Category: Film-Lit Coffeehouse (Page 2 of 3)

Even though most of the year was a little hindering due to the virus this summer wasn’t as bad. I took 2 summer classes in June and went back to work at the start of July after my job closed back in March. It was tricky being back outside, there was that small bit of anxiety of being around a group of strangers especially on the subway. But luckily as cases in the city started to drop I was more at ease. Despite everything going on I was able to meet up with friends I haven’t since the start of the pandemic and I’ve been able to get back some form of normality. Luckily all my friends and family are okay and ready to face the rest of the year. 

Between both stories I was more intrigued by ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ due to me being able to relate to the narrator and her frustrations. Her symbolism of the Wallpaper is something that we all can relate to due to all of us being confined to a space for a while. It makes our minds deconstruct our surroundings and cause us to feel the build up in pressure and cause us to feel unease. I enjoyed ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ as it was a story that was dark and filled with suspense but I enjoyed ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ more since it’s more relatable and all the metaphors made it more detailed and immersed me in that situation.

This summer my goal was to visit my uncle and cousins who lived in France but the virus happened and everything changed. other than that I worked the whole Covid19 period which was stressing other than working I didn’t really do anything important this summer, but I would not say it was one of the worst ever for me even though it might be for many people around the world. But I missed going to school because even though it was annoying waking up early sometimes to go to school sometimes I realized how much I appreciated going to school instead of the online class.

Between Tell tale heart and The yellow wallpaper I preferred to tell-tale heart, tell-tale heart was more interesting even though I read the yellow wallpaper in a previous English class. I liked the tell-tale heart more because of the idea that a murder which led the character who committed a crime who confesses to it out of fear and paranoia of the police was very interesting to me and the video clips watched help me understand it even more. One of the video clip though was intensely funny probably unintended but it reminded me if the second ‘IT’ movie which I felt that was more comedic than scary.

One of the reasons why I liked tell-tale heart more was that the yellow wallpaper felt like something that happened in real life and I feel like johns wife was imprisoned in a way, she was said to be suffering from a mental breakdown after giving birth and basically was staying in the same place all day and night and the baby was never really mentioned more than once in the story as if she never got to hold the baby or see it was weird.

When 2020 first started, I was very excited for the summer. My 30th birthday and college graduation would both be in June, and the rest of my summer would be spent enjoying my freedom from school and spending time with my family. I was also looking forward to finding a summer internship in the hopes of turning it into a long-term job in my career field. But when I reflect on this summer now that it’s pretty much over, I realize just how different it turned out to be than what I was expecting and hoping for. I lost a very close family member in February of this year, and quarantine started not long after that, so I wasn’t even able to see the family I still have with me for a long time. But when my birthday came around, my mother surprised me with a quarantined version of the party we were planning before Covid. There obviously weren’t any guests but my family got together on Zoom to sing “Happy Birthday” to me while I blew out my candles. So even though it wasn’t the huge birthday bash I wanted, I turned out to be a really nice celebration full of love. That is my favorite memory of my summer.

As far as the stories we’ve read so far, it is hard for me to pick a favorite. Both “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are stories I’ve read many times in and out of school and I really do enjoy both. They’re similar in that they both feature mentally distressed and unreliable narrators who refuse or are unable to see the depth of their illnesses even though they are very clear to the reader. If I absolutely had to choose a favorite, I would choose “The Tell-Tale Heart”, only because the lack of detail about the characters limits how much I could feel for either of them. I pity the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” because she didn’t get proper care and what happened to her could’ve been avoided.

This summer was filled with nothing but work for me as unfortunate as that may seem. My parents both are always very ill and due to the pandemic my access to the outside world was very limited. However I did have a few good days where my coworkers and I went on picnics at Long Island City Gantry Park. The view gives almost a sense of tranquility, also the boat rides are definitely worth the trip. Work was always very hectic. Working at an essential business my main goal was to make sure people got what they needed! To be able to take those few moments on my days off to sit down, enjoy nature and relax gave me the much needed motivation. The food trucks there are really good and I recommend the Tacos Al Pastor to anyone who decides to visit the park and try some tacos. Yum!

