Initial post Due Sept. 19
Fiction can elicit strong, sometimes conflicting emotions, and deepen one’s understanding of the human condition, but not without “collaboration” between the writer and reader.
Most of the stories we’ll read this semester are considered “significant works,” written by “major writers.” As with the pieces you read over the summer, you may initially like or dislike a piece of fiction. Our task, however, is move beyond our initial, subjective responses, and sort out what makes these “classics” worth studying.
In relatively short, written responses you have begun to look more closely at several well-known texts. What do these pieces of literature have in common that contributes to their being considered “classics.” Follow our guidelines for writing and posting.
NOTE: After everyone posts a comment on the 19th, read the entries and post a follow-up blog entry by the 23rd.
Major works in literature are very impressive. William Shakespeare wrote several plays which are still used today, hundreds of years later. I think it is amazing to be able to write something and have it become one of the most celebrated literary works of your time and, like Shakespeare, others as well. One of the things that major works of literature have in common is that they force discussion; major works tend to cause controversy. They make an impact.
ReplyDeleteIn major written works they challenge the current social ideas, cause controversy. For example Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour challenges the idea that husbands are the center of their wives universe. At the time period the story was written it challenged the social consensus that husbands were essential for the survival of their wives.
Other major works cause controversy. Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find causes controversy because people end up liking the criminal more than the victims. Liking is not the best term: it is more like people end up thinking that The Misfit has a better understanding of the world, almost as if he is more honorable than the grandmother because he accepts who he is and does not try to be something else. The grandmother is superficial at best and people tend to despise her. Some critics had the idea that The Misfit was a destined prophet and I think that it is hard for people to find themselves liking a character that kills people. It is hard to justify empathizing with and understanding a character that is, by no means, a good or innocent person. I think that causes controversy because the author forced her readers out of their comfort zone and into something they did not know how to handle.
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick also causes dispute. The story takes place in a concentration camp and you have to witness one of the biggest hardships in life: a mother fed so little runs out of milk for her baby and at the same time the mother, Rosa, has to hide the baby to keep her alive. People can separate themselves from the tragedy of World War II by learning the numbers: how many people died, where they died. That is information that allows you to keep the pain at a distance; however, this one piece of fiction forces the reader to confront the pain and the fear that was caused. I think this story causes argument because of the different symbols used. I also think that when a girl takes away the shawl from the baby and the baby is discovered, and subsequently killed, that can be interpreted differently and cause argument. When the girl takes the shawl it could be said that she did it so that the baby would die; you could say the girl knew what would happen; however, you could argue that the girl was cold and did not know the importance of the shawl to the baby.
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin; “A Good Man is Hard To Find,” by Flannery O’Connor; “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty; and “The Shawl,” by Cynthia Ozick. These are the texts we have read so far—many of which, are written by well known writers. The question is, are these “classics”? What is it that makes them “classics”?
ReplyDeleteClassic is defined as “[something] judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind” (New Oxford American Dictionary). For the most part, I fully agree with this statement. Although, I believe there is more to it. For a piece of literature to be judged, there needs to be some ambiguity. This in turn prompts critical thinking. A classic should not be something which can be read once through, and understood. This is exemplified exceptionally well in two of the texts we have read: “The Story of an Hour” and “A Worn Path.”
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, is about a young woman, Louise Mallard. The “passing” of her husband, Brently Mallard, leaves her full of emotion. Having said that, Mrs. Mallard is not in the sort of emotion one would expect. Instead of being overcome by sadness, she is filled with apprehension and joy: “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (Chopin 394) However, this new found freedom does not last long. As soon as Mrs. Mallard and her sister Josephine leave Mrs. Mallard’s room, and begin walking down the stairs, Mr. Mallard is there to their surprise: “He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry: at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife… When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Chopin 395). These last words of the story ask the reader to really think: Why did she die? What is this story about? I found this story is about the overpowering of men. They think they know everything, but really there is always more than meets the eye. That is probably not the only meaning, which proves my point. It always takes more than one time through.
