final part..Her death

Sunday was almost over and Jodi still had not received a call from Stacy.  Jodi stayed in her room after dinner and was thinking about her friend.  Hoping Stacy was okay, hoping that she would be at school on Monday morning.  Jodi’s mother stood in the doorway of her room, “I need to talk to you”, said her mother.  Her mother sat on Jodi’s bed and said, “Stacy got hurt, someone hurt her really bad and she is gone.  You won’t be able to see her anymore”.  “Where did she go’?  Jodi asked.  Her mother’s reply was one Jodi couldn’t accept.  “She went to live with the Lord”, her mother told her.  “You’re wrong; she is at her grandma’s house” she cried.  Her mother sat and told Jodi what had happened to Stacy.  Jodi’s mother didn’t want Jodi to hear about it for the first time at school.  Her mother told her how Stacy was found; raped and hanging in a barn.  Nobody knew who had done it and the killer was still out there. 

On Monday Jodi woke up and got ready for school.  She stood at the bus stop with Andy and waited for the bus.  The bus arrived and the door swung open, but Jodi just stood there and looked at the bus.  She always sat on the bus with Stacy and now she was dead; murdered.  “Let’s go”, said the driver.  Jodi threw her backpack on the ground and ran back to her mother who was standing on the porch.  Jodi refused to get on the school bus.  Her mother had to drive Jodi and Andy to school. 

There was news crews all over the school; all reporting about the death and brutal murder of a nine year old girl.  It was their big story, but it was Jodi’s best friend.  She hid behind her mother as they walked to her classroom.  Her best friend was gone and she would never see her again.  This was something that couldn’t be changed, you couldn’t go back and repeat that dreadful day and change the outcome of it.  Not like Jodi was able to change the outcome of her first year in first grade. 

Jodi sat quiet in the back seat of the car as her grandmother drove her, her mother, Josh and Andy to Stacy’s layout.  “Jodi, you have to remember her by who she was and not by what happened”, her grandmother said.  Josh tried to get Jodi to smile, but his repeated attempts failed.  He leaned over and put his arm around her.  “I don’t want to take her to see this”, her mother said as they pulled into the funeral home.  The funeral home was packed, there was a long line that came out the front entrance, across the porch, down the steps, along the sidewalk and ended at the road.  As Jodi climbed out of the car her heart began to race.  Her mother grabbed her hand, “Are you okay” asked her mother?  Jodi shook her head yes and they all began to walk towards the funeral home.  They were stopped by a news crew just as they crossed the road.  “Was your daughter a friend?  Can we interview you”, asked a male reporter?  Jodi’s mother looked down at her and shook her head yes, “but you can’t film my daughter”.  Her mother did the interview and they turned and got into the long line to say their goodbye.  Finally it was their turn.  Only Jodi and her mother walked up to the casket.  As Jodi approached the casket she just stared at her friend laying there lifeless, tears began to roll down her cheeks.  Stacy had on a dress that had pink flowers and a white turtle neck with some lace.  Her face was covered in make-up that made her cheeks look rosy.  “Why would someone do that”, Jodi asked her mother.  “I don’t know honey”, her mother replied.  Jodi just stood there and stared at her friend.  It’s a part of life that things change, nothing ever stays the same.  People are born and people die; and some just hideaway inside themselves.  The very imaginative little girl, who was strong-willed and good-natured, was never seen again. 

The sweet loving child that Jodi use to be was no longer there; she became me.  Jodi use to live inside of me, now I am a child that is lost and confused as if I have no identity.   I trusted nobody, and avoided everyone that I could.  At family events such as Christmas I chose to sit in the car and be alone.  I closed myself off from the world and slowly distanced myself from my friends.  I no longer played outside; I kept myself locked up in my room.  I always claimed I didn’t feel well and I started getting into trouble at school and at home.  It’s also when I began self mutilation.

