Author Archives: Sara

surreptitious

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surreptitious

surĀ·repĀ·tiĀ·tious

[sur-uhp-tish-uhs]

adjective

1.

obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine: a surreptitious glance.
2.

acting in a stealthy way.
3.

obtained by subreption; subreptitious.
Found in Mina Loys Feminist Manifesto
“The woman who has not succeeded in striking that advantageous bargin– is prohibited from any but surreptitous re-action to Life-stimuli–&entireky debarred maternity.”
This definition helps me better understand the passage becuase I now understand that Mina Loy was trying to tell the reader that you cannot act in a stealthy way. The passage now comes together with knowing the word.

manifesto

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If I had to write a manifesto as Mina Loy did I would write about how woman are taking over in the corporate world.

For decades the head position of most major big buisnesses were run by men. It has only been seen in recent years that woman are gaining positions of power in large companies. Woman have not had big roles in leading major businesses because the standard for a woman is to be a stay at home mother. It is normal for a woman to stay home and take care of the “woman tasks” as the man goes out to work and make all the money for his family. A “woman task” is anything domestic that has a reputation of being a woman’s job, for example cleaning the house is a woman’s job that fits the stereotype.

I would write my manifesto to encourage more woman to get out there in the working field. In 2014 we have come a long way from the woman staying at home with the children, but I still believe we have a long way to come. We need to make a larger movement to make a point that woman are here in the corporate world, were here to stay, and we are here to lead the company.

A woman and a man think different and I believe a lot of male run businesses could use a female input that they may not even know about. I would write this manifesto to stress the fact that woman can’t sit back, we have to take charge and strive for what we want. The normal gender roles for male and female have begun to be broken and we have to continue with this pattern.

 

TSOH vs. TYW

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The narrator in ā€œThe Yellow Wallpaperā€ is unreliable, here are quotes and explanations to highlight this.

 

ā€œI sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus- but Ā John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel badā€ the narrator says.

Followed with ā€œSo I will let it alone and talk about the houseā€.

It is clear that the narrator is unreliable because she is admitting she has a problem. If she has a problem how can she be reliable? After she admits she has a problem she then quickly drops it and moves on to a different subject.

ā€œI donā€™t feel as if it is worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and Iā€™m getting dreadfully fretful and querulousā€ she says.

Followed with ā€œI cry at nothing, and cry most of the timeā€

This is a sure sign that she is unreliable because she breaks at nothing. She actually says and is conscious that she is emotionally breaking at nothing and crying most of the time. She also does not think it is worth while to turn her hand over for anything, this tells me she has no self motivation and that is a sign she is unreliable.

*fretful- disposed or quick to fret; irritable or peevish.

 

The narrator in ā€œThe Story of An Hourā€ is reliable.

I believe the narrator in ā€œThe Story of An Hourā€ is reliable because she is simply telling a story and that is all. She has no influence or emotion in the story. She does not contribute to the story to effect it positive or negative.

Phosphate

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Phosphate

phosĀ·phate

[fos-feyt]

noun

Ā  -found in Chemistry

A carbonated drink of water and fruit syrup containing a little phosphoric acid.
I encountered this word in “The Yellow Wallpaper”Ā  on the first page in the 12th paragraph. This will be discussed in week 3 of class. The handout title is THE YELLOW WALLPAPER.
” So I take phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am will again.”
It is nice to know what this word means so I can understand what she is taking. I had no idea if it was a drug, drink, etc.

“The Yellow Wall-Paper”

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An unreliable narrator works under the constraints of limited knowledge to convey information that may seem justifiably suspect to the reader. It is obvious throughout the story that Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an unreliable narrator because of her downward spiral. I have collected three quotes from Charlotte Perkins Gilmans story ā€œThe Yellow Wall-Paperā€ to help assist in my accusation of Charlotte being an unreliable narrator.

