Langston Hughes

Sounds like early in Langston’s life he was a hard worker but it paid off because he was discovered by a poet while being a busboy in Washington D.C.  Even though he was discovered in nineteen twenty five his writing start much earlier than that.  I don’t understand how a great poet could live or want to live a nomadic lifestyle.  It says a lot about Hughes since he was the first successful black writer and also says a lot for the civil rights movement.  The poem that I liked the best is Harlem.  So many people’s dreams disappear like this poem talks about only because they let them.  Another good poem is I Too because it talks about racial issues that people face.  The last line is the best one because in the end we are all equal and all Americans.  The story of on the road is also about racial issues.  Sargeant is a homeless guy that is just looking for a place to stay.  There is much discrimination and homeless people in this time.  I think it is sad that a Reverend would not try to help out Sargeant in anyway; instead he slams the door in his face.  This story was confusing to me and I really didn’t understand it other than the fact that there was a homeless man that was talking to Christ.   

William Faulkner

William Faulkner is also a very talented writer and the Nobel Prize for literature he got in nineteen forty nine shows it with his descriptive writing.  I think it’s odd that the writing that won him the Prize was from the early nineteen forties, so why didn’t he win it then.  I guess they were not recognized until later on.  I think his readings are somewhat hard to read and understand but he is one of the best writers when it comes to fictional stories.  The story of barn burning is very confusing to me at first but I can somewhat see the point at the end of the story.  Abner had a problem with destroying people’s barns by burning them down.  He is trying to teach his son Sarty to be the same way because that is what fathers do.  At first Sarty does not know any better and follows his son like most kids do with their parents.  After Sarty starts to realize how corrupt his dad was being I think he decided he didn’t want to be like that anymore.  It would be very hard to run away from your family especially in a time that this was portrayed in the dirty south.  Sarty finally got up the courage the night Abner was going to burn down Major de Spain’s barn.  When it was time to do it Sarty ran to warn Spain about what was going to happen and then ran till midnight and not looking back.  There were gun shots and Sarty knew his father was dead.  It would be hard to go against your father in any situation but if it is the right thing to do than it is always best.      

Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway seems to be a little odd to want to join the army coming up in a well to do family.  Maybe for teens in the early nineteen hundreds that was the thing to do.  I think it is also odd since the American army wouldn’t let him join because of his vision he decides to join the Italian front.  I guess his short time on the front line was the beginning to a very well known career in writing and poetry.  He was a very good writer and had to be to win a Nobel Prize and I think he has some of the best short stories I have read.  It is very ironic how his father and Ernest both took their own lives.  The story of the short happy life of Francis Macomber is weird none the lease but a very good story.  Francis and Margot his wife are on a safari in Africa with a guide named Wilson when Francis becomes somewhat of a coward when it comes to hunting lions.  I think his wife was very embarrassed about it and didn’t know what to do.  I’m not sure if Margot likes the hunting guide or just really doesn’t like her husband.  I think the only reason she is with Francis is because of his money.  After Francis finds out about Margot and Wilson sleeping together he should have left then.  I think it was really strange to find out that Margot shoots her husband while supposedly trying to shoot a buffalo.  I think she shot him on purpose because she was a gold digger.  

Susan Glaspell

It sounds to me like Susan Glaspell was one of the first women to start standing up for women’s rights to be equal with men.  It is awesome that she used writing as a tool for expressing her opinion on women’s rights.  She was a very smart and educated person because she played a big part in the social and political movement of her time.  It is neat how she approached as a detective gathering information on the murder of John Wright while she was a reporter.  Later she wrote a play called Trifles about it what really happened at the farmhouse.  This play is very interesting to me because it is about actual events that took place.  John’s wife was accused of killing him by striking him twice in the head with an axe.  She tried to set it up like it was burglars that murdered the famer but after investigation they found out that Mrs. Wright was unhappy in her marriage.  During the investigation is where the feminist actions cover up what happened and end up helping out a killer.  Men in this time don’t look at women the same so there were many different clues that they didn’t pick up.  The women find the bird which is killed the same way as John which is what the main symbol in the story.                        

Willa Cather

I think it is a little odd for Willa Cather to want to be a boy but more of that is present in today’s society.  I guess that was a dilemma she went through just as a young girl and grew out of it as she got older.  Since she became a high school teacher this story of Paul’s Case theme came from one of her students at school.  I think the reason Paul was a lonely kid all came from his home and the way he was raised.  Seems that his dad was a little harsh to him too much but he might just have been a troubled kid.  Having an overpowering father is not a good relationship to start off with and that’s what I think contributed to Paul becoming so carried away.  It’s not his father’s fault but it seems like his dad is the one that drove him to jump in front of the train. The next short story was very touching to me.  Clark is nice enough to company his aunt coming back to Boston for a visit and decides to take her to a musical because he thinks she will enjoy that.  Georgiana once lived in Boston before Clark was born where she was a music teacher.  She had had a rough life after moving from Boston where she married a farmer in Nebraska.  Even though he knew she wouldn’t fit in at the musical he took her anyway because he thought she would like it.  During the musical Georgiana was enjoying it much more than the rest of the normal crowd she started to cry.  I think at this point in the story she realized how much she missed music because she married and changed her ways.  Once the concert ends she doesn’t want to leave because she knows she will have to return back to her life.

Zora Hurston

Life for Zora Hurston growing up had to be very difficult to overcome.  It’s hard for me to imagine not having loving parents growing up but many kids still to this day don’t have.  She overcame her mom passing away when she was only thirteen years old.  She had to be a very strong willed person because her dad basically gave her away soon after.  With all her hardship as a young girl she overcame and became a great writer says a lot about her strong will to make something of her tangled life.  The story about John Redding is somewhat interesting to be because he is looking to explore and find an adventure.  With so many situations holding John back from exploring I almost feel like he had nothing to live for after that.  I almost feel like John’s mom didn’t want him to be successful because she didn’t want him to do anything and if he did she would disown him.  I think Zora wrote this with her own knowledge of people and family somewhat like her own in Florida in the early nigh teen hundreds.  I feel like everyone controls their own destiny but for John he is not able to.  Moms are supposed to help their kids with knowledge growing up but not hold them back from living there own life.  It is very ironic how John is killed and his father finally lets his son be free and explore by letting him float into the sea.  I think the reason for writing this story is to show how important it is for a person to learn to develop and pursue what they want in their life.  Without having the chance to pursue a dream you lose self determination and end up with nothing at all.  

Edith Wharton

It sounds to me like Edith was a very fortunate girl growing up and also even well into her life after she was married in eighteen eighty five.  It’s hard to imagine marrying someone more than a decade older than you are, but here is a good example of money doesn’t always buy happiness.  The story the other two is somewhat confusing to me because it talks about so many people back and forth so many times.  I guess since Alice has been married it would be hard for it not to be confusing or have some meaning behind it.  It would be difficult losing a child to a disease but back then it was much more common than it is today.  Also since Alice had the child with a previous husband the visitation would be rather difficult to deal with as well.  When Alice’s third husband walks in his own house and saw his wife’s two previous husbands there I think he put his own marriage to perspective.  It would have to make you wonder why the first two didn’t work out and if there would as well.  After the realization of situation set in it would be very awkward to carry on. When Alice walked into the room and saw all three of her husband’s standing there that had to be a very uncomfortable and overwhelming feeling.  It was just a coincidence that they were all there at the same time but very unpleasant to say the least.  I think Edith some what makes this story idea from her personal life.