That is wehre I'm going to conclude my story. There is a lot more but a bit much to put on here.  Thanks

Beowulf

The poem Beowulf originated among the Anglo-Saxons around 700.  I read parts of this poem in my Humanities class an found it to be a very interesting poem.  The poet, whom I believe is unknow (could be wrong about this but couldnt find any information), brought color and excitement to the poem by Beowulf's, the protagonist, assault on the fire-dragon.  The part that caught my attention the most is where Beowulf thought he was basically an all mighty man and could take on the dragon.  When the dragon realizes Beowulf had come, he rises angry and gives Beowulf a fight that he didn't expect.  I think he begins to second guess his decision once his sword gets broken by the dragons thick scaly hide.  The tone of the poem is really enthusiastic about the feats of Beowulf.  Obviously not really one of the dragon.
The poem has three parts or major conflicts:  the domination of Grendel, the revenge of Grendels mother after Grendel is slain and the rage of the dragon when the treasure that the dragon had been protecting was stolen, which by the way was cursed.  Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother after the encounter of each other.
The poem of Beowulf was written to portray a personal account of heroism in a warring culture.  This is a great poem.  

Where the Side Walk Ends.

Does anyone remember the book of childrens poetry, Where the Side Walk Ends?  I remember having to read that in school.  I use to love those poems.  It's a collection of Childrens poetry, deals with childhood concerns written by Shel Silverstein.  Anyway I just learned that in 2004 they added more poems to the book.  Well its actually a 30 year anniversary book that has twelve new poems included in it. 

I bought my son the book and I have been reading through the poems and they are really good.  I hope he enjoys them just as I did when I was his age.  It's a great price for the book so I think I'm going to get it for my neices and nephews for Christmas. I love the drawings..

My story prt 2. Missing.

On her first day of first grade she was once again afraid; afraid of her teacher, classmates and her long bus ride.  She had to meet all new friends because she went to a new school.  This wasn’t easy for her to do since she was a little shy.  She sat by herself at recess and watched everyone else play.  She was alone and nobody tried to play with her.  She was just as alone on her bus ride as she was at recess.  When she got off the bus her mother would have dinner made and her father would be home shortly after.  When her father arrived home from work he would have a brown paper bag filled with a few pieces of candy.  Today her father brought her home the brown paper bag and a kitten.  She named her kitten fluffy; it was a tiny kitten with an overwhelming amount of gray fur.  Jodi and fluffy became friends over the next few weeks.  The friendship only lasted for a few short weeks because her cat disappeared.  She lay in her bed and cried for her kitten.  Her father brought her home a new kitten - fluffy number two - and once again a friendship bloomed.  At school she finally made a new human friend and her name was Stacy Lowe.  Stacy was a happy little girl who always looked after her little brother Jeffery.  She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes and a smile that could light up a room.  Jodi was no longer afraid of the long bus ride.  Now she had a friend to sit with on the bus.  Now she didn’t want the ride to end.  She had to repeat the first grade again because she wasn’t that great at reading.  Her second time around was a lot better for her and she made better grades.  She even made a few new friends.  It was like she became popular overnight.  She made friends with a set of triplets; Courtney, Carly, Casie and Katie.  The triplets all looked different and Jodi thought it was odd because her old friends that were twins looked almost just alike.  The triplets all had blonde hair and green eyes and were of different height; Courtney was the shortest and Casie was the tallest.  Katie had brown hair and brown eyes and was a very outspoken little girl. 

Although she had new friends it still hurt when fluffy number two came up missing.  Her father bought two more kittens over the course of her second year in first grade.  All of which came up missing; until she finally saw what was happening to her kittens.  She lived in a small home by a busy road.  Despite the efforts to keep the kittens out of the road; they still managed to find their way to meet their maker.  Her father was finding the kittens in the morning when he would leave for work.  He took the kittens and buried them where he worked; which was a gravel pit.  At such a young age she learned what death was.  First grade was finally over and it was time to move onto the next grade level; second grade. 

Second grade was a breeze for her; she got good grades and had the perfect friends.  On the bus ride to and from school she would sit with her best friend Stacy.  Although Jodi was held back and Stacy was now a grade ahead of Jodi; they remained best friends.  At breakfast and lunch Jodi would sit with all of her friends and at recess they all played on the merry go round and played kick ball.  In the middle of the school year the triplets had a sleep over and Jodi was the only one who wasn’t allowed to spend the night.  Her parents didn’t really let her stay the night at too many places.  It was basically home and grandma’s house.  She never understood why.  Second grade ended and she once again had good grades and was moving on to third grade. 

