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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
Margaret Atwood’s “An Angel” has been one of deepest and darkest stories I have read this semester so far. This story discusses suicide and has some more darker elements to it. Atwood mentions on page 145 that “Angels come in two kinds: the others, and those who fell. The angel of suicide is one of those who fell”, and this could be interpreted in different ways. The way I interpreted this was that whenever someone contemplates the thought of suicide, the angel is either there to comfort or push you away from it. I believe that the angel character is already very convincing from the start, and so are the many details described by Atwood.
ReplyDeleteAimee Bender’s “Loser” can be interpreted in many different ways. The way I interpreted it was never take someone for granted because they could be the missing piece to your puzzle. I really liked how the story was designed and structured because it gets you hooked the entire time. Something I did not like was when the cop said “oh it’s the finding guy” because you’ll never know when you need someone, but it can probably be too late. Lastly, “The Hit Man” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, was structured in a way I have never seen before. I have never seen the different subtitles in a story that will describe what will be occurring each time, or with a bigger capitalized letter outlined with grey starting each paragraph. That is what I liked though because it gets you hooked on the story and gets you constantly trying to figure out what can happen in the next subtitle.
-Alec De La Garza
For this set of readings I must say they were pretty good to go through. However, my favorite due to being the most interesting would have to be the first story out of all three. Though the first story "An Angel", can and for sure will be interpreted in various ways, it was a story that made you think about "what if you were in the situation?". Like the author makes it seem how indeed there are two types of angels, the good and the bad or " the ones who fell". Depending on which you let take more push over you while having suicidal thoughts is what makes it or breaks it. Unfortunately, many people suffer from depression and often leads to suicidal thoughts and no matter how many people surround you and support you it is all on you to stop or continue with that on your head. I personally haven't gone through something similar, but have friends thatve been close to the situtation, like i said due to depression. However, with this story it all kinda "clicks" because it has to do with the angel on your side. Since the beginning you can interpret how the angel is an essential piece to follow this story. From "The Hit Man" I quickly noticed the different structure being displayed in it. Of course,it caught my attention right off the bat and it definitely kept me engaged wanting to figure out what was going to pop up in the next section to read. It even felt sort of like a series, waiting for the next episode.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Rodriguez
Amiga I feel glad that you havent gone through depression is really bad ya no te interesa vivir lloras mucho por que la depresion y la ansiedad van de la mano si conoces gente asi ayudalos mucho ese es mi conseja por que yo pase por depresion y nada en la vida me motivaba esa es mi experiencia always keep an eye on them. Buenas Noches que Dios te Bendiga Victoria. En mi opinion no hay angeles malos todos los angeles son buenos y los que son malos son los demonios..
DeleteOscar
Atwood’s story, “An Angel” had me thinking about the suicide angel may come. Although that’s not the way I would see it, I understand her purpose. When she mentions, “when you see her beckoning to you, fifty stories up, or the edge of the bridge…”, these are all common places where a person would commit suicide. And the suicide angel would be the thoughts one would have during those moments, calling them to do it. Aimee Bender’s “Loser” had a completely different meeting than the title. This kid was not a loser. Developing the ability to find stuff as the result of losing his parents, is kind if neat. He used it for good and helped both kind of neighbors, no matter how skeptical they were towards him. And in the end, he found his skeptical neighbors son. The story that was the most confusing was Boyle’s “The Hit Man.” At first, I thought that by ‘Hit Man’, it was a person meant to kill someone. The word “wasted” kept showing up and my initial thought was that he killed them or just went KO on the people. But towards the end, specifically when he has his first child and mentions that his child can stick a knife in the wall from a distance, I realized that by wasted, he didn’t meant it in a violent manner. I have yet to understand what he meant, might take me a couple more reads, but it was definitely an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteSusana Lupercio
I like how the Author Margaret Atwood is giving a good description how a females angel will look like. What I do not like about the author Margaret Atwood in the story of the "The Angel" is that she is mixing these two words angel of suicide and the meanings are totally opposite. First an angel is a holy being servant of God in heaven and humans commit suicide angels don't. Secondly, you do not mix holiness with the evil stuff. The story should called the demon of suicide like I said before angels are holy beings send by God to protect people.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about the reading "Loser" is that Mrs. Allen is worrying about her son. Some mothers do not worry about their children. I like when the police officer found Leonard because his hair smelled like Peanut Butter. What I do not like about the story "Loser" is that Mrs. Allen seems distracted. Leonard cannot be an independent child at the age of 8 that is why he got lost because his mother was not paying attention to him.
