Marie Biaggi 10 am 1. The story I read by Raymond Carver is called "Little Things." Similar to Cathedral, the people in this story are having relationship and marital problems but not for the same reason in Cathedral. They do not have issues because of a partner's death but rather for an unknown reason and the husband is preparing to leave the woman. The ending is also very different than Cathedral because there is no change personality change of the characters. Both the wife and husband in Little Things are very stubborn, so stubborn that they end up killing their own child. A shared quality of both stories is that death causes relationship problems. Also, obsession, in this case, the wife's obsession with the child and in Cathedral, the husband's obsession with his wife, causes a person to be selfish which can make matters worse.
2. Flannery O'Connor's short story, "The River," is similar to "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" in that Harry and the Misfit both realize that life is not what it is put out to be. Harry is in shock at what a real pig looks like; it is grey and mean, while the Misfit only understand that he was put into jail unfairly for actions he did not do. Both also refer to the power of Jesus. In AGMIHTF, the grandmother tries to help the Misfit, claiming that Jesus loves him and that he really is a "good man." In The River, Harry is taken to be baptized and follow a righteous path rather than having to deal with his "joke" of a family. Both of these stories are ironic because in the end, those who followed Jesus, the grandma and Harry, end up getting themselves killed.
Laurie Ho 10 a.m. I read Why Don't you Dance? by Raymond Carter. This piece is like A Good Man is Hard to Find in that the storyline is unclear. I do not know what happens to the girl after she dances closely with the man, but it is something serious enough for the girl to be "trying to get it talked out." The man's personality is simple like the narrator's personality in Cathedral. Also, the dancing between the girl and man is intimate, just like how Cathedral's narrator and the blind man drew a picture of a cathedral together.
The new piece I read by O’Connor was “The Train.” The story is about a man named Haze from Eastrod, Tennessee. He is traveling on a train and sees a porter that looks like a man named Cash he knew from Eastrod. Haze also meets a woman called Mrs. Hosen who he talks to for most of the train ride. The porter tries to avoid Haze whenever he sees him. During Haze’s accident of running into him and calling him Cash, the porter reacted oddly. Compared to “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “The Train” is not as dark. Religion is not discussed in “The Train” and there is no evil character. Haze is not as annoying as the grandmother from the first piece by O’Connor. There is a lot of random statements such as Haze’s mother is from Jackson included in the story. The style in which “The Train” is written is more in the form of stream of consciousness. The setting in both stories is set in the South and the author uses racial slurs. The main characters are both unlikeable. The grandmother is selfish and annoying in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Haze repeatedly lies about where he is from.
The new piece I read by Carver was “A Small, Good Thing.” The story is about a little boy getting hit by a car and how his parents deal with his accident in the hospital afterwards. The parents are distraught and when they each go home separately, they get a call from the baker about the boy’s birthday cake. Forgetting about the cake order, the parents think the caller is a sick person being insensitive. The boy eventually dies and the parents realize the calls were from the baker. “Cathedral” and “A Small, Good Thing” have different tones from one another. In “Cathedral,” the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, whereas in the other story, there is a third party as the narrator. The man in “Cathedral” also has a bitter tone when speaking about his visitor. The woman in “A Small, Good Thing” at least tries to be friendly to the baker. The endings are different in the way that “A Small, Good Thing” ends with the boy dying, but the man in “Cathedral” and the baker in the new piece change their ways throughout the story. The husband in the original story by Carver learns how to see life through the blind man’s way and the baker in the second story learns how to act as a normal human being once he hears about the child’s death.
Christine Nham 8AM I read "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver This story is similar to "Cathedral" because both stories are written in an easy to read manner. The facts are straight forward. Just as I thought Robert was creepy, I thought the phone calls were creepy except this time I knew that the baker was calling about the cake. Both stories involve a dead loved one though this story is all about the little boy's death. This story's ending was not abrupt, and had a real ending.
Sammy Xian 10AM O'Connor: 1. The story I read by O'Connor is called "Good Country People." Compared to the two stories we read in class, the moral of this story is also presented in a strange way. The story of the theft of Hulga's wooden leg is something people don't talk about. This is like "A Good Man is Hard to Find" where the murder of a family is used to talk about what would happen if there was no religion. Both of O'Connor's stories have a dark atmosphere. There is a guest in both "Cathedral" and "Good Country People," however, the one in this story has much darker plans than Robert. The speaker in "Cathedral" also seems to be ignorant compared to Hulga. They only realize their flaws in the end when Robert/Manley point them out.
The short story I read was “Fat” by Raymond Carver. This short story related to “Cathedral” because both stories were written in the same style. There were short sentences mostly and the narrator was also talking to the audience directly. Also, the story dealt with another human physicality, this time instead of a man being blind and being judged for it, the man was fat. Another similarity was that, at the end of the story, the narrator seems to have been changed by the experience with the man. “Cathedral” and “Fat” differ, because in the first story, there were only three characters and one of which was judging the blind man, whereas in “Fat” many of the characters judge the fat man. It seems that Raymond Carver wrote these stories very similarly.
Sammy Xian 10AM Carver 1. I read the short story "A Small, Good Thing," where it talks about the death of a boy just before his birthday. His parents are then plunged into depression, in which they blame the baker for being evil. This is similar to Carver's "Cathedral" because of how the couple in "A Small, Good Thing" randomly blames someone who took no part in the death of their boy. Robert was also hated on even though the speaker never even met him before. The atmosphere of "A Small, Good Thing" isn't as dark as O'Connor's stories either. Even though it is about a death of a young boy, it still feels more lighthearted. The theme of this story is similar to the other two because of how one can't be judged based on physical appearances. The baker was deemed as evil just because he was doing his job. It wasn't until the baker explained his situation did the couple understand.
The setting is a summer home owned by a man only known as Chef. Wes, the separated lover of the narrator, is a recovering alcoholic who regularly attends AA meetings. He asks his wife (or ex-wife, it is never really explicitly stated) to come up and live with him because he has changed. She goes to live with him over summer and has a fantastic time. The man whom they are living with however, is forced to ask them to find another place to stay, and therefore their relationship is tested. They end up figuring out a possibility, and continue their night just as they would have on any other given night. This was similar to Cathedral in the sense that both short stories had the same relaxed and mellow tone in them. The setting seemed to be the same, represented by one story houses with a very cozy and humble feel to them. Although Cathedral ended with a more clear, concise theme, the theme for Chef's House was not as easily distinguishable. I do believe it was something along the lines of: If a relationship is strong enough, it will survive through any hardship.
I read the short story, "The Life You Save May Be Yours," by Flannery O'Connor. This story is very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in that O'Connor uses extensive detail. Her use of this stylistic device helps create descriptive visual images, which contribute to the setting and environment of the story. In this story, the actions of the mother show that they are in the early 20th century, where morality still was not at its finest. Similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor mentions Georgia and Tennessee once more. The story also mentions how "things aren't the way they used to be," similar to the grandmother's values from "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Also, the ending of this story is somewhat depressing, similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find."
The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor
The story opens with two women, a mother and daughter sitting on their porch, when a man with one-arm comes up to them and begins conversing. They work out a deal for him to work on a broken down car that has been sitting in the garage for years, in exchange for a place to stay. He quickly has the car running, and has interactions with the deaf and mute daughter. He teaches her how to say a few words, and soon, the mother has it in her head that they are soulmates. So she pays the young man to drive the car into town to get him legally married to her daughter. He eventually ends up abandoning her in a diner. He picks up a hitchhiker who eventually abandons him by jumping out of the car into the rain. It is similar, in a sense, to A good Man is Hard to Find, because they both deal with people facing, and breaking moral laws. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, The Misfit seems to have disregarded all morals because he has been "wrongfully accused" of a crime that he has been punished for. Therefore he believes that if he kills people, there are no higher consequences. In The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Tom Shiftlet is faced with problems when he leaves his newly-wed wife in the diner, and at various other points in the story. He seems to becoming a part of the "scum" that is inhabiting the earth, which he never meant to become. This shows the same message as AGMIHTF because they both show how times are changing, and not for the better.
I read "Everything that Rises Must Converge" By Flannery O'Connor. I enjoyed this short story because of all the historical context that is included between the lines. This short is similar to "A Good Man is hard to Find" because O'Connor uses the civil war context in both stories. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" we see it being used with the grandmother's language, portraying the old south and the grandchildren portraying the new south. In "Everything that Rises must Converge" we can see this in every aspect. For example, how black and whites traveled in buses and how white people tried to humiliate blacks by giving worthless amount of money to blacks children.
