I love the story “The story of hour” by Kate Chopin The story dives into subjects of cultural assumptions, individual personality, and the intricacies of human feeling in a compact story. So anything can happen any time in life so we have to ready for everything. This story is a brief yet strong investigation of a lady’s close to home excursion. After learning of her husband’s unexpected death, Mrs. Mallard at first responds with shock yet before long finds a recently discovered feeling of opportunity and self. She embraces the possibility of existence without her better half’s presence, just to have her expectations run when he suddenly gets back. Character Mrs. Mallard in the story “The Story of an Hour” grieves by listening to her husband’s tragic accident she realized that she was now free “She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” (Chopin para10). She was filled with excitement and joy for becoming free from being merely a wife.
Daily Archives: December 10, 2023
The vignette from The House on Mango Street that affected me the most would be “Beautiful & cruel” by Sandra Cisneros because it has a strong meaning behind its short lines. It expresses how Esperanza sees herself as young and without any growth or learning but instead wants to put herself like the love movies that she sees. “I am the ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for” (Cisneros, page 88). She sees that the world is impossible for her to be able to grow as an adult and time is taking too long for her. However, as a mother, her mom keeps on telling her that the time will come at the right age and you will experience the most beautiful and harsh experiences in life. This short Vignette resonates with me because since a young teenager when I was 13. I also wanted to be an adult and be able to do things older people used to do and experience. I couldn’t wait for my time to come like Esperanza, just wanted to feel loved with all the love stories and movies I used to see. “In the movies, there is always one with red red lips who is beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drives the men crazy and laughs them all away” (Cisneros, page 89). This vignette demonstrates Esperanza’s importance of being like a grown woman from the movies. Esperanza has decided not to wait around for a husband to take her away. Instead, she wants to be like the females in movies who drive the men crazy and then refuse them.
The vignette “Mango says goodbye sometimes” affected me the most. This vignette resonated with me the most because of it’s theme of loss. The narrator is expressing her craving for stability because of the transient nature of her community. She states “I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free.” (Cisnaros.) To elaborate, Esperanza feels temporary to her neighborhood “Mango” and her feeling of not belonging in the community. She constantly talks about the people that live on Mango st coming and going.
One of the vignettes from “The House on Mango Street” that affected me the most was “Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes.” The quote “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.” Because most of the time when we clandestine to another country we leave friends or family in the other country. Even though I migrated for better opportunities and couldn’t bring them with me, I will be successful in life, and I will give them a lot of things and stay with them for a good amount of time. Also, in this vignette, she says she likes to make a story in her head for every step she makes in life and I’m also like that.
The work of Literature that has personally resonated with me the most was “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. The main premise of the story was Hughes recalling his childhood experience of attempting to rekindle his faith. He spoke about having faked his reaction to his aunt’s revival to fall in line with everyone’s expectations. What his story represents is trying to live up to other’s expectation and the pressure that’s many feel in attempting to do so. This story relates to me because I too can recall the many times that I had gone to church and yet felt as though I might have missed something or lacking understanding towards everyone else reaction. I have felt out of place, not understand why I had to go yet i was placed with responsibility every time i went, furthering my unwillingness to be there but yet doing so to appease to the expectation that I had. The story reminded me of my own experience.
“A Smart Cookie,” one of the vignettes from pages 81 through the end of The House on Mango Street, had the biggest impact on me. By sharing the experience of a role model, it emphasizes the significance of never giving up or quitting on yourself. I learned from this vignette that the people in your life who value and care about you are there to support you as you develop and accomplish your objectives. “But she doesn’t know which subway train to take to get downtown. I hold her hand very tight while we wait for the right train to arrive” (Cisneros, page 90).” This vignette demonstrates Esperanza’s importance to and concern for her mother. She is with her mother to influence her life and has strong love for her. This resonates with me since I too like to help my mother when she needs help getting someplace or doing a task, especially with all the modern technology that she is not used to.
The work of literature from the course that had the most meaning for me is “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. The story focuses on Hughes’ spiritual experience when he was 13 years old. He talks about a time when he had to pretend to be saved at his aunt’s revival just because everyone was expecting him to. His story brings light to the social exception of the society and ones personal beliefs. I relate to the author as it brings back the memory of when I was studying at a christian school which means christian dominant activities. In one such activity similar to that of Hughes. I also pretended I wanted to saved even though I have had no such feelings or any idea what it is like to be saved, I was only following the crowd. With no knowledge of Salvation outside of school. I think this writing had the most meaning to me because it brought back my own experiences growing up.
Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is a work of literature that is deeply relevant because it focuses on the influence that pride, materialism, and the quest of social status have on humans. Mathilde Loisel, a lady who is captivated by her position in society and her fortune, is the protagonist of this novel. During her voyage, she misplaced a piece of jewelry that she had borrowed, which is a representation of dishonesty and a lack of self-assurance. The narrative highlights the need of taking the time to contemplate one’s own ideals and objectives, as well as the notion that genuine happiness and contentment are not attained via monetary gain or social standing, but rather through the cultivation of acceptance and thankfulness. The presentation offered a novel viewpoint on a variety of subjects, with a particular emphasis on the significance of living within one’s means in order to satisfy the requirements of others without compromising one’s own desires for happiness.
The vignettes from The House on Mango Street that personally affected me the most was “What Sally Said” and “Linoleum Roses.” Unlike Esperanza, who doesn’t have external problems for instance she has more loving/stable family. However, Sally in my opinion is less fortunate in that aspect. As seen in “What Sally Said” (Cisneros) she gets physically abuse by her father. “But Sally doesn’t tell about that time he hit her with his hands just like a dog, she said, like if I was an animal” (Cisneros.) In “Linoleum Roses” (Cisneros) we see that she is married at a young age; however its also revealed that she did it just to escape the abusive father. Sally even after her marriage is not save. Her husband constantly keeps her in watch and doesn’t let her go out. “She is happy, except sometimes her husband gets angry and once he broke the door where his foot went through, though most days he is okay. Except he won’t let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn’t let her look out the window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is working”(Cisneros.) This specific vignettes affected me the most because I felt Sally didn’t deserve all of that. It was heartbreaking for me read about her.
