Category Archives: Homework

Homework Instructions, Week 2

Blogging on “A Rose for Emily”

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After reading “A Rose for Emily” and others’ commentary on it on that New York Times blog, on Genius.com, and on our site, it’s time to write a focused blog post in which you analyze a passage or series of passages from the short story.

In particular, think about power in the story. Choose (and include in your post) a passage or a few related passages that highlight some aspect of the power dynamics at play in the story. Who has power, who doesn’t, how do they interact, how to they negotiate their positions of powerfulness or lack of power?

Other factors to consider: how does narration style, point of view, setting, characterization or other elements of fiction play a role in the power dynamic you’re analyzing?

Much of what was raised in our online discussion touched on power, but in very different ways. If there is a different topic that you would like to address, either see how it intersects with this topic of power, or raise it in our discussion either on the site or in Wednesday’s class

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Homework, Week 2

A Rose for Emily

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I found both stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “A Jury of Her Peers” to have more similarities than differences. Both the mood and time period seem to be about the same. Both narrators seem to be somewhat sympathetic to the women and their plights. They paint Emily and Mrs. wright to be delicate, and fragile round characters that suffer despite the crime they have committed.  As a reader I couldn’t help but feel sad for both women. Mrs. Wright’s crime  seems somewhat more predictable in her actions after suffering years of abuse from her husband. Emily, on the other hand, seems to have suffered from insanity which my evoked sympathy while reading the story, as mental illness is a disease. Her crime was suspected towards the end of the story, but still shocking to see the climax and the falling action. Both settings seem similar. Mrs. Wright’s abuse was acknowledged and overlooked, as was more the case then than it would be today. Homer Barton’s treatment of his workers, and his disrespectful and derogatory use of the n word, was commonly used to refer to African Americans in that time period which is now far and beyond socially acceptable in today’s society.

The one difference that I did think about was the different outcomes that both these women had, though both killed the men that they once loved. For Emily; her ending was final and filled with sadness. She died having never truly lived, or receiving the love that she wanted so badly from Homer.

Mrs. Wright, on the other hand, may have had a different ending. If the sheriff and young Henderson could not find substantial motive and proof, it is quite possible that she may go free, and go on to live the life that she couldn’t while married to an abusive husband. She may yet find love, peace, and redemption.

As far as the power dynamics in the story. It comes across that the men in Emily’s life seem to hold power over her. Her life’s happiness and her choices have revolved around both her father and Homer Barron.

“None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such”.

She waited to get married, and was her father’s companion. Perhaps, he meant for her not to get married and leave his side. Why had she not protested when she had more suitors? Homer was her last attempt to have the life in which her father had interfered. When it was apparent that he would not marry her, she took power back, one can say. She poisoned him, and held him captive in her house, and  held his body there. She held him to her in the way that her father had held her to him. Maybe that one act was the one thing that she had taken control of, horrendous and crazy as it was, she grabbed power and control in whatever way she thought how.

When she purchased that arsenic, she showed her resolve and fierceness, she didn’t get nervous or cower before that pharmacist.

“Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went ingot the arsenic and wrapped it up”.

In that moment she got what she wanted and went on to do what she had decided. That is having power.

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Homework, Week 1

THE STORY OF AN HOUR & A JURY OF HER PEERS

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The Story of an Hour & A Jury of Her Peers are two stories that are different in many ways but have similarities as well.

In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard goes into shock and many stages of emotions after hearing the news of her husband’s death. She, I would say is “”relieved” and feels free after hearing the news. She later on, dies of a heart attack.

A Jury of her Peers is also about a husband’s death. It was a sudden death of Mr. Wright, finding out that he was murdered by Mrs. Wright at the end of the story.  From reading the story, I believe some abuse and damage was done in closed doors, that had ended the way it did.

I understand how the character acted the way the did even if I do not agree with the outcomes. I do not judge them differently. Everyone has their own reactions to different situations.

The other characters and the narrators influence our understanding of the protagonists by  using many details and context clues in the story. The setting also plays a big role in both the stories. The time the story was told 1800s, I would say men were way more dominant and has more control of their spouses.  It would be different if the stories settings is changed today. In conclusion, the setting played a big role in how the both stories played out.

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Homework, Introductions, Week 1

Intro of Myself

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My name is Shanice, I was born in Jamaica, Queens in New York. I grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn New York. I’m currently in my third year at City Tech and I am majoring in Computer Systems Technology CST. I picked this major because I would stay on the computer for hours, then wonder, “where did the time go?” Then I came to the conclusion that computers may be an area of interest and what  I would want to do in life.Throughout my interaction with the computer and its various programs, I was inspired to research career opportunities in the field of computer technology. Initially, I thought business would be my major and I researched various high schools that offered business courses, but when I started to take those courses, my priorities changed, computer technology captivated me. Hopefully, in my last few semesters at this school, I can grasp enough information to be confident to go out into the workplace and find my dream job.

