September 2013

Saturday night under the lights.

I've always had this image of college game days encrypted in my mind when I heard about the University of Michigan. Going to tailgates, meeting friends old and new. Dancing on platforms, singing a little too loud, getting hyped up for the game. Encountering a plethora of people at the Michigan Stadium, decked out in their maize and blue. Sitting in the student section, chanting Hail to the Victors. Scoring touchdowns, hearing the stadium roar. Beating Notre Dame as the Leaders and the Best. Lights on, maize out.

Home.

College is the time for new faces, places, memories and mistakes. As I continue to grow, I realize that every experience and every person I meet continues to help shape me into the person I am. Coming to Ann Arbor, I was, and still am, ecstatic to unveil the opportunities my college years hold. I was prepared to embrace the fresh start, the exotic scenes, the neoteric faces--everything. I was not going to let a fleeting moment slip by before my eyes. One month in and my memories from college are more loaded than a billionaire's bank account. I've gone through some experiences I never thought I would encounter. At one point, I thought I was starting to become everything I said I never would be. I wanted to change myself back into who I thought I was, but then I realized: maybe, just maybe, this is who I truly am. A curious girl who has her share of mishaps while discovering the world. Through everything, however, what I didn't expect was to call this place my home.

B-school.

When I began high school, I didn't have the slightest idea as to what I wanted to pursue as a career. I thought about pursuing a career in the arts, but the instability of an artistic career vexed me. Then, during my sophomore year, I discovered DECA through my marketing courses. DECA is an association of business students who compete in role-plays and examinations, and it is the organization that ultimately led me to my vocation. I hope to someday earn my BBA at the Ross School of Business. You see, business is my forte; it incorporates knowledge with interpersonal skills, a combination of scholarship and socialization.

What Works in Revision

What are some of your main strategies for revising?
My main strategy for revising is reviewing the mechanics and fluidity of the writing.

What in particular are you doing as you rewrite and develop your writing?
As I rewrite and develop my rough drafts, I begin by looking at the basics: seeking out the nitty gritty, addressing spelling mistakes and grammar errors. I proceed onto rereading the essay, checking for fluidity. I ask myself questions like, "Does this make sense here?" and "Am I making my argument clear or is it getting lost within my thoughts?" Additionally, I read and take into consideration others' constructive criticism. With fluidity and criticisms in mind, I then begin to elaborate on ideas, reorder paragraphs, and add transitions--implementing whatever appropriately fits.

What is helping you most as you rewrite?
I find rereading a written piece out loud to another individual is the most helpful strategy in rewriting. My writing becomes more apparent, to, if not myself, the audience I am reading to, as I uncover whether or not my words sound natural or forced.

What is changing the most in your paper as a result?
As a result of revising, the length of my paper typically changes the most. Adding depth and insight to undeveloped ideas contributes to, not only a larger word count, the overall message I am attempting to communicate.

A Good Man & Potential First Essay Stories

A Good Man Is Hard To Find
In the words of Flannery O'Conner, this is the story of a family of six which, on its way driving to Florida, gets wiped out by an escaped convict, who calls himself the Misfit. The family is made up of the Grandmother and her son, Bailey, and his children, John Wesley and June Star and the baby, and there is also the cat and the children's mother. The cat is named Pitty Sting, and the Grandmother is taking him with them, hidden in a basket.

• The old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up with her purse on the shelf in front of the back window. The children's mother still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. (pg. 444)
• This passage struck me in particular as it contrasts the lifestyles of the mother and the grandmother through descriptions of their physical appearances. The repeated usage of the the word "still" in the brief description of the children's mother indicates her rushed, brash way of life, as it is made evident that the mother had not the slightest time for trivial conversations. What I found most striking in this passage was the last sentence, as it foreshadows the unscrupulous death of the grandmother.
• "A good man is hard to find," Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more." (pg. 447)
• This passage includes the first time the title is mentioned in the story, indicating some significance to the overall piece. Placed after the grandmother's story of a genuinely good man, Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden, from her former times, this passage juxtaposes the two contradictory perceptions of men.
• "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." "Some fun!" Bobby Lee said. "Shut up, Bobby Lee," The Misfit said. "It's not real pleasure in life." (pg. 455)
• The ending not only concludes the story, but it also relates the Misfit to the writing as a whole. The Misfit is introduced as this vindictive criminal, unsympathetic towards the subjects he mercilessly murders. Throughout the duration of the story, the reader is fixated on finding a good man. This simple statement, made by the Misfit, pulls our attention from what qualities define a good man to what constitutes a good woman. In addition, the ending statement, "It's not real pleasure in life," implies the true character of the Misfit: a good man corrupted by justice.

