"The Little Store" p. 154 Seeing 1 & 2

1. There was one passage in Welty's "The Little Store" that really summed the story. She writes, "setting out in this world a child feels so indelible. He only comes to find out later that it
s all the others along his way who are making themselves indelible to him." Although the store and how it had an effect on her is a very important aspect of the story, the journey there is just as influential. This is just as the child is important but really all the things that affect the child in it's environment and cause the child to feel important are important. The beginning paragraphs have a nice almost organized stream of consciousness flow about them. They carry one idea and connect with the next and the next until we are at this journey to the store. Her travel to the store presents a pleasant point of view adventure into her childhood and the time. It characterizes her thought process and gives a unique perspective on the not so mundane errand. Entering the store Welty starts out with the sense of smell, as I'm sure all the odors she describes were quite overpowering. Then it sets into the sights of the shelves and such and the touch of all the residue on the ground and the cold water that holds the precious pop. Overall she gives a rounded description of the store, seeing how it is a main point of the essay. Her ability to point out details and observations really shapes the point of view of the essay and thus it is easier to understand these menial events becoming influential memories that would teach a child about all sorts of realities.
2. I wasn't really sure if this was the Mr.Sessions or not. Although I guess since he disappeared that wouldn't really make sense. But still, when I looked at the photograph after having read the passage I couldn't really help but think that this was the man in the story. He is very stern and lengthy. He definitely looks wise and aged but has a certain vitality in him still. His face, eyes especially, are filled with expression and show a sense of life. He, as well as the store around him, have a great sense of character. The light bouncing off of him really illuminates him in more than just a physical sense. It makes him seem important. He is the light of the picture, and thus given almost a new paramount stance. Also, as a side note, the fact that he is resting his hand on the large round fruit or vegetable still gives him that sense of reliability, and makes him seem as though he has a hands on, hard working attitude.

Homeplace p. 178 Seeing 1 & 2

1. To start, this was the first essay we have read in this class that I did not like both in context and style. First off I believe Sanders did a poor job using his examples to support his ideas. I think it was a mistake to frequently use quotes from individuals who had a counter argument to his and then dissect and comment on those. Each time he went through this process I found myself agree more with the original quote than with his opinion (which often appeared as a petty jab to the text). Furthermore I didn't approve of his other examples either. The first personal one was probably the best and overall I really think he should have stuck with these personal instances rather than pulling other sources out of his ass that didn't really seem to fit well for me. I have a bit of an interest in Zen Buddhism and I think by isolating this one statement he somewhat improperly used a teaching for his own use. However, I admit that I am not a master of this concept, unlike Sanders probably is… And on top of that there was the hideous illusion to the Holocaust. Seriously? But then again I am probably being a bit unfair because I did not go into reading this with an open mind. My opinion of wether one should stay put or explore is the exact opposite of Sanders. My formative years were spent traveling around the world for my fathers job. In increments from anywhere between a month and a year I have lived in Rome, Prague, Berlin and a few cities in Morocco, but I have also done a great deal of traveling on top of that. When I frequently go back to Rome and Berlin and each time it is a wonderful, often sentimental experience. I feel because I have traveled and had my horizon broadened I do not just have one home base, but several, each with a unique diversity that has added to my character. I absolutely loved my childhood and feel very fortunate to have had these opportunities because I know it really added a great deal to my perspective. However, that is something that worked for me. Some people would be their happiest moving, others staying put. I think that everyone should be educated and have an idea of the world existing outside their comfort zone. But I believe that there is not one good or bad way to live in that regard. Again every person is different and wants different things.
2. Clearly, I did not enjoy the essay. I found Sanders's tone to be very abrasive. I felt he was less saying look at this perspective (which is a more effective and positive way to communicate an opinion) and was more expressing that he was right. It seemed as though he thought what he was saying to be some great wonderful important movement of Americans or that he had the truth that no one else has put into action. I really didn't feel he had enough humbleness in his manor of presenting this argument. If I had to read this essay I would do so quite dramatically to both accentuate the absolute seriousness and importance of his points but really just to mock the ridiculousness that is this essay.

Dorothy Allison: Trash Plume

If I am going to speak honestly, this expert seemed like "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" meets Flannery O'Connors' "The Life You Save May be Your Own." The narration of this girl was spectacular. I really enjoyed her vernacular because it was simple yet the ideas she was expressing had a beautiful complexity of their own. Naturally, without having read any of the story prior to what was given in this assignment the beginning was a bit confusing. However The last two paragraphs were immaculate. The second to last was so relatable. It touched on some physical qualities of anger and holding in emotion I can relate to so well but have never thought to express into words. When reading it I was reminded and thus employed to think about my relationships and own struggles similar to hers. And of course any writing that really causes you to think and reflect upon your own life or the lives of others beyond the end of the paragraph is good writing. The final paragraph, though I could not personally relate to it, was equally as thought provoking. For one it is very revealing about the two characters. The aunt lives a fairy tale life and is perhaps as a result oblivious to the needs of others. Yet the narrator, who is so strong and can appreciate the subtle beauties of life, is forced to only watch. She has to watch her aunt mindlessly screw up and pick up the pieces for everyone. And worst of all she must choose not to vent her frustration because ultimately it would be unappreciated and never be understood. Throughout this ending Allison really conveys her characters emotions and struggles beautifully.

P. 145 Seeing 1 & 2

Hirsch develops a distinct tone when personifying the house that effects the entirety of the poem. He strips down the house with each new characteristic until it is a skeleton, much like that of a man. He builds the house to be a gawky and lonely man with a tortured soul. The sky and the ground and the train tracks all isolate the house and make it more aware of it's melancholy state. Do to this layering of human attributes, the house becomes relatable, and thus the painting is able to take on another meaning. Hirsch really emphasizes a viewpoint that Hopper subtly created in this painting. It is clear through the painting and the poem that the house is a representation of Hopper himself.

Seeing #1 p. 127

Akiko Busch poses the broad question, "What gives ordinary objects their value?" This seems to epitomize what a thesis idea is, as apposed to a thesis statement. Of course this question is vague in the sense that it will produce a multitude of different answers, all right in their own ways.
In my Economics class last year, we were presented with a term called the paradox of value. Generally, it is how we as humans assign some value to objects not necessarily based off of their use, but rather their importance to us as individuals or as a society. Paradox of value is used to explain why something like water, which we all need to survive, is relatively cheap yet diamonds, which are of course an unnecessary luxury, are very expensive. Later this tied into a multitude of economic ideas such as want and demand and other concepts which I personally find very dry. However, it seems that Busch's main answer to her question explores this idea in the sense that it is always the humans who naturally assign value to objects.
Busch uses a wide arrange of examples to draw attention to and flesh out her points. Objects tell a story about their owners, that is why we find a need to collect. They hold function as well as emotions. Objects are even used to show how we care for others, or perhaps don't care. They define us, and we naturally let them do so.
This concept of conveying ourselves through the objects we posses seems very logical. Objects seem to help define what is tangible and abstract about ourselves. What we choose to give value to is supposed to be a representation of ourselves. For example, I posses a few pieces of jewelry I could not bear to take off. I have a few gold pieces (a necklace, a ring, a set of hoop earrings) I wear everyday because they were given to me by my mother. In contrast, I also wear a small black string bracelet with little metal balls given to me by my father. Clearly their economic values are very different, but because they are both from my parents, whom I love equally, I thus assign equal value to both objects.