CONCLUSION

Conclusion 

Hello! 

This blog was made to make criticism about short stories and books, that was the purpose of this blog. I am a student and I had to do criticize of what I read in class. I really liked and enjoyed every blog entry I did. I learned a lot on how to make different types of criticism as : Tradictional, Sociological, Mythological, Formalistic, Psychoanalytical, Structuralist and Feminist Criticism. Also, I learned interesting aspects of the authors. When a person is going to do a criticism, it is necessary to read, analized and if it is needed reread the story and do some research. Have clear ideas to create a good criticism is very important and it is what I learned and put into practice through this blog. 

I have to say I am not a frecuent reader, but I try to read to get knowledge and vocabulary for my english. I enjoyed all the stories that I read. In every story there was a teaching, a lesson, those stories make the readers think and have a different point of view. Every time that my classmates and I read a story, we had different ideas and arguments about the story. I learnt from my classmates and also from my teacher. She knows a lot and I can say that thanks to her I am going to enjoy every story that I will read. I really liked this project of creating a blog and the idea that people can see my blog and make comments. Finally, I want to say thanks to all the people that watched my blog and made comments, I really did the best I could and I receive any advice or recomendation from you guys. Feel free to do it.
Bye guys. 
See you soon. ❤☺

A DOLL'S HOUSE

A Doll's House 

Feminist Criticism

Welcome :)

For today we have a Feminist Criticism about the play "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen. The play is significant for its critical attitude toward 19th-century marriage norms. It aroused great controversy at the time, as it concludes with the protagonist, Nora, leaving her husband and children because she wants to discover herself. Ibsen was inspired by the belief that "a woman cannot be herself in modern society," since it is "an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint." That was a little of information about the story. We know women back then were very criticized, they were not able to do what they want, they were treated as the tittle says "Dolls". 

From my point of view Nora wanted to be herself because she was never allow to be and to act as she wanted, she had to please her father and also her husband. Not being able do be just yourself is a torture, you want to express yourself and give a point of view about everything as a normal person but unfortunately women back then had to be quiet and accept their lives. Nowadays women are let's say equal that men, even some people say women are minority and the only ones that has the power or control of everything are the men. We have to be open mind and understand that we all are humans with the same rights, no matter if you are a man or a woman. In Doll's House we could see that how brave was Nora to take the desicion of leave her husband and children, women at that moment were so docile and submissive that they could not even think in that idea because they were made supposedly to be at home taking care of the family giving her life for other and not to think about herself. In this Case Nora realizes her life was like a performace, she was never happy and the only way to get to happiness was leaving everything behind, no matter what people will think.

If you have not read the play here is a summary. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i-Egphv7nE
What would you do if you were Nora? Would you leave the house or what would you do? 
Please make a comment.
bye!

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Structuralist Criticism

Hello everybody!

Today we are going to talk about a good story "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl. If you have not read the book, you can watch the movie, it is similar to the book, the point is that you get an idea of what is the story about. The story was originally inspired by Roald Dahl's experience of chocolate companies during his schooldays. There were companies that send to the children chocolates for them to taste it and give them their opinions about it. So we can say that Roald Dahl's imagined how could be a experience of being inside of a Chocolate Factory. It is interesting how writers write their stories base on their experiences, and that catch the attention of the reader. I really like this story and also the movie. 

In this story we could see how Willy Wonka's life was through his flashbacks. In every flashback his life was shown, and in those moment we could see how he was as a child and the problems he had with his father, that was a Dentist, and Dentist do not like candies or chocolates at all. So we can say that Willy Wonka was unhappy. The way Willy Wonka talked was funny, also some of his phrases had no sense but he tried to be kind with the 5 children even they were rude, disrespectful, selfish, ungrateful and many other words that if I continue I will never end. Every child has different characteristics, but the one that was totally different was Charlie.He was totally the opposite from the rest children, and the only one that Wonka liked to be the next owner of the factory. The message or theme of these story is the power of love and how grateful we have to be in life, also hope. This story is excellent for children and parents, it gives a good lesson to appreciate what we have, the family. 

