Tiffany James- English 145

Giribala is a young girl given to a man by the name of Aulchand in a part of an arranged marriage.   Aulchand has not been truthful to her father concerning his financial status. He has marriage Giribala and had to immediately leave without her because he claims he must build them a house. Bangshi a prominent doctor and a friend of the family, reveals how disappointed he was in his uncle, Giribala’s father for giving his only daughter in marriage to Aulchand (1150). It is at this point that we learn of the type of man Aulchand is. He is not only broke and deceitful man, but a crook. He has stolen money that was for his nephew’s bride and gave it for Giribala.   He lies and cheats everyone he knows. He also is hooked on ganja (marijuana). He left Giribala for a year before returning.   The author reveals that in her community a girl is only born for two reasons to be married or to die.   We also see that Giribala is very young, 14 to be exact, but...

Saleem is born in the city of Bombay at midnight in a Nursing home on August 15 th , 1947.   The date of his birth was when India and Pakistan became separate nations and the author is stating that he has been handcuffed to history, while his destiny is indissolubly chained to those of his country (1132). He opens with once upon a time… taking us back to the beginning of his tale.   It seems that he feels like his life has been empty and without accomplishment, so he must tell stories to leave a legacy for himself. “Now, however, time (having no further use for me) is running out. He feels absurdity. He recalls a story of his grandfather who gave up his religion (Islam we can assume since the mentioning of the Quran) and traveled to fill the void he felt on the inside only to have filled up hole in his heart with hate. Its funny, and noteworthy to mention, that he vows to not pray because he pumps his nose on the ground and three drops of blood appeared.   I do...

This read was hard to follow. The author attempt to make sense of a night at a party which was bizarre and stodgy.  However, he found a way to make it interesting by making the best out of something that was uneventful, such as the tree, “…its distinctive features are exaggerated, and yet the substantial feel of its truck and curve of its branches, or again the way the tips of its leaves are elongated like a tail ---these are all grounded in realistic observation” (1120).   He made the tree for an interesting conversation. The party could be symbolic to the tree, perhaps, illustrating that although the party was boring, like the tree, he found a way to make the story of the party interesting to the reader. The tree was once the central conversation of the party for him, but now the debate between the architect and the beatnik poet, not the to mention the moments following it, is now the narrators point of conversation for the reader.   The authors language makes the ...

Recitatif Roberta and Twyla were two different girls & races from the same world. The only difference is that Twyla was in the foster care system because her mother like to party, however Roberta was in the foster care system because her mom was ill. They were the same age, bullied by the older girls, and both had problems learning. The interaction between Roberta and Twyla mother is interesting because the author without mentioning, alludes the issue of race but leaves it to the reader. Roberta’s mother could have walked away because she did not approve of the way Twyla mother dressed. Maggie symbolizes the girls’ mothers. Maggie could not communicate what she was feeling. She could not express the pain and cruelty she was experiencing at the hands of the gar girls. Likewise, the author compares Mary dancing and Roberta’s mother illness to Maggie. They could not verbally communicate what they were experiencing, both dance and sickness is silent. Both ladies were dealin...

J amaica Kincaid rose from humble beginnings to become a successful contemporary writer, well known for her books and magazine articles about the immigrant experience. Kincaid learned the practice of voodoo from her mother and grandmother, which she later incorporated into her fiction. Her family, because Kincaid was a girl, no value was placed on her gifts. We see this played out in the story of “ Girl ”. The story starts off with what appears to be a mother instruction to a daughter coming into womanhood indicating that she has started her period (white clothes). It is also a warning because it appears that the mother is concerned about the daughter’s behavior, “on Sunday’s try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (1146). She is questioning her daughter’s choice of music, accusing her rather. The daughter reply lets readers know that she is not who the mother perceives her to be. She has enough respect for herself to not sing benna (music full of...

Leslie Marmon Silko was a native American novelist, poet, memoirist, and writer.   She is known for her short stories, which, “Yellow Woman,” is one of Silko’s shortest and earliest pieces, but it occupies a still growing place in the canon of short fiction. The story of Yellow women moves from reality to myth. The story opens with the narrator, speaking in first person, waking up by the river next to a strange man that it seems apparent she has been sexually intimate with. Yet, she is smitten by him. She is trying to make sense of why she had spent the night with him.   Silva recalls that during the night when they were love making she suggested that he must be an ancestral spirit and she must be Yellow Woman. The author only hoped that the ancient story her grandfather told her was true because she could make sense of why she, as a married woman with children  had an affair with a stranger she met along her walk. Or it could be she secretly desires to live out the m...

Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian modernist, she entered law school and became the first women reporter at the major newspaper A Noite. She is known for her fictional short stories. In the story of "The Daydreams of a Drunken Woman" the character, Maria, seems to be in and out of a conscience state or a drunken state. The story opens with her staring/self-consumed with herself, despite the trolley shaking the room and something heavy and hollow fell to the ground: "Her eyes did not take themselves off her image….” (809). She is struggling with her identity, …. And her open dressing gown revealed in the mirror the intersected breasts of several women” (809). She is also irritated, angry, and full of self-pity. She is also depressed, sleeping throughout the day and “she did not want to eat any dinner nor to abandon her dreams, and “she went back to sleep: let him content himself with the leftover for lunch” (810). Instead of seeing herself as a mother and a wife w...