This is the grade that changed Jodi’s whole life.  I know what you are thinking! How can someone’s entire life be changed in the third grade.  She had a fantastic teacher that introduced new and interesting things to Jodi in the class room.  In the class there was a fish tank, a bird and an incubator that contained an egg that the class was waiting for to hatch.  There was also a store in the classroom and on every Friday the class was able to buy items from the store with play money that was earned throughout the week.  If you answered a question right, got good grades on your homework and if you worked for the class then you earned money.  Each student had their own job in the classroom; some kids had the task of washing the chalk board and some had the job of passing out papers.  When Christmas break came Jodi got to take the bird home with her to take of it.  Her father thought it was funny to try and teach the bird curse words. 

Jodi even met a new friend named Amanda who lived right next to her house.  It was easier for Jodi’s parents to let her visit a friend’s house since she lived so close.  Amanda was a great friend who started to come over every day after school.  Jodi still sat on the bus with Stacy but when Stacy got off the bus she sat with Amanda. 

On Thursday while on the bus Stacy wrote down her phone number and she wanted Jodi to call her when she got home.  Jodi called Stacy and they talked on the phone off and on all evening.  On Friday as they were on the bus Stacy said she would call Jodi before she went to her grandma’s for the weekend.  Stacy said, “Goodbye”, and walked off the bus.  When Jodi got off the bus she rushed into her home and told her mom she was expecting a call from Stacy.  Jodi loved the outdoors and played outside any chance she got.  Jodi’s mother never came to get her and she was upset that Stacy didn’t call.  Jodi’s mother said, “Don’t worry honey Stacy must not have had time to call and she will probably call tomorrow”.

Saturday morning came and Jodi woke up to a big breakfast that was prepared by her mother.  Jodi ate and sat down to watch Saturday morning cartoons with her older brother Andy and little brother Adam.  This was something that was a regular routine on Saturday mornings.  This time Jodi also sat and waited for the phone to ring.  The first time the phone rang it was her grandma.  Her mother sat and talked on the phone for a while and Jodi thought for sure that Stacy was going to call and get a busy signal.  Saturday evening had come and passed; still there was no call from Stacy.  Jodi began to wonder why she hadn’t called and just then the phone rang.  She jumped up and ran to the phone; quickly saying, “Hello”, like she knew it was going to be Stacy.  “Quick I need to speak to your mother please”, it was Jodi’s aunt Regina.  Jodi sat on the chair and looked at her mother when she said, “Oh my god”, and her mother began to cry.  Jodi’s mother slowly hung up the phone and looked at Jodi and her brothers.  “Please, go to your rooms until I say otherwise”, her mother said.  Jodi got up and walked to her room; stopping to take a look at her mother.  Wondering what it was that had made her mother cry.  “Mike, you need to come here”, yelled her mother.  Mike was her father’s name and her mother only used it when something was wrong. 

Jodi laid in her room for what seemed like forever.  She could hear faint sounds of the television; it sounded like the evening news.  Jodi laid in her bed and tried to listen, but all she could hear was muffled voices of the reporters and the faint sobs of her mother crying.  Finally, her mother walked into her room and sat on her bed.  She didn’t speak right away, but when she began to speak she choked on her words and quickly stopped.  Making a second attempt Jodi’s mother looked at her and said, “Stacy is missing; her parents can’t find her”.  “Is that why she hasn’t called”, asked Jodi.  “Yes honey that’s why she hasn’t called”, answered her mother.  Jodi lay in her bed and looked at the ceiling.  Tears streamed down her face and she began to fear for her friend.  She thought about how scared Stacy must be; being lost, all alone and away from her family. 