The other short story which exemplifies a classic, is “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty. In Welty’s story, an old woman, Phoenix Jackson, faces obstacles along her journey to get medicine for her grandson. Once at the hospital, the nurse asks Phoenix, “‘Is his throat any better?’… ‘Aunt Phoenix, don’t you hear me?’… ‘Tell us quickly about your grandson, and get it over. He isn’t dead, is he?’” (Welty 154) This prompts the reader to wonder if the grandson is alive, or dead. The reader needs to search for clues to find truth within the story. Although, that doesn’t always work. Even after writing about this story, I’m still not sure what to believe. I guess that’s the ambiguity of it all.
Josselyn
ReplyDeleteThese texts are considered to be classics not because of how well written they are or who the author is, but because they each reflect themes that apply to every generation. Though each generation is separated by fashion styles and one-hit wonders, the literature they read in high school is the same. An example of this is my mom and I. Upon describing the stories our class has read, she almost always says, “Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure that I read that one in college.” Stories such as Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” and Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” have become classics. Their themes touch upon aspects in life such as mortality and immortality. Themes that have remained current thought out the years for high school or college students to understand and connect with them a good 80 years after their first printing.
While “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “The Story of an Hour,” focus on being faced with mortality and “A Worn Path” immortality, both cause the reader to reflect on the idea of dying. Forced to reconcile with her husband’s sudden death, Chopin’s Louise Mallard finds that being free of his needs will allow her to enjoy life. “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 395). For Louise, she knows that she too will die, but for now she enjoys that fact that she can embrace life while she still lives it. Unfortunately death comes unexpectedly for Louise. Upon seeing her husband walk through the front door, alive, death swoops in and takes her away.
Allowing us to understand that death is unexpected, O’Connor’s characters in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” force us to realize that death is inevitable. O’Connor’s short story forces readers to understand that we will all die one day, one way or another. The grandmother of the story is forced into a situation knowing that her death is the only possible outcome. “Jesus!...I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady!...I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (O’Connor 645).For the grandmother this encounter with the Misfit is ironic, for the beginning of the story focuses on her trying to avoid the Misfit so that she can avoid death. But no matter how hard she tried, death still found her because you cannot escape it. It’s a part of living.
Lastly, among the midst of being reminded of our death, we wish that we could live forever. A comfort for some, the idea of never experiencing death can be seen in Welty’s “A Worn Path.” For some, Welty’s character Phoenix Jackson is an immortal figure. Comparing her to the mythological bird that shares her name, the phoenix, the different parts of Phoenix’s journey to Natchez are representative of the three phases of a phoenix’s resurrection: death, fire, and rebirth. Left repeating her errand to the doctor’s office for her grandson, Phoenix escapes her death in order to prevent her grandson’s death. “We is the only two people left the world” (Welty 155). Saying this to the nurse at the office, she knows that if she were to die and leave her grandson helpless, he would die too. No one wants to experience their own death or the death of a loved one, and it is stories such as these that show the effect death has one everyone.
Throughout many of these classic texts lie classic themes. Themes that everyone can relate to regardless of the era they are in. Though I know these are not all the themes discussed in the stories, mortality and immortality remain strong ideas in our society.
For the past three weeks in Senior English we have read four short stories. “The Story of an Hour”, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “The Shawl”, and “A Worn Path”. We have discussed the elements of fiction, themes, and language used in these stories. However, the one thing we haven’t discussed in depth is the fact that all these stories are considered to be classics. The dictionary defines a classic as something that is, “generally considered to be of the highest quality or lasting value, especially in the arts” or “authoritative and perfect as a standard of its kind.” The first definition, while interesting, still doesn’t explain what a classic is. It says that a classic is something that has lasting value, but it doesn’t say why something has lasting value, or why something is the best of its kind. I like the part about lasting value the most though. I think that for something to have lasting value is has to have some sort of element in it that people are going to relate to no matter what century it is. There needs to be some layer of the story that is always relevant to the audience reading it. That can’t be the only thing that defines weather or not something is a classic though, because almost all stories have some sort of issue that people could relate to no matter what. For example lets compare a random tale about a girl loses her horse and is upset, with “A Worn Path,” by Eudora Welty. While only one of these stories is a classic, they both have plot elements that people may always relate too. Lets say that in this fictional tale about a girl and her horse, the horse goes missing and the girl is distraught, depressed, and upset. The story continues, and in the end the girl finds her horse and most things work out. The underlying, always relevant, idea in this story could be that despite challenges and roadblocks that appear, everything will work out. In “A Worn Path” a theme or idea that is relatable too for many people is poverty. Both of these issues will always have a place in time to be read.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting, because both of these stories have been read, in some form or another, over and over again. And yet, there must be a difference because “A Worn Path” is looked at much closer when it is read. Although this is by no means the final answer to the question, I think part of the difference that makes a classic what it is, is the idea and inclusion of ambiguity. Ambiguity refers to something that is vague, or something that has unclear intention or meaning. In this said story of the horse, clearly the big idea was that everything will work out in the end. In “A Worn Path”, its unclear weather the big idea is poverty, religion, labor of love, or reincarnation. Similarly, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, its unclear weather this lasting value comes from the idea of religion, violence in the world, or even trouble within families. In both these stories, and in many other classic texts, readers infer that there is something more, because they are so ambiguous. This leads them to search for deeper meaning and come back to them time and time again.
