Fiction Packets

"The Fifth Story" by Clarice Lispector

The main character of this story narrates five different versions of the same story, each starting as "I was complaining about the cockroaches." Aside from the final story which is simply, "I was complaining about the cockroaches," each story begins to have more detail, further explaining the killing of the cockroaches.

One line that stuck out to me in the second story was,"The truth is that I had only complained in abstract form about the cockroaches, for they were not even mine: they belonged to the ground floor and climbed up the pipes in the building into our apartment." I believe the narrator has used the cockroaches as a metaphor to problems, because in life we seem to make other people's problems our own, and try to fix them.


"Survivors" by Kim Addonizio
The narrator of this story tells the point of view of a man and his internal battle with the nearing death of himself and his lover due to AIDS. In the beginning of the story the man argues that he wants to die first because he doesn't want to "take care his lover's parrot, or deal with his lover's family." As the story continues, the man starts to decide what he would do if his lover died first.

Though the man says he doesn't want to deal with his lover's parrot or family, I think these are just excuses to cover that fact that he doesn't want to loose his lover. Dealing with his lover's dis-approving father is a metaphor to the everyday pain of not having his spouse with him anymore. Then as the story goes on he starts to let go because he knows the inevitable will happen; and decides to "take the parrot out of its cage and open the window," letting it fly free, as he is doing with his lover.

Fiction Packet 3

I found the story "The Falling Girl," to be very interesting. I interpreted it to be about girls racing to grow up, yet not knowing what they are racing to. The main character says, "They're waiting for me down there, I can't stop." In the beginning, she is excited to get to the bottom of her fall, but as she nears the end "her heart tightens."

The story "August 25, 1983" was a dream of a writer and his later suicide. He talks with his future self about what he accomplishes in his life. The man begins to get "irritated" talking to himself because he does not like who he is and is afraid to later come to the point of suicide.

Fiction

In "Writing Fiction", I really liked that Burroway described writing fiction as an art to "quell boredom". I found this statement to be rather true especially when she later states, "Much of the pleasure of reading comes from the egotistical sense that we are clever enough to understand." Part of the reason that fiction essays are so interesting and intriguing is that the reader has to figure out for themselves what is going on in the story.

But to make a story intriguing, there must be detail. Burroway explains that details can not just be given, but must be felt through the five senses. By giving concrete detail, a story is not told- but experienced which is, "where the vitality of understanding lies." It is important to give detail to paint a picture not only for our primate brain which makes connections, but also for our mammalian brain which creates a bodily response to what we feel through our senses.

Poems

I feel that I am more of a fan of poetry, than a poet myself; but here's my shot at it. I've been dreaming of warmer weather so here's my tribute to summer.



June 21,
When the sun's beams slowly die down
And warmth engulfs the air.
After the bangs and booms of the day calm down
And the wind softly scratches through the leaves.
Flashes of green illuminate the path like Phillips light bulbs
From lightning bugs dancing like Titania's fairies.
June 21,
The most perfect night of the year.