Cross Country Snow Reflection

My procrastination has finally worked out well for these reading responses. I don't know if it was fate but I particularly enjoyed the last two Nick Adams stories we read. In "Cross Country Snow" I really enjoyed the basic dialogue between two young male friends at a ski lodge. In their last conversation the subjects of pregnancy, fatherhood, and growing up in general are brought up but very little is said about them. The longest that Nick or George say to one another at a time consisted of nine words. As a person who has never really felt the need to share a lot of my feelings I see this conversation as a perfect illustration of what a man to man talk is. I can only imagine if there were two girls involved in the same conversation. The story would probably extend another ten pages and we would get to read lovely paragraphs about how each of them felt about having a child or growing old and realizing that there is not enough time to have real fun anymore. If I had to pick between the two I would easily pick the first. I wouldn't care how two fictional girls feel about those subjects mentioned above. However, because Hemingway made the dialogue between the men sound so realistic I feel that I am right there with them and actually care what they have to say.

I also enjoyed this short story because this part in our lives is creeping closer and closer. I've already accepted that I have a lot of friends that I will probably never see again and that I have done a lot of fun things growing up that now that I'm older I won't be able to do again. It is a sad truth and the reader is able to watch this one moment when Nick realizes that he can no longer have eternal freedom like he has had his whole life, but that he now has to be a father and provide for his family. I don't think anybody is ever actually looking forward to this moment in their life and I know that I am for sure not. I have always hated being tied down to something and lived my life pretty carefree with my main intentions being, "have a good time." As the years go by I am slowly realizing that I have to change or I will get left behind. I now have to actually try in school and I have to take responsibilities for my actions whether they have to do with some sort of leadership position or just everyday life. I have two and a half years until I am out in the real world with nothing to fall back on if I screw up. It is a scary thought and requires a lot of maturity to realize that you have big boy responsibilities now. Nick has had his fun and now it is time for him to be man and take care of what he needs to.

A Good Man is Hard to Find Reflection

Before even reading a word of the story I think its pretty easy to assume that there are themes in this short story along the lines of "the world is changing" or "things aren't what they used to be." Sure enough, this was the case. I thought it was very funny that the main character of this story was the grandmother who frequently tells stories from her childhood and alludes to the fact that her grandchildren are spoiled and take everything for granted unlike how children grew up in her time. This is exactly how my grandmother acted when my brother and I were acting like brats or being lazy. Now, I really don't believe that my brother and I were as self centered as John Wesley and June Star but there were definitely times that we acted like spoiled children and received an earful from my grandmother. She often told stories of her youth in which she said she was always working and doing chores simply because that's what was done back then and that we should be grateful that we don't have that much work to do as children. I couldn't help but think exactly of my grandmother when I read this story. Granted, I love my grandmother and realized that every time she yelled at us it was going towards the goal of raising my brother and I right. However, in this story the the children think very little of their grandmother and just look at her like a waste of space.

I remember after reading this story I had no idea what had happened at the end or why it had happened but class made it a little easier to see why this story had been written in the first place. After understanding what had occurred and looking at the story deeper I do believe that the grandmother was a little bit of a fraud. Misfortune is what brings everybody back to reality. In this particular story she realizes that she is about to be killed and begins to witness and act like a great Christian in order to get out of the situation. I think it is interesting that when held at gunpoint most people, as illustrated in the story, become better people. The "Misfit" even admits that if she were about to die every minute of her life then she would have been a good person. It is hard to say what kind of a person the grandmother is just from reading a couple pages but I think she acted just like most people would have in that situation.

Conversation Partner Meeting #2

After a pretty long hiatus I was able to meet again with Simon on November 3rd at the TCU bookstore. This time only Simon came because he said his friend Harry had a lot of work. I knew that that meant this meeting was going to be a little awkward because Harry spoke much better English than Simon and it didn't help that I speak no Chinese at all. After breaking the ice with some generic, "Hey, how is your week going?" questions we began to talk about the ESL program in a little more depth.

Simon began to explain that his "final exam" was coming up in a little over a month. From what I understand it is a basic English exam with reading, listening, writing, and speaking parts to see if the student understands the English language enough to not be completely lost at TCU. If he were to fail this test then he would have to spend another semester in the ESL program before receiving another chance to take the exam. It sounded like a lot of pressure and it was easy to tell that he was a little nervous and the exam was still a month and half away. This test would definitely have been the most nerve wracking academic evaluation I would have ever had to take. I was never very stressed out about the SAT because I could take it multiple times and learn from my mistakes, but Simon had one opportunity or else he would be stuck in English classes for another four months.

He then asked me how my classes were going. I hope I didn't scare Simon off from being a business major but it had been a long hard week so I complained a lot. It was actually a pretty healthy experience because I am not someone who normally vents a lot but the fact that it was with someone I didn't know particularly well and who maybe couldn't understand everything I was saying made the process easy. Simon seemed shocked that I had so much to do but I was probably exaggerating and being a primma donna.

