Blog #4, Response to Question 1

Cherice Franklin

Commitments by Essex Hemphill

Essex Hemphill’s poem Commitments expresses his feelings of being left out during family gatherings and how in each photograph that he is in he feels that it is necessary to act his role within his familial position. For example, he says that in one of the photographs he’ll smile while surrounded by family members like nieces, nephews, and cousins, but he may be suffering internally with loneliness and mixed emotions about his sexual orientation. Hemphill uses a detailed imagery in his poem when he describes his family gatherings, such as when he refers to the red and white checkered table cloth, the white paper plates, and the grilled chicken which helps his audience to identify with similar and intimate situations. Even though part of Hemphill feels remorse for not being able to bring his lover to the family gathering or present a child of his own, at the end of the poem he says “I smile as I serve my duty.” Indicating that he is committed to the role that he plays within his family structure.

Blog 4

Question 3) Approach Plath’s “Daddy” from a reader response perspective.
Before reading the poem “Daddy” I expected the poem to talk about Plath’s relationship with her father. After I read the information on the author, I realized that her father died when she was eight so based on that I think the poem could be about the relationship she wished she had with her father. After reading the beginning of the poem it seemed like she grew up wanting more than what she could obtain financially because of her father’s death, “For thirty years, poor and white,”. After reading that line I assumed the poem would go on to talk about her childhood experience without her father. Plath goes on to say, “I used to pray to recover you”, which made me think that she really yearned for her father. Reading on further I predicted her to go into more depth about the relationship she wanted but didn’t have a chance to have, however I was wrong. Plath continues on in the poem and it seems like she thinks that her father’s death has oppressed her in some way,
“I never could talk to you.”
“The tongue stuck in my jaw.”
“It stuck in a barb wire snare.”
At this point I didn’t know what to expect as I continued reading. She continues on and ends up comparing her father to a Nazi, “I thought every German was you.” Then she compares her father to a devil, “A cleft in your chin instead of your foot, But no less a devil for that”. Stopping here for a minute I started thinking that the author is really hurt over not having her father in her life because he died. Just when I thought she couldn’t possibly compare her father to anything else she compares him to a vampire. “The vampire who said he was you and drank my blood for a year”. From this point I thought the ending would end up with the author continuing on being angry with her father. Again I was wrong and at the end she has resolved her conflicts within herself regarding her father, “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.” Overall the poem never met any of my expectations and I couldn’t really realate to what the author was going through.

Week 8 Questions 1 and 4

Question 1: "A Chinese Banquet" is an interesting poem about a woman in a though situation with her mother and choice to tell her that she is gay. In the beginning of the poem (in the first line) the woman states that "It was not a very formal affair," she was talking about a gathering that, as I read on seemed very formal. She makes a quick point to say that everyone over twelve was wearing a long gown, but her. This is the first clue in the poem that there is something about the woman is different. As the woman describes the gathering in more depth she is distancing herself from them. Her mother seems to be pretending the whole time, she dances around any real subject or conversation with her daughter.

Question 4: Before reading the poem "Heritage" I didn't know what to expect. By looking at the title I expected someone to be talking about the past and where they came from. My heritage is farming, so for some reason I pictured someone talking about farmlands and crops and what not. As I read more about the author I knew it would have no relevance to what I was thinking. Linda Hogan has a Chickasaw background and interprets environmental, antinuclear, and other spiritual and societal issues. The section where she talks about tobacco, it hit home a bit. I think she was making a point on how a bad influence can cover and change a person. I would think that in the next part of the poem it would describe good influence. I believe that the section about tobacco was a good interpretation to give an example of bad influence. Tobacco issues and can relate to most anyone because it is a big problem in our country.

Blog 4 questions 1 and 3

Question 1: My papa’s Waltz
When first reading this poem my first thought was a drunken, abusive father towards the son. In the lines “at every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle” defined his abusive tendencies” at this case because of the waltz; also the opening line “the Whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” adds to the readers’ awareness of the abusive. That was at least my first impression that the narrator was emphasizing on the on his bitterness towards his father which is very straight forward throughout the reading of the poem. The emphasis on his mothers frowning symbolizes the sadness and possible shame of knowing how aggressive her husband is towards her son.
The contradiction I came up with after reviewing this poem over a few times was given though the narrators’ last lines “then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt.” This shows that although the narrator is very negative toward his father’s behavior, he longs for his affection whether it is in a positive or negative matter. Although from the words given gives the readers an impression that the father is a drunk and is abusive towards his son, the narrator might be sending a different meaning about looking up to his father and wanting him to be proud. Going back to the first few lines about him being so drunk that it “could make a small boy dizzy: but I hung on like death,” in this these lines the narrator is explaining how drunk his father is yet he doesn’t dare let go because he knows the disappointment his father would have towards him.

Question 3: Chinese Banquet
Having a brief understanding of the Author I expect to read about equality among same sex couples; because of her book, Sparks Fly, regarding San Francisco gay life. Also I expect to read about families due to the title, and possibility the family either accepting or not accepting same sex couples. The section where she is wanting to tell her mom that she is gay and is happy with her partner, yet she knows that her mother will ignore what she says; shows the lack of family support towards her and her partner. I personally believe in happiness, and families should always support each other and their paths in life. In this case I’m sure the narrator feels like a disappointment to her mother because of the other member’s accomplishments and to the fact that she is gay. Up to this point where the mother is clearly not supportive you can tell how desperate the narrator wants to leave the function and be with the person that provides the shelter and love that she is missing through her family. I can predict that she will be disconnected to her aunts, uncles, and cousins because they do not except who she is as a person and her personal feelings. Right now the poem is meeting up to my expectations it’s just not about equality on a large scale of same sex couples, it’s more on a personal level and the acceptance towards one’s own family. As I read on she is only at this Banquet to respect her family yet she is so disconnected that her thoughts just run about her partner; this is because her partner is the only one who does understand her and knows exactly what she is going though. The last four lines of the poem emphasis exactly the disconnection between the narrator and the family, and also shows she wants to connect to them but can’t. The reason why she shows she does want to connect is because throughout the poem she is only imaging what she wants to say honestly and just gain their approval of her life.

Of "Heritage" and "My Papa's Waltz"

The American Indian lives a life of conflicting emotion. For the Chocktaw Indian life was good on the land they inhabited, but because of the growing economy around them and the mounting pressure from white people to produce, one year of bad weather wreaked horrible destruction on the crops that ensured the Chocktaw's survival.
In "Heritage" by Linda Hogan, Hogan introduces us to her family. She uses kind language to describe how she is like each member "From my father I take his brown eyes," (7) always to juxtapose it with the harsh reality that comes from living in a desolate land, "the plague of locusts that leveled our crops," (8). In the last two stanzas Hogan places the blame for their families plight on her grandmother. Hogan's grandmother cannot handle that her granddaughter is white, "my whiteness a shame." (30) Hogan uses the imagery of chewing tobacco as a metaphor for those who lived off of the Oklahoman soil. Hogan's mother is white and so according to the grandmother Hogan is not entitled to the same rights as the Natives.
The last stanza is a tragic end to the story as the grandmother tells Hogan to leave "From my family I have learned the secrets of never having a home." (45) Hogan never demeans her family when she describes them but always follows up her memories with something that went wrong.
Another well known poet that wrote about his family often is Theodore Roethke who wrote "My Papa's Waltz." Based on Roethke's well educated background, I would expect a poem like this to reflect a very positive moment in his life. However, Roethke's father was known to be stern so it is very interesting how Roethke combines something as delightful and fleeting as the waltz with a stern gardner.
The opening stanza speaks of a rough whiskey drinking man, not the kind that would teach his son how to dance. It almost seems that the waltz is really a metaphor for Roethke trying to live up to his fathers expectations, which would not be a new concept for boys growing up with hard working fathers the midwest.
But then the next two stanzas are happy. Talking about how "the pans slid from the kitchen shelf." (6,7), makes the reader recant a happy time. Not one of dissapointment. "At every step you missed, my right ear scraped your buckle." (11,12). Roethke looks up to his dad. Everytime Dad messed up it would hurt Roethke. This places his dad in a very high place in his life.
Roethke seems to have mixed emotions when it comes to his father, as seen in the first three stanzas. The last one starts off with "You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt," (13, 14). The negative language of beat and dirt speaks of his father working Roethke hard. But in the end Roethke respected the man. "Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt" (15, 16).
For guys this is a poem that is easy to relate too. While we want to do a good job, we want to please our fathers too. When we mess up our fathers thump us and tell us to do a better job next time. Childhood can be likened to a dance in this way. When we do a good job, the dance is smooth. But one wrong step and we get hurt.

