Thin Cities

       The city of Opuesto is made up of two half-cities. One lay in ruins, but you can still see the structures that used to stand, the other lay in same condition as it was when it was first built. In one city the sky lines are crowded with nails that have been banged into the wood. Everything from the skyscrapers that rise above the city, the steam boats, to the walkways that the inhabitants cross as did their ancestors thousands of years prior are made of wood. The other half of the city is made of metal and lay in pieces as people every day move to the half made of wood. All that is left of the city made of metal are the schoolyards that are deserted and a few homes that people with ghostly faces reside in.
       I learned that the half-city of Opuesto, with its foundations made out of metal, was never meant to be permanent only a temporary residence while immigrants flooded these cities. They stay in the side made of metal until their new home is built out of wood. Every moment I tell you of this half city, another piece of metal begins to decay. And so every week, men dressed in uniforms remove the scraps that have decayed overtime. Here remains the half of Opuesto where the strongest material lie and the material will never die.

To see the next city in our project, click HERE

Invisible Cities

So far reaching the "climax" of Invisible Cities by Calvino, I have mixed feelings about the story. Moving away from the orthodox structure of a book and towards another direction throws me off. His way of dividing the book doesn't make the story harder to read but is just different. However, I do believe it benefits the stories of the individual cities and the book as a whole. Aside from the structure of the book, I enjoy the book. I personally admire Calvino's choice to describe each city and the individuality it adds. Every city is different in its own unique way which adds to the story by making you want to learn more about each of Polo's adventures. I believe the description is able to hold my attention throughout the story, instead of wanting to know what happens next which follows with a typical plot arc. Without a plot, the story does seem a little repetitive with learning of a new city almost every page which makes the story boring at points. But, the separation with the conversations between Khan and Polo brighten the story.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Prediction

This story has left us with the relationship of Janie and Tea Cake having signs of strength but also rough patches. The story being told in the past began with Janie coming back home alone with the overalls she wore from the muck. I think this foreshadowing depicts Janie leaving Tea Cake. I think he is going to either cheat on her or take her money similar to the past women in the village who have run of with younger men. I think she is going to react to it by not showing submission and staying with him like she has before, but leaving him and going back home.

A Blessing In Disguise

This years spring has brought joy to many people and especially those living in the North East. This years winter was longer than usual, brought harsh weather, bone chilling winds and large amounts of snow. However, in turn this spring has brought comforting weather with highs in the seventies which to me is perfect weather. It has been consistent so far and a nice break from the unpredictable and long winter we had this year. With most students in Pennsylvania high schools having off during the brutal winter weather we had this year, George School classes were still in session. Treading through the snow was terrible and draining. But, now that the snow is all gone and we are having great weather, George School's campus looks great. The flowers are blossoming, activities are resuming once again and the campus is miraculous!

Mary Gaitskill "The Little Boy"

