Everyday Use - Alice Walker

Maggie and her mother are waiting for her sister/daughter, Dee, to arrive at the house. They haven't seen her since she left for boarding school. The mom talks about how in tv shows the mother/daughter always hug and cry, but it's not like that in real life. She describes herself as a manly build, and not what her daughter wants. The whole family is black. Maggie acts like a lame animal, and shuffles when she walks. She was burned in a house fire when she was very small, 10-12 years ago. When the fire happened, Dee was happy because she had hated that old house. When Dee arrives Maggie tries to run into the house but the mom stops her. Dee has on a full length dress and is very stylish when she arrives. Dee photographs them sitting in front of the house. She has changed her name to Wangero and is dating a man called Asalamalakim. She says she changed her name, because Dee was oppressing her. Dee starts complimenting handmade stuff and takes the churn top and the dasher to make a centerpiece in her house. After dinner Dee started digging through a trunk and wants the quilts that her grandmother and mom had made. She asks for the quilts and won't give them back. The mom says that she had promised them to Maggie and to take others. Dee refuses so after a minute the mom takes them back and tell Dee to take the other. Dee storms out of the house saying that her mother didn't understand their heritage.


This story portrays a transition period in history. The mother was raised without a lot of money and has learned to appreciate the small things in life. She sees no need for fashion or a beautiful house when she can sit on her porch and enjoy life with one of her daughters. Dee on the other hand, has gone of to boarding school and now knows a new life. She sees the beauty in owning expensive and stylish items. She has more school than her mother, and wants to use her heritage to get ahead in life. She wants the quilts, because no one else will have them, not because they are meaningful to her. Dee is trying to use her mother to show her history and where she came from. She takes pictures of her mom and Maggie sitting in front of the house, to show that her family still lives like this. She wants to show others her "struggle" to emerge and be who she is today.

You can also look at this story from a gender/feminist perspective. Dee is vain. She needs to be fashionable and have nice things to be comfortable with life. She wants to detach herself from her former life, unless it's going to help her get ahead. She has left her family behind because she needs to feel comfortable in the current times. Her mother grew up in a different situation. She couldn't be a typical female. She wouldn't have been able to raise her family if she had worn dresses and been stylish. She sees no need to be fashionable. She has more of a male mentality. She just wants to sit back and enjoy life.

The Lesson - Toni Cade Bambara

Miss Moore teaches a group of black teens in the ghetto. She lives there herself, but is well educated and wants to teach them too. She takes the group of kids to F.A.O Schwarz, an expensive toy store. The kids look in the window and can't believe the prices of the things they see. There is a sailboat for $1195, and the kids comment on how they could build a sailboat for 50 cents with supplies from the store. They also see a paperweight made of fused stones, but only one of them has a desk so this makes no sense to them. There is also a $35 toy, this makes the kids say that you could buy a new bunk beds for her brothers, pay for piano lessons, and the rent. When the kids leave one says "Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of 6 or 7 for a year. What do you think?" "I think that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me, Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?"


This is a story that portray Marxism very well. Society is a constant power struggle. To these children, they know nothing about what they are missing out on. They have no concept of high dollar amounts, which sets them behind in the race for power and money. The rich white people on the other hand, have the power in the society and look down on those who do not have as much as they do. This is also psychological. People with more feel like they're better because they have been granted with better opportunities. This also goes the other way. These children have been raised in a family where not going to college and working right away is what has to happen. This makes them think that this is the best they can achieve in life. They also have no concept of high dollar amounts, which would put them behind if they did come upon a lot of money. They would spend a lot of it, because they would not know how far that money would get them. Another psychological prospect of the story is what the kids learn. Going into the store the felt uncomfortable for them, as if they shouldn't be allowed in there. In an equal society no one should feel that. The kids take this out of the store with them and realize that they should be given more opportunities than they are.

Happy Endings - Margaret Atwood

A. John and Mary fall in love an get married. They both enjoy there job. They buy and house just before real estate values go up. They are devoted to their 2 children. They have a good sex life and good friends and hobbies. They eventually die.


