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Running head: JOURNALS

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Reading Journals
Name
Course
Professor
Date

JOURNALS

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Journal 1: Reading Fiction

The book “Bedford Introduction to Literature” is a bubbly piece which brings literature to
life in the classroom. The book helps students be lifelong readers as well as become better
writers. Conversely, the fictional stories in the book present several takeaways as learnt from the
discussions. The take-aways range from the literal analysis to classic understanding works that
are drawn from various cultures and periods. The authors provide rich literal pieces that students
can find useful in critiquing and becoming better writers themselves in future. Besides, this book
provides ample support and several chapters for critical reading and writing. Additionally, the
class discussions concerning the book also offer options for using the literature comprising case
studies and themes which everyone relates. Discussions that bordered on in-depth chapters
concerning major authors such as Frost and O’Connor drives students deep in their work.
Reading fiction as observed in the book provides significant benefits to students. The
literal analysis of these fictional stories is also a key take away from the class discussion. For
instance, the groupings of these fictions involve short stories and novels which include romance,
history, westerns, and thrillers. Additionally, examining literal devices was a primary component
of the discussion. The literal analysis mentioned during the discussion involved character
analysis. A lesson from the stories is that authors create people that tell the story. Characters
evolve during the story, have distinct features, and interact differently within a story. Another
literal criticism involved setting. Setting enhances tension in a story. Elements in a story may or
not foreshadow the conclusion of a story. The plot is another example of literal critic explored in
the discussion. Further, the plot entails how scenes make it either suspenseful or unusual.
Another crucial literal element is the point of view. This aspect of literal criticism involves
identifying the person telling the story.

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Journal 2: Story of an Hour

This story by Kate Choplin delivers an interesting view of Louise Mallard. The author
reveals a complex character through Louise Mallard in an unusual manner. This story articulates
the role that some women found themselves in during the 1800s which it was set. It seems to
depict the way culture and society regarded women. Mrs Louise Mallard is a woman whose
husband was away at work, and she gets to learn of his death through her sister, she weeps into
her sister's arms then goes to her room to be alone. While sitting in her armchair, she finds that
she is in a relieved state and free of her husband. She whispers to herself, "Free". This character
is unusual for someone that lost a loved one. That reaction to her husband puzzles the audience.
Primarily, the story comes from a third person who is the narrator. Through the narrator,
we come to know more concerning the character of Louise Mallard. For instance, the author uses
the narrator in making the audience know deeply about Mrs Mallard's feelings towards her
husband. It is obvious from the story that she isn't feeling loved in the marriage. The author
doesn't explicitly inform the readers this, but through the actions of the character, readers get a
gist of what is on with her. “In that brief moment of illumination,” she gets to stumble on some
truth. Mrs Mallard experiences newfound freedom instead of dreading on the future without her
husband. She could live her life free of her husband's imposing will. Also, the character believed
that "no one has the right to impose a private will on a fellow creature." On the other hand,
everything comes to a crashing halt when her husband appears at the door alive. The end of the
story depicts the end of the main character’s freedom.

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Journal 3

This story illustrates the tragic impact of war on Krebs, a young soldier returning home
from war. The author displays the effects of the First World War on the main character who
faces a society that reacts differently to what he expected during his return. Additionally, the
author’s detached style suits this story by depicting the soldier’s reaction to the environment
itself as a detachment. Ernest’s narrative technique and sentence structures form to create a
successful combination of content and form in the story. The story is told in the position of a
narrator who is the third party that narrates a disinterested report of the character returning from
war. Soldiers Home is a good read based on the tragic impacts of war that Krebs faced.
The description used by the narrator in illustrating the photograph that includes both
Krebs and his fraternity brothers sets an expectation of objectivity. The details of the photograph
make the reader note what the narrator mentions. For instance, the narrator details that the
Methodist college and adds that the men were “wearing exactly the same height and style collar.”
This statement suggests that the narrator pointed to the conformist mentality that existed in
Midwestern America which was of prewar. Repetition is common in the literature depicted by
the character's list of dialogues which included the phrase, “He did not want.” This phrase
projects how the main character wanted to remain detached and uninvolved. Imagery is absent
from the story. On the other hand, the story portrays a man’s struggle in recovering the simplicity
that he once was familiar with. The story’s style, lean and unadorned, serves to reinforce the
main character’s struggle in regaining honesty which he previously knew during the war. He
finally decides to leave Oklahoma to look for a job in Kansas to live a simple and smooth life.

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Journal 4: Lust

Lust by Susan Minot is set in the late 1960s to early 1970s. The story depicts how the
main character actively participated in the 1960s sexual revolution. This period involved young
people more so the women, experiencing increased freedom. Young women rebelled against
their parents’ conservatism. Susan Minot delivers the story through a narrator who demonstrates
her experiences with men. One of the primary themes from the story is the search for selfawareness. Fitting in with her sexually active peers us what the narrator struggles within her life.
Another evident theme in the story is how sexuality gets approached by both males and females.
In as much as the narrator wants connection, the males she encounters only want a physical
release. The author demonstrates the existence of a split between the desires of males and
females. Similar to the poem’s title ‘Lust,' it’s the keyword in the exploration of psychological
complexities in sexual desires.
Notably, the author develops this character in a unique way which does not involve the
phys...