Lynette

The vignette that resonated me the most in the weeks reading of “The House On Mango Street” was titled “Minerva Writes Poems”. This vignette detailed a generational curse of being a single mother. It also details how much some women will put up with so they won’t be alone. Growing up in a family of majority women and having a lot of female friends, I’ve witnessed what Minerva is going through on many occasions. The domestic violence, the humility, the abandonment issues, and the toxicity around children were some of the things discussed with women and men as I became a listening ear too many. In the vignette where it states “one days is through and lets him know enough is enough” is something that I feel we all can relate to. At some point in an unhappy relationship, we say these words. We act on it and then we realize it kind of gets lonely. In Minerva case she was extremely forgiven and she lets her man back in. There is no change, but the same toxic behavior appears as soon as he is forgiven. Physically she doesn’t have an out, but I think that writing poems is therapeutic for her.

“Those Who Don’t” is the vignette that made the strongest impression on me in “The House on Mango Street”. Growing up in Harlem when it was predominantly black kept people that wasn’t of color out of the neighborhood. Not that non-minorities weren’t welcome; they just didn’t care to come to that side of town. The few that did come around, you can sense and feel their discomfort. Now due to gentrification, there are different races in Harlem, however non-minorities still tend to be afraid in certain circumstances. The crackhead that they may run from entertains us because he or she just like to dance. The look of intimidation on a big black guy may scare a person, but we know him as a gentle giant. Most of all people of color welcomes every race into our community. Whereas other communities are not too fond of welcoming us. The stereotypes of people of color are all some people know but experiencing the love and comfort that we actually give can put a non-minority mind at ease. I was able to relate to this vignette, it described my experiences growing up in a black neighborhood.

The specific observation in Bettelheim psychologically oriented reading of the story that stroked me as insightful and relevant to “Little Snow White, by Brothers Grimm was, “The readiness with which Snow White repeatedly permits herself to be tempted by the stepmother, despite the warnings of the dwarfs, suggests how close the stepmother’s temptations are to Snow White’s inner desires” I also found this observation insightful to “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates. Snow White desire for the material things set forth to her by the evil queen and wanting to be around people led her to her attempted murder three times. The shiny apple led her to be foolish, although being warned multiple times already that there was nothing good for her in the world. The look of how appetizing the apple looked and the evil stepmother who was disguised, words deceived her. Just like Connie. She loved attention, and unfortunately, she fell prey to evil because of the attention she was receiving from a guy, ignoring the previous warning signs.

First, I would like to say that the story “Where Are You Going, Where have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates has my pressure through the roof. This was a very chilling story. Arnold Friend used Connie’s insecurities to get to her. He knew everything about her, and one of the things he knew was the lack of attention she received because of her beautiful sister Joan. He was able to pretend to be a teenager, and Connie didn’t pay attention to the truth, until things started getting really creepy. Rena Korb article gives different interpretations of the story, in which I can agree with certain perspectives, such as Connie being joined with the “Prince of Darkness”. Arnold used his charming ways for Connie to have some sort of infatuation with him, and just like that, he turned into an older creep that she tried to get away from, but it was too late. One’s perspective also stated that Arnold was the devil. Which I can also say is my perspective on the story as well. Arnold has telepathic vision, in which he can see what Connie family is doing. He also was able to take control of Connie’s mind body and soul. She doesn’t realize where she is, he was able to continuously stab her without stepping foot into the house, and at the end she willingly went outside to him into a green field, assuming that’s where the dead go.

