In the beautiful and haunting story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a great change takes place in a remote village on a seaside cape after a beautiful drowned body washes to shore . Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? To submit your Week 2 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 2” (example: John Hart Discussion 2). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 2 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Leave that box as it is. It will say “Select a category.” Leave it like that. Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full […]
Week 2 Discussion
I think that Professor Conway might have assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to us as our first read so we can think outside the box and play with our imagination and ideas in order to create something meaningful in preparation for our upcoming weekly assignments. In this story, we see how the villagers are introduced to this drowned man that showed up on the beach out of nowhere. They didn’t know who he was or where he was from. All they knew is that he didn’t look like them. They named him “Esteban” to give him an identity and by doing so, they created an elaborated story to bring forth life to Esteban, who was actually a dead man. I see the similarities between the villagers and us trying to write an essay. We have an idea, a focus point and then we gather all the supporting details to construct it. Just like the villagers did with Esteban, when they cleaned, dressed and brought everyone together.
I think the teacher might have assigned ”The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel García Márquez as the first story of the course because we can realize that we don’t choose how we want to be in the world. Therefore, the fact that men consider making houses with much wider doors, understanding that this helps us to have empathy for human beings, Esteban was a tall, handsome and strong man. However, as time passes in Latin cultures, phallocracy predominates and in the situation of having found a drowned man, the men of the town showed solidarity with him. We live in a society where they make you feel present for being famous, and /or have money etc. However, this story helps us understand the power of our imagination because as I read it, I wonder about the uncertainties that the people who found the drowned man must have had and still gave him a dignified burial without knowing his life and education.
I might think you have assigned “The Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia for the first story of the course is to see if we have an opened mind. The overall story in my option explains that one person can change the way others think. Seeing someone that comes from a different place, looks different, or even thinks differently will have others wanting to learn more and be open to new things. In the story it stated, “It was then that they understood how unhappy he must have been with that huge body since it bothered him even after death.” Seeing someone that they have never might before, they empathize with him. towards the end of the story, it explained that they realized “everything would be different”. This story was assigned first because you wanted your students to understand the importance of empathy. One person can change a whole community to make then want to do better.
There are many viewpoints that I have read when it comes to this story. Though in my perspective, I believe this might have been assigned to open our minds up to the ability of change and imagination. These women knew absolutely nothing about this man – who they called “Esteban.” Yet because their mind created many scenarios that this man may have not been satisfied with his life, they change their surroundings in honor of him. “..everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban’s memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams..” Pg. 8. They showed compassion for a stranger and that reflected on their own being. I feel like this can factor into today’s class. Despite being strangers, we can help each other grow. To help each other adapt to change and open a mind to a wider imagination.
I think Professor Conway assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man” because Gabriel Garcia Marquez depicts all the qualities people strive for in one person. The man, Esteban, Is tall, strong, and handsome. Despite being dead, the people admire the man’s qualities without really knowing him. The man had an impact on so many people without even doing anything to move them. He, himself, moved them, almost like a sense of leadership. It’s interesting to take into account Marquez’s cultural background considering he is Colombian. Machismo culture in Latin America is a very strong sense of masculine pride, though having negative connotations, it is ingrained in a lot of people, especially at the time of publication, 1968. To have one person embody that would be truly admirable for the people in the village, specifically men, as something to strive to be. There are themes of vanity and unity, bringing all sorts of people together in the village. I think this shows how easily a group of people can react when a manifestation of all attributes they find attractive come to life. In real-world examples, we see how figures with a large diverse audience such as political figures, celebrities, etc. have a charm to them that people are drawn to. They could do good, bad, or nothing at all and still have an effect on people’s behavior. The story helped us put ourselves in the character’s shoes and connect the descriptions given in the text to how we as the reader would react to get a better picture of how the characters in the story felt.
I believe the professor decided to have the “Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” as the first story as it makes you think about how people tend to view someone so much based off appearances. In the story it talks about how the woman though of the man as beautiful and strong how he would have the happiest wife, the biggest house, and that the fish would rise out of the sea at his beck and call. It made me think how could someone come to such conclusions based solely off how one may look they were unable to have a single conversation with the drowned man but somehow they were able to imagine so many aspects of how his life could have been in the village. I’d like to think as the reader if pushed into a similar situation as in the story that I would not think much of what kind of life the man lived but rather how he died and how he would be if he was alive to engage in a conversation rather than assume based off his physical attributes that he was this amazing man who could do everything perfectly.
