The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

This is our last Blog of this year, and our short story reading class will begin again on January 13, 2016. Last week's reading, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell was by far the most popular story we have read since August. There are four characters: Ivan, a Cossack, and General Zaroff's assistant. Whitney, a friend of Sanger Rainsford who feels anxious as they sail next to the mysterious Ship-Trap Island. General Zaroff, a Cossack who is an elegant speaker, and a eager hunter that enjoys creating a hunting game with people whose boats sink in front of his island. Sanger Rainsford, a renowned hunter who is intelligent and has years of hunting experience. The story consisted of Rainsford falling off the boat, swimming to the Ship-Trap Island, and meeting General Zaroff. From there, General Zaroff tells Rainsford about how his hunting has become less than he wants, so he purposely leads boats to sink outside his island and has the crews land on the shore of his island. It is then he has a new group to train, to strengthen, and then let's them go and he hunt for them. Sanger Rainsford feels General Zaroff is absurd, and then later becomes one for General Zaroff hunt for. In the end of the story, Sanger Rainsford beats General Zaroff in the three day hunt and kills him and sleeps in General Zaroff's bed. It is excellent story that I highly recommend you read. After reviewing The Most Dangerous Game, we went over what we have read since August and chose the top six stories. Here are the ones we chose in no particular order.

• Split Cherry Trees by Jesse Stuart
• An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur 
• Why I Write by Terry Tempest Williams 
• The Heart of Spring by William Butler Yeats 
• The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards 
• Stickeems by John Muir 
• In This Group by Fae Burgener   

Our Reading Crew!!

Hunter in the Snow by Tobias Wolff

Last Friday, we went over Hunter in the Snow by Tobias Wolff, which is a story based on friendships. This is a unique story since we learn all about the characters through their talking to each other and their actions in the group or when they are alone. In fact, Tobias Wolff does not share the characters' personalities in paragraphs, so a reader learns them throughout the story. The three characters, Tub, Kenny, and Frank are married and have completely different personalities. Kenny is the loud one, one who is also rough and insensitive. However, just as Eckels was in A Sound of Thunder, who lost his strong, egotistical personality after he saw the dinosaur, Kenny lost his overbearing personality when Tub shot him. Frank was a subtle man who was in the middle, between Tub and Kenny. Frank also had a very calm mind, and seemed at peace with the two when they were arguing. Interestingly though, we learn later that he was in love with his children's babysitter who was only sixteen years old. And Tub was overweight and had a hard time keeping up with Kenny and Frank in the woods and had an eating disorder which he kept inside himself. Later, Tub opens himself to Frank, and Frank encourages him to be himself and eat an enormous plate of pancakes that were covered with syrup. While we were reading, we went over the list of all the stories on What We Have Read So Far... and connected the ones that were similar and different to Hunter in the Snow. This turned out to be a wonderful activity to do since we got to see how unique all the stories are. Lastly, we read In This Group, a poem written by Fae Burgener. Her poem describes our reading group and each person in it. Fae is a fantastic writer and how she describe each one of us is perfect. I highly suggest you take some time to read her poem. Next week's reading is The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and we will go over it on Wednesday. I have heard from a dear friend, who is an librarian, that this is an awesome story. 

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

 
A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury is an exciting story that shows how sometimes a simple, small thing can effect the future in ways we could never predict. In A Sound of Thunder, four men head back in time, 60, 022, 005 years, to kill a dinosaur. The year is 2055, and the crew is run by Mr. Davis, and the main character is Eckels. The goal is for the team to head back in time, kill a dinosaur that is already predicted to die naturally only a few minutes before they shoot it twice, one in each brain. Eckels is eager to hunt a dinosaur since he has hunted all over the world and he feels he needs more of a hunting challenge. The important information Eckels receives from Mr. Davis is that there must never be a mistake what so ever since one small change that happen from killing anything as small as an ant, will have a greater impact on their future that they cannot predicted. Nevertheless, when it came time to kill the dinosaur, Eckels falls apart emotionally, steps off their narrow track, and kills a small butterfly which leads to a subtle change they discover when they get home. Mr. Davis, completely enraged, finally kills Eckels and he lays down helplessly in a chair in the Time Safari Inc. office. It is an outstanding short story. Two simple quotes I really like are, "Time was a film run backwards. Suns fled and ten million moons fled after them.", and "The sun stopped in the sky." Both of the these were written when they are on their 60, 002, 005 year trip to hunt the dinosaur. The video, A Sound of Thunder, is good to watch after reading the short story. Next week's reading is Hunters in The Snow by Tobias Wolff. Everyone remember: There is no class on Wednesday since there it's a holiday. See you next Friday!

The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards

Last week we studied The Phantom Coach by Amelia B.

