The Storm response

Quote: "Calixta," he said, "don't be frightened. Nothing can happen. The house is too low to be struck, with so many tall trees standing about. There! aren't you going to be quiet? say, aren't you?" He pushed her hair back from her face that was warm and steaming. Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. It reminded him of Assumption" Page 144

There is a storm going on and Calixta's husband and son are out running errands. Her old boyfriend stops by the house during the storm. At first Calixta is worried about her men but then Alcee starts telling her not to worry about it and starts to arouse her by playing with her hair and kissing her. This causes her to relax and allows them to switch the nervous atmosphere to the sex atmosphere. The description here foreshadows that they will make love.

Narrators Change in The Real Thing

The narrator in Henry James's story, The Real Thing changes during the story. At the beginning of the story he is happy to have the wealthy monarchs visit him. He thought they were "the real thing" that the narrator was trying to portray the models as. The only problem was that since they were high class they were selective about how they wanted to look because they didn't want to dress in something that wasn't as fancy as their normal clothes. When he found out that they didn't have skill and were just doing it for the money, he was not happy because the lower class models did a better job than the higher class models. The narrator starts showing to the Monarchs that he isn't happy with them when he tells them to fetch some tea for them. However after the monarchs come back and ask him if they need any help and the wife does the dishes and the man cleans, the narrator pities them and wants to take a photo of them because its interesting to see the roles switched. I think James ended the story with the quote "If it be true I am content to have paid the price--for the memory" because he feels that his work suffered but it was good to have the memory of the experience of working with people from a higher class.

A letter to Hawthorne

Writing is an art used to convey your thoughts and emotions towards a particular topic. You need to start adding more about the characters feelings to your short stories. In your story The Birthmark, there isn't much detail about what the characters are feeling in the story. It is mostly just about the actions that are happening. Alymer discovers the birthmark and wants it to be removed and then when he removes it but kills her in the end there isn't much about his regret for accidentally killing his wife. People's interests are captivated when the author writes about the characters feelings.

Sincerely,

Edgar Allan Poe

Benjamin and More

I read The Ephemera, an Emblem of Human Life by Benjamin Franklin.

• Stands for change in America 
• Politics 
• The wise man who has ideas on how change happens
• the old man who has seen the best and the worst 
• Integrity
• Independence 
• Morality
• Equality 
• Optimistic
• Live a purposeful life

What is American Literature?

 I define American Literature as the literary works, such as stories and poems that are written by Americans or about America as a country. The literature is important for humans to read and study because it tells the story of America and how it has changed over time. Poetry has been used to pass on the people’s feelings and views. At the start of America lots of people wrote about their experiences from being colonized by Great Britain. During the Revolutionary War, the primary writers were Ben Franklin and Samuel Adams. They were famous for writing letters. There are two well known examples of American literature that every American should know. The first is the poem Yankee Doodle, which was published in the 1770’s and was written by Richard Shuckburgh. The second example is the Declaration of Independence which was declared in 1776. During the World War’s, America resorted to its literature and lots of writers wrote about how they felt about the wars. Music later became another way for people to express their feelings.

 Resources:
 http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folksongs/qt/YankeeDoodle.htm