Multi-Media Storytelling
Alyssa Guajardo is the Senator for The College of Health Affairs on the Student Government Association at UTRGV. Her responsibility as a senator for SGA is to bring up any concerns or issues regarding the life of students on campus in effort to resolve the problems.
In this interview, Senator Guajardo will be explaining what SGA is, what it does for the students, and how someone can apply for a position in SGA.
By Carmen Elena
June 13, 2019
Alyssa Guajardo is the Senator for The College of Health Affairs at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her responsibility as a member of the Student Government Association is to act upon any issues or concerns that the students have regarding their life on campus.
In this interview, Senator Guajardo will discuss what SGA is, what it does for the students at UTRGV, and how someone can apply for a position in SGA?
Charlotte Perkins Gillman, a woman suffering with mental illness and depression, writes “The Yellow Wallpaper” to expose the feelings of her misunderstood condition. In doing so, she also raises concerns on how women are being viewed and treated by society in that era. At first, commentators classify the short story as a gothic fiction, not giving much importance to the meaning behind the short story. But, according to Journalist Barbara Hochman, many writers, reviewers, and educators point out that this short story has a commitment to fiction “with a purpose”. Gillman feels that by writing, she is able to raise awareness for those women, who not only are suffering with mental illness, but are being treated less than men. Because doctors are only conducting medical research on men to cure diseases, women are left with being diagnosed as mentally ill if they don’t fall under any other category of illness. Gilman is frustrated that instead of finding what is wrong, her doctors and family continuously tell her what and what not to do, which worsens the conditions of her mental illness. In search of a physical and even more so a mental breakthrough, Gilman writes “The Yellow Wallpaper” in hopes of revolutionizing society’s views towards women.
Hochman, B. “The Reading Habit and “The Yellow Wallpaper”.” American Literature, vol. 74 no. 1, 2002, pp. 89-110. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/1779.
The old man’s character in “Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathanial Hawthorne, represents the devil, but rather than frightening Brown, he acts as his friend by deceiving him with his welcoming attitude and human-like complexions. As brown begins his journey into the dark forest, he comes across a figure of a man with decent attire (452). The devil is presenting himself as a well-dressed human being to lure Brown into the forest. Some of the characteristics that hint he is the devil are his staff that has the “likeness of a great black snake” and the manner he walks as if he knows the world (453). This shows that the old man knows how to hide his dark soul and is prideful in who he is. When the devil confesses to Brown, “I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans,” Brown is marveled that his family never spoke of the matters they had with the devil (453). After confessing his evilness to him, Brown continues this dark path alongside the old man, which proves that the devil is successfully deceiving Brown.
The short story, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathanial Hawthorne, can be seen either as a dream, a figment of Brown’s imagination, and something that is being conjured by evil depending on each reader. However, I feel like Brown’s experience in the forest is a dream that is being conjured by evil, and there are several examples in the text that serve as evidence. One example that shows this is a dream is when Brown hardly speaks then suddenly finds himself alone in the calm night (460). As I read this section of the story, I automatically assume that everything Brown is experiencing in the forest is just a bad dream. Then as I continue to read, I come across a section towards the end of the story that asks, “Had Goodman Brown Fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? Be it so, if you will” (460). This throws me off a little and leaves me second-guessing, which is why I now ask myself, is this just a dream or is this also being conjured by evil? So, I go back to his dream where he sees a rock that resembles a pulpit on fire along with four pines and twigs, these are the exact things he sees when he wakes up, only this time they are cold and damp (458). This leads me to believe that the evil is conjuring Brown’s surroundings into his dream to make it seem as real as possible for him.
As I read this story, I paid close attention to the setting of the short story “To Build A Fire”, written by Jack London, where I found that this story took place in The Yukon where it was colder than 50 degrees below freezing point. I also found it interesting that London uses a lot of repetitions for certain phrases to emphasize or signal the importance of an event that happened or was about to happen. For example, London repeatedly mentions the “old-timer from Sulphur Creek, Henderson Creek where he was headed, 50 and 75 below zero, freezing cold, frost, numb, pumping blood, lifeless, etc.” I found that these repetition of words assisted the readers to know the frustration, pain, and struggles that the main character faced while he traveled alone in the freezing temperature. Throughout his journey, he faced some issues with frost bite, hidden springs under the snow, and limited attempts to build a fire before freezing to death, and as he went throughout these situations, he remembered the advice that the “old-timer” once told him.
I found an article, written by Lee Clark Mitchell, where he writes about the repetition of words that London uses in “To Build A Fire”. Though I disagree with his first paragraph of the article, where critics say that Jack London writes “childish plots,” I respect the way Mitchell explains the responsibility of the repeated phrases and words in the story because it elevates London’s style of writing. Mitchell goes more into depth in explaining London’s story, but I chose this article because it coincides with what stood out when I read the story. I personally enjoyed reading this short story because I felt the characters’ frustration and pain and I wanted to see the end results of the story.
