"Fences" by August Wilson

The story called “Fences” by August Wilson was short story based on morals. Troy’s morals changed at the beginning of his life till the end of his life. At the beginning his dad had no morals. Troy lived his life trying to figure out what morals he needed to live by. In prison he finally decides what his morals are in life. His morals consisted of him being a man and taking care of his family. At the end of the story he Troy goes against his own moral values and lives a lonely life.
Troy was raised in a home where his dad had no moral values. He treated his mom so bad his mom left him when he was fourteen years old. His mom left and Troy found him a woman. He was caught in the act of having sex with this woman and his dad started beating him. He beat him off the woman and then started having sex with her. Troy ran away and started living on the streets. Troy had to steal in order to have enough money to get food because there were no jobs. He later on runs into Miss Rose and gets her pregnant. Around the same time he ends killing a man when he was robbing him and gets sentenced to prison.
Morals he learned while he was in prison. While he was in prison he ends up meeting a man name Bono and they become best friends. Once Troy gets out of prison he vows to live an honest life. He vows to work, to be faithful to his wife, and to take care of the family. At this time in his life he says he becomes a man. Rose and Troy got married and for 18 years he is faithful to Rose. Troy ends up going against his own moral values to please his own fleshly desires.
Troy goes against his own moral values. He ends up meeting a woman name Alberta. He ends up having sex with her and gets her pregnant. Troy goes against his moral values because he is selfish. He feels he had lived his whole life taking care of Rose that he should have a life filled with fun. Alberta ends up dying when she gives birth to their little daughter. Rose ends up raising the child like it was her own. She tells Troy from this point on there is no more us. I will raise this child but we are no longer together you do your thing I’ll do mine. Later on Troy dies of a heart attack and as a lonely man. The moral of this lesson is you will “weep what you sow”.

"Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason

“Shiloh” is a story based on a marriage which is falling apart. We have a man who was a very hard working man until her got in a truck accident. When he got in a truck accident about four months ago he ended up injuring his leg. He has steel pins in his hips and will probably not be able to drive truck again. He is now secluded to the house and this is when the problems begin.
His wife is use to him being gone most of the time and while he is gone she is use to running the home the way she sees fit. With him being home all the time she feels like she is living on pins and needles. She feels as if her husband is there to annoy her. He expects her to fix good home cook meals everyday of the week. His wife is use to only having to fix special on special occasion when he is coming home. She works as well as taking care of the house. Her husband lying around all the time causes her to get angry with him. Leroy decides he is going to build her a nice log home. She tells him if we don’t have the money for a new home and that he needs to get a new job. Finally her mom talks her into going on a trip with her husband. On the trip she tells her husband that she wants a divorce. He is trying to reason with her and she just walks away.
What drives her to tell her husband that she wants a divorce was her worst secret was revealed. Her mom caught her smoking at that point I feel she decided that she was tired of living a lie. She decides to come clean with everything and tells her husband she want a divorce. Her husband also has some secrets of his own. He is a pot head and his mother in law doesn’t know it.

"Half and Half" by Amy Tan

Half and Half’ was based a family crisis which has caused the mother in the family to lose faith in her religion. At first she was a woman who always read the bible. She treasured the bible more than she treasured the family. One day the family decided to go to the ocean to enjoy the weather. The mother was very carefully not to go on the days that were marked as jinks. She only went on the days in which bad things weren’t suppose to happen. This day they got to the ocean and everything was going good. The mother had instructed the older daughter to watch her younger brother. The younger brother was too close to the shore and next thing she knew he feel into the water. She wasn’t able to do anything because she was so scared. Her mother turns around to check on her brother and asked her where the brother was. She is only able to point and they go running to rescue him. Unfortunately they are not able to save his life. Bings dies and the mother makes her daughter go back out to the river to rescue her brother. Her mother felt that god would bring their brother to the shore so he could have a proper burial. When she cries out to god and god doesn’t listen she decides from that point on that she is not putting her trust in god anymore. She throws her bible on the shelf and never picks it up again.
At the beginning of the story the daughter that was watching her brother and he died under her care decides to tell her mom that her and Ted are getting a divorce. Their marriage was good until they started suffering from financial problems. Ted was doctor and he ended up making a stupid decision. He decided to help a patient with spiny veins of her face by sucking the red out of the vein. Instead this left the patient paralyzed a droopy smile. Once he lost his confidence in his decision making skill he started making me make decision. I had never been in charge to make decision and he would get angry at me. This is why my marriage fell apart.

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a story based on two young girls. One girl named Maggie is a very down to earth. She is not pretty like her sister because of a terrible accident. When she was younger there was a fire and she got burnt. She has scars down her arms and her legs. Maggie is very shy and she has a very low self-esteem. She has lived her life in the shadow of her sister. She knows she will never be pretty like her sister. She has found a local boy whom she has been dating for a while. They have falling in love and she is suppose to marry him.
Dee her sister is a very arrogant person. She thinks the world revolves around her. Dee has gotten married and returns to the home to get some pictures and some family heirlooms. The first thing she does when she gets to the farm is show off her clothes and her jewelry. Next she takes out her camera and takes a picture of her family. She is not taking the pictures because she loves her family. She is taking their pictures for money purposes. Dee makes sure she is not in the pictures because she is ashamed of her family. Next Dee tries to talk her mom into giving her a quilt. Her mom knows she is going to sell the quilt and so she refuses to give it to her. Instead the mom says the quilt belongs to Maggie as a wedding gift. For once in Maggie’s life she has ranked above her sister.
The mother of the family is a hard core African American mother. She had to take care of the family all by herself. She didn’t have the support of a husband to help her take care of the farm. She was characterized as a big black woman. Dee is ashamed of her mom based on her appearance and her home. The mother says she wished she could have the welcome home greetings that you see on tv, where the mother and the child embrace each other with a great big hug.

Extra Credit "Writing Symposium"

I was able to meet Ron Rash in person on April 22 at 12-1 pm at Watuaga Campus. He is a wonderful speaker and I enjoyed listening to him. He started the seminar by talking about his family. His family were descendants of the Navenjo people and they had fought in the civil war. He proceeded to read about a woman named Lilly and how Lilly represented his own family. Lilly was faced with the confederate soldiers and at that time they took whatever they wanted from the union families. Lilly had offered the confederate to take her chickens to eat and her horse. She then started to bargain with the confederate about leaving the horse and having his way with her. She convinces him to going to the root cellar. This is where the change of events take place. Instead of him having his way with her she ends up killing him. She had a sowing needle in her hand and ends up stabbing him to death. She then locks him inside the cellar and goes in to take care of her family. This story was a replica of Ron Rashes family based on how they were treated during civil war.

Next Ron Rash started elborating on the character Serena in the book called "Serena". Serena was a tough lady a lot like Lady McBeth. He had intentionally left out why Serena was an evil person. Ron Rash said once you give a character an excuse for being evil then their behavior is not as tramatic. If they don't have an excuse for their behaviors then it makes them even more psychotic. At the beginning we have Serena who is having really bad dreams. Then the dreams stop when she starts training the eagle. The bad dreams stop because she is at the stage of purifiying herself. Serena really did love her husband because he is the only man who was able to decieve her. He was able to decieve her into thinking he was on her side instead he ends up giving Rachel money to escape the wrath of Serena. Serena wanted Rachel's baby killed once she found out she wouldn't be able to have a family of her own. At the end of the story Serena ends up marrying a Nazi man named Joseph Mengele.

