Reading Summary And Response Essays Example

Annie Dillard’s “An American Childhood” is the author’s memoir of her growing up in Pittsburg. The excerpt under consideration dwells on the mother of the family. Dillard relates about some specific features of her mother’s character and on peculiar ways through which Mother would express herself. Dillard gives numerous examples illustrating her mother’s extraordinary ability to call in question everything around, puzzle people she encountered, check all the things she learnt and used. Mother could play a scene in front of some lovers in the park making them quarrel, or she could cheat in cards confusing all the other players, or she could behave in a stupid way on the beach making everybody confused by her behavior. Besides, Dillard shows her mother as a very energetic and intelligent woman who could easily spot a contradiction and openly express her doubts as to it. Mother did not accept everybody’s opinion, even if it might turn to be true. She had her own opinion of everything and she taught her girls to do the same. For example, she sincerely believed that people living in trailer parks needed help because they were just poor, but not bad. Mother liked opposition and she wanted to be the one who opposed the majority. Dillard says that Mother could have been a good politician, a mayor of New York, for example; but she had to spend all her time taking care of their household. However, there she was the one who ruled.
1. The excerpt under consideration illustrates Dillard’s mother from different perspectives – through her behavior, through her words, through her attitude to her family members and to other people. The author uses a very original technique to make the description complete – she piles up examples from Mother’s life; however, she makes almost no transition from one illustration to another. This technique works perfectly depicting the complexity of the woman’s character. First, it seems Dillard will talk only about her mother’s love for language peculiarities, but then the author adds up more and more examples and the reader understands that Mother’s originality and her love for opposition were manifested in everything the woman did. Even in her kitchen Mother tried to organize everything in the most extraordinary way – she invented many things to make her life in the kitchen easier, she persuaded workmen to make her kitchen counters twice as wide as normal, she asked them to elevate her bathroom sinks, and so on. And this is her stand – to be original and have her own view on everything. Mother was determined to teach her daughters to do the same; she wanted them not to be afraid of having and expressing their own opinion; she tried to explain to them that everyone’s opinion is not the rule to follow because those “everyone” could be mistaken or could even mean evil.
Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “More Room” is a narration full of symbols. The author relates about her grandmother whom everybody in the family called Mamá. Cofer makes a particular emphasis on Mamá’s room which was the embodiment of their home’s coziness, comfort, and peace of mind for all who needed it. Writing about this room, Cofer describes all the details that fill la casa de Mamá with life and memories making it the heart of the house. Thus, there are numerous photos of children and grandchildren, souvenirs given to Mamá by different members of her family in different periods of time, and, of course, a big four-poster bed where all children were born and all secrets were shared. Cofer also describes the house itself saying that its structure is quite unusual because it consists of rooms built by their grandfather in different periods of time when every new child appeared in the family. There is also a room for the grandfather himself built at Mamá’s request when she realized that did not want children anymore and needed her own space. Explaining this decision of her Mamá’s, Cofer says that Mamá just wished to live on and see her grandchildren; therefore, she had to scarify her husband’s love life for it.
1. The title More Room is very symbolic. In the story, “more room” means more freedom and more personal space for Mamá. It seems that Mamá wanted her children to have the same; that is why she asked her husband to build a new room for every new child – she wanted her children to have their own personal space. In general, Mamá’s character in the story is quite complicated. At first sight, it seems Cofer describes an ordinary woman, the queen of the hearth, so to say. But as the story develops, the reader sees that Mamá is a very strong woman. She gave birth to more than eight children (some of them died), she looks after the household, and she is also a moral support for them all. To show her readers what kind of person Mamá is. Most text space in Cofer’s story is narration. The author does not start with explanations because she wants her readers to see for themselves and make their own conclusions before they are given answers. Through narration, readers see that Mamá is a unique and very wise individual who has respect for a woman and a person in herself. Probably, for these reasons she is respected and loved by everybody else in her family.
Tony Morrison “Strangers” is more the author’s reflections than the narration of certain events. The narration takes only the first three paragraphs; then the author starts sharing her feeling and emotions concerning the event which happened to her. The event was her meeting with an old woman who greatly impressed her. The woman was sitting on the fence between her and her neighbor. The woman was dressed in the way that appealed to the narrator – a long black dress covered with a well-worn colorless sweater, a man’s hat, and men’s shoes. The old woman said she often came there to fish. The two women talked for fifteen minutes and when they parted the narrator was left with a feeling that she had met somebody who would become really important in her life. And though that person was a stranger, the narrator started making plans concerning how they would meet in future and enjoy each other’s company. But Morrison says that all these plans were frustrated as the woman did not appear at the fence any more. Making inquiries about the woman in the nearby places, the narrator found that nobody knew the woman and that fact made her feel cheated. This feeling makes Morrison reflect why people remember and pay so much attention to those who are only strangers in their lives and why they cannot just estrange others instead.
