test

test

did it work?

test

test

did it work?

Independent Women

Something you should know about Independent Women Lyrics

Title: Destiny's Child - Independent Women lyrics

Artist: Destiny's Child

Visitors: 29436 visitors have hited Independent Women Lyrics since Feb 12, 2007.

Print: Destiny's Child - Independent Women Lyrics print version

Lucy Liu... with my girl, Drew... Cameron D. and Destiny
Charlie's Angels, Come on
Uh uh uh

Question: Tell me what you think about me
I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
Only ring your cell-y when I'm feelin lonely
When it's all over please get up and leave
Question: Tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me boy you get dismissed
Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills
Always 50/50 in relationships

The shoes on my feet
I've bought it
The clothes I'm wearing
I've bought it
The rock I'm rockin'
I've bought it
'Cause I depend on me
If I wanted the watch you're wearin'
I'll buy it
The house I live in
I've bought it
The car I'm driving
I've bought it
I depend on me
(I depend on me)

All the women who are independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollas
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that
Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that

Tell me how you feel about this
Who would I want if I would wanna live
I worked hard and sacrificed to get what I get
Ladies, it ain't easy bein' independent
Question: How'd you like this knowledge that I brought
Braggin' on that cash that he gave you is to front
If you're gonna brag make sure it's your money you flaunt
Depend on noone else to give you what you want

The shoes on my feet
I've bought it
The clothes I'm wearing
I've bought it
The rock I'm rockin'
I've bought it
'Cause I depend on me
If I wanted the watch you're wearin'
I'll buy it
The house I live in
I've bought it
The car I'm driving
I've bought it
I depend on me
(I depend on me)

All the women who are independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollas
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that
Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that

Destiny's Child
Wassup?
You in the house?
Sure 'nuff
We'll break these people off Angel style

Child of Destiny
Independent beauty
Noone else can scare me
Charlie's Angels

Woah
All the women who are independent
Throw your hands up at me
All the honeys who makin' money
Throw your hands up at me
All the mommas who profit dollas
Throw your hands up at me
All the ladies who truly feel me
Throw your hands up at me

Girl I didn't know you could get down like that
Charlie, how your Angels get down like that
(repeat until fade)

This song is apart of the narrative about women who are independent. This shows that independent women do not have to depend on anyone else to take care of their business. This song is against the norm of a woman getting married and having a man get everything for her. So I am showing the other side of women, the empowering women who wants to show individuality. This stills hold that women can have everything if they did it themeselves.

"Single"

Single- Natasha Bedingfield
Ah yeah that's right
All you single people out there
This is for you

I'm not waitin' around for a man to save me
(Cos I'm happy where I am)
Don't depend on a guy to validate me
(No no)
I don't need to be anyone's baby
(Is that so hard to understand?)
No I don't need another half to make me whole

Make your move if you want doesn't mean I will or won't
I'm free to make my mind up you either got it or you don't

This is my current single status
My declaration of independence
There's no way I'm tradin' places
Right now a star's in the ascendant

I'm single
(Right now)
That's how I wanna be
I'm single
(Right now)
That's how I wanna be

Ah yeah Uh Huh that's right

Don't need to be on somebody's arm to look good
(I like who I am)
I'm not saying I don't wanna fall in love 'cos I would
I'm not gonna get hooked up just 'cos you say I should
(Can't romance on demand)
I'm gonna wait so I'm sorry if you misunderstood

Everything in it's right time everything in it's right place
I know I'll settle down one day
But 'til then I like it this way it's my way
Eh I like it this way

Make your move if you want doesn't mean I will or won't
I'm free to make my mind up you either got it or you don't
'Til then I'm single

This is my current single status
My declaration of independence
There's no way I'm tradin' places
Right now a star's in the ascendant
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I chose this song because it sends a really good message. She is not going to play into the stereotypical message that she is told daily. She doesn't need a man to make her feel important like many of the characters in the stories we've read feel. It is a very empowering song that sends a really good message to young girls.

rilo kiley-does he love you?

Get a real job
Keep the wind at your back and the sun on your face
All the immediate unknowns
Are better than knowing this tired and lonely fate
Does he love you?
Does he love you?
Will he hold your tiny face in his hands?