Week Eight, Questions One and Four

Question One: “Commitments”

This poem has conflicting themes contained within: the speaker’s relationship with his family and how his lifestyle affects that relationship. This seemingly autobiographical poem, written by Essex Hemphill, suggests feelings of longing and sadness, yet he obviously cares for his family. The opening two lines are powerful and contain a dark feeling: “I will always be there/ When the silence is exhumed” (553). I believe Hemphill intended this to mean that no matter what, even when there is nothing left but silence, his true self will always exist. His family is unaware of his orientation as a gay man, as the lines state, “the shoulders of unsuspecting aunts/ expecting to throw rice at me someday” (553). This means that they expect him to happily marry a woman someday. This brings us back to the first two lines. Perhaps he suspects that when his family finds out, they will be disappointed and possibly even try to forget about him, hence the silence. He is stating that he will always be there, depicted in the photographs surrounded by a typical loving family. He paints the pictures of family gatherings, including “the hazy smoke of barbecue” along with Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations. He states he is “always there/ for critical emergencies/ graduations/ the middle of the night” (553). The break in the second line is important, emphasizing again that he is “always there.” The key contradiction here comes in two places, with the first being when he talks about how his “arms are empty/ in those photos, too/ so empty they would break/ around a lover” (553). However loving and caring his family may be, and despite how much he cares for them, he cannot express his true self by bringing a lover around his family, and certainly not for family celebrations and gatherings. With the placement of the line “around a lover,” it ends the previous stanza, yet begins the new one. He is torn between being there for his family, as well as being there for his lover. His spirit is in turmoil, caused by attempting to balance his family life with his romantic life. The poem comes together in the last stanza with the lines, “I am the invisible son/ In the family photos/ nothing appears out of character/ I smile as I serve my duty” (553). He is the “invisible son” because his family does not know who he truly is, thus creating a churning contradiction within himself. He acts as though everything is alright, hiding who he truly is, as “nothing appears out of character.” He serves his duty as the son his parents can be proud of. He puts on the act and lives his life around his family as someone he is not. This is his choice to put on this act, and he is quite possibly content while he serves his duty.

Question Four: “A Chinese Banquet”

Before reading the actual poem, “A Chinese Banquet” by Kitty Tsui, I read that Tsui is of Chinese heritage, and given that she wrote a book about San Francisco gay life, I assume that she is gay. What struck me the most was the line in italics before the first line of the poem. It read: “for the one who was not invited” (554). I expect this poem to be about a family, and given the stoic and prideful nature of Chinese culture, that is rejecting of a person, possibly a person close to Tsui. After reading the first four stanzas, it seems like a fairly normal family gathering, but a couple of lines stand out. “all the women over twelve/ wore long gowns and a corsage/ except for me” (554) discusses how she was the only one not dressed femininely. Immediately, she stands out from the women in her family at this informal gathering. The family makes small talk with each other while she “suck[s] on shrimp and squab/ dreaming of the cloudscape in your eyes” (555). She daydreams about being somewhere else and seems detached from her family. Given the line in italics before the start of the poem, this seems fitting. The next three stanzas are filled with nagging from her mother, with a sense of disappointment. Her mother continues to ask her “what are you going to do with your life?” and discusses job opportunities, yet the question of marriage never comes up: “she no longer asks when I’m getting married” (555). It is as if her mother has given up on this subject. Tsui longs to have a close relationship with her mother, wanting to hug her and feel her love, but at this point, it seems near impossible. The next four stanzas are almost painful to read. It seems like she tells her mother that she is gay, or she is trying to convince herself to tell her mother, even though her mother already knows it. Being the strong Chinese woman that her mother is, she shakes her head as emotion takes over her face, “her eyes are wet but/ she will not let tears fall” (555). Her mother holds back her sorrow that her daughter is gay. The last three stanzas are fitting with the italicized line at the beginning. She speaks of the banquet being “very much a family affair” (555) but how her lover is not invited because she is just that: her gay lover. Her lover is not considered part of the family in her family’s eyes, despite that her “…home is in her arms” (556). This poem mostly fit with my expectations of it because her family is rejecting of her lover. Her mother especially has an especially hard time with, although she tries not to acknowledge her pain. It is obvious that she cares about her partner very much as she longs to be able to tell them she feels like she is home when she is with her.

Question 3 & 4

3. I expected “Daddy” to be a daughter talking about her deceased father. I had read the Protean Poetic: the Poetry of Sylvia Plath before I read the poem and even that didn’t prepare me for what I read. There are some parts where it sounds like she’s really talking about her father, but really she’s talking about Nazi Germany and calling them daddy. In one stanza I questioned myself, “Was her mother a Jewish woman and her father a German man?” I remember hearing in one of my history classes that if you even looked like you were Jewish they sent you to a camp. So, I was wondering, was she a Jew or did she look like one to them. “I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may well be a Jew.”
The end of the poem sounds like it’s the end of the war and all the Jews were being set free. “There’s a stake in your fat black heart and the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you. Daddy, daddy, you bastard. I’m through.” It sounds like a revolt almost. Overall this poem is interesting and kind of confusing.

4. A Chinese Banquet-
This poem caught me by surprise. I thought it was going to be about Chinese family tradition or Chinese family get together that was pleasant. Boy was I wrong. She talks about how it’s not a formal affair, saying all the women over a 12 wore gowns and corsages and mentions she is the only one that doesn’t. She then goes on to talk about the members of the family that pleased everyone. But then she says that her mom asks her when she’ll get a decent job since she is getting older and not any younger, but she no longer asks if she when she is getting married. She begins asking her a bunch of questions. “What are you doing with your life? Why don’t you study computer programming?” But her mother knows she won’t get married so she doesn’t ask. Her daughter is a Lesbian and has a lover. But she doesn’t approve and she makes sure her daughter and her daughter’s lover knows it. The narrator then goes on to the conversation she has to tell her lover, the reason she cannot come to a family event, because she is neither the husband nor wife. But, seeing as how her mother treats her daughter, I don’t think marriage would matter. If anything it would make the matter worse.
Because of my beliefs, I’m against Gay and Lesbian lifestyles, but really? This mother is being very rude towards her daughter. If it were my daughter, I would be shocked and a little sad, but I wouldn’t completely shun them. I wouldn’t ostracize them just because they like their same gender. The daughter would still be family to me and I wouldn’t treat her otherwise.

4 & 5

Commitments

According to my interpretation, I decided to set the whole atmosphere of the poem somewhat fantastic as considering the speaking person as a dead guy, possibly due to his serve of duty (military or something), and looking at the pictures of his family members and indulges in reminiscence about his past with them. From the beginning, He vividly describes how he was happy about living with his family by stating his smiling face. In addition, he also enjoyed to have a barbecue and chicken party with music of pop songs. From his statement; I am the invisible son, I interpret it as that he does not exists anymore in presence, but wishing to look at his family members playing whatever they enjoy, and also wishes to be with them whenever they needed him. Although the reality does not allow him to be with them, his will is always with them and feels very proud of them by thinking of them consistently. Finally, he states that he feel also very proud of what he has done at his service of duty even though he became an “invisible person”, who cannot be with his family anymore in reality. In doing this interpretation, I felt very fantastic mood of this poem.