2. Describing her meeting with the old woman and the consequences of it, Toni Morrison emphasizes the fact that when we meet new people we create our image of these people through the means that we have for it – language, image, and our experience. On the basis of this all we make up stories about these people in our minds. In such a way, Morrison created a story about the old woman and in this story she “sentimentalized and appropriated the woman.” She filled the woman with characteristics which she actually might not possess. The creation of these characteristics was influenced by the image Morrison saw and the words she heard. Then she thought up the rest. It was Morrison’s own conclusion that they could become friends; it was her own hope that they would frequently meet again. She attributed the old woman with qualities she, Toni Morrison, needed that very moment. In such a way, she did appropriate the woman. She made the woman her own creation and expected the woman to satisfy all her psychological needs at the moment. So, there was nobody else to blame but herself for the fact that Morrison did not find the woman she looked for. Perhaps, that ideal woman existed only in her mind. So, it is not really good when we create stories about the strangers we meet. It cannot be said that it is ethically wrong, but rather psychologically harmful to us because such stories entail regret, frustration, and self-criticism afterwards.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Sowers and Reapers” talks about her experience of attending the event dedicated to the Garden Conservancy’s tenth anniversary where she spoke with speech which caused a negative reaction of the organization’s chairman and founder. He accused Kincaid of introducing race and politics into the garden, which, in his opinion, was irrelevant. In the essay in question, Kincaid explains her grounds for speaking so. She underlines that in her speech she mentioned inappropriateness of certain monuments in the city of Charleston because, in her opinion, they seem to praise those who abused equality of human rights and promoted slavery. Speaking about Middleton Place, a popular destination where many Americans like to come, Kincaid reminds that the beauty of this place along with its lakes was created by slaves and was the result of their hard unpaid labor. To illustrate the difference, the author retells the reader a story how beautiful walls in her own garden were built. She describes the process of planning the design of the walls, her consultations with the designer, the work of builders, and eventually the moment when they exchanged compliments and she paid a complete sum for the work done. With this, Kincaid contrasts the work of “sowers” of modern times, when they are paid for their hard work and everybody is satisfied, to the work performed by slaves for nothing.
1. In the story, Jamaica Kincaid demonstrates different, even opposite, perceptions of gardens and their role in people’s lives. One point of view is expressed by Frank Cabot, a very rich man who spent some of his money on creating gardens. He is of the opinion that gardens are places for rest and repose. They are the places where people come to forget about their problems and relax. Therefore, Cabot is outraged that in her speech Kincaid decides to talk about racial discrimination, slavery, and hard labor which made many of the gardens possible. She believes that even in such beautiful places as gardens, people should not forget the history of the places. Kincaid’s speech reminds everyone that people should respect and value the work done by others, regardless of the workers’ race and social status. If people do not forget these things, they will never make the same mistakes and the world will not face slavery again. Her way of thinking, of course, definitely disturbs that piece of mind Cabot wants everybody to have when being at the Garden Conservancy’s tenth anniversary celebration and in gardens, in general. He thinks that if gardens are intended to be for enjoyment, nothing but pleasant feelings must arise at the sight of these beautiful places. However, if race and politics are ignored and completely left out of the issue of gardens, people might start thinking again that slavery, or any variation of it, is a natural course of events.
Ian Frazier’s “Take the F” is a story in which the author describes the place where he lives. The description is very detailed. Frazier starts with saying that to many people Brooklyn may seem to be an undefined stain; however, to Brooklynites, it is full of colors, smells, and other identifiers. The first peculiarity Frazier mentions is the thing that when people from Brooklyn are asked where exactly they live they name neighborhood and nearby subway stations. That is why, describing his place of living, Frazier dwells a lot on the Manhattan-bound F-trains which he takes everyday to get to work and back. In every possible detail, the author speaks about people one can see on the train, about incidents he witnessed, and about conversations he overheard. All this constitutes a great part of his life and fills it with experience and impressions. The author also talks about smells of Brooklyn – coffee, pot roast, toasts, eucalyptus, etc. He admits that some people may feel disgusted by the mixture of all these smells, but he is not. He likes being woken up by the smell of toasts. It means that he is surrounded by people living nearby and this is nice. Frazier emphasizes the variety of people living in Brooklyn – white and black, middle class and homeless, Russian and Jews. And the important thing is that they all co-exist peacefully and meet day after day on Prospect Road.
2. Describing Brooklyn, Frazier efficiently engages all senses in order to make the impression complete. Firstly, there is the sight. The reader is asked to imagine the building where Frazier lives from the height of an airplane flying. He says it is easy to see his house from there because it is right to the left from Prospect Park which is “the longer patch of green you cross after the expanse of Green-Wood Cemetery.” The engagement of various sounds is even more active in the story. These are the sounds the F-train produces underground and above the ground; people speaking different languages and with different accents; people screaming and radios playing; etc. It is hard to distinguish the sound which is the most typical of Brooklyn. Perhaps, this mixture of sounds gives the fullest impression what the place is. Smells described in the story are also diverse. They are coffee, fingernail polish, toasts, eucalyptus, etc. All these smells together create the atmosphere full of life and vigor. The most vivid example of the feeling of taste is when he talks about his daughter for whom her place of living is associated with the taste of pizza. Moreover, she believes that the tastiest pizza is sold in the place which is situated two blocks from her house. The engagement of such a feeling as touch is the most moving in the story. This is the hugging between the neighbors which embodies the unity and friendship between people living in the neighborhood.
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