A Note To Mrs. Hasty

Dear,
Mrs. Hasty

I just want to take a second to tell you how much I enjoy this flipped unit. With my schedule with band and work, it's very difficult for me to be assigned some piece of homework then have to turn it in a day later or something. But with this flipped unit I don't have to worry as much about dates. I can simply do it when I'm on the computer anyways, and I have all the work at once instead of a timed class with lessons on certain days. Plus, I ALWAYS loose papers. I'm not an organized person AT ALL. But on here I have everything in one place. I think we should continue the flipped unit after we finish this unit. Or at least make it an option if we want so we can get all the work done. I truly believe this will help me do better in class.

Thanks,
Solara

Southern Gothic Romanticism for "A Rose For Emily" and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own"

Solara Martin
Mrs. Hasty
Honors English
November 27 2013

Southern Gothic Romanticism

Southern Gothic Romanticism is literature with the traits of Gothic literature. Some specific traits are freakishness, imprisonment, violence, and a sense of place. Unusual events usually the plot and it focuses on American South. 

Some of the Gothic elements from "A Rose For Emily" are death, descriptions of her and her crumbling house, the ending, and lost love. Emily was a happy person until her father dies (love being lost). Her description and the house gives off a creepy and menacing feel. And finally, the ending gives off the element of death quite well. You see the southern parts of the story with Tobe, Emily's slave, because slaves were really only seen in the south back then.

Also, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" has more of a Gothic humor to it. Both characters want something. Mr. Shiflet wants the old woman's car, and the old women wants her daughter who cannot speak gone. It gives off the sense of imprisonment when Mr. Shiflet leaves his new wife at a rest stop with no ways to get home of communicate.

These two stories relate to the Gothic Romanticism by having dark Gothic elements. Imprisonment and dark endings are seen in both stories, which is also in Gothic Romanticism.

In "A Rose For Emliy", Emily's crime doesn't get discovered until the end because she kept herself isolated from any people. She first could have been discovered when the neighbors started to smell the awful scent coming from her house. Then when she was buying man clothes when she wasn't even married made them awfully suspicious of a man being in the house, though little did they know in what conditions this man was. She could be seen as someone going mad or insane because the lost of a loved one, or in this case, her father. These all contribute to the story by making it seem eerie and have the true feel of a Gothic story.

At the end of "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" Mr. Shiftlet is driving when he see's a hitchhiker and stops to give him a ride. Flannery O'Connor believes this makes the story work. Maybe because it gives the reader a little more background of Mr. Shiftlet to explain why he is the way he is and why he wanted to get the old woman's car. It makes the whole story click and brings out some of the Gothic because he was using people for his own selfish actions.    

Short Story Socratic Questioning

Solara Martin
Mrs. Hasty
Honors English
November 26, 2013
"The Black Cat"

Socratic Questioning For Short Story

Closed-Ended Question- What was the black cat's name? The black cat's name is Pluto.

Open-Ended Question- Out of all the animals, why is Pluto his favorite? Pluto is his favorite because black cats were seen as witches or frowned upon. Maybe the narrator felt pity at first but then came to really like Pluto.

World Connection Question- What does the narrator do that may still happen today in households? He often time would drink and abuse his wife both physically and mentally, often seen in households today.

Universal Theme/ Core Question- How do you think the image of sin has changed over time? Back then, sin was easily seen as a horrible thing that God would look down upon, that they must beg God for mercy. But now in today's society, you see many crimes, not many people think of it as a sin. Hanging a cat was big deal to the narrator but wouldn't be considered a great deal to people today.

Literary Analysis Question- How do you think the narrators point of view affects the story? From his eyes, he could see his actions as something not so bad, but let's say you were in the view of his wife, the constant abuse would make the story change considerably.

Another World Connection Question- How does the hanging of Pluto relate to the Salem Witch Trials? Black cat's were seen as witches. Pluto could symbolize the killings of many so called witches in the Salem Witch Trials.