In my perspective, “A Story Told to Me by a Friend” by Lydia Davis really stood out to me. I found that story more touching than any other story I have read so far in this class. There are various reasons, one because that story can relate to real life. The story is built on so many emotions, happiness and sadness. There was a lot of expressing of feelings between the two people. People have long distance relationships or friendships, despite it being hard it’s built on heavy trust and you have to be emotionally strong for it to work out in the long run because anything can happen. In the story, you can just visual the whole scene that’s written in your mind. For example, when the friend goes to the airport and his internet friend isn’t there, you can almost feel what he’s going through and how he’s feeling when he calls the number that was given to him numerous times and then going to the address. It’s like he was having anxiety and panic attacks because he was just trying so hard to figure out why his internet friend didn’t make it to the airport when everything was planned. This story comes with heartbreak towards the end. The author basically wrote this for the reader to realize anything can happen at any moment, there’s no age to death. So, take it as a lesson. If you like something or someone, take the risk and go with the flow because you only live once. It’s better to take chances and making more memories than to regret in the end when you lose it. I really enjoyed this reading and hoping to read more of these types of novels in this class. It brings out the visualization. -Soha Naseer
Category: Coffeehouse #2 (Page 2 of 2)
In my perspective, Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” was the most enjoyable short story we had read for our assignment. The story had a lot of foreshadowing in it made the twist a lot more interesting. My favorite foreshadowing in the short story had to be when the kids were picking up rocks for a game just before the lottery was about to start. I as the reader found it odd how the kids were picking up rocks for a game, but the game was never mentioned till we see another moment when someone threw the rock at Tessie. I also enjoyed how the author didn’t tell us what the lottery was. When we think of the lottery in modern times, we always think about the power ball where you win millions of dollars if you were the one who bought and guessed all the correct numbers in the lotto. But in the story, it’s the complete opposite where you didn’t want to be the chosen one to win the lottery because instead of winning millions of dollars, you get stoned to death instead. The story had made me think about questioning our traditions. The story implies that this was an ongoing tradition and that it was normal to stone someone to death. In fact, when I was reading the North village in the story wanted to give up on their lottery tradition, and old man Warner called them out for being crazy. This situation reminds me of the modern-day where a lot of conservatives like to live in the old way of times while the newer generation wants to have new rights and laws so that the future of their generation would live in a better world. Overall, this was my favorite short story because it had foreshadowing and because the author tackles on things like questioning our traditions just like we do in our modern time. -Jia Ning Li
In my perspective, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” was the most enjoyable from the assigned readings since it incorporated multiple techniques that retained my attention throughout the story. Although the nature of the story might have been described as gruesome and unsettling by some, the first person narration seemed to manipulate the reader into understanding the reasoning associated with their actions. That aspect of the story was appreciated because I was compelled to read further whereas, third person narration would have just resembled a psychological evaluation or a description of a crime scene. I had noticed that the main character’s demeanor had transitioned at some point which could be identified as a twist when their impulses could no longer be solely blamed on alcoholism. For example,the main character had violently removed an eye from his cat, Pluto and eventually hanged this cat due to an internal frustration. However, the main character’s carefully calculated method to conceal his wife’s corpse in the cellar wall revealed that he wasn’t merely a weak man burdened by addiction to alcohol, but self-aware and capable of disguising his guilt. Although, the ax swing was intended for another pet cat, the weapon of choice could have indicated he might have already intended for the animal’s death to be bloody. I had re-read the interior monologues of the main character after each violent action since he had felt remorse because I didn’t want to assume that he was simply an evil person. I appreciated that the main character had described his desire to nurture life in the beginning of the story and how he didn’t derive pleasure from harming others since I began to question whether he should have been imprisoned or admitted to a psychiatric ward. In conclusion, I enjoyed Poe’s”The Black Cat” since it was elaborate and somewhat saddening. -Tahirjon (Vince) Alesso
Hi Students,
Some notes about the Coffeehouse.
1–This is a communal space to share and experiment. But I want to ask you to write at your highest level. While I do not ask for formal writing, I do ask for editing and proofreading. I will not accept or award points for posts that do not include capitalization, punctuation, and basic sentence structures. For example, if a student posts using the lower case I, to refer to herself or himself [i], no points will be awarded until it’s corrected. Experiment with new sentence types and new vocabulary. Experiment with a new voice, with complex ideas and perhaps even some humor. Go for it. But also, remember, the entire class will read and respond to your posts, so consider your audience. Keep it real and relatable, but please do not over-share and over-vent. Some venting is, in this age of pandemic and injustice, completely acceptable.
2–Make sure to include your name in the subject box.
3–Make sure to use a signature line.
4–Make sure to check the correct “Category” number on the right sidebar before publishing.
5–Make sure to read over your writing before hitting the “Publish” button.
6–For reference, this post is 200 words.
Best wishes,
Prof. Scanlan
