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Reading the first story “A Kind of Flying” was interesting, I was expecting a horrible ending where the groom leaves the bride or dies of unexplained circumstances. Due to the black bird taking the groom figurine. Usually that is taken as foreshadowing, that something bad is going to happen yet the couple stayed married for 20 years. It was a different perspective that gave away their future as explained on page 155. “Popular Mechanics” had a sad angry tone, not knowing what the husband did but with the reaction from his wife made you hate him just as she does. The ending was unexpected as well with it being implied that they split the baby in-half from my understanding. With “Reunion” Charlie was ecstatic to meet his father after 3 years, but when the day goes on he has the feeling of embarrassment. After leaving several restaurants Charlie doesn’t feel as he did in the beginning his dad isn’t what he thought him to be and with that he left and never saw him again. Not really knowing his age gives a bit of confusion, he calls his dad “daddy” indicating that he’s younger but to base never seeing him again on that one hour of interaction and what can only be assumed as a young age makes it hard to be understanding. “Doves” is a nice read, buying the birds I feel helped her by showing her a new taste in music and that gave a push to enter the Tavern. Had she not bought the birds I feel as if she would have never entered the tavern and would have been on her merry way not knowing what else could be instore for her. “Symphony” is about a woman and her many encounters with men. Reading this story gives an insight to her mind. How she really feels, whom she really loves. There is no shock factor while reading as it’s like many stories and movies. Women goes on dating spree but there is always that one man who will forever hold her heart. “Girl” is about what every girl goes through in her life. With her mother telling her how to be a lady it resonates with me. Having been through the “don’t be a slut” “you have to iron like this” and how to be a good woman. This is something many girls go through and might put their daughters through. That’s what’s been taught and what will be taught. Be the woman the baker will let near the bread.
ReplyDeleteKendra Lara
In the reading Popular Mechanics, title made think that the reading will be talking about technology. After reading, I like the way the author was talking about his characters without naming them. It shows a disagreement between couple that is about to divorce and fighting for their baby.
ReplyDeleteThe reunion was the reading that I like the best because it shows a young boy, who wanted to identify himself with his father. He was disappointed, and the connection he wants to have to have with his father was a failure. He found out that the father was an alcoholic. It would appear that getting served alcohol is more important to Charlie’s father than actually meeting Charlie. At no stage in the story does Charlie communicate with his father. Instance all he is doing is relaying each occurrence or event as it happens to the reader. He never gets to know his father nor does the reader get to know too much about Charlie. If anything Charlie is no more than a spectator when it comes to his encounter and meeting with his father.
Symphony, also was impressive, I thought the girl is trying to boost her confidence by collecting different men.
Fatimata Traore
On page 155-156 the story, “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver was interesting by the way it was structured. I noticed that the dialogue was more indented than regular sentences. I have not really seen this technique used & I feel the expose to this will be a great deal of help for future pieces! I felt this structure was more aesthetically pleasing and I am excited to use something similar in my own writing. My only issue with this dialogue was that it was hard to differentiate from what character was speaking. It requires much more attention than the other readings from this chapter. Another short story that caught my attention was, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid I noticed that there was not an ending punctuation throughout the whole story besides the question mark on the last sentence on page 164 and a few question marks scattered. I have not seen a story with this kind of punctuation throughout the story. The story was a never-ending list of what a girl I supposed to do which I feel emphasizes the loaded expectations of a woman. I love when authors purposely do something with structure and language to emphasize the main point of the story and I felt she displayed it very clearly and efficiently. By far, my favorite out of the bunch.
