Response 2 - Recitatif

In the short story Recitatif, Toni Morrison does a good job relating the events in the story to the society of the time The time period of the story is between 1950's and 1980's (which was a time of racial segregation in America). The story revolves around racial segregation and the relationship between two girls of different colors. In the story one can tell that there is some feeling of superiority between white people towards black people. One example is when Roberta's mother looks down on Twyla's mother and walks away without saying anything at their first and only encounter - it was assumed to be the color of Twyla's mother's skin that caused the rude response of their meeting. Another example of this idea of racial segregation was when Roberta sort of dismisses Twyla and is very short with her at their next encounter after not seeing one another since St. Bonny's. Later (12 years later) Roberta tells Twyla "Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was." This statements shows how well the story relates to the society of the time regarding segregation. Roberta,as well as her mother (assumed to be white), thought they were better than Twyla and her mother, or that her (being Roberta) behavior was expected / normal at the time, and therefore treated Twyla and her mother rudely.
The characters seem realistic too. When the girls were children (in the early 50's) racial segregation was still pretty serious but being only 8 years old, color didn't bother the girls - child's innocence. But as they aged they realized the seriousness of the problem and it began to affect them, which is probably true for people growing up in the time of racial segregation.
The element in the story that appear most prominent and prevalent is when the girls witnessed Maggie (the kitchen help) getting beat up by the "gar girls." That event stuck with them the rest of their lives and effected how the girls saw one another as well as how they lived the rest of their lives. Roberta viewed Twyla as cruel and unchanging every time she saw her just because she imagined that Maggie was a black woman and they kicked her. This shows that Roberta may have been slightly racist because she wanted to see the black woman hurt. But her perception of what happened that day changes consistently with her mood. Twyla, on the other hand, thought that Maggie was a white woman and compares her to her own mother - empty, with no one home because she is deaf and her mother might as well be. This event in the girls lives molds well with the historical aspects of the time. Roberta was slightly racist (which is what segregation was all about), but so was Twyla. They both secretly wanted to see the other race hurt. Twyla was more subtle than Roberta because she didn't flat out say she wanted Maggie to be white and get hurt.

Multimedia composition:

Recitatif

The narration of this short story is first person, past tense with Twyla as the narrator talking about her life. The voice is omniscient since she is talking from personal experience. There is some dialogue which helps to understand how the characters interact with one another, although had the story just been dialogue it would be viewed differently because the characters wouldn't appear to be as deep due to lack of details.

 

Twyla (though not clear) is assumed to be black and never got very far in life. Waitress at one point. She was a hypocrite. Twyla was cruel like the big girls at St. Bonny's, but not in the same way (she herself was mean like the big girls -calling Maggie a dummy and bow-legged and wanting to see her hurt / calling people who wanted adopt kids mean  names / and keeps saying she "would've killed" someone...including her mother). 

Roberta is put across as snobbish (ignoring Twyla when they reunite for the first time). She (her reputation) comes before her friends. She is assumed to be white since her mother and she are both rude to Twyla and her mother at some point.

Twyla's mother is portrayed as uncaring - doesn't feed Twyla well - and incapable of properly caring for her child. She puts her own needs before her child's - going out dancing all the time rather than taking care of her daughter.

Roberta's mother comes across as stuck up, but cares deeply for her child - bringing her good food.

Death of a salesman

Plot - Willy's son comes home after working out west, Willy and Biff argue about his (being Biff) lack of a career, Willy then finds out Biff has always loved him and then kills himself.
Historical context - From the context one can infer that the time span was around the early to mid 1900's. Willy talks about how $10,000 a year is a lot of money and only taking home $60 a week would be enough to live off of. Present day, even $10,000 a year would barely be enough to live off of, and $60 a week might get you enough food, but certainly no shelter. After finding about when this play was written (1949), one can tell this was written shortly after both world wars.
Sequence - When the play starts, Willy has already been in a car crash and Biff has come home from working out west on a ranch. As the play progresses Willy and Biff are constantly arguing and Willy is often found talking to characters that aren't really there. The play jumps around a lot from in-the-moment flashbacks to present day. This type of storytelling is confusing but also helps the reader to understand what happened before "now."
Narrative - There is no narrator, only the characters and their dialogue.
Characterization - Linda is portrayed as a sweet and loyal wife who is extremely patient with her husband although is not always kind to her. Her character never falters. Even when she discovers Willy is trying to kill herself she does not do much but try to prevent it because she wants her husband to feel like he still has his dignity and she does not know.
Charley is a giving man and is always there for Willy even though Willy does not seem very appreciative (calling Charley disgusting and not accepting his job offer). Charley is a smart man and understands that Willy will not take his job offer due to pride.
Biff at first is a proud, confident boy who seems to be capable of anything. Later we find out that he sees himself as worthless and someone who won't ever amount to much. Throughout the whole play Biff is convinced he is something he is not because he wants to make his dad proud. In the end Biff admits to everyone who he is.
Willy is hard headed and cannot accept failure (possibly because he himself is a failure and doesn't want to same for Biff). Willy never accepts the fact that he was never successful and is fully convinced that Biff is something more than he truly is.

