Blog 19- "Handmaid"

We are now at the end of the story. We kind of assume that Offred isnt the most reliable narrartor, mainly because she admits it herself.
I am intrigued to see the Anthropology associastion. I am minoring in Anthropology so I kind of felt connected to this part of the story.
We also learn that the society was a failure and taht there is an entire group dedicated to seeing how they became the minority. My final thoughts are that this is an okay story. Someone who is more into the womens rights scene and politics would enjoy this more than someone like me. Overall, it was barable.

Blog 18- "Handmaid"

More information on the "affair" going on. It kind of feels like Offred is taking control of the relationship, which is difficult to comprehend.
We are starting to see that the Commander doesnt really know much about how things function that dont revolve around him. He seems fairly innocent though.
We also see that Offred is the quick thinker, not letting the Commander show emotion for her outside of their Scrabble time. If they were to be caught, it is hard to say what would happen. Possibly him losing his role and her being killed or banished out of the society?

Blog18- "Handmaid"

We are getting more information on the Commander. Turns out he and his wife arent extremely close and he is moving in on Offred. This is kind of fun to read about, it is better than her flashbacks and listening to the other women blab of freedom.
The Scrabble games make for some "bonding"? It is clear this is turning into an affair and I wonder how far they will go....

Blog 17- "Handmaid"

We have continuted to talk about THMT. It has gotten more interesting as the story has progressed.
We are no getting more information on the roles of the society and why people are named the way they are. The author seems to be having a lot of flashbacks that can cause for some confusion, but it is still barable.
I am interested in the Commanders and eyes and angels but it doesnt seem like we will ever really know their stories. It is intriuging that this story is set in the future. What does the author have in mind for our society?

Blog 16- Paper Topics

I am still undecided on paper topics. I am most interested in the colors in the story and what they say about the characters. Other paper topics are:

-the society before the "flip"
-the Commander
-who is really in charge
-where the story takes place
-is the society stable
-womens roles

I am pretty sure I will go with the colors. I am just concerned about getting enough words out of it.

Blog 15- "Handmaid"

The first 50 pages throw a lot of information at you. It is safe to say I dont know what is going to happen.
I love the part that talks about the colored dresses. It seems like they stole all of the lady's personalities by doing this.
I like the futuristic feel of the whole story. Its really intruiging that this is a colony sort of area. I like the details of the rooms, like that there is no place for a rope to be hung and all the glass is shatterproof. Clearly it is a suicide proof community.
Going over the social classes in class really helped better understand what the whole setting is like. Parts that caught my attention were the "fall of the US" and "tourists" asking questions like they knew what was going on here.

Blog 14- Macbeth Play

It was easy points! Being in front of a few people doesnt bother/scare me. It was kind of enjoyable. I like things that are different, Id much rather have done that than a worksheet or paper.


I was Banquo. It wasnt a very powerful part. It would have been cooler if we would have had more time to prepare and use costumes/props. My favorite part was watching other plays.


We had one of the more famous scenes, where Macbeth can "see" the floating dagger. I enjoyed the play that had Cole and Chris sword fighting.

Blog 13- Macbeth Ideas

3 Witches

- why are they in the play?
- they dont gain anything by these events happening
- are they hired?
- do they determine the future or just see it?
- what other things did they affect we dont know about?
- they might have put a spell on Lady Macbeth
- they may have summoned the ghost/dagger

Q1 (John)- Are the witches all evil?
A1- From what we are told in the story, yes. They do nothing but corrupt Macbeth. They offer no advice or benefit anyone in the story.

Q2 (Cole)- How much of the story are the witches ultimately repsonsible for?
A2- This is unknown. We dont know if they determine the future or if they just see it. We are told that they show Macbeth what is going to happen, but not what they are doing while the rest of the play is going on. They could be responsible for many other things we are unaware of.

Blog 12- "The Love Song"

This poem was boring. It lost my attention fairly quickly, but what I got out of it was that it is obviously a love poem. I dont think this is a typical love poem, though.

He seems scared to look at his past, like he has a lot of regrets. Im not going to act like I understand much of this poem, because I dont. Finally, is he dead?!

Blog 11- "Leda and the Swan" and "Daddy"

The first poem is just uncomfortable. With the descriptions and use of words, I think the swan and lady are having sex? This is the most awkward poem Ive ever read, atleast if it is how I interpretted it. By saying a lot of things like "loins, thighs, breasts" it leads me to believe she is stripping for the swan or being raped by a swan? I dont know exactly what the meaning of this is, or if there is supposed to be one. Any meaning out of this text would be a stretch.