According to “About.com” a classic is defined as a piece of literature that has many different qualities including: expressing “some artistic quality—an expression of truth and beauty.” They stand “the test of time... [and are] a representation of the period in which it was written.” They have “a certain universal appeal... partly because they integrate themes that are understood by readers from a wide range of backgrounds.” They have “themes of love, hate, death, life and faith that touch upon some of our most basic emotional responses” (Lombardi)
ReplyDelete“Story of an hour,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “A Worn Path” and “The Shawl” all have one or several of these elements that make them classics One commonality of these pieces is that they all have stood the test of time and are still being read to this day.
In “Story of an Hour,” as well as having stood the test of time, we also see the theme of love, hate and death. Love being misunderstood, hate being the true emotion and death as the result of it all. We also see in the theme that a woman does not always love her husband though she is expected to. This theme has and does speak to many people and was also what was expected of women at the time the story was written. The story also shows the truth about that women are not as reliant on their husbands as they think that they are.
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we see the theme of faith and death where the reader may effect readers emotionally. The story can also be understood in a variety of different ways depending on the background of the reader.
In “A Worn Path” the theme of life runs through the story of the grandchild. The story is also a good representation of it's time period—showing some of the racism that still exists in the south while the story is taking place.
“The Shawl” demonstrates the theme of life and death and elicits an emotional response. It is also a representation of it's time and all of the death, loss and suffering that people went through during this time in history.
I believe that there is another requirement to classify a story as a classic It must have a deeper meaning than the surface storyline. A child's book would not classify as a classic because there is no deeper meaning to the story. Most stories are written to tell a tale and have that be the end of it. In order to fully understand classics it may take several readings and deep thought to fully understand the meaning of the story. This is what makes reading classics especially infuriating to read as students because everything isn't cleanly laid out in front of you. Classics require a little digging to uncover their true meaning and that is what these stories all do.
Works Cited
Lombardi, Esther. "A Classic - Defining the Term or the Concept of Classics in Literature." About.com. The New York Times Company. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. .
In texts, we have been looking specifically for certain elements of fiction. These elements, such as irony and symbolism, are used in stories to help us understand the point the writers are trying to get across. Making these connections are the reader’s pathway into the bigger idea that the writer intended. For example, without the irony in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard’s feelings on her new freedom wouldn’t be as strong, and the idea that a woman is reliant on a man wouldn’t have nessecarily gotten across so smooth. In Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl”, her use of symbolism is crucial to the understanding of the shawl’s significance. These stories are considered to be classics because they effectively apply certain elements of fiction to their story that have made its insight powerful and also debatable.
ReplyDeleteThe irony displayed in “The Story of an Hour” is not hard to discover. Mrs. Mallard is given news that her husband is dead, and then is so overjoyed with the start of her new life that she dies when he walks through the door, alive. It is very clearly conveyed and the irony helps tie in the theme of power in relationships. The connection between the element of irony and its vitality to getting an insight to the story is what helps make Chopin’s story a classic. “The Story of an Hour” is able to evoke its theme through using an elements of fiction alone, showing how important the way is a story is written is essential to getting a point across.