I guess it's spring, I didn't know
It's always seventy-five with no melting snow
A married man, he visits me
I receive his letters in the mail twice a week

And I think he loves me
And when he leaves her
He's coming out to California

I guess it all worked out
There's a ring on your finger and the baby's due out
You share a place by the park
And run a shop for antiques downtown

And he loves you
Yeah he loves you
And the two of you will soon become three
And he loves you
Even though you
Used to say you were flawed if you weren't free

Let's not forget ourselves good friend
You and I were almost dead
And you're better off for leaving
Yeah you're better off for leaving

Late at night
I get the phone
You're at the shop sobbing all alone
Your confession it's coming out
You only married him
You felt your time was running out

But now you love him
And your baby
At last you are complete
But he's distant and you found him
On the phone pleading, saying, 'baby I love you'
And I'll leave her and I'm coming out to California"

Let's not forget ourselves good friend
I am flawed if I'm not free
And your husband will never leave you
He will never leave you for me


This song is between two women who were friends living in California until one of them gets married. Unbeknownst to the other, the new husband and the old friend are having an affair. I think it is a pretty typical romance narrative in the way that this women thinks everything will work out if this guy leaves his wife. It's like we were talking about in class, forgiving and forgetting happens so easily in books and movies, it's unrealistic. It also touchs on the narrative of women's dependance on men. The now married woman used to say 'you are flawed if youre not free' but then she marries him because 'she felt her time was running out'. It is sort of like in Summer, Charity grapples with the feeling of wanting to be independent, yet can't make herself happy with out a man.

My Sister, My Friend

Hey girl it's me i just called to tell you hi
Call me when you get this
Haven't talked lately so hard to find the time
Give the boys a big kiss
Tell them that I miss them
By the way I miss you too

I was thinking just today
About how we used to play
Barbie dolls and make-up
Tea parties dress up
I remember how we'd fight
We made up and laughed all night
Wish we were kids again
My sister my friend

Oh yeah before I forget I met someone
I think I really like him
I was wondering if I'm jumping the gun
By going out on a limb
And invite him home for Christmas
To meet the family

Seem like just yesterday
You brought home old what's his name
He had been drinking
What were you thinking
After dinner he passed out
We can laugh about it now
We've learned a lot since then
My sister my friend

Do you think you could come and see me sometime soon
We could just hang out like we used to
It's late and I should go
But I can't hang up the phone
Until I tell you
What I don't tell you enough
Even though at times it seemed
We were more like enemies
I'd do it all again
My sister my friend

---------------------------------

I absolutely love this song. It illustrates a very personal women's relationship: one between sisters. We have discussed the power of women's friendships, and the connection women have with those that they have grown up with. The "sisterly" relationship is one we really haven't discussed in class. As a young woman, the relationship I have had with my two younger sisters, Taylor and Chandler, is one of the most significant in my life. The older I get, the closer I become with each of them and the more I appreciate the people they are. In the end of the song, the phrase "Even though at times it seemed, we were more like enemies. I'd do it all again." gets me everytime. It reminds me of my middle sister, Taylor. Growing up we had the most ridiculous fights, but looking back, I cherish the days when our bedrooms were right next to each other.

Down and Dirty with Dolly

A hilarious commentary on sexism in the workplace, "9 to 5" displays the slow evolution of the female image. In the "revenge" sequence, in which Dolly Parton, Lilly Tomlin, and Jane Fonda fantasize about punishing their boss, conventions are turned upside down as the women manipulate common cultural narratives to empower themselves. Parton's character, an unwitting sex object, becomes the aggressor and terrifies her boss. Tomlin takes on a classic appearance and defeats her superior using disturbingly cute means. While Fonda's fantasy is not featured here, she takes on the supposedly masculine aspect of the hunter to achieve her ends. All three women have dominant roles within their fantasies, yet maintain their femininity as they deem it a source of pride rather than something of which to be ashamed. Basically, it echoes the initial question as to what truly empowers a woman as a woman.

