The Lottery (make up discussion)

In my mind, this was one of the best written stories that I have read. The author, Shirley Jackson, did an incredible job of using her style and other key elements to effectively create a deep theme and meaning.

The style and point of view in "The Lottery" sets the foundation for the feel the reader gets from the story. Jackson chose to write in objective point of view in order to make her argument applicable to all people, instead of blatantly spelling out her opinion. Instead, she chose to show the theme through the characters and the content. Yet, the way the story was written caused the story to feel personable, almost like the reader is a part of the story. Jackson interjects occasionally to give fairly invaluable information, but her comments help to make the narrator seem relatable, friendly, and reliable. For example, Jackson writes, "...Dickie Delacroix - the villagers pronounced this name 'Dellacroy' - eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner..." (217). It causes a person to feel a part of the story even though they are just reading it.

Jackson's use of character also helped to make "The Lottery" personable. Some names that were used included Old Man Warner, Steve Adams, Mrs. Graves, Mrs. Hutchinson, and Mr. Dunbar. Common names that could be found in any city throughout the United States helps the reader to realize that the message is applicable to all people, not just ones from countries far away. In addition, the narrator speaks of these characters as if the reader knows them.

I thought the beginning of the story was tricky and very ironic. It said, "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green" (216). The story continues to talk about children playing and the village socializing. After reading the end of the story, the beginning seems ironic and is incredibly out of place. Despite this irony, Jackson chooses to put this happy tone in at the beginning to create sadness in the fact that the village witlessly chooses to make this horrible decision, and they think that it's okay to do because it's tradition!

I saw several parts to the theme that overwhelmed the ending of this story. First of all, the theme is that people need to think before they act and then act out of compassion and reason. Interestingly enough, I also found another theme. Mrs. Hutchinson was laughing and gossiping at the beginning until she realized that she was the victim. Then, she was frightened and said, "'It isn't fair'" (221). The message that said to me was that people need to constantly put themselves into each other's shoes in order to understand the repercussions of their actions.

The Chrysanthemums (make up discussion)

This is my make-up blog for being gone during the Chrysanthemums discussion. This story was more difficult for me to understand the symbols and other literary elements immediately, and I found that I had to read pieces of the story several times before I caught on to them. John Steinbeck does choose to put meaning into many elements of the story, causing the story to be very meaningful and more interesting.

The symbol in this story was a key element. The chrysanthemums symbolized Elisa's feelings throughout the story. Elisa and the chrysanthemums stood tall, proud, and strong at the beginning; "Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with her scissors
was over-eager, over-powerful" (209). Elisa described her flowers as "...giant whites and yellows...bigger than anybody around here. They were both shut in from the outside world just like the fence symbolizes Elisa's naivity from outside experiences. The fence is described as "...the wire fence that protected her flower garden..." (210). Later, when she cuts her chrystanthemums, Elisa's feelings also seem to be hurt and broken.

As said earlier when referring to the symbols, Elisa is quite a joyful and energetic character. Because of her character and the way she acts at the beginning, the reader is able to understand that something is wrong with her at the end when she changes her mood. The changes in character also help to set the tone towards the end because she grows somber, which is uncharacteristic and the story ends on her being depressed.

The author's style helps to show Elisa's emotional changes as well. Besides the beginning, which moves slower due to the amount of description, Steinbeck uses dialogue to move the story along quickly. After the salesman left, Elisa began to get ready for the evening. This scene is told in great detail to slow down the story and create a shift in momentum and, with that, shifting the tone from a light mood to a sad one.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Because of volleyball State, I'm getting this blog done while I have a few minutes (before I leave for Texas!) Sorry if you were a person that was supposed to write on my blog; I'm sure you were able to figure it out.