Sunday came and Jodi sat in front of the television; hoping that the news would report the safe recovery of her best friend.  Jodi’s father walked into the living room and turned off the television.  “You don’t need to be watching the news, you’re too young.  Go outside and play with your brothers”, said her father.  Just then her older brother Andy ran through the front door and threw a dead dragonfly on her lap.  Jodi laughed and got up to chase him back out the door.  As Jodi stood up her father flicked the television back on.  “Body of a local missing girl has been recovered”, boomed the television.  Jodi stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at the television just in time to see the picture of her best friend on the screen.  Her father turned the television back off and screamed, “I said to get outside”!  Jodi ran out the door and sat on the front porch wondering what that meant.

My story..part 1...

I have decided to post parts of a story that I wrote about my life.  I at one point had been asked to think about the bridges in my life (the things that make me who I am or lead me to where I am today) and I did the project but after the project was over I just kept adding on to it.  The story was intended for my own entertainment I guess but why not share it with all of you?  I am only going to post the story in parts and this is part 1. The crazy kid in me. Although it may sound like it, I'm not crazy lol...

I want to tell you a story.  A story of a little girl that nobody has seen for many years.  I wonder where she is today.  She was a very imaginative little girl who was strong-willed and good- natured.  She loved to be outdoors and was very friendly; although she was a little shy when first meeting someone.  She had long red hair, green eyes and was always wearing a smile.  Her parents called her Jodi and her name fit her well.  She loved to watch cartoons and always thought she could do the things the cartoon characters did.  A very trusting little girl who believed everything she saw; a lot of times what she heard too.  

I remember one particular morning when she was watching her cartoons as her mother cleaned up their little trailer.  Her father was at work and often came home for lunch; her older brother Andy was at school.  Her mother was in the kitchen which was directly next to the living room.  Her mother stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes and had a clear view across the room at her daughter on the couch.  Her mother smiled, just as she always did when she heard one of her children burst out in laughter.  Her mother turned her head as she heard little feet running across the living room into the kitchen.  Jodi reached up and grabbed a glass drinking glass from the counter and filled it with water.  Her mother was curious as to what her daughter was up too.  “What are you doing”, asked her mother.  “I am going to dive into this glass like Jerry did on TV”, replied Jodi.  Her mother just laughed and shot back with some very disappointing news.  “Jodi, what you see in cartoons usually can’t actually happen.  If you try to dive into this glass it will break and hurt you”, said her mother.  Jodi looked up at her mother and rolled her little green eyes and went back to sit on the couch.  Her mother walked out of the kitchen, through the living room and down the hallway that lead to the bedrooms.  Jodi got up off the couch and quietly sneaked into the kitchen – she quietly filled the glass with water.  She sneaked back into the living room – taking a quick look to make sure her mother wasn’t coming.  Once she was convinced the coast was clear she placed the glass of water on the floor in front of the coffee table.  She pulled her long red hair out of her face as she quickly climbed on top of the coffee table.  Making sure her mother still wasn’t coming she turned around to take one last look at the hallway entrance; she turned and dove headfirst into the glass of water.

The smashing sound of glass rung throughout the trailer and was followed by a loud thump of her head hitting the floor.  Her mother ran into the living room and screamed at the sight of her five year old daughter lying on the floor covered in blood.  Her mother began to cry and picked her daughter up off the floor.  Jodi wasn’t crying but instead she was angry.  She looked at her mother and said, “You were right mom, it didn’t work”!  Her mother didn’t like the sight of blood – let alone it be covered over her daughter.  She started to feel dizzy and nauseated.  Just then Jodi’s father came home for his lunch break.  That was when Jodi began to cry and ran to her father.  She was always a Daddy’s little girl.  She was taken to the hospital and received thirteen stitches in the middle of her fore head.  She has a scar that proves her adventure. 

