Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Movies Versus Books
After thinking about “A Worn Path,” and how the movie affected my point of view, it made me realize that watching a movie is never as good as reading the book it is modeled after. It seems like that for a lot of people. If a person that has read a book goes to see the movie, you always hear the person say the movie was not that great, or at least it wasn’t as good as the movie. The movie is never quite the same as what I imagine the book to be. If the movie does match up to what I thought the book should be, then something is cut out because movies can only be so long.
The Day After Thanksgiving
What kind of person does it take to stand outside a store, at a crazy time in the morning, just to buy Christmas gifts on the day after Thanksgiving? I’m so excited for the holidays; it’s my favorite time of the year, like most other people. However, it seems that ever since I started working in a retail, they have gotten just a little less pleasurable. People go absolutely nuts about their Christmas gifts. It is as if that is one of the most important aspects of the holidays. It’s such a drag walking into work and being bombarded by an insane crowd of moms and dads trying to find the newest thing out for kids.
"A Worn Path"
Point of View- “A Worn Path”
Point of view has the ability to change the mood or tone of a story. It allows the reader to understand the tale from a certain character’s perspective. Another way to influence the point of view is how it is delivered to the audience. A story can be listened to, watched, or read. If the tale is read or listened to, it allows the reader to envision how the characters and settings look. The writer will say how the characters and setting look, but the details are left up to the reader. If the tale is watched in the form of a movie or film, then hardly any details, if any are left up to the audience’s imagination. Reading “A Worn Path,” then watching the short film changed my views of the story quite a bit.
The short film of “A Worn Path,” was put in the terms of how the director envisioned the story. The movie took the author’s characters and exaggerated them. The settings of the tale were the same as I had imagined them to be, but the director took characters and stretched them to their farthest extreme. The hunter was as redneck as a hunter could get, the nurse at the clinic seemed condescending instead of helpful, and the grandmother appeared absolutely pitiful. The movie made the grandmother’s situation appear a hundred times worse than what I had thought it to be. It almost made me feel hopeless. An elderly lady who is capable of making the trip she was taking on multiple occasions should not seem so hopeless. I thought her to be stronger than what she was portrayed.
After reading and watching “A Worn Path,” I decided reading was a much better way to learn the story. I did not agree with the director’s view of the story and preferred the freedom of imagining what the author wanted. I disliked the hopeless feeling the movie gave me from the grave characteristics the director gave the characters. The tone of the story was not upbeat in either form of the story, but the movie had a more dry and negative feel. My point of view did change after watching the movie form of the short story, “A Worn Path.”
Point of view has the ability to change the mood or tone of a story. It allows the reader to understand the tale from a certain character’s perspective. Another way to influence the point of view is how it is delivered to the audience. A story can be listened to, watched, or read. If the tale is read or listened to, it allows the reader to envision how the characters and settings look. The writer will say how the characters and setting look, but the details are left up to the reader. If the tale is watched in the form of a movie or film, then hardly any details, if any are left up to the audience’s imagination. Reading “A Worn Path,” then watching the short film changed my views of the story quite a bit.
The short film of “A Worn Path,” was put in the terms of how the director envisioned the story. The movie took the author’s characters and exaggerated them. The settings of the tale were the same as I had imagined them to be, but the director took characters and stretched them to their farthest extreme. The hunter was as redneck as a hunter could get, the nurse at the clinic seemed condescending instead of helpful, and the grandmother appeared absolutely pitiful. The movie made the grandmother’s situation appear a hundred times worse than what I had thought it to be. It almost made me feel hopeless. An elderly lady who is capable of making the trip she was taking on multiple occasions should not seem so hopeless. I thought her to be stronger than what she was portrayed.
After reading and watching “A Worn Path,” I decided reading was a much better way to learn the story. I did not agree with the director’s view of the story and preferred the freedom of imagining what the author wanted. I disliked the hopeless feeling the movie gave me from the grave characteristics the director gave the characters. The tone of the story was not upbeat in either form of the story, but the movie had a more dry and negative feel. My point of view did change after watching the movie form of the short story, “A Worn Path.”
Monday, November 9, 2009
Weekends...
