. I wish that he would have more closely paid attention to his mother and wife. They both seemed to care so deeply for Walter and noticed that something within him had changed. During a conversation that Mama and Ruth are having discussing Walter, Ruth says, "I don't know what it is-but he needs something-something I can't give him anymore"(Act I, Scene I). The people closest to Walter saw that his mind had slowly been changed by the city surrounding them.

The setting also seemed to have a profound effect on a side character that did not seem to have as much importance in the immediate acts of the play, but conceptually he helped bring forth a lot of issues at hand. Asagai was from Nigeria and him coming to Chicago for a break from his educational studies in Canada brought him back to his friend. Beneatha is a good friend of Asagai and often has conversations that go into deeper more meaningful discussion. Asagai is effected so intensely by the city because he has lived in a place that everything is so different. He is able to compare the city life to that of a place where villages are common. He is profoundly effected in the sense that he knows how to prioritize in his life. He has come to understand more than just wanting worldly possessions.