Livin' La Vida.... Farewell for this semester 7

Well, as time passes by, who could really notice that it is already Week 14! So many things has been done, now, it is just the moment to take our last finale that is the FINAL EXAMS! Hopefully this semester will bring lots of luck and we are able to raise our CGPA more. Lord help us!

The last 4 entries were my summaries on the short stories I did, of course for my research paper. As instructed by Pn. Ju, I did 4 short stories and the title was "ANALYZING THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN FOUR DIFFERENT SHORT STORIES WRITTEN BY FOUR FEMALE AUTHORS." The approaches that I used to analyze the short stories were psychoanalysis (Freudian's approach), postmodernism, women in writing and feminism. It was truly challenging for me to actually do the last touch for the research paper. But finally, it was all done. Syukran (I'm grateful, in Arabic)

I will be sending my research paper along with my blog printed nicely to Dr. Edwin in his class tomorrow. Hopefully if there's anything needed to be cleared, he will able to tell me or perhaps, just get on with my paper.

Till then, farewell my EDU3234 blog page. If I got time, then I'll be revisiting the page again.
Thank you Dr. Edwin for giving us precious chance to use this medium for us to expand the knowledge of how to use the latest technology. May we will able to adapt what you've taught us along this 4 years. May all of my fellow course mates and my beloved lecturers and tutors lead their fantastic life in this coming years, Amin.

‘THEIR DEAR LITTLE GHOST’ by ELIA W. PEATTIE

The story begins with the persona reminisce about her ‘little godchild,’ her cheerful, joyous little angel telling about the fairies she befriended with, her magic wand and lots of other things when she was quite well and strong. She just followed the child’s desire and let her as she wished. This includes her two little brothers, where they also could not escape to be influenced by her from being very charming and bewitched. The persona also expressed her thoughts towards Elsbeth, the child that foreshadows that the girl is going to turns into a spirit literally. “…for to me her spirit was like a fair and fragrant road in the midst of which I might walk in peace and joy…” Although she uttered this before the tragedy of losing the child, it seems to give us the idea that the girl is going to die. She was a highly spirit kind of girl. She was really imaginative when she openly asked her godmother and her two little brothers to come along and watch her secret place. “Come with me and I’ll show you my places, my places, my places!” They played, laughed, hugged, kissed each other and leave a blissful memory not to forget.

Then the persona received a letter from Elsbeth’s mother saying that they had lost her forever. The mother kept moan when she recap her conversation with the child that she wanted to stay until after Christmas. She was eager to get her present for that day. She had asked the parents to arrange her life time with God so their Christmas will be merrier and happier with her around. As she knew that her time to go will arrive soon. The mother and father still could not accept the fact that their little girl was gone, forever. They were regret by not buying her the autoharp, the most desired toy she ever wanted due to short of money on last Christmas. During Christmas Eve, the child came in a form of a little ghost wearing a white night gown, but looked sad. She was frustrated of not getting any pile of toys and no stocking were hung for her. Her two little brothers who sneaked out that night saw her figure weeping in the sitting room. Then she went out the house as a candle goes out. The boys were so anxious after seeing this and told their parents. They looked for her the whole house, but found nothing. They waited for several nights wishing she would appear again, but there was no sign of her anymore.

The next year, the godmother went by and wishes to celebrate Christmas with the family. She had helped them decorate and put three stockings and three piles of toys, and the largest one is for Elsbeth. The night before Christmas Eve, she did come back but no one was able to get the chance to meet her, and that the gifts for her were vanished. The persona then went home and that midnight she heard sweet sound of a harp played by a child, and could also heard the echo her laugh, but it seems like she was dreaming. She then said aloud the farewell wish to the ‘little ghost.’

‘THE COPY-CAT’ BY MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN

This story started from the old relationship between two families, the Jennings and Wheeler’s family. The issue arouse when the women of both families tried to compare their own child, who were both females, one named Lily Jennings and the other named Amelia Wheeler, who was also called “The Copy-Cat” by the pupils of Madame’s school. These girls were from quite wealthy families, but the problem was the way they were dressed, their appearances, not just to school, but also at home or going out to play. They were quite close to each other. But Lily was known to be prettier, neat, and fashionable and her hair was beautifully decorated with cute ribbons. On the other hand, Amelia was acknowledging as the girl who was odd, plain-looking and unconsciously adored Lily. She was unpurposely copying almost every single movement, the way to talk, to walk or even to sing from Lily. That is why the girl is called “The Copy-Cat.” Even among the female teachers, they noticed about the drastic changes in Amelia’s behaviour. They even had a small talk about the girls and love to compare her with Lily.

