EXTRA CREDIT!

After reading Sissy and comparing it to Ragged Dick, we see completely different themes in both the novels. In Sissy I found that he broke the mold of the “American boy” the other authors set up. Rather then being tough and dirty like Ragged Dick, Sissy was clean and somewhat feminine. Sissy didn’t care what other people thought, which was not a problem cause everyone accepted him, "he made no effort to conceal his tastes and preferences, but openly pursued his girl-work and good naturedly maintained that it was more respectable and enjoyable than getting into the dirt "to mumble the peg", or than hopping about o none foot, and kicking a bit of china or brick across lines, as in "hop-scotch" (546). The boys never gave him a hard time from him acting like a girl. Everyone really liked him. In Ragged Dick we see this rough, mischievous character. Even though he caused trouble he still got away with all of his actions, "I am afraid he swore sometimes, and now and then he played tricks upon unsophisticated boys from the country, or gave a wrong direction to honest old gentlemen unused to the city"(367). Sissy put a new spin on little boys that I found really interesting and fun to read about whereas Ragged Dick was more predictable and we kind of new what to expect from him. Sissy invited people to be open with whom they are and that boys can be accepted even though they may have some famine characteristics. In Ragged Dick, I think it showed that little boys can get away with being mischievous and rebellious and in Sissy we see that he is calm and he likes to be “good”. I think both Sissy and Ragged Dick showed two different perspectives on how little boys can grow up to be and that there is not just one stereotype.

THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP

After reading “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” what struck me about this reading was that there was no true female in the story. Most of the pieces we have read this year entailed of a young girl, or a young girl and her mother. Every female was different: some were poor and lived on the streets, some were ugly, some were pretty, some were crazy and some were wealthy, but never did we encounter a female prostitute of any sort. The one woman that was mentioned in, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" was looked down upon by the entire community. I'm sure it did not help that she was the only female, so practically an outcast since she could not easily relate to the men, and the men found it hard to accept her simply because she was mentally and physically different. Even though when she dies giving birth to the only baby that Roaring Camp has ever seen or had, they make it clear they don't want another female among their presence. "It was argued that no decent woman could be prevailed to accept Roaring Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that 'they didn't want any more of the other kind.'" It is weird though how these men strongly believed that this baby, Luck, brought all the luck that Roaring Camp had ever had. This baby had come from a woman, one they looked down upon, but she gave birth to a being that brought luck to them. This baby was viewed as something of value to these men. If the baby was a girl I wonder if the circumstances would have changed. This is also we see a baby viewed in a positive way. I think this was a very interesting reading especially since this roaring camp was male dominant, which is something we aren’t use to.

GILMAN AND CHOPIN

Throughout this semester we have been reading excerpts from children’s literature that are longer in length then a short story, which has a quick story and ending. My reading habits completely change when I am reading a short story as opposed to a long novel. I pay more attention to short stories and I can focus more on every word in the story cause I know it is going to end soon. Unlike long novels where there is a lot of detail and sometimes I tend to skip over some words and not read it as carefully. I also think since short stories only have like 10 or fewer pages to them if you do not read it carefully you may miss an important part of the story. Whereas long novels have a lot of detail and you can still figure out what’s going on in the story.
In the short stories written by Gilman and Chopin, I Paid a lot of attention to all the words and details that went on in those readings. After reading The Yellow Wallpaper I found that I could not skim this story at all because I would miss some of the important aspects of the story. “Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it. All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision”(515). This quote from The Yellow Wallpaper shows how important every word of detail is especially since this quote is towards the end of the short story and is pretty much trying to pull the whole story together. This shows how important details and short stories are.