"Seventeen Syllables"

Seventeen Syllables is a short story which is centered around the cultural differences of Japanese immigrants and their children, the struggles of an arranged marriage and the loneliness of Japanese women in the 20th century.

The story is about an American born girl whose mother and father are Japanese immigrants. The girl, Rosie, does not understand why her mother is so into Haiku. The girl also has a crush on a Mexican named Jesus. The girl and her mother have cultural and language barriers which complicates their relationship. When the girl's mother receives an award, the husband goes nuts and breaks it. The tirade causes Rosie's mom to tell her that she does not love her husband, and that she married him only as a way from suicide. This shocks Rosie, especially that she was having a nice relationship with Jesus.

This was not the best story of the semester. It was not the most interesting, and except for the climax, it was not fast moving. The take home message of the story is to not marry someone you are not in love with. During the 20th century, arranged marriages were very common, leaving no say to the people. However, this story is saying that marriage should not occur unless both parties are in love.

"A Jury of Her Peers"

This short story was interesting. The story was about a small town in which a murder occurred. Minnie Wright was a suspect in the murder of her husband, and some of her friends were rounded up to look through evidence at the Wright's house. When they get to the house, they notice it is messy, among other things. From the state of the house, the women infer that the marriage was falling apart. The quilts had uneven stitching, and the kitchen was a mess. The women also see the canary, which had been killed.

The women, who are going through the house try to justify what Minnie did by talking about the appaling conditions that Minnie had to live in. They talk about how their house did not even have a telephone. Becuase they feel pity for their friend who murdered her husband, they decide to conceal some evidence. The women take the canary, and make a story of how a cat came and took it.

This story seems to touch on human ethics. It is not right to hide evidence of a murderer even if the person is your friend. That is the major message I got from this story.

"Battle Royal"

The story "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison is the first chapter of the book Invisible Man. The story is of an African American man who is extremely well educated and smart. The story takes place in a small southern town, when conditions were far from equal for white and African American people. The narrator of the story is the main character and tells the story from his memory.

The narrator believes that the way to equality is through humility and not speaking up. He is well accepted in teh white community because of these views. The narrator is invited to speak at a graduation. When he arrives, he is told he has to take part in a fight with other African American men before he speaks. The African American men are the "entertainment" for the party, and not viewed as equal to the white men. It is very demeaning for the men, and when the narrator speaks, he is basically ignored, and none of his points are paid attention to.

This story is an example of how individuals should speak up to get things which they believe in. The main theme of this story is how people are invisible and viewed as stereotypes, which is a very disrespectful view.

"A Rose for Emily"

"A Rose for Emily" is an interesting short story written by William Faulkner. It is split up into five chapters, and describes the life of Emily. It seems Emily is a southern belle who is very needy. She lives in Mississippi, and is dependant on her Father for many things, for instance forgiving her taxes.

The story is sort of a flashback; it starts at her death and then talks about her life. It seems that Emily gets very desperate to find a man to court her after her fathers death. When her boyfriend does not propose to her, it is implied that she kills him with arsenic.

Emily make belives her fairytale by getting her boyfriend a suit and other things for a wedding. When she dies, the townspeople enter her home and find, in a hidden room, Homer's body, along side where she would have slept since his death.

This story is interesting and seems like it is of a woman who is desperate and a bit mentally unstable. The short story was not very short, written in a different perspective and was written in English that seemed very modern by 1930's standards.

"The Use of Force"

I enjoyed "the Use of Force." It was a short story in which the reader could not easily figure out when reading the story. Diphtheria is a disease in which forms a membrane on the tonsils. The disease progresses to destroy nerve fibers, eventrually inhibiting the individuals motor functions. This disease leads to death (at the time of the story).

Using clues from the story, it seems like it was written in the nineteenth century. This is inferred from when the mother says that she payed the physician $3 for the check up. Also, the physician comes to their house which was common during the 1800's.

The story is written in the point of view of the physician. Throughout the story, he does his best to diagnose and treat the little girl. He is a compassionate physician, who, after multiple attempts, gets fed up and decides that he has to use force in order to determine a diagnosis. It seems like the little girl know she may be afflicted with this disease but does not want anyone to know about it. She may not want to accept the fact that having this disease in the time period she was alive inevitably leads to death.