Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving break was very relaxing. I didn't do much. I had Thanksgiving dinner with my family at home. It was delicious. We had turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and to top it off we had some pumpkin pie! The remainder of the break consisted of doing homework, hanging out with my friends, and helping my mom put up the Christmas decorations. It was a good time and I enjoyed spending it with my family because next semester I am transferring to South Carolina- USC, so it depends if i'll be coming home for the holidays next year if I will be with them next Thanksgiving. I do have some family over there so I may stay with them. There wasn't a difference in this year's Thanksgiving for me because I have been staying home this semester. Next year, however, I'm sure I will witness a difference because I will either be traveling back home, or not coming home at all.

Bittersweet

Lester and his beautiful wife Martha lived in a quiet and cozy cottage deep within the mountains. Martha was everything to him. They had been together ever since he could remember. They were high school sweethearts. He loved everything about her; her long, curly blonde hair that was now grey, her ocean blue eyes and her baby soft skin. They lived far away from society because the only thing they needed was each other. 

On their daily stroll, Martha, although fairly elderly, noticed shortness in breathe. This had been more than usual. She felt the need to describe the rather odd experience to Lester, but the two went on with ignoring the symptom. 

The shortness of breath began happening now on a regular basis accompanied by massive dizziness spells. It happened on their walks, while cleaning, or even climbing the same stairs she had been climbing every day. This became a worry to the married couple.  Lester took his beloved angel to the hospital the very next day. 

There, the doctors ran tests and questioned Martha further. She described all of her symptoms and how much they were increasing day by day. When the test results returned she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Both Martha and Lester related this back to when she used to smoke in her earlier years. There was no time to wait, Martha was to begin treatment as soon as possible. There was no guarantee to the success that the treatment would have because of the stage the cancer had already reached.

This went on for about a year and Lester remained by her side through every treatment, every doctor visit, and as the condition worsened, he arranged to have hospice care at their home. This would allow Martha to be able to spend her remaining time in a comfortable and familiar place with the man that she loved. Lester did everything he could to ensure his wife's level of satisfaction. 

He had never dealt with a more sad moment then the one where he had to let his wife, lover and companion go. Late that night Martha passed away leaving Lester with nothing but his love for her and the memories of their life together. A memorial was held with unforgettable pictures and some of Martha's favorite songs.

I based this story off of a true event, of course cutting many details out. 

The two stories I read were The School and The nose. I liked both of these stories but when I went to writing mine I decided to do my own thing.

Cathedral

What did you think of Carver’s sparse writing style? Did you find it easy to read, annoying, ugly, pretty, etc? How might you utilize what he does in your own writing?


I found Carver's writing style to be very easy to read. It wasn't the prettiest form of writing and was a bit repetative at times, but he kept his sentences short and simple. It was easy to create an accurate mental picture from the words he chose to use. When he was describing what a cathedral looks like to the blind man, I was picturing it in my head. I felt that his writing portrayed common confusions placed with blind people and it really got me to thinking about what it would be like to be blind.


He used a lot of emotions in the story such as confusion, ignorance, curiosity, etc. I think that it would be fun to write a story like this; showing an experience in a simple and less complex fashion.