“The Shawl” is another example of an excellent execution of an element of fiction. Ozick uses symbolism to suggest themes similar to protection and life. Magda, an infant, uses the shawl in order to survive in a concentration camp when her mother’s health keeps her from doing so. When another prisoner in the camp takes the shawl, Magda dies. The shawl in the story is the representation of the protection that Magda’s mother was not able to give her but how vital it was. The theif, Stella, who took the shall was unable to receive the magic from the shall. Without having its powers only work for Magda, understanding what the shawl is symbolizing comes easy. Ozick is able to create a powerful story through the significance of the shawl. It is to be considered a classic because of the way it makes this element of fiction nessecary in order to understand the story.
A classic reaches. A classic goes for something inside the reader far deeper than standard morals. I believe that classics are classified as such for their ability to evoke a range of profound ideas or themes amongst their readers. This is evident in our class work and responses. We’re finding the endless deeper meaning in our assigned texts. We’re not simply writing about the moral of the story. No, this isn’t first grade. We’re going the extra mile to discover what these texts truly mean and the different ways they can be interpreted.
ReplyDeleteI could be typical and say that these texts are classics because their old and hard to understand. In a way that could be true. The fact that we’re even still reading them now is enough to consider them classics. If they weren’t truly significant, they wouldn’t still be around. Meaningless stories of high school romance or texting drama will never be classics. They are hopeless, shallow stories that go no deeper than the reader is suspected to be able to handle. The classic texts that we have read challenge us to go deeper. They challenge us to find the symbolism and main ideas. We struggle to find the underlying meaning between the words. There are endless possibilities for the hidden meaning in these stories; they’re all up for interpretation. For this reason, they are classics.
For example, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” we could stay on the surface and assume that Mrs. Mallard is happy because her husband is dead and now she’s free to be her own person. However, if we look deeper we see that Kate Chopin was a very controversial writer and the purpose of this story was to expose the terrible grip on women that men thought was their right. The story was a huge slap in the face to all men who assumed their wives worshiped them. Chopin showed that women are better off alone.
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, my interpretation of the deeper meaning was that sometimes terrible people are just like us. The Grandmother, who thinks she’s a good person, goes up against the convict/murderer, the Misfit only to find out they’re the same. She realizes that she doesn’t deserve a second chance anymore than he does.
In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” there are many interpreted themes and ideas. My specific interpretation of the theme had to do with love and perseverance. I thought the story represented how humans persevere for those who matter most to them and that Phoenix Jackson did so because of her love for her grandson.
We haven’t talked about it yet, but I think Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” highlights inhumanity. I think the story serves as a gesture to draw attention to evil in the world. I may change my mind once we talk about the meaning of the story, but that’s how it resonates as of now.
Classics keep people talking. People fight, disagree, agree, brainstorm, and lose their minds of classics. They are what they are because they offer something more than a story line. They wouldn’t be required reading material or part of our curriculum if they weren’t somehow adding to our understanding of the world. Unless of course teachers are really out to get us.
Throughout this quarter, our class has read four short stories: “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin; “The Shawl”, by Cynthia Ozick; “A Worn Path”, by Eudora Welty; and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor. Throughout this class, we have discussed all aspects of these stories from themes, symbolism, figurative language, to hidden meanings. We have not, however, talked about how these stories are related and are considered classic texts. What makes these stories classic texts is focused on the idea of human mortality and how death affects people differently.
ReplyDeleteThe first story we read this semester was “The Story of an Hour” in which the main character Louise finds out that her husband died in a railroad accident. The reader expects that she would be filled with sadness over the death of her husband. Instead, they find out that she actually feels relieved and feels as though the world is open up to her in a new way. This takes the reader by surprise because when a loved one dies, one suspects sadness, but the sense of freedom is not expected. This opens up the idea of death in a new light for people: that death affects people in different ways. The opposite is shown in the story “A Worn Path” when the main character Phoenix Jackson (an elderly woman) pushes her body to the limit and puts herself in danger in order to keep her grandson from dying. This story shows how determined people can be when a loved one is in danger, and will put themselves in harms way in order to protect them. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the main character is a grandmother who shows no sympathy towards her family or any other person in the story. She keeps herself at a higher standard then the rest of humanity. This is until the end of the story when she meets an escaped convict who kills the rest of her family. While talking to the Misfit, she realizes that she is not so different from him. Bothe of them have lived a life full of sin and are not so different. This story talks about how faced with the idea of their own death, they receive a moment of grace and realization. The other two stories talk about people’s reaction to the death of another person, while this one talks about death being introduced to the main character. “The Shawl” talks about mortality in a different light. In the story, the baby Magda somehow survives in concentration camp wrapped in a shawl and her mother cannot produce milk to feed her. The story shows a miracle of how the mother kept her baby alive through love, without even being able to actually feed her.
