ENG 209: The development of the short story as a literary form. Reading, discussion, and analysis of short stories by major writers such as Chekhov, Gilman, Joyce, Hemingway, Wright, O'Connor, Baldwin, Carver, Oates, and others, in relation to their social and intellectual milieu. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 (Comp & Lit I & II).
This class will be conducted in accordance with WCC's Student Code of Conduct and Academic Honesty Policy:
Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
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An Introduction to Fiction (Eleventh Edition), by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Giola
ISBN 10: 0-20568788-1
ISBN 13: 978-0-205-68788-6
My friend, JohnPaul, and I went for a walk in the woods near his house in Hilton Head, SC. We were both excited to explore what the southern terrain had to offer. We started to follow a trail that was man made that showed us different animals and trees as we made our way through the woods. We saw a giant lizard walking on the trail, and decided to follow it. As we made our way off the trail and went deep into the woods not knowing where we were going or where we would end up. There were a pile of leaves on the ground as I planted my foot on them, and immediately got sucked into the ground. My foot landed on quick sand and I was being pulled down slowly. My friend was shocked and didnt know what to do since we couldnt scream for help. He broke a branch and told me to hold on. I started walking backwards implanting his feet into the ground in order to pull me out. I climbed the branch as he was pulling me, and finally we got my leg out. I was so happy in relief that I wasn't sucked into the ground.
ReplyDeleteMy scariest experience into the woods was when my sorority sisters and I were pledging girls into our organization. It was around 10pm and we had started our pledge meeting and out of now where we heard ruffling coming from our right and heard a faint whisper and saw two figures walking our way. We quieted down and huddled together and within seconds two men walked our way and said “looking scared tonight ladies.” And the tone was like sarcastic and muffled. It was too dark to see who said what, but I remembered the man closet to me had a bag in his hand and it looked like he was carrying a rifle. I wanted to run out, but I stayed calm and luckily they kept walking and the other guy said, “have a safe night” and again the voice was muffled and sarcastic. I was terrified at this point and wanted to run out of the woods, but my sorority sisters just looked at each another in silence, stood there for about ten to fifteen minutes, and then made a run for it.
ReplyDeleteLater that week we learned that two girls were raped in those woods and that lately; people would go into the woods at around 10 or 11 pm at night and slaughter animals and practice witchcraft. I don’t know if those were rumors or if that actually did occur in those woods, but till this day I haven’t went back to that area and I refuse to! It was the scariest night of my life!
My backyard is the woods so growing up I was always making paths through them to meet my neighbors. It was safer then walking in the streets and made our parents less stressed. One day I didn't go in the woods but my neighbors and their dogs did. I remember them calling me the next day telling me that I was never going to guess what happened. They had all sat down on a tree trunk where we had a made a clearing. They didn't realize but there was a bee hive under it. It must have fallen because thousands of bees shot out and started stinging everyone. They all had to go to the hospital because they were stung numerous times. I remember after hearing about this I was so scared to go back into the woods.
ReplyDeleteI love being in the woods especially at night. It's a perfect time to look at the stars and just listen to nature. In my opinion its one of the safest places to be at night because no one can hurt you or mug you. I like sitting around a campfire and hanging out with my friends. It is an escape from reality. My favorite part is when I forget to bring a flashlight and I can't see more than 2 feet in front of me.
ReplyDeleteThe worst experience I had when i was in the woods was when me and my friend were riding quads. We were sideways on a slope and my quad hit a rock. This caused my quad to flip sideways and roll down into a ditch, I rolled with it. Stuck for about 2 hours we finally managed to get it out. Thank God I came out with only a broken helmet.
My favorite experience that I have in the woods is horseback riding. I go all the time. My friend own three horses and we go out a few times a week into the woods on the trails for about an hour, maybe a little longer. I also love going out by myself, it gives me time to think and if Im feeling stressed out it relieves me of stress.
