Author: sokorra

The Story of an Hour – Kate Chopin

A woman finds out her husband is dead, having been in a train accident, and at first weeps but then goes to her bedroom to have a moment of joy at the fact that she is free.  But when she returns downstairs, it turns out her husband isn’t quite as dead as she thinks, she has a heart attack and dies.

The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A woman and her husband take a three month vacation after she has a nervious breakdown.  She becomes obsessed with the wall paper and the woman she sees behind it.

Hills like White Elephants – Ernest Hemmingway.

A girl and a man are sitting at a bar looking at some hills that are white.  I really don’t understand the story at all.  (on a side note, I thought of Malcolm and Hoshi while reading it)

Distint View of a Minaret – Akufa Rifaat

A woman is lying in bed with her husband and ‘thinks of paris’ before showering and doing her morning rituals.  She comes back to give her husband his coffee, and finds him dead.

Yet another story that makes you go huh? at the end.

Yellow Woman – Leslie Marmon Siko

A woman has an affair with a stranger, who relates thier relationship to that of the myth of the Yellow Woman.

Say Yes – Tobias Wolf

A woman and her husband argue over wither they would have been married if she had been Black instead of white.  I have no idea what happened at the end, so I’m pretty sure I got that question wrong on the quiz

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge – Ambrose Bierce

A man is executed over a stream from a railroad bridge.  In the few seconds before he dies, he imagines his escape.  However at the end, he’s hanging from the bridge.

A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner

An woman in town dies, and the town comes to her funneral, more out of curiousity then anything else.  A Colonel had gave her freedom of taxes, so the town was trying to get her to pay her taxes, while also giving rid of a smell emitting from her house.  They find out she had kept the corpse of her boyfriend in her house.

The Things They Carried  – Tim O’Brien

Discusses what several men in a group carry with them.  Jimmy Cross carries not-quite Love letters from a girl named Martha whom he daydreams about, Dave Jenson – toothbrush, dental floss, soap, extra socks, foot powder, Ted Lavender (before he was shot, apparently, in the head outside Than ke) carried pot and tranquilizers, Henry Dobbs extra food,  Michell Sanders – comdons, Norman Bowker – diary, Rat Kiely – comic books, Kiowa- new testament, hatchett,

They all carried several pounds worth of equipment and safety gear, armaments, and extra clothes in case of weather change.  What they carry changes with the mission.

oh, and Ted Lavender carried this before he was shot in the head outside Than Khe on his way back from peeing.

The Darling – Anton Chekhov

A girl named Olenka  falls in love and then marries the manager of a town theater.  They do well together though she is happy and he is constantly despairing of the rain and how it will make them poor.  Then he dies while on a trip to moscov.  For months she mourns, till she met Vassily, a timber merchant and after a few days falls in love.  Six years later Vassily dies and she becomes fixated on the Vet who would keep her company while Vassily was away on trade trips.  He however leaves her to join the army.  She becomes thin and worn and has no opinions.   He returns several years later with his wife and son, saying he has reunited with them>  She offers them her house, and fixates on showing love to the couple’s young son Sasha. 

Happy Endings – Margaret Atwood

A story about endings to the phrase’ ‘John and Mary meet".’  A is a happy ending, b-e are various endings of both happy and sad (including one that doesn’t even include John and Mary.)  F is the author basically saying the only true ending is “John and Mary die’.  (actually gives me an idea…)