StephanieWatson

A Streetcar Named Desire

Something is seriously wrong with the men in this story. I mean they go off and do things on their own and leave the wives to amuse themselves. And then when Stanely gets drunk during poker night and smacks Stella, who is pregnant, I think he went way too far. Also Stella is not all with it either because she does not leave Stanely or even let him cool off before going right back to him. I think that she is asking for trouble and that makes no sense to me. I think also the way Stanely treats Stella's sister is horrible. He just assumes things and basically is calling her a liar and seems to not care at all that he is doing it. I think the people in this play have some serious issues that they need to work out and they need to think about what they are doing to each other and how they treat each other. Why did Stella's sister start flirting on Stanely when she knows that he is married to Stella?

My Wonderful Cover Entry

This whole blogging thing is still a bit much for me, but I have kept up. Of course I am not an English major and I am not very good at picking up things out of stories or poems as you can by now all tell I am sure. I feel so out of place in this class for this reason and also because I am a freshman. I am killing myself with two English courses this semester and I do have to admit this class is hard.

Coverage:
In this section I am including works like A Jury of Her Peers, The Adding Machine, and The Great Gatsby which I feel I did a very good job on. I understood these stories more than the other ones we read even though I still did not fully understand them.

Depth:
I have one blog to put in this section because when I seen the first paragraph I had to see what it meant. This blog is the Love Song, which I did not see as a love song but after class see it more now, I looked at Tiffany's blog to see what it meant (I could not find a link to her exact blog entry, confused, sorry). After I read her blog I then went and read the rest of the story.

Interaction:
One big thing I did was disagree slightly with one of Holly's opinion's in The Great Gatsby and when I did that she commented back to me to defend her reasoning (this could also fall under Xenoblogging). Also on my blog of The Adding Machine I had comments and questions, this brought up discussion in class and then I understood the answers a little bit better.

Discussions:
The main blog that I did that sparked my further intellectual examination of the literary subject (which I have yet to do) is on the Poems. I know that I am not very good at understanding literature and when Jerz told me I should look at the other's blogs and go back I got curious. I looked at the other's blogs but I still have to reread them myself and see if I get more out of them.

Timeliness:
All of my blogs have been early but I do not seem to get very many comments. At first though I do have to say with the blogs on The Great Gatsby and The Adding Machine got the most comments.

Xenoblogging:
As I already mentioned earlier (in Interaction) Holly's blog on The Great Gatsby got a good discussion going on between us and I commented on her blog. Another blog that I would include in this section is The Adding Machine because it sparked questions and we talked in class.

Wildcard:
The one blog entry that I would include in this section would be The Great Gatsby. This is because I have a good bit of information on it and a good conversation going.

Poems

I really do not know what to blog about poems but I am not very good at picking up on what stories, especially poems, are about so that is what I am going to do. I am going to blog on what I think each poem either means or what I think it is trying to say, some may be wrong but it is worth a shot.

In the Old Age of the Soul
I see this poem being about war. Whoever they are talking about in this poem are forgetting absolutely everthing in their life to go and fight in a war. They feel that this is the right thing to do. This is all I got out of the poem if that was even what it is.

Judith of Bethulia
This poem is about a girl looking for someone to marry. She cannot find him and with all the guys around her she finds something wrong with them. It is very strange if you ask me.

Never Again Would the Birds' Song Be the Same
In this poem I see that the voice of a woman named Eve changed the birds' song. She would sing and they got used to hearing it and liked it so they sing the way she did. They will continue to sing this way even though she is gone.

To Brooklyn Bridge
At first when reading this poem I had no clue what they were talking about. Then I looked at the title again and it kind of dawned on me. They were describing what happens and what is around a bridge, in particular the Brooklyn Bridge. I cannot believe that I did not realize this while I was reading it, it is so obvious at least now that I know what the title is.