The difference between both short stories was that is that O'Connor is more revealing of the negative attributes that society contained during the American Civil War. The actions of the characters were much more coarse in "Everything that Rises must Converge." In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the action are more subtle because it is only depicted in the language of the characters rather than the in the actions of the characters.
Raymond Carver wrote another story called "A Small, Good Thing." It is similar to "Cathedral" int eh senes that it does not end with a bang. The end makes you think, because after you are done reading the story do you realize that the story has ended. It doesn't seem like the story is going to end, at least not without any more explanation, but it ends abruptly. However, in "A Small, Good Thing," I could tell that the end was approaching. In "Cathedral," the title is not tied in to the meaning very much. I couldn't really tell what cathedrals were supposed to symbolize any further than what is already typically known of them. For "A Small, Good Thing," the small, good thing is explained and comes up in the conversation a few times at the end, with the baker and Scotty's parents. The baker refers to food as the small, good thing in life, especially at harsh times, but I think the greater meaning could be that Scotty possibly might have been a small, good thing that they had in their lives, like the baker's rolls, but it is meant to enjoy and to move on. Both of the stories were almost unnecessarily long. In "A Small, Good Thing," there was a long period in the story where the story was moving very slow and could have been kept shorter. The same applies with "Cathedral," where they have conversation that does not contribute to the story moving forward, although under further deep analysis, everything could be attributed to a more deeper meaning.
I read "A Small Good Thing," by Raymond Carver. This short story portrays the variety of emotions of losing a child. The story is written in third person, which allows the reader to know everything that is going on without the opinions of a specific character. In "Cathedral" the biased view of the narrator was dominant in the plot. Although the point of views were different in both stories, Carver does a great job with presenting the important life lessons readers should know. "Cathedral" showed that people can "see" without their eyes. In "A Small Good Thing", Carver illustrates that small essential things in life, such as eating, during crises can help people connect with their emotions and their peers. Another similarity between these two stories is that they both end on hopeful notes. Although the plot in both stories are either tragic or depressing, the stories are concluded with a much more positive note.
I read "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. This short story is about the religious death of a young boy. This short story is very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" because they both have religious themes. "The River" explains the spiritual happiness that people are eagerly searching for. Harry's death in search of the spiritual content he experienced symbolizes displeasure of earthly matters. People do not find happiness with materialism. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" depicts a a religious theme also. The Misfit, who doubted Jesus, stated that he thinks there is no right and wrong in life and no point in life. Lastly, another similarity both stories have is that they have a foreboding tone. A sense of some misfortune happening sticks with the reader as he or she reads on.
The piece by Flannery O'Connor that I read was titled "The River". It shares many similarities with her short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find". Mrs. Connin talks about how her husband is not faithful to Christ like the other story's grandmother who also does not follow Christ very well. Also, religion is misinterpreted by Mr. Paradise when he complains that the preacher cannot heal and by Harry when he drowns himself in the river to find Christ. O'Connor's stories all seem to incorporate the importance of understanding religion.
For Raymond Carver I read "A Small, Good Thing". In terms of the plot or characters the two stories are not very similar to "The Cathedral", but the overall feeling of the story is relatively the same. The story is strange and does not appear to have direction, but the end is heartwarming despite being awkward until that point.
This short story opens with a couple arguing and the husband packing his bags getting ready to walk out and leave the family. The wife, obviously upset, holds the baby in her arms and yells at her husband to leave. However, the husband demands that he takes the baby with him, so he tries to grab the baby by the arm, while the wife tightly holds onto the baby as well. After intense arguing, the couple unknowingly kills their baby. “Little Things” and “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver both involve an arguing couple that affects their relationship and another person, or baby, outside of the relationship. Even though in “Little Things” it is not clear what exactly the couple is arguing about, it is clear that the couple is moving apart from each other, just like in “Cathedral”. Unlike in “Cathedral” there is no ultimate change in a person. Cathedral is told from first person POV, while Little Things is in third person POV. Both stories strangely convey the message of how problems of one person can affect the entire relationship and the toll it can take on the family.
In O’Connor’s short story “The River”, a boy named Harry experiences a misinterpretation of faith and experiences a religious death. Like “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, both stories employ a religious theme. The Misfit doubted Jesus and believed that there is no right or wrong in life and that there is no specific point in life. Harry tries to achieve spiritual happiness by drowning himself because just like the Misfit, he finds discontent with everything and finds no point in his life. Both stories give readers the idea that something unfortunate will happen.
Caressa Arias 8am "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver: The story is a boy who gets hit by a car on his birthday. He eventually dies in the hospital. While the boy was in the hospital, the baker kept calling about Scotty's birthday cake. The parents accuse him of being evil. Eventually they get to talking and talk for hours. This story is similar to "Cathedral" because the parents didn't like the baker even though he did nothing wrong, just how the husband in "cathedral" didn't like Robert because he was blind, even though he had never met him. Another similarity between Carver's two stories is the theme, the theme of this story is similar because it is trying to say that you can't judge someone by first impressions.
The piece that I read by Raymond Carver was "A Small, Good Thing." I felt that like "Cathedral" the message was not completely clean, but overall it was much more moving. In this new piece I really felt for the boy and his parents. This could have been because it was the boy's birthday and I just felt really sad that any small child and his parents would have to endure something that horrific on day that was suppossed to be filled with happiness.
The piece I read from Flannery O'Connor was "The River". This story was very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in almost every way. Both have disfunctional families, a reference to god, and a character that seems to die for no real reason. I feel that this story however had a stronger/clearier message for people to recognize.
"A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver is a story of a husband and wife who's son was hit by a car on his eighth birthday. They waited for the boy to wake up in the hospital but he died. They were very distraught, confused, and angry. While at home they received calls from a man that seemed to be harassing them and bringing up their son. The wife realized it was the baker who was supposed to make her son's cake for his birthday. She and her husband drove to the bakery and furiously scolded the baker and told him what happened to their son. He apologized and told them he was a lonely man who only baked but never had celebrations because he had no children or family. This story is like that of Carver's other short story, "Cathedral" because the theme in both is to put yourself in another's shoes and try to understand what they are dealing with. Everyone has hard times and troubles but that does not mean you should take your hate out on someone else who may be going through tough times too. Both stories were written in the same informal tone as well like it was being told to a friend.
Elizabeth Diaz 8 am A story I read was "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. In this story, a mother prepares for her little boy's birthday party by ordering a cake. Later on his birthday, the little boy gets hit by a car and eventually dies. What thought was harassment by the boys parents turned out to be phone calls from the baker reminding them of the boys cake. This story is similar to Cathedral because at first the parents are furious with the baker, but they then realize a mistake and end up taking to him for hours. Like in Cathedral, the blind man and the narrator form an unlikely connection. This story is different from Cathedral because it is told in third person rather than first. And the main characters are a lot more sympathetic.
1. “Little Things” by Raymond Carver was short and was about a fight between a couple over a baby. For me, “Little Things” and “Cathedral” both ended kind of oddly and I didn’t exactly understand the ending. “Cathedral” showed the husband turn from an ignorant man to a more understanding person after talking to a blind man and describing and drawing a Cathedral with him. For “Little Things”, the characters just fought and when the couple had one half of the baby each, the man pulled harder and then the story ended with “In this manner, the issue was decided.” The ending was much more abrupt and confusing. I could not understand what the purpose of this short story was compared to “Cathedral”. One similar thing I do notice is that both stories take place at night. 2. O’Connor’s “Green Leaf” is about a woman named Mrs. May. There is a bull that is grazing on her grass. Her tenant or farmhand Mr. Greenleaf didn’t chase away the bull and she finds out that the bull belongs to his sons. Greenleaf’s wife is a religious person and his sons live not too far. Mrs. May becomes more angry as time passes and she demands that Greenleaf shoot it, however, the bull manages to pierce her chest when they went after it and Greenleaf shoots it after this has happened. The bull was wearing a wreath that represents the “prickly crown” that Jesus wore. When Mrs. Greenleaf began calling out “Jesus”, Mrs. May felt something charging at her, which was the bull. Like “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, this story shows that without God, chaos ensues. In "Greenleaf", Mrs. May is that chaos. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find", The Misfit represents that chaos. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" had a part where The Misfit talked about why he did bad things. He said that if he knew there was a God, then he wouldn't have done these things. After his discussion with the grandma about faith, he kills the religious grandma.
