The Use Of Force:
- meant to be taken literally
- force of dr. on girl (patient)
- force of parents on girl (dad-physical; mom-mental)
- force of dr.'s instruments on girl = bloody mouth
- force of girl against doctor = almost claws his eyes out
- force of girl against father = fighting dad's strength; dad sometimes letting go
- force- 1. physical power/strength possessed by living being
- 2. strength/power exerted upon an object/being
The Gift of Sweat:
- meant to be taken figuratively
- sweat = not desirable/not usually given as a gift
- sweat of her friend (who's dying) is left on her shirt - all she has left of him forever = gift - only physical item she has left
- sweat- to perspire/ooze moisture
- gift- something given voluntarily without payment in return, to show favor toward someone, or honor an occasion
How do the titles direct or alter your readings of the stories - or do they?
The Use of Force:
- direct you to assume the story will be about violence because force has a negative connotation
- force = one person is not doing what the other wants so they use force to get what they want regardless of the others feelings
- force = fighting, yelling, strength vs. weakness, young vs. old
- doesn't make you think someone is helping someone, rather makes you think someone is hurting someone (dr. hurting little girl)
- force = sexual, violent, helpful, push or pull, energy, power, control
The Gift of Sweat:
- doesn't give you any specific direction
- sweat isn't usually given as a gift = makes you wonder "why is sweat being given as a gift?" = sparks your interest, makes you want to read it
- makes you wonder: "who's sweating?" "is the person sweating getting a gift?" "is the sweat a good thing in this case?"
- doesn't make you think someone is helping someone else, doesn't necessarily make you think someone is hurting someone else though either
- alters your reading...this story could be gross - sweat = not a beautiful thing; in the end it is a beautiful thing though
- sweat = sex, sickness, working hard, worrying (sweating the small stuff)
- gift = present
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteA beautiful breakdown of the basic questions that I provided you with, with reasoned and specific answers. Note: in some cases the answers may not be as black-and-white as you've indicated, and in exploring these same issues in your paper you may wan to allow for some flexibility and ambiguity, to say "then again..." or "on the other hand..." and don't insist on rigid interpretations.
This is excellent work.