Patricia Jackson

The vignette that had the biggest impact on me from The House on Mango Street is Minerva Writes Poems. In this story, Minerva, who Esperanza shares poems with, and is only just a few years older than Esperanza, is doomed to a life as a single mother, while trapped in a cycle of abuse. This story lacks a strong theme, and it is more about the feeling of being a bystander of abuse, wanting to help but having no idea how, especially as a child. The last few sentences of this story: “Minerva. I don’t know which way she’ll go. There is nothing I can do.” (Cisneros 84)  Reading this story, I feel trapped and helpless. It brought me back to a time where I was also a bystander to abuse as a child. Wondering how someone so similar to myself, someone I looked up to and admired, could get themselves wrapped into a situation so despairing.

Which vignette from “The House on Mango Street” surprised you in some way, and why? The vignette that surprised me the most was My Name. In this short story the narrator Esperanza goes into depth on why she dislikes her name, the struggles that come with a Hispanic name in an primarily English speaking country, and the meanings behind it. I was surprised by this vignette because I was under the impression that this novel was a memoir. It wasn’t until I learned the main character’s name (differing from Sandra Cisnero’s own name) that I realized that this was a work of fiction. Sandra’s writings are personal and come from a deep place within herself, giving the sense that she’s writing about herself even when she isn’t. Which vignette intrigued you and why? Our Good Day was the vignette that intrigued me the most. I liked seeing the interaction between Esperanza and the other kids in her neighborhood. The short story made me feel nostalgic about being a child. And how easy it was to make friends back then. Back when I would just walk up to a kid on the playground and ask “Hey, Do you want to be friends?” Now, as an adult it is much harder to make friends. There is anxiety around being vulnerable and the possibility of being rejected. Which vignette puzzled you and why? The Vignette that puzzled me the most was Louie, His Cousin, And His Other Cousin. In this story Louie’s cousin picks Esperanza up for a ride along with a few other friends. I was puzzled by this novel because I could not understand why Louie was being chased by the police. After reading the story over again I realized Louie was probably driving a stolen Cadillac since the cousin never […]

Raymond Carver has a less is more approach when it comes to writing. His sentence structure is unique, often feeling like the sentences stop abruptly, leaving more to be desired. Which is a trait we would often find in poetry rather than prose. His stories delve into the complexities of human emotions. The simple language and descriptions give just enough for readers to feel the gravity of emotions without it explicitly being said. “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” (Carver) Thoughp, the author doesn’t write detailed descriptions of settings or imagery. We still get the main point of the paragraph, and understand the depth of the characters’s apprehension.   Anne Sexton is an American Poet. In class, we read her poem Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I would describe her writing style to be very intense revealing a lot about human nature. Her metaphors and imagery are often very pungent and well thought out. You can see this depicted in the poem we read by her. “And so she danced until she was dead,
a subterranean figure,
her tongue flicking in and out
like a gas jet.” This leaves a very vivid image in the reader’s mind that is quite off-putting.   I feel like Raymond Carter could benefit from writing with in-depth description and imagery. It could help get a more emotional reaction from readers, whereas his deadpan writing style can not.

The topic for my research essay on fairy tales is: What morals/values do fairytales seek to instill into children? And are these morals/values still relevant today? I will create a thesis statement based on the information I get from my research. I chose this subject because I feel like classical fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast, get a lot of criticism for not being progressive enough when in reality these stories still have important values and morals that children can learn from. My essay will be based on the story of Cinderella. It is a story very near and dear to my heart. I can see myself really enjoying writing an essay about this fairy tale. For my research I have read an early rendition of Cinderella. As well as the screenplay to Disney’s Cinderella from 1950. I decided to use two primary sources since most people are familiar with the films associated with fairy tales, having two primary sources will allow me to answer my research questions with more relevancy.

Anne Sexton’s retelling of Snow White focuses on the objectification and sexualization of Snow White. And has the theme that girls who are objectified in society, often grow up to be part of the system that harmed them as a child. Throughout the retelling, Snow White is repeatedly referred to as having “China blue doll-eyes”, her virgin status was also pointed out multiple times. The act of calling Snow White a doll throughout the poem, gives the sense of her being inanimate and helpless to the forces around her. Snow White is a character goggled at for her beauty, not her wit, personality, nor her kindness. In the original story the only character trait she is gifted with is naivety. The Queen hated her because of her beauty. The dwarves trusted her quickly because of her beauty. And the Prince fell in love with her immediately because of her beauty. In this fairytale world all of her value is held in her beauty and Virgin status. Making the ending of this retelling very interesting.  “Meanwhile Snow White held court,  rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and  shut and sometimes referring to her mirror as women do.” (Sexton)  One can suppose that Snow White grows up to become much like the Evil Queen. The phrase “as women do” reminds me of real world stereotypes. Women are often to reffered to as naturally catty and competitive in their relationships to other women. Bettelheim has a much more optimistic view on the story of Snowwhite. “Many fairy-tale heroes, at a crucial point in their development, fall into deep sleep or are reborn. Each reawakening or rebirth symbolizes the reaching of a higher stage of maturity and understanding.” Though this may be the case for some fairy tales I don’t think this is the […]

In O’Connor’s essay on suspense inside the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” she states “should know what is going to happen in this story so that the element of suspense in it will be transferred from its surface to its interior.” This essentially means that by spoiling the climax of the story the reader is now more invested in how the story will unfold, rather than how the story concludes. The “interior” of this story is the personal journey the grandmother takes. At the very beginning the grandmother is a racist who believes she is superior to others. This contrasts vastly to who she is by the end of story when being faced with possible death, she then sees herself as the hypocritical and flawed person that she is. Overall, this story is not solely about a murder of a family. The author uses the murder and family as a plot device to make a more profound statement on human nature.

