The Red Convertible

The Red Convertible is the story of two brothers, Henry and Lyman. They are American- Indians. They both decide on a whim one day to buy a red oldsmobile convertible. They start working on it together and get it running like new. They decide to take a road trip in it and pick up a girl along the way. Her name is Susy and she lives in Alaska, so they take her home to Alaska. Her family takes right to Henry and Lyman. They love them. When Henry and Lyman return home, Henry enters the army. They joke with Henry that the army only wants him for his Indian nose. He returns from the war around three years later, a completely chagned person. He is no longer the fun loving, carefree Henry that he once was. He just sits and barely speaks. Lyman yearns for the old Henry. He wants his brother back. Lyman feels the only way to get Henry back is through the car. He goes out and ruins the car. He beats it with a bat and ruins the upholstery. Henry is furious. He then spends every waking moment working on the car to get it working like new again. When he does, he and Lyman go on a road trip just like old times. They stop at a river and henry jumps in. He floats down stream, Lyman realizes that this is due to the current not because of Henry swimming. Henry says that his boots are filling with water. Lyman knows there is nothing he can do, so he takes the car and let's it drive into the river. The car fills with water just as Henry's boots did.

Although it is not directly stated in the story, henry is going thorough a great battle with Post Trauamtic Stress Disorder. Some of the symptoms of PTSD include:
Flashbacks
Showing little interest in things you once loved
Showing less of your moods
Feeling detached
being unable to concentrate
Henry was clearly suffering from PTSD. He showed no interest in the car when he returned home. He once loved that car so much, that I think he would have done absolutely anything to keep it in perfect running order. He barely speaks to Lyman or anyone in his family. They joked with Henry that he was accepted into the army because of his clearly indian background. Indians are strong, and have little fear according to legends. The idea of strong indians are used in advertisements still . At the left, this indian was used in advertisements nationwide in the 1970's. He sheds a tear because Americans are polluting the environment so much.

Charlotte's Web

This excerpt is one of the saddest excerpts that could be taken from the story. Wilbur has just won his medal and is over joyed. He goes to talk to Charlotte, and asks her what is wrong? She seems so slow these days. Charlotte informs Wilbur that she does not have many days to live. Wilbur is overcome with sadness and determination. He is going to save Charlotte's babies. If Charlotte can't make it back to the barn, her children will. Wilbur wakes Templeton, and instructs him to go cut the egg sack from Charlotte's web. Templeton grunts and groans but he does it. Wilbur puts the egg sack in his mouth, the only safe place to keep it, and leaves Charlotte with a wink. She musters up a goodbye wave and dies alone the next day. Wilbur safely returns the children to the barn, and he is never without friends. They have children and grandchildren. Even though there are all these spiders in the barn, none ever take the place of Charlotte in Wilbur's heart.

This was one of my favorite stories growing up. Everytime I read it, I was always sad when Charlotte died. Charlotte represents a character who has a great heart. She is willing to do anything for her friends. On the outside, she is a scary spider. At first, even Wilbur is scared of her. Once he gets past his fear, he gains one of the best friends he has ever known. Charlotte is a prime example of not judging a book by it's cover. Had Wilbur not gotten past Charlotte's tough exterior, he would not have gained a friend or accomplished the things he accomplished.

Templeton, on the other hand, is an undermining rat. A rat, that is what Templeton is literally and figuratively. When Wilbur wakes him up and tells him that Charlotte is dying, he is not phased. Wilbur asks him to please cut down the egg sack because he can't climb up and get it himself. Templeton then begins with his "me, me, me" rant. He tells Wilbur all of the things that he has done lately. He doesn't think he should have to get the egg sack down. He is more concerned with all of teh things that he has done, instead of helping to save Charlotte's children. Wilbur has to resort to bribing Templeton with the first pick of food forever. Templeton glady climbs his fat belly up the wall at this offer. Selfish, that is what Templeton truly is, a selfish rat.

From Blossoms

From blossoms come peaches. The peaches were sold on a dirt path by a little boy. The peaches were succulent and sweet. That is the basic message of this short poem.

Reading this, I was reminded of my days visiting my grandparents farm. We used to run out in the fields and pick the corn from the stalks, and take the strawberries right off the vines. We would eat them right there, dirty strawberries. They always tasted the best right off the vine, unless the weren't ripe yet. I can hear my grandmother now telling me the strawberries aren't ready to eat, so I better not pick any. I did it anyway, and I always regretted it because there is nothing more bitter tasting than an unripe strawberry.

The author talks about while eating the peach, she is not only eating the peach but also the shade and the days it was grown. There is a lot of hard work that goes into growing a crop of fruit or vegetables. In North Carolina, lots of work goes into growing cotton and tobacco as well. Those hours are spent sowing the ground and planting the seeds. Even to this day, there is not a machiene to do everything. Somethings are still done by hand. My mom tells stories about when she was a little girl and she used to pick tobacco. She said there was nothing better at the end of the long hot day than a pepsi and a honey bun. She and the author of From Blossoms, know the hard work that goes into the growing of crops. My grandparents were the type of people who sold their produce out of the back of the truck on the side of the road, just like the story. They appreciated local consumers, and local consumers appreciated them. They were not interested in going to the grocery store and getting produce when they knew of a better place to get it, probably for cheaper too. When you bite into a piece of dusty fresh produce, remember that a lot of time went into growing that strawberry or that peach. Think about that next time.