Mitchell, Lee Clark. “‘Keeping His Head’: Repetition and Responsibility in London’s ‘To Build a Fire.’.” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 13, no. 1, Mar. 1986, p. 76. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6893733&site=ehost-live.
Everything Brown witnessed was conjured by evil because when he found himself standing alone in the forest after almost witnessing the sacrifice of his wife, Faith, there were signs that showed this was not just a dream. “He staggered against a rock and felt it chill and damp, while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew” (pg. 460). If we take a look back to when he walked up to a dark wall of the forest, he saw a rock that resembled to a pulpit or altar and had four blazing pines, where light was blazing high into the night (pg. 458). The first example given backs up the evidence that Brown did not imagine nor dreamt this experience because he remembers seeing the rock and the pines that were on fire, which are shown in the second example. After Brown experienced this living nightmare, it opened his eyes and began to see the evil in everything and everyone. When the Old Deacon Goodkin worshiped at home and his prayer was heard through his window, Brown thought to himself, “What God doth the wizard pray to?” (pg. 460). And when he saw Goody Cloyse catechizing a little girl, he quickly snatched the little girl away from Goody for the child’s safety (pg. 460). These examples go off of show that whatever Brown experienced still seemed very real to him and not only made him loose his faith in people, but also made him see the world in a different perspective.
The short story “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses a moral allegory as his theme as well as hypocrisy, religion and finding the dark side of man. It talked about puritans, people who rejected the practices of the church of England and wanted the most simplicity religion as possible. They believed that the simpler their religion practices were, the purer they would be. His main point in the story is that if you don’t have faith in Christ, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In this story, Faith was Young Goodman Brown’s wife, whom he leaves to go on this unknown journey. The character of Brown is supposed to represent a good character, Faith represents Christianity and the mysterious man in the forest represents the devil or evil in the world. Every detail in this story has a purpose and a meaning to what Hawthorne is trying to portray in his short story. This story also includes gothic literature because there was darkness, shadows and scary sounds. I came across an academic journal written by Jamil, “Carnivalesque Freedom in Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown” where she talks about how Hawthorne uses specific languages and imagery to mock the Puritan values. She also talks about the main allegory for Hawthorne’s story, which is how a good man left his faith/Christianity to follow the evil but also tried resisting the evil. I chose this journal because Jamil talks about the characterization and allegory just as we discussed in class today. This have a better understanding of Hawthorne’s style of writing.
Works Cited
Jamil, S. Selina. “Carnivalesque Freedom in Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown.” Explicator, vol. 65, no. 3, Spring2007, pp. 143-145. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25960343&site=ehost-live.
As I read the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” written by Edgar Allen Poe, I noticed the distinct characteristics that made this a gothic story. The story mainly took place inside the old man’s house that had all the lights shut off while it was night time. The story also included hidden evil, which made this story a mysterious crime because the main character saw nothing wrong with him murdering the old man. Throughout the story, the audience can perceive the narrator’s obsession with death as the thought of killing the old man haunted him day and night and he also proceeded the murder with such caution. Poe was able to create a story told by an unreliable narrator, in which the audience can perceive that the narrator is being deceptive and deluded. One example that proves the narrator is mad is found in the third paragraph of the story, “You Fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded”. With this example from the story, the audience can automatically assume that the main character is truly mad because of the short sentences he is speaking. This should hint the audience that the narrator is unreliable. Also, the narrator defends his statement by saying there is no possibility of him being mad because he is declaring that he is wise and he knows too much to be considered a mad man.
I personally like Poe’s style of writing in this story because it is intriguing and it remains suspenseful until the very end of the story.
This article I’ve chosen briefly talks about the gothic features and the suspense that Poe created in this short story. It also talks about the obsession and unrelenting guilt of the crime that was committed.
Works Cited
Karp, Jesse. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Booklist, vol. 109, no. 19/20, 6/1/2013, p. 59. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=88130666&site=ehost-live.
As I read this story, I was able to imagine how the main character, Phoenix, looked like and the type of setting the story was in, thanks to the descriptive words Eudora Welty used. I like to read stories where it is easy to create a picture in my mind of the events that are happening.
Another thing I enjoyed about this story is how realistic the character and settings were. I was able to feel what Phoenix was going through and was experiencing. I felt sympathetic for the old women as she struggled through her journey to the medical clinic. This story was being told in a third person perspective where the narrator new what all the characters were feeling. This helped me understand and see the story from different points of view. I was able to see what Phoenix was thinking as she walked through the woods, as she hallucinated, as she forgot why she was going to the medical clinic. I was also able to see how the nurses in the clinic felt sorry for Phoenix.
In a greater understanding, Eudora Welty wrote this story to portray the life of a black women and how black people faced segregation in that time. They struggled with being rejected by white people, they struggled financially, and they had too fight and endure to make a living. Beyond all the struggles the black people faced, they found joy in the most simple ways, for example, in this story Phoenix was happy to see the Christmas lights as she entered the town, she was happy when she was going back home to her grandson with medicine and a couple of cents to buy a gift for him. This made me realize that black people were able to find joy despite the struggles they faced in those tough days. 
Carmen Elena Galvan 