Sarah Orne Jewett

Known primarily as a regional writer, Sarah Orne Jewett spent most of her life on the rugged Maine coast that is the setting for much of her work. She was born in South Berwick, Maine, on September 3 1849, one of three daughters of an old and prosperous New England family. Both of her parents were readers, and they wanted their daughters to be well educated— somewhat uncommon in the nineteenth century. For a time, Jewett even considered becoming a physician like her father; however, poor health made it impossible for her to complete rigorous medical training. Instead, she turned to her talent for writing.
Jewett often accompanied her father on his rounds and loved to hear him talk about books and ideas. At age eighteen she published her first short story, a melodramatic tale of love. This early success led to what would be her true calling: writing honestly and simply about the richness and poignancy of the common folk of Maine. From the beginning, her focus was on lonely, misunderstood people, particularly women, and their relationships; her stories often have little in the way of exciting or dramatic plot and action but are nonetheless powerfully moving.
In 1878 Jewett’s father died, and Jewett was left without her dearest friend, whom she later described in the novel A Country Doctor (1884). Shortly after her father’s death she began an intimate and lifelong relationship with Annie Fields, the wife of publisher James T. Fields. Through the Fieldses, Jewett became acquainted with many of the most noted writers of the day, including Celia Thaxter, George Eliot, Henry James and Nathaniel Hawthorne. After James Fields’s death, Jewett and Annie became closer, forming what was known as a ‘‘Boston marriage;’’ they did not always share a home, but they were treated as a couple by their friends.
Jewett continued writing, attracting a larger audience as her stories appeared in the Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s magazines. ‘‘A White Heron,’’ rejected by the Atlantic Monthly as too sentimental, was published first in Jewett’s collection A White Heron and Other Stories. She wrote novels in addition to short stories but they were not as successful, with the exception of her greatest work, The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896), a series of sketches about the residents of a fictional coastal village. This novel solidified her reputation as one of the century’s greatest regional writers.
Jewett gave up writing after a 1902 carriage accident left her in disabling pain. She had published more than 150 stories and four novels. She devoted her remaining years to Annie Fields and other friends, including the young writer Willa Cather. Cather credited Jewett with influencing her to write about her home, Nebraska. Cather’s first Nebraska novel, O Pioneers! (1913), was dedicated to Jewett, who had died in South Berwick on June 24, 1909.

The Authors from my Research Paper

I just wanted to introduced my choices of authors from the research paper that I'm conducting. Still got 85% more to go.

Canadian short story writer and novelist, often characterized as a Canadian Chekhov, although her characters are not Chekhovian in the sense that they were passive and powerless to change their lives. Munro describes sensitively the lifestyles, customs, and values of ordinary people, often revealing in the process hidden meanings and personal tragedies. Although Munro's stories deal with the lives of women, her stance is not explicitly feminist. Munro has been mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"This nun had smiled once in a while to show that her religion was supposed to make people happy, but most of the time she looked out at her audience as if she believed that other people were mainly in the world for her to boss around." (from Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, 2001)

Alice Munro was born Alice Laidlaw in Wingham, Ontario, where she grew up on a farm with her sister and brother. Before taking up farming, Munro's father, Robert Eric Laidlaw, had raised foxes and minks and worked as a watch-man. Anne Clarke Laidlaw, Munro's mother, had been a teacher. She suffered from Parkinson's disease and died in 1959.

Munro was expected to continue the farming business, but when she was 12, she decided to become a writer - "my oddity just shone out of me;" she once said. At the age of eighteen, Munro won a scholarship to the University of Western Ontario. In 1951 she married a fellow student, James Munro, and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. In the early 1960s, the family moved to Victoria, where Munro founded with her husband a successful bookstore.

Munro's first story, 'The Dimensions of a Shadow', appeared in 1950, but it was no until 1968, that her first collection of short stories was published. "I never intended to be a short-story writer," Munro once said. The book, Dance of the Happy Shades, was awarded Canada's prestigious Governor General's Award. Several of the stories had earlier been published in periodicals and drew on Munro's own childhood experience. "The short story is alive and well in Canada," wrote Martin Levin in The New York Times (September 23, 1973), "where most of the 15 tales originate like a fresh winds from the North."

"The street is shaded, is some places, by maple trees whose roots have cracked and heaved the sidewalk and spread out like crocodiles into the bare yards. People are sitting out, men in shirt-sleeves and undershirts and women in aprons - not people we know but if anybody looks ready to nod and say, "Warm night," my father will nod and say something the same." (from 'Walker Brothers Cowboy', in Dance of the Happy Shades, 1968)

Munro's second book, Lives of Girls and Women (1971), was a cycle of interlocked stories about the childhood of a young woman, who wants to become a writer. Her portrait of the artist as a young girl gained international attention and was also made into a television movie, starring Munro's daughter Jenny.