It never seems the weekends are long enough. One quickly passes by only for a new week to come. The new week slowly creeps by with the weekend dragging along behind it. I have class 4 days a week, Monday through Thursday- giving me a longer weekend than most, and it still seems like it isn't long enough. The semester needs to hurry up and draw to a close so I don't have to worry about doing my homework every night or getting up for class in the mornings. I can't wait for Christmas break and I'm sure when it's over I'll be praying for summer to be here.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Questions 2
“Sonny’s Blues”
1. The story is told by Sonny’s brother. By having his brother, and not Sonny tell the story, it leaves information out as to what he’s really up to and see a worried brother’s point of view.
2. He’s a teacher, showing responsibility and somewhat boring. He went for a safe job that would offer him security.
3. The story would be more exciting if it were told by Sonny. We could hear about the interesting characters he was mixed up with and the exciting places he got to see. His brother makes the story seem sober.
4. His daughter dies, inspiring him to write his brother.
5. His mother asks him to look after Sonny. He doesn’t always keep his word, but he kept it at the end.
6. Not naming all the characters adds more emphasis on Sonny. It shows how much “Daddy” is thinking about him.
7. He has taken his life’s woes and experiences and incorporated it into his music.
“A Worn Path”
1. It was written with an objective point of view. The narrator tells the story without telling what a person’s thoughts were.
2. It’s ironic her name is Phoenix because a phoenix is a type of mythical bird that doesn’t exist. Throughout the story, she has visions of things that really aren’t there.
3. It adds a trippy effect. Every time I would encounter a moment when Phoenix was having a vision, I felt like I skipped a paragraph and had to go back to reread the page.
4. She is belittled. They treat her with courtesy, but talk to her like she’s a kid. It shows she was probably in a more northern state by a smaller town by how nicely they treated her.
5. The dog has energy. She wishes she were young and had the energy to get through the forest like him.
6. The saying has a larger relevance. It shows she’s beginning to get old and helpless in her old age. It is the onset of despair that she soon can’t help her grandson.
Word count- 350
1. The story is told by Sonny’s brother. By having his brother, and not Sonny tell the story, it leaves information out as to what he’s really up to and see a worried brother’s point of view.
2. He’s a teacher, showing responsibility and somewhat boring. He went for a safe job that would offer him security.
3. The story would be more exciting if it were told by Sonny. We could hear about the interesting characters he was mixed up with and the exciting places he got to see. His brother makes the story seem sober.
4. His daughter dies, inspiring him to write his brother.
5. His mother asks him to look after Sonny. He doesn’t always keep his word, but he kept it at the end.
6. Not naming all the characters adds more emphasis on Sonny. It shows how much “Daddy” is thinking about him.
7. He has taken his life’s woes and experiences and incorporated it into his music.
“A Worn Path”
1. It was written with an objective point of view. The narrator tells the story without telling what a person’s thoughts were.
2. It’s ironic her name is Phoenix because a phoenix is a type of mythical bird that doesn’t exist. Throughout the story, she has visions of things that really aren’t there.
3. It adds a trippy effect. Every time I would encounter a moment when Phoenix was having a vision, I felt like I skipped a paragraph and had to go back to reread the page.
4. She is belittled. They treat her with courtesy, but talk to her like she’s a kid. It shows she was probably in a more northern state by a smaller town by how nicely they treated her.
5. The dog has energy. She wishes she were young and had the energy to get through the forest like him.
6. The saying has a larger relevance. It shows she’s beginning to get old and helpless in her old age. It is the onset of despair that she soon can’t help her grandson.
Word count- 350
Questions
“A Rose for Emily”
1. The iron gray strand shows she was lying with him after his death for a long time. It shows how desperate she was for company.
2. The town is the narrator. He professes to be speaking for the people of the town.
3. The narrator’s point of view adds mystery to the story. If we had Emily’s point of view, we would know what’s going on.
4. The foreshadowing did add interest to the story. Emily buying the poison and saying craziness ran in the family foreshadowed Homer’s death. Killing him sounded so crazy it made it hard to believe the foreshadowing.
5. Emily is not capable of accepting change. She wouldn’t give up her dead father’s body and she killed a man to keep his company forever.
