The 5 Journal Entries

First Entry : The Tell-Tale Heart

I think there are two ways of seeing this story. First, it is possible that the eye truly was evil or that the main character was indeed mad. I personally believe that the author made it this way so we would have to decide ourselves between the two versions. More rational people would generally go for the madness scenario and some more esoteric would go for the other one. For my part, being more rational, I certainly prefer to picture the character as truly mad, being cheated by his own mind.

Second Entry : The Story of an Hour

This story is clearly a prefeminist one. It was written just before the real pro-women movements were to become a reality. It tells of the man ignoring the silent suffering of his wife and also who dominates her. All her life, she was never able to live for herself, everything had to go through her husband or actually be done by him. The husband was even unconscious of it and probably thought of himself as a very good and providing one. This text is about the unspoken but very alive will of women to manage their own life.

Third Entry : Hills Like White Elephants

This story can be linked with the previous one, The Story of an Hour. In both, women are dominated by men. The first one shows a minor form of domination, not much intended and weighting little by little on the wife’s mind. The second story sets in action a man clearly imposing his will on his girlfriend. She wants the child, as the author leaves small proofs of it, and the man doesn’t want it so she will have to get an abortion. This form is even more chocking than the previous one because of its clearer feeling of women being powerless.

Fourth Entry : The Lottery

This text relates to old traditions that are still in effect but doesn’t have any more sense. It can be applied to any society, but the author might have intended to aim the American people, herself being American. Every tradition that looses its meaning should always be revised instead of only stay as it is because of its status. I cannot think of a clear American example but only of one from India. There, wives are subject to a terrible fate might their husband die earlier then them, which is often the case considering that women are married younger than men. The only to avoid burning with their husband is either becoming a prostitute or going some kind nun. Their life ends with their husband, and this is performed by tradition.

Note : Because of the STM maintenance staff’s strike, I didn’t go to the play. I didn’t want to wait after the play until 23h00-23h15 for the metro to pass and finally come back at my home between midnight or later since I have to wake up at 5h30 the next morning for the same reason when my class is past midday, since a I am common transports user.

Fifth Entry : The Veldt

I liked this story because it was very different from the previous one. It was the first science fiction novel in the book. I had never heard from this story nor from its author but I was very surprised. Even if it was a science fiction story, it was made very believable by its psychological approach with the children. The nursery can be compared today with videogames which children can play for hours straight. However, children rarely become mad because of videogames and stories of parents killed because they shut the machine down.

Vocabulary Journal (full version - 30 words)

1 a) tin – “when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening”, Style and Substance p.20
b) a low-melting, malleable, ductile metallic element nearly approaching silver in color and luster: used in plating and in making alloys, tinfoil, and soft solders.
c) This tin wire can easily be bent.

2 a) fastening – “when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening”, Style and Substance p.20
b) something that fastens, as a lock or clasp.
To fasten : To attach firmly to something else, as by pinning or nailing.
c) I’m having problem with the fastening, I can’t open the door.

3 a) stifled – “it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe”, Style and Substance p.20
b) To feel smothered or suffocated by or as if by close confinement in a stuffy room.
c) I feel very stifled in this small room.

4 a) awe – “it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe”, Style and Substance p.20
b) an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures.
c) I can’t help but feel awe in front of the president.

5 a) bade – “I bade the gentlemen welcome.” Style and Substance p.21
b) Past tense of the verb to bid.
To bid : to command; order; direct: to bid them depart.
to express (a greeting, farewell, benediction, or wish): to bid good night.
to summon by invitation; invite.
c) I bade you to come to my party but you didn’t.

6 a) vehemently – “I talked more quickly – more vehemently”, Style and Substance p.21
b) In a vehement manner
vehement : zealous; ardent; impassioned: a vehement defense; vehement enthusiasm.
c) The guy walked vehemently towards his new car.

7 a) dissemble – “dissemble no more!” Style and Substance p.21
b) to give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of: to dissemble one's incompetence in business.
to conceal one's true motives, thoughts, etc., by some pretense; speak or act hypocritically.
c) The criminal dissembled in front of the judge.