The Glass Menagerie

This play certainly impressed me how literature can describe well about the human reality. Obviously, I did not live in the time of early 1980s’, however, I was able to feel the economic and cultural situation in those days. As a compromised analysis, I would start from the meaning of “the Glass menagerie”. If I take the meaning of the word as “strange or weird people”, there are many supporting points in the text, especially from the symbolic characters; Amanda, a lady bound to the past when she was in the aristocratic class, Laura, a lady who cannot overcome her disability and locked in her own world, and Tom, a boy who watches movies every night and dreams to take an adventure to some place. These people are all very peculiar and stuck in their own private structures, that nobody can touch and get in at any moment, which makes their family bonding relationship to be so weakened. In the conversations of Tom and Amanda at the scenes 3, 4, and 7, they show no effort of understanding each other and saying their one sided opinions in a parallel path, and Amanda’s attitude is shown to be forcing her children to achieve what she desires rather than letting them to do what they really want to do. Then, more problems subsequently show form Tom and Laura by not following what Amanda orders them to do even though it is not their desired things to do, but could be good things to do for their future; going to school or being married, and consistently sticking in their own frame, resulting in being a hands-off individuals. Their this kind of relationship indicates very fragile and weak, and this is directly linked to the title of this play – The Glass Menagerie, a glass. As an effort to resolve this problem, Jim, a character who represent a person of reality appears in the scene 7, however, his appearance even destruct their weak relationship and breaks their own fantasies by saying that he has a fiancée. Because of this, Amanda loses her dream that she attempted to get from the success of her daughter, Laura, and also Laura becomes unable to go back to her own world as Jim already broke her world as he gave her a hope to get along with, which makes her more misery. The incident of broken unicorn in the scene 7 is a good example of this situation. Finally, after Amanda expressed her madness to Tom due to failure of marriage of her daughter with Jim, Tom leaves house as he wishes, but I interpret that he realizes that the reality is not what he expected to be, and his family takes a hold on him whenever and wherever he stays. Therefore, his own dreaming world also has been destructed at the end. In conclusion, the Wingfield family members were all stuck in their own fragile fantasies(menageries), and really becomes completely fragile when they faced the reality.

Week 8: Q's 1 & 4

1. Chinese Banquet- Kitty Tsui
This poem is a kind of explanation to the person who was not invited, which half way through the poem we find out it is her partner. The poem begins with two contradicting ideas, she states "for the one who was not invited it was not a formal affair..." and later mentions it again that it was not a formal affair, however, she mentions that every women twelve or older is wearing a long gown and a corsage except her.
An internal contradiction is when her mother tells her that she is twenty six and not getting any younger, what is she going to do with her life? This question is emphasized by asking it twice and Tsui also states twice that her mother does not even ask when she is getting married anymore. Her mother knows that she is gay, but is not willing to accept it. Not only is her mother not willing to accept it but her whole family and that is why she was not invited to the Chinese banquet.

4. Before reading Chinese Banquet I imagined it would describe the Chinese culture, a celebration of something and I thought it was going to describe their customs.
At the beginning of the poem it starts off stating that it is not a formal affair. When reading that I imagined a Chinese family out at a park having lunch, but as i kept reading I learned that I was not close to what it really was about. She continues to explain how all the women are dressed in gowns, meaning it is a formal affair.
After reading that I predicted that it must be a special celebration, like the equivalent of a quinceañera. But it was not, it seemed like it was simply a family reunion. As I continued reading it all made sense when I realized that the author is writing this letter to her partner as a way of an explanation or an apology letter of why she was not invited. The author tried to disguise the importance of this event by mentioning twice that it was informal.
The poem was not what I expected and it made me change my approach to it from thinking that I was going to learn about Chinese culture to an emotional one where I felt sympathy for the author.

Blog 4, Week 8: Question 1&4

The poem "A Chinese Banquet," by Kitty Tsui has a lot of emotion involved, and conflict as well. The author expresses the mother, and daughter to have a close relationship. I think the theme, and words have a few areas where it completely contradicts the daughter and mothers loving relationship towards one another. The lines 25-28 explains that the mother no longer asks when her daughter is getting married. Her mother wants her to be married, but as her words show she clearly has doubts about her daughter, and marriage. I think she feels her daughter is sidetracked, and cant focus on things in life such as marriage, and work. She says"you're twenty six, and not getting younger," this showcases that she feels her daughter is wasting away her ideal image of perfection for her daughter meaning having all the things in life at a young age she wants her to achieve. In the lines 26-28 she explains how she does want to get married, and bridge the boundaries that separate her and her mother. I found this to be the contradiction of her wanting to be close to her mother, and her mother thinking otherwise. In lines 41-44 its shows that the daughter is not accepted by the mother although, she has such pride in her. She neglects her as a mother because the daughter admitted to saying "I love a woman". She does not want her around for anything, but yet she has all these expectations for her daughter. This particular poem has a theme of a loving relationship, although it has lots of contradictions it appears the mother is confused of her relationship she wants for her and her daughter. In the end I think it creates a image of the daughter trying to be close to her mother, regardless of the circumstances involved. It is showcased in lines 49-52. The sentence saying my home is in her arms.

The poem "Commitments," is written by a gay black man, Essex Hemphill. He conveys how it is to be different through writing and poetry. He is a powerful writer. He can portray all his emotions in just this poem alone. He revels the need of acceptance for gays, and their families with same sex marriages working together in their communities, although Hemphill hesitates with his family to discuss his own homosexuality. To me the author portrays that his family had no inclination about his disposition. This short story stands out in front as I have a friend who is gay. My friend struggles to express his identity with his family, because he is afraid of what they will think about him. I go visit him at his house, and his own mom acts like he is an invisible person. It's really sad to see this type of position he is in. He tells me his mother is a very religious individual, and if he conforms to showing any kind of different sexuality she will kick him out. I think this is morally wrong, because that is her own child she needs to be supportive of. This must be awkward, I can empathize with the author as well. The end of this poem stood for me on how many expectations family can have. He expresses that he is the "invisible son in the family photos".He is not in the spot light with a beautiful family like the cameras sight, and focus is on the families, and their children. He conceals himself hiding his display, a smile he must smile as he states "this is his duty to his family". You can see how much expectations can come from a heterosexual family. In lines 13-18 he conveys how his arms are empty in the photos with children being held by their parents. He states that his family has "unsuspecting aunts who will be throwing rice at his wedding some day". The author also revels how a typical family barbecue would be with "blackened chicken, glistering ribs, bottles of beer, and pop". This seems like a good time, but to him there is still a yearn for a secret to reveal.This poem met my expectations with how hard it is to be different, with the strong demands from a family.The lines 13-18 he really touches point on how he felt. I admire how he can put so much emotion in just 6 lines. This would inspire any writer to write with so much substance.

Week 8 Questions 1 & 4

1. “A Chinese Banquet,” by Kitty Tsui is a perfect example of internal contradictions. She repetitively says that “it was not a very formal affair,” but in words the informal affair is made formal because she describes how she can not talk about her feelings, and that her mother “sits across from her.” The distance between her and her family members suggests that what is suppose to be an informal occasion has really turned out to be informal. This great piece of literature also hinges on the contradiction that it is suppose to be a family affair, “just the family getting together,” yet her lover is “not invited.” This further illustrates the contradiction that the informal family affair really is not informal and really is not a family affair. Other internal contradictions that make this poem a great piece of literature is the conflicting ideas. “Her eyes are wet but she will not let tears fall.” Inside her mother I crying but outside she pretends like the problem does not exist. This is why she says that her mother “no longer asks when i'm getting married.” Instead her mother shifts the subject to “you've got to make a living,” even though her daughter being gay is eating her up inside.” She ends the poem with the idea that even though she is surrounded by her family she is not at home but instead her home “is in her arms,” (her lover's arms). Her conflicting theme is that her home is where she is accepted, but it is outside of her family.
4. I expected that the poem “Commitments,” would be on gay love, based on my knowledge of the author. Based on the title I expected the poem to be on a man's commitment to his relationship to another man. “I will always be there...I will be pictured smiling among siblings, parents, nieces and nephews.” I interpreted this to mean that he was rejected by family members, and that they buried (because exhumed can mean to raise from a grave) their memories of him in silence because of the fact that he was gay. I expected him to talk about being gay when his families dug up (or remembered) those memories of him when he was a boy. I stopped when I read “I am always there for critical emergencies, graduations, the middle of the night.” The text pointed out that he was constantly there for his family, and that his family was constantly calling him. So instead of them rejecting him and forgetting about him, he kept a relationship going with them. This helped me look at the poem in a new light- he was describing being someone close but nobody really saw him or knew him. “I am the invisible son...nothing appears out of character... I smile as I serve my duty.” He felt obligated to be a part of the family, because it was a job or duty as a son, but truly he was invisible because nobody saw that he loved another man.

