Journal 13

The speaker of the poem "Poetry Makes Nothing Happen?" by Julia Alvarez is unclear. It introduces no one in particular, but does list some characters throughout the poem. For example, Mike Holmquist and May Quinn are introduced in stanza one, while Jenny Klein and Naomi Stella are introduced in stanza two, and finally Faith Chaney, Lulu Perez, and Sunghee Chen are introduced in the final stanza.   The actions from this poem are not very obvious, but they do list a few places like Laramie, Wyoming and Afghanistan. "Listening to a poem on the radio, Mike Holmquist stayed awake on his drive home from Laramie..." (Lines 1-2).  "While troops dropped down into Afghanistan in the living room..." (Lines 15-16).  Those are the only concrete locations mentioned in this poem it is hard to tell what the exact significance these two locations but Afghanistan is a place of struggle and war so I believe they are trying to use place that is ordinary, and another that is more known and significant.

I believe this poem is trying to get the point across that poetry is everywhere and is with people in any kind of situation.  Whether it is music, reading, or poetry itself it is literally everywhere.  From singing and dancing, to sitting down and just reading you cannot escape it.  Ultimately I believe that is what the author is trying to do in this poem because she uses examples of the gentleman driving home and the poetry keeping him awake, and the lady using poetry to make the somber news of getting cancer easier, and finally the poetry making the three characters introduced at the top of the third stanza see the world in a different way.  Truthfully I think that this is what the author is trying to establish and very much does so.

Journal 12

Queenie,

I am writing this letter to apologize for the actions of my (former) manager the other day.  He was rude and disrespectful and had no business saying those rude comments about your clothing when you were only in the store to pick up a snack.  I also wanted to thank you for finally giving me an excuse to quit that terrible job, it was monotonous and boring and I should have hung up the apron months ago! I also would like to take this opportunity to say that you are one good looking gal.  The moment you set foot in that store you had my eye and could not take my eyes off you.  The real question is, do you feel the same way about me? I think we should go out sometime for maybe something more than a Herring Snack in Pure Sour Cream?  If you are into me (which why wouldn't you be, I mean come on I am awesome) reply to this letter or come to the address on the envelop,

Sincerely,

The Narrator

Journal 11

In "A & P" there is a specific point at the end of the story that the narrator turns the corner from innocence to a more grown up fashion.  On page 152 he uses the manager getting upset with the girls that he finds attractive to "grow up" in a sense.  He gets all riled up that the manager is embarrassing the girls for not wearing enough clothing. I think that in this story that the label "coming of age" is an accurate label.  I believe that at some point in life you have to begin to start fighting for what you believe is right, in this story he believes that the manager is wrong in how he is treating them and does what HE thinks is right to stand up or them.  The ramifications may not always be the best thing for you, but sometimes you have to just do what is right for you. 

In the second story for the week I believe that the narrator does not have as much of a "coming of age" nor does she really mature throughout the story.  In my opinion, it is kind of unclear how she changes at all in the story.  In fact, one could argue that her maturity regresses in the story because of the last line of the story, on page 147 when she begins to cry because of being told on by her little brother.  I think that is a sign of a lack of maturity and not someone who is growing up at all.  If she were maturer there is a better chance that she would stand up for herself and voice her opinion like the narrator did in "A & P."

Journal 10

After reading "The Birth Mark" it seems like an appropriate time to talk about how imperfections are what make people who they are in some cases.  In this story the main character has a birthmark that her mad scientist of a husband wants to get rid of.  So he drums up a way to attempt to take it off, ultimately she ends up dying.  I thought for quite a while after reading and it really got me thinking about the imperfections, both physical and mental, in people and even more specifically myself.  The main thought I conceived was why try an change yourself or someone else if you already love them? If you love someone for who they are then you should not try to change a blemish on their face or any other physical impairment that causes no harm to you.  The moral of the story was that greed can leave you with nothing because look at what he did, he tried to make something perfect, and killed it.  Truthfully, I have learned something from each of these stories thus far, but this one spoke to me the most, no doubt about it!

Journal 9

After reading "A Thing in The Forest" I believe the Thing is a figment of the young girls imagination.  I believe they were searching for an adventure and ultimately found one; however, the thing represented something on a whole other level.   I believe it resembles the world at that time, scary, ugly, and destroying everything in its path. The world was deeply entrenched in World War II, it as falling apart at the seams and was being destroyed all over the map, especially in Europe.   A part of the reading that stuck out to me was it said "Its progress was apparently painful, for it moaned and whined..." This is an accurate representation of the world at that time because of how much pain and suffering everyone was in.  It also says in the story how the body of the thing was glued together like wet paper-mache, this gave the impression that it was very fragile, which everything in the world was at this time.  Overall, I believe that the two main conditions of this story are the historical condition, which was World War II and how awful of a place the world was at that time, and the feelings condition, which was how sad and painful the creature was which accurately conveyed the world during World War II.

Journal 8

Dear Mrs. Das,

I have been sitting here staring at this blank sheet of paper for what seems like days, and I still cannot wrap my mind around horrific thing you have done to your family.  You asked me to interpret your dilemma upon leaving India and I agree to write you about what I discover. I have up with one solution for you, and that is to leave your family or tell them your horrendous mistake.  They have no idea that their mother is infidel and their brother is not actually their full brother.  You have all been living a lie for too long and it is time for it to stop at once!  The mistake you have made is inexcusable and the lie you are living is making it so much worse.  It is time to let the truth come out and you must deal with the consequences.  You have a young beautiful family that needs to the truth before it is too late and the resent you forever.  

Sincerely,

Mr Kapasi. 

Journal 7

The two stories that were assigned for this week both had the use of cameras, and photography in general tied into them.  One story used photography to help unite their family, while the other had photography in it, but the family is in a lot more turmoil then it seems.  While both stories have the obvious similarities of photography is used to take pictures and both take pictures, there are also many contrasts. The similarities of photography between the two stories are essentially the fact that they are capturing moments on trips to lands they have never been (except for the dad in "A Pair of Tickets.")  People tend to take a lot of pictures on vacations and this is the case in both of these stories.  Another similarity could be the comparison of the two landscapes that are being photographed because India and China are located in the same continent.

The contrasts of the stories are very evident, in  "A Pair of Tickets," the main character uses the camera to capture very important moments in the history of her family.  Two examples that stand out to me are the pictures she takes of her father and Aiyi and at the end of the story when the sisters are all standing together and the father takes a snapshot of them.  Also, the Polaroid that June May sent the sisters of their mother.  In this story photography symbolizes the coming together of a family and how the pictures are the only things they have to remember one another.  It will probably be one of the only times they will ever see one another again and it is important to capture those moments.

In "Interpreter of Maladies," literally the polar opposite happens and the family is more chaotic and dysfunctional with a very deep dark secret.  Mr. Das has a camera with him throughout the duration of the story taking pictures of the various tourist attractions and landmarks they see, but to me it is the lack of one specific picture that tells the story of how dysfunctional their family is.  At the end of the story when Mrs. Das tells Mr. Kapasi her deep dark secret about how one of their children is illegitimate.  They were trying to take a family photo, but instead this child is attacked by a monkey and they decide to not take it.  This speaks to me in the sense that this family is so messed up on the inside that they aren't supposed to take a picture together to make them even look happy.  In my opinion, photography can capture great moments, but can also not show the whole story.