What I like about the story "the hit man is that he was not careless with his family even he was a bad person with strangers. What I do not like about the story of "The hit man' is that he had a bad attitude with others like not being a good example with preschoolers because he was smoking a cigarette. I don't like the idea of people always complaining about him because he was a bad person. I would like people to be more understanding and supporting with him and not judgmental.
Oscar A. Jacome Serrano
Reading these short stories, I was able to see all of the elements of a Fiction short story, with the descriptive details, the characters and such. Out of the 3 stories, my favorite was “Loser” I liked that it gave me, as a reader, backstory on the main character. If I’m correct I did not see his name mentioned throughout the story but I was able to see other characters’ names with less importance. I liked this story because it gave the right amount of detail, and backstory- from when he was little up until he found Leonard. It being Fiction made me think well this is plausible, someone that is able to smell lost things, but I think that could also happen to anyone.
ReplyDeleteThe short story “An Angel” made me kind of sad because it talked about really depressing things like illnesses, suicide and cancer. After I read this I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to ask the author why they wrote it or why they were feeling that kind of way.
“The Hit Man” reminded me of Suicide Squad but I did not really enjoy reading it because of the way it is structured, to me it felt like it was skipping around.
I feel like Fiction is a lot more fun to write and read because it makes you think about situations, characters and scenarios and it always gives me a sense that that could happen in Non-Fiction stories too.
-Cecilia Cantu
I really like the first story “An Angel”, I love this contrast of something that is supposed to be holy and made it completely dark. I think it was interesting how she called them angels then put something dark right behind that word. Maybe it has to relate with the whole angel of death? But then again they do talk about fallen angels, which really makes sense with the whole angel of suicide since fallen angels fall from heaven sometimes that is a choice. I really like those dark undertones within a story, it’s very harsh but I guess I like that type of stuff. “Loser” was a pretty interesting story as well, I liked how the main character has this almost superpower like ability. Really made it interesting and felt like I was reading a small novel, and his background of getting this smelling ability and him using it to help others was a very nice touch. The story I didn’t like was “The Hit Man”, I read it and didn’t quite understand it? It seems like the story is talking about key points in this characters life, but I really didn’t understand some of the stuff that was going on in the story.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Rangel
After reading Atwood’s story, “An Angel” it really got me thinking about how the suicide angel actually looked like. On page 145, it states that the angel is “…dense, heavy with antimatter, a dark star.” I believe this angel appears when someone plans to go through with this horrid act. Aimee Bender’s “Loser” story was really something odd due to the title relating nothing to the actual story. The boy was not a loser, but a child unaware of his abilities. His ability to find missing things to replace the pain of losing both his parents was really something. He used it for good and although he was praised for it, some people questioned it. What caught my attention was at the end, when he returned to the waves. Just like the waves took his parents. The final story “The Hit Man” was probably the most chronically, flashback story I have ever read. What I got from this was that there was this hit man, and the story explains little bits of his life before he actually murdered somebody. The word “wasted” kept appearing, and it made me wonder if that meant killing someone. I have yet to understand what he Boyle meant, but I can say that the story was interesting.