J ames Baldwin was an African American novelist who felt considerably alienated both from black culture and from white liberal society (735). Baldwin describes his foundation by sharing the woes of a cruel, miserable, and ill stepfather. Yet, after moving away from home he was made aware of what caused his stepfather’s embittered disposition. “… I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father’s bitter warnings, had discovered the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rig carriage: I had discovered the weight of white people in the world.” Baldwin seems to be struggling with his identity. He wanted to be a writer, yet his dad wanted him to be a preacher: “My father asked ne abruptly, you’d rather write than preach, wouldn’t you?” His answer was yes. It seems that he only preached because of his father’s influence. His father also did not want him to have any association with whites, yet he did not agree with his father and continued to easily befriend whites. After mo...

“All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” - This was a truth that modernists were skeptical of because they feared emotions. Instead they sought precision and clarity instead of self-expression. William Butler Yeats, who was one of the greatest English-language poets stressed the power of masterful images which you can see throughout his poems. He was a major voice of modern, independent Ireland. He captivated imagery and fusion of history and vision that stirred readers around the world. The poem, "When You Are Old " one can assume he is speaking of his lover, who in the introduction of the author was an actress by the name of Maud Gonne. As mentioned, he was in love with her, but she repeatedly refused his proposal to marriage. Through the imagery the author, readers can visualize a woman in her old age, alone, sitting in a chair by the fireplace with the author’s book in her hand reminiscing on her life and, is filled with regret. “How many lov...

The author is offering insight to what it meant to be a female writer by taking the reader on a journey through fiction so that the reader can come to their own, yet obvious, conclusion on the matter. The author describes a fictional place: Oxbridge which is represents the two universities- Oxford and Cambridge where the privileges for men where not extended to the women, such as being able to freely utilize the library. Shutting the door to women’s right to intellectual advancement (340).  She describes the university as a sanctuary in which are preserved ... in a way her description of the university is to say that men have place to advance, study, and create but women are excluded. They are on the outside denied a place (a room) to do the same. As she is deep in thought, looking for a place to sort out her thoughts of the beauty that surrounded her, she is was constantly interrupted by everything outside of the library.  She comes to a place where she asks the reader...

I mmediately readers learn a little about Hedda… she is discourteous, allowing Tesman’s aunt, who is sixty-five years of age and the woman who raised her husband to find her way home from the pier because she was more concerned about her luggage, “We felt so bad that we couldn’t take you in the, carriage-but you saw many trunks and boxes Hedda had to bring.” Miss Tesman perceives Hedda as shallow and vain individual. She purchases an elegant hat so that Hedda won’t be embarrassed when she walks in public with her.   – “Yes, so Hedda won’t feel ashamed of me if we go out for a walk together” (784).   Hedda will have things her way with no regard for anyone or anything else. She had to have a long expensive trip that her husband could not afford, a house of a certain standard that he could not afford either. George appears to be weak-minded man when it comes to Hedda. He knows he is over his head in trying to provide the lifestyle Hedda demands and is accustomed to. Not to ...

Ivan Ilyich funeral is the introduction to the story. The conversation by Ivan’s so-called artistic acquaintances is cold and detached.   The author exposes mentality of many of the aristocrats’ during that period. At first glance one might think that his so-called friends and associates are rude and uncaring, but it is there way of life. They were more concerned about what type of inheritance he left behind or the lack of. They are bothered at the fact they must fulfill the demands of propriety by attending the funeral and visiting his wife (741).   Like Ivan they only want to appear to be people of high class by holding themselves slaves to their high societal positions. They wanted to appear like decent, honorable, and compassionate men, who respected their fellow college because this is what men of noble standards do. However, they were more concerned about the game of bridge than the death of a man they called friend (742). Peter Ivanovich is the only one who is seen as...

" Separate Ways" This is a short, amusing tale between two main characters Okya and Kichizo with an heart wrenching ending. Both Okya and Kichizo are two of unlikely characters that develop a big sister/lil brother relationship. They are both poor and can barely take care themselves “If only I could sew you a nice Kimono, it would be a happy day. I’d gladly do it. But look at me. I don’t’ have enough money to dress myself properly. I’m sewing to support myself” (908). However Okay is optimistic that her luck will one day change regarding her financial status, whereas Okya believes that it was his fate to be poor. Predicting that he will never succeed. Kichizo is an abandoned child, longing to know his identity; he has no family or friends. He has found companionship with Okya, who has been extremely kind to him (910). The narrator recounts his story of how he came to work at the umbrella shop. He was taken in by the owner who has been dead for two years. He is now in the ...