Lastly Ron Rash talks about Rachel and her role in the novel. At first he talks about how Rachel was not mentioned much at all in his rough draft. He stated he knew something was missing in his novel and couldn't figure it out. One day when he was driving down the road and he finally realized what was missing from his novel. He knew he had to give Rachel a better role in the story. Thoughts started over flowing and the next thing he knew was he was getting a speeding ticket. Rachel really loved Mr.Pamperton and ends up pregnant with his child. She ends up raising the child on her own without the support of Mr. Pamperton. At the end of the story she ends up with Joel a very good down to earth guy.

Why did he choose WAYNSVILLE?
He choose this place because of the family ties he had there. He also choose this place for historic purposes. This place was known for it's logging industry. He also chooses this place because of the location. It is the last place in the Smoky mountains.

Rhonda Massengill "Poems" by Nikki Giovanni’s

Nikki-Rosa
I really liked this poem because it reminds me of my childhood. No I’m not black but I was raised in a very poor home. I remember how some people felt sorry for us because we didn’t have much growing up. I remember feeling the opposite of how others felt about our life. I felt blessed because we had each other. We were happier when it was just us then when we had money. We had to rely on God to put food on the table because my dad didn’t make enough money to put food on the table. He is a very hard working timber cutter. Still to this day he works as a saw miller. If it wasn’t for God providing us with cloths, food, and ability to make it financially we would have starved to death. At this time family stuck together. We would combine all our food and feed the family. There were many of times my parents went without to feed us kids. We were blessed even though some would call it cursed.

I’m Not Lonely
T his story reminds me of the loneness that a sibling has when their brother or sister leaves the nest. I have a younger sister and there are six years between us. I remember how lonely it was for her when I and my older sister got married. There were times when she felt all alone and had no one to talk to. When you are use to someone being there it is hard to live life by yourself.

Poem For Black Boys
I know this poem is based on the history of what the African American children went through but I found it hard to read. It is hard to read stories based on the abuse the African American people went through. It talks about the white police men how the African American men had to hide to prevent them from being abused. Then there was the comment which was based on the Revolutionary war. It was a game called burn baby to where black men were being lynched. This term alone gave me chills to think young men were being burned because they chose to protect their family. I couldn’t help but to cry when they mentioned burn baby. Last he talks about black people killing each other in gangs to become the leader. This is still going on today to where people are killing each other so they can be recognized as the top dog.

Rhonda Massengill "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen

“I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen was a story about being a single parent. Being a single parent during the time when women had very little rights was hard. Women were force to put their children in daycares which weren’t up to standards. They had to work long hours to make up for the wage differences that men could make.
Emily is the little girl that is thrown from one home to another. The first problem this little girl suffers from is the lost of her dad. Her dad decides to leave because he can’t handle the demands of being a parent. The mother is forced to find a job and Emily has to stay at a neighbor’s house. Finally the mother finds a job working at night and she sends Emily to stay at her dads’ house. In the mean time the mother is trying to get enough money to be able to get her daughter back. Finally she gets the money and the child is two years old. The child returns to her mother’s home but life is not easy for her. She is subjected to a terrible daycare where the teacher is verbally abusive to the children. Her mother’s hands are tied and she ignores the abuse. Her daughter continues to stay in the daycare till she goes to school. Next her mother ends up pregnant and while she is giving birth to her sister Emily is left at the house by herself. She ends up with the measles and at the time she needs her mother her mother isn’t there for her. She is running a high fever and she calls out for her mother but her mother says she will be okay. She doesn’t go to comfort her child in fear her baby sister will get the measles. This is the beginning of a lifetime of sibling rivalry among Emily and her sister Susan. Emily feels she will never be good enough. From this point on Emily has learned not to rely on her mother. She learns to seek approval by other people and focuses on her appearance. She ends of using comedy to cope with her lifestyle. She is loved by her audience and rebels against education. She decides to throw away her life as student and focuses on her life as an entertainer.
Mother finally realizes she has can't change time and her relationship with her and Emily is permently destroyed. She will not be able to undo all her misfortunes and she must learn from her mistake. This is why she is dedicated at the end to be a good mother and house wife. With the help of her new husband she is able to give the other children the life she has longed for Emily.

Rhonda Massengill "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by O’Conner is based on extended family and their lifestyle. In this short story we have two women with very different lifestyles. The grandmother is the head of the house and what she says usually goes. The wife is subjective to her husband and does what her husband says for her to do. The grandmother is worried about her outward appearance and states our looks will determine whether we’re women or not. The mother on the other hand, is more worried about the well being of the family. Lastly we have how the grandmothers’ selfish ways end up causing the death of the family. She directs the family to go to a house off the main road. In the mean time they end up going down a dead end road and wreck the car. This could have been avoided if the grandmother would have admitted she was wrong about the turn to begin with. Instead of her admitting she was wrong she convinces her son to continue down the road. Right after the wreck they are approached by three men. The grandmothers’ mouth gets them in trouble from the beginning. She says I know who you are you are the man they call the misfit. The man who escaped from prison and the man say “yes’em I am that man”. The grandmother is trying to reason with the misfit in saying “I know you’re a good man” and the misfit says “nome. I ain’t a good man”. Shortly afterwards they take her son and grandson Bailey into the woods and kill them. The grandmother realizes she needs to start praying in order to save the family from the mess she got them into. The misfit kills all of them but the grandmother; he waits till the last to kill her.
What I felt was unique was the way the grandmother had died. She had died looking up toward heaven. I found this scene to be ironic because she never accepted the death of Jesus. One thing is for certain was the grandmother had forgiven the misfit for what he had done. This is played out when she touches his arm and says you are like one of my babies. This angers the misfit and in return he kills her. The misfit states at the end that she would be a good woman if every minute of her life someone was there to shot her.

Rhonda Massengill "Serena" by Ron Rash

What did you think of the main character, Serena, and her motivations?
Serena is a very self centered individual. She is very smart and she knows how to get her own way. She is able to manipulate men into whatever she wants them to do. The first person she is able to manipulate is her husband. She ends up taking control over his business and runs the business the way that she sees fit. Next she is able to manipulate one of her husbands worker. She talks her husband into keeping the logger on their payroll even after he has cut his hand off. The reason that she keeps him on their payroll is because they went in half on some land. She manipulates him into signing a contract that prevents him from evaluating anything on the land until the timber is cut. She uses this against him and he ends up killing for her. At the end of the novel he goes as far as to kill her husband. Lastly she manipulates another worker into making a bet with her. The bet is that he will go two weeks without a paycheck if she is able to guess the length of the tree better than him. He was known for being able to guess the measurements of the tree better than any of the other timber cutters. She wins the bet and through her winning she convinces her husband into firing him. That is exactly what her husband did was fire that worker.
Compare and contrast Serena and Pemberton.
Serena and Pemberton are both people that are self centered. They spend their life using other people to get what they want. They both love each other more than anyone else. The difference is that Pemberton starts to change throughout the novel. He starts to feel responsible for the safety of his son. He ends of sending some money to help his son out and then his wife finds out. She is still ruthless and tries to get his son and his mom killed. At the end of the novel she ends up killing her own husband. She has compassion for animals and her husband doesn’t.
Compare Serena with Rachel Harmon. How are they alike and also different?
Rachel is not selfish. She is a people pleaser. She lived her life trying to make her dad happy. Then she lives her life trying to be the best mom ever by making her son happy. She refuses to push her problem on Pamperton even though he is the father of her boy Jacob. She even risk her own safety by running from her problems instead of dealing with them. She does this because she knew how hard it was to live life without a mom and didn’t want her son to go through the same thing. Serena on the other hand is very selfish. She will use any and everybody to get what she wants in life. She is not able to have a child of her own. She got pregnant and lost her child and the ability to conceive again. The way they are alike is that they both had to deal with the lost of those they loved. Rachel’s mom left her while Serena’s family died of an illiness. They both had a romantic relationship with Pamperton. They were both raised in the mountains.

