Truths

What were your truths as a child? Which truths did you "lose"/"give  up" as you grew older? Why was this important?

What truths do you grapple with or see others around you grapple with?

As a child, my truth was that after you died, you come back as into life as a new person. I lost this truth when I grew up when I realized there was also heaven and hell. This wasn't very important, because there are still no solid evidence that what I believed as a child and what I believe now is right or wrong. Growing up, I also realized there wasn't a Santa Clause or Tooth Fairy, a truth I believed as a child. This was important because I realized that my parents must have gone through a lot of hard work to pretend there was a Santa, especially to have presents from Santa and my parents.

Others grapple with the truths of religion. Some people after an unfortunate event lose their trust in their truth that there is a god, while some other people may feel stronger that there is a god. Other people, such as the older kids in elementary school grapple with the truth of Santa Clause. There is that one year of elementary school where half of the class believes in Santa and the other half does not. During this time, you have people giving reasons why they believe there is a Santa or why there isn't a Santa.

Eyes and Teeth

The short story called "Eyes and Teeth" is from the book "Coming of Age in America" by Wanda Coleman. The story is told by a girl who is playing with her cousin, Buzz. They are both the oldest of their family, and their mothers are sisters. They are playing hide and go seek, when Buzz hears his mom talking to his aunt in the kitchen. She says that she loves her new baby, and his color. She goes on to say how ugly Buzz is, and how she can't stand to look at him. When he hears this, he starts crying and runs out of the room. His mother then notices that Buzz had been listening the whole time, and runs to try and apologize. What I didn't like is that the story wasn't very clear on what happened. I did like that the story was dramatic. I don't think this would be a very good story to use later on because it was so short.

A Spell of Kona Weather

A Spell of Kona Weather is a story from the book Coming of Age in America. The story is told by Annie, a girl who is living with her grandma and sister, Lulu. They live with their grandma because when their father died, their mom went insane and left them. Lulu has just gotten out of the hospital, as she drove off a cliff after hearing news that her lover, Jimmy, had died in Vietnam. Lulu has been acting strange ever since then, swimming alone and far, stealing things from her grandmother. One day, Annie and her grandmother are getting in a fight because Lulu had told Annie that she got a letter from their mom asking her to come visit her in Oregon. The grandmother says that this is just one of Lulu's made up stories, as their mom was in a mental institution in California. She said that a few years ago her brain "got zapped", and ever since then she hasn't been doing much writing. Lulu overhears the conversation and sprints out of the house towards the beach, and once arriving, starts swimming. Annie hates swimming in the ocean more than anything, but when she saw Lulu swimming away from her, she had to follow her out and catch her. She catches her and they go back to sit on the beach. Later that night, the grandmother decides that it is best for Lulu to go away for a while, like their mom. The theme of this story was that the post effects of a death can drive you insane, like it did for both the mother and the daughter. I liked this story because I thought it was interesting to hear about all the stories that Lulu made up, and then to learn about all the secrets hidden from the two sisters. I think that this would be a good story to analyze because of the theme.

Bastard out of Carolina

"Bastard out of Carolina" was a short story from the book Coming of Age in America by Dorothy Allison. The characters in this book are the mom, the cousins, Grey and Garvey, and the daughter. The story is told by the daughter, who has just been caught stealing candy from the local stores with her cousins. The mom is reprimanding her, and says she never wants to catch her stealing ever again. The mom says this because she doesn't want her daughter to end up like her nephew, who now can't stop stealing things. The mom makes the daughter go downtown to the store where she stole the candy and confess to her crime. She is then banned from visiting the store by the owner until her mom thinks that she is ready to go back. The theme of this story is to do the right thing, even when no one is watching. I liked this story because it gave you a good background on what was happening, and they went into detail to explain the family and their struggles. There wasn't much that I didn't like of this story. This was on of my favorite stories that I read of the seven, because it was the most interesting. Even though the story is very short, I think that it would be a good story to read for the future, because a lot happens.

The Jacket

The Jacket is a short story in the book "Coming of Age in America" by Gary Soto. The story is told by a Mexican-American, who's mother bought him an ugly green jacket. The story talks about the ugly green jacket he had to to wear for two years, his fifth and sixth grade year. The story tells the tale about the jacket the boy had to live with for years, and the embarrassment and teasing he had to endure because of it. There were many times in the book where the boy tried to throw the jacket away, but it kept coming back. The boy kept the jacket to please his mother, even though he cried over it, because he wanted a leather jacket. He was always upset because his mother had such a bad taste in jacket. There wasn't much that I didn't like from the book, because it was so short. Because it was so short, only four pages, I don't think that it would be a very good story to use later on. 

My Son the Murderer

My Son the Murderer is  a short story by Bernard Malamud. The story takes place in New York, as one of the characters often takes the trolleybus to Coney Island. The characters in the story are the father, Leo, the mother, the daughter (who is older and raising children of her own), and the son, Harry. Harry has just graduated college and is 22. He is quiet and keeps to himself, and yells at his parents most of the time. His mother is gone most of the day, as she is helping her pregnant daughter with her kids. The father, Leo, has taken time off of work because he is worried about his son. His son stays at home during the day and doesn't work, keeps to himself, is clearly unhappy, and often takes walks by himself. The theme of the story is failed communication between the family. The brother and sister never talk to each other, as the sister says he doesn't respect her as a sister, but as another mother. There is also very little communication between the mom and dad. Like The Girl with the Pimply Face, this story also didn't use quotation marks, which made it hard to follow. Though it was hard to understand at first, I liked how the story would switch rolls between the father and son. However, I don't think think this would be a good story to choose, because it is so short.

The Girl with a Pimply Face

As we discussed in class, you need to write a well-developed paragraph about each of the 7-10 short stories you read.  You may post them all at once or as separate posts.  Each paragraph should address the following: a) the story's author and title, b) what the story is about (plot based), c) what the story is about (thematically), d) what you liked (elements of fiction, etc.) e) what you didn't like, f) why the story is/is not a contender for you to ultimately write your essay on.  Please remember that these are talking points NOT a formula for paragraph organization that you must follow.  Your paragraph should be reflective, well-developed, and demonstrate real thought about the story read.  This said, it may be less formal than an essay as this is your blog and contains your active thoughts.


The Girl with a Pimply Face is a short story written by William Carlos Williams. The story takes place in New York and is told by the doctor who is doing a house call on a very sick baby. The characters in the story are the doctor, the sick baby, the mother (who can't speak English well), the father, and the 15-year-old daughter. The doctor comes to the house expecting the parents of the sick baby, however the 15-year-old girl opens the door. She brings him to the baby, but tells him to come back around 5, when her father will be home. She also asks him what she can do for her pimples. He says that she has acne, and writes a prescription for her. Later on when he comes back to the house, he discovers that the baby has a severe cognitional heart problem.  The mother begs him to save her baby, and that she will pay him however much to save her baby. In one of the doctor's later visits to the house, he realizes that the mother is an alcoholic. I liked that this story was sort of mysterious, and you wanted to know  more. However, this story was extremely painful to read because the author did not use quotation marks when people were speaking. This made it hard to understand what was happening during the entire story. I think this story could be good to use in the future, because of the doctors motives behind helping the family that he never received a penny from. I think that the theme of this story was to try and help anyone the best you can, even if you aren't getting anything in return.