Jerz: Am Lit II (EL 267) (Draft): Glaspell, ''A Jury of Her Peers''
I have to admit I don't quite understand what the point the author is trying to make is. Especially because I didn't read the author's entire name before reading the short story. I thought it was written by a man because of all the sexist comments. Now that I went back to see when it was written (which I apparently have missed as well) I saw that the writer was in fact FEMALE!
All through reading the story, I thought it was amusing that the women were taking the side of the accused (another woman), which is where we get the title of the story I assume.
There was a lot I didn't understand though. I don't get a feel for the time-period this was written about, I am assuming it was written at earliest 1915 (hence the title of our course) but the story itself seems to take place at an earlier date but it never says. So during the reading, I was picturing this happen in more of a modern day when my grandmother or mother would have lived and I know that women weren't treated as bad then, maybe back in the days of the 1800's and the prairie life but not after 1915.
I am glad that the women kept the secret of the dead canary from the men conducting the search only because I would have killed the bastard if he killed my pet too. So in my not so humble opinion he got what he deserved, he took a life so in turn he paid with his. I feel bad for Minnie because not only did her husband take the life of the only thing that brightened hers, we get the feeling that he took her life as well - figuratively of course. The women talk about how she used to be so lively, beautiful, friendly, and basically normal. But then after marrying her husband she became downtrodden and sullen.
I think the story could have been elaborated more so we actually find out what happens to Minnie. I don't like that fact that we are left to think she is going to be sentenced to death just because she is a woman since they cannot find any evidence to prove her innocent. That just doesn't seem right. Of course you can find evidence to prove someone guilty but rarely do you have evidence to prove someone innocent. Because of that, I can understand why the women hid the dead bird from the men because that would be the evidence they needed.
This story just left me with an unsettling feeling that Minnie would be put to death for killing her husband who appears to very much have deserved what he had coming.
Jerz: Am Lit II (EL 267) (Draft): Fitzgerald, ''Bernice Bobs Her Hair''
After watching the movie, I was definitely expecting less than I got from the story. The story was so much more in depth. There was more detail. We got to know the characters better. We also got to know Bernice better, we had a look inside her head.
In the movie, we just saw Bernice as a helpless and pathetic girl. She was quite ugly, and actually cam off as not having very much confidence and self-esteem. However, in the story, she was supposed to be a very pretty girl (with brown hair not red and slightly crooked teeth not a mouth like Jaws). The only problem Bernice had in the story was that she was not much of a conversationalist. I didn't take that as she had no confidence or esteem as her demeanor in the movie portrayed. Instead, I just took it as she wasn't very talkative because she was surrounded by different people with whom she had nothing in common.
The same goes for Warren, in the movie I thought he was a cocky and pompous character who was disgustingly infatuated with a girl who could care less about anyone's feelings but her own (Marjorie). But in the story, I almost felt bad for him. He didn't have very much character to himself, he was never really given a chance.
There was so much detail to the story that I actually saw it better in my head than I did watching the movie.
Also, I must make note of the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that they followed through with the indian comment. In the movie I wondered what the point of Bernice having part Indian in her was. But after reading the last line of the story, about "scalping" a selfish person, I have to admit I laughed. It was the subtle amusement in this very last line that changed my opinion of the story. At first I thought it was just a well written and easily visualized story but definitely not something I would read otherwise. But after the scalping comment, I changed my mind, this story was quite amusing. I am a big fan of writers leaving subtle lines and then following through with them when a reader least expects.