 

  1. Ā  ā€œI have watched John when he did not know I was looking, and come into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses, and Iā€™ve caught him several times LOOKING AT THE PAPER! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on it once.ā€

Ā 

It is clear that the narrator is going crazy. I believe the narrator is soothing her own thoughts of being crazy by making herself believe that John and Jennie could possibly be obsessed with the wall-paper like she is. This is a great example of the narrator being an unreliable narrator because she is giving great detail to insignificant point all through-out the story.

Ā 

On a side note I have to point out the obvious point of the narratorā€™s insanity being the use of capital letters. I believe the narrator places the emphasis on certain words to convey a certain feeling.

2.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  ā€œIt is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight. Just this nervous weakness I suppose.ā€

Ā 

It is clear that she has gone overboard. The narrator cannot even think straight. This is a clear sign that reality is slowly starting to diminish from the narrators life and mind. The narrator is obviously unreliable here because she is not ashamed to state the she is succumbing to the weakness that she possesses. She should not have nervous weaknesses that effect her to the point of thinking straight.

Ā 

3.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  ā€I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus -but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition , and I confess it always makes me feel bad.ā€

Ā 

The narrator has a ā€œconditionā€ this is an obvious sign that she cannot be trusted because

we do not know when she allows her condition to take over and do the actions and

speaking from her condition rather than from herself. She is an obvious unreliable

narrator.

 

Ā­

1.Ā Ā  ā€œDear John! He loves me very dearly and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia.ā€

 

In this quote you can see that John is not having a strong enough effect on the narrator. He is not getting through to her because she is obviously delisional. This is a great quote to show the dynamics in their relationship. She says ā€œHe loves me very dearly and hates to have me sickā€, it is very clear here how crazy she is and how in control John is in ways.

 

On a side note the narrator here says that she tried to talk to him which is also a good signal for their relationship. She should not have to try to talk to him, talking to him should come with ease.

 

2.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā  ā€œJohn does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him.ā€

 

In this quote you can see how the narrator keeps her emotions from John. She is truly depressed and she is holding it back from John. John does not realize how sick she is internally. He does not pick up on all of her signs that she is crazy. This is a good example of the dynamic of their relationship because once again you see the narrator in the shadows of Johns understanding.

 

3. ā€œHe said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake and keep well.ā€

 

In this quote you can see how selfish John is because the narrator makes it very clear that John is not going to help her at all. She is going to have to do everything for herself. This is a good representation of their relationship because it highlights the key problems I believe they have. She says he says that she is his everything yet she needs to take care of herself. This is a very selfish move.

Utopia- an ideal place or state

Dystopia- a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding

 

I believe that ā€œThe Yellow Wall-Paperā€ is a dystopia to the narrator because she is in a world like no other. She is miserable and in this pretend world in her imagination that is driving her crazy. Noting about the narrators world in ā€œThe Yellow Wall-Paperā€ resembles a utopia to me. Not to mention the whole story was based out of her home.

 

In the story ā€œThe Cottageā€ I believe it is a utopia compared to ā€œThe Yellow Wall-Paperā€. In the cottage the main setting is outdoor which is more utopia like than the grim home with the wall-paper.

Ā­

The question of utopia brings a lot of thoughts into my mind regarding ā€œThe Yellow Wall-Paperā€ and ā€œThe Cottageā€. Going along with my answer above for utopia and dystopia it is clear how one story is set in the outdoors where the other story is trapped to the confinements of the narratorā€™s home. These different settings come into play when thinking about the mood of the whole story over all. It is easy to put a positive and negative connotation just because of the setting.

