Adib Sharif

In the readings “Little Snow White” and “Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, both of these stories have their similarities. Even though there is not a lot of strong resemblance to Bettelheim’s phycological ordinated reading, a connection can be drawn. During my observation, I would say there are connections or similarities between the actual characters themselves, rather than the plot or events that take place. For instance, I noticed that Connie and Snow-White share similar character traits. One trait for both of them can be how they are both proved to be credulous and over trusting. To explain this, Snow White trusted the evil queens and allowed her to her house twice. On the other hand, Connie doesn’t necessarily have a moment where she is over trusting but shows signs of this character trait while conversing with a stranger in the story. Furthermore, even though there is no direct correlation, readers can draw a connection with the similarities at hand.

Scholar Rena Korb discusses numerous differing interpretations someone may have while reading the story. She expressed how people view it as a tale of initiation or having a feminist allegory or concept to it. My first reaction while reading this story can be best associated with American culture, or tale of initiation. I would necessary have seen this story in a bad or dark perspective, but the influence of American culture is there. The girl in the story is being groomed by an older man who conveys mental abuse on her. Therefore, I would have to agree with this criticism interpretation at first hand. Rena Korb states, “Oates has expressed her interest in the richness of pain and chaos. Certainly, these elements are apparent in Oates’s own writing, and many critics have commented on the bleak nature of her fiction and on the many unpleasant things that happen to her characters”. This quote illustrates how the author initially focuses on this dark themed writing which is rich in pain. The author has the characters go through real life emotion representing something someone may experience in reality.

The assumptions and mistakes when first time reading a poem, as described by Edward Hirsch were very relatable to what I go through when attempting to understand a poem. Throughout this week’s reading, I have found myself making the first wrong assumption. “The first is assuming that they should understand what they encounter on the first reading, and if they don’t, that something is wrong with them or with the poem”. This resonated with me deeply as when I don’t understand something after a few times, I tend to get frustrated. However, with poems I realize and understand that they can be tricky, so I prepare myself to read it many times throughout. In addition, I found myself making the second wrong assumption as well. Thinking that each line connects to each other, or there is some sort of code to figure out. I tend to overthink what the poem is really trying to illustrate. For instance, this week’s poem, “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey was challenging to understand at the first and second attempt at reading it. This poem is rich in imagery and definition, so therefore I got a little intimidated. I also thought that some lines interconnected ideas to each other. This made paying attention to important or big details difficult and so I skipped over them.

“Reading a poem is part attitude and part technique.” To do anything in life is part attitude and technique if you really think about. Not only is it the attitude of the person who conveys or reads in this case, but it is the attitude that the poem itself creates. This can be best described as the tone or emotion a poem instills in its audience. Just with most literary works, understanding something like a poem takes time technique. To be able to find out the true meaning of that small line that seems to be coated with details but yet so small in its bigger picture. To relate your experiences to the poem, in order to dig deeper. Many literary techniques can be utilized to break down a poem to understand it clearly. 2) After reading Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare, the quote above and those two aspects of it were truer than ever. Throughout reading the poem at first, it was confusing to understand what Shakespeare was comparing the person in the poem towards. However, after using literary techniques, I was able to break it down line by line to understand.  For example, it states, “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimmed”. This quote at first baffled me but after reading the line before and after it, I got a clue of what the poem was saying about summer in comparison to the person in the poem. Regarding attitude, I had to slow things down and match the poem’s energy to understand clearly. 

The greeting card lyrics,  “Why Do I Love You So Much?”  and the Browning Sonnet “How do I love thee?” share many similarities in regards to theme and the main point of the poem. Both of these poems explore the theme of bondage and love. However, the author used varying literally elements to express each poem uniquely.  The main poem where most of these elements can be found in significant amounts would be ‘How do I Love Thee”. One literary element i have identified was visual imagery, where the author uses specific language to poetry an idea or feeling to the audience. In contrast to this, “Why do I Love You So Much?” explores a similar route just without as many literary elements implemented within the poem. For instance, according to the poem, it states, ” Why Do I Love You So Much? Because you’re a part of my favorite memories as well as my most important dreams”. This quote is illustrating a clear example of the author using words and feelings in order to convey an emotion within the reader. The words such as “favorite” and “important” relays the message of the poem, which is love/affection to be taken seriously.

