The Tell-Tale Heart is a classic story by Edgar Allan Poe. In this story the narrator is trying to prove that he is not a madman by calmly recalling of how he murdered an old man. But at the story we can not actually say that the narrator murdered the old man or was it just his imagination. The narrator could be confusing in court or is in a mental asylum. Throughout the story there is no clue to tell whether the narrator is a man or a woman. There is no clear clue to tell the relationship of the narrator and the man. The narrator murdered the old man because one of his eye resembles a vulture. Every time the narrator sees the eyes it makes his/her blood go cold. It seems that the narrator only wants to kill the old man when the eye is open. It took him eight nights to kill the man. For the first seven nights when he shone a light on the old man's eye it was close, but in the eighth night it was open.
When the narrator hears the beating of a heart, he/she thinks it belongs to the old man. To me this proves the narrator is mad. It is impossible to know for certain if the beating is a supernatural effect, his imagination, or an actual sound. One good guess is that he was hearing the sounds that death-watch beetles make. One variety of death watch beetles raps its head against surfaces, presumably as part of a mating ritual, while others emit a ticking sound. They are associated with quiet, sleepless nights and are named for the vigil (watch) kept beside the dying or dead, and by extension the superstitious have seen the death watch as an omen of impending death.Whatever the sound may have been, it mix with the narrator's guilt, caused him to confess the murder.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Short Story Rough Draft
Untitled
It is dawn; the golden light is slowly creeping through the window to wake Tony up from his slumber. He opens his eyes slowly for they are still fill with sleep. He looks over to his right to the other side of the room where Jackie was still in his slumber. The golden light has not yet reach him. It is early in the morning and Tony is still sleepy but he does not care. He gets up from his bed and quietly goes downstairs to the washroom. No one in his house is up this early yet. He brushes his teeth and got dress in a black Nike short and blue t-shirt and went out onto the porch.
Tony sits down on a brown wooden chair on the porch and starts to clear his mind of all the bad things that happened to him during the past nine months. He is thinking of what he is going to do during the next three months for this is the first day of summer break. He is happy that he does not have to go to school and do homework now. To him it is going to be all about having fun and probably earn some money working at his parent's restaurant.
After sitting there thinking and enjoying the cool summer breeze brushing against his face, he goes inside. He does not know how long he has been out there. His mother and Jackie are now up doing their usual routine. His mother was making breakfast and today Tony can smell that she is making egg, bacon, and toast. Jackie was sitting on the soft, leather couch watching television.
Tony goes to Jackie and ask, "Hey, what you want to do today?"
"I don't know, what you want to do today?"
" Wanna go to McGuane to play some basketball?"
"Sure. Later. After lunch."
After lunch Tony and Jackie went to McGuane Park. Jackie was dribbling his new red and black basketball on the sidewalk while walking to the park. Along the way they saw a car with a broken window in front of a old,small, and white house down the block. Occasionally, they always see a car with a broken window in front of the same house every time. Their neighbor, Mrs. Ross, once told them that two kids leaving in that house are throwing rocks down from the second floor onto cars in front of their house. Tony and Jackie do not know if this is true or not but they did see a few big rocks near and inside the car.
When they got to the park, they saw that all the basketball courts were fill with people and that there was no room for them. The courts were filled with teenagers and some seniors. Tony said, "There is to many people here. Wanna go back home and just shoot some hoops in the backyard."
"Sure. Better than staying here to wait for a court to open."
The space to play basketball in their backyard is small because their mother have a garden there. They always have to be careful with the basketball as to not let it squish any of the plants and vegetables. After playing for an hour it was still early in the afternoon. They were hot and sweaty and exhausted after shooting and staying outside in the heat for so long. They decided to go inside for lunch since they are now hungry.
When they got to the top of the porch, they notice something that they have not noticed before. Jackie was the one who spotted it under a wooden, green beam. Jackie said, "Hey Tony look. There looks like there is a small beehive under there" while pointing at the direction of the beehive.
