Monday, November 29, 2010

Journal #7 for the Piano Lesson

So far in the book i have noticed the the plot and tone of the story has switched to rich, cultural, and mysterious to romantic. personally, i hope Berniece andLymon end up together.i predict she will end up marrying him but then i don't know what will happen to Avery. i also wonder if we're ever going to get to know Grace more, because Lymon said she hasn't been in Boy Willie's life for vey long. i also wonder whats going to happen with the watermelon selling, because it hasn't been as important as it was, but the still discretely bring it up. maybe it was just an explanation for them all to be staying with Berniece. i wonder if something will happen in the future between Lymon, Avery, Berniece, and the piano. i also wonder what happened to the man Bernievce had her daughter with. Alot of new questions are opening up but i like the romantic drama of it all.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Journal #6 for The Piano Lesson

in act 2 scene 2, i found it very surprising that Avery wanted to marry Berniece. i also tabbed that section as 'plot and structure' because i thought it was a twist in the plot. since Berniece was so upset about Crawley and crawley came up alot during the conversation, i'd say Berniece had a romantic history with Crawley and that's why she's still upset. i still don't see why she thinks Boy Willie was the one who pushed him. i thought Avery brought up Sutter's ghost because he wanted to make a compromie with berniece (marriage for a house blessing) but that didn't happen, which also surprised me. we also learned the biggest reason that Berniece wont sell the piano. since she opened up to Avery about that, i assume she will eventually agree to marry him, especially because he has alot to offer her, like the house he just got.

Monday, November 22, 2010

journal #5 for the Piano Lesson

after going back to the section i was assigned to read, i realized i had actually read too much when i missed a day of school. instead of moving on and reading ahead, i decided to go back and re-read most of the chapter and analyze even more. what i noticed the second time around was that Berniece seems to put her history abouve her family, aside from her daughter. i also find it odd that her daughter isn't in the story as much. you'd think she'd be more protective and that her daughter would be in the story more. the leader of the group of boys and brothers seems to be either lymon or boy willie, becaus boy willie is the one calling everyone a nigger, which seems to be a power thing except for the fact that he is black too.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Journal #4 for The Piano Lesson

in the passage i read, berniece becomes very upset about Crawley's death and blames Boy Willie. i find this very odd because i didn;t think she even knew Crawley hat well, and her sudden anger kind of came up from nothing. it was odd. anoher thing i am confused about is the part where it says they heard Sutter's ghost several times, i didn't understand if that was rea or not because they seemes to just ignore it. another question i have is why is the author suddenly intoroducing so many deaths, is it to prove a point? one thing i did find amusing was them trying to move the piano. i think they eventually will sell the piano, or maybe half, and then have to get it back. maybe the way they get it back will represent the way the white lady got the memory of her slaves back through the piano carvings

Thursday, November 18, 2010

journal #3 for The Piano Lesson

in the third oassage, i found it interesting how graphic the story about the piano was, with the burning of the boxcars. i also find it odd that there are so many deaths in this story and we're finding out about them so early. i wonder how many more there are to come. i didn't really understand Wining Boy's difference between a colored man and a white man. i don't think he explained that very well. i also don't understand why the yellow dog ghosts have the name they do if they were hobos, that part confused me. one thing i did like was the story of the piano, it makes me wonder how the author came up with such a thing, but it is quite creative. what i dont understand is why the boys stole it.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Journal #2 for The Piano Lesson

In the passage we red in the piano lesontoday, we learned the importance of the piano. i wonder if lymon and his friend will ever get her to sell it. i have an ide that maybe they do sell it and the book will be about them trying to get it back, or maybe the piano is like a metaphor that represents the theme of the book. one thing i didn't understand was the point of the ghost and why he had something to do with Lymon. it alost seems like the book is going to lead into a murder mystery, but i don't see how that would relate to the piano, plus the tone that's been set sofar doesn't seem like it's leading into a mystery. i also dont understand why all the characters are rndomly deciding to meet at doaker's house, but we might find out more about that later. even though the book has some small unexplained questions, the author is still good at having the characters tell stories and explain what's going on in a way that the reader can understand.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Journal #1 for The Paino Lesson

The first thing i noticed about the piano lesson was the dialogue. it converys how they were raised and conveys the setting better than the actual setting description in the beggining. the use of the word "niggers" suggests its in the past, possibly in the 50's. their language also suggests it's more in the south and possibly in a poorer, less educated area. one thing i didn't understand about the passage we read was the long story about the truck breaking down. what was the point of that? i'm thinking maybe something will make the truck of value or importance later on in the story. i was also surprised that there was no mention of the piano in the beginning, but i guess it's best that we meet the characters first. i wonder when the piano will come into the story. i also wonder why the author really stressed the relationships between the characters (i.e. the siblings). i guess it's just so the reader can really understand the relationships clearly. what i also want to know is why the neice and her daughter live with the uncle. did something happen to their home or can they just not afford a place of their own. i'm looking forward to reading more of the story because so far it seems interesting.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Tabs in Cry the Beloved Country

the first think i decided to tab was the setting description on page 275. this is the passage describing the towns much anticipated rain creeping into their area. i tabbed this section because i thought it would be a good representative for the disturbing news of absaloms future death. Like when paton says "for it was exciting to see them after weeks of pitiless sun" in a way it reverses the meaning of sun, turning it into something bad. this relates to Kumalo because he should be happy to hear from his son, but instead he's unhappy because he doesnt want the bad news. hen he is relieved to finally know his son's sentence. the sun represents umalo's emotions and the storm clouds represent the letter absalom sends.

the second thing i tabbed was the change in plot and structure, as well as tone, when jarvis and the chief arrive to plant sticks. in a way the author is trying to foreshadow and eave the reader guessing because it doesn't really explain why they are putting the sticks there, so it's a bit of chage in the plot.