Short story for cultural/historical analysis.
The short story I have chosen to analyze is Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield.

The theme of the story is the loneliness of an old woman who got herself involved in a routine of outing to park every Sunday. This habit of visiting the park each Sunday help her to face the loneliness she was going through. She was happy with that and she did love it because she felt as if she was part of this world. But at the end she found herself not living but just watching how other people are living their lives. I t is revealed to her by a young couple who felt annoyed by the present of a the old lady while they wanted to make love or something.
The story was written in 1922 and I couldn't see any historical connection between the text and that period of time. Whether woman decided to be singles by choice or it was difficult to find a perfect match, is something that had to be mentioned in the story by the author. But I know is that she definitely did not want to be lonely because if she were, she wouldn't be escaping the loneliness and looking for spot where she could find herself doing something.
The story doesn't really mention something that people usually did in that period of time but from the text I am guessing that it was odd to be lonely. As the author mentions, almost all the people the old lady saw in the park were accompanied by their partners.
I do not have any cultural/historical clue about the story but what drew me special attention was the way the narrator described people and the way they were dressed(dreadful panama, velvet and lace...etc). I think those kind of special dresses had to something with the season or it might just be the way people dressed back in that period of time when attending special events.
If were said to do research, I would focus on those colored dresses and the way people got married in that era.

Jean Toomer’s “Becky”

The main theme of this poem is Becky and her two fatherless sons. Not quite sure what figure does Becky ans her sons represent in the story, but my instinct is telling me that she might represent an American prostitute or something.
The story is told by somebody else who as I believe does not live in that neighborhood but they are aware of Becky and how the community(back and white people) treat her.

• Robin Hemley’s “The Holocaust Party”

I think the main theme of this poem is the holocaust that took place in Europe during world war II.
The story is told by a survivor of the holocaust therefore she is narrating base on her outlook.
The event took place in the period of time from 1941 to 1945 during which many people (specially Jews) were killed by the Nazi. Not sure when the story was written but from the lines we can see that the narrator has overcome the emotions and she can tell as if it were a normal story.

Jean Toomer’s “Becky” (CR 274-276)
I think the story is about a mad white woman who was isolated by the rest of the people because her madness. This practice was very common but still remain in some places around the world. When somebody becomes mad they usually do crazy things and they becomes dangerous. In advanced societies they usually take those people to asylums where they will have special treatments. But I guess in this particular town, there was just one mad woman so they decided to build her small tiny house near the railroad.
But there is a figure in the story that has not been revealed by the narrator either because it is not known or he wants to make the story more interesting:The guy who got the mad white woman pregnant. I didn't hear anything about that guy throughout the story. But I think he plays an important role in the mad woman's life. who ever he was I think that is a sign of being not responsible and not looking down for others. I'm sure he made her disappear as well so that she would not reveal his identity.


Claude McKay’s “America”
The speaker in the poem is appreciating what this America (America) has done to him. Even if the treatment was not fair as he said in his lines, he consider it as test of his youth. He really sounded like he was a slave to me then i remembered that back in time no slave could appreciate what they suffered.


“If We Must Die”
In this poem, the author is encouraging his men to stand up for themselves and not to give up. He claims that they must die with honor and if they do, even dead they will constrain the enemy to respect them.
This two poems give evidence that the author was either slave or a victim of racism because the fight here represents what he mentioned in the first poem as bitterness. So in order to test his youth he had to fight against oppressor. The cultured hell help him to unite his party and fight like one person.

• Junot Díaz’s “How to Date a Browngirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie”

This story sounded kind of funny to me when I was reading it. But i came to realize that the whole point of the story was not about just the boy and the girl he was taking out. If we examine carefully some of the aspects the author was pointing out about the ethnicities and some of their behaviors, we will see that the story matches with what is rally happening in the real life. I don't know a lot about dating American girls or something but the story did not stray me from what I have heard about dating a sister, a white or a halfie American girl.



Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman”
This whole story is about Chinese tradition. well, I don not have much to say here the story was somewhat interesting maybe for those who care about tradition. It is something that kept people blunt for a long time. But it is good to tell the new generations where we came from so that they can establish the difference between the past and the present moments.
The mother is telling the story to the daughter so that see can be aware of where the family is coming from and what they have overcome. For some reasons, she wants her to keep it secrete, I don't know why... The aunt's story was in my opinion the main point of the story. There might be something important about the aunt's story that the mother would like the daughter to know.

Randall Jarell
I think the main reason Randall is writing poems about war is because he was enlisted in the army therefore he had some experience about war and military. It is not surprised that he could write a poem like that... he was not pilot though I wonder why does he know a lot about aircraft and ball turred

The word war means essentially fight between opposite parties.
war involves dangeur, blood shading, killing people, anger, crime.
colors: red, green,yellow,

Gunner simply means someone who uses guns to shoot.
Attack has to do something with invading or striking the anemy ini a war context.

World war II associates me with the period of hostility between many countries around the world 70 years ago, i'm not sure.

