I was quite fascinated by what Michael Meyer has brought to light about the difference between "formula fiction" and a "serious fiction." After all, if the ending to a story is predictable and the guy always gets the gal, then there must be some formula that guides all these writers to write about the same thing and come to the same conclusion. It is only the great authors and novelists that write with twists and turns and not only in the beginning and middle of the plot, but at the end as well. For example, in "The Story of an Hour" the reader is led to believe that now that her husband is dead, Mrs. Mallard is a free woman and can now live the life that she has always wanted. It was only the last sentence of the story does the reader find out that it was a freedom that wasn't meant to be.

A Secret Sorrow

The excerpt from "A Secret Sorrow" was very turning. At first I thought that Kai was a very forceful and demanding man. I began to feel very sad for Fay. Ironically it turned out that Kai was only being forceful for the return of Fay's marriage, only to give her signs that it was ok if she wasn't able to produce children. He didn't care he love her beyond any circumstances. Based on the fact that Fay couldn't produce any children, she felt that she wouldn't be able to make Kai happy. The story has a sudden twist when the couple becomes married and adopts four children. It's a romantic fairytale.

The Story of an Hour is full of emotions that the reader can understand. The author does a great job of creating so many emotions into a short story. But the author leaves the reader confused and asking questions about the characters. Why was she not happy with the marriage? What was the real point of the story or were there many points?

Reading Ain't Easy

The beginning of the assigned reading made one very important distinction for me. I do not know how to read. I see the letters and can pronounce the words but sometimes I really don't put myself into some of the things I say I've read before. Now, I'm not gonna try and analyze every single sentence in a book, but I definitely got a new perspective on how to approach literature. All the stories that were in the reading were great. They all seemed to center on the theme of a woman who is afflicted by something in her life. In "The Story of an Hour", it was Louise's feelings of imprisonment in her marriage. In "A Secret Sorrow", it was Faye's inability to have children and lastly, in A Sorrowful Woman, it the woman seemed to be suffering from a major case of depression. The connection of love was something else that brought all three stories together whether it made someone feel that it took away their life like Louise, or couldn't exist for Faye, but in A Sorrowful Woman, it was not so much just the wife's difficulties as the whole family. I really liked the last story because it showed how one person's condition can really affect those around her and the difficulties she went through as well as the whole family. The close readings also showed alot of how simple phrases give an insight of what type of ideas the author might want the reader to have. All very insightful.

"The story of an hour" , its ending gives me some thoughts. If the herion died because of her husband wasn't dead and she would again have no freedom under male-dominated society, i definitely feel sympathy for the woman's suffering. However, it might be a fatal punishment to the heroin for her extreme happy toward her husband's dead. What's she so happy about without her husband? Could she really be free? Could she able to get right do men have in that period of time? Absoultely no.

"A secrect sorrow" at the middle parts are a little wordy. Although i didn't skip a line, i still feel it gets me bored. The story heroin had already told the story hero that she couldn't bear a baby anymore at the beginning, but the hero showed all his understanding and acceptance no matter of that he would love her and marry her. However, she still kept refused him because of too love him? Also a part is not necessary to tell again that she explain why she couldn't marry the hero. (p.36, first paragraph)

The Story of an hour left me with many thoughts. The main characters reaction had me confused, first weeping and going to her room to be alone, then all of a sudden excited when realizing she is now alone with no one to answer to. How can a wife react like that to her husbands death? But then again we don't really know the story behind the marriage. The story leaves you wondering how awful the marriage had to be for a wife to react like that to her husbands death.

First Readings

There were a couple of things that struck me about the assigned reading (as the reading covered a wide range of writings). First off, I do not think I agree with the book’s distinction between formula fiction and serious fiction. The book claims that formula fiction is written to be sold, while serious fiction is written for something more, but didn’t Charles Dickens popular serial novels sell like hot-cakes? And weren’t Thomas Hardy’s Wessex novels extremely popular as well? And I do not agree that Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is just formula fiction. Perhaps what separates the two is the ability of the writing to withstand the test of time, perhaps it is an indefinable element that separates greatness from mere enjoyment.

Reading the Van der Zee romance and the Godwin short story brought to light another difference between formula fiction and real fiction. The excerpt from “A Secret Sorrow” seemed cliché, even to someone who has never before read a romance (thank goodness) and had a very defined story without much room for interpretation. However the “A Sorrowful Woman” seemed to have a more universal appeal, a more sophisticated writing style, and it left much more room for interpretation and speculation. I did not see at all Godwin’s focus on the institution of marriage that Maya Leigh noticed.

Whatever this thing is that separates these two types of fiction, I think Thomas Jefferson would be less loath to read Gail Godwin’s “A Sorrowful Woman” than he would Karen van der Zee’s “A Secret Sorrow”.

I had never realized before reading the first chapter that most of the mainstream novels were considered "formula fiction". Actually, I had never even heard of that term. I do agree that these type of books are for entertainment and an "escape" from reality and that they can be "emotionally satisfying". I do enjoy reading these type of books, i guess because they take very little thought, altough i like to read more complex books as well. I also was a bit surprised bout the "Composite of a Romance Tip Sheet". I know most novels constitute of the same patterns, but i was shocked that publishers actually ask for these specific details, especially the specificness of the heroine and hero. Reading those few pages made me think back to some books I have read and i could instantly see how authors follow this tip sheet.

Story of an Hour was humorous in it's cruel joke. At first I sympathized with Louise. I cannot imagine living life without my fiance and i have thought about what if I had gotten knews like that I would have reacted with a similar "wild abandonment" and than retreated to my room. When she started to say "free, free,free" I knew right away what she was crying for wasn't her husbands death but for her own freedom. I no longer sympathized. I did enjoy this story even for the main character's disregard for her husband's death. The ending was unexpected and cruel humor aside, it's irony killed me.