South Lit.

"Bastard Out of Carolina"

2006-05-03T19:32:00.000-04:00

wow.....this book really blew me away. I kind of figured that it was about a child with no father but it really went behind what I ever imagined the book to contain. It was a great novel and it sucked me in completely as a reader. I was captivated by Bone as a character and I wanted to know everything that happened to her. She was a charatcer who struggled and begged for life and was handed shit in return. She truly needed to find herself and I think this is so clear at the end of the book after Glen has beat her for the last time. Bone let her mother go and she was the bigger person when she did this. Anney was to weak for Bone so Bone had to come out on her own and fight back. I think the moment when she accepts RAylene's embrace at the end of the book is significant also. Bone would never accept anyones love other than her mama's and in this moment she realizes that her mother's love is what is hurting her and she needs to let it go. Raylene is there for her as an aunt and as someone who has been hurt before. They come together in this breif moment and I think that Bone realizes RAylene can help her and they can start a new life together. Bone may actually have been happy in this last moment of the book because she realizes that her life can change now that she has let go of the one thing that was holding her back...her mama. This whole novel was wonderful, very graphic but it really created a setting for me to work with as a reader. Allison did an amzing job at making this true and almost a reality, you can see where she was probably working from moments from her own life. Great book!

James Dickey Poetry

2006-04-26T19:25:00.000-04:00

I have had a really hard time with all of this poetry....it is a type of literature that you do not usually read if you are not interested or if its for a class. Everyone has such a different interpretation and sees so mnay different things within each poem. In "The Heaven of Animals" I see the life cycle taking place and every living thing having its own identity and space. It talks about the killing of some animals but why it must come about for others to live and they accept this becuase that is their place in the life cycle. The very last lines spoke to me..." At the cycle's center, They tremble, they walk under the tree, They fall, they are torn, They rise, they walk again." It is this simple description of life at its fullest and then being broken dwon again just to be reborn which is captured throughout the whole poem but is really state clearly here. It is beautiful and creates an image of life and death coexisting in a world together but for the reason of depending on one another. Animals are part of this world and Dickey presents them to us as coexisting with humans because they have their own type of world but it is the same as ours. People live and die so that others can do the same and it is a cycle that every living thing encounters and has to deal with. This poem was one of the more straight forward ones and it spoke to me because it had a simple message.

Revelations

2006-04-21T03:19:00.000-04:00

"Revelations" by Flannery O'connnor was a different color story than "A Good Man is Hard to Find". I think that they both have many of the sme reoccurring themes such as religious messages and finding yourself with God. Also the portrayal of the Old South and how it is not everything glamorous that so many people think it was. O'Connor is one of the more intersting authors we have read this semester. She incorporates a lot of her personal feeling in her wrtings and I believe she is trying to convey a message to her readers. She has a deep spiritual belief and she wants everyone to be aware of it. Also the theme of violence shows up in both books. It is weird how the author is trying to be spiritual when at the same time these dreadful things are happening to her characters. When MAry Grace tells Mrs. Turpin that she is an old warthog and to go back to hell I was so surprised. These are strong words and it is like a message from someone other than Mary Grace becuase she is just a young girl. O'Connor wants everyone to save themselves and become good christians even if that means doing it through an extremem manner. Mrs. Turpin finally realizes at the end that she is not really such a great person and that she takes life for granted. I think that she had her "revelation" and understands what God wants her to do and how he wants her to act. I thin she had always loved her husban but maybe now she will appreciate him and appreciate eeverything they have togetherr instead of being snotty about it.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" Characters