ReplyDelete-Valerie Valentin
I felt pretty indifferent reading “A Kind of Flying” by Ron Carlson. There wasn’t anything that I found captivating or amazing. Thought it was generally a decent story. The ending of it referencing the supposed “bad omens” and it being an underlying positive message felt sappy. “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver, though short compared to the other readings, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how it was depicting a break up between a couple who had a baby and how there was a struggle in who was taking ownership of the baby. I personally felt that there was an ominous feeling while reading the story. Especially with that unclear ending. “Reunion” was also very interesting.It’s depicting a son and his father who seems to have some sort of mental illness, I think. That or he’s just very eccentric. And I presume that it’s due to that, that he never sees his father again. “Doves” and “Symphony” I felt where similar when reading them. Both depict a woman who seem to be alike. “She becomes the woman in all the songs…the woman who leaves them, the woman who keeps breaking their hearts” (162). “I could love any of them, in an instant and with every piece of my heart, but none of them nor the world will allow it, and so I move between them…” (163). They’re both depicted as elusive and enigmatic woman. “Girl”, I suppose is illustrating a social problem woman have with society's expectations of them. Go Feminism.
ReplyDeleteAdrian Martinez
We had discussed it in class this week about how the stories we’ve read so far held negative aspects and while that could be somewhat true, Ron Carlson’s “A Kind of Flying” came off as very charming to me. Wedding complications are always something I find amusing to read or see and this story is no exception with also having a nosy sister-in-law giving unnecessary commentary or advice to the couple. Another thing I liked was how the narrator incorporated the title with a way to describe what marriage is. Which is why I should not have been surprised the stories follow after this one would not be the same. “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver kind of raised my anxiety near the end as they fought for the baby and held a sort of tug of war with the baby. While a part of me felt like the father in John Cheever’s “Reunion” acted, well frankly like an ass, intentionally. They only had a short time together and all Charlie wanted was to have lunch with his father as he hadn’t seen him in three years. That is a long time to see your son and maybe he felt pressured, but it still doesn’t excuse his behavior. And it seemed that the father spent the limited time they had being rude to waiters and leaving to different restaurants, not allowing them the time to talk and having Charlie leave and never see him again. I like the way Francine in Ursula Hegi’s “Doves” kind of goes through a subtle shift through the story. She first just wanted some pet doves but through them and their preferred taste in country tunes, did something she normally didn’t do. I felt a connection with “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid as I believe a majority of us women are told as young girls the things we can/cannot do and what we must abide to. In comparison to men, we are given all kinds of expectations to follow and even as we do, there is always something our mothers’ can take from it and point out to us.
ReplyDeleteSavannah Lopez
“A Kind OF Flying” was probably my favorite out of the second part of the section as he was tell his story I feel like it was going to end badly (divorce or the death of his wife) but it has that heartwarming middle to end where they both made each other better in some way. For me it seems as if these stories could be different times of one-person life. Like “a kind of Flaying could be the man looking back on life, Popular Mechanics could be the couple’s first big fight, Doves could be narrative of the wife while separated, Reunion could be the last time he has interacted with his side of the family, girl could be either giving advice about life to a young lady. Least favorite was girl the laundry list of what not to do and what to do seems straightforward but at the end when the girl asks what if they don't let me near the bread the narrator respond you’re going to be that kind of girl? Kind of like damn if you do damn if you don’t. for me with this batch of readings there is not much to take a way. The structure seems the same in all, and each were very interesting. Where I would like my writing to be.
ReplyDeleteKristopher Price
In Ron Carlson’s short story, “A Kind of Flying”, it was about the narrator’s life pre-wedding, during wedding, and post-wedding. To be honest, I was much better from the negative stories I’ve read so far yet I was quite confused on the symbolism and the moral of the whole story.
ReplyDeleteIn Raymond Carver’s short story, “Popular Mechanics”, I think it was about an argument between a man and women over a baby they had, on who should have the baby. I noticed with most of these stories, I get confused easily if I don’t understand it well enough. Again, I didn’t get the connection with the title and story and was confused all the way. I didn’t like it had a negative situation especially struggling over a baby.
In John Cheever’s short story, “Reunion”, the narrator reunited with his biological father after many years. Even though reunions are supposed to be positive and memorable, this reunion was memorable yet not so positive.
In Ursula Hegi’s short story, “Doves”, it’s about a lonely and down-on-her-luck girl named Francine and buys two doves which changed the courses of her life. I liked this story overall due to the way it ended for Francine, changing her life around.
In Pam Houston’s short story, “Symphony”, it’s about the author, Pam, discussing her past loves in detail except for one. Overall, it was confusing to me and almost looked like a creative nonfiction essay.
