Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

This is my favorite story we've read in class so far, for many reasons. First off, it was interesting the entire time, and I didn't have to push myself to stay up and finish it. I chose to do so. And secondly, I really liked the feminism undertones. I actually saw those from the first time I read it, and it's what made me appreciate it the most.

When we were having a discussion over this story in class, one group said that they felt Connie almost deserved what happened, and that bothered me enough to speak up. (Though you all probably know it, I'm not very comfortable talking in this class). I in no way felt that was the intention of the story. How can we as people, who do not know all one can about another, say they deserve a horrible thing, just because of their actions? Shouldn't we be allowed to make our own choices? Yes, Connie isn't what we'd call a role model of what society expects a teenage girl to be like, but she was herself, which is far better. No one should be abducted and most-likely raped because of that.

I also disagreed with this because of how the story made me feel once I was done reading it. The last thought to cross my mind was "Oh, I should be less like myself, so I don't attract creepy people". I hate to say this (and scare the crap out of many) but we all have probably been watched by someone less than desirable. Someone who could hurt us if they wanted to. The most innocent people are hurt everyday, and no one ever says they deserved it. Reading this story made me want to be more of an individual, and not be scared. It really tapped into my borderline feminism beliefs (if you couldn't tell). I see Arnold Friend as a representation of the notion women are weak and therefore should have no major role or rights in society. This story made me want to fight that, because it is in some ways still very much alive.

HEMINGWAY!

Ernest Hemingway is awesome. I'm just going to start off with that. My household's a bit nerdy, and my mother and I occasionally have a habit of speaking about our day the same way that he wrote... Rereading that, we're kind of pathetic. I don't care though, I read "The Sun Also Rises" summer before Junior year, and feel in love with him completely. No idea why.

So, in my nerdy way, I was completely jazzed that we'd be reading a story by him.

And then I read it, and I was very confused. It was good, but I couldn't figure out what the actual topic was. I had an assumption it was marriage, but that didn't make for a truly interesting story.

Being told the topic was abortion made me feel a bit dumb. It was so obvious once I figured it out, why hadn't I caught it? Probably because I don't get 1920's abortion references, and I wasn't paying too close of attention when I first read it. No individual detail of the story said "HI, I'M ERNEST HEMINGWAY, AND TODAY I'M GOING TO WRITE ABOUT ABORTION". But put all together, that's really the only thing that could have made it more obvious.

What I'm getting at is, that topic made me love the story. Why, I do not know. The dynamic of the couple was fascinating. They seem to love each other, but with the pregnancy, no matter what they do, everything is going to change. It almost shows us that eventually the fun stops and real life is going to slap you in the face. How you choose to deal with it is your choice, but you won't be the same afterwards. It's sad, but it true, which is what I like.

So far we haven't read a happy story in this class, come to think of it. Does literary fiction just tend to be depressing?

Cornell Notes

I think I'm going to blog about Cornell notes tonight. It's the one thing from class that I can actually think of at the moment.

I didn't actually do the first Cornell notes assignment (probably should hope to it soon). They just seemed so daunting. I took AP U.S. last year, where we had to transcribe down every important detail we found in our nightly readings of rather boring passages. I avoided it until the very last minute. Once summer hit, the concept of any form of note taking was murdered for me. MURDERED. So getting assigned this made me a wee annoyed.

But then we had to use this same form once again, this time for two different topics. My grade really doesn't need a bunch of neglected Cornell notes, so I swallowed my distaste and went for it. And actually, I enjoyed it. Weird to say about an assignment, but I did. It was really effective in helping me understand what I was reading, and remembering it. Also, it didn't take up too much time, which I was a bit worried about. Each side was seriously about twenty minutes.

So I'm pretty good with this form of note-taking. We should stick with it. Pretty please?

Screwed Up Children and Their Desire to Destroy

I will admit, I didn't read "The Destructors" until lunchtime the day we were supposed to have it finished. I'm not sure why I even neglected it in the first place, but for some reason I was. Combination of being sleepy the night before and a general laziness during the three day week? Who knows.

That's not my point though. Usually, I'd just read what I can during lunch (pinky promise I don't do this too often), then BS my way through class discussion. But I really was drawn into this entire story. Something about how monstrous these kids are is utterly fascinating. I'm pretty sure we've all done terrible things during our childhood that we look back at now with much contempt and regret. I know I have quite a few (though none are as bad as destroying an entire house just for the sake of destruction). I have a strange love of analyzing really messed up actions. What makes people want to do that? What's the motivation to knock down an old man's house, basically ruin his life and everything he has?

A girl at my table made a comment on how this reminded her of "A Clockwork Orange", and I freaked out a bit; partially because I love that book (and movie) just a little too much, and partially because she's TOTALLY RIGHT. It's violence for the sake of violence. The characters receive pleasure from it, they crave it. They don't necessarily have a reason for it, but they do it nonetheless. On a side note, that book is on our list of what we can read for outside reading; it's soo good, if you can make it through the first chapter. I highly recommend it!

But back to the short story: the entire idea they had, there was no reasoning for it. And I think that's really the scariest part. Sure, they can make an entire building rubble in two days with simple tools. But their numbness to the emotional damage they will be causing is too disturbing. They do not care. Not only about the house, about everything. They see it all as disposable, just to be rebuilt. That's kind of how it went in London after WWII, and since they were all exposed to that at such young ages, they assume that's life.

I really hope that's not life.