W681 Grand Haven: Interpreting Short Stories with Critical Theory by https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb Please post your paragraph here. Be sure to included the "Short Story Title," the particular school of criticism you're using, and your name, all at the beginning. en-us 2018-02-01 12:41:51 UTC 2018-02-07 22:53:33 UTC hello@padlet.com Crimson Draeger- "Bartleby, the Scrivener" ---Critical Theory?-- https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030251 In the story "Bartleby the Scrivener" Bartleby is a character that is restricted to a low-paying and repetitive job of reviewing copies. When Batleby refuses to continue working his boss is stunned by his incompetence. His boss sees him as a machine that should follow every order because that is his place in the office and in life. The different social classes of Bartleby and his boss separate their understanding of each other. Bartleby has been feeling trapped in his job for so long he feels like he has no power over his life. As Bartleby ages he knows he wants to have more power over his life. As soon as he decides to take control of his life he is punished society for not conforming and he is sent to jail and dies. The author is trying to show that anyone who is stuck at the bottom of the pyramid of social classes will get crushed if they try to climb up.]]> 2018-02-01 13:56:02 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030251 Cole Tubergen- "The Yellow Wallpaper" Biographical https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030352 Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”  is about a wife of a physician who has severe nervous depression. Her husband could not understand her illness and only thought of her physical health. He thought that the solution for her illness was to be isolated and a lot of sleep but, this however is the complete opposite, Gilman’s action in writing this story was influenced by events in her own life. Charlotte like the wife in the story suffered with severe nervous depression, just as well as well as experienced their mental ruin. In the story the wife’s physician of a husband prescribed her to bed rest and isolation, which just like the story, the exact same prescribed help happened in Charlotte’s life. Charlotte wrote this story with it being based on her conditions when she was trying to overcome her illness but claims to have embellished the story, adding the information in the story of the hallucinations and objections to her mural decorations. The stories main reason it was written was not to drive people crazy but to save the people who was under the same conditions or suffering with the same illness as her with the false treatment she was prescribed.

]]> 2018-02-01 13:56:12 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030352 Kara Nelson "The Birthmark"- Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030530
  • The short story “The Birthmark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows tone, irony, foreshadowing, and symbolic meaning.  The two main characters are Aylmer, and his wife, Georgina. 
  • The story is told from a third person point of view, because it expresses Georgina and Aylmer’s thoughts and feelings.  The tone of “The Birthmark” throughout the story is trusting and relying. Aylmer says to Georgina, “doubt not my power. I have already given this matter the deepest thought” ( Hawthorne, 321). This shows that Georgina is relying on Aylmer to get rid of the mark, but also trusting in him to get rid of it in a safe non-critical way. 
  • Near the end of the story there is foreshadowing between Aminadab and Aylmer, Aminadab passes Aylmer and mumbles “If she were my wife, I’d never part with that birthmark.” (Hawthorne, 322). This makes the reader second guess whether it is safe or not to get rid of the birthmark. While at the end Georgina dies when Aylmer made the Birthmark fade away. The book shows symbolic meaning because Aylmer was disgusted with Georgina’s one imperfection, her birthmark. Therefore, when Aylmer removed it, he killed Georgina, because no one is perfect and her mark was her one imperfection. 


    • ]]>     2018-02-01 13:56:24 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030530     Lian Colbry- "Bartleby, the Scrivener" https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030751 2018-02-01 13:56:45 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227030751 Miles LaMaire - "Yellow Wallpaper' Feminist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227039018 The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story written in the early 1890’s to show the poor treatment of women. The narrator in the story, is a woman who has recently given birth to a child. Like today, women can become somewhat depressed after giving birth. Her husband, who is a doctor thinks that the best thing for her is to lock her in a room in the house. She has no communication to the outside, except for every once in a while when someone comes in to visit her. It makes me think, what if it was him who was becoming depressed. Would the narrator have the choice of locking him in a room? No, because she is supposed to be the dutiful wife, and she is supposed to do what her husband says but he most likely would not do what she says. Additionally, by locking her in a room, it kind of shows that the husband feels he has no use for her anymore. It seems as if he just treats her as an object with whom gave birth to his kids, then after that she doesn’t really matter. If that was not the case, she probably would not have been locked in there in the first place, or he would have at least come in more often to talk to her.]]> 2018-02-01 14:11:00 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227039018 Courtney Shaw ~ "The Story of an Hour" Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227044703 In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin uses the structure of the text as a way to increase the drama of the intense hour. The story is made up of short paragraphs that consist of great detail about what Mrs. Mallard is doing and what is going on around her. For example a single paragraph states, “There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy chair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.” In addition to the structure, Chopin also uses great descriptive words throughout the whole story. A few examples of her word choices are, “wept at once,” “patches of blue sky,” and “wild abandonment.” The short story also consists of irony, which also plays a big role. Throughout the majority of the story it has the readers and Mrs. Mallard convinced that Mrs. Mallard’s husband had passed away. However, Mrs. Mallard finds out her husband is not actually dead, but then Mrs. Mallard herself passes away. This is an excellent example of irony, because it has the readers and main character convinced that something happened when it actually didn’t. Right after that the story also shocks us with the news of the main character’s death. 