living our love song

Jason Michael Carroll - Livin' Our Love Song

Baby, when I look at you
With your hair falling down in your baby blues.
Standing there across the room,
I get so lost in the way you move.
It makes me reminisce, back to years ago
On a night like this.
Teary-eyed, as you took my hand,
And I told you that I'd be your man.
So many things have come, so many things have gone,
One thing that's stayed the same is
Our love's still going strong.
Baby just look at us, all this time and were still in love,
Something like this just don't exist between a
Backwoods boy and a fairytail princess.
People said it would never work out,
But living our dreams we shattered all doubts.
Feels good to prove 'em wrong,
Livin' our love song.
Darling, would you look at me,
With my heart beatin' fast, and my shaky knees.
Its pretty hard to believe
After all these years, I still need you this badly.
You're dancing in my arms
With a spotlight moon and a sea of stars.
Oh girl we've come so far,
Everything I want is everything you are.
Just want to lay you down, say I love you
Without a sound.
I think you know what I'm talking about.
Baby just look at us, all this time and were still in love,
Something like this just don't exist between a
Backwoods boy and a fairytail princess.
People said it would never work out,
But living our dreams we shattered all doubts.
Feels good to prove 'em wrong,
Livin' our love song.
Baby just look at us, all this time and were still in love,
Something like this just don't exist, between a
Backwoods boy and a fairytail princess.
People said it would never work out,
But living our dreams we shattered all doubts.
Don't it feels good to prove 'em wrong,
Livin' our love song.
It feels good to prove 'em wrong,
Just livin' our love song.

I chose this song because it is one of my new favorite songs right now. It has personal sentiment for me. anyhow, it does address some things we discussed through the course about roles in society based upon class or social status. she is a "fairy tale princess" and he is a "backwoods boy". this can highlight the idea of comming from two very different places and also the romantic narrative like Romeo and Juliet of how they weren't expected to be together by others. It is a romantic narrative that as we learned in class many women look to have even still. It is the idea of wanting this great "love song" wiht a guy and having this big thing that seems completely out of a movie. The way he talks about her seems romantic but it is also sexual and of course it is him who is doing all the talking about how she is so beautiful with her "baby blues" and how he wants to Just wants "to lay you down, say I love you Without a sound. I think you know what I'm talking about. " this is a sexual reference and sex is always something that is made romantic in our society but in reality it is not always such a thing. i feel that although i still love this song, i shows a great deal of the things surrounding women's narrative that we discussed in class.

Grappling with Gender Roles

The song I chose to bring is called 'Tough' by Craig Morgan. The song is a type of ballad, sung by a man in which he says that he thought he was tough until he knew his wife. He contines to go through all of her trials and tribulations and acknowledges his short commings when she is diagnosed with cancer and handles herself with more composure or 'toughness' than he does. I She’s in the kitchen at the crack of dawn

Bacon’s on, coffee’s strong
Kids running wild, taking off their clothes
If she’s a nervous wreck, well it never shows
Takes one to football and one to dance
Hits the Y for aerobics class
Drops by the bank, stops at the store
Has on a smile when I walk through the door
The last to go to bed, she’ll be the first one up
And I thought I was tough

The first part of the song deals with a lot of female roles that we have discussed in class, the woman in the kitchen, watching the kids, etc.The image of her showing no emotion parallels the scene in Revolt of Mother in which she is making pies without showing her anger. I think the man in this song is giving his wife the credit for having a hard life and making the best of it, but in the refrain he says "there was a time, back before she was mine, when I thought I was tough'.This reinforces the age old stereotype that the man owns the woman. I think that this is the part of the song that is grappling with gender roles. Although the man in the song is praising his wife for being strong (not an image usually associated with women), he is still claiming her like property and he is also the one to define her as tough, when perhaps she isnt at all. I like this song becasue it changes roles that we are used to hearing in songs and in movies, but I still think it has its roots in all other traditional pieces where men control women and women can't speak for themselves.

NO DOUBT - JUST A GIRL

JUST A GIRL

Take this pink ribbon off my eyes
I'm exposed
And it's no big surprise
Don't you think I know
Exactly where I stand
This world is forcing me
To hold your hand
'Cause I'm just a girl, little 'ol me
Don't let me out of your sight
I'm just a girl, all pretty and petite
So don't let me have any rights

Oh...I've had it up to here!
The moment that I step outside
So many reasons
For me to run and hide
I can't do the little things
I hold so dear
'Cause it's all those little things
That I fear

'Cause I'm just a girl I'd rather not be
'Cause they won't let me drive
Late at night
I'm just a girl,
Guess I'm some kind of freak
'Cause they all sit and stare
With their eyes

I'm just a girl,
Take a good look at me
Just your typical prototype

Oh...I've had it up to here!
Oh...am I making myself clear?
I'm just a girl
I'm just a girl in the world...
That's all that you'll let me be!
I'm just a girl, living in captivity
Your rule of thumb
Makes me worry some

I'm just a girl,
what's my destiny?
What I've succumbed to
Is making me numb
I'm just a girl, my apologies
What I've become is so burdensome
I'm just a girl, lucky me
Twiddle-dum there's no comparison

Oh...I've had it up to!
Oh...I've had it up to!!
Oh...I've had it up to here!

I believe the first verse focuses on how women are supposed to be pretty, petite and wear pink ribbons. When it says "the world is forcing me to hold your hand", I believe it is talking about how society says that we need to have a man to be happy and how we don't have any rights. The men have the say in everything.
The refrain talks about how she's had it and she's sick and tired of being treated this way.
She then begins to talk about how everyone stares are her just because she is a girl and she feels like some kind of freak.
The last verse is apologizing for being a girl. "I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?..." "...I'm just a girl, my apologies." I believe this is her apologizing because she has no real destiny (or so society says) just because she is a woman.
No Doubt ends this song by saying "I've had it up to here!"

I believe that this song is one of a kind. It focuses on the portrait of how women are viewed and treated in our society. Throughout the song, Gwen Stefani emphasizes different ways that females are belittled and made to feel that they are not as worthy as men. I think I particularly like this song because No Doubt is standing up for women's rights-- and it's about time!!! The song lyrics oppose womens stereotypes and they give women the strength to stand up for themselves. Hopefully this song and many other people are able to change how the rest of society has viewed women and people are able to realize that women are just as good as any man-- we can be just as successful and just as happy!!!

summer part 2

Ashlynne had said about the first part of the book,

"Entering her prison house with a listless step she took off her hat, hung it on a plaster bust of Minerva, opened the shutters,..."

When I read this line I felt bad for her, that her job was so horrible to her that she compared it to a prison house. The more you read on you find out she only works 2 hours a day! I thought that was funny and really dramatic, but the more I think about it now I realize she was probably referring to the whole town as a prison house for her. She felt trapped in a small undesirable place.

i have to agree with this entirely. As much as she wants to get out, she can't and at the end of the book we see that she doesn't. She has become what she did not want to be. I believe the whole town is a prison that as a woman she can't escape from.

Performance piece: Bjork's Bachelorette

Bjork: Bachelorette

I'm a fountain of blood
In the shape of a girl
You're the bird on the brim
Hypnotised by the Whirl

Drink me, make me feel real
Wet your beak in the stream
Game we're playing is life
Love is a two way dream

Leave me now, return tonight
Tide will show you the way
If you forget my name
You will go astray
Like a killer whale
Trapped in a bay

I'm a path of cinders
Burning under your feet
You're the one who walks me
I'm your one way street

I'm a whisper in water
Secret for you to hear
You are the one who grows distant
When I beckon you near

Leave me now, return tonight
The tide will show you the way
If you forget my name
You will go astray
Like a killer whale
Trapped in a bay

I'm a tree that grows hearts
One for each that you take
You're the intruders hand
I'm the branch that you break
Hum-yeah!
** Icelandic part **


I chose this particular song because I believe Bjork is exploring the dual nature of woman, playing with traditional and non-traditional ideas. In the opening lines, she describes herself as a "fountain of blood", and her male counterpart as a bird hypnotized by her. She is obviously not the passive victim of male desire - the violent imagery she uses to describe herself contrasts with the timid imagery she uses to describe her lover, thus subverting the notion that women are always the passive receptors of male affection, and men are the aggressors.

In the second stanza, she implores her lover to drink her, in order for her to feel real. This passage directly contrasts the previous stanza, in that she now desires to be validated by her lover. Further, she states that love is a two-way dream, admitting she is not entirely in control over her feelings when it comes to lust and love, as the previous stanza would have the listener believe. This passage isn't necessarily exploiting her weaknesses - rather, it is an acknowledgement of them and the dual nature of woman. Cultural narratives often dictate that woman has to either be passive and weak, or strong and unfeeling. This song outright rejects that one-dimensional view of women.

In the fourth stanza she returns to characterizing herself as a violent, destructive force, as a path of cinders burning under her lover's feet. Yet in the very next lines, she emphasizes her passivity - her lover walks her like she is a one-way street. This is another, more extreme example of how Bjork is contemplating woman as a complex, multi-faceted being, rather than a character drawn strictly in black and white.

Contrasting imagery continues throughout the remainder of the song, further emphasizing that women are perhaps more complex than men, at least as far as love/lust are concerned. This song celebrates all the complexities of women, rather than painting them in an entirely negative or entirely positive light.

