Similaries in "Araby" and "Eveline"

The stories "Araby" and "Eveline", both written by James Joyce have a lot of similaries. The two stories are set in Ireland and surrounds different people who are outsiders in their society. They both dream of how they wish their life was.

In both stories, the boy and Eveline, both wish they could live their lives differently. The boy is infatuated with Mangan's sister, and he believes this is love. He goes to the Araby to buy her a gift, which he thinks Mangan's sister wants and hopes this will mean shes loves him too. While Eveline who is in love with Frank, and wants to run away with him, thinks of her brother and abusive father. Both these characters are looking for a way out of their lives, or a way to make it better.

Both characters have a meltdown just when they have a way out of their lives, and wouldn't see themselves as outsiders anymore. They both second guess themselves and what they feel, the boy second guessed whether he should buy Mangan's sister the gift, and if she actually asked for it. Eveline questions if she really wants to leave her brother and father and go against her promise to her dead mother.

Theme

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" tells a story about the grandmother's struggle to find the qualities of a good person both in others and in herself.      
           1. The general idea of the Misfit not being a good man
                       1. The Misfit never fit in anywhere, the grandmother thinks there is a "good man" still in him.
                       2. The grandmother is also a misfit, she labels herself but her actions specks against her and she doesn't fit in with her family. 

           2. The Misfit had a better idea of what it meant to be a Christian than the grandmother.
                       1. The Grandmother claimed to be a good Christian, but she manipulated her family, used racial slurs, and lied. She was only being a "good man" when saying "why you're one of my babies"
                       2. The Misfit chose to be unchristian, he made no pretensions about his morals and knew what he did was wrong. He compares himself to Jesus, saying Jesus is the good man.
                           
           3. The dress of the grandmother
                       1. Her hat and lace shows shes a lady, also old fashioned and delicate. She is a good person except for a couple mistakes and the way she dress represents this.
                       2. After her hat breaks, it shows her change in being a lady, both ideas fall apart.

Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants" is a story about the conflicts of responsibility and communication.
           1. Jig have to make the best decision for everyone
                       1. Jig feels as though she needs to be responsible and not let her emotions get in the way of making the decision and thinks about what the American wants before herself.
                       2. The American feels his responsibility is to make sure Jig has the abortion.

           2. No matter what Jig or the American says they can't express their true feelings.
                       1. The American uses persuasive dialogue to try to convince Jig that the operation is not a big deal, he feels he can't come right out and with everything he says, hes telling her to get the abortion.
                       2. Jig wants to know what the American wants and wants to make him happy, but neither are saying what they actually wants to. She wants to make sure whatever she decides, he will be there for her.

           3. Jig takes the responsibility for what seems to be the American's decision
                       1. The American tells Jig having the abortion will make everything go back to normal and they will be happy, this is his way to make up for his mistake.
                       2. Jig holds the responsibility for the baby but is influenced by what the American wants, she do hold the overall decision, and feels that the abortion is the only right answer.

Blog 3: Creative Option

Haiku

Snowflakes fall softly,
As I catch one on my tounge,
So cold and icy.


Limerick

On the beach we lay in the sand,
Sipping on a drink in our hand,
With the summer sun shining bright on us,
Our feet in the water, is a plus,
Listening to our favourite band.

Writing these poems, you have to follow rules, so your writing is very restricked. In my opinion, the limerick was easier to write because all you needed was the right rhyme scheme while with a haiku you had to make sure you had 5-7-5.

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"Stand" - Rascal Flatts

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless, like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright

'Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend 'til you break
'Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Life's like a novel with the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon with only one way down
Take what you're given before it's gone
And start holdin' on, keep holdin' on

'Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend 'til you break
'Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, yeah, then you stand

Every time you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place, yeah

'Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend 'til you break
'Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand
Then you stand, yeah, then you stand

Yeah, then you stand
Yeah, baby
Woo hoo, woo hoo
Woo hoo, woo hoo
Then you stand, yeah yeah


Link for youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Vzpjv_kR4

Blog 2: "'Cause When Push Comes to Shove"

Country songs are one of the closest to poems in my opinion, and my personal favourite. Country songs are sterotyped as emotional because they often depict the struggles of day to day life. For example, Stand by Rascal Flatts or Over You by Miranda Lambert. Country songs have a lot of poetic language in them, in the fact, that they are story orienated, have emotion and have their own meaning behind it.

The song Stand by Rascal Flatts, is about not giving up no matter how hard life gets, "keep holding on" and also about determination. When you've been knocked down, you must find the strength to stand back up. The lyric "'Cause when push comes to shove/You taste what your made of/You might bend, till you break/Cause its all your made off", I think this is giving you the whole meaning of the song in just three lines. When you cannot strive to continue anymore something inside you breaks and you push yourself forward to get what you want to accomplish.
This song is a good reflection about life. When you think your doing good, something goes wrong, then you just have to get back up and move on. Everyone at some point in their life experiences this in all different ways. Everyone will be knocked down, not just once, but a dozens time, well I know I have and will be, and it can either have a positive or negative effect on your life.
"You feel like a candle in a hurricane/Just like a picture with a broken frame/Alone and hopeless/Like you've lost your fight/But you'll be alright", meaning they gets to decide their own destiny, or whenever they feel insignificant or unloved they are, and to just let the past go.

Rascal Flatts makes their music by applying poetic and literary devices into their songs. In more songs than just Stand, they use devices like simile, imagery, repetition, metaphor, rhyme and more. This song has more of a free verse form. There is no rules, they put poetic language anywhere and have no set rhyme scheme.
They finish off strong, by saying after you fight back and keep moving forward, all the pieces will go back in place.

Blog 1: Critical Approaches

            After reading the Appendix: Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature written by Elizabeth McMahan in the text Literature and the Writing Process, I have learned that the Reader Response approach and the Biographical approach were the most appealing to me. The Reader Response approach I find is appealing because it is the more practical, you read and have your own personal understanding of what a piece of writing means. As you grow up, you mature and have more life experiences so that understanding grows and is completely different then what you thought even a year or two ago. No matter how many times you read something you may never get the same meaning out of it. This approach lets a reader use their own life experiences and lessons, views, and beliefs come up with different meanings.
            The Biographical approach is the method that lets the writer bring their own texts and personal experiences into the piece of writing. It makes the piece more dramatic and have a feel of what it was like and the emotions the writer the had. This approach makes writing more personal and more understanding.

            In the poem "Those Winter Sundays" in the text Literature and the Writing Process, the author is talking about the hard work his father faced everyday of the week and even sundays, "rest days" back then, but it didnt change anything. The author would be up waiting for a call to help his father. I think this poem is a good example of the Reader Response approach becuase he put his own point of view into this poem and the difference of being a kid and growing up, you would have different observations of what a cold Sunday morning would be like.