Harrison Bergerson by Kurt Vonnegut jr.

This story was extremly interesting to read in my opinion.  the first paragraph caught my attention when I read that everybody looked the same and no one was smarter than anyone else.  In this story Harrison represents the part of america that still wants trys hard, flaunt his talents, and show what he can do.  I imagine I'd do the same if I was a 7 foot tall, 14 year old with unbelievable strength.  However, the america of 2081 is not a pleasent place to flaunt your talents.  The government tries everything to knock Harrison down like making him wear headphones to so he can't think, glasses so he can't see, 300 pounds of metal to weigh him down.  Not even jail time can stop Harrison because his will to live as a full human being is too strong.  Harrison wants to overthrow the government and live free.  He plans on fathering many superior children. When Harrison was dancing and managed to defy gravit by jumping 30 feet to the ceiling, where he kisses her.  I think the author is trying to say that Harrison is kinda like a sexual superman.  Before Harrison can overthrow the government he is murdured which shows that anyone brave enough to show off there talents and be different will not be allowed to live or have kids. 

Hemingway- short happy life of Macomber

This story is based on these main characters: Macomber, Margot and Wilson Macomber and his wife are trying to rekindle there marriage by going on a African safari. This story reminded me of the last story we read because both characters had a moment of clarity. Hemingway protrays Margot as a necessary evil. She is cruel, unfaithful, and possible murderous. Why does Macomber put up with her. The only question I have is did Margot want to kill Macomber?

O'conner (after class)

From our class disscussion I learned a few thing about what was going on in 1955 when this was published. Traditional roles of the family were dominant. The mom cooks and cleans, the dad works and the son is a momma's boy. It's the idea of a perfect family. O'conner displays the kids as brats that makes you root for the gun shots which goes against the "perfect family". No one stood up to the grandma and told her to shut up like they should have. The idea of isolation plays a big role in this story. Towards the end of the story when the grandma has her moment of clearity the misfit shot her because she reached out to him and touched his shoulder. That's kinda the reaction we have in today's society.

O'conner- good man is hard to find

In this short story an escaped convict Murdurs a family because of a lot of mistakes by the grandmother. The escaped convict in this story is called "misfit". I'm guessing it's because he doesent really fit in with society but I could be wrong. The way the "misfit" talks its obvious that he is uneducated. Why does the grandmother blurt out the "misfits" real name? That has got to be the biggest mistake she made. What was the point of the grandmother hiding the cat from everyone? Baily drove off the road because the cat scared him. The detour the grandmother says to take lead everyone to there graves. As you can see I think the grandmother is pretty dumb.

Langston Hughes- Harlem (after class)

In class we mentioned that the poem "Harlem" was written about the Harlem renaissance. The first line says "what happens to dreams deferred". When you read the rest of Langstons poem he talks about festering wounds which was common back then but it gives you a nasty image in your head. Langston is comparing this festering wound to a dream defferred. It constantly eats at you and bothers you to have a dream crushed.

Lagston Hughes- English B

This poem, titled English B, was interesting to say the least. I had to read it several times before I got an idea of what the author is saying.

Hughes tells you that He is 22 years old, attending college in Harlem above the hill and the only colored person in her class. This tells me that during this time period college students were dominatly white. Then he talks about Harlem. "Harlem, I hear you". This is when I started getting confused. Towards the end of the poem, line 31-32, caught my attention. It sounded very powerful to me. I doubt that this kind of thinking was really accepted back then.

Countee Cullen poems after class

After discussing both of these poems in class I discovered that I completely misunderstood what Cullen was saying.

In "yet do I Marvel" the beginning of the poem should show that cullen has doubt in god. the words that Cullen choose tells you this. Cullens ideas are very suddle. The author also compares being a black poet to eternal torture. I don't fully understand why but it was mentioned in class. If someone could explain that to me I'd appreciate it.

The poem "heritage" starts out by Cullen questioning what Africa looks like. Cullen says "3 generations removed" in the first stanza which should be a clue. This poem does remind me a lot of t.s Eliot because the poem gave me a sence of absurdity and chaos.