Fatima Butt

The vignette that surprised me the most was “The First Job”. This vignette surprised me, and not in a good way, because the young girl was saving up to go to a Catholic high school which is why she started working. She had never worked before, so I’m sure she was nervous and the people at work around her were able to sense that. The shocking part was when she started talking the older man man who was clocking in for his shift. I’m pretty sure he lied about it being his birthday, and the fact that he grabbed her face to kiss her on the lips was shocking and disgusting because she is just a young girl. You truly cannot trust anyone, even if it’s someone you work with. The vignette that intrigued me was “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired In The Dark”. This vignette intrigued me because many of us don’t see our fathers’ emotional sides. Our fathers are always so strong, they go out and provide for us and when we finally see their emotional side, we don’t know how to take it in. I’m sure seeing her father going through these emotions, Esperanza realized that no matter what, after all, we are all human and feel things. The vignette that puzzled me was “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays”. This vignette puzzled me because Rafaela’s husband keeps her locked inside because he’s afraid she’ll run away because she’s too beautiful to look at. When I read this particular sentence, it reminded me of how where I come from, there are really men who don’t let their wives out and in my opinion, it’s sad. Rafaela should be able to go out and enjoy her life with her husband as well.  

In Bettelheim’s reading, one observation I made is how he talked about how the queen in Snow White is jealous of Snow White. This reminded me of the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. Although both stories aren’t related by any means, the way Snow White’s stepmother was jealous of her beauty can be compared to how Connie’s mom was always frustrated with the fact that Connie knew she was beautiful and would admire herself often. Another thing I noticed that both Snow White and Connie were gullible. Snow White had allowed the evil queen to enter her house twice, because she wanted to become more beautiful, and Connie opened the door for a complete stranger and made the mistake of entertaining a conversation, which then lead to her eventually leaving with him, and we don’t know what happened to her at the end.

The story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” was an interesting, but eye-opening read. I believe that this story focuses on how young girls can easily fall for the words of older men. I’m sure that Arnold must have been a 30 year old, trying to make a move on a young girl. One mistake Connie made was opening the door and continuing to entertain the conversation with Arnold. As a young adult, she should not have been speaking to a stranger. I feel that if she hadn’t opened the door at all, the situation could have been different. Also, Connie was very much into her looks, I’m sure she was a beautiful girl, so that may have ben a reason that she allowed Arnold to give her attention, because she wanted her beauty to be seen. In the article, Korbs suggests said many who read the story view it as a feminist allegory. The way I viewed the story, I believe that it is important for parents to communicate with their children as long as they are responsible for them, because Connie’s parents didn’t seem to care about where she was going or what she was doing. When parents start to neglect their kids, it can often put the kids in unpleasant situations.

One of the poems I read was “White Lies’ by Natasha Trethewey. While I first starting reading the poem, I couldn’t fully grasp what exactly it was that I was reading. This is when I had encounter with the first assumption, which is that readers think they should understand what it is that they are reading on the first read, which is not true. We all read and interpret things differently. Eventually, I had to read the poem over a few times to really get a feel about what I was reading, and the story behind it. The speaker in the poem appears to be a young black female, who lives on the poorer side of town, but says she can get away with telling the white people that she lives in a better area. I was feeling a sense of shame from the speaker’s point of view. Her mother had punished her for lying about who she was. Overall, I’d say the meaning behind this story is all about the difference in racial dynamics.

I was always curious about poetry. I remember in the 5th grade, we had to write a poem and from what I remember, I worked so hard on mine and that my teacher had loved it. But, I definitely forgot how many different types of poems there are, and the week 11 activities really gave me more knowledge. I really enjoyed watching the video in Activity 3 about sonnets, as I was not familiar at all with this type of poem. One of the sonnets I really enjoyed was Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare. The way he talks about his lover’s beauty and praises her and even compares her beauty to a summer day was so beautiful and captivating. Poems can be so diverse, it can be about love, or even about heartbreak, but no matter what it’s written about, the way it’s written and captured is in a way that will grab your attention for sure.