All of these stories show human thinking towards death in different examples: relief over the death of someone, determination to keep someone alive, a moment of realization while faced with death, or a miracle of someone staying alive against the odds. These different ideas of mortality are the reason that people find them so interesting and why they always go back to read them again. They make people think, whether it’s about their own mortality or someone else. People have always been fascinated or frightened by death and these stories satisfy the curiosity that people seem to always have.
In our class we have gone over a few different short stories that are considered “classics”. But what makes them classics? I believe the reason may lie in something they all share. Every one of these stories greatly develops or exploits certain themes that relate to the human psyche in a way that greatly effects the reader. The stories I will discuss are “The Shawl” by Cynthia Ozick and “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. Both of these stories strongly expresses one or two particular themes.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “The Shawl” one of the main themes shown is the feeling of helplessness. The main characters live a life of subjugation under Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. It is the story of a mother and her daughter just trying to survive. Throughout the story situations that Rosa, the mother, can do nothing to control keep happening. “All at once Magda was swimming through the air … her pencil legs and balloonish belly and zigzag arms splashed against the fence, the steel voices went mad in their growling”(334). This quote comes from the conclusion of this story. After all their struggling to hold on to life Magda, the baby, is simply killed by a soldier. This ending conjures a feeling of absolute horror for the reader. In far to many stories their is a feeling of everything ending up okay, a happy ending. But this seems to be the polar opposite of such an ending. This causes the story to be extremely unusual and interesting.
In "A Worn Path" The main character Phoenix Jackson Is an old woman who makes a very long trip on a regular basis for her Grandson. This story develops the idea of dedication to a ridiculous point. The old and feeble grandmother regularly makes a long trip from her home to town in order to get medicine for her grandson. She is old enough that she actually forgets why she made the trip for some time when she arrives. This character puts her life and well being on the line all for her hopeless grandson. His condition appears to be incurable and yet she still keeps bringing him medicine at her own expense She holds no concern for her self. ""This what come to me to do," she said, "I going to the store and buy my child a little windmill they sells, made out of paper. He going to find it hard to believe their such a thing in the world"(155) This quote just works to prove just how dedicated she is. Even after going to such an extent for him she still thinks not of herself but him. She is an ultimate form of caring and dedication. This story brings similarly to "The Shawl" takes it's chosen personality and develops it to a point that is both unusual and extreme while remaining truthful to the emotion. This is one thing that helps to make them classics.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” are both considered classic pieces of literature. At fist glance, it is difficult to compare the two. “The Shawl” is set during to Holocaust while “The Story of an Hour” is more timeless, taking place in a non descript house some time after the invention of trains. After deeper contemplation, however, it is clear that the themes of oppression, the desire for freedom, and death run through both pieces.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard is oppressed by her marriage. When she believes that her husband has died, she embraces the freedom that she will have without him. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms to them in welcome” (Chopin 394). Louise craves the future that she describes, a free future without tyranny.
The main character in “The Shawl”, Rosa, also glimpses freedom: “On the other side of the steel fence, far away, there were green meadows speckled with dandelions and deep-colored violets; beyond them, even farther, innocent tiger lilies, tall lifting their orange bonnets” (Ozick 334). Like Louise, Rosa also longs for liberty and contemplates what life would be like without oppression. If she were not in a concentration camp, she would be free to experience those far away green meadows.
In both stories, the final result of oppression is death. In “The Story of an Hour,” Louise dies when her husband returns home from his trip, unharmed. She realizes that she will no longer be able to have the “spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own.” (Chopin 395). Her husband’s return prompts the heart attack that end’s Louise’s life. Ultimately, oppression kills her.