According to the article “How To Read A Poem”, the act of completion begins when you enter the imaginative play of a poem, bringing it to your experience and point of view. The poem I choose to illustrate my response to this week discussion is “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks. After reading the article, I used the talking back to the poem technique where I asked, what does the title suggest? The Mother, suggest some form of being a parent, as I continued to read, I asked, what circumstances gave rise to the poem? The answer was abortions. The first time I read the poem, I imagined a hurt female, that had regret and disappointment in the act that she committed. The line where she states, “I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children”, I felt like she was beating herself up about not giving the children she aborted life. The second time I read the poem, I read it aloud. This time my imagination gave me a woman that feel she did what was best. The line where she states, “believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate”, gives a perception of her doing the right thing. My completion became clear in my third reading of the poem when I read the line ” you remember the children you got that you did not get’, with me knowing now what she was talking about, this is a woman thinking about what could’ve been if she kept her children, the love she still has, and the guilt she feels, however there is no regret. I put myself in Gwendolyn position and imagined not having a child by choice. I have a beautiful daughter that I cannot see life without. Pain […]

My ideas about poetry broadened tremendously after doing the activities affiliated with this weeks discussion. Being a songwriter growing up I’ve learned about ballads and how to separate your verses, chorus, and bridge. I also wrote poems but never put thought into what type of sonnet it may be. I would just put lines together and make sure they rhyme. The short video in Activity 3 really gave me a lot of insight on what poetry is. The way she dissected each part of sonnet was very clear. A sonnet consists of 14 lines and there are two types of sonnets. Italian (Petrarchan) and Shakespearean (Elizabethan). I learned that certain sections actually tell a problem and another section gives a solution. Learning this allowed me to read the poems in activities 4-8 much differently. I actually read the poems looking for the problems and solutions. I allowed myself to feel what was written and use my imagination more vividly.

My research essay will focus on “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. Everyone has different religious experiences. Young Langston Hughes religious experience was in an African American church. In this church he experienced the church singing songs and hymns. There was a spiritual word from a preacher reading directly from the King James Version Bible, dissecting the words of God for sinners to understand and hopefully get some sort of spiritual healing. Young Langston had high hopes and expectations of what was told to him about God and being saved. In my essay I talked about what he was informed, his experience, and how he felt after his experience. Some secondary source information that I feel will support my thesis is black religion, influence in an African American church, and Langston Hughes autobiography, because this story was a real-life experience. So far, I have searched the Gale and JSTOR databases on the BMCC library website. I received a lot of results in which I explored “Make A Joyful Noise Unto the Lord” and “The Church, The Family, and the School in The African American Community” so far.

The theme of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Wife” relates to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour?” because of the low mood and unhappiness. My assumption is that Mrs. Mallard emotions before she found out her husband passed away were described as the lines below from the poem: “If aught she missed in her new day Of amplitude, or awe, Or first prospective, or the gold In using wore away” In my opinion the lines above describe the nostalgia of spontaneous glee, wonder, and good thoughts that aren’t there anymore. In Mrs. Mallard’s words, being “free”. I’m pretty sure in the beginning of both marriages mentioned there were wonderful times, but somewhere they grew apart. This has caused the wives to be full of disappointment, grief, and not wanting to be with the person anymore. During these times society didn’t believe in divorce, so women really had to stick it out with their husbands. This made them miserable, however they continued their duties of being a good wife. Emotions were held inside, and it was all about the husbands. Mrs. Mallard’s joy to find out her husband passed away made it obvious to readers that she wasn’t happy. So unhappy to the point she drops dead when her husband walks through the door alive.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find was full of suspense towards the end. In my opinion the interior of the story was based on deceit and punishment. The grandmother was very deceitful, conniving and misleading. I honestly feel if the grandmother didn’t say a word the whole trip they wouldn’t have wounded up in the predicament they were in. The grandmother pretty much lied multiple times for the family to do as she says. She went as far into making up a story to get them to a destination that was somewhere else. When the thought of her sending her family to the wrong location came about in her mind, she didn’t even have the compassion in her heart to let them know. This led her family to be killed, which I felt was punishment for her actions, because she was the last to die. She had to listen to the gunshots that killed her family, in which she still thought of herself and tried to convince the Misfit to allow her to keep her life. Her trickery didn’t work this instance and she came to the realization of how she should’ve been when it was too late.

