Management of Grief Response

The old couple (they do not have names)

We cannot get out of this tiny apartment. Here is the only connection of life we have with our sons. We are running out of tea to give to the lady that hands us papers. I do not want to sign. I do not know these people or what they will do to me. They promise us a pension and money, but I don’t understand what this has to do with our sons who have died in a plane bombing. I feel if we leave this apartment and go back to Punjab they will take advantage of our son’s deaths. They wave papers at us like this is some sort of custom when people die. She keeps rambling on about legal jurisdiction, but I don’t understand the concept of it. I want to go back to India and live in peace there. My son’s death is very horrific and complicated and I want to know what I have to do properly for a spiritual burial. The other lady that comes to visit us is very nice and she speaks Hindu. Though I fear I am selling my sons for two airline tickets to a place I’ve never seen. This place called Ireland where there plane exploded nearby. The only thing that is clear to me is I don’t what obligation the country of Canada will have to me after I sign these papers. Will they ship me off to some other foreign place like Ireland? I want to go home to Punjab and bury my sons in a place they deserve to be buried.

An Ounce of Cure

I believe the title uses satire and irony for the statement that it’s better to face potential problems before they become actual problems. In this story it might not always be the case and they are trying to contradict that. That is why it’s called an ounce of cure not a metric ton of cure. An ounce of cure because in the story she drinks alcohol which can be served in shots (ounces). It’s taking an ordinary saying and using It metaphorically speaking how statements and facts in life can’t be summed up in sentences. The title of the story was changed because they needed a shorter title than the original title. Also they need the title to be original with a side of theory and irony about a common phrase. This theme is explored by showing how the girl in this book believes she’s solving her problems though she is not. She's trying to solve a potential problem of her ex-boyfriend ,but ends up with an actual problem of the ruining her reputation infront of the whole town. She is the protagonist in the novel that in the end get’s humiliated to the point of no return. In the end of the story everything works out and the cycle will repeat. How she believes she is solving a problem but a bigger problem is coming from a result of that.

Happy Endings Response

Margaret Atwood’s Happy Endings was very intriguing. The idea that I enjoyed the most about this short story was the possibilities of the short story. The reader could understand the concept of what was going on and make up their own story along the way. Each paragraph was so short and unimaginative that it actually made the short story so much more interesting. Short and unimaginative actually made the story much more appealing because the reader can fill in the gaps themselves therefore creating a twirl of events. Every sentence opened a door to an endless amount of opportunity. A small amount of constructive criticism I could give to Margaret Atwood is to make the syntax of the story more formal. There is no need for comments in between paragraphs because this makes the reader go off topic. It makes them become uninterested in the doors that were opening from each peculiar paragraph. The story is so overwhelming interesting that there is no need for weak and pathetic humor in between paragraphs. Overall I enjoyed the story because it was quick to the point and extremely thought-provoking compared to other stories I have read.