6. She was a southerner with money- Homer was a blue collar Yankee.
7. I find it shocking dark humor. The end of the story left me speechless.
8. The author is sympathetic toward Emily. He doesn’t place her in a bad light even though she does insane things. She is not murderous; she’s just suffered a lonely life that has in the end deranged her. The author calls the story “A Rose…” because her character blooms through the story. Her insanity slowly unfolds as the story progresses.
“Teenage Wasteland”
1. The story is told by an outside character. The narrator uses limited omniscience. The story seems to be through the mother’s eyes even though she isn’t the actually person telling the story.
2. The significance of the opening paragraph is to show Donny’s innocence. He had a bright future, and somewhere along the way he lost it.
3. Daisy wants her children to look good. She is always listening to what other people do instead of making up her own mind. She just listens to Donny’s teachers or to Cal.
4. She doesn’t blame him for messing Donny up even more, however, it may be because she knows it’s truly her fault.
5. Daisy puts off her daughter for Donny. She won’t even talk to her when her daughter reaches out to her.
6. His presentation of Daisy is Satirical. He shows her as a woman without a strong sense of self, and she pays for it by losing her son.
Word Count- 385
1. The iron gray strand shows she was lying with him after his death for a long time. It shows how desperate she was for company.
2. The town is the narrator. He professes to be speaking for the people of the town.
3. The narrator’s point of view adds mystery to the story. If we had Emily’s point of view, we would know what’s going on.
4. The foreshadowing did add interest to the story. Emily buying the poison and saying craziness ran in the family foreshadowed Homer’s death. Killing him sounded so crazy it made it hard to believe the foreshadowing.
5. Emily is not capable of accepting change. She wouldn’t give up her dead father’s body and she killed a man to keep his company forever.
6. She was a southerner with money- Homer was a blue collar Yankee.
7. I find it shocking dark humor. The end of the story left me speechless.
8. The author is sympathetic toward Emily. He doesn’t place her in a bad light even though she does insane things. She is not murderous; she’s just suffered a lonely life that has in the end deranged her. The author calls the story “A Rose…” because her character blooms through the story. Her insanity slowly unfolds as the story progresses.
“Teenage Wasteland”
1. The story is told by an outside character. The narrator uses limited omniscience. The story seems to be through the mother’s eyes even though she isn’t the actually person telling the story.
2. The significance of the opening paragraph is to show Donny’s innocence. He had a bright future, and somewhere along the way he lost it.
3. Daisy wants her children to look good. She is always listening to what other people do instead of making up her own mind. She just listens to Donny’s teachers or to Cal.
4. She doesn’t blame him for messing Donny up even more, however, it may be because she knows it’s truly her fault.
5. Daisy puts off her daughter for Donny. She won’t even talk to her when her daughter reaches out to her.
6. His presentation of Daisy is Satirical. He shows her as a woman without a strong sense of self, and she pays for it by losing her son.
Word Count- 385
Monday, November 2, 2009
"Parker's Back".... again.
After reading "Parker's Back" several times, I seem to have never-ending thoughts about it. It's not just "Parker's Back" that got me thinking, but it was the rest of Flannery O'Connor's short stories that our class has read, as well. Each of her stories are strongly composed of its characters and not so much its setting or plot. After carefully dissecting each main character, it seems that at some point they have a certain thing in common- trying to discover themselves.
I believe it's one of the most important qualities a person can possess- knowing what kind of person you are. Being a college student, it seems that this is the prime time for me to make this discovery. I feel as if I already have, but who knows, I may find something different down the road. People always change, but no matter what, there's always a person's true core, holding the qualities they, as a human being, possess.
I believe it's one of the most important qualities a person can possess- knowing what kind of person you are. Being a college student, it seems that this is the prime time for me to make this discovery. I feel as if I already have, but who knows, I may find something different down the road. People always change, but no matter what, there's always a person's true core, holding the qualities they, as a human being, possess.
"12 Angry Jurors"
Last week, I went to see "12 Angry Jurors" on campus. My favorite thing about the play was the stage. When you walked in and sat down, you were a part of the setting. A table was in the middle with raised seats surrounding the center in a circle, making the audience feel like the jurors in court. It was a small stage which made it feel very personal, unlike any other play I've seen. The Hatiloo was a small theater, however, the audience was not made to feel like an actual part of the play. It made the play much more captivating, with the actors so close to you that they could be touched.
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