Week 8 - Questions 1 & 4

Blog Week 8
Question 1
In the poem “Heritage” by Linda Hogan there are several contradictory ideas throughout, but the one that is consistent is the good or bad caused by tobacco. The theme of “brown” of tobacco is linked to both good and bad things that happen, as one of her bad childhood memories was that of her grandmother spilling black saliva spilled on her “that covered my white shirt” and made a brown stain. Here it seems that her grandmother who was brown skinned, may have told her that it was good that the tobacco spilled on her and covered her white shirt, since “her whiteness a shame”, or her white skin a shame to the Native Americans. The brown that is referred to in a bad sense is that of the “brown cloud of grasshoppers that leveled her fields” which is the same color used in a bad happening to her grandmother. In another line, the brown of the tobacco is said to “purge your body of poisons” putting it in a good light. In the end, both the good and bad sides of the dark tobacco seem to come together at night when it reads “That tobacco is the dark night that covers me”, as she can go to sleep in comfort knowing that the tobacco “has more medicine than stones and knives against your enemies”.

Question 4 “My Papa’s Waltz”
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke paints a picture of the dance of his father, as seen through eyes of a young man who valued this tainted relationship. The first line cuts right to the heart of what is wrong about this “Waltz”, since it is whisky that fuels the dance and is obviously a distraction for Roethke. Based on this opening line, some may suspect that this poem is about abuse of the father towards him in a whisky induced rage. I interpret it to be about his relationship with his father, and various experiences they had in spite of the influence of alcohol. My initial expectations of the outcome of this poem turn out to be far from what actually happens, because after reading the first line took me down a road that ended in a drunken unhappy event. Several lines throughout the poem indicate that this was not a joyous time for him, such as “whisky on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” or “beat time on my head“, yet he still needed that time with his father. He wanted to enjoy his father, as any other boy does, but this is the father he had so tried to make the best of it. He found little comfort at the idea of his mother acting as someone who could have calmed the situation when they “romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf”, since all she could muster is an attempt to unfrown herself. Near the end, he says “You beat time on my head” which I think is referring to his father letting him know it is time for bed. “Then waltzed me off to bed, Still clinging to your shirt” shows the affection and love that he has for his father. The author wanted this time with his father to continue late into the night, just as any normal young man would in an attempt to avoid going to bed.

Blog 4, Week 8: Question 4 and 5

4. The title of “Commitments” is interesting in the context that this poem is written by a gay man. Although I can only surmise here, it seems to me that because he is also a black gay man, there may be more social backlash in a community of black minorities. This author, Essex Hemphill, writes poems and other stories of being a gay black man, which conveys to me the taboo nature and ridicule he may have been subjected to by family, friends, and people in his community. The title of this poem, “Commitments,” strikes me because it appears that the author may have in mind of writing about relationship commitments as a homosexual man. The implications of this on the other hand could also be the lack of fulfilling other commitments that are traditionally and socially expected of a male. The one section that really stood out to me in this poem would have to be lines 13-18. It mentions here that photographs are taken and children are held by their parents. To me this sounds like the moment when parents raise children with hopes, aspirations, and dreams that one day their children will be happy. For society and many people alike, happiness also entails getting married and having a family. When I read the first few lines here, I imagined how parents are proud of their young children, and desiring to raise them the “right way” where one day such children would find happiness in life and ultimately also in marriage. However the latter portion, lines 16 through 18 of this poem, emphasize a depiction of loneliness as opposed to the former. The former embraces the youth and the hopes and dreams of their future, whereas the latter contrasts the reality of a life that has for the most part already played itself out. Things are already determined for this man and the hopes and dreams of the parents are not expressed, let alone present to reassure life has turned out well for the son. Additionally, the last line expressing, “…aunts expecting to throw rice at me someday.” comes to show some level of expectation and maybe disappointment. There isn’t a true, blatant strong sense of pride for this son if the poem’s tone is read and taken into context. In the end, the son states that he is “…the invisible son” which implies some sort of neglect and/or shame he experiences. From line 18 on, there is a congruity throughout the poem that I expected to see. There are more references to loneliness and being invisible, however there is also an allusion to “serving a duty” as a son and a man, which caught me off guard. After a bit of thought, I somewhat interpret this part of the poem as a way to nonchalantly reference that in photographs, this son appears to put up a veneer of fulfilling the prototypical “masculine role.” In essence, he may be a man that is working a good job, living life well, with a wife and family. The reality is not the same as the picture however, and he knows this. Yet to other unsuspecting viewers, they are unaware of this reality. The picture may show he is expected to fulfill certain roles, or certain commitments, which in reality he does as a son, with “critical emergencies, graduations, [and] the middle of the night.” Yet we as readers understand he does not fulfill one “commitment” that his aunts hope he would, so they can “throw rice at him.” Something that he cannot fulfill, something that may be socially taboo in a black community or any community, makes him an “invisible son.” This poem throughout meets my expectations in that it builds on what is previously stated. More allusions and examples are provided with each statement. It helps me as a reader because I can look at these holistically to see the overall point of the poem.

5. “The Glass Menagerie” seems to in some ways represent something that can be easily shattered. Something fragile, inanimate, and posing as fake or unreal comes to mind in my personal interpretation of this title. The author, Thomas Lanier “Tennessee” Williams seems to have written stories pertaining to the problems people face In life. Things such as depression, and incest were prevalent themes in many of his stories, and this seems to be attributable to his upbringing in some ways. The book states he grew up lonely and fought depression most of his life. He had an alcoholic father and this story is revealed to be about his life. The main character, or one of the main characters is named Tom as well, and this reveals the reflective nature of the story. “The Glass Menagerie” revolves around three characters, the mother Amanda, the daughter Laura, and Tom, who is the son. The story has characters who reveal elements of deception, selfishness, internal familial conflict, which in ways all allude or vaguely shadow the real life experiences of Tennessee Williams. In scene seven references are made to the different glass figurines that Laura owns. Laura tells Jim to “…be careful- if you breathe, it breaks. [And]… to see how the light shines through [the glass figurine]….” This fragility of the figurine may also represent the fragility of the people in this play. Laura in particular lacks much confidence and deals with a case of pleurosis while also having many problems with her mother, Tom also has problems and tells his mother that he is going to the movies, lies about paying bills, while the mother struggles with her selfish nature and the fact that life hasn’t turned out the way she hoped. This family is in essence a set of glass menageries of their own. However under certain conditions, “a light shines through” as Laura shows Jim that can she thrive when she is in comfortable situations. The tone of this portion of the poem also seems to connect back to the author, who had ghosts and skeletons to face in his closet. Although the problems may be different in nature, the fact is everyone still has them. People can all be glass figurines in some respects, fragile and easily breakable. In the same scene a unicorn’s horn is broken and Laura states, “Horn! It doesn’t matter… [smiling] I’ll just imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less—freakish!” This goes hand in hand with the previous text in that the glass figurine’s fragility is still relevant and also represents Laura specifically. She once felt like an outcast of sorts, but after Jim “broke/molded” the figurine, she feels like he has done the same to her. The glass figurine represents the characters in this story fairly well, however at the end when Jim claims he has another girl. The glass figurines come to represent a broken hope or promise, where the beauty changes with context of the type of “light” that shines on it. The play enables a reader to see that something fragile and broken has different meanings under different lights. Being broken isn’t entirely negative or positive in and of itself; being broken is only negative or positive in context of situation or “…the[type of] light [that] shines through…”

Week 8 Discussion Questions

Since we are in the “thick” of our theory study, a lot of the discussion questions from here on out will invoke a lot of these ideas.


1.Choose one of the poems assigned this week. Examine it in a New Critical light – consider that New Critics believe that good/great literature hinges on internal contradictions (in words, larger ideas, themes, etc.) that create the poem’s complexity and thus its beauty and communicative ability. Keep in mind that what’s meant here by “contradiction” means that two contradicting words, ideas, or themes are suggested in the poem. Ultimately, this contradiction is resolved, creating “organic unity” in the poem. These are the elements you are looking for to complete this discussion. Consider how, for instance, in Robert Frost’s well-known and acclaimed poem “The Road Less Traveled” the speaker wrestles throughout with the decision to take on path versus another. Because the speaker in this poem is explicitly talking about this contradiction, it’s pretty easy to identify (many times, a poem’s contradictions are implied, not stated directly). The title here actually “resolves” this contradiction (but the poem itself does, too, and very explicitly). Ultimately, our speaker chooses “The Road Less Traveled”, resolving his internal conflict. You’re looking for something similar in these poems. I have chosen these for a number of reasons; one of those involves the high level of emotion and conflict exhibited by the speakers – I think you will be able to sense and identify some level of contradiction here pretty easily.

