SSRJ # 3: Alice Walker

Perspective. Simply put, it means that events in our own lives shape the way that we react to new events, situations or knowledge. We all have a slightly different way of seeing things. In Alice Walker’s “Roselily” the main character is about to be married, she is about to experience a major event in her life, but she is not excited. The main character’s outlook in the story was quite a challenge to my own view of marriage. I have always thought of a wedding as something joyful and exciting, but this was not the case for Roselily.  She was fearful, and she second guessed her decision, emotions that are not surprising to see in someone who is about to be married, but her reasons for these emotions were. Roselily was not marrying out of love but rather out of need. I cannot imagine being in that sort of situation. This is not to say that I thought that every wedding was a happy event, I know that this is not the case. However, to have insight into the feelings of a bride who is marrying out of necessity rather than desire was interesting for me in that is challenges my own perspective, I had to think outside of my own views in order to understand the main character’s emotions.

One of the things that really drew me into this story was the way that Walker placed lines of the wedding ceremony between the paragraphs. At first I had a difficult time understanding exactly what the point of this was. Why? Why bother adding this to the story if it did not really affect what was going on?  After all, it was not difficult to grasp the point of the story by itself, without the lines of the ceremony. It was not until halfway through the story that I began to understand the reasoning behind Walker’s choice. Without the lines from the wedding ceremony, the story is clear, the emotions of the main character are apparent and the information about her past is not difficult to understand. The story could survive all alone, but it would take on a slightly different meaning. I think that Walker’s point in adding these lines was to give the story depth. They make it seem as though all of Roselily’s thoughts and emotions are happening while the ceremony is going on. With the lines, the reader gets the feeling that Roselily is standing, just moments away from being married, doubting her decision.

The main character mentions several times that she feels she is too old. In paragraph eleven it says that she is “finally being married.” The thing is, age is relative. What is considered old for one person is not considered old for another.  Exactly how old do you think Roselily is? Is she really “too old” or are her feelings of insecurity about her age a result of her second-guessing her decision to marry?

SSRJ #2: Oates

Youth is a funny thing. We never really realize how young we are in the moment. Our actions, our thoughts, our desires, at the time we rarely think of ourselves as immature or silly. Reflection however, is a different story. We can look back on our lives and easily see things for what they really were. We can categorize our actions, understand our mistakes and recognize turning points in our lives that may not have been obvious before. In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Three Girls,” reflection on events of the past is what really propels the story. Throughout the story the narrator reflects on an experience that she and a friend had at a used bookstore when they were college students. Through reflecting on her life the narrator really captures the feeling of being a college student.  The narrator strongly identifies herself with being a student and a poet, it is what defined her. Being a college student myself, I found it easy to relate to this form of identification. When you are a full-time student in college it truly does become part of your identity.

The most prominent literary element used in the story is definitely suspense. Throughout the story, the reader is on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen next. Reading this story the first time you would say that the suspense is found in the situation with Marilyn Monroe, through it so many questions are raised. Why is she, Marilyn Monroe, shopping at a used bookstore? Will she be discovered by the other customers in the store? Will she notice the two girls watching her? The suspense finally ends when the narrator purchases Marilyn Monroe’s books for her and the actress leaves the store unnoticed by anyone except the two girls who protected her secret. At the very last sentence of the story another suspenseful situation is made clear. The two girls who appeared to be friends turn out to be something more than that. It is difficult to pick up on the sexual tension between the two girls throughout the story because it is hidden under the suspense of Marilyn Monroe. However, reading it a second time it is easy to see the true meaning behind comments and descriptions that the narrator made. Once you know what to look for, the narrator’s feelings for her friend are obvious.

One thing that I found particularly interesting about this story was the way that it was told. At first it seemed to me like a something out of a journal or diary. As I read on I noticed that the narrator repeatedly referred to her friend as “you.”  To me this gave the impression that the story was a letter to the narrator’s friend. What was the purpose of this? Was it a letter to her friend or was the story told solely for the narrator’s benefit? What do you think happened to the girls after that evening at the used bookstore that would cause the narrator to write such a letter?

SSRJ #1: Godwin

As human beings, we deny things. We deny that we are hungry. We deny that we are tired. We deny that we want things.  We even deny that we are in denial.  For me, this fact was made particularly evident after reading Gail Godwin’s “A Sorrowful Woman.” The story describes a woman who is struggling and how her family deals with her struggles. Throughout the story the woman makes a slow but steady effort to withdraw from her family until eventually she is completely isolated from them. This is a situation that I personally cannot imagine being in. What drives a person to the point that they can no longer stand to be around the people that they love? The woman obviously had a problem that caused her to feel this way. She recognized the symptoms but made no real effort to rid herself of them.  I think this is something that we all struggle with. Either out of laziness or a fondness for them, we choose to dwell in our problems, our poor choices, our undesired behavior, instead of trying to improve.  

At first glance the husband in the story seems to be the most responsible. With his wife falling apart at the seams and a son of only three years old he had to step up and take control of the household. The husband seems to be a sort of “knight in shining armor” coming to his wife’s rescue in her illness. When the woman first tells her husband about her feelings of sadness, he says that he understands and asks her what he can do to help her. The irony is that this initial act of love is what ultimately leads to the death of his wife. As the story goes on the husband assumes more and more of the wife’s responsibilities until  he is doing all of the tasks that the woman used to do, while the woman spends the day sitting in a room brushing her hair. The husband appeared to be helping. He was taking care of things, trying to make life go on as usual. He was selfless. He was caring. But more than anything else he was in denial. His wife was extremely sick. It was apparent. Several times in the story, the husband mentions his wife getting better. He acknowledged that there was a problem but did nothing to fix it. If he was truly acting out of love, then why was it that he just waited for his wife to get better? Was there nothing that he could have done? Why did he enable her to withdraw?

Me, Myself, and I

Honestly, I can't think of a single reason why I should be in college, but I can think of a thousand reasons why I should quit. College is difficult, they make it difficult on purpose. Eventually, there comes a point when it is more that just a class and you either take that step forward or you turn around and walk away. I could quit, but here's the thing, I like the challenge.

Sixteen weeks ago I would have never thought that I could say that. I was a newbie. I was scared. I thought I couldn't cut it. Somewhere amidst the endless papers and nights spent making flashcards I figured out that I can cut it. So here I am at the beginning of my second semester as a Graphic Design major. I love everything about design, manipulating elements, changing things and figuring out how they work together. For me design is more of a logic puzzle than anything else.

I've always liked things that make me think. Puzzles. Books. Writing. In all honesty that is probably the reason why I'm here sixteen weeks later writing a blog post for an English class. It's a challenge. It is a bit daunting to be a 19 year old. I am a teenager only by number and I am not quite what I would consider an adult. I am caught somewhere in the middle. At my age I most certainly don't know everything, but here is something that I do know: if you are willing to put yourself out there, take a chance and try something you have never done before the feeling of accomplishment is nothing short of amazing.