Eliza's Blog

Looking back on this book that we've all finished, I can say that there is a very specific scene that hung in my mind long af ter we had finished reading, and that's the scene with the wallet. One question kept showing up like  John Quiñones in a midwestern  café; what would you do?          When we first read it, I think we all had a similar reaction; okay fine he gave the wallet back and that's fair enough, but maybe we'd like to see some cliché justice done here, especially since the opportunity was so perfect. I thought about it afterwards and while I still agree with that, I'm not sure that Jason being Jason had any other choice in that moment.          We know that Jason isn't a bad kid. I mean that in every possible sense. I think he's generally well behaved, I think he has a working moral compass, I think he has a lot of depth as an individual. While the bullying (I hesitate to even call it bullying that stuff...

For me, the most memorable passage from this book was a flashback deep into Alison's childhood: the part where she starts writing "I think" before every one of her sentences in her diary, later to be replaced with a loopy symbol to represent the same concept. Aside from its peculiarity, I wanted to write about it because I felt it might get lost among all the other shocking events described.  Now, at first, I have to admit I didn't understand why Alison Bechdel decided to include it at all. Yeah it's very interesting but it didn't jump out to me as directly related to the main plot line which is heavily focused on her father.  Bechdel writes "It was a sort of epistemological crisis. How did I know that the things I was writing were absolutely objectively true? All I could speak for was my own perceptions, and perhaps not even those.". This specific behavior seems to be part of a larger pattern of obsessive compulsive behaviors she's displaying at...

     During Tuesday's class we got to talking about one of the most important elements of the book, the title. In that discussion many wonderful and interesting points were brought up about the meaning of "The Bell Jar" and when combined they summarize the idea behind the whole book, and dissect a really interesting metaphor.      To start, it was useful to know what a bell jar is and what its purpose is. The best way I can describe it is a glass covering with an opening at the bottom, typically used in laboratories to house samples. Personally, I didn't really know what a bell jar was, so until it was mentioned in class I was just imagining a regular mason jar. Several really important elements characteristic of bell jars can be taken and directly applied to the situation we're observing with Esther. I think there are 3 main elements of bell jars which translate well into the narrative.      The first is that bell jars are meant to keep...

      Reading this book again was an interesting experience to say the least. The last time I read it was Subbie year for the banned book project and I'm realizing now that I understood maybe 20% of it the first time around.      The first thing I want to talk about is the scene right near the end where Holden is waiting for his sister by the art museum to give her back her "Christmas dough" and say goodbye to her before he leaves. The way he describes his sister as carrying this giant suitcase and begging him to take her with him made me incredibly sad. I think that Pheobe as a character is exceptionally underrated. Even though she isn't talked about very often I get the sense that she (like Holden) is dealing with a lot of things behind the scenes. Perhaps that's one of the reasons he's always describing her as more mature and smart than her age would suggest. I remember that the first time I read from that scene to the end I was sort of disappointed. I t...

In my coming of age essay I determine the phenomenon as consisting of two main aspects (among others). These are: 1. Life stage in combination with age. I other words, coming to a very climactic, difficult, or intense part in your life, and 2. Undergoing a major change/shift in opinions or worldview. Sort of like being enlightened or woken up to the way things really are.  Here is the summary of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, as written in in my essay just in case you haven't read it or watched one of the movie adaptations:  Elizabeth Bennet, second eldest in a long string of sisters, begins her journey one summer when Mr. Bingley, a wealthy gentleman, Ms. Bingley, his sister, and Mr. Darcy, his even more wealthy friend, all move near to the Bennets. Through a series of balls, the Bennet family becomes well acquainted with the three aristocrats, and there is even talk of a wedding arrangement between Jane Bennet (the eldest daughter) and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth...