THE THREE DAY BLOW

It was an autumn evening. Nick Wemedge walked past a garden and reached Bill’s house on a hilltop. The rain had already stopped. Bill received his friend, Nick. Both of them stood together on the porch and looked out across the country and down over the orchard. The wind was blowing straight down the lake.

A little later, both Nick and Bill went inside the cottage. They started drinking whisky. Nick began to dry his wet shoes on a fire. Bill brought a pair of socks for Nick. They were drinking and talking on many topics. They talked about the baseball. They discussed that the Giants (The New York Giants always defeated the Cards The Saint Louis Cardinals) because McGrew could buy every good ball player in the league for the Giants. They also talked about the books and the writers like Walpole and Chesterton. They further talked about their own fathers and pointed out the virtues and defects of each. Later, they talked about the relationship Nick had with a girl called Marge (Marjorie). Bill tried to show Nick that marriage was something, which could make a man fall for somebody else. He said that Nick was right to break his relations with Marge. But Nick was still interested in her. He was still hopeful and he might see Marge in the town. Then they came down the hill for shooting but Nick was still thinking of going to town to see Marge.

A WORN PATH

There was an old Negro woman named Phoenix Jackson. She had a sick grandson who suffered from sore throat. She lived in a house a long way from the town of Natchez. She was going to collect medicine for her grandson. She was carrying a stick made of an umbrella. She slowly climbed up a hill among pinewoods and climbed down the hill among oak trees. She got her dress caught in a thorn bush. She managed to free herself from it. She also crossed a stream at the bottom of the hill walking along a log placed over it.

       She also went through a barbered wire fence by crawling and creeping like a baby. She was safe through the fence and arrived at a clearing, which was a cotton field. She saw big dead trees there and a buzzard. She was glad not to find snakes and bulls, which she often encountered in the journeys she made earlier. Then, she arrived at a cornfield where she took scarecrow as a ghost. She went on parting her way from side to side and reached a ravine. There she drank water from a spring flowing through a hollow log. She continued her journey by walking alone a track that led her to a road. The road went down between the high green coloured banks. This time a dog came up out of the weeds and barked at her. She hit him with a stick that sent her down into the ditch. A white man pulled her up. She thanked him and mentioned that she lived away on the other side of the hill and she was going to town.

       She saw a nickel fell out of the man’s pocket onto the ground. She tricked to send him away after the dog. Then she bent forward and picked up the nickel and put it into her pocket. Meanwhile, a bird flew by which made her realize that God was watching her stealing the nickel. He returned after sending the dog away and pointed the gun at her. However, she remained fearless. The man wanted to give her a time for her boldness but he had not any. She went on and reached the town. It was decorated with green and red lights for Christmas. She encountered a lady walking with presents in her hands for Christmas covered with colorful paper. She asked her to lace up her shoes. She readily tied them.

       Phoenix was now standing in front of a stone building. It was the hospital. She climbed up the stairs and entered the room. A nurse asked about her grandson and gave her a bottle of medicine. She accepted the nickel the receptionist gave her. She looked for the other nickel. She said that she was going to buy a windmill with the nickels to give it to her grandson as Christmas gift.

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LOOK AT A TEACUP

The two major themes of this essay are the relationship between mother and her daughter (the author) and the connection between the past and the present. Both of these themes are represented by a teacup.

The writer’s mother had bought the teacup in 1939. It was made in Czechoslovakia. It had discontinued pattern. Most of the teacups bought during that time were broken. But this cup that the writer is using to drink tea is still shiny. The cup is thin and the palest green but in certain light it is completely pale. There are thin bands of gold around its edges, midway down and at its base. The saucer has also these gold bands around the edges and on the inner circle. But inside the cup there are flowers, as if someone had scattered the bouquet. It seems to have fallen into several blossoms. Some of them have fallen faster to the bottom and some others are somewhere mid way.

Look At A Teacup

In 1939 the writer’s mother had married and American who had born in Czechoslovakia. The daughter remembers that her parents loved each other. Many other women also married like her in the same year. Many things fell that year for those newly married ladies. Their bodies fell paired with other bodies (husbands) on bed together for the first time. There was also falling of the flowers into the teacup, falling of bodies in Europe and falling of bombs onto women and finally falling of countries.