She used her wound as a way to seem tough to her brother and Uncle Josh.  Her brother and Josh were the same age and they were only a couple years older than she was.  Jodi tried so hard to play with her brother and uncle, but they always left her behind.  She would run and do her best to keep up with them.  If she fell as she was running; she got up and wiped the blood away with her dress and took off again.  She was the only girl on her father’s side of the family.  Jodi didn’t get to spend much time with her mother’s side of the family.  This left her surrounded by boys and nobody to play with.  If the boys wouldn’t play with her she would end up playing with Josephine.  Josephine was her best friend and someone who was always there for her when she needed a friend.  She was also the kind of friend that nobody else could see.  Andy and Josh really got a kick out of this.  They were always up to something and into some kind of mischief.  If you saw them running or if you couldn’t find them at all; it usually meant they were doing or did something wrong.  Although it didn’t work; there were many times they laughed and blamed what they had done on Josephine.  Jodi loved jelly beans and Andy and josh knew she would do anything for a jelly bean.  The loving uncle that Josh was; he decided to give her a bag of jelly beans.  They were brightly colored and had an odd shape, but she didn’t care – it was a jelly bean.  She took one out and bit down; eager to eat as many as she could before her mother took them away.  The jelly bean was unusually very hard, but she kept trying to bite through it.  Andy and Josh stood peeking around the corner laughing hysterically.  The harder she tried to bite through the Jelly Bean was the harder they would laugh.  As it turned out the Jelly Beans weren’t actually Jelly beans.  Instead they were little rocks that were painted with model car paint.  She was an innocent and gullible little girl and they surely took advantage of that.  Jodi took the bag of jelly beans to her mother and said, “These are too hard to eat”.  Without hesitating her mother yelled, “Andy and Josh, get in here”!  The boys came through the door looking all innocent and said, “It was Josephine’s idea”.  They loved to pick on Jodi and she was the stooge in all their jokes. 

Jodi’s mother always made a big breakfast on Saturday mornings because it was the one day everyone could wake up and be together as a family.  Jodi loved pancakes as a child and her brother always requested biscuits and gravy.  As Jodi, her uncle and brother waited patiently for the food to be ready they relaxed in the living room watching Saturday morning cartoons.  Josh occasionally gave her remarks asking her if she wanted to try and fit in a glass again.  He loved to tease Jodi.  “Breakfast is ready”, yelled her mother.  Everyone piled into the small kitchen to set and eat a wonderful meal. “Did you know that if you’re special Mrs. Butterworth will talk to you?” asked her uncle Josh. “No” replied Jodi. “Well then how do you think they do it on television? It’s because they found the special person.  Jodi I think you could get her to talk to you”, said Josh.  “Okay Josh that’s enough teasing already today.  Eat your breakfast and leave her alone”, said Jodi’s father.  When breakfast was over Jodi would sometimes help her mother clean up and the boys would go outside for chores.  Once everyone left the kitchen and Jodi was all alone; she sat down at the table staring at the syrup jar.  She began talking to Mrs. Butterworth but got no reply.  Tears started to stream down her face as she started to walk away from the table.  Just then Jodi heard Mrs. Butterworth speak to her.  “Don’t cry child, Mrs. Butterworth takes her time, it’s because I’m so thick and rich”.  Jodi threw her plate down and ran through the house screaming, “Mom! Mom! Its real mom she talked to me.”  Her mother didn’t answer her and she couldn’t find anyone in the house.  Jodi ran outside and stopped on the front porch.  Her mother, father, brother and Uncle stood there beside the kitchen window laughing hysterically.  It was then that Jodi realized she had fallen for another trick. Jodi’s family was a very playful one and everyone loved to tease and play tricks on each other.  It was just easier for them to fool Jodi because she had such a vivid imagination. When it came down to it they loved her and when she was afraid they showed her comfort.

