Reflection of “A Sorrowful Woman”

A Sorrowful Woman is a short story by Gail Godwin in which a wife and mother suffers from depression. At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to the unnamed main characters: husband, wife, and child. The wife and mother has a depressive disorder. She doesn’t like the way her husband and child sight. Meanwhile, the husband and father taken over the household chores and taken care of their child. He also take care of his wife like brings meals to his wife's bed and undress her. This situation is very rare in nowadays, especially in eastern culture. In eastern culture, patriarchy is the most common things in any marriage. In some marriage, even when the wife get sick, the husband divorce his wife and married another woman. I can understand why it’s hard to be wife and mother. In my experience, I can see it in my mother. She sacrifice her job to be a full time wife and mother. Thankfully, she did not get into depression but if she tells me that she’s depress, I can understand why. It’s hard to be a wife and a mother in the same time. So, by that I can understand why the wife and mother fell into depression. Then, the story continue with the husband hired a nanny to do the household chores, take care their child, and take care his wife. One day the wife doesn’t want to see the husband and child anymore. Instead, she told them to put notes. “One night, when the husband's note had been extremely short, loving but short, and there had been nothing from the boy, she stole out of her room as she often did to get more supplies, but crept upstairs instead and stood outside their doors, listening to the regular breathing of the man and boy asleep. She hurried back to her room and drank the draught.” I believe that she felt something suspicious with the husband and child with the nanny. There is some affection that the nanny gave to his husband and child due to the wife and mother absence to their life. So then the wife didn’t like the nanny and fired her. “In the evenings, very briefly she saw the two of them. They knocked on her door, a big knock and a little, and she would call Come in, and the husband would smile though he looked a bit tired, yet somehow this tiredness suited him. He would put her sleeping draught on the bedside table and say, ‘The boy and I have done all right today,’ and the child would kiss her. One night she tasted for the first time the power of his baby spit.” At this point, at first I thought that maybe he finally realize that after all this time, her husband and child still loves her. But then, the wife response that she can’t see him anymore. It refer to her child. By this action, I’m sure that the wife still on a huge depression. And then, the man and boy came home and found five loaves of warm bread, a roast stuffed turkey, a glazed ham, three pies of different fillings, eight molds of the boy's favorite custard, two weeks supply of fresh-laundered sheets and shirts and towels, two hand-knitted sweaters (both of the same grey color), a sheath of marvelous watercolor beasts accompanied by mad and fanciful stories nobody could ever make up again, and a tablet full of love sonnets addressed to the man. Also, the house smelled redolently of renewal and spring. The wife do all of this. However, when the husband and child found her, she’s no longer alive. In my opinion, there are probably two scenario, the wife die because of depression or she committed suicide.