8 a) forestall – “and had hastened to forestall any less careful”, Style and Substance p.36
b) to prevent, hinder, or thwart by action in advance: to forestall a riot by deploying police.
to act beforehand with or get ahead of; anticipate.
c) He couldn’t forestall the publication of his compromising letter.

9 a) trivial – “A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.” Style and Substance p.37
b) of very little importance or value; insignificant: Don't bother me with trivial matters.
c) I don’t need this trivial object.

10 a) boisterous – “they broke into boisterous play”, Style and Substance p.67
b) rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained: the sound of boisterous laughter.
c) The crowd made boisterous cries when the condemned appeared.

11 a) paraphernalia – “the original paraphernalia for the lottery”, Style and Substance p.68
b) (sometimes used with a singular verb ) equipment, apparatus, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity: a skier's paraphernalia.
c) The paraphernalia for skiing is quite expensive.

12 a) veldt – “The Veldt”, Style and Substance p.83
b) the open country, bearing grass, bushes, or shrubs, or thinly forested, characteristic of parts of southern Africa.
c) There was a lion in the veldt.

13 a) to flicker – “The shadow flickered on George Hadley’s upturned, sweating face.” Style and Substance p.83
b) to move to and fro; vibrate; quiver: The long grasses flickered in the wind.
c) The candle flickered in the wind and went out.

14 a) squinted – “Hadley put his hand up to shield off the burning light from his squinted eyes.” Style and Substance p.84
b) To look with the eyes partly closed, as in bright sunlight.
c) I looked near the sun with squinted eyes.

15 a) seeping – “their strong odor seeping as far away as his study door.” Style and Substance p.86
b) To enter, depart, or become diffused gradually.
c) The gaz was seeping through the basement through the vents.

16 a) pelts - “The lions mumbled in their baked pelts”, Style and Substance p.86
b) The skin of an animal with the fur or hair still on it.
c) The deer’s pelt was soft.

17 a) strolled - “Peter strolled off to the nursery”, Style and Substance p.88
b) walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
c) I strolled in the park.

18 a) spoor – “You can follow it like a spoor.” Style and Substance p.90
b) a track or trail, esp. that of a wild animal pursued as game.
c) The dog made a clear spoor in the mud.

19 a) perspire – “He began to perspire.” Style and Substance p.91
b) o secrete a salty, watery fluid from the sweat glands of the skin, esp. when very warm as a result of strenuous exertion; sweat.
c) I had perspired a lot during the gym session.

20 a) salient – “brushing some cigar from the front of his salient vest.” Style and Substance p.105
b) prominent or conspicuous
c) The yellow scarf on the black desk was very salient.

21 a) tartness – “enjoying its tartness like a kid with a gumdrop.” Style and Substance p.105
b) sharp to the taste; sour or acid: tart apples.
c) The tartness of this lemon is very high.

22 a) to bask – “basking in the stares of the yokels who looked up their shovels”, Style and Substance p.105
b) To take great pleasure or satisfaction: "an opportunity to bask in the genteel applause of the faithful" (Paul A. Witteman).
c) I basked in the sunlight.

23 a) yokels – “basking in the stares of the yokels who looked up their shovels”, Style and Substance p.105
b) A rustic; a bumpkin.
c) The yokel was working his field.

24 a) to plod – “she plodded on as though impervious to his approach.” Style and Substance p.105
b) to walk heavily or move laboriously; trudge: to plod under the weight of a burden.
c) The man plodded to his wife’s coffin.

25 a) tensed – “She tensed herself at his touch and tried to draw away”, Style and Substance p.108
b) cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious; "he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up"
c) I tensed up when my wife announced me this.

26 a) to stagger – “She jumped up from the road and staggered back through the grass”, Style and Substance p.109
b) to walk, move, or stand unsteadily.
c) I staggered through the yard after the party.

27 a) ditch – “her stupid little life was spilled in the ditch.” Style and Substance p.110
b) a long, narrow excavation made in the ground by digging, as for draining or irrigating land; trench.
c) The ditch was very deep.

28 a) pellets – “All the nutritive elements are put together in the form of pellets”, Style and Substance p.119
b) A small, solid or densely packed ball or mass, as of food, wax, or medicine.
c) I swallowed my pellets.

