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Midterm Paper

Started by hunter s.durden, September 29, 2012, 05:24:57 AM

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hunter s.durden

 "A&P" – John Updike
"A Rose for Emily" - Faulkner
"Sonny's Blues" – James Baldwin
"Cathedral" – Raymond Carter
This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" – Sherman Alexie
"The Storm" – Chopin
"Everyday Use" – Alice Walker
"Chrysanthemums" – Steinbeck,
"The Swimmer" – John Cheever
"The Lottery" – Shirley Jackson
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" – Le Guin
"A Pair of Tickets" – Amy Tan

Jerks: above are the short stories I was forced to read and analyze.
I need ideas. Initially I think I'm going to write on "The Swimmer" and the passage of time or something.
I don't know I'm all fucked up.
This space for rent.

Freeky

I've never heard of these stories.

In fact, I thought I'd ended up in one of the cover this song threads.

hunter s.durden

Ok guys, I wasn't going to log in today until I did my work, but I need help now.
Please read the opening to my paper. Have I gone off the rails, or is this the right direction?
:davidbyrne:
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hunter s.durden

Letting the Days Go by:
John Cheever's warnings against time travel
"And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack,
and you may find yourself in another part of the world,
and you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile,
and you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife,
and you may ask yourself, 'well, how did I get here?'"
-Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"
   "What am I doing with my life? How did it all come to this? I'm how old now?" These are questions that haunt many people, but the most common times for this line of questioning are old age and mid-life. Mid-life was right where John Cheever was when he wrote "The Swimmer." In the story the readers watch as Neddy Merrill swims through time, oblivious to its passing. He travels in a time machine made of denial, fueled by alcohol and petty pursuits. Cheever has made this trip. In his early forties, John Cheever was a severe alcoholic, he was having money troubles, and his career had not blossomed as he had hoped. All this combined with a failing marriage and you have the recipe for a mid-life crisis. This story was Cheever's suicide note, which he would commit 30 short years later by giving himself cancer.
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Anna Mae Bollocks

"30 short years later by giving himself cancer"?

I think it's epic. Don't know if anyone will agree, though.  :lulz:

And I haven't read any of those stories. Sherman Alexie usually gives you something weird enough to riff on, though.
Scantily-Clad Inspector of Gigantic and Unnecessary Cashews, Texas Division

hunter s.durden

Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on October 11, 2012, 06:29:12 PM
Sherman Alexie usually gives you something weird enough to riff on, though.

No, I already picked: The Swimmer
That's the paper.
I think I'm gunna get real weird with it.
This space for rent.

LMNO

So far, you've pretty much got the reader hooked in.  You're gonna really have to drive your point home, because the rest of the paper has to live up to and support that opening paragraph.

hunter s.durden

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 11, 2012, 06:40:28 PM
So far, you've pretty much got the reader hooked in.  You're gonna really have to drive your point home, because the rest of the paper has to live up to and support that opening paragraph.

Fuck. I was hoping the conspiracy twist could buy me a page or two while the reader tries to figure out what the fuck I'm talking about.
This space for rent.

hunter s.durden

I should also probably note that there is no time machine in this story. I'm just really in the mood to watch Back to the Future.
It's a metaphor.
This space for rent.

LMNO

Well, you're going to have to drop the obligatory delorian reference, as well as 88mph getting in there somehow.

LMNO

Or at least the line, "Where Neddy Merrill is going, he doesn't need... roads."

hunter s.durden

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on October 11, 2012, 06:47:51 PM
Well, you're going to have to drop the obligatory delorian reference, as well as 88mph getting in there somehow.

I was going to! I thought it might be too much, but the teacher will probably just be happy I chilled out on the Rambo shit.

You're line is too damn good. Is is plagiarizer if I take it?
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LMNO

No, because mine is fair use and satire of the movie's last line.