Rhonda Massengill Poems by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Path was a woman that wrote a lot about suicide. She had struggled with depression throughout her whole childhood until one day it had eventually token her life. She was a very intelligent woman and was ranked number one in Cambridge University. On February 11, 1963 she had committed suicide.

“The Bee Meeting”
I love this poem because it was based on an old fashion tradition called making honey. I have a good friend of mine that makes his own honey. I can remember them talking about how they have to use smoke to smoke bees away because you don’t want to kill any of them. Then how they remove the queen and take he to other parts of the honey farm to make more honey. This is a very dangerous process because you don’t want to kill the bees. If you kill the bees you can lose your honey. What I thought was really cool is the straw hat. If you have ever seen “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” I can just picture her in this poem.

“Lady Lazarus”
This story is talking about a woman that is trying several different times to end her life. At first she says that she almost died but that was an accident. She says that she must be like a cat that has nine lives because she can never seem to get it right. The second time she wanted to go and never come back. She is angry because the medical team got involved and brought her back to life. “Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well”. This as we all know is ironic because this is one thing that she can’t seem to accomplish. She succeeds in real life at everything but the one thing that she wants to succeed in she fails at.

“Daddy”
The dad dies because he is a diabetic at a young age. She is angry at her dad for leaving her behind. She says that she use to pray that you would recover than she stops. At this time she refers to her dad as a Nazi general. That everybody hates him and that she is glad he is gone. She even states that she is a Jew to him and that would have never worked out even if he was here. Other words, we may be of the same flesh but we are totally different.

Rhonda Massengill "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

James Baldwin he was considered one of the most important American black writers of the twentieth century. He was born in Harlem and was the oldest of the nine children. His dad was a minster and a strict man. Baldwin himself became a minister before he started his career as a writer.

“Sonny’s Blues”
In the beginning of the story you think that life couldn’t get any worse for the narrator. The narrator has a brother that is being put in jail for drug abuse. Around the same time his daughter dies (Grace). Earlier in his life he had lost both of his parents.
In the beginning his brother is charged with possession of heroin. The reason that his brother turns to drugs is based on the influence of the environment. It had been several years since he had seen his brother because they had a huge falling out. The only way that he knew that his brother was in jail was because he had seen his name in the newspaper. This is when he decided that he would write to his brother to let him know that he is there for him. They are able to rekindle their relationship.
Then you have the problems that he went through with the lost of his daughter. His daughter was two years old and she had polo. They didn’t know she had polo and thought she had a terrible cold. She ran a fever for a few days and seemed to be fine. His wife all of a sudden heard what she thought was a child had fallen. She went to check on the child and found her child grasping for air. She was not able to breath and shortly died after words.
Lastly we have how he’s parents died. His dad had died of alcohol poisoning and his mother had died but it doesn’t state how she had died. Before she had died she asked the narrator to take care of her little boy. That he was the strong one of the family. That is why the narrator felt obligated to take care of his brother.
One of the greatest passage that I liked in this story was ”Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did”. I loved this passage because the narrator finally realized why music was so important to his brother and to even us today. I love music and I know through music we are able to free ourselves from all our burdens.

Rhonda Massengill Poems by Randall Jarrell's

Randall Jarrell was a teacher, critic, and poet. Some of his most popular work of literature was done after he had served some time in prison. He was at first to become a business man inside his uncles’ studio. He’s uncle had finally agreed to send him back to school and that is where he earned his M.A. degree. From that point he ends up being an English teacher at Kenyon College. His main themes in his poems are change which affect women, children, and men in war and peace.

“Losses”
The event in this poem based on a plane crash that had happened in WWII. This could be a reflection of an event that had happened in his life. What had happened was that the pilot had gotten the concordance wrong and the planes had collated into one another. It goes on to talk about what we do to them. He goes on to state that we bombed their open ranges and shores. Lastly he talks about the rewards received for fighting in wars. He says we get a medal or if we die they say the causalities were low. I feel with this statement he is making a mockery of war. He views people that are serving in war as being under appreciated.

“The death of the Ball Turret Gunner”
In this short poem I wanted to reflect on the comment that was made at the end of the poem. This again states how military men are not appreciated they way that they should be. “When I died they washed me out of the turrent with a hose”. This image was disturbing to me. To think that they didn’t have enough respect for the soldiers to even give them a proper burial.

“In Montecito”
This poem reminds me of when I was little. The little breast reminded me of the circus and their big hot air balloons. How they prop them up and set them up for entertainment purposes. “The lips let the air out of the breasts”. Another thing that reminded me of the circus was when they were talking about Greenis Taliaferro (A tight-fighting gymnastic suit of stretch-knit fabric).

Rhonda Massengill "Raisin of the Son"

The 1961 film called the “Raisin of the Sun” was based on African American heritage. In the beginning you have an extended family living under one roof. The head of the house is the grandma, then her son, her daughter, then her son’s wife, and his child. They are an extended family due to a tragedy that had struck the family. The grandpa has died due to working himself to death. His death is the beginning of major problems within the family.
The family lives in one little house with very little room. There are only two bedrooms, small living room, and a small kitchen. The first thing that happens is the son is an alcoholic. He feels like he’s a failure and tries to drink his problems away. Then we have the problem with the wife she reveals to the family that she is pregnant. Lastly, the family inherits a huge paycheck. Grandma receives 10,000 dollars to do whatever she needs to do to take care of the family. The family is very poor and has never had that much money.
Just like the old saying goes money is the root of all evil. This is found to be true according to this family. The grandma decides to take 3,500 and put a down payment on a house. Next, she decides to give her son 6,500 to put in the bank. He was to spend only 3,500 on his own business and 3,000 on his sisters’ school tuition.
This is where all the problems begin. First we have the house with the 3,500 down payment. The grandma had hunted everywhere and the only house she could find was in a white neighborhood. The white people are willing to give her extra money as long as she stays out of their neighborhood. She refuses to take them up on the offer and keeps the house. Next, her son supposedly took 3,000 dollar to the bank for his sisters’ college tuition. Instead he decides to take all the money and invest it into a business deal. The business deal goes bad and he ends up losing all the money.
At the end they decide to move to the house. The family forgives the son for making that huge mistake. Most of all, the grandma says “I think he has finally grown into a man”. Other words, he has finally realized that family is more important than money.

