A little late!

In response to Surrounded by Sleep, By: Ahki Sharma

Although I personally do not have any siblings, I could imagine the immensity of closeness that you would feel with them. While reading this short story, it struck a nerve even in me (siblingless). I cant imagine the grief that Ajay and his family would feel. I can empathize with him in one aspect of this story, and that is the fact that sometimes situations occur in our life, and they effect each person in the family differently. Ajay's mother was in denail, seemingly ignoring the fact that the chances of her eldest son getting better were slim to none. Ajay on the other hand was young enough to where it didnt effect everything about his life. Part of him wanted to just move past this whole situation, even if it were almost impossible. He wanted to feel as if he had a normal life that didnt revolve around his brothers accident.


In response to Mrs. Turners Lawn Jockeys, by Emily Robateua


In my opinion, this short story had a pretty good way to indirectly bringing controversial issues to the light. Although the story never once said it was dealing with the issue of race, it did so quite well. Giving humanistic characteristics to these Lawn jockeys, i found quite humurous. It adds a sense of lightness to the story, instead of keeping it serious and formal. The young son cant please his father by doing anything normally. At the end of the story though, after he and his sister had painted the lawn ornaments,and his father noticed there color had changed, he laughed. The fact that the author used the jockey's as the pawn addressed racism in a different way than using a person. The lawn jockeys wanted to be painted white so that they "werent looked at so differently"