The Storm Reflection

I found the story to be an interesting reversal of fortune for women. It is usually all about the men and their sexual conquests. The main character of this story changes the tables and indulges in her sexual pleasure with an old friend. Of course, adultery is usually frowned upon, but it is obvious that there is a double standard when it comes to the opposite sex. Men will generally be excused from such activity and in some cultures it is even encouraged and revered. Something that is seen in all cultures is the frowning upon promiscuous women. Even worse is infidelity by women, as they are usually required to be the faithful of the two while the men get a pass on most occasions. We discussed the morality of the issue but I think she deserves a little more credit and we should get past the social stigma and misogynistic ways of thinking.

Reflection on Daisy Miller

Adrian Perez Daisy Miller was an interesting story. It is about the relationship of Winterbourne, an American that has lived most of his life in Europe and Daisy, an American girl that comes to Europe. They meet each other in Europe and Winterbourne is interested in Daisy because he is accustomed to the European society and he sees Daisy as something new. However, later Winterbourne does not know what to think about Daisy because he goes back and forth about her being innocent or a basically a tramp because of the way she acts and sees things. Personally I think Winterbourne didn’t need to think much about how was Daisy, he just needed to go with the flow and keep seeing her and knowing her and then make a conclusion about her. Daisy was just acting like she was and I don't think that Winterbourne understood that because he bacame so acustomed to the European society, their rules and the way they think and view other people. I think that he had feelings for her and he did not realize it. In another way, I think that Daisy didn’t understand that she was in another country with different views, culture and social perspective and she needed to act differently and oblique by the social rules and norms, and things would have turned out differently for her at the end. Its obvious that all of this is a learning experience for Winterbourne and is certainly going to affect his life and his future.

Daisy Miller

I personally enjoyed the story, I thought it was an interesting look back at how old society used to behave. Some of these norms may persist to our day in the higher spheres of society, but there is a certain old-fashioned quality to the whole treatment of Daisy. All of the different exchanges had little gems of socio-psychological norms that have been embedded in the way of thinking of each character. It was important for me to note how the Roman Fever plays in the story. These are basically cultural norm that develop and tend to stick because they actually provide a survival benefit to those who adhere to it. No one could explain what the Roman Fever was, only that they could get it at night. That little detail was good enough to probably keeps thousands of people alive. It makes me reflect on most social norms and it ends up showing how it is very hit or miss. Sometimes, the social norms actually have some tangible repercussions in our lives, but others, like believing in Jesus, have absolutely no benefit and are as useful as believing in Santa Claus. Other curious examples of this in Daisy Miller are seen with the over protectiveness of the women in the culture. This also has some survival benefit and it is why it is so ubiquitous in world cultures. This type of social norm protects young women from falling prey to overanxious men who would desert them if they were to get pregnant, as well as avoid sexually transmitted diseases which have been ever present.

Reflection on Daisy Miller

Beatriz Cruz Daisy Miller is a young American girl that is traveling through Europe with her mother and her little brother. She meets Winterbourne, an American man that has lived in Europe for a long time. At first, Winterbourne is confused by Daisy's actions, but discovers that she is just a pretty American flirt. She is being criticized by Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Costello, two women that live in Europe. They criticize Daisy because she is too affectionate with men, and the European society does not approve of her behavior. The novella presents a contrast between the two cultures, the American and the European. Since Daisy is American, she considers her behavior as normal and believes that there is nothing wrong with it. She gets ill for being out late with a man, Giovanelli, and dies some days later. Winterbourne realizes his feelings for Daisy at the end, when she is already dead. In my opinion, Daisy did nothing wrong. She believed her actions were the right ones, that there was nothing wrong about being alone with men, and talking with them. Daisy was not controlled by what people said about her. She was herself no matter what, and I liked that about her. She stood up for what she believed in, she did not go with the flow. Her actions had some bad consequences. She was left out in the European society, and died at the end as a consequence for one of her actions. I admire her courage and sincerity, she was herself no matter what people said about her.