On her first day of Kindergarten she was afraid; afraid of her teacher, classmates and most of all afraid of the restroom.  The restroom was located in the back of the classroom and when you turned on the light a loud whistling sound came bellowing through the vent.  Only the Kindergarten classes had a restroom in their class.  Jodi would go to the restroom and talk to Josephine; making sure she talked louder than the vent so she wouldn’t be afraid.  Her teacher would let her know that the class could hear her every word.  As it turned out her teacher wasn’t that scary and her classmates were alright too.  Her teacher had dark brown hair that was cut off at the shoulders.  She had an inviting smile that could make anyone feel safe around her.  She reminded Jodi of her mother.  At recess she played with a set of twins; they had blonde hair and were a little taller than Jodi was.  They would all race across the concrete to the basketball goal to see who the fastest runner was.  The twins were pretty fast; Jodi always lost.  There was a boy in her class who always wore a button fastened to his shirt.  At recess he would take the button off and stick the needle part through his skin and fasten it to his hand.  It was disturbing and very disgusting; Jodi would scream and run away.  If she saw Josh in the hallway at school; he would wave and say, “Hi”.  It was her brother that pretended he didn’t see her.  She loved everything about Kindergarten and especially when her uncle Larry would drop her off at school.  He would stand in the hallway and hold her hand till it was time to enter the classroom.  Jodi would tell everyone that her Uncle was in the Army.  She thought she had the coolest Uncle.  She was sad when Kindergarten ended and she was moving on to the first grade, but all good things must come to an end.  It’s a part of life that things change; nothing ever stays the same.  

One night Jodi stayed at her grandmother’s house that was around the corner from where she lived.  It was a stormy night and Jodi sat up in Josh’s room with him listening to music.  He would always play her the song, “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” by Guns and Roses.  He knew she loved the song and he would let her listen to it as much as she wanted.  The storm began to really hit and the lightning crashed and the thunder roared, but Jodi wasn’t scared.  She sat on Josh’s bed and just listened to the music and the sounds of the storm.  Just then the electric went out and it was dark and she couldn’t see anything in the room.  “Josh, where are you?” she cried.  Josh found his way to the bed and took her hand leading her through the house to the stairs.  They set on the floor near the stairs where there was also a big window that had a little bit of light shining through.  Josh sat there with his niece and played Barbie’s with her.  He laughed and said, “If you ever tell anyone I played Barbie’s with you I’ll beat you up.”  The lights finally came back on and the two rushed down stairs for the restroom.  The restroom door at her grandmother’s house was a tricky one.  The door would always just open on its own so my grandmother put a lock on the outside of the door to keep it closed when it wasn’t being used.  Jodi made it into the restroom before Josh and he saw the perfect opportunity to tease her.  He locked her in the restroom.  Jodi banged on the door for what seemed like forever begging for him to unlock the door.  Josh finally unlocked the door but only because he had to use the restroom.  It was now time for bed and Josh agreed that Jodi could sleep in his room with him.  She always loved being around Josh even though he picked on her constantly.  She laid at one end of the bed and he laid at the other end.  Jodi kept climbing out of bed for little goofy things like to get a drink of water or to use the restroom.  Josh was getting annoyed so when Jodi came back to lie down he told her that a clown lived under his bed and if she continued to get out of bed it would come out and eat her because she would be disturbing the clowns rest.  Jodi laid silently still the rest of the night.  

Over the summer Jodi’s family moved; her mother no longer felt comfortable in the home because of Josephine.  Jodi insisted that Josephine was a real person and that she drowned in the river.  Tina always shoved it off to her daughter having an over active imagination. Jodi’s father however believed her and insisted that Tina look into old public records.  Jodi’s grandmother also insisted the situation be investigated.  “Tina, Jodi knew about my sister’s death two hours before I got the call.  She talks to people who aren’t there and has given descriptions of my family who has passed and she never met.” Her grandmother Betty told her mother.  Jodi’s grandmother always believed that Jodi had a connection with spirits or ghosts.  Jodi could tell her grandmother stories about her great grandfather that only her grandmother knew about.  This talk always frightened Jodi’s mother and she always told her she shouldn’t talk to herself.  Jodi’s father and grandmother were firm believers in children being able to see and hear spirits because they are innocent and don’t know it isn’t normal.  That as the child gets older the ability is lost because it’s forced in them to block it out.  As it turned out a little girl named Josephine did drown in the area. 

unknown story.