The School

So this school, is consumed with death. First the students try to grow some orange trees. They all die. Then there are snakes at the school that are all killed in a strike on the school. The herb garden that the children are growing dies, possibly due to over watering. The class gerbil dies. One student finds a puppy and brings him to school; he is dead just a few weeks later. Matthew and Tony, two of the students, were killed tragically in a construction accident involving wooden beams. Many parents are killed or either kill themselves. On parent is murdered by a masked intruder. The students begin to ask their teacher, Edgar, about it. They ask if death gives meaning to life. He says that no, life is what gives meaning to life. The children are all excited at the end when a new gerbil arrives at the classroom.

I guess the point of this story is death follows us. You can't escape death. There is one absolute certain in everyone's life, you will die one day. This story is tragic. The amount of death that these little children experience is so high. They will probably become numb to the idea of death by the time they are older, if they are not already. This story reminded me of the Final Destination franchise. In these movies, characters survive a freak accident only to be found by death later on in the movie. The idea is the same in the movies and this story. Death is everywhere. Kind of morbid. These children are still young enough that they can be mesmerized by something shiny and new.  This is seen with the gerbil at the end. The children are elated at the sight of the new gerbil. It's like they have forgotten the past deaths they have all experienced. It is said that children bounce back they quickest. They don't dwell on the past. So maybe, these children will all turn out alright despite the large amount of death they have experienced in their short lives.

A Silver Dish

This story deals with death and how to accept. The story is told through the eyes of Woody who's father is terminally ill. He speaks of the good times and bad times with his father, ultimately wanting to remember those good times. The story centers around the stealing of the silver dish. Woody attended a seminary school and he was an ok student. He was expelled for stealing a silver dish, but wait for it, he didn't steal it. It was his father who stole it. Woody was outraged when his father stole the dish; they fought over whether to return it or not. Woody thought he had convinced his father to return the dish, but he was later questioned about the missing dish and was expelled. He went to his father and his father simply told him that he had pawned it. If he wanted it back, then he would have to go buy it back. Saul Bellow then takes the reader back to present day where Woody's father is laying in his death bed. He is fighting the treatments they are giving him with everything he has. He is pulling out tubes and IV's. Woody is so concerned about his father that he lays directly on top of him to restrain him from doing these things. While Woody is holding his father, he dies in his arms.

Did anyone else think of the silver dish as a fountain pen? Death of A Salesman? In DOAS, Biff Loman was the high school football star. Everyone loved him, but he was a bit of a clepto. He was supposed to go to college and play football but was not able to go. He instead goes to interview for a job, and when the interview is not successful Biff steals an expensive fountain pen. In Silver Dish, It was not the disappointing son that stole something, but instead the disappointing father. Both of these stories are centered around the idea that we love people despite their flaws. We are only given one family in this world. Sometimes families don't get along, but they are loved despite this fact. There is a saying blood is thicker than water, meaning you have to stick with your own kind. Those who made you are those who are going to stick with you to the end, even if you steal a pen or a silver dish.

Yet do I marvel/ Heritage

Yet do I Marvel
This poem is fourteen lines long, and it is a sonnet. Cullen uses the images of Tantalus and Sisyphus. Tantalus was welcomed by Zeus to the Greek Gods' table from which he stole ambrosia and nectar. He took this back to his people, and this revealed the secrets of the gods. He was sent to Tartarus in the underworld, which was reserved for the punishment of evildoers. Sisyphus was a king found in Roman mythology. He was punished for eternity to push a bolder up a hill and watch it roll back down again. Both of these characters experienced great struggle in their personal lives, just as Countee Cullen must have. Being a black poet during the civil rights movement could not have been easy, just as pushing a bolder or living in hell must not have been easy.

Heritage
In Heritage, Cullen takes us back to his ancestors. He talkes about Africa and what it means to him. He uses vivid imagery of cats crouching in the river reeds, and bodies sleek and wet dripping of mingled rain and sweat. Although many people believe that people in olden times were not civilized, Cullen diagrees. He says that you and I are civlized, speaking of modern day and those in previous day Africa.

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred? That is the question that Hughes attempts to answer in this short poem. He asks if it dries up like a raisin in the sun. It's like he is saying that your dream is still there, and it is still attainable, but you let it sit out for such a long time that it doesn't look the same now as it did then. Grapes are sweet and delicious. They are either green or purple. Raisins are almost black and look very funny, but they are still edible to most people. He then asks does it fester like a sore and run? Here, he is saying that if you don't go after your dreams they will become a part of you, like a sore. You will carry these unfulfilled dreams around. Does it stink like rotten meat or sugar over like a syrupy sweet? He is playing with the sense of taste again. Meat will spoil just as sweets will, but they spoil in different ways. Meat smells and that stench lingers for a long time. Sweets just wither away quietly. What will your dreams do if you don't reach them? Will they linger and will you be reminded of them everyday? Will you just quietly accept the fact that you will never attain that dream? Maybe it sags like a heavy load, or will it explode. What will one do with that dream. Will they carry it around like a load all of the time? It will be a constant reminder of what they don't have. Will they let it explode? If they do that, then it will be gone and done forever.