As of now, I work at Macy’s and at a Catering center. When I first starting working at Macy’s, I was excited and nervous at the same time. I thought I would actually like this job, and it would be a great experience to have. But boy was I wrong, I used to say I would never work at a retail job, that was a huge lie. Every time I know I have to work, I start to become annoyed. Some of you might say why am I still there, but don’t worry I’m not planning on staying there for too long. Catering is not too bad, I also prefer that job over Macy’s. I’ve been working at the Catering center for about 6 years. Although you might deal with some rude customers, I look forward to going to that job. I guess its because that job is on-call. One definite thing I like about this job is my managers and coworkers, I get along well with them and we like each other. Besides that boring part of my life, there are some more other boring activities I can add to it. I love to sleep, listen to music and killing my brain cells by watching T.V.

In addition, I look forward to enjoying this class because the class is a hybrid class making it partially online. It gives me another excuse to stay on the computer. Not only that, but I noticed I learned and retain information better when I take an online classes, the work is hands on. Hopefully with this class the outcome can be the same, because I can take advantage of my love of computers and learn simultaneously.

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Glossary, Week 1

Eaves

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Eaves –  the lower border of a roof that overhangs the wall —usually used in plural.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eave

Used in “The Story of An Hour” fifth paragraph; last line. The  word was used as a noun in the sentence to describe the thing on which the birds were twittering.

The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

She was describing the scene before her, and could hear the chirping of sparrows on the roofs around her. At first, I thought eaves may have meant trees, and was surprised to find that it meant the underneath a roof. Its almost like a little alcove.

 

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Homework, Week 1

A Jury of her Peers/The Story of An Hour

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I enjoyed ‘A Story of An Hour’ by Kate Chopin more than I did “Jury of Her Peers’ and the length was not the reason. Although shorter, A Story of An Hour gave more insight on Louise’s feelings better enabling the reader to connect to her. ‘Jury of Her Peers’ on the other hand gave us diverse characters letting us be the judge of them through their actions rather than internal feelings.

The two stories albeit being different were very similar.  A key theme in the two stories would be the rebellion of women [against men]. From the clues given in the stories you can assume both Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Wright were dominated by their husbands.

Mrs. Mallard in ‘The Story of An Hour’ hears the news of her husbands death but unlike other women doesn’t go into shock instead grieves. She goes through the stages of grief and comes into terms with the death. Realizing her new found freedom she has an epiphany and dreams of living her life for herself on her own accord rather than for her husband. The first thing mentioned in this story is her heart problems so it’s safe to assume this statement foreshadows her death. The news of her husbands death had no effect on her heart condition, so you can bet a bigger news would soon arrive. The ‘big news’ so to speak was the sudden arrival of Mr. Mallard, her husband, who turns out wasn’t dead after all. Mrs. Mallard, who at this point was elated and full of joy, gets shocked at seeing her husband alive gives out a cry and dies of a heart attack. “The joy that kills’

Mrs. Wright on the other hand is under question for the death of her husband. The story starts of with Mrs. Hale, Mr. Hale, The Sheriff and his wife [Mrs. Peters]  going to Mrs. Wrights house. Mr. Hale tells the story of how he went the night before to ask Mr. Wright something in front of his wife, after knocking on the door a few times someone [Mrs. Wright] tells him to enter. He sees her sitting on the chair and asks her to call John, to which she laughs, and says she can’t. She then tells Mr. Hale John[Mr. Wright] is dead, a rope round his neck had killed him. They find clues in the house that indicated at the harsh demeanor of Mr. Wright towards Mrs. Wright. -he killed her pet bird-  A key point in the story would be when Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter were alone and had the conversation about John, the bird and Minnie Foster [Mrs. Wright] They spoke about John described him as ‘a harsh man… like raw wind that gets to the bone.’ They find the bird cage and then the bird itself, in a box with it’s neck wrung, in Minnie’s basket. They hid the box when the sheriff came back in the kitchen, Mrs. Hale knew Minnie Foster and said she liked the bird and wanted to bury it (justifying why the bird was in the box). Mrs. Peters claimed they didn’t know who killed the bird to which Mrs. Hale said she knew John. She convinced Mrs. Peters (who thought people should pay for their crimes) and they hid the evidence and gave Minnie a not guilty verdict.

In both stories the women rebelled against conformity [by going against their husbands]. Louise Mallard’s way was much more subtle than that of the ladies from ‘A Jury of Her Peers’ she internally rebelled by not going into shock over her husbands death but rather by overcoming it and finding her freedom. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters rebelled by hiding evidence and calling Mrs. Wright not guilty.

Just goes to show how two completely different stories can connect through similar aspects; husbands death and the sense freedom that came along with it as well as breaking the norm.

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Homework, Week 2

A Rose for Emily

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In section one, the narrator is at Emily Grieson’s funeral. He tells us the Grierson family’s presence and role in the town, saying that Emily’s father loaned money to the town and was exempted from paying taxes by Colonel Sartoris. After her fathers death, the town tried readmitting the tax on Emily, but Emily refused to pay, saying they should see Colonel Sartoris, not knowing he has died almost a decade ago. I started questioning Emily’s sanity at this point, solely because of the state of her home after her death, smelly and seemingly unkempt even though she had a helper,  and her not knowing the death of the man who allowed her family to go without paying taxes for so long for nearly ten years.

