There is a story in The House on Mango Street “Elenita, palms, water” by Sandra Cisnerosn that made a big impression on me. At times we want to see what the future holds for us or at times we try to find our own identity. Sometimes people will pay these called future tellers or witches so they can be able to see their future or what holds for them. We at times want to see an easier solution for everything. I believe that we need to just have faith and hope for the future, and make the right choices. I can also see the frustration that Esperanza has that she wants to see if she is going to have her dream house she always dreamed of but how Elenita tells Esperanza that she will definitely find a home at her heart. She might not find her dream house, but would have a house that she will find comfort in.
Roberto Rojas
“The house on Mango Street” is a novel created by Sandra Cisneros. This novel contains vignettes which are narrated by the character named Esperanza. Esperanza talked about relocating with her family to Mango street because their pipes broke in their previous apartment and their landlord refused to fix the problem. Esperanza also compares the house they are currently living in with the other houses that she has seen on TV. She also mentions she has to share a bedroom with her siblings, and she has hope of living in a better house. She got to visualize and dream about having her own house and one day she wouldn’t have to move each year. Her parents told her to dream big and gave her that aspect to have her own house. That passage gave me a strong impression because I can also relate to it because I remember me and my family had to relocate a few years ago due to the same situation Esperanza had when she had to relocate. The landlord would not fix anything in our apartment and we got the message that he wanted us out so we moved out to the Bronx. After relocating my mom told me that one day I would get my own place where you would have your own backyard, and be your own landlord. She told me to dream big and never give up on my hopes and dreams.
Reading Bettleheim’s psychologically oriented story and also reading both of the stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, or the poem “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Anne Sexton have changed my perspective view of fairy tales. Fairy tales are for children, which are meant to bring joy and bring them fantasies with magical and imaginary characters and land. After reading Bettleheim’s stories and being an adult, now I see what message these fairy tales show. Bettleheim basically talks about how fairy-tales help to improve children’s cognitive development. For example Snow White shows how insecurities don’t justify your mean attitude. Also teaches about the dangers of greed and how a young woman goes throughout adulthood, and for the story Where Have You Been it message is for children not to talk to strangers. These are stories and topics I would like to discuss with children and show them how to understand life through fairy tales.
Poetry is a written art form expressed with literature. Poetry at times can be tricky, and hard to understand. At times you may not understand, but how Carlos Williams said poetry comes with challenges. He also stated that you must complete what the poet has began. By Carlos saying that phrase you must complete what the poet began means that the reader has to put hard effort and be open minded when they are reading the poem. You must put your imagination into the poem, and approach the poem in a different way. Also by finding the meaning of the poem by understanding what the poet is trying to express in the poem. For example the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a short poem with lines that really difficult to understand. In order to understand it you must complete the poem, and put an effort when reading the poem. The poem talks about a group of young men trying to be cool living life at young age by cutting class, being in the streets late at night, by doing that they will might end up dead at a young age. At the end it all depends on the reader to find and complete the poem with the effort of understanding the message of the poet.
My idea about poetry has changed drastically after I read the readings in week 11. It has given me the idea on how to observe and evaluate the meaning of the hidden text of the poems. Poetry has also shown me ideas and structure on how a poem is created by using repetition, sound, rhythm, and imagery. It has given me the idea of how poetry that expresses emotions can help us to process our experiences, and how to describe beauty objects or things in a fashionable way. I love how the poem ” My Mistress’s Eyes Are Nothing like the Sun” by William Shakespeare clearly describes how beautiful a woman is by only using words and strong metaphors. For example in the poem William Shakespeare describes a woman he calls his mistress by saying “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”; “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;”in the poem “. He is saying in other words how beautiful the mistress’s eyes are and how her lips have a bright beautiful red color. It is just magnificent how poetry is put together to give the reader a creative meaning just by using words.
In Oedipus the King, the Chorus sang an ode between 181-230. The ode was about seeking help from other gods. They were seeking help because the God of War Ares had a plague against them, that the plague was spreading contagion death to their city. Children were born dead and laid naked on the earth. Having their people suffer just because a savage god wanting to burn them. The only one to blame was the God of War Ares. They were asking the gods Zeus, Apollo, Athena, and Artemis to go against any god that wants to burn them which would be Ares. They were asking to dishonor the god of war due to his actions against the city. The reason for asking these specific gods for help because as the chorus said in lines 193 and 194 that the gods once drove the flames of destruction away from their land.
Discussion 5 “Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about? This story is about a young boy blinded by lust. The protagonist told his point of view story about is a young kid trying to obtain the love of his friend Mangan’s sister that lives across the street. The young protagonist narrator believes that he’s in love with his friend’s sister. He then heard his Mangan’s sister speak about how badly she wanted to go to a certain bazaar. The young boy thought that was his way to win the girl’s heart by going to that bazaar and getting her a gift. However, when he made his way to the bazaar he ends up going late at night, right when they were already closing. Arriving at the bazaar he then finds himself disenchanted with the reality of bazaar and the real world. He expected the bazaar to be a extraordinary magical place , but it was mostly deserted. He then saw himself helpless in a dark place. As a creature driven and derided by vanity with his eyes burning with anguish and anger.
The narrator felt joy was expecting to experience and see Jesus for the first time because of his aunt. His aunt described to him how he was going to feel when Jesus will save him from his sins with the rest of the teenage kids. At church when he was sitting with the group he was waiting for the moment to see Jesus, but all he saw was all the kids being saved by Jesus except for him. So, in the end he had to lie to his aunt that had been saved by Jesus. He felt sad, hopeless and disappointed because he was never saved by Jesus and had lied to his aunt. At the end he did not believed in Jesus.
Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The reason you might have assigned this as the first story of the course is because Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best known writers in History. Apart from that, the story of “The Most Handsome drowned Man, can signify the willingness to change our perception of ourselves, and others. In the story the women noticed how different “Esteban” was compared to their husbands. They made an emphasis on how tall he was, and how weak they seemed compared to him. This allowed for transformation to happen within the villagers perceptions of themselves and of Esteban. Without knowing him, they were able to learn and care for him. This also happens when we enter a new classroom, we learn about our peers and their surroundings.
