Kaylan's Blog

My favorite story we read was probably “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. It was my favorite one because there was so much contradicting going on throughout the story. The grandma made the story way more interesting than it would have been. She kept saying things throughout the passage, but she never followed a single thing she said. Everything she said was pretty much lies. She lied to everyone. She made standards for people that she could not even do herself. She expected people to be raised a certain way and act a certain way, but she never did any of that. She is the definition of the saying “all bark and no bite”. The ending was perfect because she finally met her match. She finally met someone that could see right through all of her lies she was feeling everyone else. That is why she was shot three times.

I honestly loved all of our readings. There was not a single story that I did not learn something from. Plot twits are always my favorite thing about stories, and all of the stories had at least one. I think all of the stories should continue to be read in English 102. They all highlight something important.

The lady in “Thank You Ma’am” reminds me a lot of my grandma. My grandma would not have hesitated to snatch that kid up regardless of people staring at her. I do not think she would have taken him home and feed someone that just tried to rob her but still. She means what she says and says what she means. She can be a little harsh sometimes, but she is just trying to help. She always encouraged me by being straight up with me. She always told me what I needed to hear, instead of what I wanted to hear. She always managed to teach me things in the strangest ways. If I ever needed something she would give it to me, but I had to work for it first.

An internal conflict that I think a lot of people struggle with is self-confidence. Most people always compare themselves to others which makes people wish they were like the other person. It is easy to lose sight of yourself when you are to busy comparing yourself to everyone else. Self-confidence is something that happens once you stop comparing yourself to others, and just be yourself. It is the key to a lot of things. Once you get your confidence up, there is not a single person that can tell you anything. You feel on top of the world. You have to know your worth. It is difficult at times, but nothing in life comes easy. I used to struggle with confidence a long time ago, but I finally know my worth.

In “The Gilded Six Bits” one character who struggles with making a decision is Joe. When he walks into the room of his wife in bed with another man he felt weak instantly. He did not know what to do. He does not know how to react to that because he never expected his wife to be in bed with another man. It took him by shock. Nothing bad happened in their marriage for her to even consider seeking outside attention from another man. Missie May wanted the gold for Joe, but Joe did not know that. He ends up getting into an altercation with the guy[Mr Simmons]. He felt like Mr Simmons deserved it because he was sleeping with his wife in his own house. Joe came to the conclusion to fight Mr. Simmons when he started getting super angry.

The quote “If you want that good feeling that comes from doing things for other folks then you have to pay for it in abuse and misunderstanding”(Zora Neale Hurston) means a lot to me. I think it means no matter the good you do for people not everyone will always understand the way you do things. There will always be someone who disapproves of what you are doing, and for some people they never see the good you do but only the bad things. It makes you feel good because you know you are doing good things, but the abuse and misunderstanding always comes from people who have no idea what they are talking about. Just continue to do good no matter how many times people misunderstand you.

I agree with him because everything good in the world comes from you. You have to better yourself in order to make the world a better person because how can you make a place better, if you arent good yourself? You have to fix your problems before you give advice to someone else on how to fix theirs. It takes a lot of time and effort to be better. It doesnt happen overnight. Over the course of your life you are still growing and that should never stop. As you continue to educate yourself, you get different views on things and will finally be able to know what is right to you. If you try to fix something while you have problems, it will always fail. You will never know how to fix others problems because you have failed to educate yourself first. Taking care of your self first is what makes the world go round.

I do not think Mathilde’s behavior was acceptable at all. She was so greedy, demanding, and felt entitled to have everything. Nothing she had was good enough for her. She always wanted something way out of her price range. I feel like she is not the greatest person. She does not even see anything wrong with what she was doing. She did not even feel slightly bad for losing the Necklace. She was just worried about what she was going to say to madame Forestier. Her husband let her run all over him, but he did not even realize she was doing it. He fell into every single one of her traps. She is an even worse person for taking advantage of someone who loves her very deeply. There is a huge boundary, and she crossed that line by far. The punishment she got was perfect for her. She deserved to find out the truth because she was not honest enough to tell madame Forestier. Hopefully her punishment taught her a lesson or at least opened up her eyes a little bit.

