The Magistrates

Hawthorne describes the Magistrates to be strong and concerned with the welfare of the country, "They had fortitude and self-reliance, and, in time of difficulty or peril, stood up for the welfare of the state like a line of cliffs against a tempestuous tide"(151).  The Magistrates stood up for what they believed in and fought for the good of the people, they were good men who could be counted on in difficult times.  No matter the peril that stood against them they would not stray from what they believed in. 

The Magistrates are also described as being old and experienced when is comes to their jobs, "bestowed it on the white hair and venerable brow of age; on long-tried integrity; on solid wisdom and sad-colored experience; on endowments of that grave and weighty order, which gives the idea of permanence, and comes under the general definition of respectability"(151).  Hawthorne also tells us they are wise and are well known for their acchievements while in office.  They are very well respected by the people of the times.

Girl Imitation

This is how you hit a ball
this is how you catch a ball
this is how you play a sport
this is how you play with friends

this is how you mow the grass
this is how you rake the leaves
this is how you take out the trash
this is how you clean the pool
this is how you wash a car
this is how you use a hammer
this is how you use a screwdriver
this is how you make a birdhouse
this is you deal with your anger
this is how you dont deal with your anger

these are the emotions that are ok for you to feel
these are the emotions that are not ok for you to feel
this is how you treat women
this is how you treat men you dont really know
this is how you treat men you are friends with
this is how you treat men that you really do not like at all

this is how you win
"well how do i lose"
you dont

Revised Rough Draft

Andrew Mack

English 1b

Prof. Knapp

7 March, 2011

The Flowers from Readers Response Theory

            “The Flowers”, written by Dagoberto Gilb, is a heart rending novel of a Mexican-American boy named Sonny Bravo as he is thrown into a world of racial prejudice and extreme violence.  In the beginning of the story, Sonny had no real relationships to speak of.  Even his own mother, Sylvia, was distanced and more concerned with her own satisfaction too possibly spend time with Sonny.  There are not even any other human beings around him, he never knew his father, and his only sister left when he was younger.    In fact, the only real relationship Sonny had at this time was with his dog, Goofy, and if that is not Unhealthy then I do not know what is.  However, Sonny is forced to go through some major changes very quickly as his  mother remarries to a man named Cloyde, and is then forced to move into Cloyde’s apartment complex.  This, however, turns out to be a positive experience for Sonny as he begins to learn how to form real relationships with others and the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.  Throughout the novel, Sonny takes small steps one at a time towards this goal, and by the end of the novel he learns what it means to form relationships as well as how to be a man.

                 Sonny begins the story by telling us a very interesting yet disturbing secret.  He tells us that before moving to Los Floras, Cloyde’s apartment complex, he would break into his neighbors homes and just look around.  He didn’t really take anything, at least not much, the most he ever took was a couple hundred dollars he found.  He just looked around.  He tells us that he would look at the photographs *and notice certain things*.  This is Sonny trying to find what a true family should act like, what a true home feels like.  He is trying to compensate for his own feeling of lost.  Sonny grew up without any real father figure in his life and he is looking to feel that void.  Nobody who grows up with both their father and mother can understand what this could feel like, I does not even compute for them. It is especially for a young boy without a father.  There is nobody there to teach you how to be a man, so Sonny is extremely confused, and as a confused young boy looking for answers, Sonny breaks into these houses looking for those answer. 

            However there is more than just the missing father figure, a lot more in fact.  Sonny is also looking for a home.  Yes he has a place to live, however that is not necessarily a home.  A home is a place where you feel welcome and safe.  His “home” consists of him alone all the time with his mother constantly coming and going.  That is not very welcoming, in fact that is rather discouraging.  *Then when it comes to feeling safe, he was attacked, and stabbed by a knife.* 

Transitions

Addition-again, also, and, and then, besides, equally impotant, fainally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, on the first place, last, moreover, etc.

Comparison- also, in the same way, likewise, similarly

Concession- granted, naturally, of course

Contrast- although, and yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that, even so, etc.

Emphasis- certainly, indeed, in fact, of course

Example or illustrations- after all, for example, for instance, in conclusion, indeed, thus, truly, etc.

Summary- all in all, altogether, as has been said, finally, etc.