ReplyDeleteFor my "scary" experience, I was riding one time bareback, (with out a saddle) and I got to the part of the path that loops around and starts heading backwards...The horse knows the exact point at which the path starts to lead back to the house, so he literally took off full blast up this rocky, steep hill that ran along a main road (172 in bedford/mt.kisco). He was flying in between trees, leaping into the air the whole entire way. All I could do was shut my eyes and hold on for dear life. I think I literally shut my eyes half the time because I couldn't see anyway, and the horse knows exactley where to go so I knew he wasnt going to run to anywhere unusual. I kept telling myself, "I am NOT going to fall, I just wont let it happen!" Although it was scary, when I look back, it was kind of awsome, such an adrenalin rush. There has to be a lot of trust between you and the animal if you want to survive something like that! haha :-)
My backyard is acres and acres of woods which then lead to the reservoir. I have countless stories that take place in the woods because my childhood included hikes and games in those woods. But my favorite memory that is most recent took place this summer. My boyfriend, who lives in Queens, has never experienced woods such as the ones in the backyard. We decided to take a walk through the woods to find the path that brings us right up to the reservoir. Unfortunately we never found that path, but made our own. It took us almost an hour to make it down to the water but once we got there and dipped our feet in the water, it was all worth it. I told him about how when I was younger we would tie a long, yellow rope to a tree. Then my sisters, cousins and I would swing of the rope and jump into the water. When my boyfriend and I put our feet in the water it was too dirty though! When we were sitting on a rock it suddenly started to pour. Luckily, we were under so many trees, we had complete coverage from the rain. My boyfriend and I waited for the rain to stop and made our way home. I love living near woods, although it can get scary at times, the fun things I get to experiance makes it all worth it.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather is a mountain man, he lives all alone in the middle of the woods up in the catskills. He owns alot of property and when I go up there, there really isnt much to do except enjoy the scenery and explore the forest. when I was kid my grandfather always told me that in the woods, an animal will usually always see you first and run away because people make too much noise. so I rarely worried about running into a bear or a bobcat. one day I hiked way up into the woods and kept thinking that I heard something around me, but never saw anything. after awhile I ended up getting too creeped out and went back to the house. about an hour later, my grandfather's power went out, which was terrifying. we went outside and saw that one of his power lines had fallen, along with a telephone pole. to find why it had fallen, we traced it back into the woods. I realized that the way we were walking was the same path I had walked earlier. When we got to the telephone pole we saw that it had been scratched to hell and knocked over. My grandather immediately recognized the claw marks as those of a bear. when I looked around, I noticed that where we were standing was exactly where I stopped on my hike earlier. It was awesome to think that I could have been face to face with a bear, but when I told my grandfather, he didnt find it as awesome. he said "awesome would have been if you saw the bear and smacked him in the head for wrecking my telephone pole." my Pop-Pop rules, he's like the king of the mountain.
ReplyDeleteI was a really weird child around the time that I attended Scarsdale Middle School. At one point I remember me and my friend from travel camp had a playdate at the Middle School. He told me we should try smoking but he broke the cigarette that he stole from his mother's room before we went out. So naturally, being dumb middle schoolers, we decided to roll up leaves from a nearby maple into some blank printer paper and smoked that. It didn't turn out well, much to my dismay. I was ill for the next three days. I never told my parents because it was incredibly embarrasing.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite experience walking through the woods is at my college, Mitchell College. I always walk through the woods on my campus, called Mitchell Woods when I am away at school. It is a very quick shortcut to get from my dorm to the main part of campus where I have my classes. I do this in the morning, in the afternoon or at night. But some people, don’t like to cut across the woods at night because they see things that aren’t there and because is dark and there are no lights. The trip through Mitchell Woods seems longer at night, especially when it is cold or raining.
ReplyDeleteHere is a piece of advice about life. People have to be careful to see the woods as a whole and not just focus on the individual trees. This means that you have to look at the big picture in life and not just the little parts
There aren't any woods in Southern California -- just forests up in the mountains -- filled with pine trees that are evergreen. I was a Camp Fire Girl growing up, and we did a lot of camping, but I can't remember anything scary or terrifying. About two years after moving to New York, I taught an evening ESL class at the Ossining campus. The class ended at 9:30, so it was close to 10:00 before I was toodling down Route 9 to get back to Yonkers. I remember it was a really hot night, so I had my windows down and the sunroof open. As I came up to the area near Rockefeller Park, I began to hear this chirping sound. The closer I got to the wooded area, the more the chirping increased, until it was almost a roar around me. It was a really dark night, and there were no other cars on the road. I knew I was really close to the north end of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. I suddenly had goose bumps, and I was certain the headless Hessian horseman was going to come galloping out of the woods, across Route 9, and fling a burning pumpkin into my car. The hair was standing up on my neck, and I felt "evil" all around me. I closed the sunroof, rolled up the windows, and got the heck out of there. I know it was all in my head, but I those childhood stories are too deeply ingrained. I had a good laugh at myself, but, even now, writing about it, I feel totally creeped out!
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