Munro marriage broke down in 1972. She returned to southern Ontario, and married Gerald Fremlin, a geographer, whom she had known as a student. Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You from 1974 collected together pieces published in magazines such as the New Yorker, Viva and Redbook. The author was first unhappy with the book, and pulled it from the presses for restructuring. In Britain the work was published as a novel. Munro's third collection, however, contains some of her finest stories, including 'Wild Swans', 'Mischief' and 'Simon's Luck.' Also in Who Do You Think You Are? (1978), which followed the lives of two women, Rose and Flo, her stepmother, the tales were interlinked. Rose leaves the small town of Hanratty in Ontario, marries well, and becomes a successful television actress, but eventually she returns to take care of Flo, who has always been comfortable with her place in the world.

From the beginning, Munro has been true to her own literary style and voice. Generally her stories are set in small towns in southern Ontario and British Columbia. Her style has been described as beautifully transparent; it is unsentimental and detailed as in a photograph, much is left unsaid, but at the same time the undercurrents are oddly poignant and disturbing. The past is always present in the here and now. As a rule, Munro's characters are people we meet every day, but their choices are not obvious. Sometimes a small incident changes the course of their lives, gives it a new perspective, or provides a key piece to the story. "The complexity of things -- the things within things -- just seems to be endless," Munro has said. "I mean nothing is easy, nothing is simple."

Munro has received the Governor General's Award for Fiction three times. The short film adaptation of her story 'Boys and Girls' won an Oscar in 1984. Munro received in 1990 the Canada Council Molson Prize for lifetime contributions to her country's cultural life.

Selected works:

• Dance of the Happy Shades, 1968
• Lives of Girls and Women, 1971
• Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You, 1974
• Who Do You Think You Are?, 1978 (UK and US The Beggar Maid) - Kerjäläistyttö (suom. Kristiina Rikman)
• The Moons of Jupiter, 1982
• The Progress of Love, 1986 - Valkoinen tunkio (suom. Kristiina Rikman)
• Friend of My Youth, 1990
• Open Secrets, 1994 - Julkisia salaisuuksia (suom. Kristiina Rikman)
• Selected Stories, 1996
• The Love of a Good Woman, 1998
• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, 2001 - Viha, ystävyys, rakkaus (suom. Kristiina Rikman)
• Vintage Munro, 2004
• Runaway, 2004 - Karkulainen (suom. Kristiina Rikman)
• The View from the Castle Rock, 2006 - Sanansaattaja (suom. Kristiina Rikman)

Week 12...

Well, time passes without us noticing it, and now it's Week 12 already. I'm in my 2nd phase doing my research paper. I feel pressured by the feeling that I might unable to finish my research paper because I feel like I don't have enough sources to complete my research. The main problem is that whether the format that I'm using for my paper, whether it is appropriate or not. Whether it meets with Pn. Juridah's needs.

It has been a long week last week because we got Test 2 for Cik Pah's paper and we've to submit the Task 1 for Dr. Noreen on Wednesday, this week. It has been a chaotic week. Everything seems to be out of control. Maybe I'm too slow in doing my tasks. I need to be more agressive, I guess. But don't worry, by the time's coming, I will submit my research paper, no matter what.

Zhang Yimou's Fantastic Film: 'The Road Home'...

Yesterday was the second day we watched the Mandarin movie entitled 'The Road Home' starring by Zhang Ziyi, the famous female actress, and was directed by Zhang Yimou. What happened was last week, we were unable to watch the movie completely due to some incompatibility between the DVD and the player in Carine's notebook. It kept hanged and they have to repeatedly played the movie. Alas, we decided to stop and viewed for another time.

The most unique about the screenplay was, there were flashback and present scenes. It was portrayed by the director that the past scenes contains coloured ones and on present, it was black and white. The village was named Sanhetun, situated very far away from the nearest city in China. The scene took about the year 1950's and adapting the novel written by Bao Shi "Remembrance."

The main actor named Yu Sheng, was a son of a great teacher, Lou Changyu who came to the village around 30 years ago to teach the children of the village. Zhao Di, the mother was only 18 years old at that time. It was the famous love at first sight that strikes both of them. They were being tested with lots of pain and obstacles before they could finally live together. But now, Yu Sheng's father was dead. The unexpected things happened when the mother decided to 'walk her husband' home from the mortuary house at the city. She was willing to pay to the men who will lift her husband's coffin. The son also promised to contribute the money and had seen the mayor about this matter. When the day comes, it was quite rough weather where it was winter and the storms could come in their way anytime, they could witnessed hundreds of people out of nowhere attend the ceremony to walk the teacher's body back to the village. They claimed that they were his former students. Yu Sheng was curious on how they knew about his death and that they wanted to bring him back to Sanhetun. On the way back, the mayor return the money back to his mother saying that every men who lifted the teacher's coffin would not accept her money and they were willing to do it freely. The movie ends when Yu Sheng reads his father self-made textbook to his children of the village, exactly the same spot that his late father did when he was alive. It is because he wanted to fulfill his father's wishes and also his mother's wish.

