Superficial Beauty And Culture

Author’s Note: I wrote this as a response to the story “Ribbons,” by Laurence Yep. In this I compare culture in  China and what they believe about beauty to what the US believes about beauty.

In China culture is very different than in the US. For example women in China are considered obsolete and meaningless. A long time ago in China it was considered beautiful for women to have very small feet. So parents in order to make sure they’re daughter can grow up to be considered beautiful and marry a rich man they made them bind their feet when they were young. This would make the feet not grow as much and when the feet did grow they would grow under the feet creating the “beautiful,” desired feet.

They’d wrap the feet in ribbons and this was how they bound their feet. For the grandma ribbons bring back terrible memories for the grandma. But for the granddaughter ribbons symbolized her love of dancing. Because of the different symbols for the ribbons it made it an important title with a significant meaning, which compares the thought of beauty between China and the US.

Not only in China is there superficial beauty but also in the US there is superficial beauty for girls and women. One example is that girls and women are mostly considered beautiful when they are thin, and have little to no fat on them. Also in the US beauty is shown by looking young and having clear, wrinkle free skin with high cheekbones and not having features or parts of your face that make you stick out such as a nose. Women in the US use surgery to make themselves look “beautiful,” this is similar to China in the way that they bound girls feet to give them the superficial “beauty.”

Who Am I?

Author’s Note: This was written to describe a specific character and give clues as to who we are describing so you can guess our mystery character. Christa Buth and I wrote this piece together.

I’m your friend till the end. I may look like a simple child’s toy, but trust me there is much more to me than that. You will see my bright red hair and overalls and think oh that’s cute. Little do you know, I have a plan. My soul is trapped due to voodoo and only one person can get me out of this body. I must kill everyone around him to get him alone, and once I do I must start my life over as a six year old.

You have seen many just like me, but I am different. I talk and walk, but here’s the catch, I have no batteries. As I spend more and more time in this plastic body, it is slowly becoming my own. If I don’t switch soon I will become a child’s companion forever.

You can burn me, drop me, you can smash my head ,but the only way to kill me is to stab me in the heart. But good luck killing me before I kill you. Many have found out my agenda, but I got to them before they got to me. So think twice before coming after me and getting in my way, you could end up just like them.  I may be a nice guy but trust me and my victims, I’m not a nice guy.

Just remember, “We’re friends till the end.”

After You My Dear Alphonse Response

Author's Note: I wrote this to respond on the story, "After You My Dear Alphonse," by Shirley Jackson. I will talk about how reverse racism and stereotyping is in Pewaukee, and the world. Also I will talk about the author's message and what she was trying to teach us.

Shirley Jackson was trying to teach us a lesson about how you shouldn’t believe all the stereotypes you hear about people and places and how to treat different people you would any other person. When Johnny’s mom was asking Boyd so many questions, and really seeming to believe the stereotypes, Boyd was acting all suspicious and seemed to be questioning why she was acting so weird and asking such bizarre questions. This story seemed like it was to teach us how mean and occasionally naive you can sound by believing these stereotypes and expecting them to be true and accurate about everyone.

I think this story compares to Pewaukee because we also believe many stereotypes about people who are in different schools and cities than us. For example, a stereotype about people is Waukesha is, poor or gang related. Usually they are associated as bad news and trouble. Also we associate Milwaukee with gangs, shootings, robberies and people who belong in jail. But I have met people from both places and not everyone from there is the way we stereotype them. This also happens all over the world with different countries and ethnicities. We can all learn from Shirley Jackson’s story, we can learn not to believe everything we hear and not everyone is the same in these places so we should get to know the person without making assumptions based on how they look, their ethnicity and where they’re from. 

Goodbye

Author’s Note: I wrote this as an alternate ending for the book, Hate List, by Jennifer Brown. Hate List, is about a girl, Valerie, who made a hate list with her boyfriend and one day her boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on her school and killed many people, specifically targeting people on the hate list they made and then killed himself. The book talks about what happened leading up to that day and Valerie’s life after that day. I wrote this piece to demonstrate voice in my writing.

That emptiness I was left with once I had lost my only friend all year, was grueling. I haven’t felt this low since the aftermath of that wretched day, the day Nick opened fire on all those people, leaving me here to pay the price of his mistake. He left me here to walk these halls, with no friends, and only enemies. And now when someone tries to be my friend, to care about me, I shove them away. I don’t deserve to have a friend, I’m just a waste of space in these halls, and on this earth. I know my father wishes Nick hadn’t missed and hit me in the leg, but blew off my head.  At least ninety percent of the world thinks I deserve to be dead instead of those innocent victims, and I’m starting to believe that too.

I slowly opened my desk drawer, retrieving my pen and my notebook. I began my letter to my mother, my father and anyone else who would listen to what I had to say. Tears filling my eyes I began to write…

Dear, Mom, Dad and Frankie,

I’m sorry, I’ve ruined all your lives. I’m done making you all pay for my mistakes. I know you all wish I could just be the kind of daughter, and sister you all wished I could be. I know now how to prevent my mistakes from affecting your lives. You probably wish I’d just done this before everything happened, before Nick killed all those people and before I ruined your lives, forever making you all the family of that girl who made a list with her boyfriend, and  is responsible for killing all those kids. 

