A Rose For Miss Emily

A Rose For Emily
by William Faulkner

1. Personal Opinion
   At the beginning of the story, I thought it would be one along a more historical line, but of course, it was just part of the setting. I enjoyed the story, but at a certain point it turned predictable. The story is told "backwards" a technique that is used in the modern day too, where the ending is actually the beginning. In my opinion the story was interesting mostly when everything starts unveiling itself. The only disappointing thing in this story was how predictable it turned out to be. If the author would've added some more elements maybe I could have been surprised. Still, I enjoyed it.
   
   
2. Character Relation: Miss Emily Grierson

I believe that Miss Emily, who is the main character of the story, portrays the emotion/feeling of anger. As we discussed in class, anger can be shown through many ways, and one of them is the suppression of the feeling itself. In the story, Emily was a lonesome woman, stubborn and almost rude. But I think she was this way, because of the life she had to live. She grew up alone with her father, in a town full of gossip. Emily never got married, never had any children. And she suppressed it, all of it. Finally, when she found someone who she thought would love her, she just liberated the anger, and out of insecurity and fear, murdered him.

3. Miss Emily's Stages

My first reaction when the aldermen went to Miss Emily's house and she kicked them out, was that she was just standing her ground since after all, General Sartoris had a deal with her father. Then as I kept reading I realized she was an ill mannered old lady. She had been this way since she was young, like when her father died and she denied it. Maybe she felt grief, but maybe she just did not want to accept the fact that she was probably going to be in ruins, for everyone knew without her father she would not prosper. Finally, I got convinced that Miss Emily felt much pain and anger. These emotions were proven when she killed the man she said she loved without feeling any remorse.

uMaine.edu Article: Choosing Survival

Choosing Survival

The Native Passamaquoddy tribe is located between the US state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, they've been petitioning for the preservation of their lands for many years. I was asked to bring this article into the reality of the Puerto Rican culture today. I chose "Choosing Survival" because it reminded me of the 'struggle' many Puerto Rican people used to have in the times of colonization, and even today, when basically the North American culture is being implanted in the country.

The Passamaquoddy fight for their land, for the rights their ancestors had. I believe, the puertorican people still value their ancestors the same way and are trying to preserve their culture way one or another. To me, it doesn't mean that Puerto Rico has to be stuck in another century, but that its people need to protect what's left of a magnificent heritage. We've seen it at great events like "El Grito de Lares" where people opposed to change. I can't compare the Passamaquoddy tribe to the Puerto Rican people at great extents, since this native tribe still preserves everything their ancestors taught them. Puerto Rico has evolved as almost every other country in the world, so it wouldn't be fair to compare the lifestyles.

I really liked a passage on the article that stated the following:

"A lot of Micah's petition was not just about the land, but also about survival. The tribe wanted the bloodline to continue, their rights to always be there. It's not special rights, it's aboriginal rights that our ancestors always had"

I liked this passage a lot because I understand it can relate to the Puerto Rican culture, and how its heritage is being lost due to the many changes. There is not much left of agriculture anymore, which was one of Puerto Rico's greatest way of economy. Another example of the heritage loss, could be the children. Kids nowadays prefer a fastfood restaurant instead of a typical dish, as well as video games over traditional games.

It's clear that this changes have not only gotten to, or affected Puerto Rico individually, as this is today's way of living almost everywhere. This article could not only apply to this country but to many others as well.