29 a) subversive – “The bread they offered you is subversive”, Style and Substance p.120
b) rebellious, destructive
c) The person is subversive to the government.

30 a) voucher – “My neighbour gets an incentive voucher for every successful lamination she introduces.” Style and Substance p. 138
b) a document, receipt, stamp, or the like, that gives evidence of an expenditure.
c) I placed in order the vouchers for the hotel rooms.

Midterm Writing Exam [Draft]

The story of Hemingway "A Day's Wait» could probably be brought to screen in a million of different ways. Fortunately, I have the perfect one that would satisfy a large audience as well as critics.

The setting and length must be at first well represented in order for the story to be good. There should be three scenes: one for the beginning up to the hunting which will be the second one, and the last one will be what fallows the hunting. The story itself is short, so there is no need for the program to be too long. If someone waits watching "A Day's Wait" for two hours and find out that the young boy was just fool, it will be a disaster. It must be short and without any excess of presentation. The type of bed, the cloths, the medical supplies and the gun used should be enough to show the time and place of the story.

As for the boy's conflict and suspense, it will be centered on the character's mind and in a way that the surrounding reflects it as well. There should be nothing more than a French school manual beside his bed to indicate the ending. All scenes should be filmed in one shot so that it feels like the sight of the man who is with the kid, however without hiding him from view. At the beginning, the kid stands beside his bed, looking depressed and anxious. The more the story goes one, the more the kid will look lost and stressed. The gleam in his eyes will fade as the day fades on. To make the viewer feel the waiting of the kid, the camera will be put beside his head as if we were transported into his on sight, and the sun going down by the window will be shown fast forwarded. This will ensure that a whole day is felt, and that each scene is filmed in a single shot. As for the shooting scene, each bird killed will make the boy shiver, feeling more sad and miserable.

Also, the music in the program is very important by its near absence, leaving the entire space to ambient sounds. I picture this story without any music in most of it. Without it, the audience will feel uneasy and less comfortable watching the kid. But, to prevent boredom, the ambient sounds should take a lot of place and be amplified. All along, a faded radiator sound and the one of a radio too are heard, as well as the clock tickling, strong and strong as the story goes on. At the end, while the young boy is confused is smiles and cries by his joy of knowing he will live, the radio volume will be raised by someone else in the room who was sitting all along beside it. The only real music of the program that will be heard there from fainted to loud is The Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Its only purpose is to make the ending seeming more profound and to amplify the preciousness of life that the boys rediscover.

This version of the story will be slightly different in themes and symbolism from the original in some few aspects so that it will be more appreciated by the audience. As for the similar aspects, the theme of longing for death will be very present, even amplified. The theme of judging too quickly will be slightly dropped to let the first one be more important. The single window represent his escape from death, but the sun reminds him that his time his failing. A silent man dressed in a black suit is seated beside the radio on a stool which is right next to the window, representing Death looking straight at him. At the end, the boy will learn the same truth about the thermometers, and will still cry. Instead of only crying, he will smile as well, clearly showing that he is happy to live much longer. The program should end right after few seconds of crying and the camera will be zooming out filming only the boy with then a slow fadeout, leaving the music alone and much louder. This way of filming the ending is used to make the viewer feel the theme of imminent death and its release in a more powerful way.

With this proposal for the program, I assure you good ratings and comments. This story is the first I try from Hemingway, and his particular way of telling a story without any useless details will always be interesting on TV.

My goal (Self-Assessment)

My goal is to learn a wide range of colloquialisms and idioms, and I want as well to fix my pronounciation but more specificly my intonation. I would like to sound a bit more like a native speaker, even if sounding completly like one is nearly impossible. Learning at least 50 of those idioms would be great. It is both achieveable and realistic if it is due for the end of the sessions. However, I will need to invest a lot of my time to succeed this goal.

