Le Guin -->Reaction

Sometimes when hearing an author speak instead of just reading the story paints a better picture of the story in your head. It is great to hear a speaker tell their own story because you can tell the tone of the diction as well as what the emotion of the story is supposed to be. Some people can only pay attention to a story if they hear the audio or person. On the other hand some individuals prefer reading the story on their own like myself. Ursula K. Le Guin’s interview is what made me appreciate reading a story instead of listening to it. While reading you can underline, write notes, and use marginalia to keep track of key parts to a story. With the video, watching it over and over again is one of the only ways to make important parts of a story stick out.

Reaction to Cisneros Video

Usually reading a story first takes away from the video/movie. The reading always has more details than the video which allows you to get more into the story, but the video of Sandra Cisneros' story, "A House on Mango Street," consists of short sentences & pictures to get the point across that she did not approve of all the places she has lived. You could also tell in the video too that she always questioned her life because of where she lived. Such as when she says things in the video like, "have you ever wanted to live somewhere else?" and "do you feel trapped in a world not your own?" While watching the video I felt really bad because I never felt that way about where I lived. I was always fortunate enough to live in one house for a long time with all the necessities I ever needed. For the first time I preferred the video over the reading. The pictures, the questions, and the tone of her voice in the video made me appreciate all the things I was able to have in my life that other families may not have not been fortunate enough to have.

LeGuin & Marqez-->Tone

Every story you read has a specific tone which is extremely important. This is because tone is the feeling or mood you get when reading a story due to certain diction used. In the short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, has a very interesting tone. In the beginning of the story the tone is very happy when she is describing Omelas. She uses words such as “sparkled” and “merry,” and compares it to a fairytale. The tone in the story then shifts when she speaks about an incidents occurring in Omelas. Such as when she speaks about the cellar under Omelas. In this cellar is where a poor child is almost being held hostage, is malnourished, and sometimes beaten for no reason at all. Many people go and visit this child. They go home in tears and feared of what they see. They know that this poor child has no freedom and never will and that they too have no freedom. LeGuin describes the town as beautiful when you look at it, but if you look a little deeper it is ugly due to the way they treat that child. In the short story, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the tone is very disturbing in the beginning. Such as when he is describing how the children were playing with the dead man on the beach. The tone then changes because even though death is a sad thing the people describe the body as beautiful. The diction used throughout the story is actually delightful, which is shocking because they are talking about a dead body that was washed up ashore. Both of these stories have a very interesting tones that shift from one feeling and then to the next.

"A House on Mango Street," by Sandra Cisneros & "A Pair of Tickets," by Amy Tan

In the short stories “A House on Mango Street,” by Sandra Cisneros’s and “A Pair of Tickets,” by Amy Tan, both of the authors try to figure out what their heritages are about. Throughout the story, Tan feels left out because of her heritage. She grew up in San Francisco California but her heritage is Chinese. Although she looks Chinese she doesn’t feel like it because she hardly knows anything about the country she is from. After her mother dies, she goes to China with her father where her twin sisters are. She is very excited to meet them but is also very nervous to tell them that their mother they have being trying to get in touch with for years has passed away. It must be so hard to feel this way because teenagers all over the world are always trying to “fit in” one way or another. Cisneros’s story is differently effected by her heritage. Her family clearly has very low income and it seems due to that they have to continually keep moving from place to place. I could only imagine what it must feel like to want to live in the house of your dreams but you are forced to live in a poorly made house. Cisneros speaks with slight anger, probably due to frustration of the way her life is. Even though she isn’t where she wants to live, I feel that she should have a little more appreciation of her parents trying to provide the best they possibly can for their family.

"Girl" presentaion of females

While reading the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid I had an instant feeling on how woman are portrayed in this story. To my knowledge, during this time period woman had a certain role. Woman stayed home and were the caretakers for the family and the house hold while the man went to work. After reading this story it became more clear that, that is how woman are portrayed in this story. The mother is explaining to her daughter how the clothes need to be ironed as well as hemmed. She is telling her daughter how to cook a meal and also how to set the table. She also taught her many more things that she should be doing around the house for a very specific reason. The reason why the mother is explaining to her daughter so clearly and blunt is because it was very important in that time period that the woman in household knew how to do these simple household duties and responsibilities.

"Girl" (Narroration Style)

In the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, their was a very interesting style of narration used. It seemed that the story was written as directions the whole time. It was the mother telling the daughter how to do simple deeds around the house. She also explained how the daughter should care for herself as well. Throughout the story the mother was explaining everything in a very stern and strict way. This shows that the setting of the story takes place many years ago. Now-a-days you wouldn’t hear your mother teaching you life lessons and using inappropriate language. For example, in the story the mother says, “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” The narration throughout the story made it seem that all the information being told to the daughter needed to be learned and done for the rest of her life or else she wouldn’t be living her life the correct way.

Reaction to "The Appointment"

After reading “The Appointment of Samarra,” the video on it was absolutely horrible. The reading was very interesting. It was packed with intriguing facts and details that made you understand what the story was about. Death threatens the man and he tries to escape it by going to Samarra. Little does he know, death will be waiting for him there. If you were just going to watch the video personally I feel no one would know the plot of the story as well as the irony being told. In the video you may have also not realized that the woman was death. To me she just looked like some creepy fortune teller. Another thing different about the reading and the video is the setting. The setting in the story takes place in Baghdad where in the video they didn’t specify exactly where they were. Overall, I personally liked the reading much better. The reading is always better than the video know matter what the literary work your reading is. I feel the reading always has more details which allows you get more involved in the story, where the movie does not.