The Very Picture of a Modern Gal

"She was blind and insensible to many things, and dimly knew it; but to all that was light and air, perfume and colour, every drop of blood in her responded. She loved the roughness of the dry mountain grass under her palms, the smell of the thyme into which she crushed her face, the fingering of the wind in her hair and through her cotton blouse, and the creak of the larches as they swayed to it."

"She had learned what she was worth when Lucius Harney, looking at her for the first time, had lost the thread of his speech, and leaned reddening on the edge of her desk. But another kind of shyness had been born in her: a terror of exposing to vulgar perils the sacred treasure of her happiness."

These passages of Edith Wharton's Summer may have been the author's sense of irony at work; however, it may have also been an indirect attack on common thinking of the time. Women were often correlated with nature and men with science or engineering, such as "Mother" Nature and "Father" Time (which may say something for the reiteration of the lack of men in North Dormer during the day). A woman's value was also tied to her responsibilities which were inevitably tied to her husband or lover. The first passage may relate to Charity's origins and the latter is a juxtaposition of her feelings for Royall. Sadly, I'm disgusted and frustrated with Charity. She seeks to be independent and fails time and again, placing such great value such as Harney or a branch of flowers. Not that one can't enjoy nature! It's simply that I'm left to wonder if her enjoyment of it is pure and true rather than an adherence to the stereotype. In the end, Charity seems horribly selfish and childish and inevitably reemphasizes perpetuated stereotypes, such as those of Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Syfers' "Why I want a Wife".

In response to Lilly,

In Lilly's most recent blog, she posted the following paragraph:

After reading the entire book, I do not think that Charity is a very strong character because she is so easily shaped by her surroundings and more specifically the men in her life. I think that she learns that the romance narrative she grew up believing does not necessarily exist and that even though people are separated by class in the minds of others, just because you are of a certain social class does not mean you are morally superior. I liked this character and it was interesting to see how she changed and responded as the story progressed.

I agree with her in that she thinks that Charity is not a strong character but I think that way for a different reason that she does. I think that most of us, if not all, are shaped by our surroundings but that does not make us weak. I believe that we are products of our environment and products of nurture. So I don't feel that it's fair to single Charity out in that aspect. However, I do, in some aspect, agree with the fact that she can't be considered a strong charcter for the fact that she was substancially effected by the men in her life. I also feel that that was llittle change or progression in the character of Charity. She still acted close to the same way in the end as she did in the beginning. She was still willing to go with what was "expected" or what she was told to do. I don't think Charity is a character we want to model after but rather learn from.

summer part two

In Tonae's blog about the first half she was right about Mr. Royall having hating Lucious because of Charity liking him. His anger become more visible as the book goes on like when he sees her with him with out a hat on and calls her a bareheaded whore in front of everyone.
In Quinlin's blog she talks about all of the sexual refrences and I say thats very in line with how Wharton portrays Lucious to look at Charity. For example when she attempts to run away to the mountains and he finds her while riding bike, she mentions twice how he wasn't listening to her he grabbed her and asked her to kiss him like she did last night. Or how he was looking at her with passion, not with understanding. He didn't love her intelligance, and he wasn't there to understand her, he was just interested in the newness of her and foriegn small town ways.

Summer #2

The first passage that I had a strong reaction to was: "Gentlemen, let us look at things as they are. Some of us have come back to our native town because we'd failed to get on elsewhere. One way or other, things had gone wrong with us... what we'd dreamed of hadn't come true. But the fact that we had failed elsewhere is no reason why we should fail here. Our very experiments in larger places, even if they were unsuccessful, ought to have helped us make North Dormer a larger place..." My reaction to this was that I was delighted that someone try to see the good in living in North Dormer. I was glad that someone wanted to make it better. This function as well with the rest of the book because everyone seems unhappy at North Dormer because there is basically nothing there, and it is always being criticized.

The second passage that I had a strong reaction to was: "Well, after all, was her mother so much to blame? Charity, since that day, had always thought of her as destitute of all human feeling; now she seemed merely pitiful. What mother would not want to save her child from such a life?" I had a reaction to this because it seems like how she is describing her mother as if she did not care about her. That makes me feel sad that she felt this way and that she was contemplating this. This function as apart of the text as a whole because she wanted to be away from this place so much and she blamed her mother for her unhappiness.

