Favorite and Least Favorite

Lets start out with my least favorite story of the summer . . .

I think it would have to be "Everything that Rises Must Converge". I just did not enjoy this story. It went on for too long without anything happening. Not enough twists and turns for me. Also the language was dry. So thats my least favorite!

Now for my favorite . . .

I would have to say either "The Veldt" or "Hills like White Elephants", its a toss up! I enjoyed "The Veldt" because 1. I enjoy Bradbury's writing and 2. because it was so interesting and far fetched! The story kept me interested the entire time and that is very important to me! I also enjoyed "Hills like White Elephants" because of the author. Hemmingway is wonderful and keeps the reader engaged the entire time. So I don't think I could pick an absolute favorite!

"The Conscience of the Court"

I liked Laura Lee's loyality to Miz' Celestine is nice. It shows that even though Celestine is her owner, Laura Lee thinks that they have a special bond and that they have respect and trust for one another. I do believe it is deserved despite that fact that Laura Lee is a slave. You can tell that they had an atypical relationship during that time period. Celestine does not want Laura Lee to leave because she feels they have a special bond. Even though I believe that they have a special bond, I feel as though Laura Lee should have taken the opportunity to leave Celestine when she could have. The best time would have been when Celestine was younger, so the relationship could not have developed as far as it did.

I think the ultimate decision after the trial is the right one. Throughout reading the story, you hope that the jury will find Laura Lee not guilty because she is the most sympathetic and round character in the story. So I think the verdict is hopeful. It may have not been realistic, but it was hopeful!

"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"

I enjoyed that Granny was the narrator for the story. I believe the story would be much different if Cornelia or someone else were narrating. With Granny as the narrator we can almost see what it is like to be laying on your death bed. I pictured her with her eyes closed almost the entire time and she was only imagining most of the story. Her thoughts are very jumbled, which can make the story a tad bit confusing when reading it for the first time. When I went back through it a second time I really enjoyed it. I think her point of view is what makes the story unique.

At the very end of the story, Father Connolly shows up to Granny's bedside to give her her last rights. Receiving your last rights is very important in the Catholic Faith. Her faith impacts the story because we also see it in her flashbacks. When she is left alone at the altar, she is left with the Priest, just as she is approaching death, alone with a Priest. I think it shows that she has stayed strong in her faith throughout all these years.

"The Lady with the Dog"

In "The Lady with the Dog" by Anton Chekhov, we see an evolving character with Anna. At the beginning of the story she is sort of removed. She does not show her emotions and she is very reserved. However, when Dmitry arrives in St. Petersburg we see a change in Anna. She has many more emotions and she expresses her feelings openly with Dmitry. The reader sees her upset about the relationship she wants with Dmitry, but knows she cannot have because they each have spouses'. Her emotions become much more real at the end (example: her crying for a long period of time, etc..). I also think that Dmitry changes throughout the story. The author gives us more depth into his character. We know what he is thinking about everything, whereas we do not with Anna. From the very beginning we have insight to Dmitry and his development.

I think the fact about the author liking people watching has something to do with this short story. I also think its funny. I love to people watch. I can see how he wrote this story because he enjoys to watch people. After all, Dmitry fell in love and started an affair with Anna by watching her everyday at the Resort.

"The Girls in Their Summer Dresses"

I think that there are three main conflicts in this story. Man vs. Man (Michael vs. Frances), Man vs. Self (Michael vs Michael) and Man vs. Self (Frances vs. Frances). The conflict between Michael and Frances is obvious. They are having an argument over Michael looking at other women. Frances is jealous of this and doesn't understand why. Michael tries to explain but he cannot fully explain why he does what he does. In the first man vs. self Michael has conflict when trying to explain himself as stated above. He also faces a conflict within, when he looks at other women. I feel as though he knows it is wrong but he continues to do it anyways. I would have like to seen more conflict within Michael's character. The other conflict I understood was with Frances. It may have not been stated, but I feel as though she was debating on whether or not to bring up the subject at all. One can see at the end of the story that she might have regretted bringing up Michael looking at other women. Overall I really enjoyed this story and thought it to be one of the best we have read.

"Desiree's Baby"

I really enjoyed this story.  The twists and turns made it much more enjoyable to read.  I have to admit I did not see anything like that coming.  I guess I should have assumed something like that could happen given the time period this was written, but I did not expect Desiree to be bi-racial.  I also did not expect Armand to react the way he did.  In the story it states that he fell in love with her when he saw her and for him to make such a harsh decision when he knew the baby was his was in my mind, a bit out of control.  I was not a fan of him in this story.  Even at the very end when it is revealed that his mother is in face bi-racial as well.  If he had known this information I think he should have reacted differently to Desiree.  I think that this was the only point in the story that I had sympathy for him.  

"Good Country People"

I think Flannery O'Connor uses the phrase "Good Country People" over and over again to get her point across that there are not many left in the world.  This can especially be seen with the Bible salesman.  Mrs. Hopewell first sees him as "good country people" as does Joy, but at the end of the story, he is nothing but trash.  I believe that this irony makes this a good story.  I think O'Connor gets her point across by repeating the phrase because the whole time you are thinking of good country people, but really she is setting you up, because not many are good country people.  I enjoyed this story, although it was slow to start, the twist at the end really caught my attention.