2. Having read “From Protean to Poetic: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath”, in your text, choose one of the Plath poems available in your text or find one online. Explain how the poem you have selected conforms to or rejects the analysis in the critical essay.

3. Approach Plath’s “Daddy” from a reader-response perspective. Here’s a simple “method” for using some of the ideas put forth in this criticism. Before reading the poem, identify your expectations for the poem based on knowledge of the author or poem, the title, and anything else that strikes you (but the not the text itself). Analyze a section (you decide what this looks like), just as you would in any other objective analysis, then briefly discuss why you think you interpreted the section in this manner – what about your beliefs, experiences, likes, dislikes, familiarity with poetry analysis or Plath, etc. contribute to your analysis? Before moving on, “make a prediction” about what you expect to happen next based on your analysis thus far (“horizons of expectation). Continue reading until you find a good stopping point. Does the text at this point meet those expectations or reject them? How does the fact that the poem has met (or has not) your expectations change your approach, if it does? Repeat these steps until you reach the end of the poem.

4. Using the method above, do a reader-response analysis of one of the other three poems assigned for the week.

***You may do only of “each type” of analysis – one New Critical, one reader-response, in your answers.

5. Consider the play “The Glass Menagerie”. It would be difficult, very difficult, to do a reader-response critique of something this long and complex, so we’ll stick here with reader-response criticism. Again, follow the steps outlined in Question 3. As you negotiate such analysis, keep in mind that your response should be comprised of part textual analysis and part personal analysis – you + the text = the text. What does this text come to mean, ultimately, when analyzed in such a way?

Week of 3/15 Questions

These will be available this evening (3/15) on the blog and in Blackboard.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Questions 1 & 2


Recognizing and understanding the concept of grotesque is important in order to fully appreciate Flannery O’ Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find
because it allows the reader to be able to interpret, as well as appreciate a different type of humor that was popular during the mid 1900’s, and also helps to make her short story more memorable for the reader.
In the southern rural areas of North America where people were mainly isolated from mainstream society they were constantly surrounded by animals and farmlands that they usually were responsible for cultivating so they tended to coalesce these objects into their stories, like when the daughter-in-law is compared to a plain cabbage with a green scarf tied around her head; she plays an insignificant role in the story, and isn’t talked about often throughout. Even the baby is depicted as having a “smooth bland” face (can be compared to a vegetable), and giving the grandmother faraway smiles (like the remote fields that they drove past) as he was being held by her.
By describing the characters with animal or vegetable characteristics it helps to make the reader have more or less compassion towards them, because it either allows or disallows the reader to develop a personal connection with a particular character. The grandmother who isn’t depicted as having any types of animal or vegetable qualities becomes the innocent and likeable protagonist, who unfortunately remembers too late that the house that she wanted to show to her family was probably in a different town. By the grandmother constantly remembering and forgetting different occurrences of her life makes her character understandable and blameless, as most of us have come into contact with an older person who has trouble with their memory.

Blog # 3

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

2. Do you think the grotesque elements present in either or both stories makes the characters more or less sympathetic? Do you find them alienating, or do they help render the characters more fully human and understandable?

I think the grotesque elements make the characters seem more sympathetic because you can actually relate to what is going on with all of them, it is a short view into what that character is about. It also helps render the characters more human and understandable because if you didn't understand the elements the story would just seem like something out of a movie, it would loss all creditability. These elements help you refer to the other characters in the story as well because you see what their points of view are.

3. Discuss the title of "A Good Man is Hard to Find"- how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

The title "A Good Man is Hard to Find" relates to the story because in the first part of the story the Grandmother talks about people when she was growing up and how they were so much more respectful, trusting, and just better all around. Then she interacts with two men one who is trying to be a good man and the other one is so far on the other side of being a good men, but she refers to both characters in the same manner. The first man the grandmother refers to is Red Sammy the owner of The Tower (a restaurant), he is a small town business man who doesn't have much. He said to the grandmother "These days you don't know who to trust", and she tells him that is a good man. The second person that the grandmother refers to is the Misfit, she tries to talk him out of doing something bad like killing everyone. "You are a good man" that is what she tells him over and over again and yet he still kills the whole family. I think the title of this story does provide insight but it an opposite way, showing people the bad is a tactic to get them to see what good can be inside. There aren't a lot of "Good Men" in this story yet that is what the title is, it almost seems fitting. I feel the grandmother tries to find the good in everyone through out the story and that is where the title comes from. It was a good story, just sad and depressing at the very end.

blog 3 question 3 & 2

3. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?
My first impression of this title was this story was going to be about love rather then actually being literal to the title. Throughout the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the men who are emphasized represent the exact opposite of a “good man” such as Bailey who is more impatient and uncaring toward his mother and with Red Sammy who’s demanding of his wife. This title does provide insight as direct as to a good man is hard to find. With the Misfit I interpreted the grandmother actions being justified because she knew she was being confronted by death. He’s actions were not good as where Bailey toward the grandmother, and Red Sammy toward his wife. In fact the only good man mentioned in this story was Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden, and he was defined by the grandmother as a gentlemen. The Misfit was used throughout the story from the beginning to end. Red Sammy even quoted the title when the grandmother was talking about him so his significance throughout the story was strong; although he does show signs of sympathy towards the last words with the grandmother he does not do good which reflects the title itself.

2. Discuss how Dee’s interpretation of the phrase “everyday use” illustrates her perspective on social position, power, and heritage.
Dee from the start is already beautiful, educated, and driven; whereas Maggie is timid, frightful, uneducated. During the explanation of Dee we readers find out she doesn’t care to much for her family due to the fact she never brought her friends over and how she would “manage” to see them where ever they chose to live as if it were mandatory. When Dee arrives to her mother’s and sister’s home she is in a car with a long dressed and dolled up. She wants physical things to represent her heritage yet she changes her name. And calming that Maggie would not value the quilts as she would when in fact Maggie spent time learning how to make them by her Aunt Big Dee herself. Her last comment to Maggie saying she should become someone shows that she disrespects all the work her mother puts into their farm, and she is basically degrading Maggie’s accomplishments because they are not as wide spread as hers. Therefore Dee’s interpretation of the phases “everyday use” is more of a statuesque approach rather than a humble and appreciative approach.

Blog #3 - A good man is hard to find

1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.

It is important to understand the concept of the grotesque to more fully understand the text because if the reader does not understand the meaning behind the text the story would just seem weird with no real meaning. For instance in A good man is hard to find, the story would seem like something is missing, it would seem like it was just bad luck for this family to find them selves face to face with "the misfit" however there is more to it than just bad luck. There is a lot of little clues as the story builds that is there for the reader to catch to fully understand the text. Noticing these clues will help tie in the story all together to what the true meaning is.

3. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

The title relates to the story in a couple ways. First of all the grandma talks about the time when she was young and how people were more respectful back then through out half of the story. The title relates to this part of the story by showing how now a days men, or people in general, are not as respectful as they were in the past, it shows how everything changes as time passes by. Also, in the second half of the story the title relates by introducing the criminal, or "the misfit", to the story and reinforces what the grandmother had been talking about the whole time. I don't think the title necessarily provides an insight into the text. Obviously after reading the story it makes sense but prior to reading the story I thought the story was going to be about a single woman trying to find a "good man" to marry, and this was not the case at all.

"Everyday Use" Questions Two & Three

“Everyday Use” Question Two

When discussing who should take ownership of the quilts, Dee exclaimed to Mama: “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use” (302). This statement made by Dee implies that she is educated enough to know about her heritage, like she later states. However, these quilts, representing that heritage, are not to be put to “everyday use.” Dee feels that she has moved forward and far away from where she came. That is why she wouldn’t dare actually use the quilts, but hang them instead. It is with this statement that Dee expresses her power over Maggie and their shared heritage, and that Maggie isn’t in the social position to appreciate their heritage like Dee does, because Maggie hasn’t made something of herself, in Dee’s eyes.

After Mama rips the quilts out of Dee’s hands and gives them to Maggie, Dee said: “You ought to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (303). Dee implies with this simple statement that she is of a superior social status than that of Mama and Maggie. She is telling Maggie to get off that land, go out and get an education, like she did, and become something better than what she is. Maggie, on the other hand, believes there is nothing wrong with the way her and Mama live. At the end, they sit on the porch, snuff in their bottom lips, and watch Dee drive off, enjoying the view as the dust from the car settles. This is their life, and they are content with it just the way it is.