B. Mary loves John but John doesn't love Mary. John comes over twice a week and Mary cooks for him. They then have sex. He doesn't love her and just uses her for sex. He even makes her take off her own clothes. Marry hope that sex will eventually bring them to love.  Mary starts to cry and her friends tell her that John is a pig and is using her. She thinks that there is a better John inside of the mean John and she wants him. John is seen at a restaurant with a lady named Madge. Mary gets upset, because John never once took her out. Mary then takes sleeping pills with sherry and kills herself, hoping that John will appear in time to save her and to love her. John marries Madge and everything continues as in A.


C. John, who is an old man, falls in love with Mary, who is only 22. She feels bad for him so she sleeps with him on Thursdays. They're together on Thursdays, because that's the only day he can get away from his wife, Madge. Marry is actually interested in another man from work, James, who is also 22 and is a motorcyclist. James comes back from Cali with some hybrid pot. Mary and James get really high and then climb into bed. John walks intro Mary's apartment, because he has a key, and sees them. He is devastated, goes and buys a hand gun, shoots James and mary, and then kills himself. Madge mourns, and marries a man named Fred. Everything continues as in A.


D.Fred and Madge have a wonderful marriage and a house by the sea. A tidal wave crashes through their house, yet they escape. On high ground they clasp each other and all continues as A.


E. Fred has a bad heart. Tehy are kind and understanding until Fred dies. Madge devotes the rest of her life to charity work until end of A. The end could include "Madge, cancer, guilty and confused, and bird watching."


F.No matter what, you'll still end up with A.  All endings are the same. John and Mary die. Beginnings are always more fun. Plots are just what and what and what. Now try how and why.


I loved this story. This story is one big psychological analysis. What really happens in our lives? Everything will eventually lead us to death. This story throws the basic outlines of a story right out in the open; just the bare facts. This Doesn't tell you how something happened or why, just what happened. This story lets our mind create the a separate story for each character while still following their story line. It makes us consider happy endings. When you see a happy couple on the street, do you know their story? Do you know if they're really happy or how they got to be happy? You don't, and that's why you want to know the how and why of every story. You can't judge their happy ending when they're not even at the end yet. Parts of their story may be happy, but everything ends with death.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Raymond Carver

Cardiologist Mel McGinnis is drinking with his second wife Terri, Laura, and her husband Nick. Mel gets on the subject of love and says that Terri's abusive relationship in which Ed killed himself. He tried to kill her first and she still says that he loved her, it was just a different kind of love. Mel isn't sure what to think about love. He wants to know why he loved his ex-wife but hates her now. Mel then tells a story about an old couple who got hit by a drunk driver and nearly died. He says they were in full body casts but would make it. When he talked to the old man, he was told that he was depressed because he knew his wife was there, but couldn't see her from the eye holes in the cast. This upsets him and he doesn't understand it. It also makes him want to call his kids, but he doesn't.


Each of these people looks at love from a different way. They all have different psychological views on the subject. Terri's views are different than everyone else's views. She believe that abuse is a type of love. This may have been because this is what she grew up seeing or experiencing. If her parents beat each other, or her, she may have grown up believing that abuse is a true sign of love. When Ed gets involved, this man is truly crazy. You can't understand what is going on in his mind. He abuses Terri, and yet he ends up killing himself when he loses her. Mel is very brunt on the subject of love. He has been through a divorce and realizes that everyone experiences love differently. In Mel's mind love is a confusing, almost scary matter. He can't comprehend the intense love the elderly couple had for each other. In his mind, love isn't forever. Love can change when someone dies or is lost. You can tell that he has been hurt before by his reaction to his ex-wife. You can't hate someone unless you had feelings for them before. He was obviously hurt by her and has yet to recover.

Where are you going? Where have you been? - Joyce Carol Oates

A 15 year old girl named Connie and her friends are dropped at the mall by a friends dad. They sneak across the street to a restaurant and to flirt with older guys. Connie finds a guy, ditches her friends, and goes off with him. They pass by another guy in a gold car, who says "Gonna get you, baby." She takes this as a compliment and continues on with the other guy. Later that night Connie returns home and lies about seeing a movie. The next day her parents and her sister go to a barbecue at her aunts and she stays home. After being home a little while the gold car pulls up to her house in the country. Arnold Friend gets out and comes to her door while his friend Ellie stays in the car. Arnold never enters the house, and yet he convinces her to come out to him. Ellie wants to rip the phone out, but Arnold doesn't let him. He does this even though he is telling her how he is going to rape her. All of his convincing is done with the tone of his voice and with his threats to her family. At one point Connie has the phone in her hand, but instead of calling anyone she just starts screaming and then gives up. She then goes out with Arnold Friend.