The underground man’s character and profession are introduced to us in the beginning of the story. He describes himself as a spiteful, unpleasant, and sickly man who worked in the civil service (636-637). Then after some consideration he’s concluded that since he was an honest man and did not accept any bribes that being this way was a reward to himself, which one can assume that he is insinuating that taking bribes were a common theme for a man in that position. He speaks of the enjoyment in a toothache which I believe is a metaphor for being unable to do anything about the society he is living in. “In the first place, these moans express all the aimlessness of the pain which consciousness finds o humiliating, the whole system of natural laws about which you really don’t give a damn, but because of which you’re suffering nonetheless, while nature isn’t” (642). You can moan about your tooth ache or world around you but it’s too no avail because to do something about it you still ha...

" My Tongue Begs For the Power of Speech" “My tongue begs for the power of speech that is Your gift to us; for silence gets its style of representation from Your gift to us. The melancholic weeping of those who live with disappoi ntment is Your gift to us." It appears like the author is speaking with God.   The dialect in the poem appears to a greater degree a supplication than a sonnet. In numerous religions there is a certain reverence one has when addressing God. The author is by all accounts requesting permission to speak freely to God about what he is feeling. It suggests that he may be furious yet does not have any desire to disrespect God. The author explains to God how his silence has discovered a method of communication his emotions to God. However, it does not suffice, he needs his words to be heard.   There are times when our tears speak what our voice don’t have the courage to say, this is a gift from God too.   Yet, to purge his soul the author needs t...

From The Tale of Kieu Even though the tale begins with Kieu, Van, and Vuong Quan the children of a well-known burgher in the clan of Vuong, a man of modest wealth and middle rank.   Kieu is the main character of the tale. She is a beautiful young woman Kieu possessed a keener, deeper charm, surpassing her sister Van in talents and in looks.  Kieu is wise and compassionate, you can see that in her response to Dam Tien fates. A well of pity lay within Kieu’s heart: as soon as she had heard her tears burst forth.   “How sorrowful is women’s lot!” she cried (552). Not only that she dreams about her as well to the point she believes that her fate is the same and, in a way, curses herself.   She meets Kim Throng, a scion of the noblest stock. Apparently, they were neighbors all alone. Their hearts became entangled. They She has left her golden hairpin which he finds (golden hairpin meant young 15 and ready for marriage would pin their hair up)  They meet in s...

“Ode to the West Wind” Wind/Words/Power/Influence The West Winds are known to be the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds, yet the author describes them as the West Winds as “O wild West Winds” Knowing the influence of the wind rather mild or wild is why the author beseech help from the wind even though it does not tell him exactly what he wants yet. He describes the dead autumn leaves “Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, pestilence-stricken multitudes: O though, who chariots to dark wintry bed.   Maybe the author is trying to describe how his work is viewed seeing that not too many people cared for his work. “The winded seeds, where they lie cold and low, each like a corpse within it’s grave, until thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow.”   The author is describing that despite the leaves dying, there are still seeds left behind that in due season spring will cause it to eventually grow. The author will hope that one day the impact of his...

Fredrick Douglass born Fredric Augustus Washington Bailey born a slave in the stare of Maryland around 1818.   A young boy with no knowledge of his identity.   Torn from his mother and never knowing the identity of his true father, who was presumed to be his white master. Taught to read by his master’s brother wife, Sophia Auld.   It not this privilege that transformed his life, but the respond of his owner’s anger “discontented and unmanageable” and so “would forever unfit him to be a slave.” He understood that education would be the pathway to his freedom. It is a sad fact that before or a child’s first birthday they were ripped for their mother’s arms and shipped out as a commodity to be sold off.   It’s amazing that the Frederick defined a child as an it back then and not a person. “Frequently, before a child has reached it’s twelfth month, it’s mother is taken from it, and hire out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the c...

Bartleby, the Scrivener Like the author seem to describe his office like his mundane life. Like Bartleby he would not relent to writing anything outside of his own convictions. The narrator within the story seems to be a man of very little of authority. He is passive in his writing and character. He introduces Bartleby, the main character of his story, yet he goes directly into introducing John Jacob Astor (indicting his status through this prestigious business man). He goes on to introduce not Bartleby, but three unlikely characters: Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut. He indirectly speaks to each of their flaws. Turkey is an older man, who is making several errors and the lawyer (narrator) is to be incapable of firing him because of his passive demeanor. He knows that Turkey’s performance is poor after noon. Nippers – younger man, driven by ambition and indigestion (drinking). He is a drunk and a perfectionist. Ginger Nut- is only twelve years but out of a favor to the young b...

Olaudah Equiano – First African (ex-slave) to write his autobiography. Told in his own words not through the interpretation of a ghost writer.  · Equiano was destined to receive the honor of being a chief, a man of importance in his country. “My father was one of those elders or chiefs I have spoke of, and was styled Embrenche; a term, as I remember, importing the highest distinction, and signifying in our language a mark of grander” (page 78). · His people owned slaves, but it was different from European slavery. They were hose who were convicted of a crime or were a prisoner of war (87). Equiano makes a clear distinction of how slaves were treated on his land. “Those prisoners which were not sold or redeemed we kept as slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than other members of the community, even their masters; their food, clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs, ( except that they were not permitted to eat with those who were ...