"Wow cool. I have never seen a beehive before."
"Wanna knock it down with something."
"Lol. Sure. We can use this metal rod."
Tony walk slowly toward the beehive and then he poke the beehive really hard with the metal rod and the beehive fell down. Instantly a swarm of bees fly out, buzzing loudly and angrily. They then fly toward Jackie and Tony.
To be continued ... See what happens in my next draft.
It is dawn; the golden light is slowly creeping through the window to wake Tony up from his slumber. He opens his eyes slowly for they are still fill with sleep. He looks over to his right to the other side of the room where Jackie was still in his slumber. The golden light has not yet reach him. It is early in the morning and Tony is still sleepy but he does not care. He gets up from his bed and quietly goes downstairs to the washroom. No one in his house is up this early yet. He brushes his teeth and got dress in a black Nike short and blue t-shirt and went out onto the porch.
Tony sits down on a brown wooden chair on the porch and starts to clear his mind of all the bad things that happened to him during the past nine months. He is thinking of what he is going to do during the next three months for this is the first day of summer break. He is happy that he does not have to go to school and do homework now. To him it is going to be all about having fun and probably earn some money working at his parent's restaurant.
After sitting there thinking and enjoying the cool summer breeze brushing against his face, he goes inside. He does not know how long he has been out there. His mother and Jackie are now up doing their usual routine. His mother was making breakfast and today Tony can smell that she is making egg, bacon, and toast. Jackie was sitting on the soft, leather couch watching television.
Tony goes to Jackie and ask, "Hey, what you want to do today?"
"I don't know, what you want to do today?"
" Wanna go to McGuane to play some basketball?"
"Sure. Later. After lunch."
After lunch Tony and Jackie went to McGuane Park. Jackie was dribbling his new red and black basketball on the sidewalk while walking to the park. Along the way they saw a car with a broken window in front of a old,small, and white house down the block. Occasionally, they always see a car with a broken window in front of the same house every time. Their neighbor, Mrs. Ross, once told them that two kids leaving in that house are throwing rocks down from the second floor onto cars in front of their house. Tony and Jackie do not know if this is true or not but they did see a few big rocks near and inside the car.
When they got to the park, they saw that all the basketball courts were fill with people and that there was no room for them. The courts were filled with teenagers and some seniors. Tony said, "There is to many people here. Wanna go back home and just shoot some hoops in the backyard."
"Sure. Better than staying here to wait for a court to open."
The space to play basketball in their backyard is small because their mother have a garden there. They always have to be careful with the basketball as to not let it squish any of the plants and vegetables. After playing for an hour it was still early in the afternoon. They were hot and sweaty and exhausted after shooting and staying outside in the heat for so long. They decided to go inside for lunch since they are now hungry.
When they got to the top of the porch, they notice something that they have not noticed before. Jackie was the one who spotted it under a wooden, green beam. Jackie said, "Hey Tony look. There looks like there is a small beehive under there" while pointing at the direction of the beehive.
"Wow cool. I have never seen a beehive before."
"Wanna knock it down with something."
"Lol. Sure. We can use this metal rod."
Tony walk slowly toward the beehive and then he poke the beehive really hard with the metal rod and the beehive fell down. Instantly a swarm of bees fly out, buzzing loudly and angrily. They then fly toward Jackie and Tony.
To be continued ... See what happens in my next draft.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Highwayman (song by Loreena McKennitt, poem by Alfred Noyes) Analysis
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor
And the highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding,
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by the moonlight,
Watch for me by the moonlight,
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon,
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching,
Marching, marching
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement,
The road that he would ride.
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say
"Look for me by the moonlight
Watch for me by the moonlight
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it!
The trigger at least was hers!
Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear
Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming!
She stood up straight and still!
Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.
He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were the spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding,
Riding, riding,
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Throughout history, people have for good or bad, because they followed their hearts. I think this poem/song is a example of them.
