Monday, September 22, 2008

The Thief and the Dogs chapter 4 & 5

After Said visits Rauf, he finds out that once again he is betrayed by him to, who is his mentor. He wanted to see about a job offered for him, but that was impossible because Rauf has changed as a person after Said got out of jail. He still wants to get his daughter Sana back in custody from his ex- wife. He meets this prostitute by the name of Nor. Nor wants to help out Said in all the ways that she can because she likes him very much and wants the best for him and wants to help him. She is a good person at heart, and is trying to accept him for all what he did in his past while he went to prison.

Everyday Use by Alice Walker

I have read this story before in my high school years, but when I read it again, I understood the real meaning of it. This story takes place in the south in the '60s era in the revolution of the African American community with the civil rights movements. It is a story about the important of family and culture. The main protagonists are Dee, Maggie and the narrator, who is the mother.Dee, who is the older daughter, is the "Marcia" of the 2 sisters. She is the pretty one, with pretty hair and with a pretty body. she went to college in Augusta. Maggie, who is the younger sister, is the lanky one, the one who considers herself a misfit. About a decade in the story, her house gets burned and it burns Maggie a little bit, while Dee just sits around the in the backyard. The mother, is a woman who has worked very hard to have what she has in her life. When she finds out Dee is coming to visit, the mom is afraid her daughter is going to critique her house. On the other hand, when she visited, she decided to learn more about her African culture and even got married and wanted to have some of the things for her home. When Dee asks her mom if she can have the quilt her grandma made, Maggie saids that she can have it, but at the end, the mother refuses that she keeps it. When Dee leaves, she ignores her refusal of the quilt to her daugther and tells her sister Maggie that she has to learn about her own culture.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The thief and the Dogs Chpt. 2

As the story gets more developed, Said gets himself into more drama than the one he already has. I sadly feel extremely bad for Said because he is doing his best to get back with his daughter. He goes later to the Sheihk to talk about his problems. The Sheikh gives Said advice and suggestions on what type of things he should do with his situations. He is still hurt that his ex-wife cheated on him with his best friend. As he talked to the Sheikh, he started to give him advice. As he started to get out, he noticed that he still remembers his ex-wife as the way that he always did when he has feelings for her and describing her in a very nice way as when he first met her. He feels that he is very alone, with no other friend to talk to.

The Thief & the Dogs chpt. 1

When I read this chapter, I was impressed on how dark a person's life can be. This man, who just got out of jail, was betrayed by his best friend and his ex-wife. He was charged for stealing in Egypt. He felt and was betrayed, felt very disoriented and sad taht his daughter didn't recognize her own father since last time he saw her she was a toddler. After he got out of jail, he noticed that his ex-wife, Nabawiyya, was already married to someone else, to Illish. He is depressed and heartbroken that his ex-wife is already married to someone else. He wants to try to get his little gir Sana back into the custody of the father, but the judge must decide whether she is going to the to the custody of the mother or the father.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Cathedral Raymond Carter

When I read this story, I believed this story had a lot ot different emotions rolled into one. First of all, when the author describes the blind man, I'm guessing that he feels kind of uncomfortable with the blind man, who is the wife's friend. I think that he felt uncomfortable with the blind man because maybe he felt jealous knowing that his wife knew this guy. But as they started to know each other little byt little, they knew that maybe they started to know each other better as they started to communicate with one another. After they started to talk, the blind man asks him to describe a cathedral, but the man doesn't know how to describe it to the blind man. When I first read this part, I was confused at first. But i guessed that maybe the man was a person who wasn't religious at all, probably making him an atheist.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The story of an Hour

This story I found very interesting. It is about a woman whose husband passed away. She was very happy that her husband passed away and she was very happy that he passed away. She died of happiness. She was very happy that he died. I'm guessing she was happy because maybe he treated her badly or was a bad husband. She had a ups and downs relationships with her husband. Her husband had a terrible railroad accident. After that, her friend Josephine came by and she told her the news that her husband passed away. She was a person who was probably at peace when her husband dies. She felt free and independent, making her happy.

Richard Corey- Edwin Arlington Robinson

When I first read this story, I didn't understand it at first. But once I reread it again, it made me realize how hard life can be. The protagonist in this poem, Richard Corey is a person who is well liked by people in his town. I imagine him good looking and a gentleman. He was very rich and had a lot of money and people wanted to be Richard because of his wealth and how lucky he is to have a lot of money. After I read this poem, it made me realize that people who have alot of money sometimes aren't happy with what they have. I predicted that maybe he felt very lonely in his life, despite with what he has. At the end of the poem, he decided to commit suicide by putting a bullet in his head. It made me a little sad about this, but this is a poem that shows a moral that people with fame and money can be unsatisfied in their lives too.

Invisible Cities

I think this story was very interesting and yet true and imaginary at the same time. I liked how detailed the author was in the stories and how he described each city. When I read this story, it made me realize that how this story is related to Miami. For example, with the story on the Cities & Eyes 5, it made me realized that Miami does have a " bipolar side" with its locations. For example, Miami Beach & Coral Gables are places where it is really beautiful, filled with beautiful people, places and cars. On the other side, if you go to the bad side of these cities, it can filled with homeless people and bad locations. Another story that I felt in touch with the story Hidden Stories Olinda because Miami is a city that never stops growing and has its effects as well too.