1. I read O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own". It was interesting. A man come's across an old woman's house and she asks him to do work in exchange for a place to live and food. He agrees and does work around the house, including fixing the old woman's car. The old woman agrees to give the man the car if he marries the woman's retarded daughter and continues living there with her. He agrees and asks the woman for money to take the daughter out for the weekend. The woman trusts the man and gives him the money. Once on the road with the daughter, he leaves her behind at a diner and continues driving on alone. This is different than "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" because there is no violence. It is similar because the male antagonist seems to have no problem killing or leaving someone behind.
2. I read "Why Don't You Dance" by Raymond Carver. A man is having a yard sale and a young couple comes and starts asking the prices of different objects in the yard. He serves them drinks and agrees to whatever price they name for the different items. The man invites them to dance and then dances with the young woman. Later, the young woman attempts to describe the experience with the man to others, but cannot seem to find the right words. This is different than the other story, because in Cathedral, the protagonist is happy. In this story, the protagonist is confused about what transpired.
The short story I read was, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor. The story was about a young man and his mother and is told in the point of view of the sun. He has to take her to the Y for some program to lose weight. The entire story takes place on the bus and is a sort of inner monologue. The young man describes a lot of hatred for his mother and thinks up ways to upset her as if to "teach her a lesson". In the end the mother "get's what she deserves" when she attempts to give a young black child a penny and the mother of the child gets upset because she feels that she is doing it out of charity. This story is similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in that it does show the racism that took place back in that time era. The mother in this story and the grandma in AGMIHTF both have this "Old South" type of perspective on the world and feel as if they are above others. Both these stories depict the manner in which people acted towards each other and even show the hostility that exist within families.
I chose the story "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. It is about a boy from a nonreligious family who becomes christened. Like "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the story explores religion. You can see that religion is an interesting topic for O'Connor. Also like "A Good Man is Hard To Find," this story has elements of death. The boy kills himself to be with the parents who love him--God--rather then his real parents, who he feels distanced from.
I chose "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver. A couple of friends sit around and talk about love. One of them, Terri, was in an abusive relationship which she believed was derived from love. They go around and some other stories are told. The writing was very similar to Carver's style of writing in "Cathedral." The story was a bit confusing so I couldn't find a deeper meaning.
In both "A Good Man is Hard to Find and "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, the theme of the world not being in balance is expressed. In both stories it seems as the the Bible salesman and The Misfit don't really have bad intentions. As the stories continue, both end up harming the victims although it is questionable whether they really were victims or not. Both of the antagonists seem to make fun of the people who surround them. In "Good Country People" the salesman takes advantage of Joy by taking her leg away because she thought she was smarter than most and thought she could seduce him, The Misfit's dialogue with the Grandmother backfires on her for talking about the Bible. In both situations, the Bible is what leads Joy and the Grandmother to their misfortune. O'Connor seems to use satire in her stories a lot.
Another story that interested me was, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" written by Flannery O' Conor. Throughout this short story the aspect of the American South is presented. The similarities between O'Conor's short novels "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and that of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is the way that the author portrays her tone of what you call darkness and death. The one element that did catch my eye was how, both of the stories consisted of a house, a house that either ended up being the cause to the families death or it in general being a grey area. The Characters through the novels that caught my eye the most was that of Julian's mother in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and the Grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find", I feel like these two characters still had view on the and could not realize that the reality of the present is now different then how things were viewed back in their time. Overall the similarities where there throughout the novels but the differences were not as distinct.
The short story I read was titled Little Things by Raymond Carver. The story was about a couple in the middle of a separation. The husband was about to leave when he started arguing with his wife that he wanted to take the baby with him but the wife would not let him. In the end of the story the wife and the husband were pulling the baby by the arms and no further detail is given. This story is similar to Cathedral because it’s ending is not plainly stated but understood by the reader. I liked this story because it shows how selfish parents can be to their children when they are too busy with their own pain. The ending really stood out because the harm they done to the baby is not elaborated. I like that Cathedral and Little Things both deal with human conflict and do it in almost manner of fact king of way, the language strait forward which makes the situation more powerful.
"Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor is a story about a young man who takes his racist mother on the bus to go to the Y to exersize. His mother talked about the good ol' days and how black and white people should continue to be segregated. Her son was disgusted by her attitude towards African Americans. At their last stop on the bus, his mother offered a black boy a penny. The black boy's mother was so enraged by the gesture that she slapped her. The man's mother was slapped so hard that it seemed that she had a heart attack. This story is like O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" because both stories show that the "good ol' days" were not good for everyone and that it is wrong to be an arrogant racist. Both short stories were written alike and have the same flow of dialogue as one another.
Steven Tarkington 10 am The story I read was A Small Good Thing by Raymond Carver. In the story a boy was hit by a car and died on his birthday. the parents from had ordered a birthday cake from the bakery did not pick it up because of the accident. The baker then began harassing them on the phone. The son died and they went to the baker angry. They told the baker what happened and he felt very bad and tried to offer up help to the family. this story relates to cathedral in the way that the baker changes because of the situation. He had previously acted really crazy toward the family but when he found out there son had died he felt empathy, because he had be lonely and wanted children. And the incident opened up his eyes to the things that others go through. Just like how the guy was able to change and see what was wrong with his life.
Flannery O'Connor: Another story by Flannery O'Connor is "Revelation." This takes place in a hospital waiting room, where the narration is mostly of the thoughts that are going through the mind of Mrs. Turpin. She looks around at the other people that are waiting around with her and she makes judgment on them according to the way they look and are dressed. "Revelation" share similarities with "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in the sense that they are very conversation-based. Not much happens in the plot, but the story is long because there is a lot of conversation. A lot of controversial issues are discussed, such as blacks, which probably makes this a southern gothic. Similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find," this story has a little bit of violence with the girl throws a book at her (In the other story, the Misfit kills the whole family). "Revelation" uses lots of detail in describing everything, which is a bit different than "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which had a more progressing storyline, making it easier to read. Revelation was a lot of thoughts that went through Mrs. Turpin's head, so it was hard to follow.
I decided to read the short story "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. It was about a how a young boy get's hit by a car on his 8th birthday and he goes into a coma. The mother had ordered a birthday cake for him, but since the accident, the family forgot to ever pick it up. As the anxiety and worry grew between the parents, they kept getting late night phone calls from the baker to pick up the cake. The couple could not figure out who he was or what he wanted. When they finally realize that the child has died, the mother goes off on the baker and takes out all her bottled up anger on him. The baker then begs for her forgiveness and offers them a cinnamon roll. He then says, "eating is a small, good thing in a time like this." This short story is similar to "The Cathedral" because of the relationship the parents have with the baker. They have this anger towards the baker at first, but then they see he is a good person and they begin to talk for a long time. In "The Cathedral", Robert wants nothing to do with the blind man at first, but towards the end, they are so close to one another that their hands touch. In both stories, Carver shows how a person's opinion on someone can change drastically once they realize what is behind the screen.
Jennifer De la Cruz 8AM O'Connor "Everything That Rises Must Fall" is very similar to her other story that we read in class. There's a grandmother living in the past, with past morals, and a mundane son, pessimistic and consciously aware of the changing world around him. Characterization is very important in both "Everything That Rises Must Fall" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find." They're flaws in every character, no one is all-good as seen though the racist grandmothers and disrespectful sons. There are dark themes, death and sorrow portrayed in O'Connor's stories to illustrate the times she was in. "Everything That Rises Must Fall" showed those, where the grandmother ignorantly treated the colored people in the bus the way she would back in her time, which eventually was made clear to her the difference. She ended up having a stroke and the way O'Connor described it was similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" as well; she did not outwardly say she had a stroke (like she didn't describe the murder in the woods) but the way the mother's eye trained on her son while the other lulled to the side pained a more frightening picture.
Steven Tarkington 10 am The story I read was "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. It related to "A Good Man is Hard To Find" because both stories had religion involved. In this story the boy who doesn't come form a religious family goes to church and is christened. At the end of the story he tries to baptize himself and kills himself. Just how in the other story the grandma dies for her religion.