Gaitskill's story of The Little boy was well written and I discovered it to have a much deeper meaning after my class and I analyzed the story. Coming across the central conflict in the story, the pieces came together in understanding the story and message. The conflict in "The Little Boy," was about the disconnect between how Bea really feels about her ex- husband and what her daughters perceive. Throughout the story, the motif of Megan having a disconnect with her mother after not leaving her abusive husband, by saying, "You had nothing but contempt." This idea of showing Bea's weakness and submission to her husband proved her love for him and the unbreakable bond true love forms by the author. Her husband Mac is portrayed as the stereotypical man who can't express his true feelings to his wife who he is supposed to love and feel comfortable around, but expresses himself through rage and violence. Mac's malicious acts towards his wife, acting childish and having an affair with another woman left the Bea's children and the readers confused of why she wouldn't leave her husband sooner. Through analysis, we understood Bea's rationalization and forgiveness of her husband. Bea is conflicted by having her love clash in front of her which complicates her life. Her daughters say one thing, her heart says another, and her husband acts indifferently. Bea is truly in love and love never dies. The story has many flash backs to the past and then settling down in the present. The author uses a family in the airport to trigger these moments. A family consisting of a woman, Lee Ann, and a son, Michael, cause Bea to remember the good times she had experienced as a mother. Now in her seventies, Bea's husband has died, and the conflict and the denial and refusal to let her daughters opinion come between the bond that her and her ex-husband shared has left her lonely and a bad relationship between her two daughters. That little boy, Michael, reminds her of the good times she had as a mother and wife. Michael is used as a prompt that makes her think of the good times when her kids were little and her life had purpose. Michael's family is complicated and messed-up through the portrayal of Bea. She describes Lee Ann's family as a single mother and the production of her son through mishap or misfortune. Lee Ann treats Michael poorly by hitting him when he does not act correctly in her opinion, but his appearance brings meaning to Bea. He makes up a story of his father of being in the army and tells Lee Ann this. After finding out his mother this him once more and admits to Bea that it was a lie and his father was not in the army. While his story was made up it still symbolized Michaels attempt to make his life more interesting in better and Bea enjoyed this. Her life similar to Michaels helped her to see a brighter side. His father being in the army made his life more enjoyable and complete, and Michael just being there made Bea's life that much more less lonely.

A change in fashion

Steven Millhauser’s, A Change in Fashion, played on the idea of leaving eroticism and the things that are sexy to the imagination. His play on thought and imagination along with what I believe, the criticism of the fashion industry is so well written and composed, that it is believable in some ways. This satirical essay suggests that by covering the body creates eroticism for the opposite sex. This satirical essay uses the idea of creating a dress that covers a woman’s body so that their figure is not shaped to create desire for men. This idea of a headdress that is very conservative that has parallels to a burqa in the Muslim culture, spikes the mind’s eye and creates eroticism to passer byers. I personally enjoy this play on eroticism, stemming from ideas that lingerie is viewed as sexy and erotic because they have clothes covering the “desired” parts and those parts are then left to the imagination. I believe by drawing this parallelism to a culture that us as Americans view as extremely conservative is humorous in its tone. This essay depicting Hyperion’s fashion as erotic and sexy is saying that our culture of leaving almost nothing to the imagination is even less erotic and less sexy than that of the Muslim culture. So, fully covering the body arouses people because the complete figure and features of the woman are left to the imagination and we have no idea what lies underneath the dress. This satirical tone and using our feelings and thoughts as human beings is really enjoyable while reading it, because typically covering the whole body might not seem erotic. However in this essay, leaving what her body might look like to the imagination is what we see as humans as erotic. This story suggests that leaving everything about the woman’s body to the imagination is very erotic and suggestive. Millhauser’s less serious tone is contradicting to fashion and the culture that is evolving in America today. I believe his humorous tone criticizes the fashion industry, but is also making a joke about what “really” is erotic. I thought this was a great story and enjoyed reading about something so conservative that is really extremely erotic.

Black Hoodie

Reading black hoodie brought a lot of emotions, relating to the serious case of prejudice and racism in many countries, but also incorporated humor through the eyes and the perspective the author gives us by the narrator. The artistic choice this author used in this story by using terms and talking how any person would in real life was a choice that I appreciated a lot. It was a funny story that, I believe, eased some of the tension and stigmas brought forth when any person would talk about these political issues. However, I do believe there are areas in the story that I find jump out at me when I read the story and leave me a little less fulfilled and good after I finish the story. Some of the language the author chooses to use seems to me a little uneasy and incorrect when he is describing Nigeria’s parents. We talked about this in class and now I do realize this is eye opening only due to my biasedness living in the United States of America. What we perceive as politically correct and non-politically correct is different as you move from country to country. Adding this effect to the story adds a little more realism to the tale that the author is trying to portray. Although reading this story I did enjoy it a lot, using a constant tone of humor for this topic, I personally view as maybe not the best. However, I have not read the entire story so the voice might change or the author chooses to wrap it up more seriously at the end. All in all I think it is a great story and enjoyed reading it a lot.