ENGL 10103

I felt that this class helped me a lot. I liked how we analyzed each story and felt that it helped me better understand what I was reading. I also really liked the selected readings for the course. The only one I would change would be "The Fall of the House of Usher." I had a hard time with this story and think it could be replaced by "The Tell-Tale Heart." The films we watched in class were also very entertaining and correlated well with the class. Hamlet was the only film I would take off the list, but that is because I had already seen it and it is long and hard to understand. I really enjoyed watching "Northanger Abbey" and my favorite story was a tie between "Our Nig" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

A Good Man is Hard to Find

I thought "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was very interesting. I liked how society can be included in the definition of "Man". As the grandmother gets older, society has become more corrupt.

 "A good man is hard to find," Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more."  

The grandchildren have no respect for their elders. They say whatever they want to no matter who they are talking to.  Oates placed a lot of emphasis on "being good." Every chance the grandmother got she told "The Misfit" he was a good man, and came from nice people. I also thought it was ironic that at the very beginning of the story the grandmother asks John Wesley what he would do if the Misfit caught him. Later the entire family is killed by him. 

I was confused at the end, Was the Misfit the son of the grandmother???"Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children !"

Jean Ah Poquelin

5. Discuss how Cable uses “local color” (one of our study words) to create a sense of realism of the South. Do you feel Cable satirizes or criticizes ethnic stereotyping and/or the romantic myths of the “noble aristocracy” of the “Old South”?

Cable uses local color in "Jean ah Poquelin" when the characters are speaking. Many of the characters speak with a French accent or in French because of their ancestry and many French settled in New Orleans. It is representative of the Creoles in the south. I do think that Cable is criticizing the stereotyping and "mystery" associated with the Old south. In this story Poquelin represents the old south, while the mob and the townspeople represent the new south. Throughout the story you see Jean ah Poquelin as mysterious and almost scary because he keeps to himself and his house and won't allow the road to pass through, and this causes the characters to suspect that he is a witch or his house is haunted. It isn't until the end that you find out he was just caring for his leper brother. I think that twist causes the reader to think about judging someone without all the facts.

Sheriff's Children

Chesnutt starts out portraying the Sheriff as a noble man, but as the story continues he appears to be no different than any other white man in the town. Yes, the Sheriff wants to protect the prisoner until trial, but it is not until he finds out the man is his son does he want to find the real murderer. I am sure people were angry at the fact that the prisoner was the son of the white sheriff and a black woman 

Goophered Grapevine

The story begins with the narrator who is telling his story about purchasing his grapevine. Within his story is the story about the vineyard that Julius is telling. Julius had been making a profit on the abandoned vineyard and no doubt wanted the vineyard to stay abandoned so he tells the couple about curse. I am not sure whether the vineyard was actually cursed or it was just an attempt to stop the selling of the vineyard. 

I think that Henry is definitely portrayed as a commodity in the "Goophered Grapevine." When his owner realizes that he is able to do great work in the summer and is then unable to work in the winter he cons several men into buying Henry and eventually selling him back when he can't work. He is able to profit more from selling and re-buying Henry than the work he can actually do. In a way it 

"Our Nig"

Overall, I found that Mrs. Bellmont was the head of the house rather than the men. The only time her authority was questioned was by Mr. Bellmont, and only in extremely rare instances. Everyone knew that Mrs. Bellmont and Mary were treating Frado unfairly and cruelly, but they aren't able to succeed in keeping her safe. In the beginning it is almost as if they know it is wrong but turn the other way and only later, do they begin to question Mrs. Bellmont more outspokenly.  In the end, the other members of the Bellmont family do a better job of looking out for her well being. 

4)What kind of narrator is used in this piece? Is he reliable? Speculate as to why Poe would use this type of narrator for his work.

Poe uses a first person narrator in "The Fall of the House of Usher." A First person point of view is told from the narrator's perspective and the reader's knowledge of the story is limited to the narrator's knowledge. I think the narrator is reliable to a degree. Because we only see his side  we cannot know everything that is going on. If it had been told in third-person omniscient we would know everything, including the feelings of all the characters which would help  us better understand what is actually going on. I feel that Poe used first person narrative so that the reader would have to draw their own conclusions of the story instead of being told exactly what is going on. It adds to the suspense and mystery of the story and makes it more interesting and unnerving. 

"Young Goodman Brown"

2. How is the allegorical? What statement does Hawthorne appear to be making with his allegorical tale about human nature?

When I first read the story I took it very literally. I understood it that Goodman Brown was being taken to the forest by a friend and happened upon people he knew and they were all going to the same meeting place. The people he saw along the way were well known religious and political people from his town. At the meeting they were converting people to do evil and it was revealed that much evil had already been done, women killing their husbands. Then Goodman Brown is converted but wishes his wife to remain pure. Then he wakes up somewhere else. After reading the Major Images Found in Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" the story made much more sense as an allegory. The man leading Goodman Brown through the forest was the devil, who also resembles his father. While walking down the road they come across different people and Goodman Brown hides in the trees because he doesn't want people to know what he is doing. All the people he sees along the way and at the meeting were people who had done evil things. The reason Hawthorne shows pious people as having done evil things is that all people have evil in their nature, people are not inherently good.