"Tell-Tale Heart" exercices (February 7th, 2007)

Homework on the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (up to p.26)

Warm-up discussion topics

1- What are some stories, novels, or fils you have read or seen that use Gothic and Romantic elements like the supernatural?
Only movies come into my mind for now, and those are Silent Hill, Vidocq and Pan's Labyrinth.
2- Did you find these literary works or film scary? Why or why not?
Silent Hill wasn't scary because of the production, but as for the other movies, I am not scared easily.
3- What makes scary stories or films so popular?
People like the feeling of thrill and they usually love to fear what is going to happen next. Also, horror movies generally have original and superb pictures.
4- Have you ever read any works by Edgar Allan Poe? If so, which ones? Did you enjoy them?
No


Reader's response

1- What were your first impressions of the story?
I thought that the story was extremely well paced and written. Rarely I have found such rythm in a story made to be scary. I wasn't scared, but it is by far the best short novel I have read with "Le Horla" by Maupassant. It also reminds me of a Simpsons episode in which Lisa makes a maquette of the final scene of the novel.
2- What did you like best about this story?
I liked best the continuous feeling of suspense and obsession coming out from the text.
3- Was there anything you didn't like about this story? If so, what?
Basically, I liked everything.
4- What kinds of feelings or emotions did this story evoke in you?
As I have said before, the feeling of suspense, the need to know what is going to happen next, close to anxiety, was the highest one.


Close reading

1- Who is telling the story? What are his or her most prominent personality traits?
The story is told by the murderer, who seems to be ill of some unknown disease. He feels obsessed for his senses are rising. He can't stand that gleam of the old man's eye as well as the heart, as if he was disturbed to the core for he can't stand the feeling of being "seen through" by the eye. He will commit murder, but won't feel any guilt as long as he is in peace, away from the horrible eye and heart beat.
2- What is he narrator trying to prove to the reader throughout the story?
He wants to prove that he acted legetimately and that he wasn't mad. Either he is indeed mad or that the eye and heart were of the devil's, we do not know. The only thing sure is that he feels completely right about his doings.
3- What is the relationship between the narrator and the old man?
a) relatives
4- Wha does the narrator want to do? Why?
He wants to kill the old man because he can't stand the look of his hideous eye. He feels that he need to kill him to stop the "torture" of looking into the eye.
5- How does the narrator react as he commits the crime?
He feels as if he had everything perfectly planned and as if everything was completly legetimate. Nothing would happen as long as he was cautious, which he thought he was. With the old man dead, nothing could hurt him anymore as the eye did.
6- Why do the policemen come to his house?
When the old man fell of the bed, he shrieked. The neighbour called the police because he feared something bad had happened.
7- Describe the narrator's initial reaction to the policemen's investigation.
He felt completly safe and was not to harmed in any way. Everything was going as planned, and no one would ever find the body, even if they searched well.
8- Does his reaction to the policemen change? If so, how?
Of course it changes: he heard, in his mind or because of some sorcery, as it seems left to the reader, growing louder and lounder, the beating of the old man's heart. He could no longer keep silence as madness closed tight on him.
9- What is his emotional state at the end of the story?
He becomes mad and admit his crime to the policemen. He does so with the hope that this sound which makes him mad will stop. He prefers prison or death than this horrible beating. He can no longer bear to hear it.
10- How does he try to cover up the crime?
He washes everything out, after being extremely cautious, and he hides the disembowled body under the wood planks of the floor.
11- Which of the following adjectives could be used to describe the mood and atmosphere of this story?
a)nervous
12- Explain the significance of the title of the story.
It is the heart that makes the narrator tell his tale to the policemen. The heart forces him to admit is crime so that the tale he is telling us won't be secret.


Writer's craft

-First person narration and point of view-

1- What point of view is used to tell the story?
The point of view is the one of the murderer, with a complete absense of external or god-like point of view.
2- Does the narrator seem close to or distant from the reader? Justify your answer with proof from the story.
He seems close, because he adresses the reader as "you" : "but why will you say that I am mad". It is as if he directly talked to the reader.
3- How does the narrator engage (involve) the reader right at the very beginning of the story?
The way I said it in question number two.
4- Look carefully at the first sentence. Which points in time (past, present, and/or future) are mentionned?
"had been" past - "and am" present - "will you say" future
5- (Circle one choice in each parentheses.) The narrator is telling the reader a story in the present that took place in the past and is concerned about the reader's future.

-Choice of words-

A) Use of repetition
1- Find other exemples of repetition in Poe's use of adjectives, advers and concrete images.
- "but he had found all in vain. All in vain"
- "So I opened it - you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily"
- "It grw louder, I say, louder every moment! - do you mark me well?"

