An Entrepreneur's Story by Ha Jin

By begining the story with that statement helps create a theme to the story. When he didn't have money or a good stable job he was treated poorly and he couldn't get the girl he loved to even be interested in marrying him. When he became rich, the girls mother changed her mind and let her daughter to marry him. Now the people who use to treat him badly when he wasn't rich now talk to him. He knows that things changed around him but I don't think he changed because he got rich. I think the tone of the story is disapointed or flusterating because even though he thought thats what he really wanted, it turns out he is not as happy as he pictured it to be.

So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from America by Jimmy Santiago Baca

I think the tone of this poem is angry or dissapointed because he puts a lot of questons in the poem asking how the Mexicans are taking away our jobs. Then he says that instead of saying the "Mexicans are taking our jobs" we should be saying "we aren't giving the children a chance to live", "were killing them". The first part of the poem talks mostly about how Mexicans are taking away our jobs. "Do they come on horses with rifles, and say, ese gringo, gimmee your job?" And do you "walk away?" After the forth verse he talks about how hard some people have to work in order to survive and then there's other people who are just plain rich. "I see this, and hear only a few people got al the money in this world, the rest count their pennies to buy bread and butter". Instead of saying that the Mexicans are taking our jobs we should be more concerned about our childrens future. I think he puts the poem it this way because he wanted to first write about what people think in terms of the mexicans taking over our jobs, but then leads into how some people have to work hard to get what they want verses the people who are rich. He says a lot of "we are", "America should", "I see" and also asks a lot of questions about how Mexicans are taking over our jobs. This makes me think that, its a general problem that he wants everyone to be aware of it and that when he puts "we" he includes you the reader as well as everyone else. The poem brings attention to some of the key issues that our culture is facing today. At the end of the poem it concludes that what we really should be worried about is our children and their future to come.

Cinderella by Anne Sexton

I really like poem because its not like any other I have read. It is more real world then the normal happily ever after.
Some of the more disturbing differences were when the step sisters cut off their toe and heel to fit into the golden slipper. At the end of the story, the prince and Cinderella get married and live happily ever after. The attitude of the speaker was annoyed, she said they lived happily ever after "like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust". The typical happily ever after ending like in every story.

words to look up:

gussying-to enhance the attractiveness of in a gimmicky, showy manner
lentils- A leguminous plant (Lens culinaris) native to southwest Asia, having flat pods containing lens-shaped, edible seeds

The Secretary Chant by Marge Piercy

Piercy choose to call the poem a "chat" because in the poem it compares a women to a office desk with supplies, which is what most people thought a women should do, is to work behind a desk. All she is now is part of the desk and is no longer a women but a useful tool. This is something she would be out protesting about, which is why she called the poem a "chant". In the poem, she would compare office supply's to a woman's body. Hips are a desk, rubber bands form my hair, head is a organized file. When I read this poem I had a visual of what she might look like with each item. She made it humorous by comparing her body to office supplies. And by stating that she once was a women and now she is just part of the desk.

Words to look up:
mimeograph-a printing machine with an ink-fed drum, around which a cut waxed stencil is placed and which rotates as successive sheets of paper are fed into it.
casters-A small wheel on a swivel, attached under a piece of furniture or other heavy object to make it easier to move.

Death of a Salesman by

The central conflict in the story is Willy having these daydreams. He doesn't realize that these daydream senarios are not real. The film presents the mise en scene at Willy Loman's house and yard and in other places around New York and Boston.
Characters:
Willy -Dad, salesman, 60 years old, daydreams,talks to himself, his work took his salary.
Linda -Mom, admires Willy, worry-some.
Biff -Football player, son of Willy and Linda, Willy gets worse when Biff comes home, He thinks his dad is crazy, they fight.
Happy - son of willy and Linda, brother to Biff, "bum".
Bernard - Boy's friend from school, Smart business kid, concerned for Biff failing math, Willy's his uncle.
The women - willys secrete mistress, witnessed Willy purposely crash into the bridge.
Charley -Play card game in kitchen with willy, Starts fighting with Willy cause he thinks Ben is talking to him.
Ben - willy's brother, died, he goes to Africa.
I thought the film version of the characters were what I thought of when I read the book, except for what Biff looked like and acted. In the movie he seemed controlling and kind of snobby, I didn't get that feeling from him when I read the book though.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

The author characterizes the Das family as a typical American family. They dressed as foreigners did but look Indian. They were young and had three children. They have a little girl and two boys that are close in age that have braces. Mr. and Mrs. Das act more like brother and sister than parents. They all look Indian but have different values and perspectives on the way of life. Mr. Kapasi's marriage is unhappy because his wife doesn't like his job as an interpreter because it reminded her of the son she'd lost and resents the other lives he helped. They don't even talk much to each other; when his wife brings him tea she brings it to him in silence. Mr. Kapasi would love to be able to write to Mrs. Das so that they could tell each other about where they live. He would like to know more about America and where Mrs. Das lives in New Jersey. After he talked to Mrs. Das alone in the car he changed his mind on getting to know her and her life better because when his address flew away in the wind he didn't mind that it did. Losing contact with her forever. He realized that the Das family are just tourist with their own problems of their own to deal with, but somewhat similar to his own problem with his wife. In the whole story the children were interested in the monkeys, not knowing that they really could be dangerous if you get to close. When Bobby got attacked and beat with a stick because he was standing where there was food, even though Mr. Kapasi warned them about having food around the monkeys, it made Mr. Kapasi realize that Mrs. Das wasn't what he thought and she isn't a very good mother. So when his address flew away in the wind he didn't mind that it did.
Overall I thought it was a good story and had a interesting plot.