A highwayman is actually a robber who robs travelers on the road. This poem/song tells of the love between a nameless highwayman and Bess, a landlord's(innkeeper) daughter. The first five stanza is describing a meeting between the two at night, right before he is about to go rob some people. In the 4th stanza he said that he will return by morning. If he will be back by night the following day. He said that nothing will stop him from returning to her.
The next day after he left, red coats came to the inn, because I learned from researching that a ostler (stableman) saw the two lovers together and turned them in. The redcoats tied Bess to her bed and place a musket next to her. (I think it is weird they did that. I mean why would they put a musket next to her.) Then the red coats waited for the highwayman to return to the inn so that they can kill him. When it says "death at one dark window", I think that is the window that Bess can see the highwayman coming from. It is the window that she can see them kill him from.
When she saw the highwayman coming down the road, she manages to reach the gun and killed herself with it. The highwayman hearing the sound of a gunfire quickly turned and rode away. This showed that Bess must have really loved the highwayman that she would give her own life to save his. But the next day, the highwayman heard news about the death of Bess. He then rode his horse toward the inn, intending on getting revenge. But as he approaches, the red coats shot him down.
The last stanza is a repeat of the first stanza. The repetition shows that after death, they meet each other again in the afterlife and that their love for each other will always last.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor
And the highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding,
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by the moonlight,
Watch for me by the moonlight,
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon,
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching,
Marching, marching
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement,
The road that he would ride.
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say
"Look for me by the moonlight
Watch for me by the moonlight
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it!
The trigger at least was hers!
Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear
Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming!
She stood up straight and still!
Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.
He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were the spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding,
Riding, riding,
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Throughout history, people have for good or bad, because they followed their hearts. I think this poem/song is a example of them.
A highwayman is actually a robber who robs travelers on the road. This poem/song tells of the love between a nameless highwayman and Bess, a landlord's(innkeeper) daughter. The first five stanza is describing a meeting between the two at night, right before he is about to go rob some people. In the 4th stanza he said that he will return by morning. If he will be back by night the following day. He said that nothing will stop him from returning to her.
The next day after he left, red coats came to the inn, because I learned from researching that a ostler (stableman) saw the two lovers together and turned them in. The redcoats tied Bess to her bed and place a musket next to her. (I think it is weird they did that. I mean why would they put a musket next to her.) Then the red coats waited for the highwayman to return to the inn so that they can kill him. When it says "death at one dark window", I think that is the window that Bess can see the highwayman coming from. It is the window that she can see them kill him from.
When she saw the highwayman coming down the road, she manages to reach the gun and killed herself with it. The highwayman hearing the sound of a gunfire quickly turned and rode away. This showed that Bess must have really loved the highwayman that she would give her own life to save his. But the next day, the highwayman heard news about the death of Bess. He then rode his horse toward the inn, intending on getting revenge. But as he approaches, the red coats shot him down.
The last stanza is a repeat of the first stanza. The repetition shows that after death, they meet each other again in the afterlife and that their love for each other will always last.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
On the Reservation
There are many forms of racism in the world. Usually when we think of racism, it is usually between the whites and the blacks, but there are other less known forms. One example is between the whites and the Native Americans. Many treaties between Indians and whites have been broken in the past.
An American Indian Reservation is an area of land manage by a tribe of Native Americans under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. Today there are about 310 reservations in the United States but there are 510 tribes. Some tribes own one reservations, some several, some share with other tribes, and some have no reservations.
The first political leader to suggest the reservation policy was Andrew Jackson. In the 1820s, there were soaring profits to be made in cotton farming, and planters wanted to move westward into Native American lands. The Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples lived on about 100 million acres of fertile land in western parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Just after Jackson took office, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi began to take control of the Indian lands within their state, breaking federal treaties. Jackson supported these actions. In 1830 he encouraged Congress's passage of the Indian Removal Act, which authorized him to give Native Americans land in parts of the Louisiana Purchase in exchange for lands taken from them in the East.
