Durron Bailey
Point of View

Just reading the authors passage without hearing their point of view or idea about the passage, really doesn’t give you the imagery that is need to get the message. When the author tells you what he or she is thinking when they wrote the reading makes you think the same thing that they thought when they wrote it. This make you feel exactly what they felt and exactly what they saw in the story, and this helps you see the story the way its suppose to be seen. I like hearing the authors point of view, but at the same time it takes all of your imagination away. It kills all of your ideas that you had about the story, and this is the only negative of hearing the authors point of view.

Durron Bailey
2012
I was wondering why it is still warm outside and it almost Christmas time. Normally around this time of year it is freezing and everyone has on jackets. I know that global warming is a problem but I didn’t think that it was this much of a problem. Im wearing shorts at thanksgiving time, that’s crazy!!! And now that this 2012 movies came out I don’t know what to think anymore. Im hoping its just global warming because I sure don’t want to see the 2012 movie actually happen, it will be a scary site.

Durron Bailey
Time

My birthday is in two weeks and I realized that I am actually getting old. I am about to be 20 and I can still remember thinking that I’m grown when I turned sixteen. The saying “Time doesn’t wait for anybody” is so true and me turning 20 has made me realize that. I know that older people would say that they wish that they were 20 again, im not saying that I’m mad because I’m 20 it just came so fast. But looking on the bright said of things I’m blessed to be able to see 20 years of life, but I’m sure ready for 21!!

Durron Bailey
Teenage wasteland

1.The story is told by a character that is not in the story. It sounds like it is from the mothers point of view but its not.
2.The first paragraph was trying to show how innocent Donny actually was, but he changed out of nowhere.
3.She was her children to like holy in the eyes of other. She as so doesn’t have a strong mind, she always asks others for advice.
4.She doesn’t blame him because she know that she is the real problem.
5.Daisy puts her Donny over her daughter, and when she does it she doesn’t even try to play it off. She makes it known that she favors Donny more.
6.Daisy’s mindless ways is the cause for her losing her son.

Durron Bailey
A Worn Path

1.The narrator is telling the story without saying how the person really feels or thinks.
2.A Phoenix is a bird that is more mythical than real and I think this is also the mindset that she has; her visions were unrealistic as well.
3.It makes you feel like you were missing something. I read her visions so closely it was like I was missing thing as a read.
4.She was looked down upon. They had respect for her but treated her like a youngster.
5.The dog was young and energetic. She wished that she had the dog’s energy.
6.The saying is just stating that she is getting old and she can’t do anything about it.

Durron Bailey
Sonny’s Blues



1.Sonny’s brother is telling the story and this makes the reader see what the brother sees and not what Sonny really feels. I think it is told like that the keep the reader clueless to Sonny’s thoughts.
2.He is a teacher and he tries to play the grown up role. He wanted a career and not just a regular job.
3.If Sonny told the story it would have been a lot better. Sonny would have added excitement to the story, that his brother didn’t bring.
4.His daughter died and I made him want to write his brother.
5.The mother asked him to watch after Sonny. He wasn’t known for being trust worth, but he came through in the end.
6.By not naming the characters it makes the readers keep their focus on Sonny. It just shows how much the dad cares about him.
7. He just took the story of his life and puts it in his music.

Durron Bailey
Cali Memphis


I stayed in Sacramento for the summer and it was on a totally different level than what Memphis is on. When I saw that city my mouth just dropped because I have never seen anything like it. It was like a totally different world from what I was use to. The culture was different, the fashion was different, and the best thing of them all was the different weather that they had. It was like a weight was off of my shoulders when I arrived there. Memphis is home but my visit made me believe that there actually are places in the world that are more amazing and beautiful than Memphis is.

Durron Bailey
Other Half


Honestly I never thought about my other half being a hero. I have set here and thought about it for awhile and I agree with this. My other half can make me smile when I am the maddest I have ever been. She can turn any bad situation around and make me believe that everything is going to be okay, no matter how bad the situation is. She might not be a hero as in superhero but she is a hero when it comes to making the people she care about happy. I have never thought about a hero in this way but now that I have thought about it, its true or spouse can be a hero.

Durron Bailey
Southern pride
When you read a authors literature the reader can really tell what kind of person and what kind of background the person who wrote the literature had. O’Connor never said that she was Catholic or Southerner directly but you can tell that she was southern by the word choices that she made. The grandmother in the story uses terms toward blacks that was widely used in the south at the time that the story was written. The grandmother also uses southern terms in the story. She uses country phrases that the people of the north does not use. When the grandmother meet with the misfit in the woods she refer to God a lot, which lets me know that she had some type of faith. She did not say directly that she believed in any faith but she referred to God a number of times which showed me that she did believe in a God. One thing about southerners is that they are highly religious. Southerners might just be the most religious people in America and O Conner showed this in the grandmother in the story. I think O Conner was the grandmother in the story. The grandmother had the traits that I would say that I get from O Conner when I hear her literature. O Conner made it known that she has religious views in the story and she made it known by her slang that she was a true southerner.