Daddy wasnt very enjoyable. It seems like this girl is remembering her father, sort of. She seems unhappy, being that he is no longer around. I guess this could be inspirational or something? Then she try to commit suicide, not very cool. The whole story is kind of a downer, maybe her daddy is referring to god.

Blog 10- "The Chimney Sweeper" and "London"

This piece of poetry doesnt seem very deep. I got from it that the author is trying to emphasize the conditions that chimney sweepers dealt with, usually very young. Unless I am really missing something, this poem was fairly simple.

As for London, this was a little harder to follow. There were some words I had to google but it wasnt terrible. It seems like the poes is supposed to be about a sad time. Every stanza he talks about someone crying or feeling bad. Its hard to tell if one evenst set off this bad time, or if its something that has finally come to a breaking point. I would guess people are finally coming to a resolution about their future and feel terrible.

Blog 9- "Harrison Bergeron"

This story is ludicrous, but I loved it! I hate the thought of losing all competetiveness in nature. Without it there would be no sports or a lot of the things I love.

This seems like it could never happen, but imagining it is fun. Seeing people with masks and weight bags to counter their good looks and strength is crazy!

I like that Harrison stands up for what he believes in, but its sad his dad will never know what happened. Its ironic that the static comes right as he returns to the room to ask what was on tv. Its also sad she cant remember why she is crying. Its like they are constantly bi-polar.

The whole scene where he enters the studio, removes his handicaps, makes himself an emporer and is killed is exciting. But he can jump 30 feet? Really?

Hopefully none ot these things ever happen because we would lose our identity.

Blog 8- "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"

First off, I like the title of the story. I was waiting the whole time for it to talk about the people who leave Omelas. I was hopeful near the end that the kid was the one who would walk away from Omelas, but it wasnt.

This whole story is just erie. The child has to be frightened. The people have to be frightened. The outsiders who know of this have to be frightened.

Why this child? It drops some clues that it may have had a birth defect or mental problem. That is still no reason to make him an outcast, I think that is even less of a reason to make him an outcast. If he really does have problems why isnt anyone caring for him?

I will never fully understand this. Has the city always had a child locked up? Is this a tradition? Is he the first? What happens when he dies? Who watches after him? How long has he been locked up? Why is he locked up? Whats wrong with him? What time is this story taking place?

These people are barbaric. Dancing naked, orgys, priests participating in foul play. The whole town is crazy, especially when they know that this child exists! A good read overall, but I really wonder where these authors get their ideas!

Blog 7- Essay Ideas

I have been having trouble thinking of something about these stories that I could really dig into and investigate. I think I have settled upon my topic though. I plan on giving reasons why "The Lottery" is justifiable, showing it isnt just a mindless killing.

Some points will come from historical records. Like that this is Salem, where a lot of supernatural things were practiced in these days.

Another idea is that this is done as a sacrifice. They might not have stated it, but these quakers might have been doing this for religious purposes.

One more possibility is that this is done as a way of venting for the town. When the whole village participates in this murder, it probably substitutes for other killings, possibly dropping the crime rate all around.

I still dont think we will ever understand this act, but I would love to try.

Blog 6- "Young Goodman Brown"

This story immediately got me into the plot. I wanted to know where he was going? Why his wife couldnt come? Who was he meeting? Why was she so concerned about herself falling into temptation?

I am still wondering why he was meeting the devil in the forest. I loved the originality of this piece. Assuming the whole thing is a dream, why did he have it? Most dreams are related to something in that persons personal life, was he questioning his religion?

The man in the forest was quite intriguing as a devil figure. His serpant staff and just eerie being allowed me to almost picture him. If I was in Brown's situation, I would have hid from the lady passing by too.

It would be ridiculously shocking to find out that everyone you know and respect is demonic. I wouldnt know how to handel the situation either, but would hope my faith would stay strong.

I dont know why the pink ribbons float down? Was Faith traveling by plane to the ceremony or what?

When Goodman eventually turns on everyone in his community, he seems crazy. Jeopardizing his relationship with Faith and never looking at the town the same again seems a bit extreme!

Personally, I loved this story. There was nothing cookie cutter about it and I enjoyed the not so happy ending.

Blog 5- "The Lottery"

This was the most surprising short story that we have read yet. Filled with suspense and a lot of curiousity, the ending was awesome. I was really expecting something beneficial to happen to "the chosen one", not death.

I still wonder why this is done? The old man says it keeps them from turning into barbarians again, but how is this not barbaric itself? This is just crazy! There is no logical reason to stone an innocent housewife because a piece of paper says to.