“Everyday Use” Question Three

I would agree with both of those takes on “Everyday Use.” Dee does try to force impractical knowledge on Mama and Maggie, based upon her own education and what she believes to be the knowledge a woman of that time should possess. Dee would read to Mama and Maggie, regardless of whether they wanted to hear it or not: “She used to read to us without pity: forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits… upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice” (299). The key word here is “underneath.” Mama is implying that Dee may be superior – at least in Dee’s eyes – because she is the one who is educated and can obviously read. Dee could be attempting to educate her family out of the kindness of her heart, because she wants her family to get the most out of life. But, it seems more like Dee used to read to Mama and Maggie to conform them into believing and being what Dee is. Throughout the story, Mama is constantly comparing herself to Dee, and how opposite they are, how hard-working Mama is and how uptight Dee is: “Dee wanted nice things… At sixteen she had a style of her own: and knew what style was; I never had an education myself… I was always better at a man’s job” (299).

I do believe that Dee does try to oppress Mama and Maggie herself. Dee walks into the house that she hasn’t been to yet, and it seems like she hasn’t been home in a long time since going away for school, and starts asking for Mama’s things. Dee at first wants the churn top and the dasher, not to actually use, but for decorations. Mama shows an attachment for the family history of the dasher, but let it go. Then, Dee asks for two very old quilts, the pieces passed down from generations over time. Dee implies that Mama doesn’t grasp the heritage behind the quilts, but of course, Dee does because she is educated. Mama argues with Dee about how Grandma used pieces that her own mother handed down to her, and pieces were used from Great Grandpa’s Civil War uniform, essentially insisting that Mama does in fact understand the so-called heritage of the quits. She implies that what matters is what other family members of generations past have put their hard work into making and piecing together those quilts, and what doesn’t matter is what’s written history text books.

Blog Questions 5 and 3

Question 3.

Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

The first thing that came to mind when I read the title "A Good Man is Hard to Find", was that was this was going to be a story written in a feminist approach about a woman looking for love in all the wrong places. Far off of what I anticipated, the second hand view of this grandmothers take on a negative society is not quite what I expected by reading the title. The characters are all mostly portrayed as bad people hiding behind a façade of a sliver of goodness, some of which is more evident than others. The title is well written because it gives no insight to what the story is about, and can force the reader to be able to understand what is going on.

Question 5

How did/does Martha Stevens’s reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?

Martha Steven's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" From The Question of Flannery O’Connor can give the reader a different perspective on the material by the way she connects the family and the grandmother. Steven's does a good job in the description of the characters by touching on the important things that the grandmother and the family have in common. The stories main point is about the massacre of family by a misfit, but in the midst of what is going on, it's evident that the grandmother had much in common with the family.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find", Questions #1 & #4

1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts?
Response:
It is important to understand the concept of the grotesque style in literature in order to see past the shock of the violence and appreciate the story in a new light. O’Conner often used the grotesque style in order to get through to the reader, but many readers are blinded by the violence in her stories and are unable to see the true meaning of grace portrayed by her characters. A reader that is well versed in the grotesque style is not blinded by the violence of these stories and are prepared to understand the true message that she is sending. In this story, for example, she is sending a message that one should not wait for a catastrophic event, such as being shot three times in the chest, to see the true grace shown by the grandmother. For many readers who are unfamiliar with this style, the message of faith that was portrayed by the grandmother may seem vague at first, but the pairing of spirituality and violence works seamlessly to show the true message that she is sending.

4. Another major thematic element at work in much of O’Connor’s fiction is “grace”, the concept of undeserved forgiveness and/or acceptance. Consider her own statement about her characters: “Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them . . . I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work. This idea, that reality is something to which we must be returned at considerable cost, is one which is seldom understood by the casual reader, but it is one which is implicit in the Christian view of the world” (1392-1393). Explain this statement in the context of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.

Response:
The statement given by O’Conner in the context of this story means that many times the reader needs an unexpected violent act in order to get through to them, as often times the Christian view has a very limited perspective. I think that this statement could also be interpreted that the average Christian reader would be more accepting of virtually any other ending than the one given and coast through without seeing the message that was intended. For instance, if the ending included the grandmother being able to talk “the Misfit” into sparing her own life and showing him there is another way to live his life, then that would be one of many expected endings which would also be very comfortable and forgettable. By having such a shocking and violent ending, the average reader would be forced out of their comfort zone to look at the story in a new light, identifying the message through a window of what reality actually is, and not what they wish to think reality is. I don't look at this statement as being critical of the Christian view, only emphasizing the need for all readers to open up to the reality that it is not a world that follows the "Golden Rule". In this story, the grandmother temporarily loses her faith that God will deliver her, only to regain that faith just before she gets killed. In this case, the grandmother's moment of grace is usually only recognized after she has lost her life, but it takes a tragic end to shake the reader into realizing that she had that moment to become the person of faith, and that she is redeemed.

Blog 3 Questions 3 & 6

Flannery O'Connors title "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," relates to the grandmother's point of view on society's downward spiral and nostalgia for the way things use to be. The title is also an allusion to the rampant crime, and lawbreakers such as the Misfit. At first, just based on the title, I thought that the reading was going to be about a woman trying to find a good man. The title led to insight on the limited good in humanity. Martha Stephens influenced my own understanding of the story by pointing out the symbolism in the grandmother saying "Why, you're one of my babies." I had no clue what that was suppose to mean, until she gave meaning to it by saying that the grandmother realized that she was "responsible for the man before her," (1267). Bad begets bad. Though she considered herself a good woman and him a good man, that was her flaw. He was bad and she was bad as well. She just held herself in a better light, and she held him on the same pedestal. Before reading the story and criticism, I just assumed she was saying anything to get herself out of trouble. Her sin was not her mouth, but her arrogant perspective. Though I enjoyed reading the text for it's action, it did not appeal to me as great literature. The theme was too simple, the plot too ambiguous or unclear, and the message too abrupt.

Blog 3

Good Man #3

O’Connor’s title “A Good Man is Hard to Find” relates well to the story because it makes you question what a good man really is. From the title I initially thought this story would be about finding someone to love or marry, as opposed to being about the ‘goodness’ of man.
In every character you can see their lack of goodness, not that they are completely bad. Bailey, his wife, and children, by society’s standards, from the outside looking in, would probably be considered good, but O’Connor points out their imperfections, so to speak. Bailey is short-tempered and unloving toward his mother, the children are ill mannered, the BBQ joint owner is, at the least, verbally abusive to his wife. Do these people symbolize what is considered good?
The Misfit, by his actions is evil, but through his conversation with the grandmother, we see that he is not pure evil. He has good in him, just as Bailey, who is supposed to represent good, also has evil in him. The title relates so well to the story because a ‘truly good’ man is hard to find, in that all of mankind has within us the polarity of good and evil.

Everyday Use #2

Dee‘s interpretation of the phrase “everyday use” shows us that she thinks herself better than her mother and Maggie. She believes that her wants and needs are more important, and cultured, and therefore take precedence over theirs. As she lays claim to the butter dish, churn top and dasher, as well as the quilts, in order to use them as decorative displays of her heritage, I noticed that every item was specifically created for its “everyday use”, each had a purpose. Dee doesn’t see beyond herself, she wants a display of where she came from, not who she came from. This is very clear in her decision to change her name, because she no longer wants to be named after the people who oppress her, ignoring the connection her name had to who she came from. Maggie and Mamma see the value of these items comes from their purpose, or everyday usefulness, and from their connection to the people that made them.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everyday Use

A Good Man is Hard to Find

3. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

The title relates to the story because the Grandmother calls two different men “Good” men. Both of the men were completely opposite. One was a hard worker at a small family owned restaurant and the other was the Misfit who was on the run from the Federal Pen. When they come across the owner of the restaurant, he explains that the good in the world simply isn’t there anymore and he tells them about how he let two people take some gas. The grandma calls him a good man. Then when they come across the Misfit after their accident, she pleads with him that he is a “Good” man, further irritating him. The so called “Good” Man ends up shooting everyone.
Everyone has a perception of what a “Good” man is. So “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a fitting title for this story. If the restaurant owner and the Misfit, though completely polar opposite, are good men, then finding a good man would be hard to find, because of the different meanings of good.

