Essay Packet #2 Response

Savich- Crumbling Expectations- The way this short story begins tends to confuse me a little bit. Its like the story has already begun and the reader was just thrown into the middle of it. As a continued reading things started to smooth out and become a little clearer, still not knowing what exactly it is I am reading. The line "the book defeats itself for the things that make books worth having." I thought this was a very unique line, something i had never heard before or thought of. Also the line "as i had decided that talking to myself was the best way to learn to be a writer." This line made me think as how the author came up with this rationale, how can talking to one's self be the best way to learn as a writer? The very end of this story made me smile for about five minutes, the part about re-enacting the actions he had once read in a book.

Prevallet- I dont know where to begin with Prevallet's short stories. Like savich's story, i once again found myself lost reading the first few synthesis. What i did like is how each one was different, from "Mythology" to "Dream" and I love how Prevallet found a way to place poems into the story. I found it interesting how the author went into great detail about the life and death of a horsefly. It really opened up my eyes to see that writing can be about ANYTHING! There is nothing too big or too small that one cannot write about. I think this is what I learned from reading Prevallet's story, I love how there are totally different styles of writing throughout these few pages. I believe that Prevallet is one of the best writers whose work I have read throughout this class

Essay Packet #1 response

NOTES TOWARD THE MAKING OF A WHOLE HUMAN BEING:

The flow of this essay is very well put together. I like the way the essay starts off by describing the school and giving examples of how this school is different from any other. For example in the first paragraph the school is described as "a small desert college in the American West for which young men at eighteen are plucked from the East and delivered to a campus surrounded by mountains, the size of Manhattan, closed off from the world by a series of cliffs, honor, dehydration cattle guards, mountain lions, community censure, nearly fifty-three miles to the next human outpost, and the lure, at eighteen, of a world behind walls where boys can be boys,".

The description throughout this essay is very detail and it gives you a sense for what the college really is. An example of some of the activities students perform are " Locke and lassoing young calves to the ground, clipping their ears, branding their rears, cutting quickly into their one-year-old scrota"I think this is what really holds the essay together, description is essential for essay's and I think the author knows this which is why the details of the university and the boys are so vivid.

Maps to Anywhere response

How to draw- I think this short story is filled with an abundance of context. Its so much in this short story that i don't know where to begin. At first I admired the concept of the narrator describing all of the education and experience he has had with art and explaining that he admires the art of amateurs more than professionals. I thought this was pretty interesting because most would oppose to this and think that a amateur artist is not even comparable to someone who gets paid millions of dollars for a painting.

I also found it intriguing when the narrator described his life experiences with his teacher whom he claimed would never master hands. This one line made me think about all the people who told me I couldn't do something, its funny how something so small can take you back to big memories in your life. The teacher whom told the narrator he would never master hands was indeed wrong like the narrator said, I believe this because art is how individuals perceive things, and this varies from person to person.

Last I thought the picture that his brother drew before dying was very significant, the picture is more than just a picture it means much more. For one it is a visual of what his brother was thinking, going threw and his perception of his last moments of life. The picture is not just a picture to me it is a memory of the last picture his brother ever drew, i find it hard to believe that the picture was torn out and crumbled up like that, if that was a picture my brother had drew while on his death bed, i would have cherished that picture for the rest of my life.

Goldberg's Use loneliness response

Use loneliness is one of the best short stories I have ever read. I read it a couple and times and each time   I read it i feel a deeper sense of urgency to become a better person. The simple fact that the author talks about transferring loneliness into a way for a writer to express themselves is pretty interesting. I think most people only look at the bad when in actuality one can use loneliness are any other negative feeling to make them a better person. This is why I love this story so much because the author is describing turning being lonely into a way to connect with others.

The Colonel response

The flow of this story is very fast. It jumps from description to description, not saying this is a bad thing i just think it is very different from other short stories i have read. Most seem to take time going through every single detail where as this short story describes things very fast and vividly. For example " The maid brought green mangoues, salt, and a type of bread. I was asked how i enjoyed the country. There was a brief commerical in Spanish. His wife took everything away." It this short amount of time a lot of things take place i believe this very realistic and i feel the authour did a very good job of describing things in a short and sweet manner. Now that i am thinking about it, to me this is harder to do than spending minutes describing one specific detail.

Character Response

"Everyone is walking around as an advertisement for who he or she is" This line may possibly be my favorite line from this entire fiction packet. I agree with this statement 110%. Everything a person thinks, says, wears, states. expresses. denies. agrees etc. make them who he or she is. One person may prefer jordan rather than nike, one may like the color blue better than the color pink. Everything a person does, displays who he or she is. I never thought about this as an advertisement but this is a really creative and cool way to put it. I think that most people are unaware about what they wear and how they act says a lot about them, including myself. One may act totally different from how they are percieved based on their appearance, in our society we tend to judge people on how they look rather than getting to know them.

Fiction Packet #3 Response

The line from "From the Singing Fish" by Peter Markos that reads "I drove that rusty nail right through Brothers hand." made me cringe. Almost as if i could feel the rusty nail piercing my own skin. The description and detail of this short story is very vivid and paints a very specific picture in my head. Nice job by Peter Markos,

When It Rains it Rains a River- Im not sure what to say about this short story. I feel as if i dont completely understand it. I like how the author repeats words but doesn't repeat what he is saying. For example "In the rain, this is not us just running around in the rain. In the rain, us boys, this is just the way us brothers, in the rain, fishing like this, this makes the earth turn to mud." I think its very creative how boys, fish, and rain are frequently used here.

The Singing Fish- I am starting to get the impression that all three pages i have read so far are all connected even with the Titles being different; interesting. I like the line" And words, words! There are these words there, too--these words--they have got to be words." The lines" But these words, these words, what is it that these words mean, or say?" relates to how i feel about the words that i am reading write now.

What our mother always told us- The line " But us brothers, with our filled up with mud ears, we did not hear it when our mother said that word: don't." This made me laugh because it reminded me of myself in my younger days.

The Falling Girl- I love the line in the first paragraph that reads " It was in fact the hour when the city is seized by inspiration and whoever is not blind is swept away by it." I thought this was pretty cool. The line "The sun had plunged into the sea" is very creative; giving the sun personification. This was an amazing short story i was intrigued throughout the entire reading. I loved how so much was illustrated in such a short time. The description of this short story was phenomenal, everything the author described i could picture; job well done.

August 25 1983- Scared me
The Fifth Story- Has a very clever title