Please, watch the link and tell me what do you think about Veruca's behavior. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBi9tJAABGM

Make a comment! bye. 

WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Where are you going, Where have you been? 

                                                              Psychoanalytic Criticism 

                                                        Hi! 

Today I am going to do a Psychoanalytic Criticism about the story Where are you going, Where have you been? by Joyce Carol Oates.  This story was inspired by four Tucson, Arizona murders committed by Charles Schmid. Oates said that she dedicated the story to Bob Dylan because she was inspired to write it after listening to his song "It's All Over Now,Baby Blue". I have to say this is a very interesting story full of suspense, and it makes the reader want to continues reading to know what is going to happen next. It is very common in this kind of stories to think that something bad is going to happen at the end acording to every event that happens in the story. In this case the story let's the reader imaginate what would happen at the end. The story does not say if the girl decided to stay or go with Arnold Friend, so it leaves in readers imagination. In this story the most common aspects are, rebellion, sexuality, also the protagonist is a teenagerr and at that phase of life the moods, feelings and emotions constantly change. The hormones are crazy. 

From my point of view the girl Connie has not decided how to be herself. She acted acording to how the other girls act. She was confuse and insecure of everything around her. Also her mother used to compare her with Connie's sister and that makes people wonder if they are good or in this case what is wrong with her. Physically talking, she was beautiful, that kind of beauty no matter how young or old the gir is, people would like her. Also talking about her ego, she knew she was beautiful, perfect and diferent from the rest of the girls. That type of people are always hiding something, maybe her true self. In my opinion Connie provoked Arnold Friend, but the think is that she did not know he was not a young guy but, at the end he got obsessed with her to the point of followed her and make her felt nervous and afraid about his presence. Compariingthis story with the real life, those cases actually happen. Nowadays we have all type of social media and a person can follow our stepsacording to what we post on internet. We have to be careful with the things we post, and also with the people we meet and talk to.

Here is a short video for you to watch it and tell me what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ih8UkxJqeQ

What would have happened if she had agreed to go with Arnold Friend? Also, what would happen if she had refused to go with him?

I'll be waiting for your answers!

THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER

The Rocking Horse Winner 

Formalistic Criticism 

Hi everybody!

Today we are going to do a formalistic criticism about "The Rocking Horse Winner" by David Herbert  Lawrence. If you guys have not read the story I'll tell you what it is about. The story is about of a little boy (I think he is a kid because it does not specify the age) that had a wooden horse. He liked horse races and every time he ride his wooden horse, he could guess what horse was goint to win the race.That is like his gift, let's say he was the only one in his family that was lucky. Her mother does not love him or even her family because she says her family did not have money because they were not lucky. The little boy got obsessed with the idea they were not lucky, so he started ride his wooden horse to guess what horse was going to win, and earn money that later he was going to give to his mother. At the end the boy dies because of a overthinking, stress and other aspects. 

From my point of view, this short story is good, I liked it, but I dont love it. I would like to know why the mother did not love them or Why she thought they were not lucky. Something that catch my atention was the idea of how old the boy was? because sometimes he spoke so mature and then he acted like a little kid. I was confuse when reading it. I think the end was so sad, it was not fair that Paul died. He was a boy with ilussions and dreams in life and I think his greatest desire was to help his mother giving her a lot of money to not suffer and say anymore that they were not lucky. The main character did a good participation, I liked how he acted and spoke in the story, everything was well conected to get to the end. the sad part of the story was that they were so obsessed with MONEY that they did not realize the damage they caused to Paul. Nowadays people see the happiness through the money and that deteriorates families and all kind of relationships. 

Here is one question: Why do you think the mother did not love her family? 

If you want to see a summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w87wmT8EtW8

Please make a comment about your opinion of the story :)

Bye!