In this story Arnold Friend has a psychological problem. He enjoys the power of being able to coax a young woman from her house and raping her. He finds joy in the power of convincing her to come to him, instead of forcing her to come. He may think that she will really like him, since she came to him willingly. The fact that Arnold Friend knows everything about Connie shows that he has an unnatural obsession with her. Connie, on the other hand, has some psychological problems herself. First of all, she is obsessed with her appearance. She can not stand going out and looking bad. She gets all of her confidence from the her that she can display out in public. She hides behind her make-up when at the mall. When Arnold confronts her at home, she realizes that she isn't grown-up and she has nothing to hide behind.

You could also look at this story by gender rolls. Connie is a typical 15 year old girl. She is struggling to find out who she is and she wants the freedoms of an adult, and yet she can't handle them. She is jealous of her sister and is constantly trying to become her mom's favorite. She struts around in skimpy clothes displaying herself to the whole world at just 15. She constantly worries about being pretty, which is something that is instilled in young women from a very young age.

A & P - John Updike

Sammy is a cashier at a local grocery store. 3 girls walk into the store in bikinis. There is a chubby girl who recently got her suit, a tall dark haired girl, and the queen bee who had her swimsuit straps off of her shoulders. The girls parade through the store, get what they need, and proceed to check out. The manager comes into the store then and tells the girls that they need to be dressed decently next time they come to the store. Sammy gets offended by this and decides to quit his job as the girls are leaving the store. After he quits he realizes that they are gone and that he has nothing now.


In this story the males and females are layed out as stereotypical males and females. Sammy, a young man, spends a good amount of time examining the young women in the store. He notices every little thing about them and starts to form a relationship with them in his mind. He feels as if this relationship goes both ways and that they should have noticed him. By the end of the story he does something stupid to try to get the girls attention and be there hero. He was trying to act like the prince in a fairy tale who comes and saves the damsel in distress. The girls on the other hand walk through the store with all eyes on them. They think people are checking them out, but in reality the girls are just disrupting the norm and people are scandalized. The girls are also in the stereotypical clique. There is the queen bee and her followers. These girls completely fit that stereotype. Also, the girls almost seem kind of ditsy like the need someone to step in and save them. This portrays them as needing a man's help, even when they really don't.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find - Flannery O'Conner

An old lady and her family are going on vacation. They are heading to Florida even though the lady wants to go to Tennessee. She tries to convince them to go to Tennessee by telling them that "the Misfit" is heading to Florida. On the way to Tennessee she wants to go see an old plantation house that she remembers. They go down the dirt road to the house and get in an accident .After the accident the lady remembers that the house is in Tennessee. The car that stops to help them is the Misfit and his cronies. The shoot the dad and the brother while talking to the grandma. She tells him that God could save him. He then shoots the mom, the girl, and the baby. The Grandma is still saying that God could save him. She all of a sudden proclaims that he is her son, and he shoots her 3 times.


This story has two characters that you could write about with a psychological theory. The Granny starts out as a fussy old lady at the beginning of the story. She want to go to Tennessee and nags her son about going there. When the leave for the trip she gets all dressed up, because she wants to look just a little better than everyone. When she is interacting with the kids in the car you can tell that she feels like her generation is better, as she is constantly thinking about her times and how the kids have no appreciation for anything. At the end of the story the Granny prays to the lord and acts like such a forgiving woman, when in fact she wasn't godly until she was put in front of a gun. Even the Misfit notices this and makes the comment "She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." The Misfit provides us with another psychological analysis. He is a criminal that doesn't even know why he was first arrested. He either blocked it out, or is a sociopath with no ability to remember the act. When the Granny starts to tell him that he is a good man, she starts to sway him into thinking that he might be. The Misfit tries to justify his other misdeeds by listing off that he was once a gospel singer. The Misfit knows that he will get caught eventually, so his thinking is "What's one more crime?"