    ]]>     2018-02-01 14:19:32 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227044703     Mariah Yahne- "Young Goodman Brown" Biography https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227061232 In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written in a low point of Hawthorne’s life. He started writing this short story around late 1828 and early 1829. At this point, he had just finished writing Fanshawe. After it had been finalized, he burned every copy he could so that no one could read it because he felt that this book was a mistake. So, he began to write again shortly after. The short story “Young Goodman Brown” is all about evil and all of society being perceived by Young Goodman Brown to be evil. This relates to him feeling down about his book. He feelt like it was a mistake and publishers were bashing on him, so those publishers ae the ones who persuaded him that everyone is evil. I found it odd that Nathaniel wasn’t married until 1842, long after he wrote the book. This was odd because normally, a story with a wife would mean that he was married, but maybe it was hopeful thinking of getting married but he was scared, so all of society turned evil. ]]> 2018-02-01 14:42:34 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227061232 Chelsea Sportell "The Birthmark" -Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227072586
  • The short story “The Birthmark” by Hawthorne is told in the third person narrative. I believe they do this because then you can tell what both Georgiana and Aylmer are thinking. In the story it’s seems as though the narrator does not like Aylmer very much. There are two major tones in the short story, one is disgust and one is empathy and understanding. The disgust tone we see through Aylmer every time that he looks at Georgiana's birthmark on her cheek. We see the empathy and understanding through Georgiana because she understands that Aylmer doesn't like looking at her one flaw and she trusts Aylmer to do the best thing for her.
  • In the story Georgiana’s birthmark symbolizes being human. Everybody has their own flaws weather you can see them or not. When Aylmer tried removing Georgiana’s only flaw it took away her humanity and therefore it ended up taking Georgiana’s life because she was now too perfect for this world.  

    • ]]>     2018-02-01 15:00:23 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227072586     Emily Klingensmith - "The Yellow Wallpaper" ---Critical Theory?--- https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227167534  In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the unnamed narrator suffers from what would be diagnosed as postpartum depression. Her story is told as if through a journal entry, showing her personal stream of consciousness. The author is telling her story through this character and represents her feeling of not being important by not naming herself in the work. Additionally, her innocence is shown by assuming that the bedroom she is in was a nursery or small child’s playroom, when it seems to be a room meant for restraining a person. Because the reader is hearing the story from this viewpoint and not getting the correct information, the narrator is unreliable. Her illness gets worse because her husband, a doctor, told her that being alone and doing nothing would help cure her. She writes in her journal secretly, and the story is broken up through her different entries throughout her troubles. Her story is from a day where her illness is not treated correctly or taken as seriously as it should have and the purpose of writing it was to inform her readers of what she went through, and to prevent it from happening to more people. 

    ]]>     2018-02-01 17:28:50 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227167534     Allyssa Buelow- "The Birthmark" Feminist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227170177 In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark”, Aylmer is a scientist who is extremely proud of himself. His wife, Georgiana, is almost the definition of perfection, except for one flaw- a hand-shaped birthmark on her cheek. When they were first married, Aylmer did not care about this flaw; however, as time went on he started to hate it. Instead of ignoring this small flaw and loving his wife unconditionally, he tries to convince her that it needs to be removed. Eventually Georgiana agrees to have him remove the birthmark. Even though she is scared that she will not survive, she just wants to make him happy and for him to finally accept her. His selfishness and need to have a “perfect wife” leads to the death of poor Georgiana, who just wanted to make her husband happy. This need for women to be this “perfect image” that some men have is still relevant today. Today’s society tends to show more of the “perfect woman”, generally not accepting that women can have flaws. Even though Aylmer is far from flawless, he still expects his wife to be. ]]> 2018-02-01 17:33:03 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227170177 Julia Clark "The Story of an Hour"- Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227280728 In The Story of an Hour, the main character Mrs. Millard found out that her husband had passed in a train accident. She had heart problems and everyone thought she might freak out when she found the disturbing news, however, it turns out that it was not so “disturbing” after all. She was excited when she realized how much more freedom she would have now. Going into great detail, she states that “there were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other” (Chopin 15). She also describes how there is a “new spring of life” (Chopin 15) now surrounding her. The tone of this story changes dramatically from beginning to end: at first she is sad when she finds out her husband is dead, then she is the happiest she had ever been while thinking about her new life, next she turns scared and sad when she realizes that her husband is still alive and she dies. 

    ]]>     2018-02-01 20:49:50 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227280728     Catherine Krieg - "The Yellow Wallpaper" Feminist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227321730 “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who after given birth to her child experiences postpartum depression, which at the time wasn’t considered as serious as it could be. Throughout the story the narrator explains to her husband John and his sister Jennie that she doesn’t feel well in the house and that her sickness is more than just a physical illness which they both don’t believe. As the narrator is secluded, ignored, and treated like a child her depression worsens turning into something more like psychosis with her having hallucinations of a lady crawling behind the wall paper, eventually outside the wall, and finally she thinks of herself as a lady who came from the wallpaper. When she starts believing she was a lady from the wall paper she tore down the wallpaper she hated but was forced to live with for the summer, in a way freeing herself from a symbol of her husbands controlling hand. The story ends with the narrator showing John that she torn down the wallpaper causing him to faint from shock at the narrator’s new attitude and bold behavior. The narrator then ‘creeps’ over her unconscious in a physical representation of how she won’t let him dominate her life as she has been.]]> 2018-02-01 23:39:45 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227321730 Caleb HolmbergBartleby, the ScrivenerPsychological Interpretation https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227323447 In Bartleby, the Scrivener we read about a copyist for a law firm in the late 1800-early 1900. The narrator of the story will ask Bartleby for a task and his response will simply be “I would prefer not to”. To a reader Bartleby might be what one considers rude and unjust, but in a psychological point Bartleby going against the ego, or simply refusing to fit in. Sigmund Freud states that the Ego is simply what is socially acceptable in our world, if Bartleby had not refused to do a simple task he was asked, he would have fit in with the other copyists. The narrator does not seem to understand why Bartleby is making these choices, he gets angry at first at Bartleby not wanting to be like the rest, but when the only response he gets is “I would prefer not to”. As the story goes on the narrator begins to talk to Bartleby more to try and understand why exactly he “prefers not to”. Towards the end of the story Bartleby’s superego, or moral beliefs don’t exactly choose the correct socially acceptable way of living for the society he lives in and causes him to be thrown in jail.]]> 2018-02-01 23:55:25 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227323447 Lian Colbry- "Bartleby, the Scrivener" Marxist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227324052 In “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, the relationship between Bartleby and the lawyer is important because it addresses the laws, and interpretation of the law, regardless of the possibility of mental illness or  socioeconomic class. Some would say that those who are of a lower socioeconomic class actually do have control and power over their situations. Bartleby chose to stay in the office, and chose not to work, exerting his own power to his situation.There are many people who would argue that the lawyer had control and power, but I believe it was Bartleby who had control. Bartleby had the power to make the lawyer feel bad and infuriate him whether it was on purpose or not. He would continuously say he would “prefer not to” when the boss asked him to do anything. Bartleby had the power to say no and go against the rules and conduct of the boss. He did not push to be more irritating nor did he do less. The boss could have fired him for not being compliant, yet he does not. Bartleby had an effect on him that made the boss have sympathy and keep him employed. In addition to the start of his work, Bartleby had the control show the boss he was employable. He comes off as polite and calm. His calmness helps him manipulate people.]]> 2018-02-01 23:59:14 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227324052 Derek Funk - "Young Goodman Brown" - Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227326349  
    In National Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown he writes the short story using a very serious and almost old style of tone. Being as the story had to deal with mischievous “witchcraft” relating to Salem, Hawthorne wanted to give a dark and serious tone in the writing. He also uses symbolism. Goodman Brows wife is named Faith. Throughout the short story he talks about his wife and brings up his own faith right after word, they are almost connected in a way. At the end of the story he not only loses his wife faith but his actual faith as well. The Pink ribbons could also be used as a symbol. Pink being a mix of red and white is almost this symbol of a purity and evil mix. Allusions that show up in the short story are when he mentions the Bible and brings up the Salem Witch Trials. 