Time Sequence- afterwards, again, also, besides, finally, moreover, sence, so, etc. 

Rough Draft

Andrew Mack

March 7, 2011

Prof. Knapp

English 1b

The Flowers from Readers Response Theory

            The Flowers, written by Dagoberto Gilb,  is a heart rending novel of a Mexican-American boy named Sonny Bravo as he is thrown into a world of racial prejudice and extreme violence.  The novel begins with his mother, Sylvia, marrying a white man named Cloyde and they both move into the apartment complex that he owns, the name of the complex happens to be the namesake of the book, The Flowers.  Sonny then begins to learn more about the lives of the other tenants living around him.  Much of the book is of Sonny looking into the lives of these other people and, sort of judging the way that they live.  However, violence eventually erupts with racism beginning the focus point and Sonny get sucked into it.  There are many characters within this story and all of them have their own problems as well as certain qualities, whether good or bad.  The point of this paper is to further explore the characters and situations in the story.

            Sonny Bravo is the main character of the story.  I don’t think that Sonny is a character that people can just decide to love or hate.  I guess I am trying to say that there is too much to him to develop an opinion based on this book alone.  There are some instances where he is a good boy and you feel that you could really connect with him.  In the beginning of the story he was a very strange boy.  In fact the very beginning of the book started with how he broke into houses, not to steal anything necessarily, but just to see how these people live.  It was almost like he was jealous however was not willing to admit it to himself.  He would lay down on the couches, get drinks out of the refrigerator, even go through the women's underwear.  I had no idea what to think, honestly I did not like Sonny at all.  However, I began to think back and we all have moments like this, especially men.  I don’t mean that we all break into people's homes and go through all their stuff, don’t misunderstand.  I think Sonny was trying to find himself, as every young man does.  He was not able to grow up with a father and even his mother was quite neglectful.  I think he was trying to see how other families act to see if he was "normal". 

            As the story progresses, Sonny stops breaking into houses, and I believe that his behavior begins to slowly change, however we do not really see this until the very end of the book.             

            Other than Sonny there are many other individuals in this story, all of who have their own distinct personalities.  Whether or not some likes a certain character is completely up to the reader, of course.  Characters like Sylvia, Cloyde, Cindy, Pink are really characters that you will need to decide for yourself whether or not you like the character or not.  Then there are characters like Nica, and bud.  I cannot see anyone really hating Nica, she never really gets enough details to show any bad qualities.  Then there is Bud, who is a complete racist and is no way anyone would like this character, unless they themselves were a racist.

            I believe that Gilb wanted the readers to decide themselves whether or not the wanted to like or dislike a certain character, he let it up to them.  Instead of having a book where there are good guys and bad guys, Gilb decided to make characters that are not so one sided.  They have their own personalities and problems,  you may decide that you hate what one does however you feel sorry for their situation, such as Cindy.  She was forced to marry a man that she does not love, and is now a drug addict and having an affair with Sonny.  Her whole life is a mess and I can't help but feel sorry for her.    

Short Story "Girl"

The short story that I chose was "Girl" because of the fact that there was a video, I liked that.  However the story itself was very entertaining and I thought it was quite funny.  It is basically a guide to all women on how to properly be women.  However, I get the feeling, even when reading the actual story that it is making good use of satire and is not taking itself seriously at all.  The type of Critical theory that I will be using, or at least try to use, will be the feminist theory or gender critical theory.  I feel that this theory is perfect when analyzing and story of this nature.

            This story is telling women that they need to learn how to act like proper ladies, and to be a proper lady you must learn to do the laundry, make dinner, be courteous to others even those who you do not like, you need to have a garden, and love your man, among other things.  If you could not do all of these things in the end then you would be considered a slut and no one would want anything to do with you.

            I spoke to my mother about this and she told me that back in the fifties and sixties things where really like this, exactly like this.  Women back then were supposed to be these perfect little robots that would be on call whenever their husbands needed them.  They would do the laundry, cook dinner, be happy no matter what, and above all else love their man without questions.  In fact my mother was one of the rare individuals to divorce from her first marriage, something that nowadays happens all the time, however back then, it was like a mortal sin, or adultery, people could not believe that my mother could do such a thing.  Women back then were to love their man no matter what the man did to them, my mother, thank goodness did not think that way.

