Walter Mitty Journal The story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was an interesting story. This story was difficult to follow in the beginning. The story talks in first person and how Walter Mitty daydreams a lot while doing things in life. I like how the story is written and it is unique from the other stories I read. The story is about Walter Mitty daydreaming of how important he is. For example he daydreams he is a commander of an army, or the person in charge of the surgery. He daydreams while he is driving and out shopping. Compared to his daydreams, his wife controls what things he does. She makes him shop for stuff and pick her up. He could change this by making an effort to make his life more adventurous. The Big Snit The Big Snit was an interesting story. The story was a little confusing at first. I had no idea what was happening. The story seemed like it started with a couple playing a game of scrabble. The guy was frustrated because he didn’t have good letters. So the woman decided to clean the house while he sat their and thinked. While she was cleaning, he turned on the TV and watched a show where teens cut things using a saw. While watching, he fell asleep and important news of a nuclear war was released. He woke up and checked outside and saw people screaming. He didn’t know what was happening. He then decide to cheat by looking at the woman’s card. At the moment, the woman came back into the room. She got mad at him how he cheats a lot. They went into an argument how the guy keeps cheating and the obsession of sawing. He complained she kept shaking her eyeballs. She then felt offended and left the room. She cried and was sad. The guy looks at a picture and remembers the good times with her. He tries to cheer her up because he realizes he did something awful. In the end, they are all happy. They then walk outside and die. They are then sent to heaven where they want to continue their game of scrabble. A&P The short story A&P was a unique story. The story is about a boy named Sammy who seems to work at a store. The story is told in first person. It starts off how he sees three girls that are dressed in swimsuits walk into the store. He starts judging them by their looks, they physique and the way they talk. He names the leader of the trio “Queenie” because to him she looks stunning. While they were buying herring snacks, the manager of the store, Lengel tells them to leave the store because they weren’t wearing proper clothing. Sammy believes that Lengel had offended them. He then proceeds to quit his job because he thinks the girls will find him a hero for standing against up to Lengel. Lengel insists that he should keep his job and that it would disappoint his parents. Sammy keeps refusing and hangs his apron on the counter. After quitting his job, he was hoping to hear appraise ,but was oblivious to the fact that the girls left the store. He then feels regret and disappointment that he just lost his job. To me, Sammy is a person who likes girls and would love to be admired by them. He sometimes makes bad decisions because he is too focused on impressing girls. Sniper Journal The story sniper was a story about a guy in the middle of a fight. It appears he was in a war against another army. The story talks about him and what he does in the war. Since he didn’t eat since morning he decided to eat a sandwich and drink some whiskey. He also did a risky thing which was to smoke because this would give up his hiding place. A woman finds out his hiding place and went to alert a man who was operating a machine gun. He then hears a machine gun go off. He then snipes the man who was using the machine gun and the woman. After he killed them, he was hit in the arm that was shot from the other side. He didn’t really feel pain, but felt like his arm was dead. He used a knife to dig out the bullet. He then thought of a plan. He stuck out his hat over his hiding place. The sniper shot the hat. He then made it look like he fell down to his doom. He dropped his sniper for the effect. After a few moments he took out his pistol. When the other sniper peeked out of his hiding place, he shot him. The sniper fell dead. He felt respect for the other soldier and decided to go look at him. He got off the roof and walked towards the body. While walking, machine guns were going off and bullets were being fired at him. He dashed to safety. He then rolled over the body and looked into his brother’s eyes. To me the ending was cliche, but the story was dramatic and interesting. At first it was a little boring, but the pace picked up. Fall of The City The story “Fallen Castle” was an interesting story. It starts off with a boy named Teddy who fantasizes about a story about an army. He lives with his Aunt and Uncle. His relationship with his Aunt and uncle change near the end of the story. His Aunt and Uncle asked what he was doing. He didn’t want them to know what he was doing. His uncle threatened him or he will get beaten in the butt. His Uncle was curious what he was doing in the attic so went to check. He laughed and called them paper dolls. He made mockery of Teddy which upset him. His Aunt and Uncle pestered him and he kept saying they weren’t dolls. He eventually gave in and realized they were paper dolls. He went upstairs and ripped the cardboard city and paper people. He was in tears. To me, his uncle and aunt were jerks to him. Teddy’s relationship with them after this incident has changed. His dream and fantasy was crushed. They should have let him be creative and imagine. Gentlemen Your Verdict The story, Gentlemen, Your Verdict was a great and interesting story. The story is about a submarine getting stuck under water. The story takes place in the courtroom and the 5 men describe the situation in the submarine. When the submarine is hit, they call for help and the people on the phone tell them they will come up and rescue them in 6­7 days. There was so many people in the submarine there was only 2 days of air for all of them. Lieutenant­ Commander Oram came in to tell them that they were stuck. He decided that 15 people must be sacrificed in order for other people to live. He got men with family to draw a lottery. Preece, Nordin, Speer and Jenvey won the lottery. Commander Oram got mugs and whiskey. He gave a speech how men can take bad new like men. He poured the whiskey in the cup. He passed them around. He gave Preece, Nordin, Speer and Jenvey four white mugs that are already charged. The fifth one went to Lieutenant Paull and took the last one for himself. As everyone drank, they stiffened, choked and fell. The cups clattered on the floor and they fell lifeless to the floor. Oram spoke that they now have enough air for 6­7 days. He then says he will now join his crew after he made his report. The 5 men who survived tells the whole story to the court. The court will then decide if they are guilty or not guilty. Journal on Two Fisherman My thoughts on the story “Two Fisherman” was that it was a story that was very detailed and had an interesting ending. The story kept me engaged. The story was about how a reporter was trying to find out who the hangman was. He found a man fishing and offered to fish with him. He learned his name was Smitty and realized he had a passion for fishing. They became really good friends. On the day of the hanging he was surprised to see his friend. After the hanging, he gave Michael the main character fish he caught from the morning. People who were outraged of the hanging and threw stuff at him. Smitty looked at Michael for help. Out of fear, he threw the fish on the ground and left him. Smitty felt betrayed. That ending was surprising and never expected Michael to turn on his friend Smitty because Smitty seemed like a nice guy. The story was one of my favourite short stories I have read in this unit.