Monday and Tuesday

The vignette that surprised me was “Sally”. After over-analyzing Sally like she does to everyone that catches her eye, Esperanza is able to sense something wrong with Sally based on the way she behaves after school, she alienates herself and before she takes off she  straightens her clothes and wipes off her makeup. Esperanza assumes that Sally does not want to go home and what surprises me is that Esperanza was correct. In a later story you figure out that Sally is abused. The vignette that intrigued me was “The Monkey Garden”. It is not everyday you hear a story about a monkey causing a disturbance in someone’s neighborhood, but this is what Esperanza experienced. Along with the monkey, the use of imagery brings life and personality to the neighborhood that she sometimes seems bored with. The vignette that left me puzzled was “Red Clowns” This is not the only short story where it seems like the narrator is assaulted and I am not sure if this is literal or if she is using symbolism.

The vignette that surprised me the most was, “Four Skinny Trees.” This vignette surprised me because of the description of trees. The way the narrator admires them and speaks of them, almost like the trees are sacred and important. Trees are magnificent and they carry life and fresh air and they provide beneficial aspects to our everyday lives. People may find this weird if you tell them but, talking to a tree isn’t entirely stupid or idiotic. “Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.” To read about the way trees are being admired in this sense, I rarely get access to reading things like this, especially when it’s provided by class. The vignette that intrigued me the most was, “Sally.” The way the narrator portrays Sally and is beautiful and almost “popular”. However her personality and aura changes as she’s away from the environment that keeps her uplifted. In reality, she is none of the things the narrator stated about her when she is away from everyone. She’s quiet, lonely and doesn’t seem to be living the happiest life or have the happiest home life. I can relate to this in a sense where when I was a young girl, school was a distraction for me, an escape almost. When I was surrounded by a person who made me “happy” or I was in an environment where I was surrounded by joy and distraction, I would be sad knowing I had to go home in the end, and to a life that was dark and quiet and not enjoyable. The vignette that puzzled me […]

During this semester, online classes were a bit of a challenge for me, and I picked up two jobs recently. However, the times we had to do readings for this English class, I was actually intrigued. I had much previous knowledge about Shakespeare especially and the poems in general. I wouldn’t necessarily say I had a favorite reading, but I rather enjoyed reading the poems. Even since high school, I have always appreciated and took interest in poetry. The idea of not knowing what to expect and how to analyze it entrains and stimulates my way of thinking while reading. To seem to know what something means, but it may mean the opposite is almost like a mental adrenaline rush. This semester, our professors provided our class with various types of poems with a diversity of authors. For many of the other readings, the author was also chosen very strategically and for good reason. I must admit, some of these literary pieces that we have read are indeed true works of art.

“What Sally Said” was the most surprising and worst to read. This makes “Sally” make more sense to me. Sally’s dad hit her whenever she did or said what he didn’t like. She didn’t see it as abuse, she would try to put it off by saying she fell or that he never hit her hard. It’s disgusting and it hurts to read because I would never expect that to come from anyone, because no one deserves it. “Bums in the Attic” intrigued me the most because it reminded me of “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. Esperanza wanted to persevere and change the way she lived for the better, just like Sylvia did. Another part that intrigued me was how Esperanza was happy to give back to whoever needed it. She was ashamed now, but couldn’t wait to be in a place to give others what she couldn’t/didn’t have. “Sally” puzzled me because I was not expecting the switch up in the story. The girls fighting and her completely changing after the boys were making fun of her in the locker room. When Esperanza describes Sally, she’s basically saying she wishes she could dress and be as beautiful as her. Though, it seemed as if she was bullied because of it. Sally no longer wanting to go home makes me believe she got caught by her religious dad and he made her change completely. I feel like this one had to be a little longer.