Everday Use

3. Some critics have suggested that Dee uses language to oppress her family (in much the same way that we saw in Oleanna) and, additionally try to force upon mother and sister knowledge that is impractical and probably unnecessary for either of them. On one hand, Dee might be seen as very caring but misguided –she’s trying to convince Mama and Maggie to question or reject the system of oppression to which they appear to have completely acceded. On the other, Dee doesn’t try to show them they are oppressed but oppresses them herself, depending upon her education and experiences to demonstrate that she has “seen the light” and escaped the very oppression she imagines Mama and Maggie have willingly complied with. Which is it? Why do you think so?

In this story, Dee seems like she’s trying to show her family what they’re missing, that there is a bigger world out there and that they are free to do what they please now, free to get an education (which she makes a big show about with her vocabulary and grammar) and free to be their own person (her changing her name). She’s very stuck up and just her presence puts the younger sister on edge. She causes turmoil in her mother’s house, wanting certain things now that she is grown but when she is told ‘no’ about the quilts, she immediately says that they don’t understand their heritage. If anything, they know more about it than she does. She is so caught up in what she can do now that she doesn’t even respect her roots. She doesn’t respect her given name or her family. Instead she oppresses them with her knowledge, with her new found freedom and outspoken behavior. But, really she is the one being fooled. She hasn’t seen the light, but her mother and her sister have, because of her visit. Just because you’re free doesn’t give you the right to go crazy and forget where you came from.

A Good Man is Hard to Find: Question 2 & 3

I believe that the grotesque elements in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” fully bring out the humanity in the main characters presented. Throughout one’s lifetime it is easy to identify a good, bad, and ugly side to a person’s character or situation he/she must face. Humanity is on full display through people and circumstances that are imperfect. Therefore “A Good Man is Hard to Find” enables others to relate to the imperfect nature of people and situations. The Grandmother and the Misfit both display this reality in different ways. The Grandmother who professes to be a religious individual shows inconsistencies in her behavior. She believes she is moral and holds others to this expectation of morality. The ironic thing is, she is fraudulent in her behavior as well. She lies to her grandchildren, she is manipulative with her son, and hypocritically expects others to uphold pure moral behavior when she herself does not. Additionally, she tells the Misfit to confess to Jesus when she herself cannot fully do so. The contradictory, inconsistent behavior and expectations of this woman at face value may not be seen as a positive, until people understand that they are all broken and imperfect just like this woman. This means any person that has lied, any person that has been a hypocrite should be able to relate to this particular woman. If one is honest with him/herself he/she would be able to understand that life is far from perfect and often times the antithesis of a fairy tale. For this reason humanity is on full display through the depiction of the Grandmother. The Misfit on the other hand, although he commits crimes and ends up taking the life of the Grandmother, also shows humanity through his grotesque nature. By nature it seems as if he is a pariah of society and a monster, however upon further analysis one can see that he is consistent in his nature. The Misfit never strays from the type of man he presents himself to be, he doesn’t necessarily prevaricate by saying he is a criminal and then acts in any other way that contradicts this nature. Rather he stays true to the man he is, although questionable and controversial, allowing others to relate. People are often times so convicted in something that their behavior does not easily meander despite the circumstances. Here people can relate to the humanity of the Misfit, who is so convicted to be a criminal figure that nothing will deter him from this. Although this is controversial, people can relate or appreciate the idea of being devoted to a cause that nothing will take them off this course. Devotion is a humanistic quality that people can relate to and although it is at the expense of a something controversial, humanity still shines brightly through this example. Both the Grandmother and the Misfit shows glimpses of humanity through their respective grotesque natures.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” stays true to its title. The title of this story implies that the term “good man” is relative in nature and is ultimately elusive because of its subjectivity. The Grandmother calls two men “good.” However the fact of the matter is, both men are different in temperament and nature that it is unlikely that both men can be “good.” On one hand there is an owner of the Tower Restaurant, Red Sammy Butts who gets the ”compliment” that he is a good man after he allows a few men take gasoline. Here one can imply that the Grandmother’s definition of good entails somebody that is naïve and shows poor judgment. This person who has been taken advantage of is called “good” by the grandmother because he has allowed such things to pass. On the other hand is the Misfit who is called “good” by the grandmother herself. He is living a life of crime and “meanness” which by many peoples’ view would not entail any goodness, yet when the grandmother is threatened, she calls him “good.” In the end, the fact of the matter is, both men cannot be “good” to an equal degree and it is possible that both men can’t genuinely be seen by the Grandmother as “good” people at all. The point of the title is that a good man is hard to find because the definition of good is subjective in nature. The Grandmother shows through her personality that she is easily influenced by the situations and circumstances that work to change the meaning of her definition of “good.” A good man is hard to find because the Grandmother shows that she does not firmly establish or know what a good man is. Both the Misfit and Red Sammy Butts can’t be good in the same capacity to the Grandmother. Considering that the grandmother does not know what a good man is, in essence the title, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is fitting. If she were consistent in her definition of a “good man,” the title would be different.

Blog 3: Questions 2 & 5

Blog 3: Question 2
3. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?:
The title “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” intrigued me before I read the story. I thought of what themes the author, Flannery O’Connor, would use to interpret the title in the story. To be honest, I would have never guessed that the story I read was about a family with a witty grandmother going on vacation and ended up being shot and killed by a wanted fugitive.
After reading the story, I now understand what O’Connor meant when she gave it the title “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The title is mentioned throughout the story and with the intention to give the reader the understanding that no matter how much good someone does in this world, there is always someone else out there to balance it with evil. The first time the title is mentioned is when the family and the grandmother are stopped at a restaurant called The Tower just outside of a place called Timothy. The grandmother is making conversation with the owner, Red Sammy, and mentions that “People are certainly not nice like they used to be,” (O’Connor 1254). Red Sammy then begins to tell grandmother about how two men told Red Sammy that they worked at the mill. Red Sammy trusted them and he let the two men charge the gas they bought. However, because of the trust, Red Sammy was out the money it cost for the gas they took. Grandmother told Red Sammy that he was good man and that is why he allowed the men to charge the gas.
Next, as the family traveled on with their vacation, grandmother influenced the children to make a pit stop at an old house that she had once lived in. While the family was traveling on the road, they got into a horrible car accident. In the accident their car had flipped over twice, the mother and baby were tossed out the car, and the grandmother was tossed from the back to the front. The car needed to be towed, so the family waited for a car to pass by to ask for help. The car that passed by was being driven by a fugitive, The Misfit, and once he got out, grandmother recognized him. As The Misfit was talking with grandmother, his mannerism were that of someone who held respect for others as he was using words like: “no ma’am,” “yes ma’am,” and speaking with a kind and caring tone towards the mother, children, and especially the grandmother. As it turned out, even though The Misfit was telling his two men to take each family member back in the woods to shoot and kill them, the conversation he was making with the grandmother continued to possess kindness. Finally, when all the family was shot and killed, the grandmother was left with The Misfit to plea to him that he was a good man, “You’ve got good blood? I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady,” (O’Connor 1261). Even though The Misfit came from a good home, he still ended up a criminal. What intrigued me the most about the story, is when The Misfit explains to the grandmother why he calls himself The Misfit. Explaining that the punishment he has endured is much too harsh for the crimes he has committed. I believe The Misfit has an understanding that has been punished too severely for the crimes has committed, that somehow he has allotted him some leeway to commit more crimes.
The insight the title brings, is questions. Before I read the story, I thought up many different ways the story could go. Knowing that Flannery O’Connor was a well known author, I knew that there just had to be something intriguing about the story. That it was not just another love story about a man that has done wrong somehow and he tries to prove himself to be a “good man.” In my opinion, it is a mixture of both the intriguing title and the infamous author.