Lily always appeared as the girl who was adorable, sweet and delicate. And Amelia was simply judged among the teachers and students as the strange girl and looks pale. But things started to go even wild when Lily accidentally heard the boys of her class planning about to have their own first campfire and she then decided to join them, but unnoticed. She does not want her mother to know her naughty plan that is to switch place with Amelia’s bedroom once she got back from those boys’ camp spot. Amelia had to agree with her plans. Lily threatened her with their friendship. She had it all planned carefully so that she never will be caught. But then, she got caught by Amelia’s mother and grandmothers. She miscalculate the time she got back to Amelia’s bed and was brought back to her house by the Wheelers and forced to admit in front of her mother, Mrs. Jennings. She told them every word. It was the best turning point in Amelia’s life later on. She had the most attention from her mother and got the chance to wear the best outfit then. She then perceived her own individuality, and not being called “the Copy-Cat” anymore.

‘BOYS AND GIRLS’ BY ALICE MUNRO

‘‘Boys and Girls’’ opens with the unnamed narrator describing her father and his work. He is a fox farmer who raises silver foxes which are skinned so that their fur can be sold to fur traders. The narrator, a girl at the time the story takes place, and her smaller brother Laird, enjoy watching their father doing skinning work, which he does in the cellar of their house each fall or early winter when the foxes’ coats are prime. The girl also describes her father’s farm hand, Henry Bailey.
She tells how in bed at the end of the day she can still dreaming of becoming the hero in her own tales, rescuing people, lots of adventures and even included her brother Laird in the story. The narrator is a young girl who appreciates respects and holds her father’s authority in high regard, while she looks down on her mother’s weakness. This weakness stems from the fact that her father dominates her mother. Her views toward her mother’s femininity stem from her own insecurities about becoming a woman, and thus they tend to be indifferent in nature. She does not think that women are bad people, but does think that they have ulterior intentions.
The girl seems to compare the gender role between the father and the mother herself. This foreshadows the coming event in her life. The main character/narrator disobeys her father without her father knowing. She does this because she is starting to become her own person. Her maturity and capability to make her own decisions are pointed out distinctively as the story develops. Therefore she continued to do little things against the beliefs of her family, because as she said, "I kept myself free." She loves to dressed like a boy, and behave like a tomboy until her grandmother came and nagged to her things that a girl should do, that she should not suppose to do. “Girls don’t slam doors like that.” “Girls keep their knees together when they sit down.” She was an outcast from the rest of her family, due to the fact that she did not act like a girl as her grandmother continued to try and point out to her. The girl is unsure about whether she wants to be a woman or not, because she enjoys her father's work and wants to be a part of it.
At the end of this story we witnessed the young girls determination and strength prevail as she began to think for herself and even attempted to set her own spirit free. A symbol of the young girl’s courage to resist pressures from society resembled that of Flora’s, a mare who had managed to escape from the stable, and was “running free in the barnyard…” When the girl’s father instructed her to “Go shut the Gate!” She merely “opened it as wide” as she could. She had never disobeyed him before and could not understand why she had done it, as she knew that, “Flora would not really get away”. The inevitable fate of the young girl was just like that of Flora’s. One could even say that Flora was the young girls spirit and when they “cut her up in fifty pieces”; they did the same to the heart and soul of the young girl. At the end of the day she was, “only a girl”.

‘A WHITE HERON’ BY SARAH ORNE JEWETT

Nine-year-old Sylvia has come from the city to live in the New England woods with her grandmother, Mrs. Tilley. As the story begins, Sylvia has been living with her grandmother for nearly a year, learning to adapt to country ways. She helps the old woman by taking over some of the more physical chores, such as finding Miss Mooly, the cow, each evening in the fields where she grazes and bringing her home. By means of this and other tasks, along with her explorations in the forest, Sylvia has become a country girl who dearly loves her new home. She has taken to it easily and immerses herself in her new life completely, as evidenced by the description of her journey home each evening with the cow: “..but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not.”