A Relative Stranger

I was particularly intrigued by Charles Baxter's "A Relative Stranger," as the main character was a character I constantly found myself wondering about. An adopted child and a former member of the Navy lost in the relationships of life, Oliver Harris took a distinct interest in oceans, as he lacked a meaningful connection with another individual.

• Now--and I'm convinced of this--every adopted child fears and fantasizes getting a call like this announcing from out of the blue that someone in the world is a relative and has tracked you down. I know I am not alone in thinking that anyone in the world might be related to me. [...] I could never go into a strange city without feeling that I had cousins in it. (pg. 64)
• Harris's anxiety of meeting a member of his biological family is made apparent in this passage. Raised in an adoptive family who acted as if they were his real family, Harris was awed to receive a phone call from his younger brother, bewildered on how to respond accordingly.
• Going into a bar in the midsummer afternoon takes you out of the steel heat and air-hammer sun; it softens you up until you're all smoothed out. This was one of those wood-sidewall bars with air that hasn't recirculated for fifty years, with framed pictures of thoroughbreds and cars on the walls next to the chrome decorator hubcaps. A man's bar, smelling of cigarettes and hamburger grease and beer. The brown padded light comes down on you from some recessed source, and the leather cushions on those bar stools are as soft as a woman's hand, and before long the bar is one big bed, a bed on a barge eddying down a sluggish river where you've got nothing but good friends lined up on the banks. This is why I am an alcoholic. (pg. 67)
• This passage goes into precise detail regarding the bar, playing a vital role to the story and the development of the characters. Not only is the Wooden Keg the place Oliver Harris and Kurt Sykes first meet, but it is also the location where alcoholic Harris feels most at home, now especially due to his recent split. In this passage, Harris explains the specific qualities the bar possesses that resemble more of a home than his actual apartment.
• My soul ached. My soul was lying facedown. He was taking me back to my apartment, and I knew that my brother would not care to see me from now on. He would reassert his right to be a stranger. I had lost my wife, and now I had lost him, too. (pg. 73)
• This terse selection encapsulates the enduring loneliness Harris felt. Harris grew fearful of losing Sykes, a complete stranger bounded to him by genetics.
• When I was small, living with Harold and Ethel Harris and the other Harris children, I knew about my other parents, the aching lovers who had brought me into my life, but I did not miss them. They'd done me my favor and gone on to the rest of their lives. No, the only thing I missed was the world: the oceans, their huge distances, their creatures, the tides, the burning water-light I heard you could see at the equator. [...] Even though I live here, now, no matter where I ever was, I was always homesick for the rest of the world. (pg. 77)
• Harris gingerly describes how he misses a place, in this case, several places, more than anything else, including any and all persons relevant to his life. This passage best captures the person Harris is: a troubled, lonesome dreamer.

A Temporary Matter

In my opinion, "A Temporary Matter" is the most arousing short story in "Interpreter of Maladies." As compared to the other stories, I experienced the most emotions from reading this short story. Jhumpa Lahiri brings the audience bouts of despair and happiness as she illustrates the beginning of the end of, what seems to be, a monotonous marriage.

• It was typical of her. She was the type to prepare for surprises, good and bad. If she found a skirt or a purse she liked she bought two. She kept the bonuses from her job in a separate bank account in her name. It hadn't bothered him. His own mother had fallen to pieces when his father died, abandoning the house he grew up in and moving back to Calcutta, leaving Shukumar to settle it all. He liked that Shoba was different. It astonished him, her capacity to think ahead. (pg. 6)
• Shoba is presented as this successful, professional businesswoman who over prepares herself in anticipation for any turn of events. I found this passage memorable as it prepares the reader for the inevitable end--Shukumar revealing to Shoba the one thing in her life that she had wanted to keep a surprise.
• Somehow, without saying anything, it had turned into this. Into an exchange of confessions -- the little ways they'd hurt or disappointed each other, and themselves. [...] Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again. (pg. 18-19)
• The dissatisfaction from their passionless relationship is revealed through their dinners in the dark. These two selections embody the entire story, revealing purpose of their somber dates.
• "I want you to see my face when I tell you this," she said gently. His heart began to pound. The day she told him she was pregnant, she had used the very same words, saying them in the same gentle way, turning off the basketball game he'd been watching on television. He hadn't been prepared then. Now he was. Only he didn't want her to be pregnant again. He didn't want to have to pretend to be happy. (pg. 21)
• Shukumar, filled with apprehension, now knows what he wants and what he does not want from his marriage. From one mere declaration, Shukumar, indifferent to find a resolution, realizes his marriage has begun to fall apart before his eyes.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