            The world we live in is certainly changing.  Today women have almost as much power as men.  While we are not yet at total equality we are steadily making progress towards it.  I have noticed more and more that there are many men, nowadays, who are stay at home fathers and have taken on the role that the women from the fifties or sixties would fulfill. 

            I think that this is good for the United States, honestly I do not would my future wife to be a robot to wait on me all the time, only some times, just kidding, or am I.  But seriously, I would rather have a wife who I could talk to, who was my best friend and who would get along with me and accept me for who I am, rather than a brainwashed robot who did everything for me.  That would be so boring and depressing, I am glad that the roles of women are changing, I believe that men and women should both have the same chances in everything they do, and let's face it, most women are smarter than most men so it makes sense, and I said "most" by the way.        

Reading Experiences

            The Novel The Flowers has a lot to offer people in terms of perspective.  We who live here in California at this point in time do not need to deal with many of the issues that Sonny and other Characters in The Flowers have to deal with.  We are lucky enough to live in an area and time where there is a lot more respect for other races of human beings then other times or places.  While we are not perfect by any means, we are at least moving in the right direction.

            This book give me a lot of insight on what is it like living in an area where you are discriminated against because of the color of your skin.  As for me, being a male Caucasian, I have experienced little to no discrimination towards myself, so I am not really able to connect to the experiences Sonny is having in the novel.  I have been lucky enough to live in an area where all races live together in peace for the most part, and there was very little discrimination at all in my life.  I have also been lucky enough to be raised by parents who are also very respectful and do not discriminate and was able to learn the correct way of treating other people and to not judge people based on the color of their skin.  So as for what I am experiencing in this book, it is quite a new experience for myself.

            Racism is something that I have never really had to think of all throughout my life.  I have always heard of people being racist and discriminating in history books and the news however I have never really seen it up close and personal.  The racism in The Flowers is a little less obvious then what you would see in movies or on the news.  The Racism usually stems from Cloyd and is usually he view of African Americans.  However I have noticed that he is also getting more and more violent towards Sonny and his mother Sylvia.  Well, I guess I should not say violent, yet, however he is beening more and more impatient with them and I get the feeling that it is eventually going to explode into something serious.

                

Reading Habits

Sitting down and reading is actually very hard for me.  Not because I am incapable of reading or anything, far from it, I always just feel that sitting down and reading is time spent I could be doing other things.  In all honesty, I do not really enjoy reading at all.  I feel that books take far too long getting from point to point.  I feel like most book out there are around 200 pages and I could summarize what they are about in little over a page.  Albeit, if a book is good enough and catches my interests I could read it in a couple of day.  For instance, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is the greatest book ever written, I have even read it multiple times, and no it is not like the movie. 

So yes, I do believe that reading could be a very enjoyable experience, and I think that this applies to everyone, you just need to find the right book, it is just that some people are a bit more picky about what they read, like me.

  For example, The Lord of the Ring.  I happened to watch the movies first( which was the first mistake I made, no doubt) and when I sat down to read the book I just could not get into it at all.  I felt like the book was too long with too many useless details and I couldn’t ever finish it.  I know I should probably give it another chance however nowadays a feel like I don’t have the time to sit around and read a book for hours on end when I could get the same information out of the movies in a fraction of the time.  I am sure all the Lord of the Ring buffs out there are probably sharpening their axes right about now, but that is how I really feel.

So you ask me to reflect on my own reading habits and how I am able to fit my reading in.  Well, I do not really read unless I am forced to, however whenever my grade requires me to read a certain book I always get it done.  I really need to force myself to just sit down and focus on the book.  Otherwise I end up sitting there thinking of all the other thing I could be doing besides reading a book.

To be honest, The Flowers is really no different.  It is a good book don’t get me wrong. It is entertaining and makes me chuckle here and there but he always talks about useless things and it really annoys me.  One example is when Sylvia and Cloyd were fight so Sonny found time to count his money.  He uses a whole page to explain were this money came from and it had absolutely nothing to do with the story.  These little thing annoy me and end up making me lose interest in the book.  If The Scarlet Letter really is as bad as everyone says it is I am really not looking forward to it at all; and that old english, AHHHHHHHHHHH.