Victoria Garcia 10am I read the story "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. In the story, its a little boys birthday and the mom is buying him a cake at a bakery. The Baker, was not a rude man but he also was not a kind man. When the boy was coming back from school, he was hit by a car and in the hospital would not wake up and died. Mean while, the Baker, keeps calling the family about the cake saying things like "Scotty, Scotty" then hanging up. The mother towards the end realizes its the Baker and go confront him for being so rude. But, when they talk to the Baker things change and they see him in a new light. This story is similar to Carver's story "Cathedral" because they have a similar ending. In "Cathedral," the narrator is a grumpy man who does not like the thought of having to socialize with a blind man. At the end of the story though, his thoughts about this blind man changed. by drawing the Cathedral and closing his eyes and feeling it while he drew it, he better understood what the blind man felt. The same thing happened here in this story. The Baker went from being a grumpy man to a compassionate man. The reason for this is because he, himself has felt the lonely feeling of not having kids. I feel that the theme in both is not to close yourself off from other because we all share similar feelings.
Tony 8 am I read "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. It is a short story about a family of three. It takes place around the family's son's eighth birthday. The mother ordered a cake to be ready by Monday so she can pick it up and be ready for the party. Only to find out that Scotty, the son, has been hit by a car. They go to the hospital where the parents stay there until he dies. It was thought that nothing serious was going on but something unexpected happen. During this wait, there was a caller harassing them about the son. After his death, the mother realizes who it is that has been calling. Both of them go to the bakery and confront the caller only to ironically spend the time talking. This story is similar to "Cathedral" in the sense that both are written in a conversational tone. Also, the ending shows some understanding toward each other.
Victoria Garcia 10 am Flannery O'Connor In the story, Everything That Rises Must Converge, a young man named Julian is taking his racist mother to the YMCA, on the bus, for her exercise classes. His mother believes that the world was better when whites were segregated from the blacks. Julian does not share the same opinion and is annoyed by his mother's opinion. Towards the end of the bus ride the mother (trying to be kind) give s penny to a young negro boy and gets slapped but the mother of the boy. After they get off the bus ride, the woman seems to have a stroke. This story and O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" are similar because they both involve racists characters who felt it was better when Blacks were segregated from whites. The theme in both stories is that what might of been the "Good old days" for someone, might have not been the "good old days" for someone else.
1. The story that I read was "Little Things" by Raymond Carver. It is similar to "Cathedral" because they both involve relationships that have problems. In "Little Things" the husband is about to leave when he gets into an argument with his wife. This argument eventually leads into their baby dying and further worsening their relationship. In "Cathedral" there was a personality change but this was not evident in "Little Things". The stories show that certain relationships can cause problems in family and obsession can create unintentional issues.
2. I compared "The life you save may be your own" to the story "A good man is hard to find". In "the life you save may be your own", the man accepts money and a car in return to marry a woman's daughter. He ends up leaving the daughter alone and drives off. This is similar to "The life you save may be your own" because both men in the stories are heartless and don't sympathize with the people they meet. Although it is arguable which offense was worse, they both committed evil deeds that are looked down upon in society.
Ted Lee 10AM 1. "A Small Good Thing" by Ramond Craver is similar to "Cathedral" in the transition of the main character. In "Cathedral," the husband transformed his attitude from grumpy to accepting. The husband slowly let his guard down to Robert as he drew with him and entered the blind man's world. In "A Small Good Thing," the two parents also transformed their attitudes from bitter to pleasant. The parents were anxious and sad because their little boy died. The mother even felt like killing the baker because she was so upset, but their mood changed completely when they entered the world of the baker. The stories have their differences as well."A Small, Good Thing" is portrayed in the third person, while "Cathedral" is written in the first person. The first person viewpoint makes the story more personal and effective, and also, the overall change in mood in "Cathedral" was more realistic than the dramatic change of the "A Small, Good Thing."
1. One that I read was "The River" by Flannery O'Connor.The story revolves around a boy who gets baptized by his local church. However, when he goes back home his family starts to treat him differently and ignore him. Regardless of the changed person that he has become and the church has deemed him to be, he seems to not be able to be accepted by his family. He then drowns himself as he feels the discontent towards the world and in search of the perfect world that he envisions in heaven as the church had told him about.
2. The next one I read was "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. This is about a boy names Scotty who gets in an accident in his birthday. However, the doctors assure the paretns that he wil be fine. Meanwhile, the baker of Scotty's cake keeps phoning the parents about why the cake has not been picked up. Later on Scotty dies in a one in a million circumstance and the parents put out their anger. Feeling terrible, the baker later offers cinnamon rolls suggesting that at some times, eating is the best.
In Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” the story is written in a conversational tone that makes it easier for the reader to relate to the story and the characters. This is similar to one of his other stories written a few years later called “A small, good thing.” The stories also have similar themes of enlightenment and looking at things from different perspectives. In “Cathedral” the husband was an irritated, and grumpy guy that was annoyed that his wife’s blind friend was going to visit, but in the end the blind man ended up teaching him how to “see” through his own eyes by drawing the cathedral on paper. In “A Small, Good Thing” the parent’s took their lives for granted until their son got hit by a car and then it wasn’t until their son was in the hospital that they realized that they were so united in wanted their son to get better. It wasn’t until they talked to the baker that they came to a new and different understanding. The stories are different in that they had different endings: “Cathedral” has a more positive ending with the husband being able to understand the blind man, and “A Small, Good Thing” has a more negative ending with the son dying, but they did come to an understanding and the baker turned out to be a compassionate guy.
Ted Lee 10AM 2. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is similar to "Greenleaf" in the theme, character, and violence associated with the two stories. The theme of both stories observe morality. What is doing the right thing? Both families of the story are normal people who do not break the law. They claim to be religious, but they are contemptible in many ways. They have spoiled children and are selfish. In the end, they suffer tragic consequences, which leads to a gory death. However, "Greanleaf" has another theme included in the story. The theme is the force of nature that the bull resembles. It presents the idea that it is fruitless for humans to attempt to control their environment.
Laurie Ho 10 a.m. I also read "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor. One similarity is the mother talks about how the days are better when there are slaves, which is like how the grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is racist. Also, Julian does not respect his mother's wishes and is rude. Some examples are that he takes off his tie to irritate his mother and does not appreciate the sacrifices that she gives him throughout his life. The kids in O'Connor's piece in the reader are also rude and obnoxious. However, they have different reasons for being disrespectful of elders. Julian does not like his mother's way of thinking while the kids are simply selfish and only care about what they can get. The mother trying to give a penny to the little black boy causes the boy's mother to explode is also like how the grandmother says the Misfit is one of her babies, which sparks the Misfit to shoot the grandmother three times.
In addition to Cathedral, I also read Raymond Carver's "A Small, Good thing." Raymond Carver’s short stories “Cathedral” and “A Small, Good Thing” are good examples of realistic characters. These two stories put regular people into problems in a matter of pages. In “Cathedral,” the husband is confronted by his wife’s blind friend named Robert. In “A Small, Good Thing,” Howard and Ann deal with their dying son. Both of these stories take place in the real world every day. Carver uses regular characters to bring about ways for the readers to connect with them in the stories. Although both stories depict a change in the character(s) of the story, the way the change is brought about differs. In "Cathedral", the change is brought through an artistic activity while in "A small, Good Thing" the change was brought by the death of someone.
Marie Biaggi
ReplyDelete10 am
1. The story I read by Raymond Carver is called "Little Things." Similar to Cathedral, the people in this story are having relationship and marital problems but not for the same reason in Cathedral. They do not have issues because of a partner's death but rather for an unknown reason and the husband is preparing to leave the woman. The ending is also very different than Cathedral because there is no change personality change of the characters. Both the wife and husband in Little Things are very stubborn, so stubborn that they end up killing their own child. A shared quality of both stories is that death causes relationship problems. Also, obsession, in this case, the wife's obsession with the child and in Cathedral, the husband's obsession with his wife, causes a person to be selfish which can make matters worse.
2. Flannery O'Connor's short story, "The River," is similar to "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" in that Harry and the Misfit both realize that life is not what it is put out to be. Harry is in shock at what a real pig looks like; it is grey and mean, while the Misfit only understand that he was put into jail unfairly for actions he did not do. Both also refer to the power of Jesus. In AGMIHTF, the grandmother tries to help the Misfit, claiming that Jesus loves him and that he really is a "good man." In The River, Harry is taken to be baptized and follow a righteous path rather than having to deal with his "joke" of a family. Both of these stories are ironic because in the end, those who followed Jesus, the grandma and Harry, end up getting themselves killed.