    ]]>     2018-02-02 00:14:59 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227326349     Logan Nieusma - "The Story of An Hour" - Feminist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227327466 In the story “The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin, the main character Mrs. Mallard has recently been informed that her husband has died in an accident. Although she does cry and mourn for her deceased husband, her reaction to his death is not like most women’s in this situation. When left alone to process the information, she stares off through an open window into the sky. She feels this suspense in the air, as if something was coming towards her and it frightened her. She then begins to chant the word free over and over again, making her cold stare and her frightened demeanor disappear. This causes her to realize that she now has many years of joy ahead of her, that only belong to her now. It also makes her feel very happy knowing that she will no longer be oppressed by her husband anymore and that she has discovered a new sense of independence by living for herself in the years to come. With this mood that she is expressing it makes me think that her husband was keeping her away from experiencing certain freedoms. Even though she will cry when she sees the body of her beloved husband, the one that she loved at times and hated at most, she is thinking of the years after that dreadful moment in time.

    ]]>     2018-02-02 00:22:58 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227327466     Abby Dunster- "Young Goodman Brown" Biographical https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227330901 “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835, in an attempt to educate people on the horrors the New England citizens had to live through during the 1600’s, the era of the Salem Witch Trials. The story is set in the 1600’s, a period in which Hawthorne’s own great-great-grandfather was one of the judges who sentenced innocent civilians during the Salem Witch Trials. Although he obviously never knew his great, great grandfather, Hawthorne was disturbed and embarrassed of his ancestry. Before “Young Goodman Brown” was published, Hawthorne had finished another piece of literature, “Fanshawe”. Sadly, Hawthorne did not think this was a great piece of writing, and burned the copies of it. I feel that some of his anger of his family members and failed writing truly came together to highlight the evil in “Young Goodman Brown”. Also brought up in this short story is an aspect of racism against Native Americans, as in 17th century Massachusetts, they were looked down upon by the Puritan religion. Hawthorne was raised into the strict Puritan religion, and was so ashamed of his ancestors that he even went as far as to add a “W” to his last name. All of the negative aspects of his life are highlighted in “Young Goodman Brown”, as evil characters and scenarios.]]> 2018-02-02 00:50:22 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227330901 Seth Taylor - "The Story of an Hour" - Feminist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227335106 In The Story of an Hour, the main character Mrs. Mallard has just been told that her husband, Brently, has been killed in a railroad disaster. She wept at first because the one she loved has died, but soon after she is overwhelmed with a sense of freedom and joy. This is a reaction that is appropriate for the time period that it is written in, the 1800s, where the man was the sole controller of the relationships doing the working, while leaving their wives to stay at home to cook, clean and watch after the children. Kate Chopin got harsh criticism for this story, saying that how could a woman be happy that her husband has died? Well, it is because she is now free of the control that he once had over her life, body and soul. Once her husband turns out to not be dead, she dies of a heart disease, or rather died from shock from going from being able to fully feel free, to seeing once again the man who has been suppressing your true self for your whole life. Mrs. Mallard would have rather died than to go back to being crushed by her husband, a choice that empowers women across america to think for themselves, and not to let anybody control who you are.  

    ]]>     2018-02-02 01:18:12 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227335106     Isabelle Maier- "Young Goodman Brown" Formalist https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227355554 The short story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many examples of symbolism, allusion, and allegory. This is an allegorical story as the characters and objects are used to represent things other than themselves. His wife Faith symbolizes his faith as the name suggests. In the story he loses both his wife Faith and his faith.The mans snake staff is used to convey that he is an evil character. The story is organized beginning to end in a very straightforward way. At the end you are left to wonder whether or not Young Goodman Brown fell asleep and dreamt the whole scenario, or if it was all real.]]> 2018-02-02 03:35:06 UTC https://padlet.com/soulet/nr1dm1hcwdtb/wish/227355554