In “The Shawl”, Rosa’s daughter Magda is killed. “Magda’s feathered round head and her pencil legs and balloonish belly and zigzag arms splashed against the [electrified] fence” (Ozick 334). She is murdered by the symbol of their oppression: the fence that cages them in and separates them from the free world. Were Rosa and Magda not imprisoned, Magda would not have died.
Victimization, the desire for freedom, and death are universal themes that everyone can relate to. For fictional characters to resonate with readers they must come alive. To seem human, they must possess human qualities and grapple with human problems. When the characters in stories are convincing and the issues pertain to people in all walks of life, the stories become classics.
“The Shawl”, by Cynthia Ozick, and “A Worn Path”, by Eudora Welty, are examples of literary classics. These works, among others, are identified as classics because they evoke timeless ideas that are applicable around the world.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Shawl”, Ozick gives a moving account of prisoners suffering during World War II. The description of Stella early in the story provides insight into tragic life in a concentration camp: “Stella was ravenous. Her knees were tumors on sticks, her elbows chicken bones” (Ozick 332). Stella’s hunger is painfully evident in her appearance. She is forced to endure starvation and other terrors of a concentration camp for an extended period of time, and they affect her body’s ability to function and grow healthily. Throughout history, humans have suffered and died from malnutrition, and Stella is a literary example. She gives readers an intimate understanding of starvation that they may not have access to otherwise. Because humans will always be fighting starvation, no matter the varying causes, the suffering portrayed in “The Shawl” will keep the story important and relevant.
In a “A Worn Path”, the protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, travels to town to get medicine for her sick grandson. To do this, she endures discrimination from people she meets along the way. About halfway through her journey, she meets a hunter. At first, the man is friendly, but soon treats her with disrespect in assuming her journey is pointless. He says, “‘I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!’” Because of Phoenix’s race, the hunter assumes she is determined to go to town for a superficial reason, when really Phoenix travels to keep her grandson alive. Racism is something that humans struggle with all over the world. Whether it is as severe as genocide, like the extermination of the Tutsi people in Rwanda in 1994, or it is as casual as a degrading comment, racism is always present. Phoenix’s encounter with the hunter provides an example of conversational form of degradation, which is extensively hurtful as the disrespectful comments build up. Although we try to combat racism, it is likely that it will always be present in some form because there will always be different races. This is one of the reasons that “A Worn Path” is a classic; the idea of racism portrayed in the story will keep the story significant and meaningful as times and places vary.
These two works provide readers a unique understanding of the universal issues of starvation and racism. They are problems that human kind struggles with as a species, and their solutions are not easy to determine. The two texts raise questions about the issues, which adds to the timeless intrigue of the the stories. Along with many other literary works, the wider applications of themes in the stories are what defines them as classics that will continue to be studied many years into the future.
After reading four classic pieces of literature I realized they all have something in common. In a classic novel, the reader is always left with more questions then before the story. These questions cannot be answered in just one-word answers; they require analytical thinking and many conversations and opinions. Not only are you left with questions, but you also, after having thought through the entire text multiple times, realize that there is some deeper meaning entwined inside the story beyond the layer of initial understanding of the plot. Because of this, these stores are considered “classics”, and have stayed in with other important texts sense they were originally written.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “A Good Man is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Conner the “surface” plot is about a grandmother and her family that went on a vacation soon to be interrupted by “the misfit” whom then confronts the grandmother and ends up killing the whole family. However, the story’s theme goes deeper than this. Readers question weather or not the grandmother had an effect on the misfit, and what would come of it. The story never answers the question but gives us context that might make us assume this. Also, is there any “grace” toward the end when the grandmother is trying to convince the misfit he could be a good person? Some argue yes, there was grace in this scene, and some disagree saying the grandmother was just trying to save herself from the misfit’s rage. There are so many questions that are brought up after reading the text, and I think because of this, it plays a major roll in this short story becoming a “classic text”.
In the “classic” story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix, an old African American grandmother went on a journey in order to get medicine for her sickly grandson. The story talks about how during the journey Phoenix faces many obstacles, however after reading the story, the reader may realize that Phoenix’s grandson could possibly be dead the whole time. Some agree with this conclusion, and some do not. Looking deeper into the story you can see that Phoenix could represent reincarnation, and immortality.