In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story, “Girl”, I think it’s about a young girl and the narrator is describing the chores and behaviors she does. In the end, I found this somewhat confusing due to what was the reason for describing these particular moments. Overall, it was somewhat interesting.
In the end, I favored "Doves" and "Reunion".
Jose Contreras | 287 Words
The sobriety of these works is astonishing, yet again many of these are stories of blunders and negativity, which I do not dislike. I am actually fonder of these, as they portray a clear antagonist. While we don’t know what happened in “Popular Mechanics” to prompt the separation of the man and woman, the man is clearly the antagonist to the story. The stern, absolute zero tone in his voice shows a drive from the character that is unmatched in determination from the rest of the stories. In my own creation of a character I am also writing an antagonist, and while I cannot take much away from that story, I can see what it looks like to be stern and unfeeling, and perhaps how a character might pretend to act this way. “Reunion” portrays an antagonist, the narrator’s father, who is simply put, an awful, impatient human being. But these are qualities that readers don’t see often, they want to read into it and see how far the father will go in his lunacy. I Struggled with doves, perhaps because I don’t understand the connotations of her actions or what it means all together, but this piece had the strongest diction. “Symphony”, to me, also features an antagonist as I cannot say that the narrator is a good person. Multiple lovers, delving into their psyche and in a way seeing herself above it all. This more closely matches my character, and in the uncomfortable feelings drawn from the authors sentences, I think it will help me draw out uncomfortableness in my own work. Nobody likes to be told exactly who they are, because then they’ve been completely read and are vulnerable, and that’s a valid fear. In “Girl”, the antagonist is the speaker, presumably the protagonist’s mother, who teaches the younger girl everything there is to know and to do, while instilling the fear of ever being labeled a slut, and doing everything correctly. This lawful evil is also despicable, as it shows a society’s expectations that people fully believe and indoctrinate others into. The structure characterizes only commands, without any periods, to show how endless the instructions seem. It’s a real downer of a story, but it too teaches how to write a character that an audience will dislike. That was the bit of constancy in these stories, they all had an easy to dislike character.
ReplyDelete-Kedrick Wyatt
I found that I liked this set of short stories a lot better than the previous set we read; I liked how they all seemed to deal with relationships—be they romantic or platonic—and I found them much more relateable because of that. Perhaps I found some of them too relateable though, because I often found myself forgetting that I was reading fiction. As I was reading “Girl” I felt like I was reading a list of things akin to what my own mother or grandmother or aunts would tell me. Given how there wasn’t any real development of characters or plot, I probably would have assumed it was creative non-fiction if it weren’t for it being in the short fiction section of the book. The same thing happened with “Reunion,” “Symphony,” and “A Kind of Flying,” though a little bit more so because of the use of first person POV. I think I’m so used to seeing fictional characters fleshed out through chapters after chapters that it feels a little foreign to me seeing them developed and being used to tell a story in little more than a few pages or paragraphs. That being said though, “Doves” and “Popular Mechanics” felt the most like traditional fiction to me. I enjoyed reading them, but “Popular Mechanics” was probably my least favorite of all the stories; the ending was so cryptic, I was thrown of by the lack of quotation marks, and the subject matter made me so anxious! My sister just had a baby so reading about a couple fighting over their baby made me feel so uneasy, especially since I couldn’t figure out what happens to the baby in the end. On the other hand, I loved reading “Symphony”! It felt so sensual and intimate, like I was snooping into someone’s diary. It felt very similar to “Doves” with both of them dealing with a woman’s relationships. “Reunion” seemed to be the only one that didn’t deal with romantic relationships but it seemed to hit me harder. I think the relationship between a parent and a child is more universal so it’s easier for that story to resonate with a larger group of people. For that reason it’s probably right up there with “Symphony” as my favorite.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Garza
These essays were a bit gloomy in my opinion. The most interesting part about all of them is that even though they are dark, they can be very relatable to a good amount of people. For example “Girl” is about the typical stereotype that girls face on an everyday basis from society. So, the whole, “the girl belongs in the kitchen” or “you shouldn’t date too many guys or you’ll be looked as a whore/slut”. What is crazy is that it’s the mom telling these things to her daughter and ironic enough, sometimes those closest to you want to mold you into what they think is right even though you might not want to be what they want you to be. Although the things mentioned in the essay are negative and portray a negative stereotype of girls, it is something that is very relatable to many young women. “Symphony” was the typical “I will only truly ever love one man” and the story really lets you have detail about what it is that she is feeling. “Dove” I suppose was about a woman that has been with men but breaks hearts often so in a way it was a similar vibe to “Symphony.” These stories like I mentioned have a darker tone to them but ironically enough seem to be relatable to today’s society as well.