Review of Woman Hollering Creek

Summary Woman Hollering Creek is a short story by Sandra Cisneros that published in April 1991 which tells about a woman live in Mexico named Cleofilas who was married to a man named Juan Pedro from Seguin, Texas. Cleofilas is the protagonist in this short story. On the other side, there is Juan Pedro as the antagonist in this story. Initially, Cleofilas used her marriage to Juan as a ticket to leave her hometown because she was tired of living there. When they were married, Juan Pedro took Cleofilas to Seguin. At first, Cleofilas thought her marriage world would be like at the telenovelas (Mexican soap opera) that she likes to watch. In fact, her marriage to Juan Pedro was not as beautiful as she imagined. Juan Pedro often commits domestic violence. Cleofilas was pressured by her husband's domestic violence. She endured persecution from her own husband.Sometimes, Cleofilas thinks of returning to her father's house. But then she thought too much of her neighborhood's opinion when she came home without her husband. She is afraid of the gossips that will be aired on the town. Juan also have a toxic friendship. One of his friend is a criminal named Maximiliano who was said to have killed his wife in an ice-house brawl. It also turns out that Juan Pedro also lied about his wealth. When meeting with Cleofilas, Juan confessed that he had worked at a beer company. But in reality, he didn't even have enough money to support his family. Cleofilas can't even watch her favorite telenovelas because there is no television in their house. She regretted that her life was not as beautiful as in telenovelas. One day, when she was about to give birth to her second child, she was worried because she doesn’t have money to pay the bills. Then, she met Graciela who realized that Cleofilas was experiencing a lot of violence and asked her friend Felice for help to take Cleofilas away and drop her to Greyhound in Santo Antonio, across arroyo. Arroyo is a steep-sided gully formed by the action of fast-flowing water in an arid or semi-arid region found chiefly in the southwestern US. Then, she met Felice which amazed her so much because of her independency. Personal Feedback In my opinion, the story of Woman Hollering Creek tells about oppression of women. Cleofilas as the main character symbolized racial oppression from Americans to people of Mexican descent at that time. In addition, Cleofilas was pressured by her husband's domestic violence. She endured persecution from her own husband. Cleofilas is a dreamer girl. She dreamed of the happily life just like on the telenovelas. Unfortunately, life turns her dreams down. She is afraid to leave her husband and be independent. Then, she met a woman named Felice which amazed her. Because Felice is such a brave woman unlike her. On the other side, there is Juan Pedro as the antagonist in this story. He is abusive towards his wife and irresponsible for his family. He doesn’t have enough money to support his family. Cleofilas tried to defend her marriage to Juan for fear of what neighbors might say. She regrets that her current life is not as beautiful as telenovelas stories. Until she met Felice, woman who help her to across arroyo. She amazed by Felice’s independency without having a husband. Woman Hollering Creek means woman who screams to cross the Creek. I think Creek in this story represents the boundary line of Cleofilas' life. Meanwhile, arroyo is Spanish which means flow. I thought it was symbolic of the heavy flow of life. Cleofilas fought across arroyo, to get her freedom. Her fear of not having a husband vanished when she saw a very brave and independent Felice. And when Cleofilas was about to cross the arroyo, Cleofilas shouted asking for a sudden change in her. What she used to be a woman who gave up, became a new woman. A woman who lives independently. If I were Cleofilas, I would definitely not have been able to bear to remain married to Juan Pedro. I would go back to my father's house regardless of the neighbor's gossip.

Reflection of Everyday Use

The story of Everyday Use basically is a story of family reunion. The story take place during the height of Civil Rights in the South America. There are mother, Dee, and Maggie as the family. Also there is Hakim-a-barber as Dee’s husband or boyfriend. Mother is a fighter. She does every man’s work and rising both of her daughter alone. Dee, is her mother’s pride. Mother put every effort to make Dee study abroad. On the other side, Maggie, the youngest, is a shy girl. Her voice always heard low. Maggie live with mother while her sister Dee study at Augusta. Mother really missed her precious daughter, Dee. She is so exciting at the day where she finally met Dee. But unfortunately, Dee has changed. She is not the person she used to know. Dee change her looks and even her name into Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Dee change her name because she said, “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” It turns out that all this time she felt downtrodden by her own family. At the end story, mother opinion about her daughters changed. Dee is no longer her favorite daughter. It is Maggie with her kindness that win mother’s heart so that mother gave her the precious quilt. According to me, Everyday Use means the value of family. Family should be got each other back. Just like mother, who does everything to her family, my mom will also does the same. I guess every mom will also to the best for her daughter. But the point is Dee doesn’t see it. She doesn’t respect her mother’s effort. She forget where she came from. She change her life in order to feel free from her family. And that’s not nice. She might be felt pressure from her mother because she is her mother’s hope. Mother hope that if Dee get a higher education, she can be a better person. The quilt itself as the valuable things become controversial in this story. Because it was made from some tops of grandma pieced before she died, mother really take care of it. Dee sees the quilt as the heritage that she wants to keep. But the heritage itself not the quilt but actually the art of making the quilt. Mother taught Maggie how to make the quilt that has been going from generation so that she can make her own. If I ever have valuable thing in my life, I will take care of it for the rest of my life. And how can I preserve my valuable thing? Definitely, I will put some effort to take care of it. Sample case, I have a gold bracelet that was given by my late grandparents on my sweet seventeen birthday so it has a lot of memory. I can say that the bracelet is my valuable things. I rarely use it, but it doesn’t mean I never use it. I use it several times in the historical day of my life, such as my high school graduation day and in my confirmation day. But other than that, I keep it on the safety box at bank. Every year, I took it out to clean and polished the gold. Just like Maggie that will use the quilt as everyday use so do I that will use my precious bracelet. But the different is I don’t use it every day. If I could choose between Maggie and Dee, I will be Maggie. Because what’s the point to only hang the quilt? It will be useless. I think it is okay for Dee to use it every day as long as she took care of it and be careful when she use it. But if it’s torn, Maggie can fix it since mother taught Maggie how to stitch quilt or she can the new one with her own valuable things. That's just how we look at the heritage, from the finished object or the knowledge we get.

