Good writing should entertain you and great writing should stay with you and
cause you to think.
When I first read some of Miss Porter’s work, I came away feeling depressed, empty and wondering why she even wrote. Her stories seemed unfinished, incomplete and pointless. However, I find myself thinking about those works, discovering new things and realizing a deeper meaning in the stories.
Katherine Anne Porter’s stories are brilliant, vivid snapshots of lives, and reveal the foolishness of man. Everyone sees life from their own perspective and bases their actions and thoughts on personal experiences. Some of her characters will never see past their own noses, while others cannot get the courage to change. Reality clashes with dreams in many stories, and can leave disillusionment or despair.
In Miss Porter’s short story, Maria Concepción, the title character finds her dream shattered when she discovers her husband is having an affair. The husband runs off with the other woman, but they return the next year. Maria Concepción loses her baby during the year, but the rival gives birth when she returns. Maria Concepción stabs her rival to death. Her husband (and the entire village) protect her and proclaim her innocence, even though they know she is guilty. In the end, she takes the rival’s baby as her own, and reclaims her husband. He is miserable, but she is happy. She has gotten what she wanted, and restored her dream. (Porter, Maria Concepción 9-27)
This should make us think about our own actions. Do the ends justify the means Is our dream worth the cost? Many live only for themselves and never consider the wants and needs of others. I believe Miss Porter intended the reader to think about these things and, perhap...
... middle of paper ...
.... Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Ashley, George Segal, José Greco and Heinz Rühmann. RCA/Columbia Pictures, 1965. Film.
This film was based on Katherine Anne Porter’s novel of the same name.
Stout, Janis P. Katherine Anne Porter: a Sense of the Times. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1995. Print.
This book represents an analytical biography of Katherine Anne Porter.
Tanner, James T. F. The Texas Legacy of Katherine Anne Porter. Denton (Tex.): University of North Texas, 1991. Print.
This book is a critical study of Katherine Anne Porter.
West, Jr., Ray B. “Katherine Anne Porter.” Seven American Women Writers of the Twentieth Century: an Introduction. Ed. Maureen Howard. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1977. 122-65. Print.
This book contains an essay on Katherine Anne Porter.
Although Susanna Kaysen’s ordinary world is somewhat unstable and ambiguous in its direction, and her call to adventure is life-threatening, Susanna’s circumstances set her on a journey of self-understanding and discovery. There are parallels between Kaysen and Alex McCandless, the
All in all, the story was rather sad but eye-opening. I believe Porter’s approach to writing this story allowed readers to reflect back on their own lives and examine both the good and not-so-good times. It shows people not to just live life through the motions, but rather, to look at it as beautiful journey as no one wants to end up like Granny Weatherall and realize that with she never really lived.
In Jean Rhys’ novel “Good Morning Midnight” the reader is introduced to Sasha Jansen. Sasha is a run of the mill alcoholic who has seemingly been handed the most dreadful hand in life. Her husband deserted her, her child died, she is poor, and mostly—she is isolated and alone. Her viewpoints on the world, and herself, are very cynical and pessimistic. Sasha’s story details her downfall in a stream of consciousness narrative that takes the reader from one thing to the next and back again. It tells of the things she has sensed which leads to the inevitable end of hopelessness which causes her to suffer severe disconnection from the world around her. The problem is, absolute hopelessness is the best thing that Sasha could find for herself. For Sasha, everything must be kept in perspective. She must not go places that make her remember, she must not do things that make her remember, and she must not see things that make her remember. For Sasha, remembering her tragedies means destroying the careful routine that she has crafted for her life. Sasha herself alludes to this when she claims “[she] doesn’t want the way to the exhibition, [she] wants the way out.” (13)
This piece of autobiographical works is one of the greatest pieces of literature and will continue to inspire young and old black Americans to this day be cause of her hard and racially tense background is what produced an eloquent piece of work that feels at times more fiction than non fiction
No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...
The life of Jane Kenyon was one full of victories, hardships, and all around love for her creative and poignant poetry that she shared with the world. Throughout the terrible events that plagued her adulthood, Kenyon maintained persevering and doing what she loved most, which was to keep writing and inspiring others. Many people who read her poetry were able to catch a glimpse into the underlying meaning that was intertwined into the verses. The purpose of Kenyon's writings was to show the world about her attempt to do her best in staying strong even through all the deprivations that occurred in her life. She was able to combine her private life with her love for her work, just like most great poets do. However,
Through different events that occur, or better yet, through an “awakenings,” Edna turns into an upsettingly free woman, who lives separate from her significant other and children. Edna is also liable only to her own impulses and desires. Unfortunately, Edna’s awakening isolates her from others and eventually leads nowhere; she is left in complete loneliness.