2006-03-29T19:09:00.000-05:00

After watching the movie version of this play I kind of got a whole new perspective of the characters. Stella is a plain Jane as people would say, there is nothing truly special about her and it is a wonder why Stanley is with her. All of the tough things that she deals with in the relationship with Stanley are probably okay because he is so handsome and everyone admires him in a way. You can see the passion that Stella has for Stanley right in the beginning when they are at the bowling alley. He is fighting and she is still lusting at him to her sister Blanche. In most cases I think you would be embarassed by the way your significant other was acting especially when a relative was meeting him for the first time. The director did a good job in casting this actress.
Marlon Brando does an exceptionally good job in his character. I feel as if he brings that real masculinity to the character of Stanley. He is the all around hunk, muscles, good looks, and he is funny and seems pretty easy going. He seems less mean in the movie because of the attitude he has and Brando is the type of guy everyone wants to be with. It is easy to see why Stella was attracted to him and why she puts up with his crap sometimes.
Vivian Leigh is great in this role because she is that helpless character and does a great job acting like a damsel in distress. She is very pretty but they cover that up with makeup to make her look older. You can see why her and Stella are so different and she has that very petite voice that is almost like a shrill sound. Everything about her is demure and small, making her seem even more helpless. Her next to Brando is a good mix because you get the sense of power from him towards her.
Actually seeing the actors in motion puts it into a whole new light and the director does a good job of playing with the characters through the actors he chose. I am glad we read the play first but is always fun to see it on the screen as well.

" A Streetcar Named Desire"

2006-03-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

I found the title of this play to be quite significant after reading the beginning of the play and after the class discussion today. On p.657 Blanche makes the comment about how Desire is the only thing that is holding Stella and Stanley together. She seems to make this comment and then we are brought to a different light of the story on the actual streetcar. Stella seems to be okay with this desire that is holding them together so why can't Blanche. I feel that Stella and Stanley have such a strong desire for each other that they can not ignore the passion and they are desperate for each other sometimes even if that means fighting. I think that Stanley represents the streetcar for Stella and that is why the title makes sense. Also Blanche needs someone in her life and I think she is almost jealous of the fact that her sister has it and not her, maybe that is why she fishes for compliments from Stanley. She says that the streecar brought her there but she is ashamed to be there, maybe not just the fact that it is a lower class part of town but because she has not achieved the one thing that Stella has and that is passion and desire which has led her to love?

Zora Neale Hurston

2006-03-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

I am so glad Faulkner is over. I really enjoy reading Zora Neale Hurston, she is very interesting. I am taking an African American Literature course this semester and she has been discussed in that class as well. As far as an author goes she was very influential and her novel that we are reading is regarded as one of the best pieces of literature we have available today. My favorite thing about this book so far is the use of colorful language. I fell deeply connected to the characters because through their dialect I am able to picture them talking to each other. Eatonville is a hubbub of activity and I love the way Zora uses it in her writing. This was an actual town and it is where she grew up. She introduces the use of folklore in her writing and makes it a very convincing town. I think it is great because you are getting a picture of this town that really existed through the author's eyes. This story is a journey through a woman's life who has not yet reached the fullness of her desire. I really feel like this is a great story and everyone should read it. Also her short stories that she has written are very interesting as well.

Katherine Anne Porter

2006-03-01T19:40:00.000-05:00

After reading Faulkner this is a breez to get through. I liked Porter's use of feminism played throughout all of the stories we read. She was giving us an early view of what women were thinking and how they perceived the world. We start out with being introduced to Miss Sophia Jones, she is a very respectable lady and no one seems to mess around with her. She is outspoken but just enough to get her point across and still be a lady. We meet Old Nannie who is a black servant but who resorts back to her roots as a black woman after her mistress passes away. We also meet Miranda who is a image of the New South emerging and she is a very interesting charcter. We see her as a young girl who still uses the shiteness to her advantage as we see with Dicey in the story "The Circus". But then we see her as a child in the story with Uncle Jimbilly. She is a child who cowers in his shadow when he talks baout all of the bad things that have afflicted the black slaves. We see so many different perspectives in her story but here is a definite line of feminism throughout all of them. This is a turn from Faulkner who bases his writing about men and who their heritage affects them. I think women had new rolse to assume as the New South was emerging becasue they were still ladies but finally had a chance to be recognized as individuals.