Between both “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, I enjoyed reading “The Yellow Wallpaper,” more. Edgar Allan Poe gives us, as readers, a chance to really dive deep within our own realm of thinking to decipher what he is trying to say. We see the madness of a man struggling within himself and we see the same in, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator uses a specific piece of symbolism which defined her madness which is the yellow wallpaper. As the story progresses we see the mental state of the narrator deteriorate, her obsession with the yellow wallpaper becomes unbearable. To my understanding the  room and house resembled a mental institution, and the woman who the narrator saw that was trying to escape, may have well likely have been her own sanity. In the story it is as if she is trying to help herself escape, to grasp a hold of her own sanity and be free. The narrator works with the woman (who is the narrator’s sense of sanity as her deep subconscious showed her) to tear apart the wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper being her madness, tearing it apart would set her free. I see how we can go mad in our own worlds and something as simple as paper can represent so much of ourselves to our subconscious beings. It was as if the wallpaper was telling her to free herself ! To try and save herself from her captivity, but also driving her insane by confining her. The way it was narrated made a connection with the main character much easier, whereas in “The Tell-Tale Heart ” there are a lot of vague references. I felt as if I was the main character, experiencing exactly what she was.

This Summer was one to remember, in a good and bad way. Reason I say this I’ve lost friends this summer and it’s really hurtful and it was due to violence, it’s really crazy what’s happening in this world, also with COVID-19 it ruined plans for me. I was supposed to go back home to Jamaica to visit family and friends, but that went out the window. The most exciting thing I did this summer was start a new project. I learned that I have talents that I didn’t know about and I’m super excited about that. This summer allowed me to become a better “Chef”, I learned new recipes, from my country, and that was interesting. This summer also gave me the opportunity to spend time with family, we learned a lot about each other, played games, watch movies so that was a lot of fun. Overall my summer was one to remember.

Between the two stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wall Paper” I would say I’m in between when it comes to choosing my favorite story, but I’m pushing towards “The Yellow Wall Paper”. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” it was more easier to understand what was happening from beginning to end, I knew that someone wanted to kill the old man because he was taunted by the blue eyes. The story didn’t give a lot of details about the creepy guy or the Old man so it had me wondering a lot of things. And it was straight to the point, I knew what the narrator was going to do next. In “The Yellow Wall Paper” I had to reread a few times and there were details about the characters, the setting and I liked that. The story addresses mental illness, the narrator is isolated from her family, and she is focused on the yellow wall paper that’s in the room. The narrator husband was very controlling he didn’t allow her to see people or do certain things and whatever he said goes. All in all they’re both good stories one lacked what the other had.

This summer due to COVID-19 I couldn’t do any of the traveling I had planned but one fun thing was that I got to spend more time with my family. We barbecue more and just had fun all together. We celebrated my cousin graduation from high school, my friend getting a promotion and my niece’s birthday. Another celebration was that I got a new job which helps me to get closer to my dreams of being a nurse one day. I made and keep making amazing memories with my loved ones especially with my nieces since they stayed with us for a month. I never knew how funny and mature they were until now.  The oldest which is 10 years old always calls me out on things when I try to make them eat their vegetables or soups. The younger is 8 years old and she is super hyper. She makes me feel old sometimes because she is non-stop! I try to keep up with her but my body can’t. I am definitely looking forward to  my Greece/ Italy trip next year and maybe a birthday trip to Cancun. If only COVID-19 would either be controlled or cured.

The two stories were full of suspense and curiosity. In the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”,  the ending was predictable and very minimal in detail. In just 3 pages, the author was able to build suspense but not as scary I thought. It made me laugh at some points because it just did not make sense. There were a lot of questions unanswered .“The Yellow Wallpaper” on the other hand was filled with metaphors and lots of description. The tone of voice made it super creepy and very intense. The way she would describe herself, her husband and everything around her was just super scary.  I personally liked “The Yellow Wallpaper” because it is more realistic as to what people might go through when mental illness is present. Even though the story was long, it really attracted me and made me believe that this story was based on a true story.  For sure I would pick “The Yellow Wallpaper” over ” The Tell-Tale Heart any day because it made me want to continue reading.

   I had a lot of things planned for this summer, but due to our current situation, most of it had to be canceled. I wasn’t too mad though, as I do enjoy staying home but for the most part, most of my plans were suspended. However, I did get to go on a little trip with my friends to Vermont, which was honestly my highlight of the summer. We had rented an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere and it felt like my friends and I were just in our own little world. It was a little escape from reality which was much needed in this time that we’re in. So I would consider my little trip to Vermont as my favorite moment of the summer.