Rhonda Massengill "Native Son" by Richard Wright

In the story the “Native Son” by Richard Wright it was based on slavery time period. In the beginning of the story you have a young man named Bigger who is seeking for a place to work. Bigger ends up going to a man’s house called the Dalton’s. Mr. Dalton is a real estate agency but has gotten most of his money through his wife. His wife, Mrs. Dalton, was rich prior to their marriage. Mrs. Dalton is blind and had lost her eyesight 10 years prior to Bigger working for them. Mrs. Dalton’s helper is away on vacation so she is left to tend to herself. Peggy is an Irish lady that has worked for the Dalton family for twenty years. She is their house keeper and their cook. Daltons end up hiring Bigger to be their caddy and drive the family around. Daltons’ daughter is a famous television star. The first mission that Bigger was supposed to do was to pick up Miss Dalton from the house and take her to her school. Miss Dalton convinces Bigger into letting her skip her classes and go meet a friend. She tells Bigger that her friend and her want to meet black people so they can learn more about them. Later on she convinces Bigger and her boyfriend Jan into taking her to the bar. They end up buying rum and Jan and Miss Dalton end up getting drunk. Miss Dalton is so drunk that she isn’t able to walk in the room without assistant. Bigger ends up helping Miss Dalton into her room and starts taking advantage of her. Next, Mrs. Dalton walks into the room to check up on her daughter. Mrs. Dalton is blind and not able to see so she didn’t know that Bigger was in the room. She lends over to make sure her daughter is in the bed and Bigger is at the end of the bed. To prevent Bigger’s cover from being blown, he covers Miss Dalton’s mouth to prevent her from talking. When Mrs. Dalton leaves the room Bigger decides to make sure that Miss Dalton is okay. This is when he discovers that she is dead.

Rhonda Massengill "Powerhouse" by Eudora Welty

In the story named “Powerhouse” by Eudora Welty this story is unique because of the rhythm of this story. The rhythm of the story is based on African American music. This story reminds me of the blues based on the way the author uses the words in this story. This story is about the blues and the coming of age of African American music. Powerhouse is the leader in the band and he plays the piano. He’s piano playing is like no other has ever seen during that time. He is filled with rhythm and movement when he plays. He’s not a showoff but a man with great talent. Valentine is another key player in the band. He specializes in bass playing. He plays in a unique fashion; he plays with his eyes closed. He plays the music by ear without having to refer to the notes. Little Brother is a clarinet player. Little Brother stands at the very front of the band. He is the one that lets the band know how many choruses are left in a song. Scoot is the man that plays the drums in his band. Scoot is not referenced at the same level as the other players are. He is not as important or as talented as the other players.
They all decide that they are going to take a trip into the town to hear other types of music. When they go into this bar they find out who their competition is. The man that is their competition is a man named Uranus Knockwood. When they are inside the bar they are recognized for their talents. The people in the bar give Powerhouse’s band special treatment based on their talents.
According to some of their songs in this story we know that women and marriage was something that they could destroy. The women were killed because of the loneness and depression they had suffered. I think that they songs was a direct reflection of how musicians deal with lose. Many don’t have that supportive wife and marriage is something that is bond to fail due to infidelity.

Rhonda Massengill "Flight" by John Steinback

In the story named “Flight” by John Steinbeck the setting is based on an African American’s who are no longer slaves. In the beginning of the story you have a family that is suffering from personal tragedy. The dad in the home has died due to a rattlesnake bite. Mama Torres, the mom, is taking care of her three children on her own. Pepe is the oldest boy, Emilio is the second son, and then her daughter named Rosy. Pepe the oldest child is finally being tested his manhood. Pepe is a lazy child and has very little responsibility but the family has run out of medicine. The mom sends Pepe into the city to get some medicine and salt. While Pepe is in the city he encounters some problems with a white man. The white man is saying things to Pepe and it makes him mad. Before he knew it he had stabbed the white man. Pepe runs home and tells his mom about what had happened at the bar. His mom helps Pepe gather his belongings and sends him to the mountains to hide. The mother is filled with tears once her son leaves because she feels he will die in the words. While Pepe is in the mountain his horse is killed and he is wounded by a shot from the rifle. The rifle pierces his hand and causes massive swelling. Pepe has losted his knife and he uses things in the woods to cut his hand to relieve the swelling. Pepe is able to escape from the man that shots him but his terrible journey is not over. Pepe ends up dying due to an avalanche that falls on his head and kills him.

I really loved this story but I hated the way that it ended. I really was hoping it would have ended on a positive note. What I was hoping more than anything was that he would be reunited with his family. I also hated the fact that this poor woman has lost two of her family members after surviving the mistreatment of racism.

Rhonda Massengill "On the Road" and Poetry by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was a successful humorist and a historian of the lives of the blacks. He was the first African American man to make a living through writing. He was also the first African writer to receive attention for realistic writing of African American heritage.
“Young Gal’s Blues” was my favorite poem because it was about life. In life we all have to say goodbye to someone that we love. In the first stanza he talks about death. Next he talks about money, those that don’t have any money. He talks about how lonely it is when you don’t have any money. You don’t have the mends to enjoy life. Lastly, he talks about love and how it affects us. We have those that never left home and found a soul mate. He talks about how they stay at home with their parents.
“Note on Commercial Theatre” another poem that I liked. This poem to me was about taking a stand. Many of the African American people weren’t able to take a stand for what they felt was right. This poem says if they are talking about you take a stand and make yourself known. The only person that can defend your name and honor is yourself.
“On the Road” was a very sad story to me. I could just see this man named Sargeant going door to door looking for shelter. I am sure when he got to the Rev. Mr. Dorset he thought finally refuge from the storm. The Reverend refused to let Sargeant into his house. Next he thinks the church will be open he could just stay at the church. The church doors are locked so he starts yelling hoping someone would let him in. He is finally able to bust open the door and then the police arrive. The police start beating Sargeant trying to get him loose from the door. The police get Sargeant loose and take him to jail. This act of violence could have been avoided if they would have given him a warm place to stay. It was the middle of winter and the poor man was freezing to death. (Ironically) Sargeant sees Christ when he is in jail. I thought this was ironic because the preacher refused to help him but Christ comes.

Rhonda Massengill "That Evening Sun" by William Faulkner

William Faulkner novel “That Evening Sun” was based on the transition of the slavery time period. In a time where slaves were free to live on their own but still was obligated to take care of the family. He writes about a woman named Sandy (Negro) that helps take care of the family laundry. Then we have another lady named Dilsey which is responsible for cooking and cleaning. Sandy doesn’t live with the family that she takes care of but Dilsey does. Dilsey is very sick at the beginning of the story and Sandy has to do both of their work.
Sandy is going through some marital problems with her husband named Jesus. He has just been put in jail for some type of mischief and Sandy is finally not afraid. Later on she finds out that her husband has been released from jail and she is afraid that he will kill her. The story doesn’t say that her husband was taken to jail because he abused her. I really think that might have been why he was taken to jail. Sandy convinces the dad of the family to walk her home because she is feared for her life. She at one point talks the children into walking her home because she is so sacred. The reason that she picks the white family is because black men were afraid of white people. If a black man killed a white man then they were lynched. Lynching is when you take tar and feathers and you set them on fire. This is how the white man sought revenge against a black man.
At the end of the story the dad comes and gets the children and tells Sandy that Jesus won’t hurt her. He leaves and when he leaves they hear a terrible sound. Jesus ends up showing up and kills his wife. The response that the children made is what disturbed me more than anything. They said “Who will do our washing now”! This just shows how black people were not considered people. The children didn’t more for her death instead it was treated worst than what most kids would treat their animals death. They were more worried about who would take care of them. This just broke my heart.