I don't know if anyone can help me with this question but I read a story a few years ago and I just thought about it but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the story. It was about a woman who lived in a time where there was a war going on around her. She however refused to believe that the war was taking place and tried her best to live her life as if it wasn't happening. She would walk to the store to get what limited amount of bread there was and walk home, alone. Her neighbors homes were boarded up and everyone sat on the floor to hide from the military that would line the streets and occasionally go into the homes. She refused to leave her home and change her lifestyle. It was a really good story and I wanted to read it to my ten year old because he is into all the military stuff. He was asking me questions about what people did in these types of situations. I figured if I could find this story and read it with him he may get another view of what it was like. Although my son is only ten he can tell you basically anything you want to know about the civil war, Revolutionary war, D-day, WW1, WW2 and the Seven years war (French and Indian war). He is obsessed with know what weapons were introduced into the wars and what were the main used weapons. I just thought this story would help him understand how the people felt and lived.

Lysistrata by Aristophanes, a sex-strike?

In a previous American Literature class that I took we had to read this story about how the Athenian women used sex to strike against a war. I loved this story because it was really funny and lust driven. This story is one of the eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes.
The Athenian women wanted to end the Peloponnesian war so they had a planned meeting to discuss how they were going to end it.  Lysistrata insisted that the women use sex against their husbands so they would give in and sign a treaty for peace. In the play there are two choruses, one of old men of Athens and one of old women of Athens. Through out the play they sign back and forth funny versus fighting for and rebelling against sex. The men of Athens all carrying wood plan on smoking out the women of Athens but they are carrying pitchers of water to put out their flames. This was one of the comical parts of the story. They used wood and fire to represent the men's burning desire to have sex with their wives and the old women of Athens used water to represent their way of putting out their burning desire to have sex.
After the lack of sex starts to take over the men, Kinesias approaches his wife wanting to have intercourse, his wife Myrrhine sets and visits with her husband but is trying to avoid his many attempts to have intercourse. She constantly leaves pretending she has to go and get something to make them more comfortable. It's funny because he is laying on the cot and she constantly is leaving to get something. First it was a cot, then it was a mattress, a pillow and cologne. The whole time her husband is laying on the cot begging for her to stop bringing him things and just to come and lay down.
In the end the women of Athens win the war and the men beg for a treaty. Spartan claims it is needed for his desperate countrymen. Lysistrata even manages to get another peace for the states of Greece.

part 2 Dorcasina

After finishing the story in our book I have came to the conclusion that I don't like the version in the class book. It just ends the story abrupt and doesn't tell what happens with Dorcasina and O'Connor. Once I began to finish reading the story Dorcasina left Betty in the garden because she refused to reenact her first encounter with O'Connor. Betty had climbed a tree and was ignoring Dorcasina. Betty had decided that she had better get down and get back home because it was about to storm. She however was still dressed in Mr. Sheldon's clothes so she was trying to wait until a few ladies that had gathered under a shelter to leave. They were about to leave and it began to pour down raining so Betty got stuck in the tree in the rain. She eventually fell or got out of the tree but she plopped down tearing a part of Mr. Sheldon's suit. All the ladies were frightened and was wondering who the man in the tree was and what was his purpose. They come to the conclusion that it was O'Connor waiting for Dorcasina. This news traveled back to Dorcasina and she began to daily check the gardens waiting to see O'Connor.
On one of her journeys to the garden's she noticed that someone had carved her name in all the trees under where she had carved O'Connor. She then knew it had to be him. She took out a pencil and some paper and wrote a billet and stuck it to a limb in hopes that O'Connor would see it and wait for her. However, it wasn't O'Connor, it was the new young school instructor who had saw Dorcasina and became infatuated with her. She hadn't saw him yet so she had no idea who he was. He later refers to himself as Philander, which is a common name for a shepherd in conventional pastoral literature. He walks the gardens in the early morning's and one morning he found Dorcasina's love letter to her beloved O'Connor. He decided he was going to have some fun with it so he also wrote a billet and placed it upon a limb. Dorcasina came to the gardens excited to see what came of her billet. She wasn't disappointing when she found that O'Connor was no where around because she was curious about the billet from another man.  The letters between Philander and Dorcasina continue on until they agree to meet.  Dorcasina forced Betty to come along and join her on this adventure so she could tell Philander that he need to move on for she loved O'Connor, but she was also curious as to what he looked like and who he was. Betty pleaded that she thought it was a bad idea but still went along.
Once in the garden waiting for Philander the two set on a blanket talking when they were approached by not a male but a female, an angry female at that.  She grabbed a hold of Dorcasina and began to attack her, screaming that she was trying to take away her love. Dorcasina tried to plead that she had no intentions on taking away her love but was just curious on who was leaving the billets. Betty jumped in and freed Dorcasina who then ran off to get Scipio. The lady began to rip of Betty's clothes and attack her just as she had Dorcasina. That's where the story basically ends in our book. It was very disappointing to me that it just ended right there. It doesn't tell what happened with her and O'Connor or her and philander. I guess there was more meaning in the story that I had missed besides all the forbidden and unknown lovers.