The reason that this story was the first to read in this course could be to help us students with our imaginations. This could be because “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” is filled with imagery from the beginning to the end. Right from the very beginning we are told that some children find it and think it was a ship, but later change their mind and think it’s a whale. When the body washes up on the shore we are given even more descriptions of the body on how it is covered in various things from the sea. As the story progresses we learn about how heavy he is, what he smells like, his body features, and even see how the women in the village clean him up using various tools. By the end of the story everyone in the village is enchanted by the body who they name Esteban and we learn about how they change things in their village to fit Esteban’s body size.
I think the professor assigned this as the first story of the course because there’s just so many ways that you can interpret this story. In my opinion, I think this is a very emotional and inspiring, but confusing story. At first I was like okay, maybe this could be a depiction of a god-like figure or something along the lines of religion, especially because of the name Esteban. But as I continued reading it just showed me different points of views from the people in the village and how fragile a person’s ego can be. This story also allows me to put myself into the character’s shoes and feel what they are feeling because of the very detailed imagery. The author set such a perfect scene that it all felt so real. Just like story book characters and reality, we’re all the same. We go through the same emotions, we get inspired from the most unexpected things, and we also learn to grow and change for the better.
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.
The Professor assigned this story because she wanted us to understand the imagery that is used in a writing, how we can incorporate it into our own, and its significance of it. There is a lot of expression and emotion in the story to discuss how they felt when they saw the man at first, and when he was put back in the ocean. Even after not being told what his name was, they felt that his name was “Esteban” from how he was described and how he seemed to the people of the village. Imagery helped the reader to understand the environment that he was in, how he looked, and how his appearance had an effect on the villagers. In the story, it explains how “he had the smell of the sea about him”, and that, “he was the tallest, strongest, most virile, and best-built man they had ever seen.”
The short story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man”, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an example of society’s behaviors. We can see how the appearance changes the way people behave. The author describes the drowned man’s physical appearance very detailed. I find this type of story interesting because it isn’t obvious to understand (although the author describes everything in details), you have to read it a few times, and it can be interpreted in different ways. I think this is why professor Conway chose this story first; it gives us an idea of what the course content will look like and what to expect. As I see it, this story is a way to emphasize the relationship between men and women and also how physical appearance affects people’s behavior.
I believe Professor Conway chose “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” as our first story of the course because it uses a variety of Symbolism and allows the reader to really think about what something at first seems so insignificant can have a major impact on people’s lives. When “Estaban” came into their lives from the ocean he had come tattered almost not recognizable as a human being but as they kept taking care of him, they noticed more and more human aspects of him although he was larger in every way. They sympathized with him without knowing him at all and saw the world in his eyes as they would, The end of the short story paints a picture for us about them having a wonderful funeral for a man they never knew or met alive. They even went ahead and made their town more accessible and made the whole town a memorial to Estaban. This completely random man that floated from out of nowhere had a major impact on a town that he would never see and therefore changes it for others in the future completely
Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? Based on my experience, I find the stories interesting when the author puts a lot of hidden messages in it which might not be obvious when we first read it. In my opinion, both external and internal information gives us a full deep image of the story. The story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best examples of presenting both character’s internal and external journey. The story is about a village that finds a dead man on its shore. The author perfectly describes dead man’s physical features and emphasized on how big and masculine he was. We see the internal journey when women start taking care of the protagonist, which step by step lead us to the conclusion of the story. In my opinion, the reason why we were assigned this as the first story of the course is to make us first questions and second realize the details we read in the stories. How each detail makes the story as one whole. How character’s physical or inner world are connected with each other and how all of it leads us to conclusion.
“The Handsomest Drowned Man” a short story by Garcia Marquez was a very inspiring read and I think that might be one of the reasons professor chose it as a first read of the class. The arrival of the dead body of the handsomest man totally changed the village and it’s citizens for the best. As the story progresses we can witness the villagers discovering all these attributes about Esteban that ultimately broadened their horizons in a matter of a day and changed their mindsets forever. The appearance of this handsome man really turned their worlds upside down by how different he seemed to them, the fact that he had a huge body and their honest attempts to visualize and sympathize with the discomfort of his existence where everything was designed for smaller people. I think there is an irony in a fact of what an overwhelming positive influence this man had on the village and it’s many generations and he wasn’t even alive when he came into their lives. The village blossomed with flowers and beautiful colorful homes, it’s citizens learned a lot from Esteban and this story shows that keeping an opened mind is key to grow and expand.
