1. Notice a place where language is used effectively, and try to say why.
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2. Red Sammy says "a good man is hard to find." According to the story so far, would this generalization hold true?
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3. Is there more evidence in this part of the reading that the grandmother in the story is a somewhat diferent kind of person than the other characters? What might the difference be? What evidence is there?
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4. The monkey (paragraphs 28 and 45): comment.
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5. Notice something no one else has noticed so far about this reading.
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2. Red Sammy says "a good man is hard to find." According to the story so far, would this generalization hold true?
OR
3. Is there more evidence in this part of the reading that the grandmother in the story is a somewhat diferent kind of person than the other characters? What might the difference be? What evidence is there?
OR
4. The monkey (paragraphs 28 and 45): comment.
OR
5. Notice something no one else has noticed so far about this reading.
19 comments:
"The drove off again into the hot afternoon. The grandmother took cat naps and woke up every few minutes with her own snoring. Outside of Toomsbsboro she woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady..the house had six white columns across the front that there was an avenue of oaks leading up to it and two little wooden trellis arbors on either side in front where you sat down with your suitor after a stroll in the garden." As I was reading this passage, I felt like I was recalling these memories as the grandmother was. She was driving in a car and then kept waking up because these memories were overwhelming her so much that she could not keep sleeping. When she starts to talk about the wooden trellis, I could really see a garden in the nighttime with street lights around. I felt like by reading this I was witnessing a woman remember the time when she was a careless teenager falling in love.
In the book, A Good Man is Hard to Find, I notice that Bailey and the grandmother don't really talk to each other. It seems to me that they don't really get along that well. Is he annoyed by her? This is my secound time spoting Bailey not interacting with the grandmother. The grandmother wanted to dance with Bailey, but he just gave her a glare. "She asked Bailey if he would like to dance but he only glared at her. He didn't have natually sunny disposition like she did and trips made him nervous." (Pg.372)
Hey everyone,
My answer is pertaining to question 2.
I believe this generalization could hold true. There are many men in the world however not all of them have other people's best interests in mind. Some men would not help a woman off of the floor or "let them fellers charge the gas they bought". I think the Grandmother is very correct in saying that Red Sammy is a "good man" for doing that. Good men also seem to have an even balanced head on their shoulder's, at least in Red Sammy's case.
So far in the story this holds true, but we shall see what occurs in the future.
For prompt #2, I, like Ashlie, do believe that the generalization is accurate. So far, the only male characters are Bailey, The Misfit, and Red Sammy. Bailey seems stressed and detatched from his family, and somewhat unwilling to allow them to have what they would consider a good time. He is tense and does not find his mother funny or entertaining. The Misfit is clearly not "a good man" either, seeing as he is a criminal. Red Sammy seems to be a genuine man, yet he is the one making the statement, which makes finding evidence against his good nature difficult. Also, the story of the men who stole gas from Red serves as evidence that indeed, a good, honest human is hard to come across.
Maybe the introduction of this idea is setting us up for the introduction of a character that is in fact a good man. That would make sense, considering the title hints at the possibility of such a character existing in the story. On the other hand, perhaps a new character who proves the phrase true will arrive, showing that absolutely no good men are to be found.
I do believe however, that Red Sammy's quote is setting us up for some type of new, interesting character.
Have a lovely day! :)
The grandmother does appear to be a different character, especially from her family. Neither of the parents seem to care what the children do. Whereas the grandmother watches over them. When they eat their lunch, she makes sure they don't throw the box and paper napkins out of the car. She tells the children a story to try to keep them amused on the long ride. She tries to involve the people in her family, like Bailey when she asks him to dance. She seems rather lighthearted and trying to make people enjoy themselves. At the same time she is strict in trying to keep the children having manners, since their parents clearly do not seem to care. When June Star is rude to Red Sam's wife, the mother doesn't seemed too alarmed. The grandmother on the other hand says June Star's mother should be ashamed.
The grandmother seems to be more engaged in everything, she makes conversation with Red Sam, tells stories to the children, and wants to take the family to the house with the secret panel. The rest of her family seem rather dull and if they have any emotion it is irritation or complaints. The grandmother, even if she is a bit old and maybe slightly crazy is a more interesting character to me.
Hey,
I believe like Ashlie and Kacie that this statement does hold true. Like they stated in the story " I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more." You can no longer trust people. It's holds true even here, everyone locks their doors when they leave for classes, I mean technically if you are friends with everyone in your dorm you shouldn't have to lock your doors because only the people who live their can get in, but no one does. No one trusts anyone else. It is hard to find someone that you can trust 100 percent and not ever have to worry about not locking your doors. There are always people who are good and kind and aren't greedy, but their are also those people who are greedy and self-fish. Those who don't care about how their actions will affect those around them. So I do believe that this generalization does hold true!
Hey Guys
Addressing question #3, I think the grandma is totally different from the other characters for the following reasons. Her and Sammy begin to discuss how life used to be so simply back in the old days and how you could leave your screen door unlocked. But nowadays, you can't do that because there is too much crime. I think this shows that she is a very critical person and enjoys disputing with others the bad in the world. Also, when June Star says "No I certainly wouldn't. I wouldn't live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!" The grandma severely reprimands her for this when everyone else just knows she's a child and she's only joking. I think this shows that she is very strict as a person. Yet, at the same time, one thing I noticed is that when the kids are kicking and screaming to want to see the secret panel, the grandma does nothing. I think she wants to see if Bailey can handle his own children and the grandma just enjoys watching him drown in his own misery? So far, I haven't developed a very fond impression of the grandma as a person, but maybe she will change as the story goes on.