Mother and daughter disagree upon some issues. The daughter thinks that work is the most important thing. However, to her mother family is the most important thing. The mother wants her daughter to get married and give continuity to the generation. She believes that her daughter should ride into the golden light of the future. But the daughter is not prepared for it. The entire world, even the smallest object sends her back to the past to understand history and sexuality. She wants to go to the past because it interests much. She wants to know about the past that was quiet, strange and peaceful. She asks her mother to tell her about the past. But she always evades it by emphasizing that future is important, not the past. Not marrying, the daughter seems to stop history. Marriage means the continuation of generation, which she does not want. She does not see any meaning to continue the history because it is destroyed by men themselves by initiating war.

The teacup connects the mother, the daughter, the past and the present because it was made in 1939 in Czechoslovakia, and because the mother has now given it to her daughter. The author would like her mother to give her other things, like information about past but her mother will not talk about the past. This means the only way the daughter can find out about her mother is by looking at the teacup. 

Question and answer:

Q.1. Explain, “The cup is a detailed, a small uncharred finger from the mid-century bonfire”.

Answer The cup was brought to USA from Czechoslovakia. The writer’s mother bought if for her marriage in 1939. This is an example of the arts of Czechs. The cup represents the pure science of flinging flowers onto the sides of the cup. The cup has now remained as a small uncharred finger because it has lost whole of its body.  In other words, the nation where it was made has lost its existence. Its culture and traditional institutions like marriage have been destroyed. Even the artist who made it are no longer living. In this sense, the cup is a detail, uncharred finger from the mid century bonfire.

Q.2. What do you mean by “Many things fell that year”?

Answer By this, she means that not only the bodies fell onto the bed to sleep with their husbands but also other things fell. For instance, the art of flinging plant on the sides of the teacup came to an end the artists got killed and the nation itself lost its own existence. Bodies in Europe fell like rain when bullet and bombs attacked people. Women carrying flowers fell due to heavy bombardment. Their faith in their own country fell and the social institution like marriage fell. In short, by many things fell, she means that everything got destroyed by the war and its effects.

Q.3. What is the relationship among falling flowers and teacups, falling bodies and beds, and the falling of bombs onto women and falling countries?

Answer The relationship between the cup and falling flowers is that they are the part of each other. These flowers have added the beauty of the cup. The cup seems to represent the peaceful day of the history by holding these flowers. The falling bodies and beds represent the sexual relation between husbands and wives which is necessary for making history. The falling of bombs onto women and falling countries represents the killing of innocent people and destruction of several countries.

Q.4.How does Hampel see herself and her mother connected by the teacup?

Answer Hampel sees herself and her mother connected by the teacup because teacup is only the thing with her to understand history. Her mother does not like to tell her about the past because she thinks that future is more important than past. She hands over the teacup to her so that her daughter could understand history. Thus, the cup is mediating between the past and present generations.

Q.5 .What does this essay tell us about marriage? About mother-daughter relationship? About the importance of family? About women?

Answer The essay says that marriage is very important for the old generation for continuing traditions and traditional values. But the young generation is against the marriage. They take it tragedy and they don't like to undertake the responsibility bearing and bringing up the children. They can have sexual relations without marrying anyone. The essay also talks about daughter and mother relationship. Mother is always thinking that her daughter should get married. She always tries to give something to her daughter as souvenir for continuation of history. However, daughter is ignoring all women is traditional relations. The daughter does not see the important of marriage as her mother does.

Q.6. What does the story tell us about being woman?

Answer The story tells that being a woman for traditional woman means to marry, bear and bring up the children. She does not think that work is important. She wants to pass her possessions and knowledge to her daughter. But modern woman gives priority to work. She does not like to marry because sexual relation is possible without marrying.

MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD

The poet feels great joy when he sees a rainbow in the sky. There was a rainbow when he was born and still it is there in his manhood. He believes that there shall be rainbow in his old age. The poet becomes happy whenever he sees a rainbow in the sky. The poet generalizes that the feeling towards a rainbow is unalterable by age or time. The poet wishes to die if the continuation of nature is broken.

The poet says, “The child is a father of the Man”. It means that the things we do and feel as children affect and control the way we do and feel as adults. In other words, a child of today becomes a man of tomorrow and yesterday’s child is a man of today. It is time that makes a person child, then adult (man) and finally an old man. Or we can also say that present is the outcome (result) of past and future will be the outcome of present. The poet expresses his deep respect to the nature in the final two lines because for him nature is the source of inspiration to write poems and god as well. The poet sees the relationship between man and nature. As he goes on respecting nature, he hopes that god will be with him everyday.