The idea is that this spot should be a conversation about your important and unique thoughts on the novel, so when you post, respond to what others have said and add something new to the conversation. Support your discussion with quotes from the text and discussion or analysis of those passages. Do not simply summarize the events of the novel. Remember that you must post four times. Proofread carefully because I will not approve poorly edited comments, and you will not receive credit for them. Postings for this book are due August 31. Difficulty in posting is not an excuse for lateness.
CONGRATULATIONS ON making it to the final book of the summer! I’ve been enjoying reading your comments on the novels. Keep up the good thinking. As you read this play, think about what makes a play different from a novel, and how those differences help us to understand the reading.
The idea is that this spot should be a conversation about your important and unique thoughts on the novel, so when you post, respond to what others have said and add something new to the conversation. Support your discussion with quotes from the text and discussion or analysis of those passages. Do not simply summarize the events of the novel. Remember that you must post four times. Proofread carefully because I will not approve poorly edited comments, and you will not receive credit for them. Postings for this book are due August 31. Difficulty in posting is not an excuse for lateness.
24 Comments
Bailey Umstead
8/22/2015 12:38:47 pm
Upon beginning "The Glass Menagerie" I researched the book and read the introduction to have a feel for the play and to not just jump in. Once I began reading the first page fascinated me with the amount of detail. Williams could have given a bland description of the apartment building but instead uses "those vast hive-like conglomerations of cellular living-units that flower as warty growths in overcrowded urban centers of lower middle-class population" (Williams 3). This made me re-think apartments and yes they are hive-like conglomerations where things are not clean and are overcrowded. I love how Williams describes things drawing readers in and painting the clearest picture you can imagine, leaving no blank space or empty faces.
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Delaney Bennett
8/24/2015 03:49:12 am
In the first few chapters of "The Glass Menagerie" I am beginning to see a pattern, in which Amanda has to be in control at all times. Ever since she found out Laura dropped out of business school, finding a gentleman caller for Laura has "became an obsession" (Williams 20)for Amanda. She is bound and determined to find Laura a spouse no matter the cost. But it is not only Laura that Amanda has to regulate, she also tries her best to keep a close eye on everything Tom does. From dictating what he can and can not say, to choosing the books he reads, Amanda can not stand to not be in control. I am excited to see if this changes as the play continues.
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Ellie Szymoniak
8/25/2015 10:25:58 am
I agree with Delaney about Amanda, I have found her to be a controlling mother who cannot let go of the past. She is continuously repeating the same story from when she was younger as if she is trying to brag to her children about how many gentlemen callers she had. I feel as if her obsession with finding Laura a husband is for her own personal gain because she will be known as the mother who found her crippled daughter a husband. She wishes to receive the congratulations because I believe Amanda to be a very selfish and controlling woman.
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Bailey Umstead
8/25/2015 12:36:04 pm
I agree with Delaney and Ellie that Amanda is very controlling and selfish. She will never be satisfied unless everything is going her way. Amanda works so hard trying to find Laura a husband when she never asked Laura what she wanted. Now Amanda has devised a plan, "as soon as Laura has got somebody to take care of her, married, a home of her own, independent -- why, then you'll be free to go wherever you please"( Williams 35). Tom cannot be happy until Laura is on her own and happy and once Laura is married Amanda will be happy. Tom should have a say in his life and what happens when.
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Camryn Zeller
8/26/2015 05:36:14 am
After reading the first couples scenes of "The Glass Menagerie", I noticed that play focus less on the setting of the story than in a regular novel. Apart from the description of Amanda's home in the beginning of Scene 1, Willams provides only a brief description of the area these first scenes occur, sometimes writing as little as "the fire escape landing" (19). As a reader who has recently finished reading Jane Eyre's story, I appreciate the break from multiple pages of just details about the character's surroundings. This play really focuses on the dialogue of each character to hint the tones and moods which is still just as effective as a lengthy description of the setting. I actually enjoy reading "The Glass Menagerie" more than I thought I would and I am looking forward to continue reading.