ReplyDelete-Merary De La Fuente
Carlson’s “A Kind of Flying” was a sweet telling of a big day in the lives of two people and that if the day doesn’t go as planned, it doesn’t mean that the life ahead will be that. But it wasn’t an intriguing one, not an essay that would hold interest for long. It just seems like a wedding episode in a family-friendly comedy on CBS. Although it was nice and nostalgic to see one of my Grandpa’s favorite songs mentioned in the story, El Paso by Marty Robbins. “ Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver is a short tragedy that ends with a limited cliffhanger, where either the man ends up with the baby or the woman ends up with the baby or they end up hurting the infant. The situation begins to tense up and I personally felt it near the end when the man tried to pry the baby from the mother’s hands. It was strange to see Carver not use quotation marks on the dialogue, but with only two characters in the essay, it does work. “Reunion” was a bitter realization for the boy who wanted to see his father after his parents separated three years ago. You could feel how excited he was in the beginning for that hour and a half lunch with his dad. The title makes it feel like a heart-warming story, but it ends when the boy starts to see why his parents separated. You see the father’s attitude to those below him, especially when he would be shouting “Garcon! Kellner! Cameriere! You!” (page 157) at the waiter and telling him that his son’s age “That is none of your God-damned business.” (page 157). Imagine how he’d really be with his son. “ Doves” by Ursula Hegi, was an essay that had the main character go through a change. In the beginning she was a shy person who worked at a K-Mart but by the end she was a free woman out on the bar scene and getting asked to dance. “Symphony” by Pam Houston was a journey through a woman’s love life and the men that she holds dear to her. I enjoyed how descriptive she was of each man, showing that she paid attention to detail and what exactly attracted her to them. With “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, I felt that this is accurate on how women are brought up as little girls. It was surely different on how it was basically a never ending sentence. As rough as it sounds and how it makes it that women have more on their plate, it feels as though they need it for the tougher world outside.
ReplyDelete-Michael Lucio (445 words)
There is no protagonist or antagonist to “Popular Mechanics.” There is a character that the author favors with his word choice, but neither character is better than the other. Each one carries a hatred very unlike the married couple in “A Kind of Flying.” Although the man is passive in the beginning of the short essay, “Popular Mechanics,” his character is drawn into light when he solves his desire to keep the baby by grabbing it. The relationship between the man and the woman is so stretched that they resorted to force to solve a civil issue.
ReplyDeleteOppositely, in “A Kind of Flying,” the man and the woman carry love, even though the sister of the groom treats both the bride and groom very badly.
Both the character (the father) in “Reunion” and the two characters in “Popular Mechanics” were disgusting.
In the short essay “Girl,” the reader is allowed to see the meanness of a mother without the author showing or describing the characters at all, and only providing scraps of dialogue. The mother continuously brings up the fact that the girl is going to be a slut, even though the girl is still young enough to play marbles and to spit into the air, acting like a tomboy. This shows how the mother’s seemingly unforgiving dialogue will shape the girl’s future.