The Lottery - Shirley Jackson

A town is holding its annual lottery. The whole town gathers in the square to watch the drawing. The men of the house each draw a sheet of paper. Mr. Summons is in charge of the drawing. Bill Hutchinson draws the paper with the dot. His whole family then has to go up and each draw a sheet of paper. When they open their papers Tessie has the paper with the dot on it. She pleads that it was a mistake and doesn't want the paper. She is then put in a circle of people and stoned.


If you look at this from the historical context you can tell that it's during a transition period of history. Some of the younger citizens bring up the fact that other towns have stopped the lottery. The old members of the community believe that that is wrong and that it should continue. Since the older members grew up with this way of life, they see it as right. The fact that this tradition had been going on in the town forever and was part of the town's history made no one question it. The fact that no one questioned what had happened is disturbing. No one even knew how the lottery had started, and yet they continued on with the tradition.

Battle Royal - Ralph Ellison

A young African-american's grandpa dies and leaves the family with a warning "Learn it to the younguns." The boy gives a speech at his graduation and is then asked to present that same  speech at a gathering of the town's white citizens. When he arrives the make him participate in a fight with other black boys in front of the white men of the town. When the boys are ushered on stage there is a naked white woman dancing, the men mock them while watching her. When she is done they are forced into the ring to fight blindfolded. The  white men are drunk and are extremely rude to the boys. The main character and the biggest fighter are the last two in the ring. The main character loses. The boys then go to get there money, but the carpet the money is on is electrified. They got shocked when they go to grab the money. When the boy finally gives his speech they mock him about social responsibility and social equality. After his speech they give him a briefcase with a negro college scholarship in it. 


If you look at this story in the historical context you can see that racial segregation had not yet been abolished. School's could still be segregated until two years later. For a black to give a speech at graduation and be asked to speak in front of a white crowd would be almost unheard of. The reason that the men could get away with this was because the cops were also white, and no body would turn them in. Also, no one would believe that black boys if they reported the events. The white men got crude and rude when they were drunk. They mistreated the dancer, because she was a woman and they mistreated the boys because they were black. The men still saw them as objects or animals that could be discarded.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place - Ernest Hemmingway

An old deaf man likes to drink at the cafe every night. While the old man is drinking the waiters discuss how he attempted suicide but was cut down by his niece. The young waiter pours him one last drink, declares him drunk, and sends him home. The older waiter does not agree with this, but says that some people need somewhere to go every night, a clean, well-lighted place. He dislikes bars, because they are not a calm atmosphere. When the waiters head home, the older waiter goes to the bar for a drink and dislikes it. 


I didn't really know what to write this on until we discussed it in class. I knew it was psychological, but I didn't recognize that he was a soldier. Since he is a soldier, you can guess that he is drinking to forget his problems. He seems severely depressed, because he had attempted suicide recently. He also seems to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. You can guess this because he doesn't seem to want to sleep, sleep would give him flash backs. The old man doesn't seem to go to the cafe for any conversation, he just wants to be out of his house and somewhere bright, so he can avoid his own thoughts. The fact that the cafe is well lighted is extremely important. In his head a dark place is dangerous. You wouldn't be able to see your enemies as clear and it would bring back war flash backs. In a well lighted place you would be able to see everything and everyone around you. The cleanliness and light would make your brain feel safe.

The Chrysanthemums - John Steinbeck

Elisa Allen is working in the garden planting her chrysanthemums when her husband tells her he is going to take her out later. Her husband goes to get the cattle from the hills to sell. While he's gone an old man in a wagon comes to try to sell his services to her. She denies him at first, but after he takes interest in her chrysanthemums she gets 2 pots for him to fix. He then leaves with a pot of flowers. When she and her husband are on the road out to dinner, Elisa sees her flowers dumped on the road and she cries.


This story is a view on how females and males are treated differently. At the beginning of the story Elisa is in the garden planting flowers, which is stereotypical while her husband is running the household. Once the old man comes Elisa starts to have a conversation with him. This conversation indicates that Elisa is being sheltered in her household and is unable to express all of her thoughts, because her husband wouldn't approve. Elisa is smarter than both men but her intelligence goes to waste because all she does is plant all day. At one point Elisa grabs the old man's pant leg as if to indicate that she wants something. This may be that she is in need of a different man. This is like saying that women are never satisfied with what they have. At the end of the story, Elisa gets all prettied up for her man. This makes her seem vain, because she wants to please her husband.