Ā­

“There Was Once”

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This is barley a story, this is a monologue. There is one person reciting a story that is very familiar (Cinderella). Then there is another person rejecting every word the first person says. For clarification purposes we can call the first person who is reading the story A and the second person who is correcting the story B. B is very conscious of every word A says. B makes sure that every word said in the story A is reciting will not be taken the wrong way. In the beginning of the monologueĀ B seams to be correcting A for sake of relating to times now-a-days. For example A says the poor girl lived in the forest and B corrected forest to suburbs. An urban change. B is changing the story to match reality. As the monologue unfolds B starts to get politically correct. It seams as if B does not want anyone to take what A is saying in the wrong way. B wants there to be no misread words that can cause any problems.Ā B is very conscious of what the reader will think and how the reader will understand A’s message. The monologue ends with “What’s this was, once? Enough of the dead past. Tell me about now.” This sums up the whole debate between A and B. I think this is a very interesting monologue to read because it makes me think about how conscious writers are with their word choices these days. There is a lot of thinking and re thinking that goes into writing to ensure you do not offend your audience. If this was the case when a lot of classic books and movies were made a lot of stories would not be possible or they would not be the same. If it were up to me I would keep everything the way it is.

Puritanical

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puĀ·riĀ·tanĀ·iĀ·cal

[pyoor-i-tan-i-kuhl]

adjective

1.very strict in moral or religious matters, often excessively so; rigidly austere.
2.( sometimes initial capital letter ) of, pertaining to, or characteristic ofĀ Puritans or Puritanism.
Also, puĀ·riĀ·tanĀ·ic.
I found this word on page 70 of There Was Once, towards the bottom of the page.
” Another thing. Good and wicked. Dont you think you should transcend those puritanical judgemental moralistic epithets? I mean, so much of that is conditioning, isnt it?”
I understand this passage alot better becuase I now know that the judgment was religious. It was nice to look up the word and then read the whole passage over again haveing a better knowledge of the word. Being abel to understand the word in the context of the text is nice.

Homework- Kate Chopin

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“The Story of an Hour” was a fun read because it was short and sweet. There was a lot of emotions and feelings put into the story that made the read relatable and connectable. When reading the story and marking it up to pull out particualr themes i noticed how emotional “The Story of an Hour” is. Ā The first half of the story I pulled out the words and phrases killed, bearing the sad message, storm of grief, physical exhaustion, haunted her body, sob, quite motionless, , and sob in its dreams. All of these words and phrases are negative and bring a wave of bad feeling across me. The main character Mrs. Mallard was going through a lot coming to the realization of her husbands death and her new found freedom. The words and phrases that I pulled out highlight her emotions during the early stages to perfection. Mrs. Mallard showed strong signs of grief in the beginning of the story that you first think she is sad her husband has died. ONce the sad wave has rolled over Mrs. Mallard she beings to feel amazing. Some words and phrases to describe Mrs. Mallards feeling and emotions in the second half of the story are Ā free, bright, keen, joy that held her. pulses beat fast, love uptown her,, live for herself, self- assertion, love, and goddess of victory. It is obvious that the mood has completely changed sides and now Mrs, Mallard is filled with joy. Her husband is dead and she has come to the realization she can now live her life for herself and she is now free. The author of the story Kate Chopin does a great job at giving small hints to aid the reader in feeling the true mood of the story. Every single descriptive word stood out to me and left an impression in my head. Have it be positive or negative. There was a real hot and cold to this story that was delightful and made the short story come to life.

Introduction to my life

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I am a hospitality major because I love interacting with people from all spectrums of life. I have a constant need to help and learn. I have grandiose plans from my furture in all aspect of the hospitality industry. I am from Manhattan and work as a waitress at a small diner connected to the Holiday Inn Wall Street. I have two dogs named Carlos and Charlie and they are my everything. I like to spend my free time painting and watching movies with my boyfriend. I also enjoy cooking a nice meal for my boyfriend every night. You could say I am a simple girl living in a complex world. I have a very close family and see my mother almost every day. I live in the Financial District in Manhattan with my sister and our boyfriends. My parents live only two blocks away so it is very easy to see them as often as I please. My best friends name is Greg and he is amazing. I don’t know what I would do without him. He helps me in all aspects of life and never fails to put a smile on my face. I am excited for this class because I am eager to learn and strengthen my knowledge in on this topic. Cant wait to get started šŸ™‚ !