Summer Response

I am responding to Mary's comments about the first half of Summer. She chose to mention that Charity was always treated as a lower person, someone without education and who was brought down from the mountain. It seems in the entire first half that she is constantly reiterating how much she does not belong in North Dormer or around all of the powerful and glamorous people. Yet when she returns to the mountain for her mother's funeral, she realizes that she does not belong there either and she even compares herself with Julia and says that she too will make a living for herself and her baby. In the entire scene when she enters the room that her mother's body is in and the people ask the minister who she is, I get the impression that she comes across as one of the rich snobby girls that she compares herself to in the city. I thought that this was an interesting juxtaposition because it showed that she was where she belonged even though she was not able to recognize that herself.

The second paragraph mary chose to comment on was one describing Mr. Royalle in Charity's eyes as someone who was not exciting, but solid and always there. I think that the entire ending is more interesing after reading the paragraph from the first half because when they get married it is a sort of boring thing that happens very quickly and Charity really has no emotional rection to it. At the very end, Charity and Mr. Royalle seem to connect deeper than they have, although she says his look made her feel both ashamed and secure. I am not sure that the feeling of being ashamed is a good one to have going into a marriage, but it is good that she is finally secure. I think the reader can also tell that Mr. Royale loves her because he does sort of apologize for his rude behavior on the 4th of July and he says that he wants her to be more brilliant than the other girls, I think that his small gestures make up for his shortcommings.

After reading the entire book, I do not think that Charity is a very strong character because she is so easily shaped by her surroundings and more specifically the men in her life. I think that she learns that the romance narrative she grew up believing does not necessarily exist and that even though people are separated by class in the minds of others, just because you are of a certain social class does not mean you are morally superior. I liked this character and it was interesting to see how she changed and responded as the story progressed.

In Response to Summer

I am responding to Tonae's post:

I had a similiar reaction when Royall came into Charity's room that night. As a reader, I feared for her. I had no idea that we was wanting to marry her. When he asked, I was shocked. I think he was wanting to marry her to make his life easier - guaranteed companionship and housekeeping. Now that I have read the whole story, this part seems pretty ironic. Charity is just as shocked as I was the proposal - and doesn't even consider it. Yet, when she finds herself in trouble (pregnant out of wedlock) and heartbroken (Harney leaves her, doesn't marry her as she once hoped), Royall becomes Plan B. Everything else falls through, and suddenly the thought of marrying her once father figure doesn't seem so bad. Instead of becoming an outcast, Charity choses the stability of being "Mrs. Royall."

I think a lot of women can relate to Charity. While times have changed, I still think there are some women that marry for stability. They marry because they know they will be taken care of. While we talked in class how Charity is not a good role model for young women, I think that Charity is a model of what not to do.

Summer, due 7/31

I’m choosing Quinlin’s blog from yesterday. I thought it was interesting how she picked out all the sexual imagery from the novel because I didn’t see it that way at all. In fact, I barely even noticed it. I focused more on how Charity was so romantic. Even at the end of the novel, the sad letter Charity wrote to Harney still had romance in it. “I’m married to Mr. Royall. I’ll always remember you.” Even though it was so short and she was saying goodbye to him for good, the way she worded it- I’ll always remember you- It was just really touching.

Summer part II

"Only - was there no alternative but Julia's? Her soul recoiled from the vision of the white-faced woman among the plush sofas and gilt frames. In the established order of things as she knew them she saw no place for her individual adventure..."

I chose this passage because I was curious as to what the image of the white-faced woman means. That image has come up on more than one occasion, and I'm assuming it has some symbolic value. I think this passage is significant because Charity seems to be giving up. She's decided there's no place for her to have her own adventure, and doesn't really consider that the established order of things can easily be changed. I think she knows the established order can be changed, but isn't willing to go through the emotional distress that changing the order involves. I guess in this way Charity could be seen as a rather weak character.

"She had given him all she had - but what was it compared to the other gifts life held for him? She understood now the case of girls like herself to whom this kind of thing happened. They gave all they had, but their all was not enough: it could not buy more than a few moments..."

I think this is the moment when Charity realizes that she has grossly misjudged her relationship with Harney. She realizes that social obligations will always prevail over the real love she perceived between the two of them. It's passages like these that make Wharton seem like a part of the naturalistic school of writers. Charity is at the mercy of societal obligations that she cannot control, much like Lilly Bart in House of Mirth.

Summer Pt 1

"Hard as she found it to understand why he passed enchanted before certain neglected and paintless houses, while others, refurbished and "improved" by the local builder, did not arrest a glance." (49)

I liked this image a lot because for one I could definitely imagine these torn up houses next to new ones. The imagery was extremely strong and I loved it! But i also liked this section because I felt like in a roundabout way she was referring to herself. She couldn't understand how Harney could have feelings for her when she sees herself as plain and boring next to the other girls.