My Father Always...

...is a perfectionist
...is a very hard worker
...always annoys the hell out of me
...is willing to play a game of basketball with me
...hogs my xbox believe it or not
...is there for me in the end

Character Description

The first time we get a real indication of Cloyd's character is during the time when Sonny and he first meet face to face.  He is hardworking; it never really goes into how he was able to get where he is in the days of the book however he worked his way up and now owns he own apartment building and seems to be quite wealthy compared to other people in the book.  He also has Sonny do his share of the work around the apartment. 

"I knew something like this was coming, though, because I already overheard him telling my mom one afternoon how I had to learn responsibility, how I had to earn my right to stay here." (63) 

Whenever a kid hears this from a parent they always think how ridiculous it is and that they are already responsible, only to find out later that their parents were right.  From this we can see that Cloyd  is at least trying to instill some good qualities into Sonny. 

It is too bad but the good qualities end with that and seeing as how this book is told from the perspective of a teenager who dislikes him, that is the obvious case. From Sonny's perspective(and likely anyone else who meets him)  Cloyd is racist, unappreciative, and condescending, among other distasteful character traits. 

Cloyd speaking of African Americans, "I owns this apartment building, you think I can't let who I want to live here?  That I can't figure out how to not let who I don’t want to live here?"(53).

From just this statement I believe it is pretty obvious that Cloyd is in fact a racist. He is not willing to allow any African Americans to take up residence in his apartment complex.  He goes on to imply that they are lazy, do not pay their bills, he also implies that the African American are making problems for people.          

He is incredibly rude and disrespectful.  At one point Sonny heard him talking on the phone; "I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal."(51)  If that is not disrespectful then I do not know what is.  Of course this is not the only instance of Cloyd being disrespectful, they are scattered all throughout the first hundred pages.

He is also an incredible perfectionist, which in some cases could be considered to be a good quality however he gets angry at Sonny and Sylvia over very simple matters.  For instance, He get angry over the number of toilet paper squares they each use.  He seems to think that three sheets is more than enough. 

Cloyd, while not the absolute worst guy in the world, is a racist, does not care for anyone but himself and thinks he is superior to everyone as well, and is just a hard guy to get along with and like, and it seems as though that is why Sonny dislikes his to such a degree, and I could understand.

What I think will happen to Sonny

I believe that Sonny will continue to work around the apartment and get to know all the tenants.  He will take a look at their lives from a distance and tell us what he thinks about their lifestyles.  It is also obvious that he does not care much for Cloyd and I believe there may be a fight of some kind developing in the near future.  I cannot see any real conflict appearing in the book anytime soon. 

Maybe Sonny will go on to help the individuals, such as Cindy, Nica, his mother and anyone else he may meet, with their problems.  Such as how Cindy is not getting along with her husband, or the fact that Nica is not allowed to go to school.  Then there is his mother who Sonny believe does not really want to be with Cloyd, however she does not have any other choice.  I am sure that he will go on to meet every individual in the apartment complex and maybe even some elsewhere. 

I Think that Sonny will begin to connect more deeply with everyone at the apartments and befriend the majority of them.  He will learn what it means to care for other people, which he did not in the beginning of the book up till now.  As of right now, up to page fifty, Sonny silently judges everyone that he meets.  Even his only two friends, the twins.  I think that this is due to the fact that he is not happy with himself.  I think this is a psychological story of a boy who is beginning to find his way through life.  I believe that he will begin to find entertainment in being with other people and will be content with the person he truly is.


In the beginning he commits many crimes, such as stealing or breaking into houses. Not because he is necessarily in need  or  because he want to steal anything.  He does it because it was fun and he wanted to learn how other people live their lives and he compares their lives with his own.  As if he is not happy with his own life.  I think that as the book continues the amount of crimes that Sonny commits will begin to die down as he begins to come to terms with the person he is and the life he is living.  Then, by the end he will be living a fulfilled life with all the things he had ever wanted.

I am...

I am twenty years old living in Gilroy California.  I graduated from Monte Vista in Watsonville in 2009 and decided to take care of my general education at Gavilan because of costs.  I am hoping to major in either communications or criminal justice, i have not yet decided.