“The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”

I really don't understand what this poem is about. The first two sentences seem to be talking about a pregnant woman or something, then it goes on talking about flak and fighters, which is kind of a war or military thing and I am completely lost from there.

Well, after we saw the footage of the poem, I have a different view to the poem and now I understand what it is about. It is about a soldier inside the aircraft in small spot called Ball Turret. They are at war and he is in charge of using the Ball Turred. It's freezing in there and he is not really comfortable because the Ball Turred is spinning.

"Holocaust Party"
The story is really interesting not only because it is vivid but because I have to pay attention close attention to the narrator's pauses. I was kind of lost at the first glance because I did not quite follow Mrs Isabel's present sentences throughout the story.
But there are two things that really drew my close attention to the story: The awkard moments experienced in the dinning room by Joel when he met the family, and the attitude of Mr Roger.
I really don't appreciate being around strangers, it makes me feel uncomfortable and nervous.
Mr Roger's attitude seems not to be appropriate. He is acting as if he were not happy either with the guests or with the story Mrs Isabel is telling.
But the story was interesting and I would like to read this full story of the invasion of German in Belgium.

“Turning Out with a Focus on Historicism” and “Turning Out with a Focus on New Historicism”
I am not fond of history/literature, but this reading shows one more time that history is very important to human beings not only because of the fact that it reflects the evolution of societies but also because it lets us take a different look at what is going on in this world.
It is very important to know that all human activities are defined by the history and those activities change as time and place change as well. But what is more important is that history can be different depends on who is writing it,what they want to focus on and the amount of information they have available, not to mention the argument and evidence they should give to support they claims in order to persuade the readers.
What was really more important about the reading are the two terms Historicism and new Historicism. Actually this two terms are new to me but they are important and meaningful because they show us how concepts and event change through the time. They reflect how people have changed their views about history.
It is clear that they might be spelled the same way but as the author said, they are opposite.
I personally think that new criticism is deeper because it looks to me like it goes beyond the literature and not just focus on the historical accuracy of the text.

“Cultural/Historical Inventory”
This reading was really informative and yet realist to me. It is right that our culture and our past make us what and who we are today. When I was young I did not realize that where I live is part of my life. It is a certain true that we are influenced by our families but also by the people that surround us. It is said that the past is the key of the future. The history is very important because it teaches us the past and it keeps us from making the same mistakes we made in the past. I think without history the whole world would not be achieving all the success it achieving now.


Strategies.
All these poems were really sad and interesting. This whole war thing has not been welcomed in this world. Soldiers never like war. They are human beings and I believe that they feel something about killing or get killed.
Many young people join the army today just because they wanna make some money, others because it is said that by joining the army you will better serve your country. But it has turned out that joining the army is not all about making money or liking your country, now is about killing or get killed. We have lost a lot of our friends in Afghanistan, Kuwait, etc. Today most people like me are allergic to the word army but it doesn't have to be that way. In my opinion I think we should start voting for leaders who can solve their differences with other countries in a peaceful way. Even if I believe that those who fought in war war I had good reasons to fight, I guess if there were people who want peace, they would have achieved it. But back in time everyone wanted to show their belligerent potential, there was nobody to make the hostility stop so that they could avoid the death of thousands of thousands of people. It looks to me like today's leaders(some of them) are still living in the 20's or something and trying to fight for any little conflict, They are not making the difference. We should show that the world has grown up and we are not living in the 20's anymore.

I Would like my reviewer to take a look on my thesis statement. I don't know if it is right or not.
I was not sure about the design part of this essay either.
Watch out my grammar mistakes, I was working underpresure.

Free Writing about my Poster
One of the reasons I made this poster for is because I'm really concerned about this models and supermodel thing in Holliwood. Most girls(models and supermodel) are taking that concept too far away. A model is defined as small object built in scale that represents in detail another. But the concept is taking beyond proportions by many supermodels. They definately have to look good and sexy but not like skeleton. So I wanted people to be aware that a supermodel is somebody who gives a good image to what they represent.

Mauricio Mbomio

Topic Proposal for Essay #2

Instructor Anna Mikhalova

English 102 Section 066 Spring 2007

The object I have chosen as a text in this particular essay is my wrist watch. The main purpose of my wrist watch is to provide time. It is one of the most important things in my life because I’m one of those people who think that time is essential for everything they want to do in life, therefore I cannot live without it.
When you take a close look at my wrist watch, you can see that it is not just a time provider, it has some additional features that make it more interesting and different from other ordinary watches: It can provide the days of the week in two languages, Spanish and English. This and other characteristics make my wrist watch differ from other watches.
One of the crucial analysis for this essay will include my wrist watch’s black leather strap, the internal lights (not really internal lights but it allows you to see the time even in darker places) and the fact that I can read the days of the week in my own language.
The way the watch is designed clearly implies that it can be used for different proposes, including elegancy. But in overall the watch is intended to be used by middle age people. Because of its size and style, I do not think aged people would feel comfortable wearing a big black wrist watch.

Thesis Statement:
This essay will argue that wrist watches cannot only be used as time provider. They can also be used as objects of elegancy among middle age people.