"A&P'

In the story “A&P” by John Updike is written in a very masculine tone. The narrator is Sammy, a supposed 19 year-old boy who is a clerk at a local supermarket, or for Lewiston locals an A&B.  When he describes the girls in the supermarket he describes them in great detail from a man’s point of view. For example, “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it.” When the narrator described the girls he mainly describes and focuses more on their bodies rather than faces and personalities, granted they are in bathing suits and revealing a lot of skin. The girls in the story play a role of being the antagonist. They make the cashier almost stop in his tracks and keep his focus on them. Throughout the whole story the narrator seems to play hide-and-seek with the girls. When the leader of the girls is confronted by the manager about needing to wear more clothes when entering the store she just blushes and makes and excuse. After the purchase, Sammy quits and his job runs after the girls or “his” girls, but they are gone. In a man’s point of view this is what women do, they are supposedly simple, beautiful, and keep men chasing them.If the roles are switched this is what women believe men do.

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

Status update: Summer in a beautiful home. This should be good for me, I hope. 

Status update: John seems to be gone for too long with his work. I miss him.

Status update: Better get off before Jamie or John sees.

Status update: This room isn't as bad as I thought. The bars are quite weird, but this wallpaper is just driving me crazy.

Status update: The fourth was fun. Family made me very tired, more than usual. I hope this nervousness ends soon.

Status update: I miss working and writing. How is not doing either making me better. I feel as though its making me worse.

Status update: Someone please come to my house and tear this wallpaper off. I can't handle it anymore.

Status update: Jamie gave me some space today. I really enjoy when she does. It makes me feel like I'm not controlled by everyone.

Status update: They're coming from the walls. The women are alive. The wallpaper  is  creating them. Someone help.

Status update: Oh my. John just fainted.

Meme:
https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-sprint-us&hl=en-US&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=djk5UurED7OMyAHgn4HIDg&q=Im+crazy+meme&oq=Im+crazy+meme&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3...16686.16686.0.16978.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.1.26.mobile-gws-serp..1.0.0.qmz8TS1gODo#biv=i%7C96%3Bd%7CfF0UU8KHiZQiHM%3A

Article:
http://m.wikihow.com/Overcome-Nervousness

"Orientation"

Never keep your wallet inside your pocket at the venue because you’ll lose it no matter what. If you think you’re going to keep good care of it, you wrong. Trust me. Last year Kyle lost his and the year before Taylor, otherwise known as Tank, lost his. Those two are the best of friends. They have known each other since the first grade, so a long time. If you do bring your wallet, or anything else, inside give it to someone with a backpack. I will have one so will Bobby, the blonde one, and Donny, the tall one. 

 Over there are the bathrooms, to the left are women’s and to the right are men’s. Always make sure to wash your hands after doing the business. Everyone is here is most likely dripping in sweat and dirty in some way or another. Don’t be afraid if people talk to you in there because a lot of people will be on some sort of drug or super excited and just ready to chat your ear off. Another note, never accept anything from someone you do not know. The water fountains are also located over on the building. Make sure to drink lots of water or else you could get heat stroke. Trust me. Refill the water bottles after every show if there is time. Keep track of yours. If you don’t want to carry yours, give it to someone with a backpack. Lacie has a fanny pack, but I don’t think that will carry much. She is the sweet one and is married to Tyler, the tattooed one. Tyler and Tank are brothers who are cousins with Donny, Joey, the other tall one that looks like Donny, and Nikki. Those three are brothers and sister. Nikki is dating Mitchel whose brother is Nich and cousins with bobby. The rest of us are just family friends. Never cross anyone or it won’t be pretty.

The stages are sporadic on the venue and weaved around them are booths filled with band gear.  Be somewhat early to the shows and never stand right in the center of the crowd. That is where most of the mosh pits start. Unless you are willing to sacrifice your body, stay away from there. It will get pretty gnarly in the pit with arms and legs flailing all around. The best spot in the crowd is up front by the bar and right next to the stage. You may start towards the back but as the concert starts just elbow and push till you get to the bar. Then grab ahold and don’t let go or you will lose the spot. Trust me. In between the shows stick with the group and if you do venture off go with someone, not everyone has a cell phone with them and we don’t want to lose anyone. If you need anything ask questions. Just stay with us and the results will be a Warp Tour experience you’ll never forget.  

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Grotesque by definition is odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, you could consider his short story is to be a southern grotesque

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The characters in the story give a great background to the southern feel. The grandmother who is described to have a “leathery, thin face…brown eyes,” talks quite a lot, who is racist, and who is dressed so that “ in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady,” which in the end it becomes very ironic. She almost annoys you when reading. Another great character who plays a large role in the story is the misfit who is an older man with hair starting to gray and “silver-rimmed spectacles that gave him a scholarly look.” He is talked about early on in the story which makes it very satirical that the family meets him in the end. After the family is killed you cannot help but despise him for doing this to a helpless family, yet the family wasn’t the “perfect family”. The rest are not as described in detail. What we do know is the mother barely speaks, the father is grumpy, and the children are wild and very mouthy.

The plot on the other hand is what really makes the story grotesque. First you have a simple country family from good ol’ Georgia who just happens to be on a trip, when only the worst is yet to come. When reading the family gets into a car accident, in which no one dies, you cannot help but feel sympathy for them, despite how much they irritate the reader. The real twist of the story is soon after the wreck, the car that in a cheerful story would have been their savior turns out to be the misfit and his gang, who ends up murdering all of them. This is what I condsider to make the story very grotesque.

"The Lottery"

In Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery," one theme is Man's ability (and need) to rationalize generally unacceptable actions. In the story after Mrs. Hutchinson states that the lottery is unfair, Mrs. Delacroix says, "Be a good sport Tessie... All of us took the same chance." This part of the story seems to claim that its "okay" because you entered in so you must face the consequences. Old Man Warner states that he has been in the lottery for 77 years. The talk about the lottery having a ritual and being a tradition, for quite some time, must mean that in this community it is acceptable to stone someone  because its tradition or a practice done by the people. 

In society today, we try to rationalize unacceptable actions by creating excuses. For example, a man killed 23 women because he was a schizophrenic and  couldn't control his actions. The real truth is that one human being killed another which is a devastating action, but because he was mentally impaired it was "okay" in a sense. Society today creates excuses for every action whether good nor bad.