Female Quixotism blog part 1 Dorcasina

The story, "Female Quixotism," by Tabitha Tenney is a story about a young woman named Dorcasina who is in love with a man, O'Connor, who her father claims is only after her fortunes.  Dorcasina tries to conceal her meetings with O'Connor and hire trustable messengers to send her love letters.  This story in, the Norton Anthology  of American Literature book volume A, is started of in chapter IX.  I originally didn't want to read this story because I didn't want to read one that was started off in the middle of the story. I am glad now that I did go on and read the story because it's actually a great story.
The story is started off with Dorcasina and her love O'Connor writing love billets back and forth to one another.  O'Connor is an Irish man who has a rather troublesome past that Dorcasina's father, Mr. Sheldon, learns about. Mr. Sheldon tries to warn his daughter about him and prevent her from being hurt. However, Dorcasina doesn't believe her father and thinks that it is true love between her and O'Connor. After multiple love letters and being apart for a long period of time Dorcasina decides she will meet O'Connor in her fathers lovely garden. 
The garden is taken care of by her father's servant Scipio who takes pride in his work and in the garden. The garden is full of every type of fruit that the climate would allow to grow during the seasons. Mr. Sheldon always gave the children fruit from his garden and for this Scipio believed was the reason it would get robbed at night. He believed it was the children and he wanted to catch them in the act of stealing fruit from the garden.  Scipio conjured up a plan and was going to wait patiently in the garden for the thief to strike again. 
Dorcasina entered the garden excited to finally see her love, but she had no idea that Scipio was waiting to catch a thief. Scipio waited in the summer-house for his very own love, miss Violet, to join him on his adventure of catching a thief. Dorcasina went into the summer house and saw Scipio, but thought it was O'Connor due to lack of lighting. Miss Violet and O'Connor both entered the garden at different entrances and headed towards the summer-house. Once Scipio heard Conner's voice he began to attack O'Connor and beating him to a bloody pulp. Being completely undiscovered Dorcasina jumped out of a window and ran back to her house and climbed in bed. O'Connor had been blamed for stealing the fruit from Mr. Sheldon's garden.
Dorcasina was worried about O'Connor so she sent letters to O'Connor and the messenger said that O'Connor was hurt badly. Dorcasina wanted to see for herself so she disguised herself and went to see him.
When ever there is a forbidden love it always seems that issues arise to keep each other apart. Even though Dorcasina's body was separated from O'Connor she still obsessed over him and was attached to him at heart. She tried to get her servant Betty to dress like a man and try and reenact her first meeting with O'Connor. Betty gave it her all but failed and refused to try again. She climbed a tree and hid there refusing to come down or talk to Dorcasina. In the meantime Dorcasina walked the garden and carved O'Connor name in the trees. 
I'm not normally one that is big on love stories but I can't wait to finish this story. I think the carving of names into the trees is what makes me like it so much. The love of my life carved my name into a tree before I knew who he was. He saw me a few times at work and said he couldn't get me off his mind so he carved my name into the tree by his bedroom window. When I got to know him and I eventually saw it of course but I didn't know if he was a maniac or just a sweet guy. Now after seven years and three children later I think I can say he is a little bit of both. My father did tell me the same thing Dorcasina's told her, except the fortune part. My father didn't approve, but it made me want him more. Well I'm off to read more of Female Quixotism and see how it turns out for Dorcasina.