Maps to anywhere

   The first thing I am going to talk about is the story "Leaving."  There are many ways to take this but one that I feel stands out for me is hunger and poverty.  I feel like the parents are strong but that child is weak and maybe that child has a disability. When people see someone with a disability they automatically think that their chances to get married and obtain a regular job are slim to none.  This story is very short but has a lot of meaning. 
    "Spontaneous Combustion" is very interesting to me.  I find it very realistic.  When I was in elementary, I remember being in one of the simulated fire houses and it scared me.  I think every child gets scared when they hear the word fire and a hero is exactyl what a fireman is.  A close family friend that is a firefighter is my hero.  I think the courage to be a fireman is extremely strong and I am so happy to say my hero is a fireman.  The situation of being in a fire is something that haunts a child and this story shows the flames engulfing their pjs and them going into heaven.  That is what I got from this.
  The "End of Manners" is the last story I am going to talk about it.  The first paragraph was very interesting.  I think the  best part of the essay is when it says: "When she jumps, polka dots drop like rain".  I think this was interesting because of the movie like image it creates.  I can envision someone in their polka dot dress jumping off a building and polka dots all over.

Maps to anywhere

        While reading maps to anywhere,  I looked at the titles and how I thought they might correlate with the story and how they correlated wit h the stories.  One of the stories that I was confused with the title was "On the Air".  I also looked at "The Biggest, Most Beautiful Balcony in the World.  This is what I will be explaining in the next paragraphs.  I found these stories interesting because they did not really seem like essays to me.  I felt that I was in a conversation with the people writing these stories.
         When I first saw the title "On the Air" I thought of being on the radio or on television, and I also thought about flying a plane.  The different places that are being talked about in this story feels like someone is in a plane.  It goes from eing very happy and marvelous to places that are not as beautiful.  I feel that the plane is crashing and the pilot is crying. 
         When I read "The Biggest, Most Beautiful Balcony in the World", I felt that it was going to be all about fairytales and I was wrong. At first I thought that it was going in the direction of a storylike fairytale and when it started talking about the sad  balcony my thought process changed.  It ended with a good thought about Juliet.
       The stories are not what I thought it would be.  They had a twist to them that I was not ready for but I like that twist.

Goldberg

  The stories in the Goldberg reading are very moving.  The first few sentences in the first two stories are what caught my eye when reading them.  I feel that the first few sentences of a short story are the most important because of the message they are trying to tell you. I am going to be talking about the story "Use Lonliness".  This story made more of an impact than the other stories did.  Lonliness is always something I think most people are afraid of and this story is a perfect way of understanding lonliness.

     "Use of Lonliness" made an impact of me because of the language and how it was very strong.  The one sentence that stood out to me was "No I don't get used to it.  I take a cold shower every morning and every morning it shocks me, but I continue to stand in the shower.  Lonliness always has a bite, but learn to stand up in it and not be tossed away."  I have always been afraid of being lonely and even though we al want to be happy and with someone, it does not always happen the way we want.  We have to perservere through what life gives us and it will help us in the long run. 

  The short stories have come to be my favorite because there are a lot more meaning than the poems.  I thought the poems did not show enough of who the author is where the short stories are very personable.  I am sad to be leaving short stories but I am sure the essays will be just as fun!