Overall it was a good conversation although we may have talked a little too much about academics which shouldn't be what we talk about when we're out of class. However, in our next conversation all we talked about was sports which was much more entertaining than boring ole schoolwork.

The Crysanthemums Reflection

I have never really enjoyed reflecting or analyzing a piece of writing. Especially one that's main theme revolves around the limitations of a married woman in the mid 1900's. Maybe I enjoyed this short story because I have a secret feminine side, or maybe I liked it because the themes and motifs are easy enough to spot that someone as bad at analyzing literature, like myself, could find them. I guess we are about to find out.

When I start talking to friends and family about a particular subject that I'm interested in I get very excited and in to the story. I want to show everyone my passion for the subject and hopefully convince them to feel the same way or to look engaged. However, this rarely happens. I can often tell that I'm losing my audience 15 seconds into a conversation if they are not interested in the same subject. I become enraged and a little embarrased and can definitely understand why Elisa felt so betrayed towards the end of the story. Elisa loved gardening because it was her area of expertise. A man had come into her garden acting like he was interested in her crysanthemums for thirty minutes or so and Elisa had been able to show him what she was passionate about and he had not cared at all. When you couple these emotions with the gender limitations I had mentioned earlier, tears are sure to come.

Even though I am a boy I can definitely still relate to the emotions of Elisa in this story. I don't think I've ever met someone, girl or boy, who has been rejected when trying to show all of themselves or put everything out on the table, and not been upset about it. Even though Elisa is a middle aged woman, I think that this story can be interpreted as a "coming of age" story. It becomes very apparent at the end of narrative that Elisa realizes that she will probably live her same old unfulfilling life for the remainder of her years on this earth. Before, she atleast had hope that one day she could do great things and get out of this type of life that the Salina's Valley represents, but when she sees her seeds on the side of the road all hope escapes her.

First ESL Meeting

This past Thursday I was finally able to meet with Simon for the first time. We decided to meet at the bookstore becuase I thought that it would be a familiar spot for him where we could talk and relax. When Simon showed up it turned out that I would be meeting with two ESL students because he brought along another friend from the program. His name is Harry and conveniently enough they were both from small towns in China that I don't think I will ever be able to spell or pronounce. When I found out that they were from China I became excited because I have spent alot of time in China and Japan. I was actually born in Hong Kong and while I only lived there for the first two years of my life, I spent three full summers there when my dad was working overseas. Needless to say, I was pretty happy that we had something in common to talk about.

When we had finished talking about China, I was curious to know why they had chosen to come to TCU and why they liked the United States. It turned out that from a very young age their parents had wanted them to study in America and just by random luck they ended up in Fort Worth. When I asked them about American food they said that they ate it every once in a while but for the most part they ordered Chinese food and stuck close to their heritage. They said that there were alot of good Chinese restaraunts around, and that we will hopefully get to eat at one for one of our meetings.

When they had both finished their rant on how Chinese food was better than American food we began to talk about sports. The only sport they followed was basketball and they suprisingly knew alot about the American teams and players, and that American players would hopefully play in China if the NBA lockout continues. We also suggested that for one of our meetings we could meet in the Recreation Center and shoot hoops while we talked because they both loved to play basketball as well.

Overall, I was surprised how easy it was to talk to both of them. Although Simon's English was not as good as Harry's, they seemed to understand what I was saying and could speak enough to where I knew what they were talking about. To be honest, I expected their English to be a little better, but when I told them I had lived in China they expected that I atleast knew how to say "hello" in Mandarin which I can't do. Hopefully we will be able to meet this Thursday and every Thursday for the rest of the semester.

Time Magazine: December 23, 1957

                I chose to read another periodical from Time Magazine because I wanted to see how a specific magazine changed twenty years after the previous periodical I had read. To be honest, I was very surprised with how difficult the layout and context of both magazines were. Also, I chose a periodical published around the date of Christmas because I thought that if any magazine focused their advertisements and articles around a particular holiday it would be Christmas. However, there was very little mention of Christmas in both the ads and stories. Aside from the differences between the periodicals twenty years apart I did enjoy reading and getting more of a sense of what living in our country and world was like fifty years ago.

                Even though this issue of Time was published two days before Christmas, the actual holiday itself was not mentioned a lot. On the second page there is an ad for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in which they wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and speak briefly about their company. This is the kind of advertisement I would expect to see today on TV during the Christmas season. Throughout the entire month of December every ad has some Christmas element in it to attract consumers’ attention. However, in this issue there is only one advertisement that even mentions Christmas. I was very surprised that only one company chose to bring about the holiday season in their ad; a strategy used often in marketing nowadays.