"Pantaloon in Black"and "The Old People"

2006-02-15T16:57:00.000-05:00

Pantaloon in Black
At first I was confused as to why this story was included because the only mention of the Mcclaslin family is in reference to where Rider lives. Rider is not part of the family neither is his wife who has passed away. I went back through and read it a second time and found some similarities though. I feel as if this story played with the ideas of family and masculinity, which we have seen throughout the other stories. His grief that he feels when Mannie dies is apparent througout the whole story and the fact that his family is so important to him plays another huge role. This whole novel deals with the subject of family and how it is all intertwined and how they play upon each other's charaters. The lynching that takes place is a huge part of the story also. Faulkner is talking about such strong topic that I am not even sure if he knew how to approach it. It also plays upon the subject of racial conflict which we see appear time and time again in each story. Overall it was a strong story with just a lot of memory and pain attached.

The Old People
This story was about Isaac's childhood and how he grew up and learned how to hunt. I felt like this tory is just a prequel to The Bear and introducing us more to the main character of Isaac.

Chopin

2006-02-08T07:30:00.000-05:00

Overall Chopin is a distinguished and extreme writer for her time period. She showed the reader something that they were not used to, female passion. The fact that a female felt anything sexual was looked upon as something bad and they were not holding heir airs up as a " Southern Belle". The short story on Desiree's Baby is just another way that she shows her difference as a writer. In this particular story it is the man whose fault it is and not the woman's. I feel like she would have been a leader in feminism had she the outlets that we do today. I have also read her story " The Awakening", it is a very in depth look into the Creole lifestyle in New Orleans. It is a passionate story about a woman finding her trueself and going after it and then there is a struggle at the end and it is very sad. Chopin did something way ahead of her time and produced works that people probably took offense too. She was loud in her writing and there was nothing discreet in the way she handled many of these subjects. If you liked her short stories I wouls suggest the book " The Awakening" to you because it is a little more information and the story line is quie intense.

Swallow Barn & Poe Readings

2006-01-29T20:41:00.001-05:00

Swallow Barn was a good look into the Southern PLantation life. I feel like this is what we see in movies and media and the southern gentleman is portrayed a great deal here. The most interesting piece about this book was the end where the slave and master have almost an arguement and the master acts like they are on the same terms. It was as if they were equals and the slave had enough sense to tell the boss what he was thinking.

Poe is a dark writer and I feel as the House of Usher is one of the darker pieces. He uses so much description in the beginning with the house but it is gloomy and almost makes you feel as if you do not want to go on with the story. The friend in the story is weird with the illness he has and the fact that hte physicians cannot describe it. I get this feeling of dread and death from the book and only bad things can happen at thishouse and then at the end with the bloodred moon shining through the house is kind of creepy.

Frederick Douglass

2006-01-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

I thought that this novel written by Douglass shows a lot. For one you can see how intelligent he became and how much knowledge he retained from the South and his experiences. He remembered everything that happened on the plantation and he used it later in his writing to express his deep emotion about the South and his life in Slavery. As far as I have read he doesn't seem like a lsave who was tormented and beat but he did witness many cruel acts and I htink those hurt almost as much as if they were happening to him. He was quick minded as a young boy and he was very easily influenced. His mistress Sophia Auld was like a door to a whole new world. She opened his eyes to so many things and so did his master when he yelled at his wife. I thought it was intersting when he talks about wanting to be as dumb as some of the other slaves because then he would not know the reality of what was going on and how bad is was to be a slave. He amazed me when he talks about how he taught himself how to write or more lor less found the teachers to teach him without them knowing. i am anxious to see what else happens because as far as we are I am assuming he is in his early teens and he has his whole life ahead of him. Also this piece is very depicting as far as what happened but I was expecting it to be a horror story of life in slavery instead it is like a look into the world but from someone else who was almost not part of the real thing himself.

Did it work?

2006-01-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

This is the first time I have ever blogged so I hope it worked okay....