The most memorable character I have ever encountered is Archie Andrews in River-dale. He plays a really important roll in the tv series. He is one of the best characters because he is constantly getting knocked down, but yet he still gets back up and fights. He is such a genuine person, and he will do anything for anyone. He is definitely a team player because he put others before himself, no matter the danger it will put him in. The number one thing that made me remember him so vividly is that he has such a big heart. He is honestly probably the most caring out of the whole cast. He is not to bad looking either. The show would not be the same if they decided to change the qualities of his character. Honestly, I could not even picture his character being completely different from the role he plays now.

The writing process for English 102 is way different than English 101 writing process. In English 101 my professor did not break things down, and he did not help very much. He basically told us we were on our own, but if we had any specific questions he would explain it to us. Also, all of my essays were about food, and I thought that was a little odd. I like English 102 better because although it is more work, it seems easier. I have a lot more guidance this semester and that helps me out a lot. I just have to write in the simplest way possible and not make anything complicated. I do not have to use big words or change the way I write my paragraphs to have different wording. It definitely took a lot of pressure off of me. There is not really anything I hate about English 102, I actually really like it.

My favorite symbol from “The Storm” is when Bobint shows his affection for Calixta by buying her a can of shrimps, even though they already had some at home. He held on to the can the whole time while waiting for the storm to pass. It shows his true affection for her by demonstrating how much he thinks about her and how much he cares for her. He knows that they are her favorite thing, so when he sees the can of shrimps it reminds him of her. Even though it is something so little, it is a very genuine thought. He continuously shows her how much he cares about her. Affection is something every relationship has and that is what makes them work so well.
There is this female who feels like she should voice her opinion about what she is not/ can not do after the instructions are given. She continuously makes complaints about every little thing. It really makes me angry when she talks back because to me it is very disrespectful. Following instructions should be a simple task, but I guess it is harder for others to do. It is not her class, it is the professors. The professor wants it a certain way and that is how it should be done. Until she gets the same level of education as the professor, she should keep her complaints/opinions to her self for the time being.

Alce showing dominance when he grabbed Bobint’s pants plays a big part in the encounter. He invited himself inside Calixta’s house without being asked to come inside. He made himself very comfortable inside her house by slamming down into the chair. She was trying to stay as far away from Alce as possible, but he kept approaching her. He was even eyeballing the bedroom. His dominance influenced Calixta when he kept coming up to her. That is when their sexual encounter occurred. He hinted at taking nap afterwards, but they could not because her husband and kid would be coming home soon.

In the novel, they kept describing the husband as dark toned. They repeatedly made hints that Desire was white by describing almost everything she owned as pure and white. Once they had the baby and saw what color the baby was, she even made a comparison with her husband. She compared the inside palm color of hers to his, and of course hers was lighter than his. Although it was portrayed as she was the one to blame, we judged her to soon. We were so quick to put the blame on her because of what her husband was saying, but we did not pay attention to the little details the author was giving us.

Kate Chopin demonstrates throughout all of her stories that people hold women to ridiculous standards. People think that women can have it all. In my life, I have started to realize those standards. I can relate to her because I cant have a social life, a job, get enough sleep, and get an education all at the same time. I can manage maybe three of them, but not at my best ability. It comes down to choosing what you have to do, over what you want to do. I can not even imagine adding a family to the mix. That would be impossible to do all of it by myself without help from any one.

My english teacher in high school really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I used to be really nervous talking in front of groups of people, but I have gotten so much better at it. I am not as shy when it comes to that stuff. If i did not go first, I would always question if what I was presenting was even half as good as the other person and I would change things. After I presented enough, I learned not to compare myself to others, no matter what the situation is. I became confident in everything I do because of her. She really opened my eyes, and it made me uncomfortable at first. Because of her, I never want to be comfortable again. That means I have stopped growing and that is not what I want.I want to better my life in every aspect no matter how uncomfortable it makes me. She helped give me that and I am so grateful.