Rhonda Massengill "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born in Chicago and he was raised in a well to do family. His dad was a physician and he encouraged his son to hunt and fish. In the short story called “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” we can see a reflection of Hemingway’s childhood through some of the events in this story. At first we have men that are gathered around the camp and they are talking about their hunting expedition. Mr. Macomber was a famous fisherman and he loved hunting. He had earned a great living by fishing and he wanted to extend his wildlife experiences. He decides to take a trip to Africa to hunt wildlife with a man named Mr.Wilson. Mrs. Macomber, his wife, decides to go with him on his journey to Africa. When Mr. Macomber got there he was afraid of the lion and many of the people made fun of him. His wife is a self-centered woman and she had even made fun of her own husband. Mr.Macomber is able to conquer his fears when he is faced with the lion. Mr. Macomber shoots the lion but it is just wounded. Fear overcomes him and he doesn’t want to make sure the lion is dead. Mr. Wilson, hunter expert, tells Mr. Macomber that they can’t an injured animal in the wild it is a safety issue. Mr.Wilson convinces Mr.Macomber that he will be safe and to check on the lion. The lion is still alive and they kill the lion. Next, they (Mr.Macomber and Mr. Wilson’s team) decide to go out and kill some buffalos. They get back to the camp his wife is ashamed of him for acting like a baby. She ends up sneaking out of the tent and sleeps with Mr. Wilson. When she attempts to sneak back into the tent her husband questions her where she had been. He realizes that she had been in Mr. Wilson’s tent. Later on they go on another expedition and this time they are after a buffalo. This buffalo is what makes a man out of Mr. Macomber. He is able to face his fears conquer them. One of his fears is the fear of death. The other is the fear of his wife leaving him. He is able to conquer these fears by standing up to the fierce buffalo and defeating it.
Then we have the tragic way the author really died and the tragic way Mr. Macomber died. Both the author and the main character died at a young age. The author he died when he was thirty years old. The character in this story Mr. Macomber was killed by his wife at the end of the hunting expedition. Mr. Macomber was probably around the same age as the author when he took his life.

Rhonda Eng 232 "How it feels to be Colored Me" and "The Glided Six-Bits" by Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston
She lived in the first completely black town that was incorporated in the United States called Eatonville, Florida. Her dad was a preacher and her mom was her inspiration. She had encouraged her to “jump for the sun”. Unfortunately, at the age of thirteen her mom had died and her dad had abandoned her. He was unable to take care of her and she was passed around from one family member to the next. She found jobs working as a maid, wardrobe girl, and waitress.

“How it feels to be colored me”
In the beginning of the story the author is telling the story of her life. She lives in an all black community and change is bound to happen. Slowly she starts to notice that she is black and that there are white people. She talks about how the white people would ride through town and how they liked to hear her speak. Later on she is sent to school and she is the colored girl. She is no longer the dominate race but the white people are the dominate race. In school she is constantly being reminded about the events of slavery. The author brings up the main issue based on how whites treat blacks and how blacks treat white. How we tend to dominate those that are of minority race. She found this to be true based on where she was at. In her town they were all blacks but in her school majority of the students were white.

“The Gilded Six-Bits”
In the beginning of the story we have two people that have been married for only a year. They are still in the honey moon stage. The husband comes home from work and greets his wife with a surprise. He is always gone during the week and comes back home during the weekend. Their love for each other is so strong and in the beginning you know nothing will come between them. Like everything in life Satan is always waiting for a way to destroy your happiness. He destroys their innocence of their marriage by sending a man to tempt his wife. She is at home missing her husband and would do anything to prevent him from being gone. A man comes into their town pretending to be rich and makes her an offer. He tells her that he will pay her lots of money if she will sleep with him. She falls for his trick and agrees to sleep with him for money. What she didn’t know was that her husband would come home and catch them together. The man leaves a coin on the bed and it isn’t gold but a quarter. She then ends up pregnant and she isn’t sure if that is her husband’s baby or the ice cream man’s baby. The baby looks like her husband and he ends up forgiving his wife.

Rhonda Eng 232 "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspell
Susan’s mission was to make sure that women were heard and not ignored. She had a hard time with this because she wrote plays at a time that men dominated the playwright’s. She was raised by a middle class family. She had moved around a lot trying to find jobs that would benefit her most. Finally she came back to America and started working in New York City. She end up marrying a man named George Cook. Together they had formed the first serious of modern American drama. This drama was based on real problems that the American people faced.

Trifles
In the beginning of the story we have Sheriff that is dropping by Mr. Wright’s house to work up a business deal. Mrs. Wright is sitting in her rocker and she seems a little nervous. Hale (sheriff) asked to speak to her husband and she says no and starts to laugh. Later on Hale discovers that her husband is dead and has been hung. Mrs. Wright is then questioned and states that she was sleeping and didn’t know what happened. She states that she found him dead and that he had been hung. The sheriff asked her whether she was in the bed with her husband. Mrs. Wright states that she was in the bed with her husband but that she was a sound sleeper. The sheriff searched the home and didn’t find any proof of an intruder. What they did find was in an apron that Mrs. Wright wanted with her at jail. Inside the apron was a dead bird. Later on they discover the bird was killed the same way her husband was killed. The town people knew Mr. Wright and knew he wasn’t an animal lover. The story kind of leaves you hanging as far as knowing exactly what had killed her husband. Most of the evidence, points to Mrs. Wright that she had killed her husband because he killed her pet. I personally think that she killed her husband because he killed her pet. The way that he died and the way that they pet died is definitely too familiar to ignore.

Rhonda Eng 232 "A Wagner Matinee" and "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather

Willa Carter
She was really weird when she was a child. She was a cross dresser and signed her name as William Cather.

A Wagner Matinee
This story reminds me of “Little House on the Prairie”. In the beginning the uncle sends a letter in the mail to inform the narrator that his aunt is coming to visit. He (narrator) receives this letter the day before she is to arrive. She travels by a wagon in the prairie and when she arrives she is sick from the long trip. Due to the dust from the road, she is covered in dirt. She arrives and he is so excited about seeing his aunt. He talks about how she was there for him when he was a child. How she would listen to him read, taught him to play the organ, and manages to cook three meals a day. He is a grown man now and has his own place that he rents. Even though he is a grown man he is still suffering from the lack of parent involvement. I really don’t know what happened to his mom but he is longing for his mom’s guidance. I can see this through the constant reference to how well his aunt is to him. Then we have the reaction that his aunt and the narrator have toward the opera. They are overwhelmed with tears during the opera and I wonder if this isn’t a reflection of something that happened in the family. This could be the first sign that his parents are dead. Again I am just speculating it really never tells you about the narrator’s family.

Paul’s Case
In the beginning of the story we have a child that is constantly getting into trouble. The story starts out with a boy named Paul who is to appear before the faculty based on his misdemeanors. His dad then sends him to a Catholic school in hopes that he will behave himself. Later on Paul ends up stealing money from Carson’s and Denny which he was suppose to deposit. The reason that Paul continues to act out is because he is striving for his dad’s attention. We find this through the reference that his dad will come and find him. He knew his dad had the money and would pay his dept. Most of all he wanted his dad to come and look for him. The sad part is when his dad does pay the men that he stole the money from but he never comes to get his son.

Rhonda Massengill Robert Frost's Poems

“Home Burial” this poem had really touched my heart. We have a man and his wife trying to figure out a way to deal with the lost of their children. The woman feels as if her husband doesn’t understand. Every time she tries to talk to him he turns away or goes outside. I can relate with the same feelings that me and my husband had toward each other. We had suffered the same lost, the lost of a child. I was two and a half months pregnant and I had a miscarriage. I called the hospital and they said there was nothing they could do for me. They said for me to flush the fetus down the toilet. Instead of flushing the fetus down the drain we went at outside and buried the baby. For a long time we never talked about it.

