Blog 5

When reading a Rose For Emily I was engrossed in the text. I think that it was a good experience for me. I felt good because I understood the story but the story had some weird content. I couldn’t relate to this story at all. I think that the story was difficult and easy to read. Some of the content was slightly difficult to decode although it became clear as I read on. I did agree with the argument of the towns people thinking that Emily was crazy and had weird things going on in her life. I think that it was definitely true that she was different than normal people.

As the story went on I felt that there were instances of foreshadowing. The references made about men in the story somewhat foreshadowed her dislike for them. When there was a reference to how Emily denied her fathers death and no one knew he was dead left some thinking for the reader to do. When Emily bought the rat poison it was indefinite that there might be a death later in the story. It seems the author wanted to prove that when the people in the town knew something was going on they should have acted on it and stopped it. It seems they could have avoided the death references. Foreshadowing was definitely evident in this story it just wasn’t clear when the actual events would occur or what the event would be. In this case it was finding the body in Emily’s bed.

Blog 4

When I was reading “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” I felt very interested in the story and what was to come of it. I was draw into the story in the beginning, although it did get slightly boring in the middle. I disagreed with the fact that the women were trying to beatify another girl by telling her how to act fake. I was not for the idea of telling other to be fake although that is what made the story interesting. This story defines society today in the world of girls and peer pressure. It was sometimes difficult for me to follow the story line of what was truly going on and where all the characters were.

Fitzgerald touches greatly on the idea of identity in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”. He determines to give examples of how identity and its nature are present in all areas of our lives. He proves that the nature of identity is in all of us and it cannot truly be changed. Identity is static in our lives because no matter how much one changes of their physical appearance or action wise deep down they will always be the same person. Everyone is pressured into changing who they are and sometimes they fall for that change but oftentimes deep in their heart they know who they are or where they came from. Bernice’s actions in the end of the story determined that even though she felt pressured to be someone she was not she still kept who she truly was deep down. She let the actions of her true self come out and take charge.

Blog 3

This short story was very interesting to me. I found myself truly involved in what was going on based on the detail and description the author included. I think I could agree with the ideas of the speaker. He felt embarrassed for the girls and then made a quick decision without thinking about it. I have been in a situation before where I was embarrassed for someone and then acted quickly afterwards. The story was easy to read because it was about people my age and I understood the context the speaker was talking about.

The narrator in “A & P” revealed indirectly that he actually had the guts to stand up for something he didn’t even know about. The narrator started of shy and just had a watchful eye over the girls who entered the store. He wasn’t one to talk to them or converse with them in anyway because he was just a simple clerk working at the store. The narrator transforms into someone who just observed to someone who could take a stance and speak out. The revelation that the narrator experiences is indirect even to himself. He changes over the course of the story to someone who is stronger and more confident in themselves.