   If I had to pick between “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, I would have to go with the latter choice. Although “The Tell-Tale Heart” was entertaining, I personally thought the story itself was kind of mundane, and almost very lackluster. I’m not sure if it’s Edgar Alan Poe’s writing style or just the story premise but I wasn’t as scared as I was intrigued, which is still a good thing but I did feel that for me it was missing a layer in the story, which is why it left me more intrigued. We’re not given much for the relationship between the narrator and the Old man, which left a lot of blanks for me and just unanswered questions. Though it isn’t a fair comparison with “The Yellow Wallpaper” in the context of this question “The Tell-Tale Heart was just lacking. Now the reason why I preferred “The Yellow Wallpaper” would be the opposites of what I just said for “Tell-Tale Heart”. The amount of details you get between the main character and how she interacts with her husband and just the house sets up a lot of the story. Which is another reason why I found this story to be a bit more creepy, as we get to see the main character actually divulge into insanity. The plotline also seemed to be a bit more believable for some reason, which i think has to do with what the background gives, and also ultimately if we were to compare the two endings, I think that “The Yellow Wallpaper” was more climactic and also just scary. All in all, my opinion is that I think “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a better story. 

This summer wasn’t different from previous summer. It was the same thing with going to work, or the park. However, I basically got to live by myself because my family went to P.A. This summer wasn’t bad or good, but enough to have fun.

Reading “The-Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” between them,I like “The Tell-Tale-Heart” more since it was more interesting to me. I found “The-Tell-Tale Heart” somewhat more obvious. While reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” I needed to readcertain parts so as to comprehend.I additionally found the completion of “The-Tell-Tale Heart” to be all the more intriguing with him admitting his wrongdoing due to the commotions he was hearing despite the fact that the police had discovered nothing on him. While, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” you could sort of observe where it was going to,she was fixated on the backdrop and continued being so until the end. I likewise found the things utilized in “The Tell-Tale Heart” all the more intriguing. For instance, to me the utilization of the elderly person’s eye was more fascinating than the backdrop. I also liked the “The-Tell-Tale-Heart” because I kinda enjoyed reading Edgar Allen Poe books and like his work.

This summer I didn’t do much, after the plans of going to the Dominican Republic was cancel due to the current pandemic, I decide to take my dogs and stay in my mom’s house and “quarantine” with her and her family, and I’m not going to lie been in a house with 10 more people is as crazy as it sounds, our days were based on taking my dogs out on walks, playing board games, chill in the backyard, swimming in the pool and doing BBQ on Sundays. This summer was not like the previous ones but even though I couldn’t go to out places like in the previous summers I for sure had fun with my mom and her family.

Both stories were good but I found that the yellow wallpaper was a little more difficult for me to understand at the beginning because of how the woman was talking and the way she starts the story another reason why I didn’t like the yellow wallpaper is that I feel that this story does not grab the attention of the reader like the tell-tale heart.  The story that I like the most between the tell-tale heart and the yellow wallpaper was the tell-tale heart because I like how the author describes the characters and how to detail the author describes the action of this characters which makes you visualize the situation in your head while reading the story, I also found the story a bit funny when the guy is describing how happy he was that the police believe his story until he couldn’t keep himself together and told the truth, another reason why I like this story is that I have always liked horror/fiction stories and movies and I hope to read more stories like this one throughout this semester.

One fun thing that I did this summer was enjoying my shows! Since it was still quarantine, and I could not go to my job or travel as I planned; still I was able to enjoy my summer. During the summer I was able to catch up on the shows that I missed. I like staying home, so not going out didn’t bother me at all. I was also able to enjoy my time with my siblings. We caught up on games that we always play, or catch up on the shows/movies we missed. I was also able to go out hiking with my family; enjoyed some fresh air and a lot of walking. 

My favorite story would be The Yellow Wallpaper. This story is more of mystery and horror but also the mental state of a woman; in this case the narrator. The three characters of the story play the part of the narrator’s life; they are her caretaker. The narrator begins her journal with the grandeur of the house that she and her husband, John, just moved into. For the narrator, this house is like a haunted house. As her husband has locked her in and denied the freedom of her to write; she became delusional as to what’s going around her. The narrator got fixated on the yellow paper wall; as if someone was trapped there and trying to get out. What interests me about this story is the denial of the husband as to what is going on with the narrator; even the sisters-in-law did so too. The narrator started behaving irrational and behaving frenzy, biting and tearing the wallpaper in order to free the trapped women. It was as if she was doing so to free herself from the yellow wallpaper room that she was trapped in. The narrator ends up being hopelessly insane, and none helps. The husband’s neglect towards the wife and the indifferent attitude towards the suffering of his wife was really interesting; maybe he wanted her gone and he made her suffer by trapping her in a yellow wallpaper room.