Gwynn and Steinbeck

In the poem "The classroom at the Mall", again was difficult to read but the in class disscusion really helped. I think he was sarcastic in his poem. He exaggerated a hair-do and then mentioned that it was attached to a women. A girl walks by and he thinks of Helen of Troy. He compares himself to an academic Santa Claus. The situation in the poem is there's a classroom in the mall that has big glass windows looking out to the rest of the mall, which he mentions distracts him from teaching his students. Its during Christmas time so he gets to see all the people out shopping. He is somewhat flusterated by the fact that he has to teach his students in a mall. He thinks that is mocking the structure of education. The speakers attitude toward his teaching assignment is flustration because his boss thought it a good idea to put a classroom in a mall, also its hard for him to concentrate because its Christmas time. He thinks he's undervalued and the people in the mall value wealth while he values proper education. By the end of the day he is ready to go home.

Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was long and confusing. I would have to re-read it a couple times to fully understand it but right now I dont have time. maybe one day I will get a chance to read it all. I dont want to even try and explain it cause I have no clue on whats going on.

Bradstreet and Kafka

Bradstreet: This was a hard poem for me to read so i googled it and read what others had to say about to fully understand the poem.
Bradstreet felt embarrassed because it got published without her consent before she could edit them. Bradstreet speaks of her poems as her children because for one she had many childred that she raised and she had many poems that she wrote. So maybe while writing her poems she felt she put a lot of thought and effort into these poems as she did with her children.

Kafka: I thought it was weird at first but after i read it over and figured out what was going on i thought it was a pretty good story.
The hunger artist was popular because it was a joke that happened to be in fashion. It soon became less interesting to the public because they grew tired of watching the hunger artist day and night and could not fully know whether he was really fasting the whole time. The watchers play the role of the public who would watch the hunger artist for entertainment; the impresario was his boss who would manage his appearences to the public when fasting; the overseer is a man who is helped out by the notice board. These roles helped make his job worth meaning, without them there isn't a hunger artist.

Andrew Carnegie The Gospel of Wealth

At first it was hard to read and I feel like I always say the readings are difficult to read maybe because i have a low comprehension but I do like to read, anyways it was kinda long and a little boring at parts. I felt like some parts just kept on going and never ended. So the question arises, “Does Carnegie’s argument apply today”? Carnegie argued that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role in which will help improve the world. Carnegie felt that wealth was brought by those ‘who have the ability and energy that produce it”. He also believed in the three modes in which wealth can be distributed after death; left to close relatives, public proposes or administered during their lives by its possessors. He also mentions that in other countries, such as Europe, that the property and a majority of the wealth are left to the first son to keep their title going for generations. But why should they leave their fortune to their children? Maybe because they are their close relatives and want to help support them. That doesn’t teach people to work hard to get what they want when they get handed a large amount of money. Take the Hilton family for example, Paris doesn’t have her own personal income. The money she gets is from what her family earned from the hotels. Everything is always given to her. She has no clue what its like to have a normal life in which she would have to work and earn the money she spends. This is a perfect example of what Andrew Carnegie is trying to explain the reasons why its not a good idea to just give everything to your children. They need to learn to work for what they want. Now its okay to leave some sum amount to your children to help support them but not to give them more then they need.

The Law of Life

I read this story by Jack London and it was very difficult to follow or know what was going on. There was a lot of words that I didn't know. As well as how the characters talked, confused me. But after I kinda understood what was going on I thought it was a pretty good story in the end. It was a reality check of what life has for you. Your going to be born, live your life and eventually your going to get old and die just as everyone will or have done.

Words to look up:

forlorn: desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.
palsied: paralyzed; unable to move or control certain muscles.
chiding: to express disapproval of; scold; reproach.
crooning: To hum or sing softly.
guttural: harsh; throaty

Shakespeare

January 14th, 2009

I read the poem When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes

What I got out of it was; this man is feeling down and he wants some of the talet these other men have but then he thinks about someone and his mood changes and he's happy again.

There were alot of words i didn't know and had to look up to even try to understand this poem. I have a really hard time trying to make sense of a poem especially Shakespeare.
I'm not going to put every word I had to look up but I'll put a few.

• Bootless-without result, gain, or advantage; unavailing; useless.
• Sullen-showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve.
• Haply-perhaps; by chance.
• Scorn-to reject, refuse, or ignore with contempt or disdain.

Alice Walker Everyday Use

January 12th, 2009

We were to read the Active Reading of Literature and Alice Walker's Everyday Use.
The Walker story really confused me a bit and I notice I had to keep going back and reading things over because i didn't understand.
Overall I thought it was a good story. It was short so I liked it even better.
It was about a mother who is hard-working and takes pride in the things she has, which are hand made. She has two daughters, one who went off to college and the other who stays at home with the mother. It was about how they felt about heritage and what it meant to each of them. For Dee ( the daughter who went to college) needed items that the family made to hang up or decorate her house. Where the mother is just living her life how she always had and using the items her family made as tools and not as art work.

Words to look up:
(none)

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

January 7th, 2009
(First day of Class)

Today we just went over the syllabus a little. Then we opened the book to Robert Frost and read his poem The Road Not Taken. I didn't have a book because i was on the waiting list, so I had to just listen and it was hard to understand. So When I got the book I re-read the poem to try and figure out what it ment. I always have a hard time to try and understand what some readings are trying to say. In class we went over it and tried to make more sense of it. That helped me understand what it was about, when i hear other peoples thoughts about what they got from it.

Words to look up:

1. had 'trodden' black.
trodded-that has been steped on

This poem is about choice and how everyone makes their own decisions everyday.