Norton Anthology of Short Fiction and Woody Allen's The Insanity Defense

A Journal of Essays on Poems and Short Stories foundin the
Norton Anthology of Short Fiction and Woody Allen`s The Insanity Defense
[name]
[professor/course]
[date]
I. LESSON 2 - SATIRE (The Spring Bulletin, Count Dracula, A Teacher`s Note, The Cathedral, Snow)
1.Spring Bulletin proves to be quite a humorous text as it presents different courses and subjects taken in the university with an unusual, funny, yet true perspective in the form of satire. There were two passages which caught my attention the most from the text. One was on Philosophy XXIX-B which dealt with an introduction to God (Bausch &Cassill, 2006, p. 39). What made this passage vfunny yet true was that the course supposedly included having a confrontation of the most powerful and transcendent being through merely participating in lectures and field trips. Having knowledge and a connection with God, in my opinion, is impossible to attain through an educational discourse and activities, making this course on philosophy pointless. The other passage from the text which caught my eye was on Musicology III which dealt with learning how to play the flute (Bausch &Cassill, 2006, p. 40). What made this passage very funny yet true was that the course involved learning to play "Yankee Doodle" in the flute and eventually performing in big-time Brandenburg Concertos, but ironically, going back to playing the Yankee Doodle. This reflects the sad reality behind most musicians as they start from the bottom in their music career, then to the top, and then to the bottom again.
On the other hand, there were two passages from the text which were the least comedic of all. The first passage was the course on "Yeats" (Yeast) and Hygiene which involved W. B. Yeats` poetry cooperated with dental care (Bausch &Cassill, 2006, p. 41). The use of Yeats` name itself as a humor for Yeast which may be acquired orally was a bad give-away. It spoon-fed its humor to its readers, which is ironically not that humorous at all, making it a little bit cheesy even. The other passage that was least comedic for me was the course on Philosophy I which involved a study on The Absurd (Bausch &Cassill, 2006, p. 38). I didn`t get the humor behind men wearing brown and white shoes in connection with their existence termed as "silly" or even their connection with absurdity.
2.Mr. Woody Allen, the writer of the text, did an astounding job in converting the haunting, nightmarish tale of the famous Count Dracula into a very effective comedy. The title of the text itself and the introduction was very deceptive to the humor that occurs in the rest of the text. Mr. Allen was able to alter the natural and classical seriousness and horror of the tale of Count Dracula into a modern, humorous, and lively comedy of unfortunate events through the use of a contemporarylanguage and writing style and simple yet creative and catchy catch phrases. The two passages from which exemplified these: (1) "I just remembered, I left the lights on at my castle, bills`ll be enormous" (Allen, 2007, p. 70) which Dracula said while he was thinking of an excuse to leave the baker and his wife`s home and was quite funny because of his supposed concern of the bills he will have to pay despite living in classical Romania and; (2) "Does this mean dinner`s off tonight?" which the baker`s wife said when Dracula turned to dust and was very humorous due to the irony of the situation`s seriousness with the comedic dialogue after.
In connection to the text being a historical account of the invention of the sandwich, it wasn`t that apparent to interpret the story with that of the sandwich. Based on my interpretation, the invention of the sandwich based on this supposed historical text is that Dracula`s planned victim was a baker and his wife and that they were readying dinner. As of how the appearance of form of the modern sandwich was actually deciphered by the characters in the story, that leaves to be unknown as there was no apparent mention of bread or other components of a sandwich.
3.After reading A Note to Teachers, I did acquire a better and deeper understanding about the clear distinction of writing poetry from that of expository writing. Since expositions are dependent on the technicalities of writing as compared to poems characterized as being a free-hand type of literature, they are created with less creativity and "feeling" as compared to poems. Poems touch their readers` lives as they play with different emotions which are highly relatable.
4. Raymond Carver`s THE CATHEDRAL
a.Based on the text, the narrator seems to be quite hostile with a blind man visiting. This may be because the narrator isn`t generally comfortable with the presence of a blind man as he might not have any experience with the blind. It is human nature for human beings to be ignorant or indifferent with someone or something that they have no background or experience on.
b.Despite the narrator`s negative outlook on the blind man visiting, who is a close friend of his wife, he is suddenly "enlightened" by the end of the story. As he dines together with his wife and the blind man named Robert, he interacts with Robert. What really marked a sudden change in the narrator was when he was trying to describe the appearance of a cathedral to Robert, marking the narrator`s epiphany as he at first struggled in finding the right words but was encouraged by Robert. As he described the cathedral`s appearance, he guides Robert`s hands with a pencil onto a piece of paper. These intimate moments the narrator had with the blind man marked a life-changing experience with regards to his outlook on the blind and life in general.
c.It would make a great difference if the narrator described and guided Robert with the appearance of an airplane hangar or a shopping mall rather than that of a cathedral because these have a less dramatic or emotional effect. A cathedral is a good symbolism of "good" and has a more intimate and relational connotation due to its representation of spirituality as compared to an airplane hangar or a shopping mall as they symbolize commercialization and materialism.
5.The two sidesin a romantic relationship which Ann Beattie presents in "Snow" are the happy and the sad or dark moments. The woman in the relationship remembers the magic or liveliness of the different happenings during one snowy winter while the man remembers the coldness and darkness of that snowy winter. This may represent the outlook of each individual on the status of their love and relationship which actually reflects their incompatibility.
II. THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by TIM O"BRIEN
1.1. "But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried 34 rounds when he was shot and killed outside the Than Khe… He was dead weight" (O`Brien, 2006).
2. "The dead guy`s name was Curt Lemon…playing catch with smoke grenades… when he died, it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up" (O-Brien, 2006)
3. "Lee Strunk stepped on a rigid mortar round… Later we heard that Strunk died over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight" (O`Brien, 2006).
4. "Kiowa slipped away that night beneath the dark, swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was part of the waste… Kiowa was gone" (O`Brien, 2006).
5. "The man I killed… Kiowa tried to tell me that the man would`ve died anyway" (O`Brien, 2006).
O`Brien`s first description of death reflects cowardice in the form of Ted while at war. It
also represented the fear of death which is human nature. The second description of death reflects a "what if" feeling as Curt had a great life ahead of him. It also reflected innocence as Curt died while playing with smoke grenades. The third description of death reflects relief and clarity of conscience as Dave made the right decision to not take the life of the dying Strunk. The fourth description of death reflects mourning and grief as Kiowa was the narrator`s closest friends while at war. The fifth and last description of death reflects guilt as the narrator killed a man who had loved ones behind and a good life ahead of him.
2.*"Mandy" - high heels, signature shades, a Rolex watch, a signature bag
These items Mandy was wearing reflect her status in life as having a wealthy family or the privilege she has. In terms of personality, Mandy may be depicted as a spoiled brat who gets whatever she wants at a young age.
*"Alex" - thick eyeglasses, two books on hand, a laptop bag, a watch
These items Alex was wearing reflect him being a working man. These items may also reflect him being an intelligent and a driven individual.
*"Sam" - a gym bag, Nike rubber shoes, a varsity jacket, iPod (headphones on ears)
These items Sam was wearing reflect his being a sporty individual. He might possibly be a varsity player. These items may also represent his enthusiasm and passion for sports.
3.O`Brien provides a sense of closure for "The Things They Carried" by stating that the dead live. By the end of the text, he added that soldiers during the Vietnam War found a way to make the dead be less dead by telling stories such as that of his comrades` Ted, Curt, Strunk, and Kiowa. He then revealed grief and guilt he felt when his first love named Linda in the fourth-grade died and how recuperated by dreaming and imagining about her, as if she were still alive, which he expresses through story-telling.
4.I do believe that Lieutenant Cross took too much responsibility over the death of Ted Lavender. They were in a war thus death was a growing possibility for every soldier during that time; it was just unfortunate during that circumstance that it was Ted who fell victim. Being the leader of the Alpha company, it`s normal for Cross to feel guilt but not to the extent of twenty years after war. Cross may not necessarily blamed himself because he wants Ted`s death to have a rational explanation, but this guilt of his may have been deepened during that circumstance because of Martha who broke his heart because she revealed that she didn`t love him back. This incident may have added to Cross` grief which worsened his guilt over Ted`s death.
III. THREE SHORT STORIES(Conversion of the Jews, O Yes, Why I Like Country Music)
A.O YES by Tillie Olsen (p. 648-660)
American writer Tillie Olsen is known for her works of literature on the political chaos of the 1930s and on feminism. In her short story "O Yes", Olsen focused on the perspective of a mother who was growing concerned of his daughter`s friendship with a black girl as their friendship starts to become very delicate. The mother Helen finds the situation of her daughter, Carol to be very difficult as the pressures in school challenge a good friendship which Carol and Parialee, the black girl, have. In the end, Carol and Parialee were not friends anymore.
The short story generally talked about racism and discrimination in schools during the early half of the 1900s. In Carol and Parialee`s school, there was a phenomena called "sorting" (Bausch &Cassill, 2006, p. 656) wherein kids were bounded by a status quo and were grouped by color as for the school crowd they should be interacting with. This posed a dramatic change in Carol as she begins to wonder why this really matters as with friendship because of your color. She tries to ask Helen, but Helen is left speechless as she merely thinks on what to say to her daughter while she was in a fragile state. It was difficult for Helen to tell Carol that it was just the way it goes in the society as of now and that we cannot do anything about for she believed in the purity of her daughter`s friendship with Parialee, regardless of color, race, or status in life.
Olsen`s style in writing was contemporary and not that technical, which gave the text a more easy-to-read effect. Her description of the church was quite catchy as she quoted verses from the church songs and the sayings on the walls, which was unique of her writing.
I picked Olsen`s "O Yes" as the short story I liked most from the selection of short stories because it was a combination of a heavy emotion with a light reading effect. Discrimination and racism are very sensitive issues which Olsen presented effectively in the perspective of a mother.
B. WHY I LIKE COUNTRY MUSIC by James Alan McPherson(p. 517-528)
James Alan McPherson is a renowned African-American writer and essayist. His short story "Why I Like Country Music", McPherson centered his story to issues on ethnicity and race. The story focused on a happily-married black couple who were discussing on square dancing as art. The narrator tells his wife Gloria about his fourth-grade crush named Gweneth which inspired him to dance the square dance well in order to dance with her on May Day. Gweneth and his family then migrate to the ethnic South. This then resulted to the narrator admitting that he indeed loved music because he remembers this incident during his childhood.
The most apparent symbolism which was used McPherson in this short story is that of square dancing. It symbolized the differing views on being raced in the North and the South in America as the South is more ethnically diverse and open to diversity while the North is about whites being the higher race over other races. As for the narrator`s liking of country music, it was because he remembered that moment square dancing with his love interest as a child despite the stereotypes apparent in...