topic

the characters of Emily

Young Goodman Brown

The story is so interesting and full of symbolism, like the lottery. The name Goodman Brown tells us that he represents good men. His wife’s name s Faith which implies he lost his faith when he returned from the forest. And the forest might be the deep nature of human. When he traveled in the forest, he struggled with the evil which might be his own mind. He tried to be a good man, he tried to run away from the evil, but he failed.  At last, he lost his belief and the trust in God. Also, Goodman could be all human. Human always question their nature, good or evil?

the lottery

The lottery

This fiction is full of symbolic images, such as their names. The lottery was conducted by Mr. Summers. Summer is also the season they performed this activity. His postmaster is Mr. Graves. Grave means tomb which symbolizes the results of the lottery is death, and the final place to go will be the grave. The name Delacroix, which means cross, is always be mispronounced “Dellacroy”. I guess this detail implies the folk of the village have already forgotten the Christian faiths. Black wood box also stands for a coffin, relating with death.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper

        After finishing reading the fiction, my mood was really bad not just because the weird story, but for someone important in my life. I know, the woman (the narrator) has severe depression like my dear friend.

About depression (I found this information on line)

        Depression is a mood disorder that causes people to feel sad, hopeless, or fear for an extended period of time. Depression can cause people to become incapable of communicating, unable to do routine activities, or suicide. Common symptoms include: depressed mood; inability to enjoy activities,  problems concentrating; poor memory; difficulty making decisions; changes in eating habits; weight gain or weight loss; changes in sleeping habits; difficulty going to work or taking care of  daily responsibilities; feelings of guilt and hopelessness;  wondering if life is worth living; slowed thoughts and speech; preoccupation with thoughts of death or suicide; complaints that have no physical cause such as headache and stomachache.  As far as I know, most depression patients choose jump out of the window to suicide.

About the narrator

        From what she said in her diary (might be), I can tell her disease becomes worse. There are some clues. She takes medicine “phosphates or phosphites” which are the typical medicines for depression. The narrator could not take care of her kids by herself, she could not do housekeeping, and she also could not normal communication with his husband and other friends. She is always tired. “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time.” She gains weight and her sleeping habit changes. At last she did have the idea of jumping out of the window. She becomes sensitive and get angry with John without any reason. Also, she feels guilty to his husband and kids. “I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!” Then, she turns her range into the wallpaper, actually herself. It is her feeling of guilty that makes her range. She could see sin, outrage, and other things from the wallpaper actually that because she has those feelings.  At last, she totally becomes the woman in the wallpaper. I ever think that if the author change the wallpaper to mirror that would have more incredible effect.

About her husband

Since she is the first narrator of the whole story, sometimes, I can feel her dissatisfaction with her husband. However, I would say that her husband is actually thoughtful, careful and loving her very much. In order to help her wife to recovery, he rent a beautiful house. He relieves her feeling and does whatever good to her wife. He encourages her wife to use her will and self-control to fight with the disease. “And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head.” He tells her that fancies are not good to her. The narrator knows that her husband loves her. “Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick.” I am not believed what she said because it is too objective. “He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake.” I can sense her husband is really care about her and hope to help her. "Your exercise depends on your strength, my dear," "and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time.” He is so gentle. That might be the reason for her guilty feelings.  

        Actually, she tried, she tried to control her fancies, but she failed at last. I understand depression is really an evil disease, and it will need a very strong will to fight with.

The Tell- Tale Heart

The story is full of mysterious and unknown. We do not know the identity of the narrator; we do not know the relationship between the narrator and the old man; we do not know the reasons for the narrator’s murdering. Then, what we know? The narrator nearly told everything happening in his mind which supposed not to be known by others. So we are lucky. We could detect some clues for the murdering case.

First, I think the story has three main parts: the reasons why he want to kill the old man; the process he performed the murder; after the murdering, his struggle in the deep heart when the policemen came.

The readers could sense that the narrator is out of mind at the very first sentence and it seems that he has two personalities. In the first sentence of the story, the narrator told the readers that he was nervous and questioned “Why will you say that I am mad”. In the whole story, nobody ever said that he was mad. It is interesting. I could tell that one of his personalities thinks that he is mad because of his odd or abnormal thoughts and behaviors. And the other personality who performs the murdering has so many reasons to kill the old man. So in his deep heart, he might know that something wrong with him, but the other one did not want to convince the fact.

In the second part, the narrator prepared for seven days to perform the murdering. He said, “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing but you should have seen me. How wisely I proceeded- with what caution –with what foresight -with what dissimulation I went to work. ” He was so proud of himself. However, he was not aware of the madness came from his reasons for murdering, which he took as granted. In the process of murdering, he was always fighting with himself. His fear, his nervousness, and his exciting, all came from his own mind. When he described the killing, he just said it with very lightly, normal and cold tone, said,” I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” It seems that he does not feel nervous or fear when he did this. It is the point which let me feel crazy.

At the third part which is the climax of the whole story, the narrator’s spirit seemed broken. He could not make peace with himself like before. He admitted the murdering by himself.  I can tell that Edgar Poe is really good at conscious description. I nearly could feel the pain and the suffering of the narrator and why he has to admit the death.

A Rose for Emily

It is a really wired story. A woman poisoned his boyfriend in order to let him stay with her forever and make his dead body rotten in the bed. She just slept with the dead man for nearly 40 years. She did not socialize, she did not get out of his home, and also she even did not talk to anybody. What does make the eccentricity of Emily's behavior?  The narrator mentioned that his father, who was very strict on her, get all the boys away from Emily.  Also, his father did not have a good relationship with his sister or relatives.  When his father died, Emily did not want to admit his death.  Does his father make the miserable life for Emily?

Another question hanging in my mind is that what the Negro servant represent for. The narrator said something about the servant but not very much. We know he worked for Emily for many years since he was young. And then, he must know that Emily killed the man and what she deals with the body. Why did he accuse her or just leave? Why did he leave quietly after she died? He seems like a silent shadow in the fiction.

What does the name represent for? What does” Rose” stand for? The narrator never mentioned rose in the text. People always interpret rose in love. But Emily’s love is not the real meaning of love. The author never depicts her romantic love stories for us. Why does the author want to give Emily a “Rose”? To some extent, Emily is like a rose with thorn. Emily likes a rose that attracts people's attention but her eccentricity seems to be thorn that separates her from others.

What I learned from English 101 and about myself

        I am Ji Li. I come from China. My husband and I both are studying in USD. He is a PHD student in medical school and I want to be a RN. We have a baby Auspy, who is sixteen months old. I like reading and I read a lot before, but in Chinese not in English. I got a master degree in Chinese drama in China. I used to go to theaters to see all kinds of plays from different countries. I really enjoy it.

        The most important reason I choose this class is that I want to improve my English, strength my communication skills, and learn about American cultures. I wrote four major essays last semester, including Literacy Narrative, Review Essay, RBAA, and Literary Analysis. I learned MLA citing format, invention strategies, and logical fallacy, and etc.  I am very lucky to ace English 101. I believe I could learn more this semester. Whatever you teach, they are new and interesting to me. I am very appreciated learning from you.