Marielena’s Comments (group member since Jan 20, 2015)

Marielena’s comments from the Morales 2341 Spring 2015 Class MW group.

Yes, I agree that we usually admire a person who rises out of poverty to get a brighter future and works hard to get an education and better her circumstances. But in this story Dee does over come every life situation everyone would admire but the author does not seem to sympathize with Dee in any way. Why, because Dee seems to feel better and greater than everyone else and now looks at people like if they’re less than her because she has an education. Dee had forgotten where she has come from. I do not believe Dee is totally unlikeable because I actually understand why she is the way she is. Because Dee has accomplished so much in life she is proud of her self and accomplished many things. Yes I do think those particular traits that appear to be her shortcomings are actually both common and necessary for someone to progress in life but sometimes especially for a poor black women years ago things were very hard. Well I think that everyone deserved credit fir something but admire mama and Maggie yes why not they both went thought something that was difficult in life and overcame it in different ways and because of them two Dee is where she is now.

Hilda wrote: "Akaky Adadievich is the main character in the short story "The Overcoat." He is described as a low ranking clerk. He loves his job and he seems to have no friends but only coworkers that disrespect..."
Hilda i agree society and the author of this story is trying to tell us that society does base everything, including hoe they think your attitude is according on how you dress.

Akaky was literally invisible before with his old coat, but once he has a new coat, those around him accepted him. I believe that in this story “ The over coat” by Gogal what the author is trying to say about the relationship between one’s appearance and social standing is that this two issues have a huge part in life. In the case of Akaky when having the old coat he felt insecure and want nobody to bother him and seems as if in a bad mood all the time, because the rest would make his life miserable at work. But one’s Akaky went and spend his money on a new coat made by a tailor he finally had the confidence to stand up for him self and walk taller and people viewed him differently. So what does this story teaches me in a way is that people in the society we live in and not only today but not to many years passed people do treat you with respect if there is money involved and that will happen 90 percent of the time. So Gogol is correct in what he is trying to explain the reality of how are society works now and will later on. Confidence is a huge part in order to succeed in any job and if dressing good or having your own cloth made by someone special just for you, unique will do it. I believe people do have to place an effort in situation especially in a work environment because people see the effort that has been placed with time and benefits do come with and success and effort placed into something.

The similarities between “A good man is hard to find” and “Revelations” are based on religion, how both of the main characters in both of O” Conner’s stories are into religion. Just as in a good man is hard to find” the main character, which is the grandmother, bases everything and calls upon God for every occasion and pretends to be a saint, and the same happens in “Revelation” with Mrs. Turpin. Both of the main characters in this two stories are very into them self’s and judge every one else on how they look and what their attitude is towards life, but never look at what they themselves do wrong. Social class seems to be a huge issue in both of these stories because of the years both of these stories happen. In the story of “Revelation” Mrs. Turpin is criticizing everyone in the waiting room and butting everyone into categories with out even knowing the people in the room personally basing her opinion on physical appearances. In the stories “ A good man is hard to find” the situation is quite the same because the grandmother is criticizing her own family on there personal appearance and she contradicts her self with her believes in the way she thinks of her own family. What I learned from O” Conner id this two stories is that maybe she is likes to write about inequality and how people judge upon physical appearance and maybe that was how things worked when she was young

In the story “Death of a Salesman” I believe everything is expected to be perfect in a certain way according to Willy Loman’s way of perfection. The story in my opinion is full of tragedies because the main character, which is Willy himself, is not happy with his suppose lovely life so he is a tragic hero. Everyone in the family is living in a living hell pretending to be happy when in reality nobody in the family is. Willy was proud of what he had accomplished as a salesman and wanted his sons to follow his footsteps but in reality Willy himself did not even desire his life as much as he pretended he did. When Willy realized one of his sons was going a different direction and knew that maybe they would accomplish more than he had all his life he was in denial and decided to confront him, with negative comments and making him feel bad. But on the contrary his son was happy with his job and decided to go his own way. Willy maybe was disappointed at the end of his life because he felt he done so many things for his family and in reality nothing turned out as he had ounces dreamed.