As I look back on my past, I am pleased with my life, my accomplishments and my failures. I can say there may have been some rough times but I wouldn’t do anything over. I am now sixty-nine years old and feel it is time to reminisce. I was born on September 7th, 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Of course I do not remember this but whom does it hurt to start from the very beginning. When I was barely three my mother was executed, I may have not a vivid memory or memory at all but later on in my life, it affected me. I wonder what it would’ve been like to have a real mother instead of a lot of stepmothers. Katherine Champernowne taught my first education. I was taught many subjects and several languages that are very useful and helped me talk with foreign ambassadors. I had a close bond with Katherine she was like a mother to me. Later on my new stepmother Katherine Parr, hired me a private tutor named William Grindal. When he died of the plague Roger Ascham became my tutor. Not only did I excel in school but I played instruments, was a hunter, and an equestrian. I secretly aided the Dutch when they rebelled against Spanish tyranny. This caused Philip II to retaliate by helping Catholic conspire against Elizabeth. This undeclared war went on for years, until an English army came into the Netherlands of 1585. Katherine Parr became the Dowager Queen when henry died and I went to live with her, but left after rumors that suggested that Thomas Seymour (Katherine’s husband at the time) was cheating with me.
Giving up something significant can be a trying yet telling process. The Awakening by Kate Chopin highlights the epiphanic journey of Edna Pontellier in the late 1800s. Edna’s life changes while she is in Grand Isle due to the sacrifice of the entirety of her lifestyle in exchange for youthful freedom. This sacrifice proves Edna’s character to be one of determination, passion, and strength.
Harriet Manners doesn’t know what to do or say when a modeling agent happens to ask her to model for Yuka Ito - a really famous fashion designer. Harriet knows nothing about fashion, I mean nothing, she once went to school in cat costume. So when she says yes she is whisked off to Russia for her first modeling shoot. Will she be a star or fall out of her sky?
From the beginning of Kat’s life, she was at odds with her environment. When she was a child, she was Katherine, a doll like representation of what her mother wanted her to be. As a teenager she was Kathy, a representation of what she believed others wanted, “a bouncy, round-faced [girl] with gleaming freshly washed hair and enviable teeth, eager to please and no more int...
Margaret Walker was born on July 7, 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama to Reverend Sigismund C. Walker and Marion Dozier Walker (Gates and McKay 1619). Her father, a scholarly Methodist minister, passed onto her his passion for literature. Her mother, a music teacher, gifted her with an innate sense of rhythm through music and storytelling. Her parents not only provided a supportive environment throughout her childhood but also emphasized the values of education, religion, and black culture. Much of Walker’s ability to realistically write about African American life can be traced back to her early exposure to her black heritage. Born in Alabama, she was deeply influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and received personal encouragement from Langston Hughes. During the Depression, she worked for the WPA Federal Writers Project and assists Richard Wright, becoming his close friend and later, biographer. In 1942, she was the first African American to win the Yale Younger Poets award for her poem For My People (Gates and McKay 1619). Her publishing career halted for...
Like the majority of literary criticism of Katherine Anne Porter's "Rope," Jane Krause DeMouy's comments are part of a larger work examining the thread of characteristics, themes and techniques woven throughout Porter's writings. In her "Katherine Anne Porter's Women: The Eye of Her Fiction," DeMouy focuses primarily on six stories published in "The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter" between 1922 and 1928. She characterizes them as "all stories of women caught in constricting circumstances who must recognize and confront two burdens in their lives: Their sexuality and their social position." DeMouy suggests that in "Rope," Porter is examining circumstances in which a woman of her own background and social standing might find herself, trapped in an unhappy marriage and personally limited by the attitudes and values of her spouse.
Flowering Judas” is a story of faith being betrayed time again that hooks the reader with being able to look into a woman's life and mind. Faith being betrayed in Porters story is displayed throughout the entirety of the writing with various symbols guiding our way through Laura's life and mind due to the technique of stream of consciousness. This writing style and the point of view makes the story sometimes an overwhelming read but once dove into the deeper meaning the story opens with symbolism and articulate word choice to grasp the reader to guide them through the selection. The short story by Katherine Anne Porter “Flowering Judas” leads
“Dialogue in fiction is what characters do to one another,” the novelist Elizabeth Bowen argued. What is read and discussed is what the characters create, what they do, how they react, etc. Katherine Mansfield recapitulates exactly that through her creative and illustrating short stories. Mansfield takes you on a ride throughout her stories through the use of many different literary techniques displaying feelings and emotions. Katherine Mansfield wrote “A Dill Pickle,” a short story based on two former lovers. Through the use of symbols and themes, the short story takes us through the world of these two characters, who show changes they have gone through that essentially reopened the wounds of their past relationship.