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Delaney Bennett
8/26/2015 11:30:52 am
I agree with Camryn that the play's setting is becoming less and less detailed. But unlike Cam I did not read "Jane Eyre" so I was really enjoyed the thorough depiction of the settings. One that stuck in my mind was how the house was explained to the audience. Williams states "the audience hears and sees the opening scene in the dining room through both the transparent fourth wall of the building and the transparent gauze portieres of the dining-room arch" (Williams 11), this quote really helped me to picture the scene inside my head. I am not sure how much I will like the play as it goes on with little description involving the setting.
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Isabel Virtue
8/27/2015 04:10:49 am
It is evident throughout the story that Amanda is attempting to live vicariously through her daughter, Laura. I began to notice this in the beginning, as she refers to Laura as "we" when discussing her life. She explains how "we won't have a business career--we've given that up because it gives us nervous indigestion" (p. 34). It is also evident in how invested Amanda becomes in Laura having a gentleman caller. I believe this stems from the fact that Amanda's own marriage did not work out, so she wants to relive a successful life through her daughter.
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Camryn Zeller
8/28/2015 04:19:55 am
After reading further into "The Glass Menagerie", I recognized that the Wingfield's family issues may not only stem from Amanda's need to control; Tom and Laura's lack of communication within the family also causes a multitude of otherwise preventable problems. Neither Tom nor Laura openly make themselves available at home for extended periods of time: Tom always searching for "a lot of adventure" (33) at the late night movies and Laura always withdrawing from society with her glass figurines. Tom even confessed that "there's so much in [his] heart that [he] can't describe" (33) to his mom and he requested for her to respect his space. Amanda is clearly the type of mother who craves the communication of her thoughts, feelings, and advice about life to her children, but Tom and Laura are not even willing to listen. And while other readers believe Amanda to be a control freak, I see a concerned mother, frustrated with feeling like her voice is not heard. These misunderstandings need to be addressed by both mother and child alike before any type of family reconciliation will occur. At the end of Scene 4, Tom started to open up to his mother, so, as the play continues, I hope to see this growth within the Wingfield household.
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Delaney Bennett
8/29/2015 05:00:28 am
I agree with Isabel the more I read, the more I feel like Amanda is trying to fix her mistakes through her children's lives. I believe she wants to find Laura a good man because she is still super hurt that her husband ran off. But witnessing the heart break she still has about her husband makes me sympathize for her. While talking to Tom she states, "there's so many things in my heart that I cannot describe to you! I've never told you but I-loved your father…" (Williams 23). After reading this passage, I am beginning to see all Amanda wants for her children is a better life than the one she has .
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Bailey Umstead
8/29/2015 10:24:38 am
As Tom describes Jim, in the beginning of scene six, I realize the stereotype of being popular in high school and not being overly successful in life applies here. Jim being "a star in basketball, captain of the debating club, president of the senior class and the glee club and he sang the lead in the annual light operas"(Williams 50) in high school did not change the fact the he is working in a warehouse when everyone "expect him to arrive at nothing short of the white house" (Williams 50). I found Williams reference interesting and refreshing. It added a more modern appeal to the play and something relatable.
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Samuel Tejchma
8/29/2015 03:54:45 pm
After starting "The Glass Menagerie" the main difference between a play and a novel is the extra footnotes explaining what motions are happening in that seen. I find it easier to understand the play than the novel. I also agree with Delaney on Amanda being a controlling mother. She is always bossing Tom and Laura around. One interestingly funny part I saw in the beginning of this book is when Amanda is furious about Laura dropping out and screams "fifty dollars' tuition" (page 14). It made me laugh because today's tuiton is thousands and thousands of dollars and that one quote really shows you the time period this play takes place in.
