Mary's Blog

After writing five essays for this class, the mistake I often make is due to grammatical issues.  I tried very hard to get my points across in my essays and cannot seem to write one without them in it.  In the beginning, I wrote more than I should have, when probably less is more worked best. I feel that I have enhanced my writing skills as we come to an end in this class.  I am still not a fan of writing essays and I honestly believe I never will be.  Oh!  What I did notice in all of my essays, although it was not stated, is that I tend to summarize a lot.  I do suffer when it comes to argumentative essays, such as the themes essay we did last.  As much as I despise writing, I am happy that I had the privilege of heightening my writing abilities with Professor Vance!

After reading all the stories this semester, I would have to say that “Thank you, Ma’am” was my least favorite.  I am not saying that the story was bad, just that it was my least favorite.  In all honesty, all of the stories we read in the class were great.  I really enjoyed them all and to narrow It down to the least was not easy.  This story, by all means, should not be taken off the readings list.  I think the only thing I did not like about the story was the fact that it was too short.  Unlike “Where the Wild Things Are,” which is a children’s story, it warrants being a very short story.  I just wished there was more to this story.  A story that we did not read that I read about this semester was “A Rose for Emily,” and this was a story I really enjoyed reading.  Perhaps this might be a story that more people would enjoy over “Thank you, Ma’am.”  Just my humble suggestion.

Out of the all the stories we read this semester, I would have to say that I most enjoyed reading “Where the Wild Things Are.”  I enjoyed this short story the most because I was familiar with having this story read to me when I was a young child in elementary school.  I just remembered the book being read to me but not the actual story that was read.  It was a very long time ago…let me just say over a couple decades ago.   As an adult rereading the story and being introduced by the different themes and messages that was in the story opened my mind up to the deeper messages that the author wanted his readers to take away from it.  I did not realize how naughty and mischievous Max was in the story.  The details were easy to imagine and picture in my head with the author’s descriptive words.  I definitely will not look at children’s books the same anymore.

Writing over the semester has not been easy for me.  I despise writing papers, however, being in this class has made it a bit easier.   Mrs. Vance has made it easier for me to write about a paper.  The most challenging of all papers for me would have to be the last essay on the different themes in the story.  It was hard not to summarize a specific message the author wrote about instead of trying to produce a theme.  I have noticed that it is easier for me to write about a given subject than when I first started the class.  In all honesty, I did not feel that my writing at the beginning of the class was that bad and with the end of this class coming to an end I believe that I have improved my writing skills, even though I am not too fond of writing,  I am just really glad that, at least for now, I am done writing any more essays!

After reading “The Monkey’s Paw,” I realized that having certain wishes come true is not all that it is cracked up to be sometimes.  Mr. White realized that wishing for money to pay off his mortgage came with a deadly consequence.  Losing his only son.  I probably would have reacted the same way Mrs. White did when she found out that they could wish that their son be alive again, even though I would know that he might not be the same person as he was before.  They found out the hard way that not all wishes granted lead to happiness.  In this case, it led to the complete opposite of what they had hoped for.  We should be content with the things we have and the people that surround us and appreciate it all!

After reading the short story “The Necklace,” my thoughts on the main character Mathidle and her behavior is one that is narcissistic and unappreciative.  She had a wonderful life and a loving husband that was devout to her.  The life she lived was one that was not good enough for her standards.  She wanted more.  When she borrowed a necklace that she believed was expensive and real only to lose it, the right thing to do was to come clean about it and explain to her friend that she would replace it.  She was forced to give up her luxuries and tend to the housework herself.  Her husband also enabled the problem by working more jobs to pay for a necklace that was not worth nearly as much as the borrowed necklace.  In the end, instead of learning from her mistakes, she blamed them on her friend for letting her borrow the necklace from her in the first place.  I am sure she was not happy to discover that the necklace was a fake and that all her hard work and sacrifices were for nothing.  The theme I took away from the story is that appearances are not always what it seems. 

It just so happened that I was watching the movie “Monster’s Inc.” with my teenage children, I guess they were reminiscing about their elementary school past.  I realized the irony with the movie is that in reality, children are afraid of monsters; however, in the movie, it is the monsters that are afraid of the children.  I think most movie watchers understand the contradiction between the two ideas, but we never really stopped to say, “isn’t that ironic.”  This class has definitely changed the way I see movies and I tend to think more into what the story’s message is, the conflict, theme, or characterization.  Another Disney movie I just thought of with irony is Aladdin.  He wanted to be rich and she did not want to be a princess with all the riches available to her.  Thanks Mrs. Vance, thanks (yes, that was sarcasm haha).

The only person I think that comes close to Mrs. Jones would probably be my mom.  She was not exactly like the character in the story “Thank You, Ma’am” but she was hardworking and provided for us as best as she knew how.  She was a single parent raising two children and was not around for us often due to work.  My sister and I had to learn to do many things on our own and I think that my mom did not make us do any chores due to the fact that she was working all the time.  We were well behaved children and my mom did not have to discipline us very much.  Although, she did have a stern commanding voice that resonated within us that she only needed to tell us once and we obliged without any hassle.  It is probably why we were good children haha.

An internal conflict that I have dealt with a majority of my life and what I am still currently battling is the issue with my weight.  When I was a junior in high school, I had a boyfriend at the time that told me I was fat.  I weighed about 120 pounds back then and it always stuck with me in my mind that I was always overweight from that moment on.  Nowadays, I know that I have to be more cautious of what I eat, but I am a big foodie and I love to eat!  I know that when I stare at that plate of food that I should not be eating it, but my appetite takes over my brain and I cave into the delectable heaven-on-a-plate deliciousness.  This is me SMELLING bad decisions. 

In “The Gilded Six-Bits,” main character Joe Banks is in conflict with himself over his appearance.  “…Joe spent the time trying to make his stomach punch out like Slemmons’s middle.  He tried the rolling swagger of the stranger, but found that his tall bone-and-muscle stride fitted ill with it” (Hurston).  He is trying very hard to physically appear similarly to, newcomer, Otis D. Slemmons, but he is failing miserably at it.  His resolution was to stick his gut out to appear that he has put on the extra weight, but physically he just cannot since he is muscular.  He even tried walking like Slemmons and discovered that he could not do that either because of his tall stature.  He concluded in the end that he could not be close to what Slemmons is.  He was just so enamored with Slemmons’ wealth.  He believed that all wealthy men had the same physical attributes, definitely none of which he possessed.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. “The Gilded Six Bits.” Aalbc.com. African American Literature Book Club, 2016. Web. 27 October 2019.