For the 100 million acres of fertile land, the Indians only got 32 million acres back and the land was not as good as their previous lands.
An American Indian Reservation is an area of land manage by a tribe of Native Americans under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. Today there are about 310 reservations in the United States but there are 510 tribes. Some tribes own one reservations, some several, some share with other tribes, and some have no reservations.
The first political leader to suggest the reservation policy was Andrew Jackson. In the 1820s, there were soaring profits to be made in cotton farming, and planters wanted to move westward into Native American lands. The Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples lived on about 100 million acres of fertile land in western parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Just after Jackson took office, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi began to take control of the Indian lands within their state, breaking federal treaties. Jackson supported these actions. In 1830 he encouraged Congress's passage of the Indian Removal Act, which authorized him to give Native Americans land in parts of the Louisiana Purchase in exchange for lands taken from them in the East.
For the 100 million acres of fertile land, the Indians only got 32 million acres back and the land was not as good as their previous lands.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Propaganda Today
Definition from dictionary.com
Propaganda- information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
One example of propaganda is in Nazi Germany. Hitler used propaganda to brainwashed the people of Germany. He made them believe that the Jews were evil people and blamed them for the reason that Germany lost in World War I. He made the people of Germany believed that their race were superior to all other races. The most known symbol Adolph Hitler used for propaganda was the swastika; which actually mean "peace". He used this symbol to brainwashed the soldiers.
So where does propaganda exist today? Propaganda exists mostly in magazines, ads, commercials, and radio stations. The Democrats would always say bad things about the Republicans and the Republicans would do the same things to earn votes. Commercials for fast food always depicts the food as delicious, which they are (sometimes), but they never tell about the harmful things in or how the food was made. Commercials for different products would compare their products with another product and show how their products are better.
Sometimes the things that propaganda say are true, but most of the time they are wrong. So you should not believe everything that you hear or see.
Propaganda- information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
One example of propaganda is in Nazi Germany. Hitler used propaganda to brainwashed the people of Germany. He made them believe that the Jews were evil people and blamed them for the reason that Germany lost in World War I. He made the people of Germany believed that their race were superior to all other races. The most known symbol Adolph Hitler used for propaganda was the swastika; which actually mean "peace". He used this symbol to brainwashed the soldiers.
So where does propaganda exist today? Propaganda exists mostly in magazines, ads, commercials, and radio stations. The Democrats would always say bad things about the Republicans and the Republicans would do the same things to earn votes. Commercials for fast food always depicts the food as delicious, which they are (sometimes), but they never tell about the harmful things in or how the food was made. Commercials for different products would compare their products with another product and show how their products are better.
Sometimes the things that propaganda say are true, but most of the time they are wrong. So you should not believe everything that you hear or see.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Open Response to Black Boy
Black Boy is an autobiography written by Richard Wright about the early years of his life and years after that.
In his early years, Richard was hungry for attention. Such as when he was little he set the white curtains in his house on fire to see what it would look like, but another reason he did that was to get attention since he was not getting a lot of attention when his grandmother was sick. Another incident was when he would go to a local saloon and stand outside watching people go in and out of the saloon. One day a man carried him into the saloon and everyone started ordering him drinks so he would get drunk. When he was drunk, the men and women would give him a penny of a nickel to go recite vulgar words to another person. He would go to the saloon everyday since no one is at home to pay any attention to him. He goes there not for the drinks but for the attention of the men and women in the saloon.
As he gets older, he started to be hungry for freedom to do what ever he wants. He wanted to write when ever he feels like it, but all his friends and family members discourage him from doing so. He wanted to go get jobs and earn money to buy his own food and clothes, but he was not allow to do this by his Granny because they are not allow to work on Saturdays. However, she does eventually allow him to work on Saturdays since she knows his soul can not be saved. When in his teens, he tried to earn enough money to move North, since in the South the Jim Crow rules does not allow him to do certain things. He does not want to follow the rules of the whites such as to say yes,sir and no,sir to them when being asked a question. Since he could not be a writer in the South, he decided to go North so he can write whatever he wants.
