Ursula K. LeGuin- video

When I first opened the link to watch the video, I thought it was going to be a very long and boring video. When Le Guin walked onto the stage to read her story she was very humorous. She made me laugh in the beginning of the clip. I think Le Guin is a very good author. I feel that when author’s read their own stories it makes it more interesting and more understandable because they read it the way it is suppose to be read and with the appropriate tone. I really enjoyed watching this video. She kept me very interested and didn’t feel like it was that long after all. By the way she was reading the story she looked very calm and looked like she felt good about her story.

Video- "The House On Mango Street"

The video clip “The House on Mango Street” was very interesting and short; I really liked it because it made me think about many things. The narrator asks many questions in this video, these questions make people think about them and can make some kind of connection. For example when she says, “what kind of stories would you tell about your house?” This question would capture any one’s attention and may relate to it. The question she asks towards the end of clip ”Do you want to be defined by your surroundings?” I think it is a very good question I believe many people feel that they are defined by their surrounding. In my perspective I would not define anyone because of his or her surroundings and I wouldn’t want anyone to define me because of my surroundings. Overall I think this is a very good video clip.

"A Pair of Tickets" By Amy Tan and "The House on Mango Street" By Sandra Cisneros

Many young children feel embarrassed of their nationality and are embarrassed of how they live or where they live. “A Pair of Tickets” By Amy Tan the main character hated and was embarrassed that her background was Chinese. She was raised in the United States. All her Caucasian friends would make fun of her. She would deny that she is Chinese because she wants to fit in with all her friends. At the age of Thirty-six she decided to go to china with her father, her father went to visit her aunt and she also went to me her twin sisters. This was a whole new experience for her. In "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, the young Mexican girl was ashamed of where she lived. Her parents were low class and did not make a lot of money and could not afford a nice house that she dreamed of. She was a part of a big family. Her parents bought a house and she was ashamed of the house. When people would ask her if that’s where she lived she had to think of saying yes because she was embarrassed of the house her parents brought. She should be proud that her parents are doing anything for her and her siblings to be in a better place. Many of the children do not appreciate what their parents do for them because they are young and do not understand what their parents are going through. Both these short stories are about immigrant parents that are trying to do anything for their family.

"Girl"

In the short story “Girl” by Jamica Kincaid, she shows us the life struggles of a single mother household. This story is composed of a list of commands which in my opinion have an offensive tone with a since of instruction, such commands according to the mother are to raise her daughter to be successful in order to be ready for the future. I have never read a story like this one before. The way the author writes this story is as if she wanted to educate women. Her writing format starts with the first step of being a woman followed by the consequences of not doing as told.

In this story women are presented in such way that they are segregated to live a life of condemned household duties. The author gives a list of all the things that women are, according to her, by nature entitle to do, For example, ”his is how you set the table for tea; this is how you set the table for dinner.” I believe that the daughter in this short story is manipulated by the mother’s way to raise a daughter “the old school way.”

Appointment In Samarra

The short story we read in class “The Appointment in Samarra” By W. Somerset Maugham was very interesting at one point I got confused I did not really understand what the short story was about. Once we finished the story I understood the lesson and the moral of the story. The lesson of the story was that you can not escape death. This short story showed us that you can not run away from what is going to happen because whatever is going to happen it is destined to happen. The clip of “The Appointment” was very short and I really did not like it because it was to short. The short story in my opinion was well writing but poorly performed in the clip. I thought this short story was really creepy and weird.