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Bailey Umstead
8/30/2015 12:12:43 am
Everything in life has its ups and downs and in books, plays, or movies the author gets the reader excited because everything is perfect, and then it all comes crashing down. No matter how any books we read or how many movies we watch it will always make us angry or sad. In this play it happens so fast, "It doesn't matter. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise" (Williams 86). The glass unicorn broke its horn and Laura is not devastated as she was earlier in the book. You can see her breaking out of her shell and away from the glass menagerie. Just as I began to be happy for Laura, "I go out all the time with a girl named Betty" (Williams 89). This was the only part in the book that I was angry. In most other books and movies the resolution brings everyone and everything to the way it should be, and everyone is happy, but it is the opposite; that is what angered me the most about the ending.
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Camryn Zeller
8/30/2015 08:23:22 am
Just like Sam, I also find the juxtaposition between the time period of "The Glass Menagerie" and the present day quite amusing. The Wingfield family gives young readers such as myself a clear insight into the behaviors and practices of 60 years ago. I think the most differing aspect between the two time periods most relatable to me is how families prepare for house guests. Amanda "worked like a Turk in preparation for the gentleman caller" (51): cleaned the entire house, rearranged the furniture, and she even bought Laura a new outfit. However, when I invite a guest over, I just wear my pajamas and cook some pizza rolls in the microwave. It's interesting that this generation is more comfortable in what we consider our normal state; most of us are like Laura who believed her mother was making this affair "seem so important" (52). All the fussing Amanda did seemed very stressful and I sure am glad my mother does not require me to complete a bunch of housework before we have people over.
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Ellie Szymoniak
8/30/2015 09:50:41 am
I love the shift of Laura's behavior when she is talking with Jim. When he first arrived at the apartment with Tom she was "quite faint, her lips trembling, her eyes wide and staring" (page65) because she was so shy, but as the night went on her attitude towards Jim becomes more friendly and comfortable. For example, the way she moved closer to him when they sat near the candelabrum. I feel as if Amanda's attitude toward Laura has something to do with how timid Laura was when inviting Jim into their home. Maybe Laura was afraid to let her mother down by being herself so she was shy and afraid to speak to Jim in front of Amanda.
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Ellie Szymoniak
8/30/2015 10:05:00 am
It is clear that Tom and Amanda do not have the best relationship because Amanda is convincing Tom to stay and take care of both her and Laura. Instead of getting a job herself, Amanda tortures Tom with her sob stories of earlier and easier times while Tom wishes to make himself more than a warehouse worker. Tom told Jim "whenever I pick up a shoe, I shudder a little thinking how short life is and what I am doing!" (page62) admitting that he is exactly like his father and wants his life to mean a little more. The relationship that the Wingfield family exhibits is a prime image of many struggling families even in today's society.
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Ellie Szymoniak
8/30/2015 10:21:56 am
I read in the introduction that Williams may have based this play on his sister Rose and coming to terms with her condition but maybe he wrote it about himself and the decisions he had to face. There have been many remarks made throughout the book about life being short and living the life given to us. As I have previously mentioned Tom spoke of this with Jim "whenever I pick up a shoe, I shudder a little thinking how short life is and what I am doing!"(page62) and again when Jim is attempting to boost Laura's confidence "A world full of common people! All of 'em born and all of 'em going to die!"(page81) all of this leading up to doing more with one's life instead of sitting around and doing what's more comfortable or easy. Every single character is almost identical to Williams actual family but maybe Williams wrote the story as an alternate universe, like what may have happened if he never became a writer. I believe that Williams wrote this play for himself as evidence that he made the right choices when he was younger and to show readers that they should never be afraid to live their life and make their own decisions.
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Samuel Tejchma
8/30/2015 12:23:09 pm
After reaching the halfway point of "The Glass Menagerie" I find myself agreeing with Delaney again; Amanda is trying to live her perfect life through her children by not allowing them to make the same mistakes as she did. "Find out one that's clean-living- doesn't drink and ask him out for your sister" (Williams 36). Amanda's husband was a drinker and seems to be one of the main causes of the problems in their marriage. At the very beginning of the book I found myself not liking Amanda and thinking she is too controlling but as I got further in I started to like her realizing she is just a concerned mother trying to do what's best for her children, even though sometimes she goes overboard.