 

The narrator tells us how Emily never went outside of her home after the death of her father. The Grierson’s held themselves higher than everyone else and the town notice that, so when Emily lost her father, people thought Emily were finally at their “level”.

“Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized”.

The women at the funeral noticed how smelly the house was but brushed it off, saying it was typical of a man to not know how to clean properly. The narrator recalled that members of the community went to Emily’s house after dark and sprayed lime juice in her cellar, because of the stench.  Even though she had a crazy aunt, the community didn’t call Emily crazy at the time.   Emily’s father was overbearing on her and never allowed her to interact with men.  Being Emily’s only interactions with a man, the town understood why she wasn’t acting ordinary.

Emily is seen buying poison for no specific reason. I assumed when the drug store assistant gives her the poison without any explanations, even though by law you need to say what you’ll be using it for, he might of thought she wanted to commit suicide and felt sorry for her, just like the majority of the community.

A reoccurring phrase that has been used ever since her father’s death is “Poor Emily”.  It was said in the beginning of section 4 when everyone thought Emily would end her own life, even though she was seen with Homer Barron. When word got around that she was buying certain items, such as a men’s suit and nightgown, they assumed Emily reconsidered and settled down with Homer. They didn’t see much of Emily or Homer afterwards, but no flags were risen because this was the first man besides her father Emily has ever been with to this degree and assumed they wanted to be left alone together.

Everyone discovers the dead body of Homer on Emily’s bed and a lock of Emily’s hair, implying that she has been sleeping with Homers body after he passed. I assume she killed him with the rat poison she purchased early in the story. The author kind of foreshadowed this by stating earlier  that Emily refused to accept the death of her father and had him in her house for three days before she was forced to bury him.

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Homework, Introductions

Introduction

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Hello class my name is Harrison Mok and I’m majoring in Accounting. I decided to major in accounting because in high school I found it pretty interesting. I guess that I was pretty good at math that it was kind of easy for me back in high school. Now its totally different and more challenging. This is my second year in City Tech and I’m enjoying it pretty far. I’m working on my associates degree so then I can transfer to Baruch. People would always ask me why I choose accounting because they always found it boring with all the numbers. I would tell them that it wasn’t that bad it was just simple math just adding and subtracting. I kind of find accounting useful in life because everyone needs a accountant am I right?

I’m the type of person who loves food and would not stop until I get what I’m craving. I sometimes thought of going into culinary arts and learning how to cook. I always thought that cooking looked fun because you get to cook something and in the end you get to eat it. If you need someone to go eat with it would be me because I would go no matter what if it involves food.

I AM A GAMER!(PC MASTER RACE) The games I play mostly would be League Of Legends or Counter Strike Global Offensive and other games I get on Steam. People sometimes say playing games are a waste of time, but I don’t think so because people can get a job by just playing games. I play games because it helps me relax from school, it would pull me out of reality for a few hours to stop myself from stressing, and would come back relaxed and ready to work on homework.

So I’m currently taken right now so sorry all you ladies out there. I don’t want to get all lovey dovey, but yea shes special. She’s a Bio major and currently goes to Stanford (but really Pace). She would constantly talk about science all the time when we are eating, but I got used to it.

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Glossary, Week 1

Acquiescene

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Acquiescene (noun)

“A Jury of Her Peers” by: Susan Glaspell

“in her manner of timid acquiescene” P 267 line 14

“in her manner of timid accepting the demand”

definition (from Merriam-Website) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acquiescence

accepting demands in a polite manner

generates from acquiescent to accept or allow demands from others

 

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Homework, Introductions

My Intro.

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Hello all!

My name is Sue and I am a hospitality management major- currently attending New York City Tech. I have taken this course, Introduction to Fiction simply to gain more knowledge about it. My english, grammar and punctuation might not be the best but I am willing to learn and grow daily. My interests involves around discovering new experiences that will benefit me in the future. I thrive in learning new things!

You can say I’m the average college student. I work and go to school, full time.  I am a pretty busy person and probably need to take notes when it comes to time management. I sometimes try to fill all my work in a day, then remember that I should at least be getting eight hours of sleep. Since I have been working at a young age, not getting enough sleep sometimes is something I grew accustomed to.  I currently started working at a new hotel as a receptionist in the City. I have worked in hotels since I was seventeen years old and I do not see myself working anywhere else.  I plan to grow in the hotel industries and further my career after graduating.

When I do have some free time,  I try to gasp in the beautiful world we all live in. I have quite a fascination about the sky, trees, clouds, moon and the sun. I enjoy a good book, a lot of art, sunsets and warm summer weather. Appealing sceneries are my weakness. In life, not all places you see are alluring but I try to see the beauty in all. In the future, I’d like to travel all tropical places similar if not like, paradise.

I hope the above text I have written contributes to the something interesting about myself. I am looking forward to an amazing semester and many stories that are yet to be read!

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