Hilda wrote: "In the play “The Death of Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the main character is Willy Loman who wants to live the “American Dream, but fails to be a salesman. He arrived early to his home, with his wif..."
hilda i agree with your responds because everything is a fact the old man is trying to encourage or persuade one of his sons to follow his foot steps but never realizes that he is not happy himself

In Act I of the death of a salesman by Arthur Miller the story involves a salesman named Willy, which has two foul grown old sons. In the story Willy is a great salesman who encourages his son too be as successful as they can. One of his sons does not follow his rules on how to be so successful and decides to do his own thing, not as a sales man but ranch style work. So this situation obviously makes things very hard for every one and competition starts with the two brothers. I understand why reviewers thought it a bitter attack to capitalism system because of the way things are going against the social norms and the way things use to work in 1949. I also understand why others found it social criticism by a writer committed to a faith in democracy and free enterprise because of the outcome of one of the brothers not following his father’s steps into business. I also believe the play does make a specific criticism of society because society always expects everything to flow in order and be perfect. When the father is trying to change his sons lifestyle to follow his own footsteps.

Hilda wrote: "In both short stories "The Chrysanthemums" and "The Storm" both characters Elisa and Claxita have sexual desires for a man that isn't their husband. Both women feel they need to escape from their m..."

yes i agree both women have sexual desires for men that do not belong to them and are being some what unfaithful to there husbands

Well in both of the stories “The chrysanthemums and in “the storm” there are a lot of things in common and in contrast. In both of the stories there is a kind of attraction the two main characters get from someone that is not there husband. Also both of the women in this stories live in areas were not so many people pass by so this leads me to think that that’s why there is a need or necessity for attention. So there is a probability that temptation will come very easy to both of them. They are both married but in some way are un happy with there lives and wish they both could live different lives then the once they both have in the moment. I mean both women are not mean or bad examples they just both fall for what they don’t have at home. They both have something they really love like for example one has her garden and the traveler knew that and knew how he would get her attention. Know in the story the storm her ex knew she was worried for her child so started the conversation with about her child and things lead on from there.

Hilda wrote: "In this short story it shows “lack of moral closure" when Calixta and her past lover Alcee commit adultery. Calixta and Alcee both show moral issues and are both equal at fault for what they did. T..."

yes i agree with hilda there is a lack of moral closure when calixta and her ex husband have an affair while her real husband and her son are out in the storm

The lack of moral closure is when Calixta falls into tentation and is unfaithful to her husband with her ex husband. The moral issues is that there is lies, people who cannot be trusted alone and unfaithfulness. Calixta is married and there is a storm going on outside, her husband and her child are out somewhere and she is all by her self. When all of a sudden her ex appears and obviously because there is a storm outside she invites him in until the storm passes. Of course being Calixta’s ex he knows her very well and decided to make her remember all the happy times they spent together to get her to fall for him again and she does fall and she is unfaithful to her marriage. Once her husband and child come back she is very happy meaning that she liked everything that happen and was not ashamed. Of course she act normal with her husband and child but she is literally day dreaming about the whole insistent. Chopin’s closing sentence that “everyone was happy” seem immoral because every one was happy the wife of her ex was living a distressful life no worrying about her husband, while Calixta and her ex were having the time of there lives having an affair and at the end Calixta’s husband doesn’t even realize what her wife had done.

“The Flea” by John Donne the author or speaker is using a flea to describe his connection to his lover. My responds would be. Why, why a flea I mean I can see the connection because in the poem or short story there is a certain connection the speaker used with his and his lovers blood and the flea was a huge part for him because the flea was something that carried there blood. If the speaker’s lover would kill the flea the three will be killed because that was part of them. He was trying to get her to go to bed and make her guilty in a way. My responds in the short story “Wild night” by Emily Dickinson there would be a lot of questions based on her way of describing sex in other words. I like her work very much because she has a way of changing the way a person looks at things in different perspectives. For example luxury is a way to say lust and the word moor means like tied together so to understand the story the reader has to be very open minded and of course the title helps a lot but the wording is also very sexual.

I believe Sammy’s quitting was a type of rebellion statement maybe he was tired of working in the grocery store and having to do the same job over and over again a million times. Who thinks a job at a grocery store is fun and repeating the same over and over again I mean there are many ways a job can become fun with time but may be his boss was also a pain and he was just tiered and decided to take the girls incident to rebel. Sammy is rebelling against his life and what others expect him to do, he was not happy and has to start all over again. Yes there are unconscious targets of his rebellion statement, the girls don’t even notice what he tries to defend them. The enemy in the story is his manager because everything was bright and perfect of course he is a guy and what guy doesn’t like to look at girls in bikinis and even more when your job sucks. Once the manager came in the store everything started to turn a different way because he ruined the moment for everyone. The person who is more oppressed I believe is Sammy his self he rebelled for some girls who didn’t even notice and he left his job that his parents had helped him with and he had no job after everything he did. I believe Sammy is standing up for himself and took the girls as an excess to make his stand but at the same time I do believe that Sammy in somewhat wanted to defend the girls from his horrible manager. My favorite quote in the story was when the manager told the girls that “the grocery store was not a beach”.