When the family drew the black dot, I thought something terrible was going to happen to the father because he was being defended.

The victim was begging to not carry out with the lottery, but she seemed excited to start drawing cards when she arrived there late. It seems like it would be hard to not argue against the lottery if you were about to be killed.

I did not like the forshadowing by the author. When the lady arrived late, you knew she was going to have a major role in the drawing. I would have prefered the old man to fall by the hand of the lottery, or even Mr. Summers. That suspense was ruined when the lady entered the story.

Overall, I loved the originality of this story. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall then all of this was going on.

Blog 4- "The Yellow Wallpaper"

I still dont know why this story was signifigant. I think there was supposed to be some womens rights symoblism? That they were looked down upon?

Obviously she was the lady in the wallpaper, but it still wasnt very entertaining. I liked that they kind of kept her locked down, but I think thats what made her crazy.

I dont know exactly what the wallpaper was supposed to represent? I mean I know it kind of turned into a mirror sort of illusion but why yellow?

The husband seemed kind of insensitive, but he was just following the doctors orders for not letting her write. He could have helped prevent the craziness by letting her out of the room once in a while. Anybody cooped up like that would start to see things, let alone somone who is already sick.

All in all this story wasnt great for me. Ive read a lot of good short stories for classes like this, but "The Yellow Wallpaper" just wasnt one of them.

Blog 3- "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Since I have read this story for other classes, I knew what was going to happen. Still, I find myself picking up on things that I didnt notice a few years back. Now I ask questions like where is he writing this story from? What happens next? Why does this man live with him? How long did he have this anger bottled up? How old is he? What was his job?

Some of the descriptions are so good I feel like I can actually hear the heart beating or picture how dark the room really was.

I wish the killing would have been more violent. With all his anger built up I was expecting a gruesome knifing or a brawl. Instead he used a bed? Seems like for how ambitious he was it would have been more bloody. I guess since he isnt "mad" though, it makes since he didnt want evidence around.

The heart beating was obviously all in his head. It was clearly all he could think about, which is why he could hear it so vividly.

As for the cops, they seem like they should have been picking up on why the man seemed so alive and awake at 4 am. They didnt seem to get suspicious either when he started pacing and talking in a higher voice.

The story in general was a great read. It shows how some people that arent all there funtion, crazy. It is one of those deals where you would love to be a fly on the wall while all of this is going on!

Blog 2- "A Rose for Emily"

This story was, well, average. It gave the reader a lot of questions all throughout the story, which was intruiging. But in the end when all the lose ends were tied, it just seemed boring. Yes, she left her love rotting in her home, yes she was a very mysterious person, but I was so excited for what could have been!

When they spoke of the fowl odor, I immediately thought body. When they said that the negro and her were very shelted and mysterious, I thought secret. When she seemed to be going crazy, I thought murderer! I was really hoping for a cellar full of bodys and that she was a mad killer, instead she was just mad.

One thing that bothered me was when the text used words for numbers larger than nine. Im no grammar expert, but I was always taught that 1-9 should be written with numbers unless begining a sentence. In this story they wrote things like "seventy-four" and "eighty". Maybe Im a purist, but it just makes sentences more fluent.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. It kept the readers on their feet and was easy to follow. I would have done things differently, but maybe thats why Im a Biology major.

Blog 1- About Me

Since I Clepped out of the first semester of freshman English, I am not really sure what to expect for this class. If it is anything like my high school courses, then I guess I'll survive.

Again, Im a freshman here and my name is Spencer. My nickname in high school was "Boof" but I havent been called that in a few months since not a lot of my classmates go here. I got the nickname from a coach who compared me to a MLB pitcher, not that I was as talented as him, but that we looked a like. I absolutely love the outdoors, which is why I am a Biology, Ecology and Evolution major. I really want a career working in nature, whether it is with the Game, Fish and Parks or the Army Corps of Engineers, anything that helps wildlife is fine by me. In high school I played football, basketball, baseball and track. I miss those days and wouldnt trade them for anything.

I am originally from Menno, SD, a small town you have probably never heard of about 30 miles north of Yankton, we have a population of 756. Small town life is ideal to me, I loved everything about it and is want I want for my kids.

As for writing, I love to read blogs, newspapers and magazines about my interests. Politics and global warming? No way! Minnesota Twins news and fishing tips? For sure! My first couple years of high school I was so into writing that I wanted to major in Journalism Mass Communication. As the years progressed, I realized that I dont want a cubicle job. Still, I would love to be a contributor to a magazine like ESPN or Field and Stream someday!