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To me, it was among the most 'touching films' that I've ever watched! How the director able to make us as the viewers to actually 'feel' the same way as the character Zhao Di experienced. What she felt when she first saw the teacher, Lou Changyu, when she wanted to attract his interest towards her, her long wait at the passing road for him, and her excitement when she runs to the school building to hear the teacher's voice which she claimed the best voice she ever heard. But the main point is how the society in the village looked up upon the teacher. It is vividly portrayed in the film that the teacher was being treated nicely an with full respect by the villagers right from the day he arrived, and since that day, he was strongly attached to the village. He sacrificed a lot for his students and had a remarkable influence over his students' life. Neither the wife nor him himself could ever realize that he had affected his students deeply. He was the person who was responsible to bring the great changes in the village and had met with the society's expectation towards him.

This movie had trigger the sense of inspiration to me as a teacher-trainee, that it is not impossible to become the teacher full with passion to teach,enthusiasm, greatness, and have this sense to make my future students a better person. It is just with great patience and determination will make my dreams as the great teacher to become true.

Another film that have the same quality is the 'Freedom Writers' starring by Hillary Swank.

Andy Warhol...

Last Thursday there was no class with Dr. Edwin but the attendance still counts for we have to watch a movie clip about a famous person named Andy Warhol. Here's a biography about him, taken from Wikipedia Encyclopedia:

Andy Warhol was an inspiring artist and filmmaker is considered a founder and a major figure of the pop art movement. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928, Andy Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology before moving to New York. His first big break was in August 1949 when Glamour Magazine asked him to illustrate an article called "Success is a Job in New York". Although born Andrew Warhola, he dropped the 'a' in his last name when the credit mistakenly read "Drawings by Andy Warhol."

By 1955 Andy Warhol had almost all of New York copying his work. He was well known for creating ink images with slight color changes. Andy Warhol was into doing popular items like Coca-Cola bottles and celebrities faces, like Marilyn Monroe. His Campbell's Soup Can is a classic and an easily recognized work of Andy's. In the 1960s, Andy Warhol also made a series of films about time, boredom and repetition like Empire and The Chelsea Girls which are now underground classics.

Andy Warhol had the privilege of working with the rock band The Velvet Underground in 1965. He traveled around the country, not only with The Velvets, but also with 1965 superstar Edie Sedgwick and the lightshow The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

On June 3rd, 1968, Valerie Solanis, founder and sole member of SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men), walked into Andy Warhol's studio, The Factory, and shot him three times in the chest. He was rushed to the hospital and doctors said he was dead. Still, they decided to open up his chest and massaging his heart - just in case. It did the trick and Andy Warhol survived. Valerie turned herself in, was put in a mental institute and was later given a three-year prison sentence. After recovering, Andy continued to work. He started interview magazine and published The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again. And though bullets didn't do him in, his own gall bladder did. Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 after routine gall bladder surgery. In May of 1994, The Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh.

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Done with a bit about him. What interest me the most is this guy really has lots of issues to be portrayed in each of his masterpieces. For example the car crash picture with several background colours editions. Why did he choose the picture? Is he trying to tell the viewers something? Why most of the pictures chosen have special background colour? There are so many unique pieces of works done by him that could spread lots of messages to his viewers and to whom who loves his works. Some of them could not be expressed in a form of words.

To me, having an artist like him in this wide world is a necessity, actually. What he did was not only to display his work of arts or to entertain people, but he is educating the world society with his 'colourful messages,' up until today, even he had turned into ashes already.

Making Up An Appointment...

It was sunny today, and it even windy a bit. During the gap after Dr. Nooreen's class and Cik Pah's, I went to look for Pn. Juridah, at her room to set up an appointment on behalf of my group for the research paper, since Dr. Edwin had decided that she's our supervisor. But unfortunately, I didn't manage to meet her, both at her old room and the new one. I guess she must have lectures at the moment. It was really frustrating to me, but I accept the fate that I'm not able to see her today.
Perhaps, tomorrow.

Right now, I'm choosing a few stories and novels to be considered as my topic for research. Maybe I should look for local writers or authors. I choose to do stories rather than poems because for me, it is easier to assess and less complex. Besides, I cannot be the person who is daring enough to use heavy materials, so I must choose wisely not to put myself in a 'booby trap' created by myself.

All of us were busy setting up for appointments with our supervisors since last week. Some of them are meeting today and even started last week. I truly hope tomorrow Pn. Ju is available for us to meet her for the appointment date...

Composing The Draft...Part I

This few days I manage to go back to my hometown, but not with empty hands. I planned to do "Open Window" by Saki, and did my first draft on position paper. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get Mr. Omid to look at my thesis statement, for second time. Well, next time I'll be the first person to give him to take a look at my thesis statement...