Durron Bailey
10/19/2009

A good man is hard to find was a story about a everyday household. Grandparents bug every teenager in America the way that the grandmother in this story bugged the son. Maybe if she would have calmed down a little the son maybe would’ve listened to her, because in the end she was right. She had a bad feeling about the trip the whole time but if she would have talked to the son with a little more sense, maybe he would’ve listened to her. I know how grandparents can be and I can see why he acted the way he did.

Durron Bailey
10/19/2009

My dad and I had a talk about life and it really made me think. Do we as humans really determine our own destiny; or are our lives already planned out for us. I think that we determine our own destiny but the choices we make day to day. I just cant believe that if I sit in the house doing nothing all day, my life would be the same as it would be if I went to school to become a well paid business man. I strongly believe that you get out of live what you put into it. If you want the best for yourself and you work hard to get the best you will one day have the best. But if you sit around and wait for it to drop in your lap you’ll be waiting for quite awhile.

Durron Bailey
10/19/2009

As I have been reading the stories and poems in this class I have realized that literature is only everyday true stories. Literature is amazing to me because of the fact that everyone can relate to the same story just in different ways. In the story a Good Man is Hard to find I could relate to what the son was going through because I have a grandparent who is the same exact way. I think that is the reason I liked the story so much because I could actually feel what the son is going through.

Durron Bailey
Harrison Bergeron

1.The opening sentence is saying that its going to take a long time in order for all people to be treated equal. In the story it just say the year 2081 because, the author can see it being that long before total equality takes place. The elimination of competition suggest that whatever type of government that has taken place is similar to a dictatorship.
2.Those changes couldn’t be carried out under American Capitalism. The human tendencies described by Vonnegut id just the human nature of wanting the best for yourself. It isn’t the end result of anything, people should act like they want to act, and if they have money they should be able to show it if they want to. Shows like Oprah are so widely watched because, women just like that type of entertainment. Its no one specific reason why people watch Oprah, the show may just appeal to people look up to figures like Oprah and Rosie because, people would love to have the status that they have. Everyone would love to have the status that those to people have in the world today. Barbie doll have to be designed differently because children these days are smarter than ever before. They realize when something is realistic and when its not. If the toy doesn’t me children’s expectations they are simply just going to stop playing with it. So Barbie is doing whatever she has to do to stay afloat. Grade inflation sometimes just has to be done. If a child is to bright for the grade that he/she is in then they should be moved to a grade more suitable for that child. A bright student shouldn’t be held back because of the fact that another student isn’t brighter than him/her. In team sports players and teams shouldn’t even award players who didn’t earn the award. I say this because it takes away from the players who actually worked hard and earned their award. I believe that this hinders a child and teaches they to settle rather than it helping them.
3.The functions of the U.S Handicapper General is to level the playing field. Their job is to keep everybody as equal as possible. The threat that these agents combat is the threat of them taking the different unique qualities from the people away. The U.S turning into a dictatorship is the only way I can see something like this happening. Everybody is treated the same way, this is how radical mediocracy is achieved and enforced.
4.Vonnequt is trying to stress the everyman is equal policy but he has took it a little to for. When everyman is created equal was said it didn’t actually mean that people should be exactly alike. It just meant that no matter what race and economic status, everyone should be treated the same.
5.When it comes to the forms of commercial life wage- labor is the subject that jumps out at me first. If everybody is equal and treated equal does this means that at work everyone gets the same wage? What if a worker is move qualified then another worker, do they still get paid equally? If this is the case, then everybody is the same policy still wouldn’t be good for America. Yes, capitalist social forms will create movements. People don’t want to be the same as others in everyway. When social forms are made people are instantly outraged because, they think of it as their freedom being taken away. If people think that their freedom is involved in any way, a movement will be started almost automatically. By the words that I read in Vonnegut’s story, his theorys will never work in America. The America people don’t stand for things.
6.Roman Hruska’s thoughts are related to Vonnegut’s idea only by the fact that he felt people should be treated the same by the legal system. He feels that in court everyone should be treated equally no matter what.
7.They are just described as typically people, with a good education. They live a normal life and they are typically normal people. This story warns against people being unique and trying to have their own thoughts/ideas. Mass media only wants you to see what they allow you to see. It is all control by one main source and the TV only plays what is allowed to be played. Neil Postman is simply saying that this world is simply entertainment and it whats the people to follow and live off of the entertainment. He says that the world doesn’t allow us to do anything and this is only saying that they want the people of the world to try to live like the stars that they see on the big screen.

Durron Bailey
Sep 23,2009
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

1. Who is the story's main character, Connie or Arnold Friend?
Connie is the main character. I say this because the story showed her life in detail. The whole plot of the story was centered around Connie.
Discuss the theme of the house as a metaphor of Connie's identity.
The house was hidden from the rest of the town. It was a hidden house that didn’t have anything special about it. I say the house represents her low self-esteem.
Where does Arnold take Connie, and what happens to her? Write your own continuation of the story.
I think Arnold took Connie to a quiet place and tried to take advantage of her like the others before him did. I believe she gives in and gives herself to him just so he would leave her alone.
Describe important images that you see in the story and what they do to create meaning within the story.
Arnold Friend is the biggest image in the story. His image put a weird twist into the story. I also see the image of Connie dancing in the mirror and this behavior is why she is being taken advantage of throughout the story.