Laurie Ho 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI read Why Don't you Dance? by Raymond Carter. This piece is like A Good Man is Hard to Find in that the storyline is unclear. I do not know what happens to the girl after she dances closely with the man, but it is something serious enough for the girl to be "trying to get it talked out." The man's personality is simple like the narrator's personality in Cathedral. Also, the dancing between the girl and man is intimate, just like how Cathedral's narrator and the blind man drew a picture of a cathedral together.
Mindy Pham 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteFlannery O’Connor
The new piece I read by O’Connor was “The Train.” The story is about a man named Haze from Eastrod, Tennessee. He is traveling on a train and sees a porter that looks like a man named Cash he knew from Eastrod. Haze also meets a woman called Mrs. Hosen who he talks to for most of the train ride. The porter tries to avoid Haze whenever he sees him. During Haze’s accident of running into him and calling him Cash, the porter reacted oddly.
Compared to “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “The Train” is not as dark. Religion is not discussed in “The Train” and there is no evil character. Haze is not as annoying as the grandmother from the first piece by O’Connor. There is a lot of random statements such as Haze’s mother is from Jackson included in the story. The style in which “The Train” is written is more in the form of stream of consciousness. The setting in both stories is set in the South and the author uses racial slurs. The main characters are both unlikeable. The grandmother is selfish and annoying in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Haze repeatedly lies about where he is from.
Mindy Pham 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteRaymond Carver
The new piece I read by Carver was “A Small, Good Thing.” The story is about a little boy getting hit by a car and how his parents deal with his accident in the hospital afterwards. The parents are distraught and when they each go home separately, they get a call from the baker about the boy’s birthday cake. Forgetting about the cake order, the parents think the caller is a sick person being insensitive. The boy eventually dies and the parents realize the calls were from the baker.
“Cathedral” and “A Small, Good Thing” have different tones from one another. In “Cathedral,” the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, whereas in the other story, there is a third party as the narrator. The man in “Cathedral” also has a bitter tone when speaking about his visitor. The woman in “A Small, Good Thing” at least tries to be friendly to the baker. The endings are different in the way that “A Small, Good Thing” ends with the boy dying, but the man in “Cathedral” and the baker in the new piece change their ways throughout the story. The husband in the original story by Carver learns how to see life through the blind man’s way and the baker in the second story learns how to act as a normal human being once he hears about the child’s death.
Christine Nham 8AM
ReplyDeleteI read "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver
This story is similar to "Cathedral" because both stories are written in an easy to read manner. The facts are straight forward. Just as I thought Robert was creepy, I thought the phone calls were creepy except this time I knew that the baker was calling about the cake. Both stories involve a dead loved one though this story is all about the little boy's death. This story's ending was not abrupt, and had a real ending.
Sammy Xian 10AM
ReplyDeleteO'Connor:
1. The story I read by O'Connor is called "Good Country People." Compared to the two stories we read in class, the moral of this story is also presented in a strange way. The story of the theft of Hulga's wooden leg is something people don't talk about. This is like "A Good Man is Hard to Find" where the murder of a family is used to talk about what would happen if there was no religion. Both of O'Connor's stories have a dark atmosphere. There is a guest in both "Cathedral" and "Good Country People," however, the one in this story has much darker plans than Robert. The speaker in "Cathedral" also seems to be ignorant compared to Hulga. They only realize their flaws in the end when Robert/Manley point them out.
Kaylen Clifford
ReplyDelete8:00 a.m.
The short story I read was “Fat” by Raymond Carver. This short story related to “Cathedral” because both stories were written in the same style. There were short sentences mostly and the narrator was also talking to the audience directly. Also, the story dealt with another human physicality, this time instead of a man being blind and being judged for it, the man was fat. Another similarity was that, at the end of the story, the narrator seems to have been changed by the experience with the man. “Cathedral” and “Fat” differ, because in the first story, there were only three characters and one of which was judging the blind man, whereas in “Fat” many of the characters judge the fat man. It seems that Raymond Carver wrote these stories very similarly.
Sammy Xian 10AM
ReplyDeleteCarver
1. I read the short story "A Small, Good Thing," where it talks about the death of a boy just before his birthday. His parents are then plunged into depression, in which they blame the baker for being evil. This is similar to Carver's "Cathedral" because of how the couple in "A Small, Good Thing" randomly blames someone who took no part in the death of their boy. Robert was also hated on even though the speaker never even met him before. The atmosphere of "A Small, Good Thing" isn't as dark as O'Connor's stories either. Even though it is about a death of a young boy, it still feels more lighthearted. The theme of this story is similar to the other two because of how one can't be judged based on physical appearances. The baker was deemed as evil just because he was doing his job. It wasn't until the baker explained his situation did the couple understand.
Alex Bule 10AM
ReplyDeleteChef's House by Raymond Carver
The setting is a summer home owned by a man only known as Chef. Wes, the separated lover of the narrator, is a recovering alcoholic who regularly attends AA meetings. He asks his wife (or ex-wife, it is never really explicitly stated) to come up and live with him because he has changed. She goes to live with him over summer and has a fantastic time. The man whom they are living with however, is forced to ask them to find another place to stay, and therefore their relationship is tested. They end up figuring out a possibility, and continue their night just as they would have on any other given night.
This was similar to Cathedral in the sense that both short stories had the same relaxed and mellow tone in them. The setting seemed to be the same, represented by one story houses with a very cozy and humble feel to them. Although Cathedral ended with a more clear, concise theme, the theme for Chef's House was not as easily distinguishable. I do believe it was something along the lines of: If a relationship is strong enough, it will survive through any hardship.
Kevin Dam 8am
ReplyDeleteI read the short story, "The Life You Save May Be Yours," by Flannery O'Connor. This story is very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in that O'Connor uses extensive detail. Her use of this stylistic device helps create descriptive visual images, which contribute to the setting and environment of the story. In this story, the actions of the mother show that they are in the early 20th century, where morality still was not at its finest. Similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor mentions Georgia and Tennessee once more. The story also mentions how "things aren't the way they used to be," similar to the grandmother's values from "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Also, the ending of this story is somewhat depressing, similar to "A Good Man is
Hard to Find."
Alex Bule 10AM
ReplyDeleteThe Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor
The story opens with two women, a mother and daughter sitting on their porch, when a man with one-arm comes up to them and begins conversing. They work out a deal for him to work on a broken down car that has been sitting in the garage for years, in exchange for a place to stay. He quickly has the car running, and has interactions with the deaf and mute daughter. He teaches her how to say a few words, and soon, the mother has it in her head that they are soulmates. So she pays the young man to drive the car into town to get him legally married to her daughter. He eventually ends up abandoning her in a diner. He picks up a hitchhiker who eventually abandons him by jumping out of the car into the rain.
It is similar, in a sense, to A good Man is Hard to Find, because they both deal with people facing, and breaking moral laws. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, The Misfit seems to have disregarded all morals because he has been "wrongfully accused" of a crime that he has been punished for. Therefore he believes that if he kills people, there are no higher consequences. In The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Tom Shiftlet is faced with problems when he leaves his newly-wed wife in the diner, and at various other points in the story. He seems to becoming a part of the "scum" that is inhabiting the earth, which he never meant to become. This shows the same message as AGMIHTF because they both show how times are changing, and not for the better.
Maria Orozco
ReplyDelete8:00am Class
I read "Everything that Rises Must Converge" By Flannery O'Connor. I enjoyed this short story because of all the historical context that is included between the lines. This short is similar to "A Good Man is hard to Find" because O'Connor uses the civil war context in both stories. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" we see it being used with the grandmother's language, portraying the old south and the grandchildren portraying the new south. In "Everything that Rises must Converge" we can see this in every aspect. For example, how black and whites traveled in buses and how white people tried to humiliate blacks by giving worthless amount of money to blacks children.
The difference between both short stories was that is that O'Connor is more revealing of the negative attributes that society contained during the American Civil War. The actions of the characters were much more coarse in "Everything that Rises must Converge." In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the action are more subtle because it is only depicted in the language of the characters rather than the in the actions of the characters.
Yuri Lee, 10am.