"Charity... imagined herself married to a man who had such a straight nose and such a beautiful way of speaking, and who lived in a brown-stone rectory covered with Virginia creeper." (60).

I chose this because it reminded me a lot of my narrative collage. We are brought up in a culture that basis happiness of a marriage on the wedding, the money, the way it all "looks" not on a strong relationship between the two who are involved. It also reminded me of the story we read, "Men in your Life." because she already knows what she wants before she finds it. It also seemed to me like Charity wanted to run away from what she came from and this section seems to portray that to me especially well.

Summer 1st half

"Entering her prison house with a listless step she took off her hat, hung it on a plaster bust of Minerva, opened the shutters,..."

When I read this line I felt bad for her, that her job was so horrible to her that she compared it to a prison house. The more you read on you find out she only works 2 hours a day! I thought that was funny and really dramatic, but the more I think about it now I realize she was probably referring to the whole town as a prison house for her. She felt trapped in a small undesirable place.

"The girl walked along, swinging her key on a finger, and looking about her with the heighted attention produced by the presence of a stranger in a familiar place."

This line didn't strike me odd by any means, I just really liked it. I liked it because I know how she feels, I love when my bf goes home with me and I always point out "there's my highschool, theres where I used to work, etc." And as much as i'm sure he loves it (ha!) I really start to miss my old town even though until that time I don't miss it at all. Also with movies and music I do this too. Like I have movies that I have just watched to death and never want to watch anymore, but if someone I know hasn't seen them I always insist we watch it immediatly and when we do I"m that annoying girl who says stuff like "wasn't that funny! and Pay attention you'll miss the good part!" Then i'll remember why I loved that movie so much. I think maybe it could be forshadowing that it will take this guy to remind her of all the things she used to love about this town.

Summer

I think that it's important to look at all of the sexual imagery in the novel along with its symbolism. Like on page 101, "A long "Oh-h-h" burst from the spectators: the stand creaked and shook with their blissful trepidations. "Oh-h-h," Charity gasped: she had forgotten where she was, had at last forgotten even Harney's nearness. She seemed to have been caught up in the stars." This creates a phallic imagery which suggests a sexual bliss that will occur for Charity as a result of deeper physical intimacy with Harney. It's also very romantic in the way she forgets where she is and becomes caught up in the stars. This heightens the passion of their first kiss. As the scene continues, her rapture tightens and she describes him as having mysterious power which she is possessed by. It's an interesting scene that is steady with her character.

Summer #1

From the first half i had a strong reaction to: "Marry you? Me?" she burst out with a scornful laugh. "Was that what you came to ask me the other night? What's come over you, I wonder? How long is it since you've looked at yourself in the glass?" " I suppose you think it would be cheaper to marry me than to keep a hired girl. Everybody knows you're the closet man in Eagle County; but I guess you're not going to get your mending done for you that way twice." My reaction was that I was in disbelief that he would ask her to marry her. The night that he went to her room I thought he was coming to rape her. The passage function as apart of the context as a whole because this came after she told him she wanted to leave. Which was odd because she told him she wanted to stay. It talks about her not being afraid and being superior to him but she does not want to stay as if she is scared.

The second passage that I had a strong reaction to was: "The tone with which Mr. Royall had said "He's not coming" seemed to her full of an ominous satisfaction. She saw that he had suddenly begun to hate Lucius Harney, and guessed herself to be the cause of this change of feeling. My reaction to this is Mr. Royall clearly is jealous that that Charity had feelings for Lucius. This passage function with the context as a whole because Charity turned down Mr. Royall's marriage proposal, and that angered him. From the beginning Charity showed a liking for Mr. Harney.

Summer- First Half

The first passage that struck me as interesting, given our recent discussion topic of cultural narratives is on page 24. It begins "Then she remembered his sudden pause when he had come...as if to have the impression of a kiss". The entire dream sequence is very much a description of a cultural narrative about love and romance affecting someone so much that she is dreaming about the romance without even knowing the man very well. I thought that it was out of character, or at least a dramatic change in the mellow, almost shy character we had seen so far. I think that it is also intersting to notice the amount of attention she pays to her own looks in the fantasy, she also says that it may be a mistake to wish her eyes were blue. This echos another cultural narrative we have talked a lot about, that women always want to change their features to look like models, or whatever is considered beautifu and exotic at the time.
The second passage I chose is on page 39 and fills the enire page save for the beginning of the second paragraph at the bottom. I liked this passage because it shows changes in the character and her reflection of her own life. She talks about how she is shy and had refrained from any 'town lovemaking', yet she watches lucius harney and responds to the fact that he is the brillaince she had been waiting for and that he values her. This plays into the cultural narrative that women have to be valued like an object in the eyes of men to be worthy. It also shows the romance narrative and the hidden desires Charity has for herself and a relationship with Harney.