BEOWULF

Beowulf

Mythological criticism 

Beowulf is a story based on a poem in which people do not know who was the author. From my point of view it is a excellent story in which a warrior who attempts to defeat Grendel, a man-eating monster that is causing terror in the kingdom of Hrothgar.. I think the author had a incredible imagination when writing this long poem, maybe some of the events of the story happened in her or his life.  The story has incredible creatures as a dragon and another creature that I do not even know what it is and also some moments of suspense. If you see the movie you will notice all the events and conflicts that happen in the story. I recommend it. 

Based on the movie I have to say that the first thing that impacted me was the strange creature Grendel. I could not believe that creature ate people and his personal appearance was disgusting. Another interesting aspect is that how the people of the kingdom even having a King, they needed a strong person, lets say a warrior to feel safe. All people had faith that he could defeat the monster and he did it. I think that people for that moment were having society problems or some wars, because there were a lot of deaths. I really think that all those things represent somenthing, for example the dragon and Grendel, they could represent like demons or people's fears and the only person that could safe them from that was Beowulf, but nowadays people have their own beowulf to help them in case of problems.

what do you think of this scene from the movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0fFI0ziCs8

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Brave New World

Sociological Criticism

The World State is a futuristic society which controls its citizens through caste, science, and happiness. Everybody belongs to different groups as Epsilons, Deltas, Gammas, Alphas and Betas. All they have different characteristics physical and mentally talking. There is a completely different world and totally out of the ordinary. I think the author tried to show people what about if the world were like that? Babies just appear, sex is a normal thing in everywhere and people cannot live without Soma, a kind of drug that makes them to fell active. In my opinion the author Aldous Huxley show us a part of his life true Brave New World because that is what all writers do. His stories tend to have a little of satire, maybe his life have an aspect related to it, also he said that at some moment he became addicted to hallucinogenic drugs, that is reflected in the story with the Soma drug. 

In brave New World we could see many aspects that we can critic, social aspects  to be exact. Babies are made not by a mother, the word "Mother" do not even exist in that world, or also "Father" or "family" and that is a sad situation, not to know where you came from. It is interesting how the peole can not life without Soma, it is like living without drinking water, the dependence people have on drugs is worrying. Sex, it is the most common thing in this world, the most estrange thing is that bebies have a little of malice on that, or they do things they should not be doing, but in that world seems to be normal. How that turns normal even for children?.Also, discrimination is presented when they offend Epsilons just for being diferent for the rest, or in other words for no being perfect as Aplhas or Betas. In My opinion I think this story is very interesting and makes the readers think a little bit in the future or what about if the life were like that from the very beggining. 

which group do you think you belong to? Epsilons,Deltas,Gammas,Alphas?
What do you think about the image above? 

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

BY JOHN BOYNE

Traditional criticism

Author John Boyne has said that he believes that the only way he could write about the Holocaust respectfully was through the eyes of a child. He does so masterfully in this novel, demonstrating how Bruno and Shmuel maintain the innocence of their childhood in spite of what is happening around them. Boyne acknowledges that the only people who can truly comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust are those who lived through it. Boyne's novel gives a voice to the victims, especially the millions of innocent children who perished at the hands of the Nazis.

Sociological criticism

What makes The Boy in the Striped Pajamas so effective is that rather than examining the big picture of the Holocaust and its atrocities, the novel instead focuses on individual relationships and gives readers an intimate portrait of two innocent boys seeking the same thing: friendship.

Interestingly, Boyne classifies The Boy in the Striped Pajamas as a fable, a story that bears a moral lesson. Readers consequently consider their own prejudices and actions, perhaps wondering if they have been guilty of mistreating others. Additionally, some may even consider what their role might have been in the Holocaust: bystander, resister, perpetrator, or victim. This is a fitting category for the novel as it imparts many lessons. Among these valuable lessons, perhaps the most significant is the final sentence which suggests that "nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age." It forces readers to confront the grim reality that hatred, discrimination, and intolerance remain potent forces in the world.

