Sandra Cisneros '' Eleven'

Eleven
A harsh and realistic tale telling of one of the cruelest realities of life. That's what Sandra Cisneros’ “Eleven” is. To see life from the eyes of an eleven year old, even though it's not a true child's perspective, is a unique opportunity, especially when the child knows how to properly express one's feelings in words. Cisneros expresses one of the key feelings that we share as human beings, that we are never smart, mature, or experienced enough to do what we need to do, like we are never good enough. This story also makes me wonder about the meaning of birthdays, why do we record how old we are when most of the time we dread getting older? Also, the author constantly hammers out numbers,”eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, and one” as if she really wanted to nail that phrase in the reader's mind. I believe that the repetition of numbers is a reflection of the empty and grey feeling that Cisneros feels due to the lasting effect that ageing has on a human being, also the fact that she is younger and the teacher won't listen to her is another reflection of her dissatisfaction with her age. One might think that from the depressing and sad tone of this short story that Cisneros may have been feeling quite dissatisfied with the way her life was going at the time she wrote this, perhaps unhappy with certain events that were occurring that she had no control over, like she was an eleven year old child.

Young Man on Sixth Avenue
The unmistakable boldness and brashness that radiates from Mark Halliday’s “Young Man on Sixth Avenue” is so apparent and vivacious when one begins to read it, it almost seems to infect the mind of the reader itself, reaching across reality with its strong grip and ceasing the reader's conscious and proceeding to lighten the day with its joyous attitude and tone.
With the resolute, audacious, and gallant way Halliday wrote this story, one can only assume that this be a direct extension of his character, for its hard to believe one could have such a lightened and overjoyed mood as this on just a single occasion. But even more amazing than this great attitude is how utterly last the tears it down with only a few lines of text. The way Halliday wrote this short story, some might think it a means to show how terribly fragile happiness can be and it is, but this story is a warning. This is a warning that hard times are just around the corner, waiting to take your bold and brash happiness and tear it up in front of you if you're willing to let it. Although I admire the young man's attitude in the first paragraph, I'm afraid that I don't share the same attitude as the young
man.

Incarnations of Burned Children
The feeling s that “Incarnations of Burned Children” by David Foster Wallace evoke are sadness, mortality, and dismal.
The thought that even the most innocent of creatures can be so terribly scared attest to the cruelty and desperate struggle we humans battle through in our seemingly hopeless endeavor for survival and the protection of our fragile offspring. We strive and aim and do everything in our limited power to protect those fragile offspring that we bring into this world yet this struggle can
seem.

Happy Endings
I actually very much like this short story. Not only does Atwood show the diversity that you can take with even the most basic of story plotlines that even the most rudimentary and ametuer writer can conjure up, but through “Happy Endings” she also shows the extreme difficulty one can encounter when trying their hand at creating an original plot that they like. The insight that the author gives of the troubles and rigors of writing show how Atwood has also endured the hardships of writer's block. When I read “Happy Endings”, I begin to wonder why happy endings are so popular among readers. For me, an ending that leaves me satisfied with the conclusion of a novel and forces me to perhaps wonder at what happens after that conclusion, whether happy or not, that is an ending that leaves me happy.