“Happy Endings”, Margaret Atwood was my first choice. The reason It was my first choice is because of the way she writes; How blunt and short she is about everything, but yet she put so much information in just a few paragraphs. Margaret captures the attention of all the readers in this story by her odd way of writing. I’m not sure if you can even call this a story, by most readers standards, this piece of writing sounds more like a free write just putting statements down on paper.
B just seems to show how John cares nothing about her. He comes over twice a week and Mary will cook them a home cooked meal, after dinner they have sex then she does the dishes. Then she tries to impress him by cleaning up and getting all pretty but he still won’t notice her hard work. Now in C situation it’s pretty much the other way around John wants Mary. Why now? John has his mistress he left Mary and now he wants to change his mind why didn’t he just live the A situation life.
Atwood creates a few different “Happy Endings”. A is a stereotype that everyone wants to live there life, but why? Why would someone want to live that way, it’s almost like that A is a fake. Also the characters Mary and John are very dull names almost as if Atwood made it a joke because their lives are so boring and not real. She doesn’t exactly explain the personalities of John or Mary, but you can pick up hints like when Mary says “She sleeps with him even though she’s not in love with him”. If they were living like A how does that fit into the guidelines of that lifestyle? No matter what happens in life everyone one dies, but the way Atwood bluntly explains death just isn’t the same way most of the readers see it.
Atwood likes to write about the beginnings but throws off the readers with “Happy Endings”. It’s more fun and easier to write about the beginning and middle then the ending, with this type of story about life. This story really makes every reader think what was the author talking or thinking about while she wrote this. Was Atwood really trying to make A, B, and C to prove a point to figure out D? It’s all about the why’s and how’s in this story that you have to figure out.
Exploration Paper
The poem “Let America be America Again” by Langston Hughes. Hughes poem explains how he thinks America doesn’t live up to the standards. The tone of the poem is angry and resentful. Many people come with high hopes and they are let down when they get here. He feels that America isn’t being all its supposed to be or as he states it “the dream it used to be”. There is a positive tone here when he says America can be a “great strong land of love”. Then you get back to the negative side where there are leader depriving others at reaching there opportunities they came here to find.
Liberty is a word that means freedom, which is one of the things our land was founded on. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom. It’s a site that brought people to this country. Hughes wants an America that is real with patriotic truth with no dishonest promises. This poem isn’t about just one group of people, it’s about the people that aren’t included in America’s life. For, example poor whites, African Americans, Indians, really all immigrants that come here for the American life.
Money is the center of what America is ran by. Hughes feels that money gain and property owning is the main focus. Money is everything for example in line 32 he says “Of owning everything for one’s own greed!” That’s what Hughes feels America is about. He really stresses that the people that aren’t part of the American dream he uses the words “I am”, stating that he was one of those people that didn’t get to live the American dream. No matter what kind of job you have whether you’re a farmer or a worker Hughes states that “I am” that person. Pretty much saying that people are working hard but the dreams just aren’t there for them.
This poem is about individuals that came to America with high hopes and big dreams. Hughes uses “The free” which I feel means no matter what, we should be free in every way. Free to get jobs, free socially, and free to live the American life equally. In America, your freedom is everything, but Hughes makes it a joke by sarcastically saying it. So many people in America come here for the dream. They are waiting for their dream to come true, but they almost given up on it. He says it like their dream is “almost dead”, but that does show that there is still hope for the dream to come true.
