A1/A2: “On Meeting the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning” by Haruki Murakami Notes: The subject of fate, destiny, true love fascinates me.
B1/B5: “He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others.” Notes: The author seems to address anyone who has ever felt lonely, and average…yet he says like all the others, so as to say even if you feel that way you are not alone. His did apply to me…and everyone else!
B1/C5: “The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other’s 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met.” Note: While maybe it was a miracle that they had ever met, I disagree that they should not have tested it. I tend to believe that things are exactly as they were meant to be, and therefore, if they were truly 100% perfect for each other and “meant to be” they would find each other again and be together. Maybe they did not get back together the second time, not because they had been through so much and didn’t remember their love but because destiny, fate or the will of the universe conspired to keep them apart because they really weren’t 100% perfect for each other.
A2: “Yes, that’s it, that is what I should have said to her.” Notes: I think that everyone has had a moment where they think I should have said something to someone and maybe it would have changed the circumstances of the relationship or created a relationship where there was none.
A5: In my opinion, the story leaves the reader inspired to take chances. If He had only spoken to the girl maybe they’d be together.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Annotations: Mahfouz, Frost, Cullen
A1: “Who is Zaabalawi?” Notes: I wonder if this person really exists. I should Google him! Nope, just a character in Mahfouz’s essay.
B3: languor, motes, galabeya, divan, bards, fealty, demesne, ken, rue. Notes: I had to look these words up.
C3: The story’s ending Notes: I would ask the author what happened, did he ever find Zaabalawi and if he was ever cured.
B5: “Birches” by Robert Frost Notes: I think the author was appealing to most adults. Rather than the bows being heavy laden with cold ice he wanted to think of a young boy felling the branches through play. I think he was longing to be a boy again and that appeals to everyone at some point. I definitely long for times when the word, responsibility, was not a part of my vocabulary.
B1: “I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Notes: This was not part of our reading but it is one of my favorite poems. I often think of it when I have choices to make in my own life. It makes me think about my choices carefully and encourages me to take chances in life.
A1: “Incident” by Countee Cullen Notes: I think this poem is sad reading it today but times were different back then. Desegregation and civil rights did not begin until the 60’s. He is a typical gleeful child in a new place and innocent. He should have had many memories from his visit but the one simple act of racism by another “innocent” ruined the rest of his trip!
B3: languor, motes, galabeya, divan, bards, fealty, demesne, ken, rue. Notes: I had to look these words up.
C3: The story’s ending Notes: I would ask the author what happened, did he ever find Zaabalawi and if he was ever cured.
B5: “Birches” by Robert Frost Notes: I think the author was appealing to most adults. Rather than the bows being heavy laden with cold ice he wanted to think of a young boy felling the branches through play. I think he was longing to be a boy again and that appeals to everyone at some point. I definitely long for times when the word, responsibility, was not a part of my vocabulary.
B1: “I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Notes: This was not part of our reading but it is one of my favorite poems. I often think of it when I have choices to make in my own life. It makes me think about my choices carefully and encourages me to take chances in life.
A1: “Incident” by Countee Cullen Notes: I think this poem is sad reading it today but times were different back then. Desegregation and civil rights did not begin until the 60’s. He is a typical gleeful child in a new place and innocent. He should have had many memories from his visit but the one simple act of racism by another “innocent” ruined the rest of his trip!
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