ReplyDeleteRaymond Carver:
Raymond Carver wrote another story called "A Small, Good Thing." It is similar to "Cathedral" int eh senes that it does not end with a bang. The end makes you think, because after you are done reading the story do you realize that the story has ended. It doesn't seem like the story is going to end, at least not without any more explanation, but it ends abruptly. However, in "A Small, Good Thing," I could tell that the end was approaching. In "Cathedral," the title is not tied in to the meaning very much. I couldn't really tell what cathedrals were supposed to symbolize any further than what is already typically known of them. For "A Small, Good Thing," the small, good thing is explained and comes up in the conversation a few times at the end, with the baker and Scotty's parents. The baker refers to food as the small, good thing in life, especially at harsh times, but I think the greater meaning could be that Scotty possibly might have been a small, good thing that they had in their lives, like the baker's rolls, but it is meant to enjoy and to move on. Both of the stories were almost unnecessarily long. In "A Small, Good Thing," there was a long period in the story where the story was moving very slow and could have been kept shorter. The same applies with "Cathedral," where they have conversation that does not contribute to the story moving forward, although under further deep analysis, everything could be attributed to a more deeper meaning.
Jennifer Cha 10am
ReplyDeleteI read "A Small Good Thing," by Raymond Carver. This short story portrays the variety of emotions of losing a child. The story is written in third person, which allows the reader to know everything that is going on without the opinions of a specific character. In "Cathedral" the biased view of the narrator was dominant in the plot. Although the point of views were different in both stories, Carver does a great job with presenting the important life lessons readers should know. "Cathedral" showed that people can "see" without their eyes. In "A Small Good Thing", Carver illustrates that small essential things in life, such as eating, during crises can help people connect with their emotions and their peers. Another similarity between these two stories is that they both end on hopeful notes. Although the plot in both stories are either tragic or depressing, the stories are concluded with a much more positive note.
I read "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. This short story is about the religious death of a young boy. This short story is very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" because they both have religious themes. "The River" explains the spiritual happiness that people are eagerly searching for. Harry's death in search of the spiritual content he experienced symbolizes displeasure of earthly matters. People do not find happiness with materialism. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" depicts a a religious theme also. The Misfit, who doubted Jesus, stated that he thinks there is no right and wrong in life and no point in life. Lastly, another similarity both stories have is that they have a foreboding tone. A sense of some misfortune happening sticks with the reader as he or she reads on.
Michael Morton 10 AM
ReplyDeleteThe piece by Flannery O'Connor that I read was titled "The River". It shares many similarities with her short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find". Mrs. Connin talks about how her husband is not faithful to Christ like the other story's grandmother who also does not follow Christ very well. Also, religion is misinterpreted by Mr. Paradise when he complains that the preacher cannot heal and by Harry when he drowns himself in the river to find Christ. O'Connor's stories all seem to incorporate the importance of understanding religion.
For Raymond Carver I read "A Small, Good Thing". In terms of the plot or characters the two stories are not very similar to "The Cathedral", but the overall feeling of the story is relatively the same. The story is strange and does not appear to have direction, but the end is heartwarming despite being awkward until that point.
Nicole Lieu 10 AM
ReplyDelete"Little Things" by Raymond Carver
This short story opens with a couple arguing and the husband packing his bags getting ready to walk out and leave the family. The wife, obviously upset, holds the baby in her arms and yells at her husband to leave. However, the husband demands that he takes the baby with him, so he tries to grab the baby by the arm, while the wife tightly holds onto the baby as well. After intense arguing, the couple unknowingly kills their baby.
“Little Things” and “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver both involve an arguing couple that affects their relationship and another person, or baby, outside of the relationship. Even though in “Little Things” it is not clear what exactly the couple is arguing about, it is clear that the couple is moving apart from each other, just like in “Cathedral”. Unlike in “Cathedral” there is no ultimate change in a person. Cathedral is told from first person POV, while Little Things is in third person POV. Both stories strangely convey the message of how problems of one person can affect the entire relationship and the toll it can take on the family.
Nicole Lieu 10 AM
ReplyDeleteIn O’Connor’s short story “The River”, a boy named Harry experiences a misinterpretation of faith and experiences a religious death. Like “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, both stories employ a religious theme. The Misfit doubted Jesus and believed that there is no right or wrong in life and that there is no specific point in life. Harry tries to achieve spiritual happiness by drowning himself because just like the Misfit, he finds discontent with everything and finds no point in his life. Both stories give readers the idea that something unfortunate will happen.
Caressa Arias 8am
ReplyDelete"A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver:
The story is a boy who gets hit by a car on his birthday. He eventually dies in the hospital. While the boy was in the hospital, the baker kept calling about Scotty's birthday cake. The parents accuse him of being evil. Eventually they get to talking and talk for hours. This story is similar to "Cathedral" because the parents didn't like the baker even though he did nothing wrong, just how the husband in "cathedral" didn't like Robert because he was blind, even though he had never met him. Another similarity between Carver's two stories is the theme, the theme of this story is similar because it is trying to say that you can't judge someone by first impressions.
Andrew Farkas 10am
ReplyDeleteThe piece that I read by Raymond Carver was "A Small, Good Thing." I felt that like "Cathedral" the message was not completely clean, but overall it was much more moving. In this new piece I really felt for the boy and his parents. This could have been because it was the boy's birthday and I just felt really sad that any small child and his parents would have to endure something that horrific on day that was suppossed to be filled with happiness.
The piece I read from Flannery O'Connor was "The River". This story was very similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in almost every way. Both have disfunctional families, a reference to god, and a character that seems to die for no real reason. I feel that this story however had a stronger/clearier message for people to recognize.
Shea Shoemaker 10am
ReplyDeleteRaymond Carver
"A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver is a story of a husband and wife who's son was hit by a car on his eighth birthday. They waited for the boy to wake up in the hospital but he died. They were very distraught, confused, and angry. While at home they received calls from a man that seemed to be harassing them and bringing up their son. The wife realized it was the baker who was supposed to make her son's cake for his birthday. She and her husband drove to the bakery and furiously scolded the baker and told him what happened to their son. He apologized and told them he was a lonely man who only baked but never had celebrations because he had no children or family. This story is like that of Carver's other short story, "Cathedral" because the theme in both is to put yourself in another's shoes and try to understand what they are dealing with. Everyone has hard times and troubles but that does not mean you should take your hate out on someone else who may be going through tough times too. Both stories were written in the same informal tone as well like it was being told to a friend.
Elizabeth Diaz
ReplyDelete8 am
A story I read was "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. In this story, a mother prepares for her little boy's birthday party by ordering a cake. Later on his birthday, the little boy gets hit by a car and eventually dies. What thought was harassment by the boys parents turned out to be phone calls from the baker reminding them of the boys cake. This story is similar to Cathedral because at first the parents are furious with the baker, but they then realize a mistake and end up taking to him for hours. Like in Cathedral, the blind man and the narrator form an unlikely connection. This story is different from Cathedral because it is told in third person rather than first. And the main characters are a lot more sympathetic.
Mary Gao 10 AM
ReplyDelete1. “Little Things” by Raymond Carver was short and was about a fight between a couple over a baby. For me, “Little Things” and “Cathedral” both ended kind of oddly and I didn’t exactly understand the ending. “Cathedral” showed the husband turn from an ignorant man to a more understanding person after talking to a blind man and describing and drawing a Cathedral with him. For “Little Things”, the characters just fought and when the couple had one half of the baby each, the man pulled harder and then the story ended with “In this manner, the issue was decided.” The ending was much more abrupt and confusing. I could not understand what the purpose of this short story was compared to “Cathedral”. One similar thing I do notice is that both stories take place at night.
2. O’Connor’s “Green Leaf” is about a woman named Mrs. May. There is a bull that is grazing on her grass. Her tenant or farmhand Mr. Greenleaf didn’t chase away the bull and she finds out that the bull belongs to his sons. Greenleaf’s wife is a religious person and his sons live not too far. Mrs. May becomes more angry as time passes and she demands that Greenleaf shoot it, however, the bull manages to pierce her chest when they went after it and Greenleaf shoots it after this has happened. The bull was wearing a wreath that represents the “prickly crown” that Jesus wore. When Mrs. Greenleaf began calling out “Jesus”, Mrs. May felt something charging at her, which was the bull. Like “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, this story shows that without God, chaos ensues. In "Greenleaf", Mrs. May is that chaos. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find", The Misfit represents that chaos. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" had a part where The Misfit talked about why he did bad things. He said that if he knew there was a God, then he wouldn't have done these things. After his discussion with the grandma about faith, he kills the religious grandma.
