CRWR 106

Belle Boggs short story “Opportunity,” is about a woman who lives in Virginia and is figuring her way out in life. like the title suggest it shows how there are many opportunities that are available to the main character and she has to pick which opportunities are best for her. At the beginning of the […]

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When I am feeling nice I think about me and Cutie doing something with the money, going to South Carolina to the beach for the winter maybe, or taking a trip to Italy, away from all these fools. On my meaner days I go to the drawer at Tamara’s. I like the cold, briny taste […]

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Belle Boggs’ “Imperial Chrysanthemum” is a wonderful and thought provoking short story, all of its characters unique and their own. Boggs’ use of dialogue and internal thought give our narrarator, Loretta, a distinct voice and personality. This includes her conflict with Cutie, who always seem to be looking down on her caretaker. Loretta, Cutie said, […]

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Once again, Belle Boggs gives us a great example of what a solid short story looks like. What I loved most about this was the ending. Or, really, how she didn’t end it. We’ve discussed, in class, how we need to not give the reader exactly what they’re reading. Don’t tell them exactly what’s going […]

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This story has a clear voice from the beginning. Not only that, but each character that you come into contact with has their own specific voice. Boggs does such a great job at giving very direct details, such as Cutie’s two rooms are the kitchen and the sunroom, where she has her daybed and her […]

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In Imperial Chrysanthemum, the main protagonist, Loretta, struggles with ideas of self and justice. Throughout the story, Loretta works for Cutie Young– running errands, checking vitals, keeping her company– as a means to an end. The end being a boat called the Mattaponi Queen. While working for Cutie, Loretta struggles with ideas of justice and how […]

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It always shocks me how dynamic the characters Boggs creates are, specially for such short stories. To create such a strong image of who a character is and their importance to the role of the story in such a limited number of pages is truly an art form that I aspire to obtain someday. You […]

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In “Imperial Chrysanthemum” each character have a distinct personality and a clear voice. Boggs describes the actions of the characters in great detail; “She presses her pink, wrinkled thumb into the concave surface of the spoon and closes her eyes as if that spoon could tell us where to find its mate.” (32) Boggs presents […]

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This short story is very relevant to what we talked about with our fiction stories that we wrote for class. The majority of us wrote the ending in a way that informed the reader of what they were supposed to learn from it. In this story by Belle Boggs, she shows us how to end […]

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I really liked this short story because of how it ended. As I began to read, I tried to put a picture in my head of how I believed this story would end, or how I thought it should end. The ending would be either nice and heartwarming with Ronnie telling Jeremey about the baby and them […]

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I think what I like best about this story is the lack of imagery as the story progresses. Yes, the first paragraph is mostly made up of description, but it becomes less and less until it’s nonexistent unless it’s being said in dialogue. So often, I know I find myself feeling like I have to […]

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Tallent’s “No One’s A Mystery” shows the complications that arise when an older, married man who has a child, shows a young woman romantic attention. The narrator, an eighteen-year-old girl, is infatuated with Jack, who is having an affair with the narrator behind his wife’s back. The narrator does not understand the consequences of her […]

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In Elizabeth Tallent’s story, “No one’s a Mystery,” we find out right away that the man is with another women and his wife does not know about it. We find out so much information in such a little amount of time. The author does a really good job of creating a voice for each character. […]

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Throughout the short story “Mojave Rats,” I felt vibes of discontentment. The main protagonist, Monica, grapples with many issues; ranging from caring for her family in a new and unsatisfactory place to her conflicted feelings toward her current life and her eldest daughter. She is struggling with the path her life has taken. No longer […]

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This was one of my favorite stories we have read so far. I loved that it read as a  simple piece, but had a lot going on and was able to tie the past, present, and future into the story within three pages which in and of itself is impressive. I enjoyed Tallen’s use of repetition and parallel structure as […]

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I enjoyed reading Belle Boggs, “Good News for a Hard Time” because it was an intriguing story with lots of detail and new perspectives. Although I’ve never been in the position of the narrator, I was able to feel how she was feeling because it was relatable. The author’s use of detail made it easy to […]

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I really liked this story because I found it to be very relatable even though it is fictional. Myself, as the reader, can definitely relate to being in a relationship with someone of a completely opposite personality and knowing it isn’t going to work out. Another thing I found interesting was the way the author […]

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The author did a really great job of establishing a clear picture right in the beginning of the story. For example, the paragraph, Last night Monica Vigil-Rios had lain awake, listening to the wind whip across the salt flats and buffet the trailer, imagining intruders with dark intentions outside. They were living in a piece […]

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I really enjoyed the detail that went into describing the relationship between the seemingly single father and his children.  I was able to get the sense of how much the father cared for them and enjoyed being a dad with all the dad corniness that comes with it.  I think the author did a really good job […]

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Write a short story (of three or so double-spaced pages) in which one of the characters below shows up and changes the lives of those he or she encounters. Place the story in the Fiction Exercise 1 folder on Google Drive. Don’t forget that your document should be named in this manner: YourName.CRWR106.FictionEx1.docx. Also, don’t forget […]

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