“After Apple-Picking” I love this poem it reminds me of a field trip I took when I was in sixth grade. We went to an apple orchard and they had this huge trough where they made apple cider. I will never forget the smell of those apples brewing in that big trough. We were all allowed to have a cup full of hot apple cider. It was the best thing I had ever tasted when I was a child. We didn’t get soda pop when we were a child it cost too much money.

“The Road Not Taken” this reminds of a parable in the bible. God talks about two roads one is narrow and the other is broad. Narrow road not many will take but straight is the way that leads to the gate. The other road is broad but it leads to the road of destruction. I know I find this to be true. There are very few people that strive to live a Christian life many are busy fulfilling their own selfish desires. I just think God for showing me the right path to go and for leading me.

Rhonda Massengill "The Other Two" by Edith Wharton

In the story called “The Other Two” by Edith Wharton it is based on the values of marriage. Years ago marriage was considered sacred and it was taken seriously. This story undermines the value of marriage and portrays a woman that has been married three different times.
Her first marriage was to a man named Mr. Haskett and they had a child named Lily. Mrs. Waythorn, Lilies mom, was on her honeymoon when she received a phone call that her daughter was sick. She returned back home quickly and found out her daughter had typhoid fever. Mrs. Waythorn had called Lilies dad to inform him that Lily wouldn’t get to see him this weekend. This is when problems started flaring up in her new marriage. Mr.Waythorn is really jealous of his wife’s passed relationships. Her passed relationship with Mr. Haskett worries him the most. He knows that Mr. Haskett has the right to see his daughter and lets him come to his own house.
Her next husband was Mr.Varick and he had a business relationship with Mr. Waythorn. One day Mr.Waythorn’s boss had gout and he was supposed to meet with Mr.Varick to close a business deal. At that time Mr.Waythorn was Mr.Sellers’ assistant and he had to take over the business. Mr.Varick had come across some money and he wanted to invest it in some stock. Mr.Waythorn set up the meeting and they sealed the business deal. He had to be awkward for Mr.Waythorn to help his ex-wife’s husband on investing his money.
Mr. Waythorn is her last husband and he goes from overlooking her pass to letting it overwhelm him. In the beginning they cut their honey moon short because the little girl is sick. This is when he starts to question his marriage. When he had married Mrs.Waythorn he thought the pass would stay in the pass. This didn’t happen because she had a child with her first husband. In order to make sure the child was taking care of he let her dad come to his house. Next he has a run a in with her other ex-husband over a business deal. Between her first and her second husband he starts to wonder if there was enough of her left to sustain him. He knew that with every marriage there was a piece of his wife that was gone. At the end he realizes that he loves her for who she is.
This story is a typical issue that American’s still face today. Many people that have been remarried suffer the most with those that have children. With Mr.Waythorn when the child was involved it was harder to accept the marriage was over. I know with parents they have a special bond after having kids together that causes problems.

Rhonda Massengill "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane

“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane was a short story based on actual events. The author was on his way to Cuba Revolution, Crane was aboard the tug Commodore, when his boat sank off the coast of Florida on January 2, 1897. After thirty hours at sea in a small dinghy, Crane landed at Daytona, Florida.
In the beginning of the story the cook, oiler, correspondence, and the captain are on a tattered boat. It is in the month of January and the shores of Florida had a terrible storm. This storm causes damages to the boat and in the process the captain gets injured. At this time they had been at sea for two days and two nights with little to nothing to eat. The oiler, Billie, and the correspondence role on the boat were to make sure they steered the boat. The captain had laid beside them giving them orders on how to control the boat. These four men were very close friends and worked very well to save the boat. The oiler and the correspondent would take turns sleeping to make sure the boat was taken care of the whole time. They had finally gotten close enough to the shore to see a huge light house in the distant. At first they had thought it was a life saver station and that they would be rescued. There were two men at the shore waving at them. The four men thought they would be rescued any second now. Another night had passed and they were still at sea. Finally after four days at sea they were able to get close enough to the land to abandon the boat. They rowed as hard as they could without any regards to the damage of the boat and to get as close to the shore as possible. They abandoned the boat right before the boat had sunk. Upon the shore there was a man and he had taken off all his cloths. The naked man had helped the men to get to the shore. The water was freezing and immediately they had trouble swimming. All the men were finally on land and they were greeted with goodies. The shore people had clothes for them, warm drinks, and food. Everyone was finally safe from the raging storms of the sea.

Rhonda Massengill "Stephen Crane's Poems"

Stephan Crane’s poetry was really weird and hard to understand. According to his biography his work was a reflection of religion in a humorous way. I really don’t agree with his approach to religion. I felt he was mocking god. One example of this type of mocking was called “A God in Wrath”. It puts god on the same pedal stool as mankind which is ridiculous. The poem states that God had cuffed a man and started beating this man. This poem basically states that God is a God of anger. Sin angers God but I am so glad that my heavenly father is a God of mercy. He doesn’t beat his children because they sin but he forgives them if they would turn from their wicked ways. All god wants us to do is ask for forgiveness, put him first, and strive to live right.
Another important factor to Stephan Crane’s poetry was his desire to be a solder. In 1890 he had spent two and a half years at a military prep school in New York. He later decided, after a year in Lafayette College, to leave the college and transfer to Syracuse University. I don’t agree with Stephan Crane’s perception of war based on his poem called, “Do not weep, Maiden, for war is kind”. Stephan Crane’s perception of war is relevant to how war was viewed years ago. Men were obligated to support their country and if they didn’t they were shunned. He tells the family not to mourn for their family’s death but to consider it an honor. War back then was considered a privileged to be a part of. Today we know that war isn’t an honor. War leaves children without dads, moms without their sons, and wife’s without husbands. The repercussion of war outweighs the good in war. War leaves men with permanent disabilities that cause everyone to suffer.

Rhonda Massengill "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was raised in a fairly rich home. She was sent to a Catholic school to learn French. At age nineteen she married Oscar Chopin. They had six children together and lived on a plantation. Her husband had died of swamp fever and she was left to raise her children on her own. She had written several stories and editorial pieces in newspapers. She had written the story "The Awakening" in hopes that it would be the story that spike her career. Unfortunately it had done the opposite it was what had destroyed her career. With the harsh criticism, that the story was too rough because it had scenes of infidelity, Kate Chopin had given up on writing. Five years later she died.

"The Awakening" was a great story after I got pass the first fifty pages. I thought that the story could have been better if they would have gone into more details based on her emotions. The first fifty pages went in to the setting more than the events that were forming. In the beginning of the story we have a woman that is married to a man for the mere reason that he is a good provider. Years ago women didn't marry someone because they loved them, they married for money reasons. Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier was an example of what could go wrong if you marry for the wrong reason. Her husband treated her like a child always worried about what others would think. She had to have the house cleaned a certain way, food cooked a certain way, and expected her to treat the children a certain way. Mrs. Pontellier started feeling like she could never please him so she refused to try. During this time she had falling in love with a man named Robert Lebrun. Robert Lebrun knows that Mr. Pontellier will never put her away and because he loves her he leaves. He stays gone for four months and then returns to see her. At the time that he arrives she has left her husband and moved in her own home. She is seeing someone else (Alcee Arobin) but she isn't in love with him. Her heart belongs to Robert and she loves him. He returns and tells her that he loves her too. There is an emergency Madame Ratignolle was in labor and wanted Mrs. Pontelliel there. She leaves Robert and when she comes back home she finds a letter there and he is gone. She reads the letter that says that he had to leave because he did love her. He knew that her husband would never put her away and that it would hurt her more if he stayed. At the end of the story Mrs. Pontelliel loves Robert and decides to end her life if she can't have him.

