"The Crysanthemums"

This story starts out very dry and takes a while to pick up. In the very begining John Stienbeck does nothing but describe the farm land and the garden and Elisa. Which helps us be able to put our self in the situation but was hard to keep attention until the story line accutally picked up. There is alot of repeition in this story which makes you constintly try and find a reason or some kinda of sybolizim for it. "Elisa took off her gloves and stuffed them in the apron pocket with the sissors." Even after class discussion i can not figure out why that phrase has any importance in the story. However we can sybolize the Crysanthemums as her life, happiness and peace. Elisa inside seemed very depressed not satisfied or happy with her life although behind the Crysanthemum she found her joy and her happiness as if they were her kids. When the sales man or the man in the wagon appared and began to talk to her she seemed friendly as his talk became more pushey on his sales then she began to get annoyed but, when his interst became in her flowers its as if her intrest grow for him. In my opinion we dont technicaly know what happend between them which could start a whole other converstation about what really went on before he left. I dont feel she was very happy in her marital situation thats why she spent soo much time in the garden with her "children" perfecting them. Over all i feel this was a very well written story. Was not confusing and comming from a whole bunch of differnt narrators or using hard words to understand. Alhtought it did make you think and tie things together in order to keep the read a interesting one.

"The storm"

"The storm" writtin in 3rd person is very confusing as it starts out talking about many differnt people. With out really decribing each persons charcter in the story. The dialog was hard to follow as it jumped around alot. Although the story did a really good job at discribion and painting a visualize picture of the charters looks. "she was a little fuller of figure than five years before when she married; her blue eyes still retained their melting quality and her yellow hair, dishvelled by the wind and rain." Very well understaning of how the charcter may look. There is also good describtion on what the storm was like and how bad it really was. "It shook the wooden storen and seemed to be ripping great furrowas in the distant field." Some where it stated they had not had a storm this bad in years. This is a story where the conflict is man verses nature. These images helped me visualize the storm, its as if you were there. The setting is sourthen and ancient by the describtion of them riding in on horses and the dialog used. The story overal intesting and ending very classic like many others "happy every after." In happiness as the storm has passed.