Identify the author and the literary work you are focusing on for your research essay. Please share the actual word-for-word thesis statement of your research essay in your post. Explain what specific kind of secondary source information you feel will support your thesis. Identify the BMCC databases you have explored to date and what the results have been MY RESPONCES: The literary work I will be focusing on is “Salvation “by Langston Hughes. Exact Thesis: Through character analysis, the author paints a picture of the young boy to be innocent and trusting; his naiveness is expressed more perceptibly and clearly through his experiences. A specific kind of secondary information I have found and can use is a biography on the author, Langston Hughes. Digging deeper into the life of this American Poet will help me support my thesis is numerous ways. In regard to BMCC databases, I have so far explored the direct link of activity 6, week 3. I also have explored the BMCC literature resource center. However, I still have a little more exploring to do to see what the best source is to use for my research essay.

During this week’s readings, the one that stood out to me was, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860”, by Barbara Welter. Throughout reading this, numerous things about the text surprised, intrigued, and last but not least even puzzled me at times. For instance, according to the text, it states, “Woman understood her position if she was the right kind of woman, a true woman. “She feels weak and timid. She needs a protector. She asks for wisdom, constancy, firmness, perseverance, and she is willing to repay it all by the surrender of the full treasure of her affection”. When I first encountered this quote, I was a bit shocked/surprised at what George Burnap expressed in his lectures. This is something that would be said by the typical American man in the years of the 1820s and up. However, this is contradicting of what women are and should stand up for, especially when it comes to “womanhood”. In defense to this, Mrs. Sigourney assured women that even though they were sperate sexes, everyone was equal. According to the text, it states, “Religion or piety was the core of woman’s virtue, the source of her strength. Young men looking for a mate were cautioned to search first for piety, for if that were there, all else would follow states”. This quote expressed how woman are pure and can help a man have faith back in Christ. This is representing women in a positive connotation, even if it is to help a man become settles emotionally and adhere to the different factors at play. Last but not least, the thing that intrigued me the most in regard to this excerpt would be how these ideologies were adopted and expected to be mass followed in the 18th and 19th centuries. This fascinates me because […]

After reading the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the story’s interior depth can be analyzed for a better understanding.  The main character, the grandmother was plagued by her own bad traits that eventually led to her own downfall. The grandmother was manipulative and tricky, even if she transitions a little towards the end. When the author shows this transition to readers, it portrays an emotional journey that the grandmother undertakes. For example, the surface of the story as described is a tale of suspense dealing with a family. However, the interior of the story can be described as that emotional journey the grandmother goes through. Furthermore, the author is trying to convey how even the most detrimental person to others can change with a moment of realization or tragedy that occurs to them. A main theme I noticed while reading this short story was grace and humanity. This story shows a close resemble to the society we live in today and expresses very similar experiences we all have had.

Throughout reading the play, “Oedipus the King”, there are numerous timeless experiences that can be correlated to our own experiences in reality.  For instance, in part two of the play, Jocasta states, ” For Oedipus excites himself too much at every sort of trouble, not conjecturing like a man of sense”. Initially this quote explains to readers how Oedipus gets too “caught up” in every situation that comes his way but isn’t prepared to deal with the consequences. Instead, he goes unprepared and lacking important knowledge of the trouble in hand. This is something that is relatable to many people in reality/society as we are all human at the end of the day. When given specific situations to deal with, many factors can come into play and therefore we can make irrational decisions. Instead, as described in the quote, individuals should be of “sense” and work with their head and not their emotions. In another quote, the Chorus states, “If there is any ill worse than ill, that is the lot of Oedipus. I cannot say your remedy was good; you would be better dead than blind and living”. This quote can be related to society in various ways. The Chorus is illustrating to readers and to Oedipus how he is better dead, than to be alive and running from the truth that haunts him. Rather than living in shun and regret, it is better to be dead, according to the Chorus. Personally, I think this seems like a relatable experience as in a sense not to run away from the truth and be able to move on with any predicament. There is no point in living a life in which you’re too frightened to do anything for yourself or others. Therefore, I would have to agree with the Chorus […]