Response 1 - "Flowering Judas"

The narrative discourse is third person present. The narrator goes into great detail to create depth to the characters in the story, or characterization. Braggoni is portrayed as a powerful man who many people fear and respect. Due to the context - Braggoni sends people, in jail (most likely related to the revolution), information as well as medications; he also has people who work for him relay information to others about the Mexican revolution - Braggoni is probably one of the leaders (or at least someone who organizes/handles issues dealing with the revolution) of the revolution going on in Mexico. Laura is seen as an attractive woman who is either brave or indifferent to what's going on around her. She's employed by Braggoni and runs errands for him, going to strange places and meeting new people. She seems not to mind, maybe because she's brave or because she's trying to anything possible to stay away from the seducing Braggoni as long as possible.

The plot summary of this text is that there is a revolution going on in Mexico and one of the leaders of the revolution is sending an employee to relay information for him but he also has feelings for her. The narrator doesn't have much of a plot but explains everything with a lot of detail so that a reader has a better understanding of what's going on in the story as well as the understanding the depth of the characters.

The narrator's voice seems distant to all other characters but Laura. Braggoni is made out to be a powerful yet cruel man (towards those who work for him - the man in jail who overdoes and Braggoni did not care - as well as his own wife who he left for a month because he couldn't stand her whimpering/crying over him and then tried to seduce another woman). Laura, on the other hand, seems stuck in her position as employee of Braggoni and can't seem to get away - perhaps she is obligated to help with the revolution or she can't seem to get away. The story mentioned that she was an american girl and seemed misplaced in Mexico. It was never mentioned why she was there, one can only infer that it was to help with the revolution or that she had no other option.

"Winter Dreams"

The setting goes from almost dreary winter scene (before Dexter saw Judy) to a beautiful fall to an almost ethereal scene (after Dexter had seen Judy at the age of 20). The scene change could signify a change in Dexter's heart.
Narration:

• 3rd person past tense
• seems disconnected from the story, although seems to favor Dexter's feeling over other characters'.

Sequence:

• Dexter at age 14 to age 23 to age 25 then to age 32. All revolve around times when he saw Judy Jones.

Setting:

• in the beginning is on a golf course in a place called Black Bear during the fall season.
• the setting frequently changes as Dexter ages and moves to new locations

Characterization:
Judy Jones:

• Her character seems superficial (as the text mentioned she had an artificial smile and only cares for men with money), spoiled and self-absorbed.
• Gets by life because of her looks, no real talent or drive.

Dexter Green:

• He is determined and ambitious and wants to make his way through life with little help from others (E.g.  making it through college without money from his father).
• His infatuation with Judy is because of her beauty and not her personality. He's the type of person who will follow his heart over his brains (which is why he quit a good job for a 14 year old; he didn't like being seen as a simple caddy to a girl he liked).
• Love-struck by Judy even though he knows she does not return the feeling. Dexter's determination and ambition may be why he is still pursuing Judy

"Trifles"

The plot is about an investigation of a woman who is a suspect for the murder of John Wright (her husband). The setting is in the house where the murder took place.
Throughout the story the men are trying to get evidence to see why Mrs. Wright would kill her own husband, but they could not find any rope or any reason for her to kill him. Meanwhile the wives seem unphased by the murder and are concerned about "trifles" (little, unimportant and irrelevant things). When the men come back from looking for evidence in the barn they find the women talking about whether Mrs. Wright was going to "quilt or knot" a quilt and felt that it was funny that during a murder investigation the women were talking about little things.
In the end the women found out why Mrs. Wright killed her husband because of their deep attention to "trifles." And they hid the evidence because they felt empathetic towards her.

Daisy Miller

My view on the short story "Daisy Miller: A Study."
     The short hand version of the plot being Winterbourne meets a young girl (who by context seems to be in her teens, probably around 17 years of age) who he likes immediately due to her looks. As he gets to know the girl he finds her to be a very nice person, but others opinions of her changes his mind. In the end he decides that Daisy is a flirt and doesn't care about her reputation.
     The setting goes from Vevey, Switzerland to Rome, Italy.
     What meaning do I get behind this story? When in another place its sensible to accept their customs and abide by them. Daisy saw nothing wrong with her attitude or flirtatiousness because that was how all the girls were in America, and her mother didn't seem to do much in the way of showing her child what was right and wrong. Not only was Daisy ignorant in not seeing how her actions were not okay in Europe, but she also didn't seem to care that her actions were looked down upon by the society around her.
     What led to miss Daisy's downfall? Reputation. Due to her lack of caring about her reputation people began to avoid her. Higher members of society (elite) gave her the cold shoulder because to be seen with her was to lose a bit of their own reputation. If Daisy had cared more about people though of her she would not have gone to the Coliseum that night with the Italian. She would have known it was improper to go out so late at night and with a man she's not married to, and stayed home. Had she done so she would not have caught Roman fever and died, and may have restored her reputation.