"The Things They Carried"

“The Things They Carried”

            What is the story saying about the theme of war?

The story talks about how war is no place for one way romances,” He would image romantic camping trips into the white mountains of New Hampshire.”(341) The theme of war is painted gray with curtain of sorrow and tears full of fear, “For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity. Now and then, however, there were times of panic.”(351) War is a weight on the mind of the soldiers that they will carry until the end of their life,” They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity.”(352)  War will change a men ideals and dreams. War can create a brotherhood among those who are together and far away at the same time,” there it is, they’d say. Over and over-there is my friend.”(352)  

            War is and will always be the fear behind human dreams and ideas. I had seem the born of a new life into these world and the also the early end of someone life. War is nothing more than a selfish shadow that would not care about who, what or where, violence will manifest. War can corrupt the purest of heart, and transform him into a inhuman animal,” They burned everything. They shot chickens and dogs, they thrashed the village well, they called in artillery and watched the wreckage….” (349)

They weight of war can not be weighted in pounds, it can only be weighted in dreams destroy and tears shared.

"The Storm"

“The Storm”

Try to explain the time the time and place as if you were explaining them to someone who had no read the story.           

            The short story “The Storm” takes place around the late 1800. The main setting of the story takes place at Calixta’s house. For use of French between the characters and the weather conditions that takes place during the story, we can conclude that it might be late 1800 and that it might be located northern, east coast of the United States. During the story a strong and quick rain appears. During the story there are clues that reveals that the storm happen late afternoon, also due to the fact that some of the characters show up home when dinner was being prepare lets us know that it is already pass noon time.  Calixta’s house is a typical house located on the out skirt of town, with a big front porch and tall trees around the house. Inside the house there are a couple rooms, the family room, a gallery or living room, bedrooms, and kitchen.

 Far into the horizons a storm is coming, dark clouds approach and  the sound of the thunders alert the coming of the rain. 

  

 During the beginning of the story, Bibi and Bobinot took shelter from the rain at a store near by the house.

Calixta's house was a small house. she had a nice porch where her chickens took cover when the rain started. M'sieur Alcee also took cover for a moment before he was invited to come in. 

Calixta invited M'sieur Alcee to come in into the living room to wait until the storm ends.

M'sieur Alcee had a quick look of Calixta and Bobinot's room.

As the storm passes Calixta and M'sieur Alcee talkde about their past.

when the storm was ended M'sieur Alcee left, the sun shine it over the dripping leaves, and the sense of tranquility ones again arrived.

This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

Who is the main character or protagonist of the story? _­ make a quick list of the character’s physical, mental, moral, or behavioral traits. Which seem especially significant to the action of the story? Does the main character have an antagonist in the story? How do they differ?  Does the way the main character speaks reveal anything about his or her personality? If the story is told in first person, what is revealed about how the protagonist views his or her surroundings? What is the character’s primary motivation? Does this motivation seem reasonable to you? Does the protagonist fully understand his or her motivation?

The main character of the short story, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” (247) is Thomas Builds-the-fire. The main character is an American Indian, psychologically disturbed, with strong family values, and with a storyteller background behavior. Thomas Build-the-fire since a little boy enjoyed to tell stories that came to him from dreams, the breeze of the wind, the cry of the animals, the sound of the water running. Thomas Build-the-fire antagonist is Victor. Victor and Thomas Build-the-fire are two completed different persons, even though they grow up together each one with the past of the years choose a different path. Victor is more like the normal American person. He worries more about the money and worries about himself. Thomas is more attach to his Indian roots. When Thomas at the end of the journey tells Victor,” “I know how it is,” Thomas said. “I know you ain’t going to treat me any better that you did before. I know your friends would give you too much shit about it.””(256) When Thomas tells that to Victor, I get the idea that Victor is and will continuous to be a self-centered person who worries to much about what other think about him. If the story was told in a first person view, the point of view of the main character about his surroundings would be sad and at the same time full of life with sign and messages to him, with ideas to tales for him to pass down to the anybody who would listen to him. The character primary motivation is to help a fellow human being in distress. Another motivation for Thomas to help victor is what victor’s father told him ones, “He said I had to watch out for you as part of the deal.” (254) Thomas ones had a vision that drove him to be in the middle of nowhere, where he met with victor’s dad. He later understood that victor’s dad was his vision, “take care of each other is what my dream was saying. Take care of each other.”(254) Thomas motivation is to help each other, his motivation appeals to me very reasonable and very noble. The protagonist seems to fully understand his motivation to help others. When Thomas and Victor made it back to the reservation, Victor wanted to thank him and repay him but Thomas as a good person did what he did no for repayment or any reason. He did what he did because he just wanted to help a person that was in need.       

           

"A Rose For Emily"

What is the point of view of the story? Who is telling this story? How is this unusual? Why would Faulkner select this point of view? How does the point of view fit with the theme of the story? What specific lines in the story give you clues about who is telling the story?
    
      On A Rose For Emily, by William Faulkner, the point of view of the story is set as observer. The story is narrated by an unnamed character who throughout the whole story seemed to be part of the everyday conversation and also seemed to know everything that goes around town. This method of narration is unusual as it gives the reader the illusion of the character being an important part of the story or one of the main characters. I believe that Faulkner chose this point of view to give an unbiased perspective. The point of view fits the story in a way that does not give any idea of the outcome or set any emotional distress towards any character. Throughout the story, I found many clues about the narrator being an observer. The first line that star to giving me the idea is the sentences,"When Miss Emily dies, our whole town went to her funeral."(33) Another line that gives me the idea that the narrator is an observer is,"She carried her head high enough-even when we believed that she was fallen."(37) Sentences like that ones before are throughout the story where the narrator included himself but he never actually gives his judgment or point of view.   

German Coello 1B "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Does the plot surprise you? Why or Why not? When you started reading the story, what did you think would happen?

     I was very surprised by the plot and by the turn of actions from the trip. I thought the family was going to have a nice trip to Florida and come back with a lot of memories. When I started reading the story, it seemed like the story was going to be another funny, without-a-care, simple, family story. I thought it was going to be just a family trip without any trouble; however the end shocked me to the bones.