ReplyDeleteClarissa Partida
Out of all the readings, I have to say that “The Hit Man” is my favorite of the three readings. I liked the format the story was in. It felt a lot more direct and to the point, which I like. I also appreciated the parts about his first date who ends up being his wife. Like, he only had to try once. I also like the aura of mystery that the story has in reference to his face alway being in a hood and no one seems to notice or really care. As if it’s a normal occurrence. The fact that even with him being a mysterious person with a history of violence, he goes on to live a somewhat normal life with a wife and son and eventually retiring from work. I also liked the reference to the cycle of life that the story has at the end with him passing away at the same time that his son is getting fitted for his own suit for work, the same type of suit the Hit Man wore for his line of work.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the readings, I have to say that “The Hit Man” is my favorite of the three readings. I liked the format the story was in. It felt a lot more direct and to the point, which I like. I also appreciated the parts about his first date who ends up being his wife. Like, he only had to try once. I also like the aura of mystery that the story has in reference to his face alway being in a hood and no one seems to notice or really care. As if it’s a normal occurrence. The fact that even with him being a mysterious person with a history of violence, he goes on to live a somewhat normal life with a wife and son and eventually retiring from work. I also liked the reference to the cycle of life that the story has at the end with him passing away at the same time that his son is getting fitted for his own suit for work, the same type of suit the Hit Man wore for his line of work.
ReplyDeleteBethanee Campos
In Margaret Atwood’s, “An Angel,” got me in the first opening line of the reading. It captivated me and drew me into the story that she was telling. I already know who Margaret Atwood is because I am a HUGE fan of the “Handmaid’s Tale” show on Hulu because of how real and scary the whole situation of the show is to our current present. The good, bad, and fallen angels are all that draw me into believe that was she is describing is very real and believable since I am religious. I also made the connection to Billie Eilish’s new music video, “all the good girls go to hell,” and the significance of the fallen angel that lands into oil. “Loser” was a little weird that made me stopped reading after the first page of 146. It was going a direction that I didn’t like and felt there was a deeper meaning to this than just his nose being able to find lost items. The Green Star was also confusing and losing him. Personally, I could not really follow along to grasp the meaning of this reading. Lastly, “The Hit Man” by Boyle was extremely interesting and something I could follow because it was entertaining. Legitimately feel that someone should pitch this story to Netflix to turn it into a show. I would watch it! These readings were all great.
ReplyDeleteKrista Olivarez
These are strange stories. I think that is the easiest way to put it, but there is so much more nuanced than can be described like that. All of these produced some kind of horror effect in me. This is odd because none of them seem to be written to evoke horror. “An Angel” is a story meant to express, but by God is it difficult to read. It takes no time to jump into a metaphor ridden expression of feelings. Some surely can relate to the author’s descriptions here, but even those who can relate to the author would have a hard time understanding the metaphor. I don’t know that I’d believe someone who said that they began to angelify suicide this way. To me, the entire concept of the story feels wrong. The type of story “Loser” tells should be an archetype, however, stories about these sorts of people tend not to be the most entertaining. The protagonist is rather relatable while the situations he finds himself in are standard. It’s not unreasonable for one of us to do the things he did without a “superpower”. “The Hit Man” is difficult to take seriously. If the author played with their story a little more, it would be a good interesting piece, but as it is, it’s just an interesting piece.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Hinkle
“An Angel” was my favorite then “The Hit Man” and lastly “Loser.” I very much enjoy material that talks about stuff that is usually taboo in society like cancer and suicide. I, like many others, have gone through various stages of what may be depression and or suicidal thoughts. An Angel describes how it feels to feel that way. I would crave that sweet release despite the trauma it may have had on my loved ones. The Hit Man was pretty cool because of the way that it was organized. I have never seen a writing be formed that way besides in poetry. I think the most similar would have to be poetry that you form a picture with. I liked that it was not your typical story that you could tell how it was going to end. I would have thought that the hit man would have gone out in a bang but nah he just dies, and the cycle renews with his child putting on their own black hood. The loser was pretty okay for me. It was too dreamscapey for me and I want to be able to believe a little of what I am reading. I know if I just open my mind to the possibilities I would enjoy it more, but it read like a tale from an old book.
ReplyDeleteJonathon Morin