Jon Skelton 10am
ReplyDelete1. I read O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own". It was interesting. A man come's across an old woman's house and she asks him to do work in exchange for a place to live and food. He agrees and does work around the house, including fixing the old woman's car. The old woman agrees to give the man the car if he marries the woman's retarded daughter and continues living there with her. He agrees and asks the woman for money to take the daughter out for the weekend. The woman trusts the man and gives him the money. Once on the road with the daughter, he leaves her behind at a diner and continues driving on alone. This is different than "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" because there is no violence. It is similar because the male antagonist seems to have no problem killing or leaving someone behind.
2. I read "Why Don't You Dance" by Raymond Carver. A man is having a yard sale and a young couple comes and starts asking the prices of different objects in the yard. He serves them drinks and agrees to whatever price they name for the different items. The man invites them to dance and then dances with the young woman. Later, the young woman attempts to describe the experience with the man to others, but cannot seem to find the right words. This is different than the other story, because in Cathedral, the protagonist is happy. In this story, the protagonist is confused about what transpired.
Merylynn Valencia 8AM
ReplyDeleteThe short story I read was, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor. The story was about a young man and his mother and is told in the point of view of the sun. He has to take her to the Y for some program to lose weight. The entire story takes place on the bus and is a sort of inner monologue. The young man describes a lot of hatred for his mother and thinks up ways to upset her as if to "teach her a lesson". In the end the mother "get's what she deserves" when she attempts to give a young black child a penny and the mother of the child gets upset because she feels that she is doing it out of charity. This story is similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in that it does show the racism that took place back in that time era. The mother in this story and the grandma in AGMIHTF both have this "Old South" type of perspective on the world and feel as if they are above others. Both these stories depict the manner in which people acted towards each other and even show the hostility that exist within families.
Ryan Motamed
ReplyDelete10AM
I chose the story "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. It is about a boy from a nonreligious family who becomes christened. Like "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the story explores religion. You can see that religion is an interesting topic for O'Connor. Also like "A Good Man is Hard To Find," this story has elements of death. The boy kills himself to be with the parents who love him--God--rather then his real parents, who he feels distanced from.
Ryan Motamed
ReplyDelete10AM
I chose "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver. A couple of friends sit around and talk about love. One of them, Terri, was in an abusive relationship which she believed was derived from love. They go around and some other stories are told. The writing was very similar to Carver's style of writing in "Cathedral." The story was a bit confusing so I couldn't find a deeper meaning.
Alicia Fajardo 8am
ReplyDeleteIn both "A Good Man is Hard to Find and "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, the theme of the world not being in balance is expressed. In both stories it seems as the the Bible salesman and The Misfit don't really have bad intentions. As the stories continue, both end up harming the victims although it is questionable whether they really were victims or not. Both of the antagonists seem to make fun of the people who surround them. In "Good Country People" the salesman takes advantage of Joy by taking her leg away because she thought she was smarter than most and thought she could seduce him, The Misfit's dialogue with the Grandmother backfires on her for talking about the Bible. In both situations, the Bible is what leads Joy and the Grandmother to their misfortune. O'Connor seems to use satire in her stories a lot.
Maria Cortez
ReplyDelete8 a.m.
Another story that interested me was, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" written by Flannery O' Conor. Throughout this short story the aspect of the American South is presented. The similarities between O'Conor's short novels "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and that of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is the way that the author portrays her tone of what you call darkness and death. The one element that did catch my eye was how, both of the stories consisted of a house, a house that either ended up being the cause to the families death or it in general being a grey area. The Characters through the novels that caught my eye the most was that of Julian's mother in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and the Grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find", I feel like these two characters still had view on the and could not realize that the reality of the present is now different then how things were viewed back in their time. Overall the similarities where there throughout the novels but the differences were not as distinct.
Angelica Cano
ReplyDeleteWriting 2 (8AM)
The short story I read was titled Little Things by Raymond Carver. The story was about a couple in the middle of a separation. The husband was about to leave when he started arguing with his wife that he wanted to take the baby with him but the wife would not let him. In the end of the story the wife and the husband were pulling the baby by the arms and no further detail is given. This story is similar to Cathedral because it’s ending is not plainly stated but understood by the reader. I liked this story because it shows how selfish parents can be to their children when they are too busy with their own pain. The ending really stood out because the harm they done to the baby is not elaborated. I like that Cathedral and Little Things both deal with human conflict and do it in almost manner of fact king of way, the language strait forward which makes the situation more powerful.
Shea Shoemaker 10am
ReplyDeleteFlannery O'Connor
"Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor is a story about a young man who takes his racist mother on the bus to go to the Y to exersize. His mother talked about the good ol' days and how black and white people should continue to be segregated. Her son was disgusted by her attitude towards African Americans. At their last stop on the bus, his mother offered a black boy a penny. The black boy's mother was so enraged by the gesture that she slapped her. The man's mother was slapped so hard that it seemed that she had a heart attack. This story is like O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" because both stories show that the "good ol' days" were not good for everyone and that it is wrong to be an arrogant racist. Both short stories were written alike and have the same flow of dialogue as one another.
Steven Tarkington 10 am
ReplyDeleteThe story I read was A Small Good Thing by Raymond Carver. In the story a boy was hit by a car and died on his birthday. the parents from had ordered a birthday cake from the bakery did not pick it up because of the accident. The baker then began harassing them on the phone. The son died and they went to the baker angry. They told the baker what happened and he felt very bad and tried to offer up help to the family. this story relates to cathedral in the way that the baker changes because of the situation. He had previously acted really crazy toward the family but when he found out there son had died he felt empathy, because he had be lonely and wanted children. And the incident opened up his eyes to the things that others go through. Just like how the guy was able to change and see what was wrong with his life.
Yuri Lee, 10am.
ReplyDeleteFlannery O'Connor:
Another story by Flannery O'Connor is "Revelation." This takes place in a hospital waiting room, where the narration is mostly of the thoughts that are going through the mind of Mrs. Turpin. She looks around at the other people that are waiting around with her and she makes judgment on them according to the way they look and are dressed. "Revelation" share similarities with "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in the sense that they are very conversation-based. Not much happens in the plot, but the story is long because there is a lot of conversation. A lot of controversial issues are discussed, such as blacks, which probably makes this a southern gothic. Similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find," this story has a little bit of violence with the girl throws a book at her (In the other story, the Misfit kills the whole family). "Revelation" uses lots of detail in describing everything, which is a bit different than "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which had a more progressing storyline, making it easier to read. Revelation was a lot of thoughts that went through Mrs. Turpin's head, so it was hard to follow.
Samantha Castillo
ReplyDelete8 am
Raymond Carver
I decided to read the short story "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. It was about a how a young boy get's hit by a car on his 8th birthday and he goes into a coma. The mother had ordered a birthday cake for him, but since the accident, the family forgot to ever pick it up. As the anxiety and worry grew between the parents, they kept getting late night phone calls from the baker to pick up the cake. The couple could not figure out who he was or what he wanted. When they finally realize that the child has died, the mother goes off on the baker and takes out all her bottled up anger on him. The baker then begs for her forgiveness and offers them a cinnamon roll. He then says, "eating is a small, good thing in a time like this." This short story is similar to "The Cathedral" because of the relationship the parents have with the baker. They have this anger towards the baker at first, but then they see he is a good person and they begin to talk for a long time. In "The Cathedral", Robert wants nothing to do with the blind man at first, but towards the end, they are so close to one another that their hands touch. In both stories, Carver shows how a person's opinion on someone can change drastically once they realize what is behind the screen.
Jennifer De la Cruz 8AM
ReplyDeleteO'Connor
"Everything That Rises Must Fall" is very similar to her other story that we read in class. There's a grandmother living in the past, with past morals, and a mundane son, pessimistic and consciously aware of the changing world around him. Characterization is very important in both "Everything That Rises Must Fall" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find." They're flaws in every character, no one is all-good as seen though the racist grandmothers and disrespectful sons. There are dark themes, death and sorrow portrayed in O'Connor's stories to illustrate the times she was in. "Everything That Rises Must Fall" showed those, where the grandmother ignorantly treated the colored people in the bus the way she would back in her time, which eventually was made clear to her the difference. She ended up having a stroke and the way O'Connor described it was similar to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" as well; she did not outwardly say she had a stroke (like she didn't describe the murder in the woods) but the way the mother's eye trained on her son while the other lulled to the side pained a more frightening picture.