Rhonda "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The author life had started out on a rough path. Her dad had abandoned her when she was a little girl. Charlotte's mother tried to provide for the family but with no avail. They were raised in a poverty stricken home. Charlotte didn't have the financial means to go to school so she learned how to write on her own. Later on she got married and she started having trouble with depression. "The Yellow Wallpaper was a reflection of the trouble that she underwent when she was married. Just like the character in "The Yellow Wallpaper" she was sentenced to the "rest cure". The rest cure was when women that were depressed were made to stay in bed until they were better. They were given medicine that was supposed to help them. Later on she ends the marriage by divorcing her husband. She felt as if her husband had caused her sickness to get worse. Later on she gets remarried to George Gilman and due to his support she started to advance in her writings. She not only advanced in her writings but she started women's right crusade. With his support she lived a pretty normal life.

In the story "The Yellow Wallpaper" the main character is undergoing post-pardon depression. Her husband thinks that he is helping her by isolating her from everyone. She is only allowed to see her child up under the supervision of her sister-in-law. Her husband is a doctor and he instructs his sister not to let her out of her room. He thinks that she will harm herself or someone else if she gets out. Inside the room she talks about people that she sees in the yellow wallpaper. This person that she sees is a reflection of women being held captive. During the time that this story was written women didn't have rights. One place that reflects this is when she is referred to as John's wife. Women were referred by the man that they married once they were married they lost their own identity. Women in the wallpaper also reflect women that didn't have the right to voice their own opinions. If women showed any signs of depression or refused to do what their husband wanted them to do then they were put on rest cure. Rest cure like mentioned above is when they are isolated from everyone and given medicine. One other problem that was mentioned was when the main character decided that she would write. Her husband didn't want her to write but claimed that writing caused her to be sicker. This was a direct way that men kept women from voicing their opinions. The author went through the same thing with her first husband. He had refused her the write to write stories about her life. Just like the author and the main character the writing in their journals helped ease their mind.

Rhonda Eng 232 "How Mr.Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox" and "Free Joe and the Rest of the World" by Joel Chandler Harris'

Joel Chandler Harris' is absolutely amazing the way that he captures the dialect of the language of slaves. He was famous because he wrote stories during the time that slavery stories were famous. He took most of his stories from the experience that he had on the Plantation in Georgia.

"How Mr. Rabbit was to Sharp for Mr. Fox" was a very cute story. The first time I ever heard this story was in one of my favorite movies. If you have ever seen the movie "Savannah Smiles" then you would immediately recognize this story. You have a mean little fox that has caught a very cleavor rabbit. The fox threatens to cook the rabbit at first in barbaque. The rabbit says what ever you do don't put me in that brier patch. Next he threatens to put the rabbit in the pot in boil it. Again, the rabbit says please don't put me in the brier patch. Then the fox decides that he is going to hang me or drawn him. The rabbit again begs him not to put him in the brier patch. Finally the fox has it he decides that he is going to put the rabbit in the brier patch. The rabbit runs away and says "Born in the brier patch".

"Free Joe and the Rest of the World" was a very sad story for me. I admire the character Free Joe for his determination. After Free Joe's guardian had died he was able to live as a free slave. At first he decides to go and live with Judge Wellington where his wife is staying. He stays there until Judge Wellington dies. When he dies his brother takes in Free Joes wife as his own slave. Free Joe wasn't taken in because he was considered a free slave. He is a very mean man and refuses Joe the right to see his wife. He decides to watch her on a plantation that is near the Calderwood's (His wife's guardian)house. His dog Dan ends up running to the plantation and gets his wife when he is sleeping. From that day forward he is able to see his wife everyday thanks to his dog. Then one day Calderwood gets word that he is seeing his wife after he already refused him from seeing her. He then gets rid of his wife and Free Joe can't find her. He never gives up but waits at that very tree everyday. Then one day the owners of the land goes to wake him up and finds out that he is dead. He died of a broken heart waiting for his wife to return.

Rhonda Eng 232 "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce's

Ambrose Bierce centered his writings on death and not romance. Many feel that the reason his work was centered on death was because of the things he saw in War. He saw people around him being killed. He also lost family members, to suicide, who had fought with him. Even Ambrose's death was a mystery because he just disappeared. He wrote books and stories based on realism.

In the beginning of the story Peyton Farquhar is waiting to be hung. He is being hung because of some type of treason (I think). The man slides the plank out from under him and the rope breaks. He then scrambles to get loose and swims away to safety. He's first thought was if I make it home then I will be safe. What he doesn't know is they are waiting for him at the house. He walks through the door and gives his wife a huge hug. Then all of a sudden he feels a whack across the back of his head. They take him back and proceed to hang him. He wakes up long enough to see his wife in front of him. Before he is able to say anything he hears a crack and then he falls to his destiny.

I couldn't imagine being able to escape death and then have to face it again. I am the type of person that I would much rather get my punishment over with. One example was when I was a child I got in trouble for talking in church. My dad said when we got home we would get a whipping. As soon as I walked through the door I asked him if I could go ahead and have my whipping. Of course I did get my whipping and I felt much better knowing that the worst was over.

He often states that being hung is so much better than being shot. I wonder if he was able to tell us today if he still would agree that being hung is so much better than being shot. If I was sentenced to death I think I would much rather be put to sleep that way I wouldn't feel anything. I couldn't imagine suffocating to death.

Rhonda Eng 232 "Tennessee's Partner" by Bret Harte

Bret Harte's dad had died and then he moved with his mom to the west. It was believed that Bret rode solo on the stagecoach for Wells Fargo Express. This was the name of a train and it was a very dangerous job. Bret was proclaimed to be a young genius who was able to read Shakespeare at the age of six. He was also considered to be a great writer but had wasted his talent. He was so good at writing that Charles Dickens wanted Bret to come to London and work with him. The reason why his work never made mainstream was because it was location based. Once he moved from the West he continued to write the same type of writing and people got tired of reading the same ol' mess.

Tennessee's Partner was a hard novel for me to read. I had to read the story twice before I finally got it. Tennessee's Partner had fallen in love with a woman and got married to her. She ends up leaving Tennessee's Partner and starts a relationship with Tennessee. Tennessee ends up leaving one day and when he returns she isn't with him. Neither one of the men really loved her because they were both happy to get rid of her.

Then one day Tennessee decided that he would rob someone that was on his way to Red Dog. He ended up taking the man's weapons and money. The owner of Sandy Bar and Red Dog had put out a warrant for Tennessee's actions. Tennessee ends up going to the bar and shooting up the bar. He leaves the bar and is meet up with a small man on a horse. This man ends up arresting him. The man that caught Tennessee was the judge name Lynch. His name is definitely ironic, being that he is the one that has control over lynching him. Tennessee is found guilty and is sentenced to death. They decide to hang him.

Tennessee Partner was a true friend to Tennessee. No matter what they went through in their course of friendship Tennessee's Partner was always by his side. Tennessee's Partner was there for him when Tennessee was being prosecuted. He tried to convince the jury that he was a good man. He was also there to help carry his body to the grave. Once Tennessee was buried they tried to have Tennessee's Partner prosecuted. They opened up the investigation and determined that he was innocent.

Rhonda Eng 232 "Editha" by William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells was famous for writing novels based on literary realism. Through his literary realism work he avoided romanticism because he said it was considered naturalism. He also avoided heroic characters but focused more on realistic characters. Howells was considered the founder of realism work of literature. One example of his realism work was the biography work he done for Lincoln before he was the president. Howell has written over 100 different books ranging from-novels, collections of short stories essays, autobiographies, and verse.