B) Use of imagery
1.1- Find and list at least three other expressions that indicate quiet sounds.
"low, dull, quick sound" - "gasped" - "a muffled sound"
1.2- Find and list at least three other expressions that indicate loud sounds.
"talked more quickly - more vehemently" - "argued about triffles" - "I swore!"
2- How does the transition between quiet sound to loud sound echo the narrator's sense of guilt?
As the heart beat rises, he fells more and more guilt, and when it climaxes, he finally gives himself in to the policemen. The sounds were also low when he felt confident during his murder.
3- How does this transition from quiet to loud add to the atmosphere of the story?
The suspense and the thrill of the story is nearly all paced on the evolution of the noise, as well as the repetition of words and expressions, nearly all linked with noise. There wouldn't be any nervous atmosphere without this transition.

-Use of literary devices-

A) Metaphor, Simile and Personification
1a- The beating of the old man's heart at the beginning of the story.
"I heard all things in the heaven and in earth. I heard all things in hell."(M)
1b- The beating of the old man's heart towards the end of the story before the sound becomes loud.
"I fancied a ringing in my ears" (M)
1c- The movement of the protagonist's hand as he opens the door the eighth night.
"A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine" (S)
1d - "... ray fell upon the vulture eye." (M)
1e- as black as pitch (S)
1f- stone dead (M)
2- Find the personification in the paragraph beginning "Presently i head," used to describe death. Explain the meaning of the personification.
"Because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his blach shadow before him and enveloped the victim."

B) Contrast of Opposites
1a- deadfully nervous - how calmly
1b- heard all things in heaven... - heard many things in hell
1c- sharpened my senses - not dulled
1d- The disease - how healthily
2- In paragraph 11 (line 68), the dreadful silence of the house is contrasted with "so strange a noise"
3- Describe the contrast, at the end of the story, between the perceptions and feelings of the police officers and those of the narrator.
The narrator is making noise, he swears, he brakes things. As for the policemen, they talk gentily, they smile, they act without any agression. The narrator perceives fear, and treachery as madness overcomes him. The policemen aren't noticing any of it while madness seems to fall on him alone.

C) Irony
1- Why is the end of the story ironic?
It is ironic because all along he felt that everything was under his control, that never the body would be found or that never again he would be troubled. However, all these three elements come against him. He loses control of himself while the heart beat gets faster and faster, until he falls into madness and surrenders himself to the policemen. The irony is there again for he was trying at the beginning to prove his sanity, but the end can let the reader feels his madness if he doesn't perceive it as a supernatural side of the story.

Book Report (February 7th, 2007)

Book report on my favorite read English novel : The Lord of the Rings

Published between 1954 and 1956, the three tomes of "The Lord of the Rings" written by J. R. R. Tolkien sets the reader in a fantastic world unpreviously thought. This book is indeed a sequel of "The Hobbit", a tale about Bilbo Baggings and the founding of the ring, but it is of much greater substance and beauty. The three volumes were given the titles of "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King".

The first book slowly brings forth throughout many perils and doings a young Hobbit from the Shire named Frodo Baggins who, due to the burden of fate, shapes the future of Middle Earth. Later on the following books, while he suffers the sorcery of the "One ring", the mightiest craft of the Dark Lord Sauron, his quest to destroy it in the depths of Mount Doom brings him to face all the wonders and horrors of his world. While the quest gets further on, the scars left by the ring on Frodo's mind rise as well.

The second tome shows the expansion of the two evils, Saruman of Orthanc and Sauron of Barad-dûr. Finally, the last book is about the war that shall fix the end of the Third Era, for good or ill, as man reunite again under the banner of king aragorn.

This epic story of fate, friendship, life and death will make the reader discover the unique land of Middle Earth filled with strange creatures like the Ents, twisted ones like Gollum, mysterious evils like the Nazgûl, puzzled wizard like Gandalf the Grey and even such magnificient people as the elves. "The Lord of the Ring" is a must-read to anyway who likes fantastic or epic stories, and highly recommanded to everyone else.

Greetings!

Welcome to my blog for the English course 103A. If you need any questions to be answered, feel free to post a comment on this very post!

Thank you very much,

G. Trudel