for short story three I read the story American History by Judith Ortiz Cofer.

1. I thought this story was very good, it was about a young adolescent during the time of the Kennedy assassination and how she is confused about how she feels about the event. I can really relate to this because I was about the same age during 9/11 and was also confused about the event. the main character has a crush on a new boy in the class and on the day of the Kennedy assassination she is finally going to get to go to his house. her mother is mad at her because she isn't as distraught about the president dying as her mother thinks she should be. I can relate to this because when 9/11 happened I had no idea the ramifications of that event. when it happened I did not grasp the importance of it and could only think about how cool it was that we just watched the news in every class all day.
I also liked the story because the focus was not on how important it was that Kennedy died but how important this boy was to her. many people might thing that the importance is misplaced but I think that is in just the right place. what good does another story about where someone was and what they were doing during an assassination? I think that the story was mainly about young infatuation and it just so happened that the president was killed at the same time that this was going on and the writer portrays this well.

2. the subject of the story is a girl who has a crush on the new boy. the theme love being more important that death. the girl is reprimanded by her mother for wanting to go and study with her crush on the day that Kennedy is assassinated. I think that the love only took precedent, no pun intended, because of her age. at 14 it is very hard for a person to realize the importance of events that do not directly affect them. I am living proof, when 9/11 happened I didn't hardly think anything of it. I think this story was good because it had heart, the main character was a character I could really relate to and I think that is a good bit of what makes someone like a story.

3. "Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy's death, I could not fight the feeling of elation that stirred in my chest." this shows how the author could not look past what directly influenced her life, a common trait among children and young adults. I don't think that the author necessarily feels that her study session with Eugene was more important than the president's death, but she is merely telling about how she felt at the time. at one point the gym teacher said,"The president is dead, you idiots. I should have known that wouldn't mean anything to a bunch of losers like you kids. Go home" this shows the differing opnions between the grown-ups and the kids.

4. one of my favorite movies is fight club. the subject of the movie is structured anarchy and insanity. the theme of the movie is the bad things that can happen when a smart insane person can organize a group of people to do whatever he wants them to do. the interesting thing about the theme of this movie is that the storyteller does not pass judgment on this group of people, at least not within the movie. the choice of whether this structured anarchy is a good thing or a bad thing is up to the viewer. this open-ended storytelling is a good way to tell a morally ambiguous story, leaving the moral choice up to the audience.