The work:
In class we discussed the themes of rebellion and authoritative female characters while reading some short stories such as "Everyday Use," "Miss Brill," "The Lesson," "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," "Paul's Case," and "The Lottery." Some important ideas included not allowing yourself to become tunneled by rebellion, and that everyone has their own faulty human traits...(NR) We learned that fiction can expose the flaws in tradition and how people view the world...(AH) We talked about characterization, theme, point of view, symbol, allegory, and fantasy...(JC) We were awakened with an inquisitive pop quiz which exercised our interpretation of characters' morality...(BB)
The workers:
Graham gave us his view on Mrs. Hutchinson's death not being because of a rebellion, but instead because of a complete lack of an effective rebellion. (NR)
We learned Mr. McGonegal's childhood passion for underlining vulgar language. However this skill seems to be the key to deciphering a character's true identity. (BB)
Andrew thinks technology is "cold and calculated." Brendan thinks that the moral to [the movie] Wedding Crashers is to be true to yourself. Noel suggested that Granny Weatherall was ignorant to her medical and emotional needs. (RH)
David brought up the aspect of technology of war [in the Destructors]. (VC)
Steve's realistic statement of how humans are curious of observations and the temptations humans have for things they can't obtain. (SC)
Silverio added that the adulterous affair [in "The Interpreter of Maladies"] was more about not understanding yourself. (BF)
Quotes to live by:
"It's not the way it used to be. People ain't the way they used to be." ~Shirley Jackson
"Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?" ~Toni Cade Bambara
"Don't let good things rot for want of using." ~Katharine Anne Porter
"He had a feeling that he'd made the best of it, that he had lived the sort of life he was meant to live." ~Willa Cather
"Time sure goes fast." ~Shirley Jackson