Edwards. This story has won the prize of being the best story we have read so far. The Phantom Coach is a first person story about James Murray and what he experiences when he visits a small cabin far in the woods, gets on the wooden carriage with three dead men, and ends up with his wife in the end of the story. The story is unique because it can be seen as a story within a story. Story one begins with James meeting Jacob in the forest, and it ends when he wakes up to his wife with him in the hospital 20 years later. Story two consists of after James meeting Jacob in the forest, is introduced and listens to The Master's unlimited amount of knowledge, and rides in the carriage with three corpses before he falls out. The carriage he is in is one that crashed seven years before his time, and this is one of the key points that add to the mystery of what actually took place with James. And this is why the carriage he went into is called in the last two words of the story, Phantom Coach. There many quotes that can be used to describe what James is experiencing, but this one is awesome. "I turned to the passenger on the seat beside my own, and saw-- oh Heaven! how shall I describe what I saw? I saw that he was no living man--that none of them were living men, like myself! A pale phosphorescent light--the light of putrefaction--played upon their awful faces; upon their hair, dank with the dews of the grave; upon their clothes, earth-stained and dropping to pieces; upon their hands, which were as the hands of corpses long buried. Only their eyes, their terrible eyes, were living; and those eyes were all turned menacingly upon me!" 

After finishing this story, we went over two short stories we brought in. First we read Halloween Horror by Joshua Hall and then a descriptive story/poem named Eating Pumpkins by Dorthy Brock. Next Wednesday's short story is A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. 

A Day to Mull Over Poems

The Dance I Done by Dottty

I am a Free Spirit by Cathy

Yesterday, on Friday, we had four poems brought into our class. Fay brought in Georga 'Da Wash, a poem written by her mother in 1930. Joe read a poem he wrote which is Our Five Senses. Dotty's brought in The Dance I Done, another poem she has written. And Cathy brought in, I am a Free Spirit, a poem she wrote the day of our class. Faye read her poem, Georga 'Da Wash, with sounds of her voice and body movements matching the words and structure of the poem. She read in a way that shows she has read it many times. It was great! Joe's poem, Our Five Senses, is about his years as a blind and deaf elementary school teacher. Every description he shared with us are ones he seen and experienced. This a wonderful poem and you can tell Joe was a compassionate teacher. Dotty's poem, The Dance I Done, is about when she learned to dance and how she has been dancing her whole life. She put a lot of her heart into this poem and we can feel how much it meant to her. This is another beautiful poem she has shared with us. Cathy writes about herself in her poem, I am a Free Spirit. Her poem is about herself and it's a personal view point of what she likes and dislikes. She writes about her common thoughts from years ago until today. Next weeks reading is The Phantom Coach by Amelia B. Edwards, and we will go over this short story next Wednesday. Ciao!

Two Wonderful Short Stories

William Butler Yeats

Today we went over two short stories: The Heart of Spring by William Butler Yeats and Stickeen by John Muir. They are both wonderful stories, but when I ask which story everyone likes the most, Stickeen wins. The Heart of Spring is about a young boy and a very old man, who is referred to as Master by the young boy. The story is a tricky one to understand, but the story consists of a young boy taking care of the older man. The older one tells him about what he has gone through and what he needs done that day since he knows he will pass away. The young boy does what he is told to do by the old man, and before the young boy saw his master dead, he dreamed of a bright future of him being married and having children. The last sentence of the story: "He looked at the threadbare blue velvet, and he saw it was covered with the pollen of the flowers, and while he was looking at it a thrush, who had alighted among the boughs that were piled against the window, began to sing." It's a short story, only 4.5 pages, but very well written. The Heart of Spring is yet another story I suggest you read. 

The other story, Stickeen, is a real story written by John Muir and his new canine friend, Stickeen. John Muir was not interested in having a dog in this trip and in the beginning, he has only negative comments about Stickeen and his place on the voyage. But throughout the story John Muir and Stickeen become close, and it's wonderful to read and see how Stickees builds their relationship. From half way into the story and till the end, John Muir speaks to Stickee like he is one of us. There are many examples of John Muir referring to Stickeen as if he were human. Here is one: "His looks and tones of his voice when be began to complain and speak his fears were so human that I unconsciously talked to him as I would to a boy, and in trying to calm his fears perhaps in some measure moderated my own." This too is a marvelous story, and I suggest you read this one as well. On Friday, we will read some poems and stories brought in by us, and receive next week's short story.

Just Another Wonderful Day in Our Reading Club

Yesterday, on Friday, we had an amazing class with four of us reading poems they brought in. Joe and Dorthy read ones they wrote, and Cathy and Fae's read ones written by dear friends. Cathy's is God Decision by Le Roy A Martinez, and Fae's is Because by Beth A Dickson. Our group becomes closer with each other every week, and because of that, they all read special poems or other styles of writing out loud and tells us about the history of the writing. Interestingly, every reading this week was based on difficult times and misunderstandings and the undeniable faith in God is what helped them soften their hearts with acceptance and love. It was an outstanding day of reading personal writings. After that, we read Why I Write by Terry Tempest Williams and talked what is in her writing we find all our writings. Next weeks readings are The Heart of Spring by William Butler Yeats and Stickeen by John Muir. See you next week!!

I Know by Dorthy Valentine (2010)

God Voice by Le Roy A Martinez (1998)

Because by Beth A Dickson (1940)