The World Trade Center
The person who wrote this talks about how when the World Trade Center was built he along with other New Yorkers did not like it because it was too big and blocked a big view of the city. They could not see everything that they wanted to with those big buildings standing in the way. He then talks about how poorly they were built but then as if to show proof the towers were hit and fell. Anything that was built properly would have been able to withstand this terrible event from what I am reading from the poem. He then talks about how it is pleasant to look through the city now, because the towers are no longer there to block his view. He can finally look at the city in the way he has wanted to in a long time.

Daddy
This poem is a girl talking about being a Jew because her father was a Jew. To me it seems as if she does not like it or appreciate it. I am uncertain though based on this poem if she killed her dad or not. It is worded kind of funny and I cannot make that decision based on what I am reading and taking out of this poem. I mean look at the line "Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time--" To me it kind of sounds like she wanted to kill him but did not get to because something else did first. I really think that the first part of the quote I put in here is wierd, I do not really understand what it means.

Medusa
I have absolutely no clue what this poem is saying. I do not understand a word of it and can pick nothing out of it. I just think that it is weird and possibly demented.

The Love Song

This is a very strange depiction of a love song. There is really no indication of feelings for anyone in this story. I really do not see how anyone would think that this has to do with love. He is talking about growing old and about Michelangelo a lot. The whole first paragraph is not even in English. Oh well I do not see that this is about love at all.

The Great Gatsby (end)

I still find this book overall confusing. I am not sure exactly why but I do not think that I am the only one. I just do not understand how they go from talking to saying something about the past. I still think that it is going on now and it is not. I still do not know exactly who or what significance Michaelis had when he was introduced unless he was introduced sooner than page 143 and I just missed it. For a while in the story when I was reading as well I thought that Daisy got together with Gatsby and married him but I reread it and found out otherwise. I am just a little bit confused.
I do not understand how Daisy could supposively love Gatsby, but when he died not even go to his funeral. Also I do not know why she did not even stop when she hit Myrtle. I think that it is absolutely terrible that someone could do that to a person and just leave them like that. I still did not get my question from last time answered. What image is Gatsby trying to remain faithful to, being a liar?

The Great Gatsby (1-6)

So far in this book I have found Gatsby to be very wierd. The first time Nick sees him, he just disappears all of a sudden. How and where could he go that fast? Later on Nick is invited to a party at Gatsby's mansion, but not directly by Gatsby. Gatsby sent his chauffer to Nick's house with a formal invitation for Nick to attend a party. That is very strange. If Gatsby wanted him to attend a party then why did he not just personally go and invite him. I think if he would have done it himself, it would have had more meaning and if it was me I would have reacted better if I was asked in person rather than by someone else.

At the party Nick starts talking to someone who invites him to ride his newly purchased hydroplane, Nick accepts and then learns taht he was talking to Jay Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby never introduces himself at the party which is strange. If I was at a party I would want to know who I was talking to, especially if they owned the house and was throwing the party. Nick on a later meeting with Gatsby finds out about Gatsby's past. Gatsby is the son of a wealthy family, was educated in Oxford and inherited a great deal of money. He then explains how he joined the war in hopes of getting killed. Who would join the army or war in hopes of getting killed, that is not the purpose of going to war even though it is always a possibility. When you go to war you want to do your best to protect your country and beliefs, not just get killed for the sake of being killed. Then Gatsby tells Nick that he told him all of this information because he did not want him to think that he is just a nobody, that he is actually someone who has done things.

When Gatsby, Nick and Meyer eat lunch together; Gatsby just suddenly dissappears without saying goodbye. Anyone who just leaves and says nothing to whom they were with, has some sort of problem. Gatsby likes Daisy and has for years. As a result Nick invites them both to tea so Gatsby can talk to her. He is so nervous and tired when he arrives and tries to calm his nerves by reading, something else that I find strange. I would never be able to read when I am nervous to calm down, but as we foud out it did not work. When Daisy entered the house, Gatsby disappeared, he then came back. He likes Daisy, but he cannot even talk to her at that point because he is so nervous. It takes him a while to start talking, but he eventually does. Nick also finds out by asking Gatsby what kind of buisness he is in, what he does for a living. At first Gatsby says "That's my affair," but then says he is involved in the oil buisness and the drug buisness. I wonder what kind of drug buisness he is involved in. If is is selling drugs or something of that sort then why is he so open to say it?