Reading Habit

Reading is one of the most fundamental skills a child needs to learn. In fact, reading is very important for children. Torrijos (2017) states that, encouraging children to read, from an early age, is very important and fundamental. This will create a habit of reading in them which will bring important advantages, especially at the academic level, as they will either achieve better results or have less difficulty reading, creating and imagining. Furthermore, readiness and books will reduce doubts in children who have developed a tendency to read every day and come into contact with books since childhood. Through reading, children can expose themselves to new things, new information, and they also can find new hobbies. Reading can be a great self-therapy to control children's emotions. The more children read, the more enlightened they become. That is the reason why reading habit should be developed since childhood. Reading reduces stress in children. According to Wagstaff (2020), in our hectic lives, a periodic break is an extraordinary help which can be done by reading. A more clear perspective on oneself can, in order, help someone to behave and think in healthier ways and to avoid damaging self-convictions. When you make a habit of reading, it’s easier for your brain to relax and temporarily transport itself to another world. With reading, children’s focus will be on imagination and it will distract them from their mind burden and anxieties. Reading can relaxing and releasing children’s mind from stress. After releasing stress, mind will become relaxed and it makes positive energy come easily. When children put themselves into the story, it helps them to stay positive. While reading, children begin to understand and relate to emotions. A positive attitude opens the door for children to do well but does not guarantee that they will. Children will be confident in their capabilities. However, reading can still make children more empathic towards other and makes children stay humble and makes children think positively. Reading improves critical thinking skills. Reading fiction is the best genre for improving critical thinking skills that can lead a child on their own path which result increase children’s capability to solve problem. For example, while reading mystery book, children will involve in the detective process from the beginning to the end of each book, from uncovering the mystery to collecting the clues and coming to a solution at the end that engaging children to adds the value of the books. With a good reading habit, children will get a lot of extensive knowledge which they will use to face problem in real life and devise strategies to solve the problem. Afterward, reading improve children’s creativity. According to Moran (1988), most of children's imagination centers on ideational familiarity. Ideational familiarity efforts expect children to produce the same number of reactions as they can to certain improvements, as is done in conceptualizing. Ideational familiarity is seen to a large extent as a basic component of the imaginative cycle. Children's reactions may be well-known or unique, with current thinking about evidence of imaginative potential. All of these are great for training kids to brainstorm. Some parents might disagree with the implementation of reading habits from childhood because they think reading habits can be started at any age. However, most parents are not aware of the potential for children's comprehension if they implement reading habits from childhood. Reading helps children adapting to school-life easier. According to Owusu-Acheaw & Larson (2014), children's understanding of academic subjects and graduation assessments are tied together. The tendency to have a reading habit largely determines student academic achievement in general. Both reading habits and academic achievement are intertwined and subservient to one another. It is important to implement reading habit since childhood. In short, the habits of reading should be developed since childhood. Nevertheless, by doing a good reading habit, children will surely growing into positive side. Children who have good reading habit will become open minded because their knowledge is being expand into highest level and it helps them to develop interest in many things. The more variety of books children read, the more information and understanding they gain of the world around them. Reading broadens children’s imagination by stimulating their brain. It literally opens children’s minds to new possibilities and new ideas that helping them experience and analyze the world through the books. In addition, by giving good books to children, it is not only the habit of reading that is encouraged, but also laying a solid foundation for their future learning. As a result, children will become success in life. References Moran, James D. III. (1988). Creativity in Young Children. Eric Digest. 1–5. Owusu-Acheaw, M., & Larson, A. G. (2014). Reading Habits Among Students and its Effect on Academic Performance: A Study of Students of Koforidua Polytechnic. 84–89. Torrijos, A. B., Doctora, M., Cardenal, U., & Universities, C. E. U. (2017). Children’s Literature. Reading habit. 115–119. Wagstaff, J. V. (2020). Benefits of the Habit of Reading. 3(4).