                As for the articles I only found one with Christmas as a theme, but the article was not as happy and cheerful as one might think. This article was titled “White Christmas” and was published in “The Press” section of the magazine. This article told a story about how a group of white people from Little Rock, Arkansas organized the boycott of a local newspaper because the editors were publishing articles that were seen as “breaking down the segregation laws.” Towards the end of the article editor Harry Ashmore is quoted with saying, “The Gazette does not believe this revolution will succeed. But we do believe that the people of Arkansas should be aware that it is under way and should understand what its ultimate cost could be, not to this newspaper, but to all of us.” This is a very powerful quote that predicts how our country’s segregation laws would soon come to an end. I also find it very empowering that a small newspaper from Little Rock had the courage to publish these types of stories even when they knew their stories would not be received well.

                Even though most advertisements did not center on the holiday season they were somewhat different than what I had found a couple weeks ago in the 1936 edition of Time Magazine. In the earlier issue ads were simply a picture of the product a company was trying to sell with a small caption or slogan. Twenty years later I found that companies were beginning to use different strategies in order to make their products more appealing. For example, an ad for Haig and Haig scotch depicts a large masculine man picking up a crate of the scotch out of a small boat on a white sandy beach with the ocean and mountains in the background. The caption at the top of the picture states, “For men who can’t be Vague.” This ad reminds me of the Dos Equis and John Jameson TV advertisements where they both portray a masculine and adventurous man in order to attract other men to buy their product. I find it pretty amazing that companies were using the same type of ads fifty years ago that we still find pleasing today.

                Overall, this issue of Time portray a world that seemed very content and definitely on a rise due to the latest technology and inventions. I would definitely say that this edition depicted a happier and brighter world than the issue from 1936. I was surprised that Christmas and New Years were not talked about more which I guess became more of a popular theme in periodicals later on in our country’s history. It is also always very fun to read about products and technologies that seem so basic nowadays such as the spacesuit and shaving cream. By reading these two editions of an old magazine I have been able to see how the United States and the world changed throughout two very distinct decades.

Time Magazine: December 7th 1936

Although I have always had an interest in history, I've never really done an assignment like this before where I've had to read an old news publication from a particular magazine or newspaper. I decided to read Time Magazine because I thought it would have the most complete coverage of news and advertisements from any time. Also, I was able to find an issue published on my birthdate of December 7th, 55 years before I was born.

The first thing that stands out to most people when reading a magazine are the advertisements. Immediately on the 4th page was an ad for Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" with a caption that states "Those who have already read it will want a copy to own and keep close at hand." I found this very funny because I know that my family has atleast 3 different versions of the book lying around the house and because we are from Georgia they are definitely seen as prized possesions. It is interesting to think that this book that had only been on the market for about 6 months at the time of this publication is still viewed as one of the greatest novels from the era. Other advertisements that were hard not to notice were the ads for gin, whiskey, and tobacco which appeared on almost every other page. I'm guessing that because America was in the middle of the great depression these items were highly valued to "ease" people through the hard times. Another ad I found ammusing was one for aluminmun foil that depicted it as if it was cutting edge technology which I guess it was back then. Nowadays its only seen as a basic household supply but 75 years ago aluminum foil was a hot new item.

The language throughout the articles suprised me because it wasn't much different and was definitely not harder to understand. This was true for the most part, but as I started reading the business and finance section I was completely lost. Maybe the terminology has changed over the years or maybe TCU's Neeley School of Business hasn't prepared me as well as I'd hoped. Hopefully the latter is not true. The writing was a bit more formal but I thought it was just as easy to understand as today's magazines. One of the articles I enjoyed reading was about a plantation owner in Arkansas who had somehow been keeping slaves on his property to work his land 70 years after slavery had been abolished. The article itself was about the trial process and eventually the plantation owner was found guilty. Because the article was not a headlined story in the National Affairs section it appeared that this story was not deemed as important as the others. I can't even imagine what would happen if a story like that surfaced in one of today's newspapers. The story would be a national headline and there would most likely be an inevitable national uproar.

Another section I enjoyed reading about was the Music section. There was a particular article titled "Jazz on the Verge." In the article a jazz concert in Philadelhia was summarized. What I found most interesting was the language used to describe the actual music. The writer used words like "shrilled, thumped, crashed, and snorted" to describe the sounds that were being made. It sounded exactly how my parents would describe the new Hip Hop/Rap genre in today's world. In 1936, jazz was just starting tto gain popularity and there were obviously people who didn't understand how this new sound could appeal to anyone. I think its very funny to see a defintie similarity between how new music genres were looked down upon when they were getting started out.

Overall, I had a surpringly good time reading throught this old magazine. I was able to see ads and stories that both shocked me and made me laugh at loud. As a whole issue, Time Magazine depicted the world as fairly content even though the United States was in the midst of the hardest decades ever experienced. I am very much looking forward to our next assignment because I will hopefully be able to read a later issue and can compare the stories and advertisments right before World War II changes the world forever.