Cinderella and "Lois the Witch"

2. The Cinderella formula: In "Lois the Witch," do you see some sort of take on the Cinderella formula? How is the formula the same and how is it different? Is there a prince? Does he save the heroine? What message do you see women writers making women getting caught up in fairy tales--the passivity of waiting for a man to "save" them. Does beauty in weakness serve women well or does it contribute to their downfall? We'll get into this more when we finish Jane Eyre.

When I think of a "Cinderella Story" I think of a rags to riches story, or someone who is oppressed rising above and living happily ever after. In regards to Lois the Witch there are similar themes, such as, the prince, evil step mother (Aunt), wicked step sisters, and the loving father who dies (or both parents and uncle). But I think that is the end of the similarities, because Lois' is oppressed until the end of her life and it is only after she is dead that the prince comes to rescue her. No one in the story lives happily ever after, they are all living with guilt, unhappiness, and regret. I think Elizabeth Gaskell is making a point that life is not a fairy tale and there is not always a happy ending. Life is unfair and you can't expect someone else to save you.

Novels

Do you see any value in reading novels? Do novels have anything to teach us about society? (Hint: research Uncle Tom's Cabin). Does it work as a mirror, giving us a reflection of ourselves (society) in which we may see flaws? Can literature move a society to change? Can you think of any novels that have changed your life or changed the way you view society (current or historical)?


I think that reading novels is a great way to escape reality. It allows your imagination to create a picture in your head of what is going on in the story, and live that story out. Novels also let you see things from another perspective. I believe that some novels show us what society values and they sometimes teach meaningful lessons that are timeless. It is cool to be able to read a story from a different time period and see how things have changed for the better or worse. Like "To Kill A Mockingbird" or even "The Castle of Otranto." Novels definitely work like a mirror and reflect society. In what we have read so far in class that is fairly obvious, especially in regards to gender roles of the time and the people's view of government. Even the stories written that take place in the future deal with social values and political issues. I think it would be hard for any author not to allow what is happening in society to affect their writing, because their own beliefs are molded by the times. I can't think of a novel that has changed the way I view society but I am sure that I have been influenced in little ways many times through reading novels.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and Freud.

3. How does Stevenson anticipate Freud? In what ways do you see J & H as a perfect study for psychoanalysis?

Stevenson anticipates Freud by demonstrating two sides to human nature. The good, Dr. Jekyll, and the evil, Mr. Hyde. As Dr. Jekyll describes, "I now had two characters as well as two appearance, one wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll...(pg111)" Freud defined three parts to human nature, id, ego, and superego. In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; the first would represent ego and superego the side of humans that is concerned with morality, experiences guilt, and reason, while Mr. Hyde would represent id, the impulsive, self gratifying, and amoral. Dr. Jekyll experiences guilt for Mr. Hyde's actions, knowing that they are also his actions. When he stays in the form of Jekyll for the last two months he tries to help others. Mr. Hyde is only concerned about himself, his desires, and self preservation. He only allows Jekyll to take over the last two months to keep from being arrested. 

Role of Women in Castle of Otranto

1. Take a feminist point of view and blog your ideas about the role of women in the text's setting. What options do women have? Are these options reasonable considering the time period? What concerns do characters have for women's feelings? Speculate as to Walpole's views about women.

In The Castle of Otranto, Walpole depicts the women in the story as weak, pious, and eager for the approval of men. This follows the way women were expected to be during that time period. However, I feel that Walpole exaggerates these ideals. For example," Hippolita needed little persuasions to bend her to his pleasure (pg 89)." Matilda forgives her father for murdering her. She even takes some of the blame when she says that she had promised her mother not to see Theodore any more and that it must be her punishment. Women are used as bargaining chips, with no thought to what they might want leaving them no options other than what their father or husband demands of them. Manfred's desire to divorce a loving wife in order to marry Isabella so that she might give him a son. And later Manfred offers Matilda to Frederic so that his family will still have rights to Otranto. The only time women are shown with some independence is when Isabella is running away, or when Matilda helps Theodore escape, otherwise they are fainting or begging for forgiveness from the men. Jerome and Theodore are the only men with concern for the women's wellbeing and desires. I feel that Walpole would share the same behaivor towards women as Theodore does, because he depicts Manfred as a tyrant and ridiculous. I think his exaggeration of the characteristics of women mocks the time period.

Letter of Introduction

Hello there, 

My name is Kelsey. I am from Oklahoma City, OK, and have lived there my entire life. I love it there. I am a Junior at TCU and will graduate in December 2010 with a B.S. in Nutrition. I play on the TCU Women's Soccer team. I am not very familiar with Gothic Literature, but did cover it some in High school. It is not one of the genres I am extremely interested in, but am open to seeing what it's all about.

I read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus.