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)

The Idiots by Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Yesterday we went over The Idiots by Joseph Conrad. We had a mixed review about the story. Half of us thought it was depressing since Jean-Pierre Bacadou and his wife Susan died, and their four disabled children, the idiots, end up being put into the background so they can be out of society and forgotten. On the other side, a few of us loved the story. Yes, we feel it is depressing with a horrible ending, but the writing by Joseph Conrad is brilliant. Each sentence is written so well and the actions and settings are clear as day. Plus, it is written with such creativity that we feel Joseph Conrad is a artist, a writing artist. Here is an example: "Autumn came. The cloudy sky descended low upon the black contours of the hills; and the dead leaves danced in spiral whirls under naked trees, till the wind, sighing profoundly, laid them to rest in hollows of baron trees." Interestingly, he wrote The Idiots on his honeymoon in 1896. One of his books I recommend is, The Heart of Darkness. On Friday, we will read Why I Write, a two page journal written by Terry Tempest Williams and receive next week's short story.

Last Week's Reading We'll Do Next Wedensday

We missed last Wednesday and Friday, but nothing has changed and we will be together next Wednesday, October 14. We are going to go over The Idiots by Joseph Conrad, which most readers don't care for it. I look forward to everyone's thoughts and opinions about the story, and I'm sure it will be great. On Wednesday, I will bring in the next week's reading. See you then!

An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur

Last Friday, we went over An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur. We used the Plot Diagram one more time to help us follow the story and labeled the diagram as we moved forward. The story its self is wonderful and the last sentence sums it all up: "An angel had come into his house, disguised as a sick, helpless, and miserable child, and filled all its dreary chambers with the sunshine of love." Later, we read a few reading that were brought in by us, and once again, Dorthy brought a very touching narrative. In this photo of her, we can only see page one of two, and she wrote this in 2005. Next Wednesday we will be going over, The Idiots by Joseph Conrad.

Illusions

Plot Diagram Used to Write Short Stories

Plot Diagram

Yesterday, on Wednesday, we went over a Plot Diagram, an organizational tool in writing, to help us follow the short stories we have read in class and guide our writers through the steps to follow as they write new short stories on their own. We took what we learned and used it to go over some of the stories we have read so far. Everyone enjoyed this lesson, and we talked about how this helps them to understand the reason the author wrote his or her story the way it is. After that, we began going over A Worn Path by Eudora Alice Welty, and will begin going over the beautiful short story, An Angel Disguise by T.S. Author on Friday. Of course, we will share some poems and short stories was have written ourselves as well. See you tomorrow!!

No Class... It Was Circus Day!!!

On Friday, everyone went to a circus, so we didn't have class. It's ok though since everyone got to party!! For next week have two short stories which are not as long as the ones we have read in last couple weeks. We have Angels in Disguise by T.S. Arthur and A Worn Path by Eudora Alice Welty. See you Wednesday!

Another Two Short Stories

Yesterday we went over two short stories, Split Cherry Trees by Jesse Stuart and Man From South by Roald Dahal. Split Cheery Trees has two themes: one is the clash between generations, from Dave and his father Luster who is 65 sixty-five years old. The other is about the differences between old education and the benefits of new types of education. The story is about Dave, a 14 year old boy living in two world separated by old time and new time, his father Luster, and Dave's high school teacher, Professor Herbert and how Dave is growing academically but still living far from from school and in an old way of life. Luster says near the end of the story, "School has changed from my day and time. I'm a dead leaf, Dave. I'm behind."                                                                                                
Our second story, Man From South, is a 1st person story about a young man who is a U.S. naval cadet and in Jamaica and meets a short man, Carlos, who has "...pale, almost colorless eyes with tiny bright black pupils" and makes a bet with him. The story consists of Carlos betting the naval cadet if he can light his cigarette lighter ten times he wins Carlos' Cadillac, but if he losses, he gets a finger chopped off. Both of these stories were great, but the Split Cherry Trees was considered the best of these two. On Friday, we will read what is brought in by any of us, and receive next week's stories. 

Wedensday and Friday Update!

Two Readers and Excellent Writers, Cathy and Dorthy

On Wednesday, we went over two short stories that had opposite forms of structure. Kew Gardens by Virgina Woolf was a story written with no structure. Many short stories consist of a few characters with only one of them that makes a decision. A reader will learn about the reason he or she made the decision, and the consequences of it. Where as Kew Gardens was like a play in a theater where characters come and go and are never seen again. It has a setting of Kew Garden, a park, introduced in the first paragraph, and all the actions that took place in the story are not connected at all accept that they take place in the park. The last paragraph of the story sums up the story with, "Thus one couple after another with much the same irregular and aimless movement passed the flower-bed and were enveloped in a layer after layer of green blue vapor..." On the other side, Pigs Is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler is a story that follow the outline with an exposition, climax, and resolution. This story consisted of a two guinea-pigs in the beginning, 4064 in climax, and the ends without guinea-pigs. Both of these short stories are absolutely wonderful. What benefited us the most is how we were able to compare and contrast the stories. We highly recommend these stories to everyone.

Dorthy's Poem, Journey

On Friday, we had three wonderful poems that told us about the writer and what she went through years ago, and two of them about what they are facing today. It was certainly a blessing to be with the writers and hear the backgrounds of their poems. The authors were Dorthy (with her fifth poem!), Cathy, and Fay. And I brought in Solo, a non-fiction short story about a surfing trip in Sumatra. There two short stories for next week which are Man From the South by Ronald Dahl and Split Cheery Trees by Jesse Stuart.

Fay's Poem, My Ride With The Angels

 

The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

Yesterday we went over the The Snow of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway. This short story is about Henry, an angry writer who is full of regrets and keeps reaping over and over that he could have written through out the years about people he met and experiences he lived through, and his wife Helen, a rich woman who deeply loved him and admired him for his writing and freewill to live the way he wanted. Together they travel through Africa because Henry feels like it is time for him to start over again. Unfortunately, he ends up getting gangrene from a small scratch that he thought would heal on its own. However, it lead him to his death in the end. Ernest Hemingway was a well known writer with trouble within himself which lead him to be a heavy drinker and eventually commit suicide in July, 1961. We do not have class this Friday, so here are next week's short stories:  Pigs Is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler and Kew Garden by Virgina Woolf. See you next Wednesday!
 

Day to Share

On Friday, we went over The Chrysanthemum one last time and then opened the class to share what we brought in. Dorthy and Shelia brought in poems, Faye brought in a personal narrative, Ellen wrote a short poem during our session, and I brought in a short story. Dorthy's poem, Grandma Message, tells the reader about how faith is gift for her and her grandmother Rachael. A beautiful quote at the end of her poem tells us "... faith is the ultimate gift I have for you, my precious Rachael." Shelia opens herself to her daughter Lisa Marie and her boyfriend Jordan in her poem, If I Had a Son. Shelia shares her love for him at the end of her poem with "Jordan, if I had a son, he would be just like you." Sheila also brought in a picture of her daughter and Jordan. Fae's short descriptive narrative is about her memory of her father who took care of fields of daffodils and tulips. Fae tells how daffodils today will always have her father in them. She wrote, "I will always have a yellow daffodils in my home in honor of my dear Father." Ellen wrote us a poem in class that tells us that "Those we love don't go away" and are "still loved, still missed, and very dear." Lastly, I brought in a short story The Land of the Waves. Next week's reading is The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway.  

Ellen's in class poem

Dorthy's poem, Grandmas Message

Fae's personal narrative, The Color Yellow

Shelia's poem, If I Had a Son

The Chyrsanthemums by John Steinbeck

Yesterday we went over the The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck, a wonderful short story that was first published in 1937 in Harper's Magazine. The story focuses on how Elias, Henry's wife, is learning about herself and her role in the male orientated society. As a reading group, we broke down the story and discussed the actions that took place by each character and talked about their personality traits, and the significance of a chrysanthemum and its role in the story. At the end of our session, we watch the video which was a great way to summarize the short story and all we had talked about in our session. On Friday, we will share poems and short stories we have written ourselves and get our next week's reading. 

Magical Realism Short Story

Dorthy's Poem, My Mother

Yesterday we laughed as we went over A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The short story is about a Colombian family that surprisingly finds an old man with wings like an angel in the sand in front of their house, and then later a female spider with head of a young woman comes into the story. This story is similar to Eva Is Inside Her Cat, since it's full of unrealistic characters that have a major impact on the story itself, and it keeps the reader wondering what is going to come up in the next sentence. It is an outstanding short story that is part of the Magical Realism genre. After going over the short story, Cathy and Dorthy shared what they brought in. Cathy brought in a beautiful picture she made which is of Jesus' last super with His twelve disciples. It's a beautiful piece of art. And Dorthy brought another wonderful poem, and this one is about her mother who was with Dorthy regardless of life's hard ships and how her mother's love has impacted Dorthy's life. Dorthy expresses herself quite well in her poems, and this is her third one she has brought in so far. Lastly, we are reading The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck as our next week's short story.

Cathy's Beautiful Picture

     

Eva Is Inside Her Cat by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Today we went over Eva Is Inside Her Cat and we all were taken back by the obscure short story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story has many images that are difficult to say whether they are real or a fantasy. In fact, this story falls into the genre Magical Realism which pertains to accepting magic in our real world and has magical and unreal elements that are accepted in our everyday, realistic society. Everyone in our class had different ways of describing what actually did take place in our story and had no real answer to how it began and ended. We all agreed that it was much better to share our ideas and what we thought took place throughout the story. We also pointed out a few of the stand-out images. When I asked what they thought of the story from one to ten, our lowest number was six, but all the others were from eights to nine. On Friday, we will go over A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

 

We Love To Read, but also Love to Share

On Friday, we went over On the Gull's Road by Willa Cather one more time and touched on how we learn more about what the narrator is feeling deep within himself and less about what Alexandra Ebbling was going through with her illness and how this affected her actions in the story. We considered how the narrator's experiences he tells us about were twenty years after his trip on the cruise ship and how memories change as years pass by. We also read two poems and a short story brought in by three of us. Dorthy's poem, Shadows, is what she wrote for the boys in her family after her husband died. Cathy's poem is about how everyone in her kin are different, but they are still a family. Cathy is the young girl on the left side at the bottom of the page. I brought in Josh's Creation Myth, a short story that tells us how our world was brought into being. Next week we have two short stories written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children and Eva Is Inside Her Cat. 

Cathy's Poem

Dorthy's Poem, Shadows

On the Gull's Road by Willa Cather

Today we went over the short story, On Gull's Road by Willa Cather and a couple of short story questions. It is a narrator's story of a woman he fell in love with twenty years ago on a cruise ship that was headed to New York City from Italy. We all enjoyed the story and had quotes and images and actions to share with each other, and we all agreed others would love to read it like we did. The descriptions Willa Cather uses to describe the places they travel by are stunning, and we all had imagery that stuck with us as we read the story. This sentence is one of my favorites used to describe the coast of Sardinia: "A narrow strip of beach glistening like white paint between the purple sea and the umber rocks, and the whole island lay gleaming in the yellow sunshine and translucent air." On Friday, we'll read a two-page short story and also share a few bits of writing we bring into our session. 

A Day of Sharing

Dorthy's Poem

Clyde's Poem, Mountains

On Friday, we shared writings we have held on for years. The writings consisted of poems and a short story. Each poem had a completely different tone and Clyde, Dorthy, and Cathy told us stories about what inspired the poems and why each one was special to them. Clyde wrote his poem, Mountains, when was 13 years old and he told us of stories that he experienced and what inspired to write his poem. Dorthy's poem tells us about her love and affection she has for her seven grandchildren and what they did together. Cathy's poem is very touching and was written to her by her boyfriend. And I brought in Enchanted Island, a short story about two dear friends of mine, Joshua and Alanna. Joshua and I shared many reading reading classes at SDSU, climbed classic routes in Joshua Tree National Park and surfed whenever we could. Alanna and I were close friends and took many writing classes together at SDSU. Joshua and Alanna are married and live near South Lake Tahoe in California. Next week's short story is On the Gull's Road by Willa Cather. Enjoy! 

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

Today we went over The Open Boat and shared what we thought about the short story. The discussion went very well because everyone supported his or her response with specific examples from the story and also personal experiences. We went over a wide range of ideas and likes and dislikes of the reading before we answered the questions for short stories. What's most interesting is that The Open Boat is about Stephen Crane's personal experience, thus he is able to tell the reader about the endurance and unity of characters, and the conflict between man and nature. On Friday, we'll read a few writings brought in by a couple of us, and then pass out our next week's reading.

Our First Reading Club Session!!

Our first day was fantastic. Everyone was thrilled to have a book reading club at the Brigham City Community Center. Each member has his or her own reason why he or she loves reading, and in fact, there are a few that read ten times faster than me and it seemed like I opened the door to those who are obsessed to reading. I must admit: I feel like I started a new club to avid readers who are way beyond me and my reading experience. We went over an outline of what we will go over in our sessions, read The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin to practice what we will do after we finish each reading, and passed out The Open Boat by Stephen Crane and a list of questions they can mull over while they read the short story.