The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World was a very interesting read. I feel that Professor Conway had us read this story because it was odd and imaginative. The story really made me think and wonder and try to visualize what “Esteban” looked like. Much like Esteban had the children imagining what he could be and the women imagining what he was like. I thought it was strange that the town suddenly decided to change their whole town for one dead man that nobody ever knew in real life. Maybe the people were so compassionate that they changed things about their town all the time to become inclusive to every single person. Maybe the townspeople feared that if they didn’t change their town he would come to haunt them. And now much like the people of the town I am assuming and thinking about their motive for changing things in the town for The Most Handsomest Drowned Man In the world.
The short story the handsomest drowned man ever is a story about a village that ends up finding a drowned man and accepting him even though he was much bigger and was different than anything they have ever seen before, to me the message of this story is not to judge a book by its cover and to be open and willing to change. This relates to me as a student because as a student you have to be open to and willing to learn about new topics and subjects. It also shows that you should accept new things and be open to new things instead of trying to stay in your ways. It also shows and talks about how one should be accepting of other people even if they’re different or don’t fit in like everyone else, because for the villagers in the story they were confused at first but after being accepting the man fit right into their village.
I think the professor assigned this read as the first story to open our own imagination. This story allowed me to actually feel that I was part of their village. I felt their sadness when they mentioned that his life was probably hard because of his stature and size. The villagers started thinking of ways to change their village in order for someone like Esteban to be okay in. Creating doorways big enough. We see how they evolved and there was this influence created by Esteban. Even in my personal life there have been events that have influenced changes in my life. I didn’t think about college too much, but I have 3 daughters who look up to me and I want them to be proud of me and hopefully motivate them to become a responsible person. It’s good that literature can be so relatable and maybe even put into perspective of what is going on our personal lives.
Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” is a very creative story. The reason I say this is because just my first reading through it I realized that the type of langue that GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ author used was not what I normally see in stories but I think that is what makes this story unique and a good first story for this semester. For example, I can see many points of imagery and symbolism. In my second read of the text, I can see many different ideas coming together and some ideas I can see where they may lead but other ideas I can only catch a glimpse of it. In the case of Esteban in the beginning the children saw him as a part of the game, but to people that found him later in the text, he isn’t such a positive thing. This text makes us really think about the contrast between these ideas which is why I think this is a good first story.
I believe the professor assigned this as the first story of the course because it broadens our view of tales and stories. I never read a story like this, I found it very unusual and out of the ordinary. But like all stories, there usually is a message or moral. For this story, Marquez writes about a body that is washed up on the shore-but this man is not an ordinary man like the other people living in the area. All the beds and tables in the village appear to be big for this person, which soon after they named Esteban. This story is very intriguing to any reader and can be found very interesting as well. This is all pure fiction and can also be portrayed as mythical, and this whole story is based off of imagination. In the story, they end up praising Esteban and soon later the men and women began to show sympathy for the dead body, and it brought up questions about how he survived and what his life was like. The men and women portrayed Esteban as a sort of “God” and saw him as a symbol of human suffering. This story has a lot of fiction, mystery, and imagination to it and at the same time, it can be portrayed as a message to the reader, which therefore is why I think the professor assigned us this story first.
The short story ” The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was chosen as the first story of the course in order to demonstrate the attitude the students should have as the class continues. An attitude of of willingness to change. In the short story, the villagers were hesitant to interact with the drowned man, the viewed him more as an inconvenience. It was after cleaning him up and looking at him that they were able to empathize with him and give him the name Esteban. By naming him they showed their acceptance of him as part of their village, and thus created changes that could better accommodate someone of Esteban’s stature. This forever changes the towns facade and their reputation. This relates to me as a student because this course’s goal is to help me become a better reader and writer by helping me improve my analytical, research, and other literary skills. I can only learn if I’m willing to go beyond what is presented and incorporate what I’m learning to future lessons.
I believe the professor chose “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” to show the symbolism of inspiration, beauty, and dignity. When the man was washed up, the villagers saw him as a hero inspiring them so much that they decided to fix up their houses and village to be exquisite with themselves. The drowned man was hidden and basically nothing to the world but all of a sudden when the villagers find him, they want to live a better life. When the man Esteban is found, the story says he looks perfect with an excellent physique, tall, basically gorgeous, which is why the villagers imagine he lived a magnificent life so we can too. The women started comparing him with the men in the village and how he looked nothing like them, he was” god-like” and fantasized about how he was. This stranger was inspiring the villagers to have their surroundings be beautiful and keep it that way by introducing something new.
“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.
