Journal 18

1. What is the significance of the story’s title?

The narrator is an American in Italy and does not know the place. The Italians were separated from others because they were injured. Other people were not injured like they were, so they stood out and were isolated. The character was not exactly like a brave soldier wounded in the war, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?

Signore Maggiore best represents the “Hemingway hero”. He suffers a personal injury as well as a physical injury. His injury is significant because he lost his hand and he was a fencer. He also lost his wife.

3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up? What is the significance of the major’s reaction?

The photos are supposed to help the wounded men by giving them hope. They show what they can become through treatment. The major does not acknowledge this to be true and accepts what has happened to him and what he will be.

Journal 17

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph? How does it relate to Prufrock?

The epigraph tells about a man, Count Guido, who is in hell. It relates to Prufrock because Prufrock is in hell on earth. He lives in a world into which he does not fit and does not belong.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks. Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?

“To lead you to an overwhelming question…Oh, do not ask, ‘What is it?’” (10-11).
“To wonder, ‘So I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’” (38).
“Do I dare disturb the universe?” (45-46).
“So how should I presume?” (54).
“And how should I begin?” (69)
“And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?...” (71-72).
“Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” (122).

The questions are things Prufrock asks himself. He is very insecure and unsure of how to go about living life.

3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?

Prufrock’s main problem is that he has no self esteem or confidence and he cannot show emotion. Therefore, he leads a very dull and boring life because he is too afraid to live on the edge.

4. Why do you think this is called a love song? In what way is it a love song?

The poem was called a “love song” because Prufrock could not act normal with women. The title is ironic because he likes women from a distance, but can’t actually talk to them or “sing his song” to them.

Journal 16

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“

This quote applies to the Swede in “The Blue Hotel”. The Swede does not see the hotel as a safe haven from the blizzard, but as a threat. He claims that he will be killed there and is afraid. Yet in the end, it is himself that gets him killed. He brags about winning a fight with the owner’s son and picks a fight with another man who stabs him. His reaction to winning and the people around him set his fate.

The quote also applies to the man in “To Build a Fire.” He, like the Swede, cannot see the reality of his situation. He does not listen to the warning of traveling into the cold alone and puts himself out into his death. However, unlike the Swede, he realizes his mistake, but not until it is too late.

Journal 15

1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.

The overall message is that you cannot romanticize war because it is dangerous and not very smart.

“if he could do something worthy to have won her—be a hero, her hero—it would be even better”

“It was no time to pick and choose her words. She must sacrifice anything to the high ideal she had for him”

“No, girls don’t; women don’t, when they give their men up for their country. They think they’ll come marching back somehow, just as gay as they went”

2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?

Editha uses George’s emotions and religion against him. She tells him how much she honors the men that fight and that God has set it up for him to fight. She tells him how much she’d love for him to fight.

3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?

Editha never truly understands what she has done. When she sees George’s mother she cries about his death, but is not truly sad.

Journal 14

“Richard Cory“ (497)

Richard Cory was looked up to by other people. He was the “perfect” man. Cory had wealth, and intellect. However, he killed himself. Cory’s story shows that someone’s appearance does not give their reality. Cory’s perfect exterior hid an interior that was dark and troubled and led to his suicide.

“Miniver Cheevy” (497)

Cheevy wishes he could have been born during medieval times. He was said to be born too late. He liked medieval times and escaped into that world as much as he could. Cheevy escaped his life because he wanted it to be more like the lives presented in fantasy stories. He confused the ideal life with reality. He does not achieve much in life, only the minimum.

“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)

Mr. Flood has a party with himself. He has a drinking problem which has driven away all of his friends he talks to himself and sings auld lang syne. His life is very loney and he tires to make it more lively by drinking until he is ot just himself, but others that he can talk to and listen to. His friends are all strangers now that do not want to have anything to do with him.

Journal 13

1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?

The object that symbolizes Geaorge Gray’s life is a sailboat at rest in a harbor. The sail is drawn in and not catching any wind. Gray wishes that he had done more in life and taken more chances. The fact that the sailboat is not moving means that Gray didn’t go anywhere in life. He did not sail, he was docked. The boat does not symbolize his destination, that is, his death, however, it symbolizes his life. He says he was too afraid to live and put himself out there.

2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?

Lucinda Matlock’s life is different than George Gray’s because of the way she lived. She did many things that were fun and she also suffered tragedies. Her life had more events than Gray’s since her sail was open and full of wind or life. I interpret the last line to mean that you have to experience life to love it. You have to have energy and strength in life to enjoy it. Liveliness creates happiness.

3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?

“George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” are examples of realism because they show realistic situations about how people look back on their lives

Journal 12 - Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown – the fall of man and the inclination to sin. Innocence and the desire to be good. Stained sin.

Faith – represents faith of many kinds – religious, faith in other people

The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – the devil, evil, mans true nature, or temptation.

Goody Cloyse – god and religion, people Goodman Brown thought were holy and good. Hypocrisy.

The Ceremony – mans true nature that everyone sins and is not perfect

The Pink Ribbon – purity, faith, goodness. When it falls Goodman Brown loses his faith and trust in people

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – journey of life as we go from innocence to experience and from a naive view of life to an understanding view of acceptance and knowledge of good and evil.

2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:

Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish

Sin Everybody sins – nobody is perfect Goody Cloyse and others at the ceremony;

the pink ribbons falling

In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.

“My faith is gone! There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given.”

“as if the roaring wind, the rushing streams, the howling beasts, and every other voice

“depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Wlcome again, my children, to the communion of your race.”