One evening she is approached by a hunter, who is in the area looking for birds to shoot and preserve for his collection. This young man is searching in particular for the rare white heron and he is sure that it makes its nest in the vicinity. He accompanies Sylvia on her way with hopes of spending the night at her grandmother’s house. Once he has received this invitation, he makes himself at home, and after they eat, he says that he will give a sum of money to anyone who can lead him to the white heron. The next day Sylvia accompanies the hunter into the forest as he searches for the bird’s nest, but he does not find it. Early the following morning, the girl decides to go out and look for the bird by herself so that she can be sure of showing the hunter its exact location when he awakes. She decides to climb the tallest tree in the forest so that she can see the entire countryside, and she finds the heron, just as she had thought she would. But Sylvia is so affected by her tree-top observation of the heron and other wildlife that she cannot bring herself to disclose the heron's location to the hunter after all, despite his entreaties. Sylvia knows that she would be awarded much-needed money for directing him to the heron, but she decides that she can not play any part in bringing about the bird's death. The hunter eventually departs without his prize. As Sylvia grows older she is haunted by the idea of what she gave up that day, and in the last paragraph of the story, Jewett, as omniscient observer, urges nature to reward her for her selflessness by offering her its secrets.

Elia W. Peattie

Elia Wilkinson was the daughter of Frederick and Amanda (Cahill) Wilkinson. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on January 15, 1862 but moved with her family to Chicago when she was young. She stopped attending school when she was fourteen, but kept up a reading habit. In 1883 she married Robert Burns Peattie, a Chicago journalist. She began writing short stories for newspapers, and became a reporter with the Chicago Tribune and subsequently the Chicago Daily News. In 1889 she moved to Omaha, becoming chief editorial writer on the Omaha World-Herald. She wrote for magazines including Century, Lippincott's Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, St. Nicholas, Wide Awake, The American, America, Harper's Weekly, and San Francisco Argonaut.


In 1888, she was commissioned by Chicago publishers to write a young people's history of the United States, and wrote the seven-hundred pages The Story of America in four months. Her novel The Judge won a $900 prize from the Detroit Free Press in 1889, and was subsequently published in book form. Later in 1889 the Northern Pacific Railroad employed her to visit and report on Alaska: A Trip through Wonderland became a popular guide-book. With Scrip and Staff (1891) was a story of the children's crusade.


Peattie subsequently returned to Chicago and became literary editor of the Chicago Tribune. Peattie was a prolific writer and produced hundreds of short stories and essays. Her works include Lotta Embury's Career (1915), The Newcomers (1916), Sarah Brewster's Relations (1916), Memory's Painted Windows (1919), The Wander Weed (1923) and Songs from a Southern Garden (1923). She died on July 12, 1935 in Wallingford, Vermont, USA.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (October 31, 1852 – March 13, 1930) was a prominent 19th century American author. She was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, and attended Mount Holyoke College (then, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) in South Hadley, Massachusetts, for one year, from 1870–71. She later finished her education at West Brattleboro Seminary. She passed the greater part of her life in Massachusetts and Vermont and for many years was the private secretary of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Freeman began writing stories and verse for children while still a teenager to help support her family and was quickly successful. Her best known work was written in the 1880s and 1890s while she lived in Randolph. She produced more than two dozen volumes of published short stories and novels. She is best known for two collections of stories, A Humble Romance and Other Stories (1887) and A New England Nun and Other Stories (1891). Her stories deal mostly with New England life and are among the best of their kind. Freeman is also remembered for her novel Pembroke (1894), and she contributed a notable chapter to the collaborative novel The Whole Family (1908). In 1902 she married Dr. Charles M. Freeman of Metuchen, New Jersey.

In April 1926, Freeman became the first recipient of the William Dean Howells Medal for Distinction in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She died in Metuchen and was interred in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.






Works:
• The Adventures of Ann (1886)
• A Humble Romance (1887)
• A New England Nun (1891)
• Young Lucretia (1892)
• Jane Field (1892)
• Giles Corey (1893)
• Pembroke (1894)
• Madelon (1896)
• Jerome, a Poor Man (1897)
• Silence, and other Stories (1898)
• The Love of Parson Lord (1900)
• The Portion of Labor (1901)
• Six Trees (1903)
• The Wind in the Rose Bush (1903)
• The Givers (1904)
• The Debtor (1905)
• Doc Gordon (1906)
• The Fair Lavinia, and Others (1907)
• The Winning Lady, and Others (1909)
• Butterfly House (1912)
• The Copy–Cat, and Other Stories (1914)
• Collected Ghost Stories (1974)
• Glasser, Leah Blatt. In a Closet Hidden: The Life and Work of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Amherst: University of Mass. Press, 1996. [1]