Raquel Williams
The readings of this week were quite different from the nonfiction essays we'd been dealing with before and one of the reasons is mechanics. The structure is different and so is the content. Point of view is different and obviously they're more fictitious. But wow are interesting! The story that most captivated was Pam Houston’s “Symphony.” The way that she was able to dissect her lifestyle was vivid and I liked how we were introduced to various characters (the men she'd been with her whole life) and we were able to understand their identity even without dialogue or direct contact with them. It almost wants to come across as a nonfiction essay. The next I enjoyed and could relate to was Kincaid’s “Girl.” It was like my life had been picked apart and laid bare for all to see (not entirely, but enough to feel deep identification). I found the structure of the story interesting considering it's all a big list: what a girl should do and be and what she shouldn't do and be and the sentiments that are carried along with it. What was especially impactful was the last sentence, about the bread. It's understood from that phrase that if you can't handle yourself in the kitchen, at all, you can't be expected to gain approval from your mother or from your spouse, as if being a girl is only measured by how much she can be of use to her husband. Sad but it's an ideology that I have found prevalent in Hispanic culture. I enjoyed reading “Popular Mechanics” by Carver because of how ambiguous it was though the message can be an allusion to either toxic parenting or dysfunctional families or even the perceived nature of men and women as a unit. “Reunion” by Cheever is a story where I found myself once again relating to plot and content. I’ve felt the disappointment over something you've hoped and longed so much for, like a bad taste in your mouth. “Doves” was my second favorite. The atmosphere was gentle, like a trickling stream, and the style of Hegi’s writing was beautiful. The imagery unique and wording creative in its own right and I found the end bittersweet and verisimilitude engaging.
ReplyDeleteSandra Martinez
Some of these made me uncomfortable, (in a good way I suppose) I'm not accustomed to conventional lifestyles, such as witnessing a happily married couple so closely in A Kind of Flying, and yet I'm still rattled by domestic violence such as in Popular Mechanics that I am acquainted with. Ron Carlson made me fidget with unexpected enviousness reading how stupendously enjoyable a marriage could be, while Mr. Raymond Carver twindled out emotional threads of memories I thought I had buried. However after reading John Cheever's Reunion, I felt a shared theme of perception characters had of others or vice versa. There's even a plot twist of perception as an audience when we finish reading Doves by Ursula Hegi. The main character is going through a rough transition period of perhaps a break-up? Then she herself ends up becoming a heart-breaker, and the doves... small & gray? Perhaps just as she felt too. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is something I know all females at some level can relate to. There's this kind of secret established meaning about being a 'lady' that will give someone grace and little to no rejection when it comes to asking the baker to "squeeze the bread." But it also means that society expects for females to do a lot. I remember this certain event at a wedding reception, the speaker who was announcing the bouquet toss was having a hard time getting women to walk to the dance floor and prepare for the toss. No one was moving. I guess the girls were shy, and the announcer was announcing "c'mon don't be so shy sweet things!" So I decided to initiate and I stood up to walk to the dance floor. I'll never forget this next part. The announcer quickly remarked loudly to everyone "Oh look this one's READY, watch out guys!" I gave one of the biggest sighs of my life. Sometimes there's no winning for women. Or girls. You do or you don't. You still get hell.
ReplyDelete-Naissa J. Acosta
After having read the short stories, I felt that they were all kind of odd. For example, while I was reading "Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver, in the beginning, it felt like I was just strolling along and then all of the sudden and out of nowhere, I'm witnessing this violent fight between a mother and father who are arguing over who is taking the baby. Although this wild fight is alarming on its own, I found the ending to be even more disturbing. On page 156, when the author says that "the issue was decided," my inference is that the baby was dropped between the two and then rather than one of them keeping it, no one would have the baby and that their fighting was to blame. Or could the baby have possibly been ripped apart, left suffering from a terminal injury? Whichever way I imagine, I can only spine-chillingly assume that things did not end well. Similarly, "Reunion" by John Cheever shares the intense experiences that a boy has while reuniting with his father. The ending of the son having to leave to catch his train while his father is still left bickering at the newsstand employee is unsettling because it's brutally realistic in that the boy's father has such lousy manners. However, the two that I felt were somewhat positive were "A Kind of Flying" by Ron Carlson and "Symphony" by Pam Houston, only because they both ended on a note that discussed the feeling of love in their lives. All in all, most of these short stories felt less like stories and more like first hand accounts by real people.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Cervantes