"A & P"

This story is about a young man who works as a cashier at a supermarket. The man has a seemingly boring job so he has plenty of time to people watch and make observations about them. He is very judgmental of the customers, particularly the three girls in the story. He has both positive and negative things to say about them. The story goes into detail about what the boy is thinking about these girls. From a feminist perspective, one might say that this boy was devaluing these girls by merely thinking of them sex objects instead of fellow human beings who might not want to be viewed as such. If I were a feminist, I might think that this boy was out of line in how he looked at these girls and it is men such as him that turn our culture into a sexist culture wherein women do not hold as much value as men and are only seen as sex objects. However, in my opinion, I believe the girls had just as much fault in this story as the boy. Boys have a natural tendency to be attracted to girls and have strong sexual desires. Whether we like that as females or not doesn’t matter, it is the truth nonetheless. So, knowing this about males, we should act accordingly. For example, if women don’t want men staring at them and thinking about them inappropriately, they should dress in a manner that won’t attract attention. I’m not advocating that women walk around in gunny sacks, but they can dress appropriately for where they are going. For example, they can avoid wearing a bathing suit to the public grocery store. On another note, this boy received a lot of criticism from the readers for judging the customers. However, I don’t think it is fair to judge him so much for doing that because who can honestly say that they don’t size everyone up that they meet. Humans naturally judge people on appearances and make first impressions about them. 

"The Story of an Hour"

Mrs. Mallard's comments:
1. "Is anybody available tomorrow night? I'm dying to get out of the house."
2. "My husband is always away at work, someone keep me company."
3. "I am so bored!"
4. "Does anybody know a good dinner recipe?"
5. "I'm very worried. The railroad has had a disaster and my husband hasn't been back for hours."
6. "I can't believe my husband is dead."
7. "I will miss my husband, but I am excited to live my life again."
8. "The weather outside today is beautiful."
9. "I think I'll go for a walk today, maybe try to meet more people."
10. "I am going into town today. I can't wait to be out and about again."

http://www.j-walk.com/other/goodwife/
"This article has some good points."

Meme:
Love this pattern! I might put this on my wall.

Orientation

This is the carside area, you aren’t supposed to put your personal belongings or any food or drink in the cupboards, but everyone does anyone so try not to, but feel free to. This is primarily the carside’s computer, don’t use it unless you are in a hurry and want to be glared at. This is the kitchen; the cooks don’t bite, but can be very rude. Don’t tell them to hurry; they will only get frustrated with you. Don’t ask James about his ex-wife, this doesn’t go over well with him. This is the drink station; don’t take too long getting your drinks. There are up to eight servers at any given time that need to use it. This is the dining room. It can be split up into 8 sections, depending on how busy the restaurant is. This is Bob, the bartender; he is extremely friendly, and helpful. This is our manager John, you will need his help many times throughout the night. You need to use his card to void items and discount birthday desserts. Don’t mess up too much though or John will become very frustrated with you and you will have a ‘chat’ with him. Always keep yourself busy, even if there is nothing to do. At least look like you are working hard. You can always roll silverware and stock ketchup, sugar, or salt and pepper. Talk the hosts if you get a chance. They are very nice and are often bored so strike a conversation with them when you have nothing to do. However, you never have nothing to do when a manager asks (wink wink). Get used to guests being unhappy. It is only their common nature to be upset about something. Just get the manager involved and apologize profusely. Your fellow servers are pretty cool and will help you if you get overwhelmed. Don't hesitate to ask them for anything. 

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

O’Connor’s short story, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, has many examples of being Southern grotesque. I think the story was even a little radical for the time period it was written in. It seems like this story takes place around the 1950’s when people were overall pretty conservative and old fashioned. So a story such as this one would have probably come as a shock to most people. The misfit himself can  be described as Southern grotesque because he definitely has his flaws and doesn’t act like a normal person would. He shows no sympathy for the family, but instead has an extreme personality that drives him to kill the whole family. This type of behavior by the misfit makes the reader feel both appalled at him and somewhat sorry for him because he seems to have lost his sense of reality. The misfit fits the definition of a secular grotesque in which someone will choose not to follow God and instead look to kill the soul and live for the body. The misfit shows how he has rejected God’s will when he tells the grandma that Jesus ruined everything and it’s best just to live for pleasure and do whatever you want because there is no way to know if He did what He said and died on the cross. The misfit’s form of pleasure is meanness which he carries out in killing people. This is an example of a grotesque character. The setting of the short story has aspects of being Southern grotesque as well. At the start, the family passes by a black boy and the grandma shows her racial bigotry by calling him a ‘pickaninny’ and saying that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do”. So, this short story has examples of being Southern grotesque in its plot and in its characters. 

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" concerns itself with the concept that it can be acceptable to require the individual to sacrifice for the greater good. In the short story, the villagers treat the lottery as if it is a normal event in their society. They all seem ready to give up their lives and no one seems reluctant to participate in the lottery. In our society, people are forced to do some things that are meant to help to America run more smoothly. For example, everyone has taxes that they required to pay the government. The government then goes on to spend this money on programs and events that will ultimately help America as a whole.