Post 5: A Grief Observed

Many different ideas and thoughts struck me when reading C.S. Lewis’ A Greif Observed. Lewis’ transparency, simplicity, and poignancy all were distinctive things in his book. And I feel like we, as readers, cannot fully soak in the significance of the book until we stop trying to figure out what his words meant for our lives, and instead figure out what did the words mean for his life. After all it was a journal of his observation of grief.

It seems from Lewis’ examination, grief caused him to question a lot of things that he was so sure of in his life such as his faith. From the beginning of the story, he goes straight into venting about his aggravation towards God and sounds almost blasphemous to some readers. But I feel like he carefully writes his frustration; placing passages to remind us that this is a side affect of his grief. At one point in chapter 1, he skillfully places “one only meets each hour or moment that comes” in the middle of the chapter, between his supposed “blasphemy.” When I read this I began to understand where he was coming from (not literally or to the full extent of his grief, but to a point where I could become emotionally connected through his text).

In his own observation, I feel like a reoccurring point he was trying to get across was that we could not fully understand grief and the side affects from it unless it hit us at a personal level. I feel like a another good passage from the story that depicts this is “you never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”

(I have no idea how I ended up transitioning into this). I remember a lot of people in class saying that the book was sad especially since it was written during his last few years alive. I think opposite. Yes, it is sad that he had to deal with his wife’s death and the emotional baggage it left. But I feel like instead of empathizing we should rejoice that a man recorded with such honesty during his final moments. Many people will never come to that place in their lives.

Post 4: Dialogue

Every time I hear the word dialogue, I immediately think of a conversation in a piece of literature. For some reason, it is difficult for me to process dialogue as something in the “real world” or as something I can participate in. Basically, I seem to neglect verbal dialogue because I feel as if written dialogue is emphasized more.

What exactly is dialogue?

In class on Monday, we took a field trip to Mi Casa Café in order to participate in real life dialogue over pieces of literature. Real life dialogue is different then written dialogue: the “uh’s” and the “erms” shows inconsistency to that of written dialogue. But it is those things that make dialogue with others enriching. I believe good dialogue consist of interruptions, awkward sounds, and body language.

This seems so much different then written dialogue. This may be why I find it difficult understanding the similarities of both because there are just too many differences. Written dialogue excludes those things that fascinate me about real life dialogue such as interruptions, awkward sounds and body language. And, of course, it makes sense why authors eliminate these digressions: they lengthen the story, and cause too much confusion in the reading.

But as I think back to the reading I brought to class on Monday, I am beginning to understand the link between written dialogue and real life dialogue. One of the books I brought was Tuesdays with Morrie (which I have mentioned from my first blog post.) The majority of the story consists of dialogue between the two main characters. This technique made the story beautifully written because it helped express the emotions of the characters. Dialogue helped reveal the characters hopes and worries. As well, dialogue gave empowerment to the story. The same goes for real life dialogue. We communicate and participate verbally with one another to express our opinions and beliefs. Spoken dialogue helps us connect with one another, just as written dialogue hopes to connect with us as a reader.

Post 3: Happy Endings

Similar to the previous read stories, Margaret Atwood’s Happy Endings explores love through “realistic” terms. This story first gives the typical and hopeful outlook of love, and then lists a variety of dysfunctional (yet, common) relationships. But it was not the dysfunction the story portrayed that intrigued me. A few ideas from this story came to mind.

First, the appearance of the story helped with the presentation of the emotions. I liked the simplicity of the story: not necessarily the context, but the language used. The language of the story seemed to fill in the gap between the reader and the characters. One particular line that I enjoyed from the story was “Crying is bad for your face, everyone knows that and so does Mary but she can’t stop.” This line resembled an actual passing thought I would have if I saw Mary crying everyday at work. It was easy to place myself in the story. As well, vulgar language throughout the story helped allude to the realistic distress of love. Sometimes offensive language in literature aids with the expression of emotions that additional language just does not seem to fill. This text is a good example of connecting with the reader --- in an emotional sense.

Because of this connection, it became easier for me to engage with the text and develop several more thoughts about love. I feel like in a lot of scenarios in Happy Endings that characters suffered from a great deal heartache because their ideals were not met. This is a sensible example of many relationships. People get lost in their own hopes of love, that they completely lose the possibility of ever experiencing it. I feel as if this line sums it up best: “Don’t be deluded by any other ending, they’re all fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just motivated by excessive optimism if not by downright sentimentality.”


My main purpose of this post is simply to explain that language plays a great deal in connecting with the context.

Post 2

From reading the story What We Talked about When We Talk About Love, I have taken some notes on the strong impact of love. Firstly, people try narrowing down love into personal opinion. All the characters in the story had different ideas and beliefs about what true love can possibly be. However, resorting to this mentality makes all love acceptable. Terri believed that when she was beaten and abused she was receiving love. Most people would see that as not an appropriate representative of love. But if we believe that love is a matter of personal opinion, then Terri’s opinion would be accepted.

I believe the issue regarding the quest for the definition of love is that people tend to give a certain criteria for what love truly is. However, we give love an individual definition according to us then it is up for manipulation. Our definition of love becomes dependent on our opinions and is easily swayed when necessary. Love should be foundational. Love should be unshaken. Therefore, love should not be viewed through a limited criterion.

However, I, myself, am incapable of coming up with a definite definition of love. It is easy for me to point out what is not love but I leave myself vulnerable to what is love. I can only give my own experiences and beliefs on love. I believe love is a strong feeling for another. The capability to trust another with your heart is an indicator of love. Loving someone is being able to be transparent – open to cry, open to laugh; open to express your soul. But I also believe that love is more than emotions. When you have a strong desire for someone its easy for you to seek out those good things. But I believe true love is the ability to fight to keep those good things alive.

Post 1

When I was about three years old, I encountered “my first best friend” from listening to my father read Winnie the Pooh classics. I loved the adventures he and his friends went on, and often imagined myself in their place. This was what first captivated me to literature: how words could paint such a vivid story in one’s mind.


As I grew older and continued to read, I learned something else that was magnificent from literature: the capability of the words to not only paint a picture, but to touch the heart. The most recent books I have enjoyed reading include books by Mitch Albom, such as Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and For One More Day. What intrigues me about his books is their simplicity. He presents books as if he is speaking to you from his heart.


I believe all literature can have that effect on a reader. It can provoke emotions and awaken one’s soul. The words of another can sometimes be the words a reader was looking for in his or her own life. However, this mentality can be negative on a reader. Sometimes the longing to provoke one’s own emotions causes limitation in the variety of their reading. I am guilty of this. When reading for pleasure, I want a book I know will interest me. So I look for stories that are appealing—I judge a book by its cover. Why should literature be treated any differently from how we treat one another? Of course we like to surround ourselves with people who have the same interest as we do, but that does not mean we ignore the people who are different than us. The same should go for literature. Maybe if we first search for the author’s meaning, we will open our minds to ideas that we never would have explored.


Literature is both the expression and the exploration of one’s heart and mind.