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - Katherine Anne Porter

Granny Weatherall is sick and is on her death bed, although she doesn't realize this. Her daughter, Cornelia, stays by her side. Granny Weatherall starts to relive events that happened in her past, including being stood up at the alter. As she is going through these events she keeps trying to talk, but she can't be understood outside of her head. All of her children are at her deathbed. Right before she gets taken away she realizes that she is dying. She does not feel prepared for death and does not like that it was a surprise. 


This story can be written about from the feminist perspective. Granny Weatherall is determined to prove that she doesn't need a man in her life. She was left at the alter once, and had to stand strong after that. She then married a different man who died very young. After she lost her husband Granny Weatherall rode through life as a single mother. She talks about how she fenced 100 acres alone with just a little negro boy to help and how that changes a woman. Throughout the whole story she is constantly trying to prove that she did fine without a man. She goes on and on about how she fenced the acres, delivered babies, and took care of sick people and animals alike. Another feminist view in the story is the fact that Granny's main care taker is her daughter Cornelia. Cornelia is playing the typical female role of caregiver.

The Rocking-Horse Winner - D. H. Lawrence

A young boy named Paul wants to be lucky so that he can help his family. He rides his rocking horse to get to the answer. When he rides long enough he knows that name of the horse that will win the next race. Paul and Bassett a partners and are earning money on the bets. Oscar Cresswell, Paul's uncle, wants in on the betting too because Paul is lucky. Paul loses 2 bets on big races and starts to go crazy with the strain. One night he rides his horse so hard that he falls off. His mother finds him muttering a horses name. That horse wins, and then Paul dies telling his mother that he was lucky.


In this story you see a young boy cave under the strain of life. This is the psychological perspective. In the beginning of the story he hears of his family's money problems and feels pressured to help; he wants the house to stop whispering. He thinks that being lucky will help his family, so he uses his rocking horse as a way to truck himself into believing he is creating luck. When he starts to win his bets he feels pressure to keep up the winnings so that he can help his family get out of debt. When the house starts frenzied whispering, Paul starts to go insane. He is very anxious and is getting skinny, you can also see the madness in his eyes. The strain of feeling the need to win gets to Paul right before the biggest race. He is found riding his rocking horse, which was his attempt to cling to the luck he thought it instilled in him. Paul dies having helped his family and having won the bet, but he dies in vain because his mother and father have expensive tastes.

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up as a bug one day. He does not question it, but tries to go about life as usual. He wakes up on his back with his legs waving around and spends a lot of time trying to get out of bed. During this time his boss arrives, because Gregor missed his train. Gregor's family and his boss think he is sick, because they can not understand what he is saying. When the door opens they see that he is a bug. The boss runs, and his father shoes him back into his room. Gregor is stuck in his room as a bug. His sister comes to bring him food and clean his room but is repulsed at the site of him. When he turns into a bug the servants leave. One day Gregor's mom and sister clean out his room, minus his couch, so he has more room to crawl. The family falls on financial troubles and rent out there rooms. Gregor shows himself to the renters and they give their notice on leaving. After this Gregor is shut in his room crippled and hungry. The next morning he is dead and his family finally feels free.


I analyze this from the psychological perspective. Gregor wakes up as a bug and does not question it! Why would you not freak out and wonder why you are a bug, instead of just trying to go about your daily routine? Also, why do his parents not seek help for him? They do not question why he has become a bug, they just accept it and lock him in his room. Throughout Gregor's time as a bug, you see his personality change. He stops trying to go about a normal life, and spends more time crawling on the walls and ceiling. At the beginning of his time as a bug he spends a lot of time listening at the door the his family's conversation, but after a while he doesn't care any more. His actions and thoughts become more bug-like. The only thing that doesn't change are his feelings towards his family. He always has their best interests at heart, even though they have shunned him. When his sister is playing the violin he wants to show her that he really enjoys and appreciates it; he wants to make her feel good. His family does not realize that he still cares. They shut the door on him and leave him to die. In the end, Gregor leaves his family with a better life, and escapes his personal hell.