The story Oedipus the King is truly interesting. It was clear that Oedipus didn’t realize how his treachery put his own town into shambles. Creon knew Oedipus character and used his weakness against him with Teiresias pretty much exposing him. I feel like this left Oedipus confused because, how can they know such a secret? Creon had a motive to blackmail him and it it is working, because the anger Oedipus is displaying is not good to show from a King. The saddest part of what was read so far is how the town is suffering because of his actions (the secret). The Chorus from lines 185-210 explains how much they are suffering. They are begging for answers from God to understand why they are going through such demise. In line 195 it is stated that “there are no growing children in this famous land; there are no women bearing the pangs of childbirth”. Line 205 also elaborates more on what is happening on the land, and the people are calling out for deliverance.

“Araby” isn’t a love story, but more of a story about having high expectations and disappointment. This young boy  had such a huge crush on Mangan’s sister. Big enough to where he wanted to be around her and buy her something. She brought the bazaar up in conversation, and he envisioned it to be something grand, but only because “his crush” spoke about it. He couldn’t wait to experience such a place and upon his arrival it was nothing like he imagined. His high expectations of this place lead him into a place of disappointment because most of the bazaar was closed, it was dark, and there wasn’t many people, but that wasn’t the only time he was disappointed in the story. He was so eager to have this experience he depended on, the on time arrival of his uncle so he can give him money to go. His uncle came home late and claimed he forgot that he had to give him money. This not only disappointed the boy but it also led him to grow frustrated and angry. Nothing in his day went as planned. I grew up with the saying “do not disappoint yourself with high expectations”.

Upon arriving at FAO Schwartz all of the children seem to be very intimidated by the prices of items and the visual of fancy toys. However Mercedes did not allow that intimidation make her feel less than. Miss Moore took these children on a trip to show them something different from their normal everyday lives growing up poor. I feel like her hopes were to enlighten them to have a mindset that there is more to life, and they too can accomplish becoming wealthy. When the children approached the doors of this fancy toy store they hesitated. They had a sense of feeling like they didn’t belong. Mercedes confidence led the group inside. Her mindset became rich and that is how she portrayed herself regardless of her circumstances. Sylvia on the other hand was stuck in her ways and not budging to change her way of thinking. She felt like there was no point in being there especially if they didn’t have the money to buy anything. She even became upset with her cousin Sugar for interacting with Miss Moore about her experience in the store. In my opinion as Mercedes grow into adulthood that experience alone is going to motivate her to want more out of life. As for Sylvia she just may be content with what she is used to, which would be unfortunate.

In the beginning of  “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, 12 year old Langston Hughes had a sense of excitement in wanting to be saved because he was told that he would see Jesus when it was time to happen. His Auntie Reed told him that and the elders conversations about the same thing gave him confirmation. Sitting next to his friend Westley in church while other children were going up to the alter gave him a sense of comfort because he knew that Westley had the same feelings as him. Once Westley went to the alter without seeing Jesus, Langston felt deceived. How could Westley go to the alter and be saved without even seeing Jesus? That’s not how it suppose to happen. The congregation prayed and cried over Langston, in which he felt obligated to go to the pulpit. However Langston knew in his heart that was not right. His aunt along with the congregation pretty much peer pressured him into doing something that he did not want to do. His excitement to see Jesus vanished and he had a feeling of sadness because of irony he felt. He felt like everyone around him lied which led him to be a non-believer.

“The Most Handsome Drowned Man” was an interesting read. I feel like the professor assigned this as our first reading to tap into our inner selves. Meaning, to put us deep in thought about ourselves and our own surroundings. In the story a village pretty much changed their whole style because of one individual. They were so intrigued they felt like Esteban legacy needed to be alive amongst their community, although they knew nothing about this giant man. The infatuation amongst men and women allowed them to assume how he lived his life, and how his after life should be celebrated. It made me wonder if I ever experienced this in my life. Where a person can come in your life and change your whole way of thinking. In fact it has. Has anyone ever had a boyfriend or girlfriend and the stuff you don’t normally enjoy, you wound up enjoying because they like it. For example, my husband love football. I never was really a fan, however I find myself shopping for matching merchandise and game tickets for his favorite team. I even took a liking in watching games with him on Sundays. People can have some sort of influence on you dead or alive. As long as there is some sort of significance, people will show admiration.