I think you might have assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” as the first story for the course because it can give insight on how people think and assume what people are like when they haven’t gotten a chance to get to know a person, and sometimes it can make them look at their life a little different. For example there are plenty of people that have never left America or have never lived in a diverse area in America. so when they see someone that looks different they are curious and their mind starts to wonder. Some people come up with their own ideas of how a person is, what their life is like, and sometimes start to think maybe their life isn’t as interesting as they thought. In this case the women in the village started to assume the men in their village weren’t man enough because of the corpse that they were looking at and the stories they created in their minds of what his life was like. It just shows that people shouldn’t look at their life differently because they’re assuming what another persons life is like.
I think “The handsomest drowned man in the world” was chosen as the first story because with the appearance of Esteban in the villager’s lives, they changed their view of the world and learned to empathize with others which could possibly mirror the course and how it is interactive, allowing for ideas and views to bounce off each other like when one of the women decided he looked like an Esteban or when the women who went to collect flowers and would bring back neighboring women. They would make their own conclusions about Esteban and who he was. As stated by Dean Radar, while the villagers are making an identity for Esteban they are also creating one for themselves from the reader’s perspective. One could conclude that it perhaps alludes to how the course will shape us as people and how our ideas will help to shape our experience in this course.
Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? I think the professor assigned this as the first story of the course to give us a taste of what literature can represent and show us how it can make us feel, think or speak. Literature is an abstract of expression and we will come to learn and understand that as we continue with this course. The story made us think about what could have been when Esteban was alive and the same is with real life. Life imitates art and literature is no different. The villagers in the story show the general empathy humans can have towards strangers and this is something we should practice more every day. Esteban or should I say Esteban’s corpse represents hope and what could of been even if he is dead. Esteban’s corpse is a metaphor and an interesting one at that.
I get the impression from this short story that you intended us to understand more about growth and transformation. You might have intended us to be open to something new and unusual, that’s just in my opinion. Similar to how these villagers were introduced to a stranger, their minds were able to generate fresh concepts for them to lead with. Many residents of the village expressed sympathy and understanding in a pleasant way. Many fresh ideas and concepts seem arise after death, in this situation. Events like this demonstrate how communities, technology, and more have recovered from loss and grief throughout history. Humans have a tendency to take challenging circumstances and, at the appropriate time, shed new light on them. The reading’s main message, in my opinion, is that not everything is as it seems and that, depending on the course you choose to go in, imagination can create a variety of platforms for better lifestyles.
The handsome drown man was an interested read, Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a great imagination. The drowned man symbolize Esteban. It were an overwhelming, dramatic experience for the villagers especially the women. The way how they honored the dead was something special it bring the community together as a whole. The men was upset or maybe jealous of the women because how much they were attached to a dead man, some of them were emotional to this complete stranger. Everyone was shocked how big and tall he were they never saw anything like it.
In my mind and my way of thinking, I think you have assigned this as the first story of the course is for us to learn how from other people we can learn more about them or about other things. Also to open our mind of thinking and seeing how others can be different and have different feelings or thoughts but we connect to others or to one another, it may not look important to learn from one another but it is because that way we can grow knowledge and have experience.
I believe this story was chosen because it shows the deep compassion from strangers coming together caring for another which I believe it inspired readers. The way they placed themselves in Esteban’s shoes and felt the pain they believed he went through. How he must’ve seen himself as a burden because of how big he was compared to the other villagers. It showed immense empathy toward this stranger, and that his death opened a lot of hearts to many villagers. His death changed their lives forever in ways not many can understand. Death always brings out so much passion out of people, it’s astonishing.
Alex Barrios ENG 201(0517) 58526 August 27, 2022 Prof. Celeste Conway Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? Truthfully, I do not know and maybe that’s the point. To not know and to figure out along the way “why was this story the first in the course?.” I’m sure that this is supposed to be open-ended question so I’m going to treat it as such. Well off the top of my head I believe its stimulate our imagination, stretches our reading and interpretation muscles. I also come to understand and respect writers for their efforts of crafting these stories that capture the wonders and the hearts of the readers. I think that is very extraordinary skill and one that is not easy to fine tune. I think you had us read this first because maybe we’re much like “Esteban”. He represents untapped potential—maybe potential and motivation incarnate. He’s the idea that anything and everything that was, is and will be possible—can be turned into something more than what it currently is. If you can seize the opportunity. Right now, my wording on things probably does not make sense. I could say “I’m not writer” but that would be wrong. I can write but I do not possess yet the skill to place my feelings, dreams and desires into words that are structured and coherent. I write mostly for myself and myself only. If I had to write for anyone else, I’d honestly write what I think would sound proper or professional. However, that’s not the case here. I’m writing as close as to who I ‘am in the waking world as possible. The story of both Gabriel Marquez and “Esteban” and how they manage to spark a light. An idea […]
