Natalie Lopatowski
Mrs. Baione-Doda
AP Lit
25 September 2008
She Waits, Seething, Blooming
“And now, waiting for her son and knowing how righteous will be her indignation, how richly justified will be anything she yells into his irresponsible face, she finds herself awaiting his arrival in the way the ravenous might await a meal.”
A single mother is waiting up for her 15 year old son to come home and this passage shows her angst and maybe somewhat irrational solutions that she comes up with to calm her feelings. By the end of the short story she is so hyped up and excited to basically rip her son into shreds that she exclaims, “This will be superb…she runs to the door. She can’t wait for it to begin.”
The author’s choice of title for this short story “She Waits, Seething, Blooming” sets a tone and mood for the short story through diction. The mother uses the word blooming to describe the amount of pain she will inflict on her son because he is not home yet. The word blooming is normally not a word you would compare those two actions with because blooming reminds me of flowers and sunny, happy days, or blooming into something beautiful like a caterpillar into a butterfly which obviously is not how the mother is using it. But because punishing her son is something that apparently makes her happy, fun and even like a game to her, she compares herself with something or somebody blooming.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
OR Week 2
Natalie Lopatowski
Mrs. Baione-Doda
AP Literature
September 2008
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers: Quiet
"It is messy I guess."
"It looks awfully messy. It looks almost impossible to survive, to tell you the truth. The pain of it all."
"Its not that painful," I said.
"But tom," it said, ‘the swinging of your pendulums! Everyone’s pendulums swinging, to and fro, and always you’re
getting hit by someone else’s swinging pendulum. You’re minding your business, but someone else’s pendulum is swinging around, and pow! You get hit in the head."
Tom loves Erin. She has only one arm but he loves her for it. Tom feels that his life is inadequate, that you can even fail in grabbing your desires so you better find meaning or at least beauty in the simple existence of the natural world. For example, in my quote he happens to be having a conversation with the moon which he bases this theory off of. But his behavior towards Erin leads to romantic tension and what was once an innocent romance becomes something more brutal. This relates to the general meaning of the story that Tom’s behavior is determined by hunger for intimacy and connection.
First, it baffled me that Tom was having a conversation with the moon and the moon was criticizing and harassing him but Tom just listened like he was talking with one of his buddies and carried on with the conversation. I didn’t know if this took place in his mind or verbally but I believed that the moon was somewhat of a conscience for Tom or like the angel and the devil sitting on his shoulder telling him what to do but he was listening to the angel. Tom seems to be in denial and his boring responses may imply that he knows he has a problem with his behavior.
Mrs. Baione-Doda
AP Literature
September 2008
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers: Quiet
"It is messy I guess."
"It looks awfully messy. It looks almost impossible to survive, to tell you the truth. The pain of it all."
"Its not that painful," I said.
"But tom," it said, ‘the swinging of your pendulums! Everyone’s pendulums swinging, to and fro, and always you’re
getting hit by someone else’s swinging pendulum. You’re minding your business, but someone else’s pendulum is swinging around, and pow! You get hit in the head."
Tom loves Erin. She has only one arm but he loves her for it. Tom feels that his life is inadequate, that you can even fail in grabbing your desires so you better find meaning or at least beauty in the simple existence of the natural world. For example, in my quote he happens to be having a conversation with the moon which he bases this theory off of. But his behavior towards Erin leads to romantic tension and what was once an innocent romance becomes something more brutal. This relates to the general meaning of the story that Tom’s behavior is determined by hunger for intimacy and connection.
First, it baffled me that Tom was having a conversation with the moon and the moon was criticizing and harassing him but Tom just listened like he was talking with one of his buddies and carried on with the conversation. I didn’t know if this took place in his mind or verbally but I believed that the moon was somewhat of a conscience for Tom or like the angel and the devil sitting on his shoulder telling him what to do but he was listening to the angel. Tom seems to be in denial and his boring responses may imply that he knows he has a problem with his behavior.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
OR Blog Week 1
Natalie Lopatowski
Mrs. Baione-Doda
AP Literature
September 2008
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers
Story #3: The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water
"Pilar and Hand had woken up facing opposite walls but their ankles entwined. They smiled at each other and he reached over and grabbed her nose, as if to pluck it off. She knew that they would continue to sleep together because the night before had been good, and nothing wrong had happened. It would be this way: at night they would brush their teeth and sit on the bed and pull their legs around and under the thin blanket. They would scoot towards each other, their hands searching like those of children pretending to be blind."
The importance of this chapter in relation to the work as a whole is that throughout this short story Pilar and Hand seem to be stuck between the line of friendship and romance. This passage shows the more passionate side of their relationship which typically occurred in the bedroom at night but during the day their conversations were short and meaningless. Also the first sentence of this passage illustrates how they drifted apart even after sleeping together but remained at a level of comfort and feeling together.
Eggers mostly uses the setting and tone to set the mood for this story. Pilar and Hand are in Costa Rica, a foreign place to both of them, being in this setting gives the sense that anything can happen, especially referring to their friendship/dating. In relation, Pilar and Hand’s conversations are no longer then a few words showing that there might be an awkwardness for the two but the mood changes when the sun goes down. Eggers characterization of Pilar is what she says and thinks about herself. But Pilar obviously didn’t see the flaws that hand did which could have led to their uncomfortable situation.
Mrs. Baione-Doda
AP Literature
September 2008
How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers
Story #3: The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water
"Pilar and Hand had woken up facing opposite walls but their ankles entwined. They smiled at each other and he reached over and grabbed her nose, as if to pluck it off. She knew that they would continue to sleep together because the night before had been good, and nothing wrong had happened. It would be this way: at night they would brush their teeth and sit on the bed and pull their legs around and under the thin blanket. They would scoot towards each other, their hands searching like those of children pretending to be blind."
The importance of this chapter in relation to the work as a whole is that throughout this short story Pilar and Hand seem to be stuck between the line of friendship and romance. This passage shows the more passionate side of their relationship which typically occurred in the bedroom at night but during the day their conversations were short and meaningless. Also the first sentence of this passage illustrates how they drifted apart even after sleeping together but remained at a level of comfort and feeling together.
Eggers mostly uses the setting and tone to set the mood for this story. Pilar and Hand are in Costa Rica, a foreign place to both of them, being in this setting gives the sense that anything can happen, especially referring to their friendship/dating. In relation, Pilar and Hand’s conversations are no longer then a few words showing that there might be an awkwardness for the two but the mood changes when the sun goes down. Eggers characterization of Pilar is what she says and thinks about herself. But Pilar obviously didn’t see the flaws that hand did which could have led to their uncomfortable situation.
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