It is interesting that the author would add a monkey in this kind of a story. The monkey's reaction to the family may connect to this title, A Good Man is Hard to Find.
"The monkey sprang back into the tree and got the highest limb as soon as he saw the childrn jump out of the ca and run towards him." The monkey do know that the children are bratty and if he did not sprang back, he would have tortured or tauntd by the children. Either way, animals are scared of human beings. The monkey probably can tell who is a "good man" and he knows what these kids will do.
Hello,
Regarding #3, I believe the Grandmother is a very different character than the rest of the family because in a way she is a burden for the family and for this reason, she is thought of differently. Bailey might find his wife and children the loves of his life and he would do anything for them but his mother, he might find annoying and a hassle, and might think of her in a way other than "the love of his life," for example. Also, the grandmother often lives in the past, thinking of her childhood and recalling "how things used to be." This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the rest of her family are living in the modern world and so she cannot often see eye-to-eye in the sense that they are moving forward but she does not really have anywhere to go.
I agree with Megumi about the monkey. I'm sure the poor thing is used to being awed at and taunted by children and people all the time. He knows to stay away and hide from chilren. The kids were running toward him so no wonder he was also frightened. I wonder if there is a connection between "A good man" and the evolutionary state of humans? I feel like something with the monkey could possibly mean something but I'm not sure what.
Just checking in...I didn't know if we were supposed to or not, but I did anyway. Because you know..that's what I do :)
sup,
referring to question three, the grandmother is a much different character than the others in the story. I think people's personalities and characteristics are developed during ones childhood. Since the grandmother grew up in a different generation from the other characters I believe she would have a much different attitude and personality.
Something that someone else nobody else has noticed:
I found it really interesting how obnoxious the children seem to act, and how not phased by this the parents are. In fact, they don't seem to care much about anything. They are not portrayed as very loving or caring in any way. I also thought it was interesting that the father did not want to go and see the house that the grandmother wanted to see. He really doesn't want to go. When the children throw tantrums however, he gives in. He changes his mind after his son kicks him to the point of pain in his kidneys. This is not very good parenting, giving in to a child who throws a huge tantrum rather than just waiting for them to get over it. This tells us something about the family dynamic and who has the control within it.
Also, the grandmother seems different than most people and more evidence is given to us in this section of the reading. More than once the grandmother is described to be rolling her eyes in various circumstances. It also stood out to me in the section about her being embarrassed "the thought was so embarrassing that she turned red in the face and her eyes dilated and her feet jumped up, upsetting her valise in the corner." Most people just turn a little red and sheepish when they are embarrassed. The grandmother had quite the reaction when she has the thought, it almost sounded like a medical seizure or something. This is just one example of her being different than most people.
Adressing question #3 i think that the Grandmother is totally different from the rest of the characters in the story so far. She seems to live in the past and has not adjusted to the new generation. She talks about how everything used to be simpler and she always watches over the children like a hawk unlike the parents who are more laid back.
I feel the grandmother is described much differently then the other characters in the car. She seems lost in her thoughts and while Bailey is driving and the children are fighting, playing, and reading comics. All she is doing is enjoying the memories of her childhood and it seems everything is coming back to her as she sees it on the road. She has a different mindset than those around her and this changes the mood of the story. WIthout her side-tracked mind, all the reader sees is a typical and perhaps slightly aggravated family on a long road trip and a couple of little intelligence running a rest stop restaurant. Her attempts to lure the family into areas she remembered in her youth and her desire to explore what she once knew brings depth to the story and creates mystery and curiosity about what the grandmother is thinking.
Continuously I can easily observe how the grandmother is acting weird and awkward throughout the story. For example, her conversation does not match with the other family members'. Another unusual part of this family is that grandmother watches over the children rather than their parents. For example, "The grandmother said she would tell them a story if they would keep quiet." explans how grandmother is always sensitive and over control of the children. Usually this kind of phrase should be used by the parents rather than grandparents.
The story is slowly shifting toward an event where grandmother must certify her identity and i personally look forward to it.
"They turned onto the dirt road and the car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust."
I found this to be an excellent use of imagery. The picture became very clear to me with words like "raced", "roughly", "swirl", and "pink." This was a proper and desrcript way of creating landscape and ultimately provided the reader with a clear visual picture. I thought the use of "pink" was interesting. When one thinks of dirt, I don't think the default image would be a "swirl of pink dust." I think this suggest that the surroundings are that of happiness and beauty. Yet in comparison to the words "rough" and "raced" I feel this implies that the family is not interested in the beauty that surrounds them, but more on their internal state of mind.
Hakuna matata,
To me the monkey is a very interesting addition made by the author. He, the monkey, is in no way necessary in order to develop the story plot, or even really the characters of the story however is extremely useful. Firstly he adds a slight hint of reality to the story. This small nuance gives us a better picture and simultaneously has subtle suggestions that perhaps the author's is less fictional than originally perceived. In any case he helps to attract the reader to the reality of the story. Also the monkey acts as a symbol for freedom throughout the story the grandmother has seemingly been a leash on the children consistently tying her self down to them, the chained monkey makes a slight reference to that.
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