I chose questions 4 and 5 to answer:

Question #4: Is the father fair to the elder son? Explain your answer.
If the reader looks lightly upon the story, it may look as if the father is being unfair, but I see the story differently. The father treats both of his children the same; he shows unending love, even at their lowest times. The father said to the older brother, "Son thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine" (p. 198). The father shows kindness and compassion, yet he still shows much love to the younger brother who "...was lost, and is found" (p.198).

Question #5: Theologians have discussed this parable's religious significance for two thousand years. What, in your own words, is the human theme of the story?
Because Jesus is telling this story and because this is a parable (meaning it's supposed to be told symbolizing something), I think that the theme is found when you look at the story religiously and see the father as being God. Even though people are very "prodigal" or jealous (as both of the brothers symbolize), God loves everyone like a father has unending love for his children. Even more than the story is about the "prodigal son," the story is based around the gracious and passionate father.

Litarary paragraph on style:
The style in this story is very simple because it is written in a way that the reader feels like they're being told a tale. The narrator uses this simplistic technique because the moral and theme in the story are why the story is being told. It also feels more authentic while you're reading it because the story is told chronologically and with a fairly nonbiased narrator. I find it interesting to read this story when it, almost entirely, is put out of context. There is no explanation on who is telling the story or what else is happening around the story, which I think changes the knowledge that the reader envelopes the story in and is able to understand the style around. Because the story was written so long ago, the style also sounds old with words like "thy" and "hath" and "thou." Yet, those pieces of the style don't change the meaning or overall effect of the story.

I will be seeing y'all later! -Becca

Saboteur, Ha Jin

It was interesting to read "Saboteur" after reading a light story like "The Gift of the Magi" because the style and tone are incredibly different. Ha Jin's style is simple and easy to read. Because he is a more modern writer, he writes this way and tends to not use a lot of difficult language or weighted sentences. I can tell that these two stories were written in drasticly different time periods: 1906 and 2000. In addition to the language in the style, the narrator goes unnoticed because they stay fairly neutral and don't interject or commentate (as opposed to "The Gift of the Magi").

I thought that it helped to read about the author, Ha Jin, before I read the story because I was able to pick out certain pieces of the story that made more sense because of Ha Jin's background. He wrote with little setting detail, which was maybe because he was from China when he was younger, and he could picture the setting. Therefore, he didn't feel like it had to be explained. In addition, you are able to understand his disgust behind the government. This comes through his writing in the way that he alludes to the characters: there is clearly good and bad characters in this story.

The tone felt like it was mostly set up around Mr. Chiu's situation and the injustice of it. As Mr. Chiu says, " 'I didn't do anything. Your men are the saboteurs of our social order. They threw hot tea on my feet and on my wife's feet. Logically speaking, you should criticize them, if not punish them' " (p. 172). And yet, the tone becomes frustrating and aggrivating as they don't listen to him. As, "Anger flared up in Mr. Chiu" (p. 172), the reader grows more frustrated with the harsh police force. Even at the end, it feels hopeless because Mr. Chiu isn't given proper justice.

The point of view is a key part in the tone and how you view the situation; we see the story in a third person limited omniscient point of view with thoughts from Mr. Chiu. Of course, there is an exception to every rule, and, in the very end, one gets inside of Fenjin's head to make the story see fully omniscient:

"Feguin was baffled by his teacher, who looked ferocious...For the first time Fengin thought of Mr. Chiu as an ugly man" (p. 176).

Finally, the whole story would have been different if it weren't for all of the irony: the opposite of what should happen, happens. Mr. Chiu is innocent and his accusers are guilty. Yet, he ends up signing a confession to disrupting public order when it was really the police who were disrupting the public - his wife and him! Again, it's nice to see a contrast between the past two stories we've read to see that there are all types of irony, and irony is used for all sorts of purposes. "The Gift of the Magi" used irony to make the story humorous; "Saboteur" used irony to make a statement on the seriousness of the governmental issue.

My thought-provoking question for the story "Saboteur": Why is the hepatitis piece put into the story; how does it add to the plot?