Reflection on Daisy Miller

Liane Cartagena Daisy Miller and Winterbourne first meet in Vevey, Switzerland, where he is vacationing from his studies. They are introduced by young Randolph Miller, Daisy's brother. Randolph considers his hometown of Schenectady, New York to be superior to all of Europe, especially for the quality of candies. Daisy, however, is absolutely delighted with the continent, especially the high society which she wishes to enter. Winterbourne is at first confused by her attitude, but soon determines that she is nothing more than a young American flirt. He continues his pursuit of Daisy in spite of the disapproval of his authoritarian and snobbish aunt Mrs. Costello, who rejects any family with such a close a relationship to their courier as the Millers have with their Eugenio. She also thinks Daisy is a shameless girl for agreeing to visit the town with Winterbourne after a mere half hour together. Winterbourne informs Daisy that he must go to Geneva the next day. Daisy extracts a promise from him to meet her in Rome and they part. In Rome, Winterbourne and Daisy meet unexpectedly in the parlor of Mrs. Walker, a fellow American. Daisy is undeterred by the open disapprobation of the other Americans in Rome, and her ineffectual mother seems quite unaware of the underlying tensions. Winterbourne attempts to release Daisy from her situation, but she refuses to take any of it seriously. One night, Winterbourne takes a walk through the Coliseum and, at its center, sees Giovanelli standing in front of Daisy. Winterbourne tells himself that Daisy is too common for him to love. He warns her about the danger of “Roman Fever” her health, and she rushes home, although protesting that she doesn't care. Daisy falls ill, and dies a few days later. The feelings Winterbourne and his aunt have for Daisy is very superficial. Instead of being a little open minded and welcoming to Americans they were fast to judge her and undermine her. I feel that you should always welcome people no matter how different they might abide by ones rules. Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Walker were quick on judging Daisy for her actions but never once went and gave her a chance to engage in conversation with her. On top of this they were so closed minded that they never thought culture in the United States is different and might be the reason she acts the way she does. Daisy on the other hand is careless to judge and is just a nice young lady on vacation trying to get the best out of the European life enjoying every person who stands in her way. One thing that made her a little closed minded was the fact that she chose not to change her ways thinking that it was okay to to act the way she did with men. If she would have listened to Winterbourne maybe a little she could have mildly corrected her actions still keeping true to herself. Even though I do not find much harm in Daisy’s actions I am open minded enough to see that not everyone can be as engaging as Daisy was because people get the wrong message and are quick to judge upon ones character. I feel that because of miscommunication and both internal and external conflicts not being communicated within the characters ( Daisy and Winterbourne) led to Daisy’s death and Winterbourne’s doubt on placing judgement over Daisy and eventually placed a halt toward the development of their relationship.

Reflection on Daisy Miller

Mariola says: Daisy Miller is one of my favorite characters because she acts like a free woman and does not care what people around her think. For her, cultural aspects and morals are not very important; the only thing important to her is her own thoughts and values. People around her see her as a bad influence and see her behavior as improper. The story ends in a tragic way with the death of Daisy Miller and I really think that this is not a good ending. Critics say that in the end she dyes because of her behavior but for me that is not a good explanation. Why do we need to die because of our behavior? That is not fare. She did what she think it was right and we have to remember that she is a young woman and that she is from another country and does not have the same values and morals as European people have. Although I did not like the ending, I think the novel is excellent it gives us a point of view that is different from normal thins we see in regular novels. One of the most interesting things in the novel is the cultural shock of American society and European society. We see how the character like Mrs. Costello and Mrs. Miller are not please with Daisy Miller and see her as inferior because of her attitudes and values. In the other hand we see Daisy who is the typical American girl who go on life with her values that she knows. After observing this kinds of behavior we can understand why the character act like they do. Another thing that make this novel interesting is the fact that it can make a lot of controversy because we do not know how the audience feel about the novel. Depending of our values and moral we are going to have different opinions about the novel. With this in mind I can say that I like a lot the novel and that it was very interesting although I did not like the ending of it.

A Walk To The Jetty - Christian Torres

Annie is a seventeen year-old girl that is on the verge of leaving to England, where she is to become a nurse. Going to England and becoming a nurse is not something that she really wants to do, but, she thinks that it's better than living with her parents any longer. She wishes to part from them (as many teenagers do). Even though her parents are not bad parents, she wants to part from them. On the way to the boat that will take her to Europe, she starts to reminisce about her childhood only to find that her indentity is basically made up from her parents identity. That idea helps her descicion to go and become a nurse even firmer. The thought of independence and finding and identity to call her own is empowering. At just minutes before boarding, she thinks that it may be a bad idea, and that she really will miss her parents. But after coming to an agreement with her senses, she realizes that leaving her parents y what she wants most and that even though it will be tough, it's something that she has to go throught for her own sake. Annie is able to leave her parents with no second thoughts. I think many teenagers could relate to this short story. Because doesn't go too far down the roots of the problems, I think it's easier for readers to put themselves in Annie's position. Independence is one of the reasons we go to college for and finding our own identity. Not everytime we need something as drastic as moving to another country but just being determined to find oneself could be enough to make it happen.