I really don't like Editha the way she is portrayed in this novel. The man she loves ,George, is basically forced to go to war to prove his love for him. She has a misconception of what makes a man. He has to be willing to sacrifice his own life for his country in order to be a real man. This is a reflection of how times have changed. This novel reminds me of a movie I saw called "The Four Feathers". Heath Ledger had to run in hiding because he refused to fight for his own country. His true love is ashamed of him and refuses to marry him. When I read the part where she wrote the letter to George my heart sank. I couldn't believe that she was willing to refuse to marry George if he didn't go to war. Needless to say, George does go to war and he is the captain of the troop. George ends up getting killed and doesn't return from war. Editha feels so guilty that she literally gets deathly sick. She decides that she has to go see George's mom in order to get rid of her guilt. George's mom is filled with anger when she finaly fingures out who Editha is.

George's mom had a right to get angry at Editha. Especially, after George had decided to give his mom the letter she had wrote him. Prior to him going to war he had told Editha to go to his mom's house to take care of her. I think George had sent her there to get back at her for making him go to war. George knew that his mom would be angry at her and he wanted her to feel guilty.

The other question could be do I think that Editha loved George? Did George love Editha? I don't think she loved him but she loved the thougths of someone sacrificing their life for her. She wanted someone she could brag about because she is an egotistical girl. George on the other hand, I feel his love for Editha was pure. He would do anything to make her happy. People who really love each other have to be willing to sacrifice their own life to make sure the other one is safe.

Rhonda Eng 232 White Heron

Sarah Jewett was raised in a fairly wealthy home. She was mostly preoccupied with helping her dad as a physician. She didn't go the school much and got most of her education through her dad's library. She starting writing at a fourteen, secretively, tales and sketches. Her stories are geared around people in New England. She doesn't write based on literary naturalist but based on suffering and defeat. She also reflects on how that nature reflects good will in people's life. You will find out how nature is affected in this short story the Heroin.

Heroin is a story based on a young girl who is in love with nature itself. She doesn't do very well with handling people and had moved in the rural area to escape the city. One day there is a boy that comes by and she is scared of him. Later on they do become friends. He is a hunter and an ornithologist in search for a special bird. The way that he goes about captioning this bird makes Sylvia very uncomfortable. He wants to shoot the bird and mount it like a trophy. He offers her ten dollars if she would help him find that bird. At this time ten dollars would be a lot of money. Instead she doesn't help him find the bird even though she knows where the bird is.

I really like the moral of this story because I hate trophy haunting. The only way that a person should be justified for killing an animal is if they are going to eat the meat. There is nothing worst in life than to kill something just for the act of killing. I honestly feel that people that kill animals so they can have a trophy on the wall should pay a fine. I am so glad that Syliva saw fit to spare this bird from being murdered.

Rhonda Eng 232 A New England Nun

In order to appreciate Mary Wilkins work I feel that it is relevant to recap some of her history. She was a very sick little girl due to her poor living situations. She lived in England and her stories are based on the life of those in England. After the war there were very few people that lived in the rural areas of England because they had to find better jobs. Those that stayed in the rural areas were unable to make a successful life of their own and many of them never got married.

In the story "A New England Nun" I feel that Mary was trying to portray this same aspect of never getting married. Many were left behind in a rural area with the lack of opportunity. We get this sense that it is a rural area when they are talking about everyone is ranked the same. That no one has more or less then the other person in that neighborhood. With Louisa and Dagget we know that it was rural area when it comes to relationships. Louisa and Dagget had waited for fifteen years to get married. At the end we later realize that marriage was something neither one of them wanted.

Louisa reminds me of my grandma in the sense of her obsessive compulsive behaviors. My grandma was a knitter and she was very picky when it came to her work. When I read about the part when Dagget knocked the stuff off the table I couldn't help but laugh. I automatically started recanting my grandma's reaction when we knocked her stuff over. Then we have the obsession of everything clean and organized. She had an end table that sat in the living room with crossword and word search puzzles. When we would go over there she would let us use those puzzles to play with. Low and behold though if you didn't put them in the right where they were originally. Boy she would get so mad!

Rhonda Massengill Perception of Emily Dickinson Poems

Emily Dickinson is struggles throughout this poem with the decisions she has made. She knows that there is a heaven and a hell just like so many people today. She refers back to the times when she was in church with the communion services. She states "thy consecrated (sacred) bread to take And thine immortal wine" this is in reference to communion services that Baptist Churches take part in. I know this because I am Baptist and I know all about the communion services. The communion services are done to resemble what Christ had went through on the cross. The bread is his body and the wine represents the blood that Christ shed.

Emily also refers to how she was raised and how that it impacted her life. She was raised in a home with well educated people. We can conclude this by the fact that she wasn't able to talk unless with "prose" which refers to proper language. This had an impact on her life because she was constantly striving to say and do the right thing. I know ,with me, my parents taught me to not give up. Quitters never win anything in life. I am so thankful for this little
motto because when I want to give up I can't without feeling guilty.

Emily also talks about how death is a sure thing. That everyone is going to have to face death and we all have to make a decision. Emily states that "the soul selects her own society" and I have to agree with this statement. We are all born with the free will to chose how to live our life. How we live our life will determine where we will go when this life is over. Emily states that she believes in heaven and hell but she seems to be confused on how to know that you are on the right path. I think that many of us struggle with not knowing. Faith is when you believe in something even though you can't see it.

Rhonda Massengill Huckleberry Finn Journal

I really enjoyed the story once I got pass the first few chapters. I really felt as if the first eight chapters took to long. I know that the first few chapters help us to relate to Huck and realize why he went through what he went through. Huck was adopted by a woman named Miss Watson because Huck's dad was a drunk. He was not only a drunk but was mean to his son. Huck also learned that the only way to make it through life was to take advantage of other people. He was taught this through the action of his dad. His dad was a theft and stoled all that he had ever gotten in life. His lifestyle had soon found him out because the black man named Jim had found him dead.
Next I wanted to talk about some issues that the author addressed throughout this story and what I feel he felt about it. The first issue was the issue of religion or Christianity. I felt as if the author felt that Christianity was to hard for anyone to live by. I felt as if he had looked down on those that did believe in Christianity. Stated that nobody benefits by living a Christan life then those that a Christan tries to help. Then we have a brief mention of how he felt about foreigners. I think that the author didn't agree with the trade market. He had mentioned that a man should talk like a man and so forth. I felt as if he wasn't much for foreigners and felt as if they should stay where they belong. Then we have the issue of the rich man or the king. He felt as if the only way that people got ahead was by being dishonest. Through the authors way of thinking we can presume that he was a common person. That they author wasn't raised in a rich home and had to make an honest days work to make a living. Lastly we have the issue of slavery and how the author felt. Throughout this whole novel I never got the feeling that the author was against slavery. I felt that he felt it was okay and a means of life. The reason why I felt this was because they were going to free Jim not because it was the right thing to do but because he was already a free man. Miss Watson had died and she had freed Jim of all his slave duties.

Rhonda's Eng 232 Reading Journal

I like to read anything but romance novels they are my least favorites. I have just recently finished the Twilight books all but the first one. I love to read probably more than I should. The reason why I say this is because I get caught up in books and can't put them down till their finished. I look forward to reading and learning about new stories. I know there will be some that I will enjoy more than others. Can't wait to get started with Huckleberry Finn which I will do today.