Archetypal criticism

The conflict here is person vs. society, in this case Nazi vs. Jews during the holocaust. The Nazi overpowered the Jews, took control and treated them horribly. The fence represents a barrier because it keeps them separated and forces them to keep their friendship as a secret. The striped pajamas could represent not freedom because when a person uses that type of clothes the first thought is that person is in jail or is a bad person, but in this case is a innocent child using it. The theme of this story is “friendship and love break through all barriers” because no matter what the circumstances were, Bruno and Shmuel made time for each other even they were Jews and German. 

HARRISON BERGERON

HARRISON BERGERON

Traditional Criticism 

Hi everyone!

Today my critic is about Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. Sometimes people think about how would life be if everything were perfect, others think what about if everybody were equal, nobody will fight and people will be happy because nobody is more that anybody. Sometimes we imagine it right? But the thing is that if that really happen, nobody will be actually happy with the idea of a perfect world, and being equal in everything, even in the way thinking. In this story it happens, it shows how life would be in the future with all these characteristics mention before. Actually, nobody was happy and I think people in that future wanted to be different from each others. In my opinion everybody should be different, physically, mentally, with different values and manners because that is what make people unique and interesting in life. 

I think Kurt Vonnegut tried to demostrated how horrible life would be if the future were like in Harrison Bergeron is. Why Harrison was a danger to society? Just because he was tall, intelligent, strong and handsome? I do not think he was a danger, he just was diferent at his own way. It is true that people would like to be like Harriosn Bergeron even nowadays, but we have to accept ourselves, being different is not that bad. I think if that happen I would act like Harrison Bergeron, fight for my freedom and for being accept in the society with my diferences, also I will motivate others to do the same and as a result of it, we will have the same world we have now. Life is perfect as it is, it does not need a change, we just have to learn how to live it. 

If you have the opportunity to change the future, what would you do? 

If you read the story, here is a short quiz for you to see how much you know about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKCdfExNRF8

Thanks for your opinions. See you! 

THANK YOU, M'AM

THANK YOU, M'AM

 This story from Hughes Langston is about a little boy that tries to snatch a woman's purse because he wanted to buy some blue suede shoes . she faced him and took him to her house, to give him like a lesson of not snatch women's purses again. she treated him well and spoke to him without fear. The story finishes when the woman gave  money to the boy for him to buy what he wanted. Comparing the author's life with this story we can say that he was showing that he in some moment of his life, he was that little boy. we all now that Afroamerican people in those years had a difficult life, and the racism was on its moment. Also, poverty was part of their lives and the only way to have money or something valuable was doing wrong actions, in this case stealing. 

When I first read Thank you, M'am, it did not catch my attention, for me it was very boring and the end was to simple from my perspective. I read it more than one time and everything made sense for me. I started thinking about that little boy and his past, and I wondered that maybe he had a bad situation, economically talking. A little boy have a lot of desires, and for that boy his desire was to have a blue suede shoes, only that, and the only way he could have it was in the only way he learned, stealing. We can see that the woman was not happy, because a person from her same color was doing a wrong action, and that was like giving a bad image to Afroamerican people. But the woman just could give him a lesson, and that was what she did, because you can not take to jail to a little boy that just wanted a pair of shoes, that would be rude. I my personal opinion the end was touching, it tries to show not all people are bad, and when you help needy people, the reward will be double. The action from the woman was correct, and in that moment we can say that little boy will not forget that night. To let you think, here is this question: What would you do if you were that woman?

If you want watch a video about Thank you, M'am get in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMrBMTglPxc

Bye and see you later guys! 

INTRODUCTION

Welcome! 

Hi, My name is Madelyn Madriz and this is my personal blog.

The idea with this blog is to give my personal opinion, ideas and make criticism of some stories that I am going to read every week. 
You can read what I think of every reading, and also comment if you agree or disagree, and tell me why. I will read it and answer you back  to create a conversation with our different points of view about every reading. 
I hope you share your ideas and thoughts in this blog,I'll appreaciate it. 

Seee you later!