Hilda wrote: "“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros starts off with the narrator talking about where she has lived. Esperanza and her family have moved many times. She describes how they no longer live ..."
Hilda I agree with your discussion because your correct “most Latinos families can relate to that struggle” and no body likes to be judged or feel ashamed of there home. Esperanza does go through a lot of struggles in her life to the due of change.

Esperanza is obviously a young Latina girl who is experiencing a lot of change during her years. Esperanza has a huge family, which includes both of her parents and her three brothers and sister. The role she is playing includes change, feeling out of place and being treated like nothing, which are characteristics many young Latinas experience because of the situation there parents place them once they decide to live in the United States. Her parents were always wanting to give there children a better life and education, but to have great things there has to be hard work and Esperanza’s parents wanted to give there children a better home with everything just like everyone dreamed but it was hard times for the family. Esperanza’s mother would say, “ For the time being and Papa says it is only temporary”, her parents never lost hope even through they knew it was going to tale time and dedication. Maybe that why Esperanza never lost hope ether she was always looking for something better and dreaming of the home her mother always talked about before going to bed every night. In growing up in general Esperanza have had to experiences a lot of different emotions because moving every year means making new friends and having to start all over again and for a young Latina teenager that is a very hard thing to go through every year.

Hilda wrote: "Both characters have the same persona of a killer with different reasons. Both killers killed out of selfishness. They thought about their feelings first. The narrator in "Prophyria's Lover" wante..."
i agree HIlda both characters do have the same persona of a killer and you are right killed out of there selfishness. just b/c like was not working out as they had expected.

Both Montessori from “ The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the speaker in “porphyria’s lover” by Robert browning have killed a person so that is one similarity they have in common that they are both killers. The second similarity is that there both full of anger and there heart is full of hate and bad thoughts. The third similar is their egger to want to hurt someone and kill them make them disappear for there own satisfaction. The differences they both have are that they both kill for two dramatically different reasons. In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” the killer kills for revenge and kills the person by leaving in a cave to die so that’s another reason the way the kill. In the story of Porphyria’s Lover the author kills his lover just because he wants to keep his lover to him self and kills her with his own hands. They both have totally different reasons to kill and they both have murdered some one at some point but have different mindsets on how to kill. Maybe something that can explain some of the things and how they murder is in the era they live in.

Hilda wrote: "In the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” death does not come as a deceiver. I believe he escorts the speaker to some sort of paradise. It shows that death is kind. “He kindly stopped for me..."
i agree Hilda 100 percent i also believe Death was not a deceiver because of the settings in the poem and everything that was going on while going through town.

I believe The Poem “Death” shows death kindly escorting the speaker to some sort of paradise. In the poem there are certain quotes that states the one being taken into death is not having a hard time accepting the fact that she or he is going to die or is on his or her way. For example in the first sentences the writer states “ Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me”. Using the word kindly states in my opinion the state of tranquility and peace. The second example is right after the first example “ We slowly drove, He knew no haste, And I had put away, my labor and leisure too, for his civility”. Everything that was the past was being left behind in the past, everything that once was a problem will not trouble no more. The last quote that made me realizes that Death is not so bad as we fear is in the last paragraph were the writer states “ I first surmised the Horses’ Heads, Were towards Eternity”. Death and the person that had just died were going with God to eternity just as the bible states, after death there is eternal happiness.

Writer Cynthia Ozick is correct in saying that her “novella is about learning, finally, that you have been living a lie, that you’ve failed to be true to yourself, that you’ve failed to be true to others around you, and that you failed. And it is about exploring the rupture of the lie”. I agree one hundred percent because just like in the novella Ivan based his decisions on what society expected. And just like Ivan everyone or mainly everyone is basing their life on what others expect for example like jobs, careers, marriage and even schools. Everyone lives in a lie not doing what he or she desire but what others desire or expect. The novella is a great story and an excellent example on how society works today, many years have passed but even today the same mistakes are being made. Just as Ivan based his whole life on what other people wanted for him or how he followed his father’s footsteps, a lot of people today do the exact same thing and live in a lie. People need to stop following others dreams and start living there own life because happiness is not based on what others want for you but what the heart and mind truly want. my favorite quote is when ivan say's " life ought to do- easily agreeably, and decorously".