But Gatsby even acts really strange in front of Daisy and Nick. He almost falls down a flight of stairs, which could happen to anyone at anytime so it is really not that strange. But then he shows off his rows of suits and piles of shirts which he does by tossing them in a heap. To me that would not make Daisy want him because it owuld be very messy. Why would she really care how many suits and shirts he had? I really think his behavior here was weird and inappropriate in front of a lady. When Gatsby was born his name was James Gatz, but when he was 17 he changed his name to Jay Gatsby. While he created a new name for himself, he also created a new image as well, he said it was an image that he could remain faithful to. Why would he need to create a new image to be faithful to? Could he not be faithful to who he was before?

The Adding Machine

This was a very strange play. I don't see how they could go around and call each other zero, one, two and so on. It would be extremely confusing to me and it was when I was reading the play. Mr. Zero really seems to like his job and his wife is not happy about it really because he has been there so long and has never gotten a raise. When Mr. Zero and the boss talk and Mr. Zero is told that he is going to be replaced he is not happy but at first he does not believe it. The play goes on like he just is disgusted and goes home but there was actually more to it that you did not read right then. His wife when he gets home is complaining because he was late and was very angry, he never responds to what she says which would have to be hard to do especially considering the circumstances. When the cops come to arrest him he remains calm and still does not tell his wife what is going on the policeman tells her that he killed his boss.
When he is talking to the jury he openly admits to killing his boss and is constantly rambling about prices and figures in his head which was annoying and confusing, but when they decided guilty he acted surprised and he did not believe that he should be punished. Which is completely out there, I mean you kill someone, admit it and then think you should not be punished, what kind of world are you living in? Then I was confused for a while as to whether or not he actually died. I finally realized that he did die and then he was being sent back as someone else. This play was kind of about recarnation in a way because each time you are sent back as a different thing all together. The end of the play he is told that next time he will do much worse, what could be worse then murder? Good play, a little confusing and strange, but it makes you think some.

A Jury of Her Peers

I think that this story was written extremely well and it was my favorite out of the three of them. The way Mrs. Wright acted when questioned about her husband and her reaction when telling Hale that he was dead surprised me. When someone dies even if you did do it you would have some emotion to show about it but she does not and speaks very calmly. I think that is a very scary thought, to know someone is dead and have no reaction to it. I think it was very strange that she was in jail (I think) and the women were gathering clothing that she wanted to wear that was in her house. Also how they started to move things and clean a little bit, that is pretty much a crime scene and they were tampering with it, even the sheriff's wife. One thing that I still don't understand even after looking over it again is the significance of the bird. Maybe that is a clue to what actually happened. The bird had a neck that appeared to be wrung and the husband had a rope around his neck, so they kind of died the same way. This could be a major hint to who really killed her husband, her. They never exactly say that she did it but they hint that she did and the only thing that they can't figure out is why. I think that the ending of the story though is very strange. I never would have expected the story to end in them talking about whether what she was doing is called quilting or knotting. I don't really think that it matters too much right now when someone is murdered and you have to punish the one who did it. Why could they not tell her that her fruit was all gone except for that one jar, did it really matter that much to her, especially at this time? This was a very good short story and I enjoyed reading it.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

I liked how we watched the movie before we actually read the book so we can see what the differences are between the two. This story was interesting but I kept getting confused with all the different names and when I was reading I was comparing it to the movie and they did not match up at all. I think that the way Marjorie treated Bernice was absolutely horrible, but Bernice handled the situation quite well. If it was me I would have just left. I do have one question though because I can't remember, in the movie didn't Bernice leave her braids in Warren's car, in the book she threw them on the porch? I hope that I am doing this right because I am not quite sure. Overall this was a really good short story compared to the types of things that I had to read in high school.