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Samuel Tejchma
8/30/2015 03:17:11 pm
As I near the end of "The Glass Menagerie" I'm starting to not like Amanda again! In my last post I started to like her but then she said a few things, "now look at yourself young lady. This is the prettiest you will ever be!" (Williams 52). "Why can't you and your brother be normal people?" (Williams 57). These two statements by the mother are very harsh things to say, especially to your children that seem to already have low self esteem! I lost a lot of respect for Amanda and my initials thoughts on her seem to be correct. Also, I left off on the part where Laura and Jim are starting to hit it off and I'm really anxious to see where it goes because so far Laura is my favorite character. She is very nice, and seems to not lie like her brother.
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Isabel Virtue
8/31/2015 03:44:18 am
I like how in the beginning the play is described as a memory, therefore not being true to reality. This made me think of how many times when people recall a memory, it is altered from the original instance. It really made me open my eyes and realize how people may think they are recalling a situation exactly how it happened, when in fact it may "[omit] some details; others are exaggerated" (p. 21). This is a good thing to keep in mind throughout life, especially as teenagers, when the telling and rebelling of stories can often be twisted as they are retold, and we should not believe everything exactly as it is told to us.
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Isabel Virtue
8/31/2015 05:14:36 am
Like Sam, my feelings towards Amanda were a roller coaster throughout the story. In the beginning I hated the way she treated her children, then like Delaney I began to sympathize with her and how she had gone through heart break and did not want that for her kids, and then towards the end I disliked her once again. I feel she has good intentions with her kids' lives, but poor ways of going through with these intentions.
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Delaney Bennett
8/31/2015 09:08:24 am
After finishing "The Glass Menagerie" I think I enjoyed the play more then reading a novel. I really appreciated descriptive the scenes are while reading a play as opposed to a novel. Williams describes Amanda sitting on the fire escape as "she spreads a newspaper on a step and sits down gracefully and demurely as if she were settling into a swing on a Mississippi veranda"(Williams 64), instead of just stating that Amanda sat down like what would be said in a novel. I loved the experience of reading a play and plan of reading more!
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Camryn Zeller
8/31/2015 10:52:03 am
After finishing "The Glass Menagerie", I became very frustrated with the solemness of Tom. He finally found his opportunity to "go to the moon" (96) yet all he could focus on was the family he left behind: a mother never encouraged him to reach his full potential and always made him feel guilty for having dreams to travel outside of St. Louis. I wish Tom had been more excited find his true passions. And that may seem kind of selfish but I think one important lesson this play taught me is that being selfish once in a while is not horrible; sometimes an individual should do what benefits him/her instead of the mass. Overall, I enjoyed this play and plan to read more plays in the future!
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Isabel Virtue
8/31/2015 11:25:45 am
I agree with Ellie on the fact that Laura's personality changed as she spent more time around Jim. I feel that she is afraid to be herself around her mother because Amanda has an idea in her head that she feels Laura has to be, but being alone with Jim she could escape her mother and open up. He made her feel less insecure about her leg brace, such as when he told her he "never even noticed" when she thought "it sounded like thunder" (p. 75). This allowed her to feel comfortable with herself, in a way she never can around anybody else.
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Samuel Tejchma
8/31/2015 01:38:56 pm
After finishing "The Glass Menagerie" I really liked the ending! I thoroughly enjoyed how the story pulled together with Laura's problems. I think her glass collection she loved so much represented her as a person because she never let anyone touch it which represented her personality because she never opened up to anyone. "Go on, I trust you with him!" (Williams 83). She finally opened up to a human and admitting her feelings to someone and it symbolically showed it by her handing Jim her most prized possession. Also, I really enjoyed the main message this book displayed, saying it doesn't matter who you are in high school and that it doesn't define you as a person because Laura was a "weird" and really shy kid whil Jim was a "cool" kid but are now connecting. "Everybody has problems, not just you" (Williams 76). Whatever problems you have in life doesn't define who you are and neither does who you are in high school. Everyone should just enjoy life and accept their problems because in the end none of us are gonna get out alive anyway.
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