If I were to put the quote “Reading a poem is part attitude and part technique.” into my own words I would say that when reading a poem you have to leave narratives in the past such as, “Poetry is hard to decipher.” and “I have to understand a poem on the first try.” and have a more positive more outlook on reading. I would also say that you have to look for literary techniques for meaning such as alliteration, rhyming, and imagery. In class this week we read the poem White Lies by Natasha Trethewey. I used some of the strategies learned in the article to help me decipher this poem. The first time I read this poem, I felt a bit frustrated that I didn’t understand what the poem was trying to convey. But thinking back to the article I was reminded that I should try reading the poem multiple times and out loud instead of giving up. The article also mentioned how the way lines are structured can affect the meaning of a poem.  I encountered this technique when reading the poem. “I could easily tell the white folks that we lived uptown,” (Trethewey, lines 7-8” Reading both lines with no pause in-between you would interpret this as Trethewey telling people that she lives uptown. But when using breaks between each line you can also interpret the first line as Trethewey (who was often mistaken for being white) being able to tell who was white from who wasn’t.

Many timeless human experiences can be seen in Oedipus The King. In particular, I found the “Chorus” to show a very striking resemblance to human experience when they speak to Oedipus and Teiresias. “We look at this man’s words and yours, my king, and we find both have spoken them in anger. We need no angry words but only thought how we may best hit God’s meaning for us.” (Sophocles 7) In this statement, the chorus is attempting to redirect the attention of Oedipus and Teiresias back to the problem at hand. I think that it must be difficult for the people of Thebes to see authorities they hold in high regard squabbling, especially when going through such a horrible plague. The emotion of the chorus reminds me of the emotional state of many Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria devastated the Island in September of 2017. Many Puerto Ricans were left without water and electricity for months on end. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) was unprepared for the hurricane and failed to provide adequate support to the Caribbean island. Many Puerto Ricans felt as though the President at the time, Donald Trump, was too worried about appearances and looking as if he had everything under control, instead of being honest to the public about the horrible state in which Puerto Rico was in. This can be compared to how Oedipus became quickly offended and angered when Teiresias implied he was somehow involved in the king’s murder, he became so consumed with preserving his self-image that he lost focus of the problem at hand.

When COVID-19 began to ravage the country I remember how people in the United States acted in different ways. Many people were frightened never experiencing a plague in their lifetime. A lot of people also felt hopeless and depressed due to lack of social interaction, and being secluded inside.  The people of Thebes felt a similar hopelessness and depression. “Why do you sit here with your suppliant crowns? The town is heavy with a mingled burden of sounds and smells, of groans and hymns and incense” (Sophocles 1) They turned to their king, Oedipus, and trusted him to solve their problems, because he had saved the people from a sphinx once before. The people of Thebes are different from the people of the USA in this aspect. I feel like we often find it difficult to trust our political leaders. And turn against each other as a collective in times of turmoil. 

In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Boris Pasternak’s quote resonates profoundly, “Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary.” The narrative unfolds in a Harlem neighborhood, portraying seemingly ordinary children exposed to economic disparity. The protagonist, Sylvia, becomes a lens through which readers witness the jolting realization of social inequality. Ordinary moments, like a trip to a toy store, transform into a exploration of privilege and societal injustice. Bambara utilizes everyday language to articulate the extraordinary challenges faced by marginalized communities. Through the characters, the story unveils layers of societal critique, echoing Pasternak’s idea of extracting the extraordinary from the ordinary. “The Lesson” is a good example of literature’s power to show profound truths about ordinary lives, acting as a mirror reflecting the disparities woven into the fabric of society, thereby fulfilling Pasternak’s vision of literature as a pathway for extraordinary revelations

The quote “Literature adds to reality; it does not simply describe it” (C.S. Lewis) is embodied in the short story “the lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. In the story a child named Sylvia visits a toy store with a few neighborhood children and Miss Moore, an educated black woman who Sylvia finds unpleasant. This story describes the economic injustice that was the reality for many Americans at this time, but goes over and beyond by putting the reader in the mind of a child trying to wrap their head around the fact that their family’s yearly income is a child’s toy sailboat for the rich. We are not only told that Sylvia feels like an unjust has been done against her, the author also uses vivid imagery so that we also feel this unjust too. “Then Sugar run a finger over the whole boat. And I’m jealous and want to hit her. Maybe not her, but I sure want to punch somebody in the mouth.” (Toni Cade Bambara). This quote brings to life the anger that Sylvia feels, and we feel the anger too. Mourning for these impoverished children, and the bit of innocence that left them when they exited the toy store empty handed.

This week we read the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. While reading this story I found Hughe’s struggle with religion to be very relatable to my own struggle with faith & religion. I specifically resonated with this part of the passage. “And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting – but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened. (Hughes)” As a teen I was very religious. I saw God as an anchor in my life, keeping me safe and far from harm’s way. But when I noticed that in reality God was nowhere around me, I felt much like Hughes did in this quote. I had the words of other Christians echoing in my head, “You don’t have enough faith.”, “You were never saved to begin with.” “You aren’t praying hard enough.”. I identify with Hughes and understand what it feels like to learn that the very foundations of your beliefs may be a complete lie. This week we also read “Araby” by James Joyce. I think that it was harder to relate to the protagonist in this story because I didn’t have many crushes as a child, especially none who were older than me. However, I do identify with the protagonist’s need to find light in the dark. The protagonist was very infatuated with his friend’s sister who he barely knew, because he wanted something to hope for despite his circumstances in life, being a poor orphan in oppressed Ireland. I think that we all look for hope in the rough patches in life, and the protagonist dealt with his need for hope in a way many children would.