Steven Tarkington 10 am
ReplyDeleteThe story I read was "The River" by Flannery O'Connor. It related to "A Good Man is Hard To Find" because both stories had religion involved. In this story the boy who doesn't come form a religious family goes to church and is christened. At the end of the story he tries to baptize himself and kills himself. Just how in the other story the grandma dies for her religion.
Victoria Garcia 10am
ReplyDeleteI read the story "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. In the story, its a little boys birthday and the mom is buying him a cake at a bakery. The Baker, was not a rude man but he also was not a kind man. When the boy was coming back from school, he was hit by a car and in the hospital would not wake up and died. Mean while, the Baker, keeps calling the family about the cake saying things like "Scotty, Scotty" then hanging up. The mother towards the end realizes its the Baker and go confront him for being so rude. But, when they talk to the Baker things change and they see him in a new light. This story is similar to Carver's story "Cathedral" because they have a similar ending. In "Cathedral," the narrator is a grumpy man who does not like the thought of having to socialize with a blind man. At the end of the story though, his thoughts about this blind man changed. by drawing the Cathedral and closing his eyes and feeling it while he drew it, he better understood what the blind man felt. The same thing happened here in this story. The Baker went from being a grumpy man to a compassionate man. The reason for this is because he, himself has felt the lonely feeling of not having kids. I feel that the theme in both is not to close yourself off from other because we all share similar feelings.
Tony 8 am
ReplyDeleteI read "A Small Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. It is a short story about a family of three. It takes place around the family's son's eighth birthday. The mother ordered a cake to be ready by Monday so she can pick it up and be ready for the party. Only to find out that Scotty, the son, has been hit by a car. They go to the hospital where the parents stay there until he dies. It was thought that nothing serious was going on but something unexpected happen. During this wait, there was a caller harassing them about the son. After his death, the mother realizes who it is that has been calling. Both of them go to the bakery and confront the caller only to ironically spend the time talking. This story is similar to "Cathedral" in the sense that both are written in a conversational tone. Also, the ending shows some understanding toward each other.
Victoria Garcia 10 am
ReplyDeleteFlannery O'Connor
In the story, Everything That Rises Must Converge, a young man named Julian is taking his racist mother to the YMCA, on the bus, for her exercise classes. His mother believes that the world was better when whites were segregated from the blacks. Julian does not share the same opinion and is annoyed by his mother's opinion. Towards the end of the bus ride the mother (trying to be kind) give s penny to a young negro boy and gets slapped but the mother of the boy. After they get off the bus ride, the woman seems to have a stroke. This story and O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" are similar because they both involve racists characters who felt it was better when Blacks were segregated from whites. The theme in both stories is that what might of been the "Good old days" for someone, might have not been the "good old days" for someone else.
Hong Kim 10am
ReplyDelete1. The story that I read was "Little Things" by Raymond Carver. It is similar to "Cathedral" because they both involve relationships that have problems. In "Little Things" the husband is about to leave when he gets into an argument with his wife. This argument eventually leads into their baby dying and further worsening their relationship. In "Cathedral" there was a personality change but this was not evident in "Little Things". The stories show that certain relationships can cause problems in family and obsession can create unintentional issues.
2. I compared "The life you save may be your own" to the story "A good man is hard to find". In "the life you save may be your own", the man accepts money and a car in return to marry a woman's daughter. He ends up leaving the daughter alone and drives off. This is similar to "The life you save may be your own" because both men in the stories are heartless and don't sympathize with the people they meet. Although it is arguable which offense was worse, they both committed evil deeds that are looked down upon in society.
Ted Lee 10AM
ReplyDelete1. "A Small Good Thing" by Ramond Craver is similar to "Cathedral" in the transition of the main character. In "Cathedral," the husband transformed his attitude from grumpy to accepting. The husband slowly let his guard down to Robert as he drew with him and entered the blind man's world. In "A Small Good Thing," the two parents also transformed their attitudes from bitter to pleasant. The parents were anxious and sad because their little boy died. The mother even felt like killing the baker because she was so upset, but their mood changed completely when they entered the world of the baker. The stories have their differences as well."A Small, Good Thing" is portrayed in the third person, while "Cathedral" is written in the first person. The first person viewpoint makes the story more personal and effective, and also, the overall change in mood in "Cathedral" was more realistic than the dramatic change of the "A Small, Good Thing."
Lilian Kim 10 am
ReplyDelete1. One that I read was "The River" by Flannery O'Connor.The story revolves around a boy who gets baptized by his local church. However, when he goes back home his family starts to treat him differently and ignore him. Regardless of the changed person that he has become and the church has deemed him to be, he seems to not be able to be accepted by his family. He then drowns himself as he feels the discontent towards the world and in search of the perfect world that he envisions in heaven as the church had told him about.
2. The next one I read was "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver. This is about a boy names Scotty who gets in an accident in his birthday. However, the doctors assure the paretns that he wil be fine. Meanwhile, the baker of Scotty's cake keeps phoning the parents about why the cake has not been picked up. Later on Scotty dies in a one in a million circumstance and the parents put out their anger. Feeling terrible, the baker later offers cinnamon rolls suggesting that at some times, eating is the best.
Magali Sanchez, 8am
ReplyDeleteIn Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” the story is written in a conversational tone that makes it easier for the reader to relate to the story and the characters. This is similar to one of his other stories written a few years later called “A small, good thing.” The stories also have similar themes of enlightenment and looking at things from different perspectives. In “Cathedral” the husband was an irritated, and grumpy guy that was annoyed that his wife’s blind friend was going to visit, but in the end the blind man ended up teaching him how to “see” through his own eyes by drawing the cathedral on paper. In “A Small, Good Thing” the parent’s took their lives for granted until their son got hit by a car and then it wasn’t until their son was in the hospital that they realized that they were so united in wanted their son to get better. It wasn’t until they talked to the baker that they came to a new and different understanding. The stories are different in that they had different endings: “Cathedral” has a more positive ending with the husband being able to understand the blind man, and “A Small, Good Thing” has a more negative ending with the son dying, but they did come to an understanding and the baker turned out to be a compassionate guy.
Ted Lee 10AM
ReplyDelete2. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is similar to "Greenleaf" in the theme, character, and violence associated with the two stories. The theme of both stories observe morality. What is doing the right thing? Both families of the story are normal people who do not break the law. They claim to be religious, but they are contemptible in many ways. They have spoiled children and are selfish. In the end, they suffer tragic consequences, which leads to a gory death. However, "Greanleaf" has another theme included in the story. The theme is the force of nature that the bull resembles. It presents the idea that it is fruitless for humans to attempt to control their environment.
Laurie Ho 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI also read "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor. One similarity is the mother talks about how the days are better when there are slaves, which is like how the grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is racist. Also, Julian does not respect his mother's wishes and is rude. Some examples are that he takes off his tie to irritate his mother and does not appreciate the sacrifices that she gives him throughout his life. The kids in O'Connor's piece in the reader are also rude and obnoxious. However, they have different reasons for being disrespectful of elders. Julian does not like his mother's way of thinking while the kids are simply selfish and only care about what they can get. The mother trying to give a penny to the little black boy causes the boy's mother to explode is also like how the grandmother says the Misfit is one of her babies, which sparks the Misfit to shoot the grandmother three times.
Artisha Thompson 8am
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Cathedral, I also read Raymond Carver's "A Small, Good thing." Raymond Carver’s short stories “Cathedral” and “A Small, Good Thing” are good examples of realistic characters. These two stories put regular people into problems in a matter of pages. In “Cathedral,” the husband is confronted by his wife’s blind friend named Robert. In “A Small, Good Thing,” Howard and Ann deal with their dying son. Both of these stories take place in the real world every day. Carver uses regular characters to bring about ways for the readers to connect with them in the stories. Although both stories depict a change in the character(s) of the story, the way the change is brought about differs. In "Cathedral", the change is brought through an artistic activity while in "A small, Good Thing" the change was brought by the death of someone.