I have not finished this book yet, but I hope to do so soon. So far I find this to be an interesting book and I would recommend that people should read it.
In his early years, Richard was hungry for attention. Such as when he was little he set the white curtains in his house on fire to see what it would look like, but another reason he did that was to get attention since he was not getting a lot of attention when his grandmother was sick. Another incident was when he would go to a local saloon and stand outside watching people go in and out of the saloon. One day a man carried him into the saloon and everyone started ordering him drinks so he would get drunk. When he was drunk, the men and women would give him a penny of a nickel to go recite vulgar words to another person. He would go to the saloon everyday since no one is at home to pay any attention to him. He goes there not for the drinks but for the attention of the men and women in the saloon.
As he gets older, he started to be hungry for freedom to do what ever he wants. He wanted to write when ever he feels like it, but all his friends and family members discourage him from doing so. He wanted to go get jobs and earn money to buy his own food and clothes, but he was not allow to do this by his Granny because they are not allow to work on Saturdays. However, she does eventually allow him to work on Saturdays since she knows his soul can not be saved. When in his teens, he tried to earn enough money to move North, since in the South the Jim Crow rules does not allow him to do certain things. He does not want to follow the rules of the whites such as to say yes,sir and no,sir to them when being asked a question. Since he could not be a writer in the South, he decided to go North so he can write whatever he wants.
I have not finished this book yet, but I hope to do so soon. So far I find this to be an interesting book and I would recommend that people should read it.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hungry for Attention
This week's question is about Richard Wright, author of the book I'm currently reading in lit class title Black Boy. Is Richard hungry for attention? Is he alone in this hunger?
I would say that the answer is no. Everyone always wants attention to be given to them. Some people would have younger siblings that would get more attention than them and they would try to do things to get attention.
In the story one reason Wright set the curtains on fire was to see what it would look like, but another reason was to get attention, since he was not getting a lot of attention when his grandmother is sick. He also took his father's words of killing the kitten literally to get attention as well. He would sometimes loiter outside a saloon near their flat all day to watch the drunks inside the bar. One day a man carried him in to the saloon and then everyone in the saloon started to order in drinks to get him drunk. When he is in a drunken state, they would have him recite vulgar words for a penny or a nickel. I would also consider this as him being hungry for attention since no one is at home to watch him. He would go to the saloon everyday hoping someone would take him in and buy him some drinks. He goes to the saloon all the time not for the alcohol but for the attention of the men and women in the saloon.
Richard's mother was also trying to get attention. After she got a job as a cook, when she got home she would talk to Richard and his brother for hours about how they now have no father and that they have to learn to take care of themselves.
I would say that the answer is no. Everyone always wants attention to be given to them. Some people would have younger siblings that would get more attention than them and they would try to do things to get attention.
In the story one reason Wright set the curtains on fire was to see what it would look like, but another reason was to get attention, since he was not getting a lot of attention when his grandmother is sick. He also took his father's words of killing the kitten literally to get attention as well. He would sometimes loiter outside a saloon near their flat all day to watch the drunks inside the bar. One day a man carried him in to the saloon and then everyone in the saloon started to order in drinks to get him drunk. When he is in a drunken state, they would have him recite vulgar words for a penny or a nickel. I would also consider this as him being hungry for attention since no one is at home to watch him. He would go to the saloon everyday hoping someone would take him in and buy him some drinks. He goes to the saloon all the time not for the alcohol but for the attention of the men and women in the saloon.
Richard's mother was also trying to get attention. After she got a job as a cook, when she got home she would talk to Richard and his brother for hours about how they now have no father and that they have to learn to take care of themselves.
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