Summer Part 1

Her bewilderment was complete: the more she wished to appear to understand him the more unintelligible his remarks became. He reminded her of the gentleman who had "explained" the pictures at Nettleton, and hte weight of her ignorance settled down on her again like a pall."

this passage takes place during Charity's and Harney's first encounter at the Library. I thought it was interesting becauase it not only shows the difference in their cultural or social status, but also in the difference between being a woman of a lower social status. He is educated and from the city, while she is uneducated and from a small town below the mountains where she was actually born. She was "brought down from the mountain" by Mr. Royale when she was young. The mountain people are considered to be scum or outlaws and they are all poor and ignorant people who must be evil in the eyes of the towns people. they do not understand them. charity seems to carry this feeling of inadequecy with her through out the story even though she seems to be a strong character she has moments of vulnerability and weakness concerning her heritage. Harney emphasizes this inadequey for her and she is drawn to him hoping to impress him but always doubting that she can because of her educational background as well as where she came from.

Except on the occasion of his one offense he had been to her merely the person who was always there, the unquestioned central fact of life, as inevitable but as uninteresting as North Dormer itself, or any of the other conditions fate had laid on her.

I thought this passage describing Mr. Royale in charity's eyes was interesting because it reveal a great deal about her. She is bored with her life. She is stuck with this man who saved her from the mountains and deep down i think besides not having money or a husband to help her leave his house she feels a sense of duty to him for keeping her from such a terrible fate. Even though she acts defiant to him, i feel that there is something there that makes her stay. This makes it all the more noticable by calling him the person always there. It seems to be a constant in her life that brings comfort from the unknown even though it is disinteresting to her. She is bored but complacent it seems because she hasn't done anything but get the job at the library to help in leaving this man and Dormer.

Summer

"In the course of that incredible day, Charity Royall had, for the first and only time, experienced railway travel, looked into shops with plate-glass fronts, tasted cocoanut pie, sat in a theatre, and listened to gentlemen saying unintelligible things before pictures that she would have enjoyed lokking at if his explanations had not prevented her from understanding them. This initiation had shown her that North Dormer was a small place . . . " pg. 5

Coming from a small town this passage really caught my attention. This is the first time that Charity realizes how small and limiting North Dormer is. She gets a taste of the city and for a moment, realizes that there is much more out there. I really relate with her at this point in the story. My hometown is very small, quaint, and resistant to change. At times, I feel it is limiting, and I was so excited to come to Columbia (which felt huge to me when I first moved here!)

["You go right back from here," she said, in a shrill voice that startled her, "you ain't going to have that key tonight"] pg.17

I picked this second passage because it shows Charity's assertiveness. She is being the adult in the situation. It shows her ability to stand up for herself. This surprised me at this point in the story, because up until this point I thought of her to be more timid, more of a pushover. My opinion of Charity really begins to change at this point.

Sula - 2(I don't know why it never showed up . . .)

Okay here is my Sula Pt 2 :

"I heard you were sick. Anything I can do for you?" (pg. 138)

I was really moved by Nel's kindness in this part of the story. Although Sula has committed the ultimate betrayal against her friend, Nel comes to check on Sula when she hears of her illness. I really think this part of the story shows Nel's character. She knows that everyone else in the town is rejoicing at Sula's illness. Nel is the bigger person, facing her former friend and going to check on the outcast that she has become. I was blown away by this act of kindness. I tried to put myself in Nel's shoes, and know that I couldn't do such a thing. It really made me respect her.

["All that time, all that time, I thought I was missing Jude." And the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. "We was girls together," she said as though explaining something. "O Lord, Sula,"she cried, "girl, girl, girlgirlgirl."] pg. 174

I thought this passage had a powerful message. Sula and Nel had grown up together, and gone through much together as friends. Although Sula betrayed her, Nel stil longed through her friendship during her adult years. I think this shows how powerful women's relationships can be. Both women were a stronghold for each other, and even though their relationship didn't end on good terms, Nel still longed for it.