These two famous short stories have been told for a long time. Not just because they are fun to read, or “hook the reader in”, but also because there is always something deeper inside the plot. There will always be questions to answer, and always something to talk about after reading a classic novel.
Classics are classics because they are exceptional in some way. They have been recognized as “worth reading” by the literary community because of some aspect of their writing, whether it is plot, characters, writing style, or something else which makes the work exceptional. Classics also generally have meaning beyond the literal interpretation of their words. The stories we have read so far this year have all contained this kind of deeper meaning, and because of this, they are open to the interpretation of the reader to some extent. All four stories, especially “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, have a kind of space built into them by the author which allowed each of us to read them slightly differently. This openness makes these stories classics.
ReplyDeleteIn “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” much of the ambiguity comes in at the very end of the story in the moment just before the grandmother is shot. In this moment, she seems to finally understand and connect with the Misfit (her killer). There are many hints in the text which point to the importance of this moment. For instance, when the Misfit says, “‘She would have been a good women...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (O’Connor 645), the author highlights that the moment was a turning point for the grandmother. Some believe this moment is a “moment of grace” for the grandmother. However, it is not directly written in the text that the grandmother experiences a moment of grace. For some, the final moments in the grandmother’s life are simply and escalation of her previous (and misguided) attempts at saving her own life by manipulating the Misfit in various ways. The grandmother may have a true moment of empathy, she may achieve a new level of manipulative, or she may be somewhere in between depending on how one interprets the author’s words. The text itself can be used to prove either point of view, and this sort of conflict is part of what makes this story a classic.
In “A Worn Path,” the key point about which our class is divided is whether Phoenix’s grandson is alive or dead. Some believe he is clearly dead before the story begins while others believe he is clearly alive during the story. Some, like myself, believe it cannot be proven either way and is irrelevant to the story as a whole. The grandson is a key aspect of the story; he is the motivation behind Phoenix’s journey. However, the text does not clearly state whether he is alive or dead. Instead, it seems to hint at both. In the same way we disagree about the grandmother’s (potential) moment of grace, we also disagree about whether the grandson was alive or dead, and this led us to have a more meaningful class discussion than would have been possible if Welty had directly stated which point of view was “correct” in her story.
A big part of what makes the stories interesting (and what makes the classics) is that they provide points on which reasonable people can disagree (potential theses!) by being open to interpretation. Below the surface of the authors’ choice of words or the plots of these stories, there is deeper meaning, and this deeper meaning can change based on the perspective of the reader.
A classic upon reading it a first time, can never impart all that it has to say. Even a short classic, such as “A Good Man is Hard to Find” evokes far too many ideas for a reader to decipher all it has to offer in one reading. What is beautiful about a classic, especially for youthful readers–still establishing a foundation in comprehension and critical thinking, is that as you read a classic you can feel the breadth of the author’s knowledge within the text. Attacking a classic critically, can seem daunting. Each rereading of the text can convey other ideas that upon a first reading were not apparent. “The Shawl” was full of this sense of discovery. Each rereading of the story changed my perspective about the text. The imagery and figurative language both contribute to the deep pool of ideas that Ozick suggests about life within a concentration camp. The language also opens wide a door for interpretation of the text. The brilliance a classic’s language can often be tested by whether or not a second and third reading impel a reader to experience the text differently.
ReplyDeleteA classic embeds ideas in the text that provoke different viewpoints and controversy. All of the classic texts read in class have been effective in their ability to draw opinion and thought from the reader. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” used the Grandmother and the Misfit to cause opinion to be felt within the reader. They evoke emotional responses from a reader. For example, the Grandmother is established with dislikeable qualities: she is selfish, racist, and patronizes others. As the story takes a sharp turn near the end the feelings that the reader had toward the grandmother fade behind the new character she encapsulates. Replacing previously dislikeable traits are those that spark an examination of the grandmother’s character and what made her likeable or distasteful. In a small amount of time the text forces the reader to reexamine their own ideas towards the character’s in the story, critically analyzing what causes the Grandmother to seem so terrible to suddenly seeming so moral and humane.