I think you guys should know that I had no idea Nick was going to do that, I don’t know how I missed all the signs, but it still is partially my fault. If I’d never started that stupid list you guys wouldn’t be in this mess with me. And Frankie, I am so sorry for destroying your childhood, you shouldn’t have had to deal with this and for that I’m sorry.

I know there is no way for me to make it up for you all. Mom and Dad, you probably wish you’d never had me, that you’d had an A+ student, who is on student  council and has tons of friend and a great, smart boyfriend who is respectful and never will embarrass you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the daughter you guys deserved.

I don’t expect you two to forgive me, but I’m hoping doing this will keep you from paying for my mistakes.

Goodbye and sorry,

Valerie

Slowly, I reached under my bed and pulled out a black box. Carefully taking the lid off, I reached in and pulled out a shotgun. Shaking , I rested it against my head trying to hold back tears, I took a deep breath and between sobs I uttered , “I’m sorry.” Swiftly, I pulled the trigger, doing what everyone wishes I or Nick had done in the first place, ending the pain I’ve caused my family and the families of the victims. 

Music and Lighting

Author's Note: I wrote this as an analysis of the film for the short story, "A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” by Earnest Hemingway. I analyzed the music used in the film and how it affects the tone and the feelings of the characters and the viewers watching it. I also analyzed the lighting choices and how it affected the interpretation of the film. 

The music in the film for the short story, “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” did a good job of making you feel how the characters were feeling. In the beginning, the music was really eerie and almost like the music you hear in horror movies. The music in the beginning made you feel scared and afraid, I think the director did this because that’s how the old man and the middle aged waiter were probably feeling at the time when they were alone. Then in bar, the music was really loud and it sounded like an accordion playing. Along with the music there was loud talking and a bunch of conversations between the different groups of people, and there was the middle aged waiter saying a bunch of nonsense words and a prayer but skipping words and saying nada instead. When the director did this it makes you feel really claustrophobic and overwhelmed, which is probably how the middle aged man felt and how the old man would have felt had he been in that situation. At the very end of the film, the middle aged waiter was walking home, but it was completely silent other than the occasional seagull making noise, I think this was done to make the viewer think and feel calm like the man was feeling.  The director’s choice in music and voices did a really good job of making the viewer feel as the characters did.

The lighting in the film also impacted the film a lot and helped tell the story and how the characters were feeling. The dark eerie street view of the cafe and deep grey lighting in the beginning went along with the music and helped create that eerie almost scary scene. Then in the cafe the lighting was very bright and the walls and ceiling were bright, which made it seem like it was day time and made you feel safe and calm. Especially the open set up of the cafe helped create that calm feeling. Once the middle aged waiter got to the bar, the lighting wasn’t as bright as in the cafe but still lighter than it was in the beginning. The lighting was really warm colored and the set up of the bar was really cluttered and there were tables, people and things everywhere. Even the walls were full of pictures and things hanging, which made it feel really cluttered and helped give the overwhelmed, claustrophobic feeling, like how the music made you feel. The lighting at the end of the film, as the middle aged waiter was walking home, was natural daytime light and it gave a sense of relief, and calmness. I think this was meant to make the viewers feel as relieve as that man was that the night was over and now he could relax. That’s how the lighting impacted the story and the film. 

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Author's Note: I wrote this as a response to the question, Write a brief analysis of the two waiters.  What do they represent about life? What does the café symbolize, about the short story, "A Clean, Well-litted Place," by Earnest Hemingway. 

 The younger waiter is very impatient and talks about how he just wants to go home and sleep but this old man is still there drinking. Throughout the story he gets more and more mad and impatient, he is saying rude things to and about this old man who is making him stay there as he drinks the night away. While this young waiter is growing more and more impatient the older waiter doesn’t seem to mind that the old man is just sitting there drinking while their waiting on him. It seems as though the old waiter wants the old man to stay as long as he pleases and doesn’t mind being up so late. The young waiter represents impatience and rudeness, because of his attitude towards the old man. The older waiter represents understanding and wisdom, because of how he seems to be more understanding about waiting and how he is standing up for the old man when the younger waiter is being rude. Lastly the café symbolizes a safe place, it seems the older waiter and the old man both use it as a well lit place of peace and an escape. For the old man and the older waiter it is an escape, from insomnia.

Ransom of Red Chief Quote Analysis

Author's Note: I wrote this to analyse the importance of the quote in the short story, "The Ransom of Red Chief." 

The quote, “You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands,” is important because it shows the irony in the story. It shows the irony, because the whole point of the kidnapping is to get money from the dad, assuming he would want his son back. The irony of the plan is that in the end, they end up having to pay money for the father to take his son back, because the boy is absolutely obnoxious and a pain in the butt. That’s why the quote is so important to the story.