Blog 3: Question 5
5. How did/does Martha Stephens’ reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?
Martha Stevens influenced me by pointing out many comparisons that the family and the grandmother have when alive and then how they died. Stephens points out that O’Connor does not go into much detail about the family when they are alive and even when they are shot to death. O’Connor gives the reader enough information about the family that is needed, and even with that it revolves around how the grandmother is portrayed in the story. Stephens points out that the main event in the story is not the horrible act of the The Misfit and his two men killing the family in cold blood, but it is about the conversation that the grandmother has with The Misfit as they family is being killed.
I read the story before I read Martha Stephens’ “From The Question of Flannery O’Connor,” and I realized that I did not pay that close attention to the conversation between The Misfit and the grandmother as I was distracted by the family being killed without mercy. I was hoping the entire time I was reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” that the family was not being killed and that somehow the other two men were just trying to scare the grandmother. But my hope is quickly put to an end after realizing that the grandmother is also shot and killed.
Stephens helped me to further understand the meaning that O’Connor was trying to make by pointing out that the little things I missed were meant to have substantial meaning. For example, at the end of the story The Misfit makes the statement, “She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life.” I did not take this into account of the significant meaning it truly had until Stephens commented on that line. I now have an understanding of The Misfit meant. While The Misfit had the gun on the grandmother, her demeanor had changed in a way that if she would have acted like that her entire life, as if someone had a gun to her head, she would have been a good woman. I do not necessarily agree with it but that is what I believe O’Connor had meant when writing the story.

A Good Man is Hard to Find - Q1 & Q2

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Question #1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.

- Implementation of the concept of the grotesque to literacy could be an interesting practice for both writers and readers as the practice itself will give a more dramatic sense to each moment of the scene in where the theme necessarily needs to come out in a more spectacular manner. What the grotesque impacts really hard on the readers is that it brings out “unusual” situation, which is not supposed to be seen or done in reality in terms of following human morality or consciousness, or may by major beliefs (especially Christianity in this case), and the unusual situation hits really hard on the readers as if intended to assert that it cannot even be actually unusual if the view of the majority is totally inverted to the other way, which could be immoral in the most cases. However, I believe that it is also important to look at the other side of such a violent side of human because it is always wide-open possible to happen regardless of the possibility that might oppress the purpose of using the grotesque. To me, implementation of the grotesque is like standing on the minority’s side rather than standing on the majority’s side to get an advantage for the argument to win. The truth is that everything that human could think of is potentially already ready to happen in reality whether it is good or bad. And then, justifying the definitions of the goodness and the badness would be another big argument subsequently.

Question #2. Do you think the grotesque elements present in either or both stories makes the characters more or less sympathetic? Do you find them alienating, or do they help render the characters more fully human and understandable?

- Honestly, I was very shocked at the end of the story, just like the most of readers, even though I intended not to be shocked in external appearance, and I definitely felt the power of implementation of the grotesque. To respond to the question, I would say that the grotesque elements present in the story affected the characters more sympathetic, in my words to more specifically say: more understandable. Whenever I read a story, I become such an objective person, who really does not stand on or support any character as to maintain the balance the importance of the roles of the characters. And what the grotesque impacted on me was about defining the possibility of things that should not happen according to following the majority’s hopes or beliefs. I’m not just saying that grotesque is an excellent method in literacy because I personally more prefer odd situations than ordinary atmosphere, but when I realized that the grandmother and her family’s comedic mood turned out to be like an horror, I felt sorry for her and her family, but honestly I did not feel any bad about what Misfit stated at the end, related to the argument of the belief’s of Christianity. As a Christian, I might feel some disagreement with his statement, but I also can understand what Misfit said because that is what he believes in. What I felt after I read the discussions about this story is that the standard of judgement cannot solely be one-sided upon a certain belief or any hope of majority. Being recognized not to be a good one by the majority cannot hide the fact that everybody can do the bad thing in any moment during their life time, even unintentionally. The only thing that I felt sorry about the character-Misfit is that he looks very passive to me even though all of his actions seemed to be very active, pretending to lead the story, due to his blaming upon his past, which makes him go backward to his miserable early life and maintain it though the present, even willing to continue to the future without realizing now and taking an action to find an agreement point for his sadness with the reality. This is what I comprehensively had in my mind after reading.

BLOG 3 ~ Question #1: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" / "Everyday Use"

Question #1- "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.

After I heard/read the lecture on O’Connor I think recognizing and understanding the concept of grotesque is important to understand and appreciate in texts because it allows readers to take a different perspective on the story than they normally would. It adds more symbolism to the literature, which allows the readers to analyze the context they are reading in more than one way. For example, in the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in the beginning of the story a description that really stands out and gave a strong sense of what the mother’s character was going to be like was, “a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like rabbit’s ears.” Based on this description, I instantly thought of a small, cute, shy, and timid bunny rabbit. Rabbits are also known for being fertile. This set the tone for how the mother’s character was going to be portrayed throughout the story. A woman with three children that doesn’t seem to have much of a voice throughout the story.


Question # 1- "Everyday Use"
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.

I think this story “Everyday Use” is best read through a feminist lens. I think this because the author relates the mother’s character in a way that makes her seem like she can do anything a man can. For example the mother says“I can kill and clean a hog mercilessly as a man ...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing ; I can eat pork liver cooked over fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog.” The mother’s character, Mama, is regarded with having power and being head of her household. “One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.” Women weren’t usually viewed in this light by society. Also there is no mention of a father or husband and the story’s focus is on three main characters which are women.

Blog # 3: Questions 3-2 "A good man is hard to find"

I think this particular title "A good man is hard to find," can have many different themes depending on how you interpret the story. For example, it could be about a family that lacks love for the grandmother, or a family that goes on a trip that wound up having an accident which brings them to a bad situation in the end. I first read the title, and thought that the story would involve a woman who can't seem to find true love within a man, and she had no hope of faith in relationships. I started to read the story, and come to find out the title did relate to the story with a completely different meaning. I think the significance of the title is to "convert" people who have not yet accepted the Christian faith. I think this title does provide insight on the text because its about a journey for grace, and forgiveness in a world where the redemption the grandma is searching for proves to be hard to find. I think the grandma is out of touch with her own faith in Jesus, and realizes this in the end when she is next to dying along with her family. I think the story is trying to say that grace if for everyone. This particular quote relates to the title I thought "A good man is hard to find." Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more" (1254). I think the title can bring about some misconceptions, but it's all about how you relate it to the story.

The grandma portrays herself to be self- serving, and strives for constant attention. She always wants to make the decision such as the trip, and she lives in a sheltered environment gaining knowledge by reading the news paper, and watching television. The only one who understands her is June Star. The way the grandma expresses herself makes her family less sympathetic towards her. O' Connor portrays non likable characters. The characters are ignorant people, shocked into self realization. By the way the story is showcased I find the elements alienating. For example "You're the Misfit! she said. "I recognized you at once!"
"Yes'm," the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased inspite of himself to be known," but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me (1257). I think by saying this the grandma was responsible for the deaths of her family, and self. The charcters had no sympathy the misfit was a cold-blooded murder, and mental torture like the example in the above quote shows. The grandma said "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children"(1261). Then after she touched his shoulder the misfit shot her three times through the chest. I feel she triggered a emotion in him of christainanity that made him aggresive, and lash out in a harmful way.I think both of the characters can be seen as grotesque the grandma, and the misfit. The misfit represents the violence in present day life. The grandma represents the death of us all. I dont think the story helps render the characters at all. I think everyone in the story struggled to find their true self within a christain context.

Discussion Questions, Week 6 (03/01 to 03/07)

Week Six Discussion Questions:

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”


1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.

2. Do you think the grotesque elements present in either or both stories makes the characters more or less sympathetic? Do you find them alienating, or do they help render the characters more fully human and understandable?


3. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

4. Another major thematic element at work in much of O’Connor’s fiction is “grace”, the concept of undeserved forgiveness and/or acceptance. Consider her own statement about her characters: “Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them . . . I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work. This idea, that reality is something to which we must be returned at considerable cost, is one which is seldom understood by the casual reader, but it is one which is implicit in the Christian view of the world” (1392-1393). Explain this statement in the context of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.


5. How did/does Martha Stevens’s reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?

6. Use the above question but base it on Stephen Bandy’s “From “One of My Babies: The Misfit and the Grandmother”.

“Everyday Use”

1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.

2. Discuss how Dee’s interpretation of the phrase “everyday use” illustrates her perspective on social position, power, and heritage.


3. Some critics have suggested that Dee uses language to oppress her family (in much the same way that we saw in Oleanna) and, additionally try to force upon mother and sister knowledge that is impractical and probably unnecessary for either of them. On one hand, Dee might be seen as very caring but misguided –she’s trying to convince Mama and Maggie to question or reject the system of oppression to which they appear to have completely acceded. On the other, Dee doesn’t try to show them they are oppressed but oppresses them herself, depending upon her education and experiences to demonstrate that she has “seen the light” and escaped the very oppression she imagines Mama and Maggie have willingly complied with. Which is it? Why do you think so?