Eliana’s Comments (group member since Oct 05, 2015)

Eliana’s comments from the Forms of Literature (Keating's Goodreads Discussion forum) group.

I agree with you Julio, that in both stories theres a different connection between the parents and children.
That for example in "I stand here ironing " the mother is mostly absent because she works daily and wants her children to have everything they need. And that in "Everyday use"the mother is always present, she teacher her daughter's the importance of knowing about their culture and different values. This is one of the biggest differences between stories.

I agree with you Andres, thst both stories show how the ocupation of being a mother is not easy. It takes time,love,and a strong economic support to raise a family. Both stories share the same concept and its well developed throughout the stories

In both stories: "I stand here ironing",and "Everyday use " the concept that both stories share is family values and support.
Some of the similarities from both stories are that for example in everyday use the mother is the one that always gives everything she can to see her family success. As mentioned she does not know how to read,she was part of the traditional black community,and that she raised money to send one of her daughter's to school. In the other story "I stand here ironing" the mother also wants her children to success,she works everyday to give them what they need, she gives away her "freedom"in able to let her family have all she never had.
Both stories share a very strong concept,mothers will always give their all for thei children to shine, no matter what.
But as well each story shows a different views of a family and how they interact.
For example in "Everyday use"both sisters do not share a good connection, they are completely different and one of them staund out physically and even shows her mental abilities, something her sister was not as lucky to obtain. Even tho both sisters are different and probably not inseparable the other sister has a very special virtue, which is knowing her roots and identity, something her sister lost in the way.
In the story "I stand here ironing " both sisters are completely connected abd complement eachother, even though they have some physical differences,they suppor eachother and strive for success.
From both stories i relate more to the family from "I stand here ironing" because i do believe that even though family members have differences or unique qualities, a family should always support eachother, have a strong connection and immense love to overcome any obstacle.

Emile wrote " The pond represents Mabels and the doctors mental rebirth "
I agree with you, and i think that's a very interesting concept and way of interpreting that part of the story.
What i belive is that acter he recued her they connected in some way and understood they wanted to be together.That love was the answer to all problems and to success in the future.

Marco wrote " death was symbolized in the story with Mabels mother gravestone...they communicated in some way"
I agree with you, because as you described it ,the story also refers to Mabels relationship with her mother as something spiritual and that they communicated in some way.Also such relationship with her mother made her feel supported and loved and it plays a huge role in understanding the main characters thinking and general concept.

The "Horse Dealer's Daughter "a story written by D.H Lawrence contains multiple symbols that create a greater meaning for the story. Symbolism reflects the authors thinking and makes a story be diverse and versatile.
In such story symbolism is introduced in many ways, one is to show rebirth and death.
The main character Mabel, lives with her three brothers and after her parents died she felt that her world was ruined and she had no support.
With a poor quality of life and a lack of love she decided to commit suicide. She felt that in the next world she would be happier and with her mother's company. Death in this story is symbolized with the usage of the pond,because its described as a dark,creppy looking place.
Rebirth also plays an important role in this story, when mabel goes into the deep pond,Jack Ferguson saves her and takes her to her house. Rebirth is symbolized when Jack takes her wet clothes off, showing that she will be a bew person and that there's hope for the future.

Andres wrote "Krebs experiences and things he saw during the war made him lose fait in his god and made him stop loving those around him"
I disagree with you in some way, sometimes bad experiences can make us think we should loose fait and not believe in smething that could gives us extra power or support such as religion or god.
But i don't think those experiences made Krebs stop loving those around him like his family.I think the distance and time made him miss those that were always supporting him,and when the time came to be reunited with them it was hard to go back to the old life. The process of going back to the same lifestyle when he was exposed to tremendous events made things harder for him to express just like his love for his family.

Jesus wrote "The events of war made Krebs want a simple life,simple love and not having to work for it"
I agree with you , the war changed the protagonist completely and it is obvious he wants things to be simple and to have everything without working for it.Because of such events he wabts a simole peaceful life without drama.

In "Soldier's home"by Ernest Hemingway ". The story is written with a very special tone and style which gives the reader a greater connection and approach to the story.
Krebs before the war was a very social, outgoing and happy person.He loved society and religion,and mostly his surroundings.
War came and transformed him into an apathetic individual,he was very distant and came back with a different perspective of life. He showed his emotional distress throughout the story ,for example during a conversation with his mother he told her he didn't live her.After he realized what he had just said and how much it affected his mother he apologized.In the story Krebs said that he wanted to live without consequences.
What he really wanted was a peaceful life, carefree, and time to recover from the tragedies of the war.The memories and events that changed his life and affected his personality.
The story's style and tone are very important components of such. Both give the story and characters a more complex approach to the reader.Throughout the story the writer used style and tone to connect more with the reader and at the same time emphasize the main characters dramatic changes.

I agree with you Traci , throughout the story is more than evident that Mr Wright depends on his "bird".
Also that the author did a great job depicting how her characters felt throughout the story with the use of the setting.
This also shows that the setting is essential to give the story a more intense connection with the reader and story.

I do agree with you Julio ,that the author did accentuate the story with the use of multiple examples of isolation.
Also that the main character was described as a caged bird. That her freedom was taken away and withit her hapiness.
I belive that the setting of the story plays a great role in the story and helps the reader connect more with the story.

In this week's video, Mary Helen Washington described the sense of isolation in "A jury of her peers"by Susan Keating Glaspell. Such story gives multiple hints about the isolated place and the background story.
Staring with one of the most important characters Minnie Foster who lives in a very isolated location which was described as a farm. The story describes such place with "it has always been a lonesome looking place,down in a hollow and the trees were lonsome looking trees". Such place was never visited by anyone and was just as cold looking as its surroundings.Minnie Foster at first was described as a "happy person who loved to sing in the church choir".After her marriage with John Wright she had to change her personality and accomodate her husband's lifestyle,she was an austere housewife.Her happiness was gone, she could not longer sing.She was also isolated from love because her husband was a cold and unaffectionate indvidual.The main character was isolated from life and this affected her in a great range.After all Minnie made an important decision that marked her life and brought her back to life.
Isolation plays an important roll in this story,it helps the reader recognize and understand the tragedy of the past.

I agree with you Joanna, that we as readers don't get as much from her as a person. That even though its described how comical and a positive character she is we are still missing some sort of depth or more specific information about her; in able for us to understand her completely and connect more with her character.

I do agree with you Lupita, that it is more hard to understand the protagonist since the story is told from the mothers point of view only. And that just from the mothers descriptions and explanations of Emilys personalities and actions its not enough to understand the character fully.

In the story "I stand here ironing" Emily who is the protagonist undergoes many changes.While evaluating such character she could be described as a round multidimensional and complex character.
The protagonist as a start undergoes many changes because her life impacted her personality and the way she thinks. Starting from the way her lifestyle is, since her mother works daily and gives her little attention but profound love, she changed into a very independent person,for example she as a kid started to not need the help of her mother at some point she started to be affected physically and her health was progressively affected.In the story is stated that Emily started to look like a skeleton,thin,and not so healthy compared to the rest of the kids.
She is a round and complex character because she grows as an individual, her thoughts change and her perspective of life changes as well. Throughout the story you see many sides of her which makes up such a good complex character.The protagonist grows individually and discovers that the only thing she enjoys to do is using humor to cope with the daily struggles.
Since the story is told by the mothers point of view you can't get a real view of the characters changes and dimensions,but she does shows and explains her daughters changes somehow,physically,emotionally and even mentally to a certain extent.