Initially, the Chorus plays a significant role in “Oedipus the King”. The Chorus consists of the citizens in the town of Thebes and can be described best as background in a sense. However, the Chorus assists the reader into an immersive enviroment. The characters, emotions, and ideas are better described by the chorus, therefore allowing readers to understand and relate to0 the characters better. The purpose of the chorus is to convey deeper meaning of what other characters have to say/their emotions. For instance, according to the play, it states, “As you have held me to my oath, I speak: I neither killed the king nor can declare the killer; but since Phoebus set the quest it is his part to tell who the man is. Right; but to put compulsion on the Gods against their will—no man can do that. May I then say what I think second best”? (295-305) This passage is specifically portraying how the Chorus conveys its own ideas, as well as contribute and build off of others ideas. This keeps the play going smoothly and adds to the plot as the Chorus serves a purpose in the plot. The citizen, or chorus, asks Oedipus if they can share their opinions and ideas. Another main point is how the chorus is directly involved with the tragedy. The Chorus too is concerned and looking for the killer, further proving the point of their importance and h0ow the balance out the play. In addition, the Chorus had a mind of its own in a sense and not even Oedipus could tell how they really felt about his situation. To his surprise he wasn’t expecting them to feel angered by the situation, but turns out Oedipus was wrong and the citizens actually felt sorrowful and compassionate.

The main protagonist in the short story “Araby” by James Joyce can be best described as a very young boy that still plays in the streets of his hometown, Dublin Ireland. Many words can be used to describe the boy such as imaginative, curious, and confused in a sense. This story is not necessarily a love story but rather a story about the “coming of age” as portrayed by the characters development in feeling and emotions throughout the plot. Towards the middle of the story, the little boy begins admiring Mangan’s sister. However, the moment he laid eyes on her, that admiration soon became stronger and intense. The author then proceeds to empathize on how the little boy was thin king of this girl in the most unexpected and unique places and ways. At some point a reader can identify this as being desperate and obsessed to some extent. Mangan sister soon mentions the bazaar that the little boy is very eager to go to. This is because he wants to show her how he is way more mature than she thought and to impress her. This shows readers how the whole aspect of this story is not “love” but rather playing around with your head and environment to figure out who you are. That is what readers can see glimpse of regarding the little boy. Furthermore, the little boys character depicts what eventually happens at the end of the story because soon he realizes that he has wasted his efforts of going through all of this just not get what he went there for.  Therefore, his character of being curious, unintelligent to some extent because he is young, and desperate resulted in this to happen.

This story directs a deeper meaning in regards to inequality and how minorities may experience the same situation differently. Ms. Moore brings the children into the toy store and begins to look around. However, the main two characters in focus would be Sugar and Mercedes because of the fact of how different yet similar they can be at times throughout the story. Ms. Moore took the children to the toy store to show how different socioeconomic and financial factors can alter the experience for someone, most vulnerable being children who grew up not having too much. For instance, as stated in the story, it states, ” “This is the place, “ Miss Moore say, “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very serious like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays. “This quote portrays the sense that Sugar wasn’t brought up with too much money and her family came from the struggle. The text emphasis “serious like” to illustrate to readers on how significantly she wanted a toy that she would just maybe steal one instead if she didn’t have enough money. On the other hand however, Mercedes experience in the toy store is a little different than rest of the pother children. She doesn’t seem to mind the prices too much when looking at them compared to the other children. For example, it states, ““I don’t even have a desk,” say Junebug. “Do we?” .“And I don’t even have a home,” says Flyboy. “I do,” says Mercedes. “I have a box of stationery on my desk and a picture of my cat. My god- mother bought the stationery and the desk. There’s a big rose on each sheet and the envelopes smell like roses”. This quote shows readers on how Mercedes was more fortunate then the re3st of […]

The young boy in the story “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes can be described using various words, based on his characteristics and events that took place throughout the story. In the beginning Langston and his aunt are at the big revival that is taking p[ace in the church. The aunt describes how Langston would feel, see, and hear Jesus and so Langston has taken that personally and seriously. Therefore, Langston eagerly awaits for Jesus to come, portraying characteristics of being naïve and gullible. This shows how Langston is inexperienced and is easily persuaded by the members of church. During the middle of the story, Langston faces a conflict of his own and lies to the member of the church and his aunt that he saw Jesus. When in fact he had no such encounter with Jesus and was almost pressured into claiming this with the heavy devotion and religious influence in the church and on salvation. The young boy finally gave in and went up to fit in with the rest of the children who Jesus had “seen”. This was almost like a defense mechanism for Langston as he did not want to deceive everybody in the church, including himself. This results in Langston feeling a huge loss of faith and connection with Jesus and almost self doubts. By the end of the story, Langston has changed from being a naïve and gullible young boy to finally realizing what was promised was not promised in a sense. The best words to describe the young boy towards the end of the story would be disappointed, confused, despair, and even heartbroken. The lack of truth into how and what his aunt had said to him has caused him to feel this way. After all, he thought and was almost described to that meeting […]