The story I chose to write about is “Story of an Hour”. While reading this story, what really surprised me initially, is the fact that the woman showed emotions of happiness when she learned that her husband had died. Now, as a woman, I would personally feel devastated in this situation, so this was definitely a shocker. Considering the fact that she also had health issues, wouldn’t she want her life partner there with her? At first, I thought that maybe this was a coping mechanism because as humans, we all cope differently in all types of situations. But, as I continued reading, I realized that instead of a coping mechanism, this is really how she feels because at the end, when she learns that her husband is actually alive, she died from a heart attack. Basically, she died from shock. Again, as a female, you would assume that one would be happy but instead, she died. It was overall a shocker of a story.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a family on a trip to Florida and the trip goes downhill before it even started. Based off my interpretation of the family, everyone has a not-very-nice attitude. The grandma, especially. She seems to be very racist and harsh. Her family seemed to just go along with everything she said as well, so I can assume they are probably the same. I feel that the “interior” of the story leads to the grandmother and her personality/motives. It is a reminder to be mindful of our actions and words, as everything in life has consequences, some that we cannot prevent. The story also shows that even the most miserable and unkind person can change within seconds when put in a certain situation. When we think about certain things, while always hoping for the best, we must also be prepared for the worst.

While reading the play “Oedipus the King”, we come across a number of timeless human experiences. One of the human experiences/behaviors that I would like to talk about is the search for truth. As human beings, it is natural for to want to know more. We want to know why certain things happened, or why they happened the way that they did. Sometimes, we’ll find ourselves chasing that truth and we may or may not get an answer. In the play, Oedipus is trying to find the truth about himself and his life, but as the truth is getting closer to him, it’s as if he does not want to know. In situations like this, it’s like we know what the outcome will be, but because we already have a feeling of what it is, we simply choose not to hear it. Eventually, Oedipus found out the truth about what he was looking for, he loses everything.

In the story, “Araby”, the main character can be viewed as a romantic, but impulsive individual. Having a romantic personality led to him having some unrealistic expectations. He grows an attraction towards the sister of his friend, Mangan. Sensitivity seemed like a personality trait as well, based off the way he acted around the girl. He wants to buy a gift for her, rushes to do so, but eventually ends up disappointed. He wanted to get her a gift just so she could like him back, but it’s not that easy, is it? With that being said, he eventually realizes that his feelings were just short-lived and based off a fantasy in his head. It was just physical attraction, nothing more. He also realized that he was just being impulsive and that although all these thing are normal for a young man, he was ready to head into the adulthood chapter of his life.

The two characters I chose are Sylvia and Sugar. When they first approach the store, FAO Schwarz, I feel like although Sugar is more eager and open to visiting, Sylvia kind of has a nasty attitude about it. When they enter, Sylvia instantly feels like she does not belong there, because of her background and where/how she grew up. Sugar seems to be enjoying the experience and taking it all in. She’s grateful that she can be there. She admires the toys, even though she knows that she cannot afford the toys there, she’s having a good time just looking around/window shopping. I can understand why Sylvia felt the way she did. As a kid, it must be tough wanting all these things but not being able to have access to them due to financial reasons. These kids must see other kids in the store buying the toys and it’s understandable to feel a certain type of way about it.

In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the young boy seems to be very curious. I also feel as if he’s very pressured into the religion. He was just turning 13. He didn’t seem to have too much knowledge of what was going on. I think his expectations were based off what he had heard about Jesus coming to save him, and in his head, he pictured something completely different. At the end, he got nervous and felt like he had no choice but to lie, which in a way, makes sense because he was so young, he didn’t know any better. Also, because of everything he had heard about Jesus coming to save him, at the end he was disappointed and did not believe in Jesus anymore. In my personal opinion, I feel like adults should be more mindful of how they explain things like this to young children, because it really sticks with them throughout their childhood.

I believe that you assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World” as the first reading because it teaches us to be more welcoming of others. We are always so quick to judge others, without getting to know them. I think that is such a terrible thing we do as humans. In the story, the women assumed a lot about the man’s living style but turned out to be completely wrong. Another thing we can learn is that, you never know who you’ll meet and how they can turn out to have an impact on your life. In the story, when the man passed away, everyone kept him close in their hearts and memories. Also, when the man was drowning, I like how everyone came together to help. That’s how it should be. Coming together to help someone is such a beautiful thing and I think we need more of that in today’s world.