‘Painted Love Letters’, written by Catherine Bateson.
The cover of this book looks like a painting of a black & white picket fence, with trees in the background behind the fence, and a purple bougainvillea hanging in the front. It suggests the book will be about a family- because of the stereotype of white picket fences in front of traditional family houses, the families that live in the suburbs with two kids and both parents, a canine and a “happy” life. But because behind the fence there are, what look like, pine trees, it prompts to suggest that the story isn’t set in the suburbs. What made me choose ‘Painted Love Letters’ was the thickness. Indeed a bit shallow, I wasn’t in the mood for a thousand paged, completely engaging novel.
“Before and After.” – the first chapter.
‘Dad said that in Nurralloo we were surrounded by Philistines who wouldn’t know a good painting if it jumped up and bit them, but at the pub they hung one of his small watercolours, a sketch he called it, and Dad got free beers. He said by the time I was sixteen, we’d be rich. We’d celebrate my birthday in Paris, the city of art and lovers. Mum said, ‘Don’t put ideas in her head Dave Grainger. Chrissie, don’t listen to him,’ and flicked her tea towel at him but later she pulled down one of Dad’s art books and showed me paintings of people dancing in Paris and a Paris pub which looked posher than the Station Hotel.’
My initial response to the writing is it seems temperately colloquial. It makes me feel as though I am a young teenager’s journal- so it wouldn’t consist of acutely complex language or unfamiliar phrases. It is definitely not compelling, but on the up-side it can be understood and related to quite simply. For example, I can imagine my fat...
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...ere a part of me. I knew everything now about love and death, everything I needed to know.”
My prediction was correct, but only because of the build up of Dave’s death in the beginning of the book. The end was very satisfying – I believe the author put a really good close to the book. Chrissie had grown up and learnt so much about life at such a young age.
If I were basing the conclusion on how I would have behaved, I would have had Chrissie disintegrate into nothing because she had such a huge part of her life ripped away from her. But, I think Catherine Bateson’s ending is much more pleasant, and definitely touches my heart.
When I think about it, the front cover in a sense symbolises Dave’s life. He is the purple bougainvillea hanging on the black and white fence. This could be a way of how they celebrate his life – show how bright he was in a cold world.
Ulf Kirchdorfer, "A Rose for Emily: Will the Real Mother Please Stand Up?” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 10/2016, Volume 29, Issue 4, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0895769X.2016.1222578
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman recounts, by means of Jane’s journal, the story of Jane and her husband John, following the birth of their baby. Like Gilman, Jane suffers from post-partum depression, and, her husband, who is a physician, locks her in the nursery on the top floor of their summer home. After the first few weeks of her summer in isolation, Jane hides her journal, which contains her true thoughts, so that John will be unaware of...
William Faulkner and Charlotte Gilman are two well known writers for intriguing novels of the 1800’s. Their two eccentric pieces, "A Rose for Emily" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are equally alluring. These authors and their works have been well recognized, but also critized. The criticism focuses on the society that is portrayed in these novels. The modern readers of today’s society are resentful to this dramatic society. These two novels are full of tradition, rebellion and the oppression over women’s rights. Both of these novels share the misery of the culture, but there is some distinction between the two. "A Rose for Emily" is a social commentary while "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an informative novel about the writer herself. The authors outlook focus on the gloomy structure in society during that time frame and therefore, create down hearted, reckless characters that offer stimulation for women of all generations.
“A Rose for Emily’’ By William Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,” are two short stories that both associate qualities of differences and similarities. Both stories have several similarities in setting, symbolism and characterization. A major difference of both stories are the point of view they were written in, “A Rose for Emily” is written in third person and “The Yellow Wallpaper” is written in first person point of view. The two short stories are about the women being forced into isolation because of their gender and the beliefs of the men controlling their lives. Both female characters are overwhelmed with maintaining the image that is imposed by the men in high societies, but even more with the feeling of imprisonment and dealing with being mentally and emotionally ill. Although, the stories are similar they have their own twists.
The ending of this book was a cliffhanger. In my opinion that is the worse kind of ending, but that’s how that writing persuades the reader to get the next book in the series. Without giving too much away about the end of the story, it was very unexpected. To be
The symbolism and imagery used in the short stories paints a vivid picture into the author’s train of thought. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Shirley Jackson were not normal writers. The stories are a form of gothic writing. This paper will be analyzing the point of view, symbolism, and setting in the stories The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.
“The Yellow Wallpaper:” a Symbol for Women As the narrator presents a dangerous and startling view into the world of depression, Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces a completely revitalized way of storytelling using the classic elements of fiction. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” combines a multitude of story elements that cannot be replicated. Her vast use of adjectives and horrifying descriptions of the wallpaper bring together a story that is both frightening and intensely well told. Using the story’s few characters and remote setting, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the wallpaper as both a representation of the narrator and the story’s theme, as well as a symbol for her descent into the abyss of insanity. As the story opens, the suspiciously unnamed narrator and her husband, John, temporarily move into a new home (226).
I did not like the ending of the story. I found that the ending was very predictable and anticlimactic, especially when all the tension was being built up throughout the rest of the book. When I was nearing the end of the book I was already starting to envision the ending of the book and when I got to the end I was disappointed to see that I was correct. I would have preferred if the ending was more of a cliff-hanger and ended completely different than anyone would have expected.
Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Literature a World of Writing: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays. Ed. David Pike, and Ana Acosta. New York: Longman, 2011. 543-51. Print.
Although the stories are very different, the tension stems from the perception and expectations of women in society during the time each story was written. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the character struggles throughout the story due to her controlling husband and a woman’s role in society during this time. On the other hand, "A Rose for Emily” shows the struggle of Emily Grierson and her inability to accept the changing times due to a father who controlled her into only knowing and understanding his ideal of a southern
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond was done Adelaide Labille Guiard in 1785. It was done in Paris, France and the medium is oil on canvas. Adelaide Labille Guiard was born in 1749 and died in 1803. She was one of few to practice and master at miniatures, pastels and oil paintings. Due to male dominance in these practices, women were not accepted as pupils, due to society perception that women are not able to follow instructions as easily as men.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is set in the countryside, miles away from the nearest village, in a summer home. Surrounded by hedges, a garden, and servants’ quarters, the setting provides a serene but confined feel to the story. The setting gives off a feel of tranquility but later on is discovered
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 2011. Print.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Ed. Jon C. Scott, Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers. Canada: Nelson Thomas Learning, 2002. 902-913.
The novel starts right off with the notion of a love between a mother and a son. Even at a young age, Stephen is able to distinguish that his mother is a source of pure, unabridged love. “His mother had a nicer smell than his father. ”(1) At a very young age the artist is already beginning to form because of women, he is beginning to see beauty through the senses.