https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797 Analysis of Danticats short stories through critical lens. en-us 2018-09-20 04:50:35 UTC 2026-01-02 01:48:59 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Xmastree.png pr3997gh https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284577006 Reader response lens wants us reading a text for personal meaning and relevance, with five questions to keep in mind while reading. The lens wants the reader to relate the story to their personal life in terms of the character, the events going on in the text or the setting of where it all takes place. Along with that, one should also consider thinking of how the text is different from their lives and how the story affects them. If, at all, how the text has made the reader more interested in the subject and how it has changed their world-views. I will take all these questions into account as I make my analysis on "New York Day Women," a short story from Krik? Krak!, by Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, published in 1996.

"Eight Critical Lenses Through Which Readers Can View Texts," Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, 2016.]]> 2018-09-21 23:36:14 UTC https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284577006 pr3997gh https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284579868 To summarize the short story, it is of a woman, named Suzette, who is on break from work and finds her mother wondering the streets of New York alone. Suzette decides to follow her mother around and notices that her mom was doing things out of the ordinary, like being in the streets alone to handing a drink she bought to a young boy. Here and there Suzette would reminisce about how her mother would normally act vs how she is acting now, up until she departs and heads back to work.

Danticat, Edwidge. “New York Day Women." Krik? Krak! New York: Vintage, 1996.

"Parks In New York City." Nyctourist.com. N.p., 2018. Web. 20 Sept. 2018.]]> 2018-09-22 00:31:14 UTC https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284579868 pr3997gh https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284580731 In order to fully relate to the short story as I should for the reader response lens, I have to think of my history when I was younger along with my present life.

Right away as the story starts, Suzette sees her mother down the street, "I have never seen her in this kind of neighborhood, peering into Chanel and Tiffanys and gawking at the jewels glowing... She is afraid to take the subway... Yet, her she is, my mother" (Danticat 127). Suzette is at an awe when she saw her mother in a place she would never think to see her. I can relate to this personally as when I was around 13-14 years old, my parents and I use to live blocks away from the nearest grocery store but one day while my father was out working, my mother decided she wanted to go to the grocery store and could not wait for father to get back to take us their, so she decided to just walk to the store. My mother and I walked about 2 blocks before reaching the light rail that would drop us off a block away from Cub Foods, but when the light rail came, I was shocked as the realization that my mother and I are actually about to take public transportation for the first time in our lives hit me. It was a fun experience and I enjoyed seeing my mother out and about not relying on my father to drive us around to get places. Just like Suzette in Danticats short story, I could not believe what I was seeing and I could not stop looking at my mother just how Suzette kept on following and watching hers.

Danticat, Edwidge. “New York Day Women." Krik? Krak! New York: Vintage, 1996.]]> 2018-09-22 00:46:12 UTC https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284580731 pr3997gh https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284582678 Through out the story, Suzette reminisces about things her mother has told her in the past. Many of the things her mom tells her are things my mother has told me.  "Why would we give to Goodwill when there are so many back home who need clothes? We save our clothes for the relatives in Haiti" (Danticat 131), The first thing that Suzette remembers her mother telling her came to her because her mom was looking at a dress that she was hoping her mom would not by for her otherwise it would end up at Goodwill or lost somewhere. My mother tells me this all the time whenever she sees clothes that I have never worn or that I have grown out of. I would tell her to just sell it and get some money back for herself but she always told me that it is better to bag it all up and send it back to our relatives in Mexico. My mother, just like Suzette mother in the story, cares for her family no matter where they are. The second thing Suzettes mother has told her comes to her when she is going back to work, "I will have all these little Suzettes in case you never have any babies, which looks more and more like it is going to happen" (Danticat 134).  Suzette remembers this line because she was thinking about the times her mother was sewing a doll and why she does it. Suzette and I are sorta alike in the way that we basically have the same kind of mother. My mother takes up sewing table clothes and from time to time will sew a dress for these dolls that we have around the house. It is such an interesting thing to watch, the craftsman skill that goes into making things like that and the time an effort my mother puts into making them really wows me and makes me think of how a sweet mother she has always been. Sometimes my mother too would joke about only having these dolls since none of her kids have had a child yet.

Danticat, Edwidge. “New York Day Women." Krik? Krak! New York: Vintage, 1996.]]> 2018-09-22 01:21:18 UTC https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284582678 pr3997gh https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284585049 With similarities comes differences, but not many. Clearly the woman in the story,  Suzette, has found proceeded to sorta "stalk" her mother through out her break in order to see what she is doing and admire her. I have never done that, I watch and admire my mother when I am next to her or driving her around to places she wishes to go. Watching her as she finds clothes to buy for herself or furniture to put around the house. Since reading this short story, I do wish that maybe one day I could see what my own mother does when I drop her off alone in order to see if she is the same person or someone different like Suzettes mother. This story was very interesting from one page to the next,. The short story has made me wonder how others act when no one they know is around.

I did a bit of research and found an article (attached below) to help me better understand this phenomena of why we act differently in different situations. I found one about a mother who has concerns about her husband and daughters behavior. Although the roles are reverse here where it is not the daughter wondering about her mother. I think it is close enough that it can help put some insight into why Suzettes mother was doing things that she would never have guessed she would do.

Greenberg, Barbara. “Why Is Public and Private Behavior so Different?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 Apr. 2012, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teen-doctor/201204/why-is-public-and-private-behavior-so-different. ]]> 2018-09-22 02:08:58 UTC https://padlet.com/pr3997gh/6pi8n4pci797/wish/284585049