This alludes to the idea that a classic is always impelling thought. All four short pieces have done that. In Italo Calvino’s text “Why Read the Classics” he puts forth a simple idea: “A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers.” The topics discussed in the four stories are so controversial and solicit such strong opinions that it is hard to see them becoming texts with definite, widely accepted analyses. Take for example “A Worn Path” a story that on a literal level is already brimming with controversial ideas. But once the reader scratches the surface of the hypothetical, a nearly infinite void of opinion is cracked open. The best instance in “A Worn Path” is the notion that Phoenix’s grandson is actually dead. Although Welty later alluded to her belief that he was alive, readers in the class still attacked this idea and examined the text closely, finding ample evidence to support such a claim. This is just a single example of the abundant ambiguity that runs through the four classics.
It is also important for a classic in some instances to make a reader question their own beliefs or the beliefs of a society. This was evident in “The Story of an Hour,” when Mr. Mallard’s apparent death sparks a liberating joy in Mrs. Mallard, yet the supporting characters perceive this to be joy to actually be sorrow at the loss of the husband on which she relied so heavily. The text illuminates how assumptions can be wrong and the fact that men are not of total importance to women.
Ambiguity and the ability to provoke thought are both integral to a text being categorized a classic.
Gabe
This is Simon.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a classic? That, it seems, is the central question. A classic is a tale that has endured years of criticism, and a society that is constantly shifting. A classic is not a story that fades from the literary world; it remains not only a well-told tale, but a story that is relevant long after it is written.
One of the things that goes into making a story a classic is the theme of the story. Oftentimes, the most memorable stories are the ones that make us reflect on our own lives, or on the world in general. These themes are often commentaries on the human condition, things that retain their relevance to society. Themes of love are especially prevalent. For example, in "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, an old grandmother is walking through the woods to get medicine for her ill grandson. She is imperiled by many things along the way, but she remains determined to get to the hospital. Her love kept her strong and walking. This is certainly something that should be emulated, this level of compassion, by those in the real world. A classic tale can be an excellent role model for the reader.
Alternatively, they can also serve as a cautionary tale. Take, for example, the short story "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick. It focuses on the life of a mother and her two daughters living in a concentraion camp in World War Two. The younger daughter, Magda, is sustained by a magic shawl, which is coveted by her older sibling. She eventually steals it, causing Magda to leave the safety of her tent and be killed. At the end, their mother, unable to do anything else, sucks the last nourishment out of the shawl. This demonstrates the power that a short story truly has. It showed what happens when love is removed, when the human spirit is strained to its limit. The fact that both the mother and sister were so fixated on the shawl shows how they craved it--how they cared about something like nourishment, something deemed so trivial--reveals horrifying things about human nature. A good classic tale can reveals things we would rather not know about ourselves. Classics continue to be inspirations for authors and readers alike long after they are written. The messages endure, becasue they are pointedly constructed and well written.
This is a test.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading everyone's initial blog post I am still unsure of what I think about this question. I noticed a lot of people saying that classics are something that evoke thought, discussion, and meaning. While yes, this is most definitely true; I think this must be only a little piece of the puzzle. Many books that aren't classics definitely evoke discussion, thought, and meaning; and many of them may even have more then one theme or idea. I really liked what Sydney wrote about classics having issues in them that are hard to deal with, or weren't written about much in their time. She uses, "The Story of an Hour" and "The Shawl" as examples of this. I think this is interesting because its easy for authors to write something that will make people think, but it’s much harder for authors to write something that is pushing the envelope, so to speak. Now I’m thinking about the author’s intentions behind writing classics. Did Eudora Welty know that her short story was going to become a classic? And if so did she include things that people would question with the intention of coming back too? Of course all authors want their work to be read by as many people as possible, but I think that many writers may write just for the sake of writing; to get ideas on to paper. Maybe this checklist that we have developed and we use now for classics ( i.e. thought provoking, many layers, ambiguous, etc.) originally came from a handful of authors who had ideas in their heads that they wanted to preserve. But who was it that decided that it was their ideas that were the ones that deserved to be looked at over and over again. I believe that it isn’t the writers who create classics, it’s the readers and the people receiving them who have truly created what a classic is today.
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