Effects of School Bullying on Children

School bullying must be given more attention. Based on KPAI (National Commission for Child Protection) research in 2018, there still 161 cases of bullying in school. It means that we still have a lot work to do to stop bullying. The latest issue about a girl named Nadia who committed suicide because of bullying in school show us that Indonesia still lack of concern of bullied children in school. It is sad to know children who should still grew up, suffering from bullying and end up to committed suicide. Bullying in schools must be stopped because it will damage the mental development of children, disrupt academic achievement, and reduce the level of self-confidence. The first effect is damage the mental development of children. According to Dr. Andre Sourander, a professor of child psychiatry at the University of Turku in Finland, children who are bullied, has a higher risk of depressive disorders and need psychiatric treatment later in life. They will grow up with a lot of pressure which causes a depressive personality. A recent study of children highlighted the role of disrupted mental illness is one of the factors that contributing to suicidal thoughts. Moreover, they will no longer have hope for life because they will feel worthless and nobody accepted them. In additional, they will start to questioning their existence towards the world whether the world will be fine if they are gone. Therefore, the children who are bullied will grow with a lot of mental illness such as anxiety disorder and depression that can lead them to committed suicide if they are not handled properly with a professional. The second effect is bullying will disrupting academic achievement. According to UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles, CA) study, Jaana Juvonen, a professor of psychology at UCLA and lead author of the study, bullying and low academic achievement are frequently linked. Children who are bullied will think they are not capable to be the top rank. Based on my experience at my little sister's school whose disable, there are many of children who bullying other children with special needed because of their different appearance, saying that they are stupid, ugly, and so on, which can stimulate their brain to be affected by those words. As a result, children who are repeatedly bullied receive poorer grades and participate less in class activity. The last is bullying in school will also reduce the children's level of self-esteem. According to psychological research, when children are constantly belittled about something, they come to doubting themselves and start believing it is true. They start closing themselves from the world outside. Keep silent is the most common things in children when they get bullying. They tend to keep it by themselves. When a children’s self-esteem becomes severely damaged, they tend to avoid friends and family altogether. Consequently, children who are bullied become lonely and have no social life or even lose interest to life. In short, bullying in schools must be stopped because it will cause a lot of damage such as the children mental development problem, disrupt academic achievement, and reduce the level of self-esteem. Afterward, school bullying on children will destroy their future. They will no longer have the joy of life. They will lose the fun of childhood that we used to have. Children who are bullied tend to kept silent. That is why we, as the adult, must encourage them to speak up and fight for their own right. Therefore, we should pay a lot of attention to bullying on children because it will ruin the next generation after us. Reference list: • Dewi Nurita, Rina Widiastuti, Hari Anak Nasional, KPAI Catat Kasus Bullying Paling Banyak, https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1109584/hari-anak-nasional-kpai-catat-kasus-bullying-paling-banyak • Effects of Bullying on a Child’s Self Esteem, https://www.ourfamilyworld.com/bullying-and-cyberbullying/bullying-consequences/effects-of-bullying-on-a-childs-self-esteem/ • Kate Barrington, How Does Bullying Affect a Student’s Academic Performance?, https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/how-does-bullying-affect-a-students-academic-performance • Roberta Alexander, Anxiety, Depression, and Suicide: The Lasting Effects of Bullying, https://www.healthline.com/health-news/bullying-affects-victims-and-bullies-into-adulthood-022013#1 • Winnieati Sutanto Putri, Kasus Bunuh Diri Nadia Bikin Netizen Serentak Cerita Kejadian Alami Bullying Waktu Kecil: 'Sampe Sekarang Masih Membekas', https://fame.grid.id/read/461993525/kasus-bunuh-diri-nadia-bikin-netizen-serentak-cerita-kejadian-alami-bullying-waktu-kecil-sampe-sekarang-masih-membekas?page=all