Popular Mechanics

"But he would not let go.  He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.  In this manner, the issue was decided." - Raymond Carver.

For this blog, I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

Discuss the story's final lines.  What is the "issue" that is "decided?"

At first, when I read the story, I thought that the issue decided was who the baby was going to go with.  I thought the father ended up getting the baby for it seemed like the couple was fighting over the baby itself.  Then, I realized that it was probably actually the picture of the baby that they were fighting over.  The "issue" that was "decided" was that the father got the picture frame.  After the text says the woman picked up the picture, there is nothing else to suggest that she picks up the baby.  This would also help to explain why the two were being so aggressive while fighting over the object.  If it was the baby they were tugging and pulling at, I would be very shocked.  Such aggressiveness would seriously hurt a little infant.  But, now, after considering it to be the picture they were fighting over, I believe it wasn't so bad that they were tugging and pulling at it.

You're Ugly, Too

"'Just kidding,' she said. 'I was just kidding.'  But he gazed at her, appalled and frightened, his Magic Marker buttocks turned away now toward all of downtown...'Really, I was just kidding!'" - Lorrie Moore.

It may seem a little harsh, but I do not really have any sympathy for Zoe (Sorry, but I have no idea how to spell her name with the accent mark above the e.).  She thinks she is being funny and intellectual, but I feel like she is just being overly sarcastic and a little rude.  For example, she tells her students that her opinion is the only one that matters in the classroom.  I agree to some extent that maybe she does have a little more intelligence, but I feel like she should be more open to others' opinions.  Also, when talking to Earl, she tells silly stories that would be complete turn-offs to any person.  All in all, she is just a very awkward person.  If she wants to hold any sort of relationship, she needs to stop being so sarcastic, be open to others' opinions and ideas, and most of all, stop being such a creep when talking to men.  The quote above shows how her jokes are only funny to some extent.  At some point, they become annoying and people become totally irritated.

The Drunkard

"But the next morning, when he got up and went out quietly to work with his dinner-basket, Mother threw herself on me in the bed and kissed me.  It seemed it was all my doing, and I was being given a holiday till my eye got better." - Frank O'Connor.

For this blog I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

Is the title seriously meant?  To whom does it refer?

After reading this short story it became obvious that the title was not meant to refer to the father.  The drunkard was really meant to refer to the son after he drank his father's drink and became intoxicated.  Since the title refers to the son, it helps to contribute to the humor of the story.  It's funny how the son was able to both help his father and gain praise from his mother by drinking an entire cup of alcohol all on his own.  Normally, this situation would not result in praise, but that's what helps to make the situation funny.  It was also both humerous and ironic that the son embarassed the father on the way home because everytime the father became intoxicated, he was embarassing his family.  Hopefully this made the father realize that he was hurting his family.  Hopefully it will also stop the father from drinking excessively.

The Lottery

"Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the sip of paper out of her hand.  It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal-company office." - Shirley Jackson.

For this blog, I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

What is a "lottery"?  How does the title lead you to expect something very different from what the story presents?

The online dictionary states that a lottery is "a gambling game in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes."  When I first read the title of the short story, I assumed it was going to be about some kind of game where people might win prizes or other things like that.  As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that this lottery game would not be so exciting.  In the end, the woman who is picked from the lottery gets stoned and dies.  This reminds me of the movie Lottery Ticket in ways other than the death of the winner at the end.  In both this short story and the movie, the winner of the drawing has unfortunate things happen to him or her as a result of winning.  Tessie ends up being stoned.  In Lottery Ticket, Kevin is chased into hiding by his neighbors who all want a chance at taking the ticket.  In both cases, there are regrets after the person has won the lottery.

Miss Brill

"The old people sat on the bench, still as statues.  Never mind, there was always the crowd to watch." - Katherine Mansfield.

Miss Brill herself is an elderly woman.  She is not, though, a typical stock character of an old woman.  She is more complex than that.  As the quote above helps to show, she judges other elderly people.  In this way, she is acting like a younger, sort of immature teenager.  She separates herself from the other elderly people or those who act elderly.  Another example is when Miss Brill noticed other people who just sat on benches.  She said the were "nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they'd just come from dark little rooms or even - even cupboards!"  By describing the other elderly people in a more negative tone, she is separating herself from them and showing that she herself is much more than one of those typical older people.

Once Upon A Time

"And then last night I woke up - or rather was awakened without knowing what had roused me.  A voice in the echo-chamber of the subconscious?  A sound.  A creaking of the kind made by the wight carried by one foot after another along a wooden floor." - Nadine Gordimer.


For this blog, I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

The opening section of the story is told by a writer awakened by a frightening sound in the night.  What two causes for the sound does she consider?  Ultimately, which is the more significant cause for fear?  How do these together create an emotional background for the "children's story" she tells?

As the quote I have used above illustrates, one explanation for the frightening sounds that awoke the writer is the creaking of the house.  The other explanation the writer comes up with which one could find by reading more deeply into the story is that it could be an intruder or burgler.  This explanation is ultimately the more significant cause for fear.  I, personally, would find this explanation the most significant cause for fear as well.  Everyone can relate to that fear that someone has broken into his or her house and could be a threat.  Also, one can figure that this is the most significant cause for fear because it is from this fear that the writer goes into detail telling a story of a family's paranoia of intruders in an attempt to calm her own nerves.  Ultimately, these two fears together create an emotional background for the children's story because everyone can relate to this paranoia.  Again, everyone knows the feeling of being nervous that an unknown person is in one's house.

A Worn Path

"Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead...still black, and with an odor like copper." - Eudora Welty.

For this blog, I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

Discuss the way the characterization of Phoenix contributes to the theme.

First of all, to answer this question, one must identify the theme.  I believe the theme of this short story is perseverance.  The fact that Phoenix was able to walk all the way to town even though she obviously had some issues mentally shows that she has great perseverance.  The way Phoenix is characterized in this story is by firey, red, and strong characteristics.  It says that a "golden color ran underneath" her forehead.  Also the "two knobs of her cheeks were illuminated by a yellow burning under the dark."  In addition to that, she covers her hair with a "red rag."  All of these characteristics put a firey and strong image in my mind.  Also, just think of her name: Phoenix.  A phoenix bird is a strong bird who has a rebirth from its own ashes.  This gives the image that Phoenix Jackson is a strong woman.