You're Ugly Too- Lorrie Moore

In You're Ugly Too by Lorrie Moore, Zoe who is the main character, has much trouble with relationships. She is always trying to make a big joke out of it and about her life. She is uncertain about everything in her life and her profession as a college professor seems to add her odd life. Her way of dressing and her way of expressing herself in the way she presented herself was also odd. "There was too much effort with the eyeliner, and her earrings, worn no doubt for the drama her features lacked, were a little frightening, jutting out from the side of her head lie antennae" (Moore, 353). She was different and that, by all means created her to have trouble socializing. She had trouble with relationships and trouble with her thoughts about them. She saw them as means to sexual relationships and nothing else. This is obviously far from what she should have thought. She dealt a weird life and it was evident at the Halloween party.

The Apparition- John Donne

In The Apparition by John Donne, the ghost says to her that he will not now reveal lest his telling it "preserve" her that he loves her. We now this when he says "... and since my love is spent... (Donne, 890)." He knows that he loves her now but he did not know this before she left him to be with another man. He knows that he will never be able to tell her and that she will not really care. He threatens her in this way in order to make himself feel better. He wants to think that she will care for him if she knows this. On the other hand, he might also be saying all of this because he knows she will never find out. He is sure that he can let out all his feelings without her ever finding out that he said them. I believe that either way, he is letting off his steam because he is angry that she left him to be with another man (as I am sure a lot of people would be in this situation). The sad thing is, the woman remains innocent because she does not know that he loves her.

Popular Mechanics

The final decision in Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver is evident in the last lines of the short story. As the couple fights in the beginning, it is as if they have forgotten about the baby that they both have together. It is when the woman sees the picture that she clearly thinks that he might want to take the baby. This is when she quickly runs to get the baby before he does and when the quarreling about who keeps the baby begins. As they both tug and pull at the baby, the father seems to win. "He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard (Carver, 335)." It was with this tug that the father decides he does not want the mother to keep him. His determination lies within wanting to keep their baby and not letting the mother keep it. It is somewhat sad that they are fighting over the baby and in the process physically hurting the baby. It was in this manner, that the issue of who was keeping the baby was decided.

The Story of an Hour

               The irony in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, lies within Mrs. Mallard's way of reacting to the bitter news of her husband's death. It is within reason to believe that a person who has just found out the news of a loved ones death would respond with great grief. To my disbelieve, Mrs. Mallard did not respond in this way. In the beginning, she seemed to show slight signs of distress and grief, but as the minutes passed she began to feel happiness from his death. She mentioned that she was now free and that she need not worry about him. She was so happy that it caused her to have a heart attack. The irony in this situation was that her sister and and her husband's friend wanted to avoid telling her the tragedy of the death of her husband due to heart trouble that she experienced. Their want of protection came to affect when they realized that she would have a heart attack upon impact of knowing what had arisen. Ironically, Mrs. Mallard indeed died of a heart attack but from happiness of being free rather than from grief and sadness. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills (Chopin, 327)."

Bright Star

It is in the poem, Bright Star by John Keats that we see a paradox happen through out the entire poem. The speaker of the poem begins by saying, "Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art" (Keats, 792). They would like to be as eternal and forever as a star is. The only thing is, they do not want to be alone as the star is in the sky. They want to love forever and be awake forever in that love. But he knows that soon the love that he has will die. Or he might mean that he will die of love. It is hard to tell which one. It is a paradox between living forever and dying.

Lonely Hearts

In the poem Lonely Hearts by Wendy Cope, we sense a feeling of what the titles suggests: loneliness. It is a plead for someone to take interest in the people who are writing these sort of ads. This is sort of like a match finder online. It describes themselves in very few sentences, and describes what they are looking for in the person that they want. For example, the first person says that they seek a male biker because they are a woman who seek some adventure. The second says, "Gay vegetarian whose friends are few..." (Cope, 973).  The thing I struggle with here is that I do not know if they refer to happy or bisexual. they seek a person who loves music, literature, and being outdoors. The third is a person with much exploration. They seek something new and don't mind a bisexual woman. They must be an art student. That would be a very big generalization but it is a person who is out there. Religion is important to the fourth woman. She has a son, so I am guessing that she is a single parent who either went through a divorce or abandonment of the father. The last person seems to be into books and young people.

Eveline- James Joyce

Eveline, the main character in Eveline by James Joyce, struggles at home with a drunk father and a missing mother and brother. She is left to care for her two youngest siblings for herself. She is always working hard to keep the family together. It is when Frank, a "kind, manly, open-hearted" man comes to her that Eveline decides that she wants to be happy (Joyce, 220). Her father has become out of control and violent to her, something that had never happened before. Miss Gavan, her superior is not too fond of her. She criticizes her and tells her to ,"Look lively, Miss Hill, please" (Joyce, 219). Her father seems to not do much for the family besides torture them when they see him drunk. It is when she is leaving for sure that the memory of her mother comes to her. It is her mother telling her to promise not to ever leave her family. It causes Eveline to think secondly about what she is doing when leaving with Frank. She wants to live a better life than her mother but knows that it is her place to stay just where she is and keep taking care of her brothers and the house. It will mean that she sacrifice her happiness to fulfill her mother's wishes.

How I Met My Husband- Alice Munro

It is clear that Edie, a character in How I Met My Husband by Alice Munro, is the sympathized character of the story. She is able to cause us to sympathize her when she feels dehumanized. Since she works for the Peebles, she feels as if the work she does for them is the only reason they talk to her. "They like to think you aren't curious. Not just that you aren't dishonest, that isn't enough. They like to feel you don't notice  things, that you don't think or wonder about anything but what they liked to eat and how they liked things ironed, and so on" (Munro, 135). Edie has progressively noticed that the Peebles treat her as an employee and nothing more. She feels almost nonexistent to them. I believe that the reason that she is so intrigued in meeting Chris is because of the way he makes her feel noticed. He calls her beautiful the first time he sees her and that catches her attention instantly. It is his interest and the lack of interest in the others that makes her fall so easily for him. She is only looking for someone to pay attention to her.