A Possibility Of Evil Response

 Overall, I really enjoyed reading “A Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson and I would definitely read another one of Jackson’s stories.

I thought the writing of the story was very interesting. Jackson described the town, as a perfect, tight-knit little community, with the story centered around one sweet old lady. At first I liked Miss Strangeworth, but then I learned more about her. She was very possessive of the town and definitely status-obsessed. She loved to point out how long her family had been in town and was very proud of her roses. I believe that she had OCD tendencies. She very much liked order and did the same thing constantly – even bought her tea every week on the same day! Even though she seemed extremely weird from the get-go, I actually thought that she would end up being the victim in this story. I figured that “A Possibility of Evil” would be some sort of sick and twisted old woman massacre.

            In a community so perfect, it seems as though nothing could go wrong. That is why I extremely surprised when granny ended up being the person behind the hate mail. I found it extremely ironic that she thought her hate mail would help protect the community from evil, when in fact she was the evil.

            I thought that the ending was a bit predictable. Throughout the entire story, Miss Strangeworth’s roses were a big part of her life, and everyone knew it. Once people found out that she was sending the hate mail, of course they went after her roses. They were her pride and joy, and cutting them would hurt her more than any other form of revenge. When she started crying, I actually felt rather bad for her. Did she deserve it? Yes, but she was only trying to help. If only she had thought for a moment about her actions and realized that she was hurting more people than she was helping.

            Moral of the story: old people are weird.

           

Vocabulary Two

Doctrine: (Noun) a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group:

Heritage: (Noun) property that is or may be inherited

Commiserate: (Verb) express or feel sympathy or pity; sympathize:

Indomitable: (Adjective) impossible to subdue or defeat:

Rudimentary: (Adjective) involving or limited to basic principles:

Savoring: (Verb) taste (good food or drink) and enjoy it completely

Voluble: (Adjective) speaking or spoken incessantly and fluently

Wizened: (Adjective) shriveled or wrinkled with age:

Fusillade: (Noun) a series of shots fired or missiles thrown all at the same time or in quick succession

Maladroit: (Adjective) ineffective or bungling; clumsy.

Letter from Wangero

Dear Mama,

            I am very disappointed in you. I thought my visit with you would be great, but your negativity made the whole thing completely dreadful. You do not understand the significance of that quilt. It needs to be preserved, and what better way to do so than hanging it in my house? You are not in touch with our heritage. Our life has been forgotten when we came to America. Our names don’t represent our family, which is why I changed mine to a more accurate one. After I met Hakim-A-Barber, he introduced me to the Nation of Islam. They are all for getting in touch with your roots and empowering our race. I had hoped that Maggie would be smart enough to realize the importance of remembering the great days of the past, but unfortunately she takes more after you.

Don’t expect any further contact with me.

Sincerely,

Wangero

Everyday Use Questions

1) Dee had changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo because she wants to connect with her African roots. She wears colorful clothing and has found a new boyfriend, whose name also resembles that of a keyboard slam.

2) Dee wants the quilt to hang in her new home.

3) Maggie and Mama

4) Dee thinks Mama and Maggie don’t understand their heritage because they actually use the quilts instead of hanging them off. Dee believes that the quilt is an artifact while Mama and Maggie think that it should still be used.

5)

Dee

            Positive:

                        -She’s smart

                        -She’s creative (with the name change and all that)

                        -She seems semi-successful (she’s rich… or she’s a gold-digger)

            Negative:

                        -She’s bossy

                        -She claims things

                        -She doesn’t understand family

                        -She isn’t used to being told “No”

Mama

            Positive:

                        -She sticks up for Maggie and herself

                        -She understands the importance of heritage

                        -She realizes that not all old things are artifacts and they can be used

Negative:

                        -She let Dee walk all over her when Dee was growing up

Maggie

            Positive:

                        -She doesn’t talk too much

            Negative:

-She let Dee walk all over her

-She was going to let Dee take the quilt

-She was afraid of Dee

Asalamalakim

Positive:

            -*Crickets*

Negative:

            -He has a stupid name

6) Dee thinks that the quilts are artifacts. Maggie thinks that they are quilts and should still be used.

7) Mama has always let Dee do whatever she wants. She finally sticks up for herself and Maggie.

8)Heritage – Dee thinks that her family should be more towards their heritage

When Dee was little she wanted to look really good, which was hard because the family is poor.

9) Heritage is something that is used daily. Dee views heritage as something to preserve, whereas Mama and Maggie think that it is part of you.

10) In Everyday Use, the quilts have clothing sewn into the pattern. Alice Walker did the same thing with her quilts. Both quilts have stories behind them, but the points of them are to be used as quilts.

11) In the current time period, everything old is preserved. The conflicts between family members still exist, but most people would agree to preserve it. We no longer use old things, even if they would be useful.

SHORT STORY OUTLINE!!!

         Short Story Outline

Title of Story: _______________________________Author:_______________________________

Setting:  Time: ________________

               Place(s): ________________

Point of View: ____________________

List of Characters: _________________________________________________

Protagonist: _______________                    Dynamic character: _______________

           

Briefly explain how the dynamic character changes:

Antagonist: _______________                     Static character: _________________

Round character(s): _______________       Flat character(s): ___________________

Briefly discuss the different aspects of the round characters life that we see:

Briefly explain the conflict: ___________________________________________

What type of conflict is this: __________________________________________

Give three examples of foreshadow: ________________

Briefly discuss the theme (this should be in your own words and should be a statement):

Plot:    Exposition: ______________________

           

            Inciting Event: ___________________

            Rising Action (list at least three events):

            Climax: _________________________

Falling Action: (list as many events as you can)

            Resolution: ______________________

Summary:  Write a brief summary of the story.

Examples of Dialect:

Symbol:

Examples of metaphors and similes:

Allusions:

Book/Documentary Comparison

The article was from a more personal point of view, and was set when the mission was going on. The documentary was more factual and was set after the mission. I think the book was more moving. I read it first, so by the time I watched the documentary I already knew what was going to happen. Also, the documentary is more factual so you couldn't really feel for the people like you could in the book.

Essay on Technology

Note: Sorry it's late, I saved it instead of publishing it! :O

As much as we’d like to think so, technology can’t save us. Technology has been rapidly upgrading for thousands of years, while nature has been around for even longer. Technology is still somewhat dependent on humans and can’t survive alone, as proved by There Will Come Soft Rains. Ray Bradbury proves this by making the human race virtually disappear. While the house is high tech, it’s not smart enough to realize a disaster had struck. While technology and nature can battle, nature will always win.

Although technology enables us to do things previously labeled impossible, it still depends on the people. In The Race To Save Apollo 13, the author recounts the horrors that made up Apollo 13’s mission. After an explosion caused by a frayed wire, the crew thought they were going to die. The people worked together and got the crew home safely. While technology was a big part, it was up to the crew to make sure the astronauts got home safely.

While technology is making our lives easier, I believe we’re loosing touch on who we are. Verbal communication has practically come to a standstill with the popularity of texting on the rise. Instead of actually speaking to someone, they send abbreviated messages with lots of LOL’s and emoticons. If things continue at the rate they’re going, verbal communication will be lost completely. In Harrison Bergeron, people had been limited to what they could do so much that they watched mindless TV. They barely communicated with each other and focused on technology. While technology is now an important part of our lives, we need to make sure we’re still human.

Technology is a big part of our lives now. Whether we like it or not, we need to figure out a way to continue advancing but maintain our status as people.