"Gryphon" by Charles Baxter

1. How is Ms. Ferenzci a gryphon?

 First of all, gryphon is a different spelling of griffin. Both of them mean a mythical creature with a lions body and an eagle's head. It is a made up creature made up from many people's imaginations. Miss Ferenzci has the tendency to tell the children many things that aren't true. This is an example of how she is a "gryphon",  because she lives half in the real world and half in the imaginary world.

2. How does the point of view of the story (told as a memory of recollection) change the way you view the themes and/or characters?

The story is told in point of view of a man looking back at his childhood, specifically Ms. Ferenzci's substituting. This changes the view of the story because a grownup has a totally different aspect on things than a child. If it was told in the point of view of a child, the view would be more childish and less mature. I think this is told as a memory of a recollection because grownups seem to have more logically thinking when it comes to these things. Also, as a grownup the narrator had a long time to think about that memory and what to make of it. If it was told in point of view as a child, the narration would probably be more confused and blatantly say that the substitute was crazy, whereas the narrator (grown up) seems to think that Ms. Ferenzci is not exactly crazy, but maybe has a different way of teaching and/or a different outlook on the world which affects her teaching.

"Nawabdin Electrician" by Daniyal Mueenuddin

When I looked at the short story, it didn't look very intriguing. At first, I thought it would be boring because I'm not at all into stories about "modern" Middle-East, or very, very descriptive stories. At the beginning, I did think it would be boring with all the description and random facts; although I knew they were probably important. While I reading this, I was wondering when something interesting happened and it did! After Nawab got shot, I was intrigued so I read a bit more carefully until the end then I went back to read the beginning more carefully and I picked up a few odd and ironic bits throughout the story and more characterization.

At the beginning it is established that Nawab is the protagonist, however he is far from being the hero. First of all, he cheats people by slowing down electric meters. Also, he tricks his landowner into buying him a new motorcycle because of his "gray" hairs and his "weak body". He also gets the landowner to buy some of the gasoline too. Before Nawab is shot he pleads with the thief to let him go: "I beg you, I've got little girls, thirteen children. I promise, thirteen." Later, the reader sees Nawab was pretending and doesn't care as much about the girls as he does the motorcycle. At the end of the story, he chooses not to forgive the thief who had shot him: "Never. I won't forgive you. You had your life, I had mine. At every step of the road I went the right way and you the wrong," The ironic thing about this is Nawab isn't much better than the thief (ex. he cheats people, he tricks his landowner into giving him the motorcycle, he cares more about the motorcycle)

Overall this book was very well written. I actually enjoyed this story much. I enjoyed going back and re-reading it and picking up parts I didn't see before and weaving and connecting them to the other parts in the story. It was a pleasant surprise.

"Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway Response

    This short story was very descriptive, and even disturbing/gruesome at times. The C-section was disturbing, especially how it was described. I could relate to how Nick was feeling because of how well the birth and Nick's reactions were described. I liked how this story had more to it than just a baby being born too.It seems the only plot line and/or conflict in this was the birth of the baby. However, this small event highlighted many themes in the story. It highlighted bravery and innocence.
    I believe one of the themes is bravery...with men in this case. Nick's father is the main example of bravery in this. He seems like a very brave man, seeing as he is the only one who can deal with the C-section and the suicide of the husband (Uncle George left, and so did Nick) Also when Nick asks his father why the man killed himself, Nick's father responds "I don't know, Nick. He couldn't stand things, I guess," this sort of highlights Nick's father's bravery compared to other men.
    Another theme I caught on to was child innocence. The reader must remember that Nick is still a child. It's easy to forget when most of the story is centered around the operation and Nick's Father. During the story sometimes I forgot that this was told in, somewhat, a child's point of view, especially during the operation which is centered around Nick's Father. It wasn't until Nick's father explains the concept of birth to Nick and Nick's hesitance to look at what his father is doing. Also, this event probably had an impact on Nick's innocence. At the end when Nick is wondering about death the reader remembers that he, in fact, is still a child.
    Overall, I actually found this short story very interesting. I liked how it was super long with endless paragraphs of descriptions about what something looks like. I liked how the themes weren't that hard to find, but they were woven into the story neatly and didn't seem like the author decided to put them in there at the last minute. I also like how the story never seemed to get dull, from the first couple of paragraphs I felt like I needed to continue to read (not just because I had to) but because it was gripping and kept the reader involved.