In the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?," Joyce Carol Oates portrays the loss of innocence through acts of rebellion and urges of temptations. A fifteen-year-old girl named Connie becomes consumed with her appearance and boys, sneaking out and disregarding the commands given by her mother. On the contrary, her twenty-four-year-old sister June is seen as the perfect child: obedient, responsible, and clean. One summer night, when June was out with her girlfriends, Connie went out with her best friend, sneaking over to a drive-in restaurant where all the older kids hung out. There, Connie meets a boy named Eddie and goes on a date with him. During their date, however, Connie encounters this mysterious man with a gold convertible who wags his finger at her, claiming, "Gonna get you, baby." One Sunday, later that summer, Connie's family leaves her home alone as they attend a family barbecue. She relaxes to music, when suddenly, a car appears in her driveway. Startled by the noise, she goes to the kitchen and sees, through the screen door, that the same mysterious man with the gold convertible has arrived. The man, Arnold Friend, appears with a companion, Ellie Oscar, and asks Connie to get in the car with him. After realizing the danger she has gotten herself into, considering these two men are extremely old, Connie repeatedly refuses their orders as she grows dizzy with fear. Arnold becomes more and more frustrated with Connie, threatening her when she reaches for the phone. Connie disobeys Arnold and attempts to contact her family, angering Arnold to rape her. Connie is left helplessly mortified on her kitchen floor after her traumatizing experience. Realizing her troubled fate, Connie eventually gives in to Arnold, leaving with him.

1. They must have been familiar sights, walking around that shopping plaza in their shorts and flat ballerina slippers that always scuffed the sidewalk, with charm bracelets jingling on their thin wrists; they would lean together to whisper and laugh secretly if someone passed by who amused or interested them. Connie had long dark blond hair that drew anyone's eye to it, and she wore part of it pulled up on her head and puffed out and the rest of it she let fall down her back. She wore a pullover jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she was away from home. Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not her home: her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head, her mouth which was pale and smirking most of the time, but bright and pink on those evenings out, her laugh which was cynical and drawling at home -- "Ha, ha, very funny" -- but high-pitched and nervous anywhere else, like the jingling of the charms on her bracelet. (pgs. 592-593)
• This passage captures the youth and innocence of the two teenagers. Ironically, these young girls are going out and doing the complete opposite of what is expected of them. The detailed description of the girls' appearance is peculiar in length, indicating importance to the story as a whole.
2. ARNOLD FRIEND was written in tar-like black letters on the side, with a drawing of a round grinning face that reminded Connie of a pumpkin, except it wore sunglasses. [...] "Now these numbers are a secret code, honey," Arnold Friend explained. He read of the numbers 33, 19, 17 and raised his eyebrows at her to see what she thought of that, but she didn't think much of it. The left rear fender had been smashed and around it was written, on the gleaming gold background: DONE BY CRAZY WOMAN DRIVER. (pg. 596)
• The numbers and the phrases written in capital letters resemble some sort of significance. The numbers could potentially correlated to a biblical reference, or even to a sexual act (33 + 19 + 17 = 69). Arnold and Ellie constantly blared Rock 'N' Roll music, thus, if one removes the two Rs in ARNOLD FRIEND, one finds that Arnold Friend is truly "an old fiend."
3. He began to mark time with the music from Ellie's radio, tapping his fists lightly together. Connie looked away from his smile to the car, which was painted so bright it almost hurt her eyes to look at it. She looked at that name, ARNOLD FRIEND. And up at the front fender was an expression that was familiar -- MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS. It was an expression kids had used the year before, but didn't use this year. She looked at it for a while as if the words meant something to her that she did not yet know. (pg. 598)
• The capitalized writing on the gold convertible instill a sense of curiosity in the reader. As I have previously mentioned, when one closely analyzes the name ARNOLD FRIEND, one discovers his true alias, the Devil. Playing on the idea of Arnold Friend being the Devil, the names Lucifer and Satan can be spelled from the letters in MAN THE FLYING SAUCERS.