Read the short short story below (feel free to use the link, if you wish) and post a comment or response to the following questions: What potential meanings lie behind the title, "Morning News"? What kind of people do you imagine the dying man and his wife to be? Why does the dying man purchase a 60 " television set?
For discussion in class, the blog and your reader's journal, think about the tone of the short story: was it tragic, humorous, sarcastic?
Should this have been a longer story? What, if anything, was missing?
__________________________
Morning News
by Jerome Stern
I get bad news in the morning and faint. Lying on tile, I think about death and see the tombstone my wife and I saw twenty years ago in the hilly colonial cemetery in North Carolina: Peace at last. I wonder, where is fear? The doctor, embarrassed, picks me up off the floor and I stagger to my car. What do people do next?
I pick up my wife. I look at my wife. I think how much harder it would be for me if she were this sick. I remember the folk tale that once seemed so strange to me, of the peasant wife beating her dying husband for abandoning her. For years, people have speculated on what they would do if they only had a week, a month a year to live. Feast or fast? I feel a failure of imagination. I should want something fantastic - a final meal atop the Eiffel Tower. Maybe I missed something not being brought up in a religion that would haunt me now with an operatic final confrontation between good and evil - I try to imagine myself a Puritan fearful of damnation, a saint awaiting glory.
But I have never been able to take seriously my earnestly mystical students, their belief that they were heading to join the ringing of the eternal spheres. So my wife and I drive to the giant discount warehouse. We sit on the floor like children and, in five minutes, pick out a 60-inch television, the largest set in the whole God damn store.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
37 comments:
1. The title "Morning News" has the meaning that it's the first scenario you get of the story which sets the pace for the rest of the story/day.
2. The couple are not religious people, due to the fact that he states that he was not brought up in any religion, so he is not haunted by salvation nor damnation.
3. There really is no specific indication from the story as to why they purchased the tv. It could've been that him and his wife were already going to buy the tv (because the story doesn't state if he told his wife the news of him dying before going to the warehouse). It also could have been that he told her about the bad news and all he really wanted as a final wish was that tv.
4. I don't think it was tragic. The purchas of the "biggest" tv and the way he describes it as the "largest set in the whole God damn store" makes it a bit humurous.
5. Not so much longer, as in specific details. I wanted to know if he told his wife and what she said if he did. Details like that.
The title can be both literal and symbolic because it gives us the setting and yet, the news that the man receives. The couple probably is wealthy or maybe they had held back on buying expensive things and now he thinks its the correct time to change. Buying that television set probably made the man and wife break the barriers and getting something that they wanted to buy some time ago. The story I think was somehow sarcastic. The man doesn't let the news slow him down, instead he decides to go out with his wife to buy that television and spend time together.
I think the story has its own essence and it would've lost maybe the wonders of simplicity if the author had decided to make it longer. By not knowing what happened before and later we can use our imagination and that's a thing I like from stories.
1.I think the meaning behind the title is the kind of unexpected news that change the day of any person but most because of the fact that he receive it in the morning.Letting him more than half of the day to internalize it."Morning news" could be to show that the death is not something so scary for him.
2.I think the dying man and his wife were the type of person who was not very religious that did not feel that anxiety to mend their mistakes entrust their lives or believe in eternal salvation.Maybe he purchase a tv such like those ones to wait the time of his dead making and enjoying the things he loves more.
3.Well I do not think the tone is tragic or sarcastic because the way in which he expressed and the words used throughout this text does not convey distress or pain.It does have a bit of humor when he says he wants something fantastic to enjoy their in his own way the life that remains him.
4.No l don't think this text should been a longer story.But if should add where his wife was when he received the news of his ill and which was that ill. Although I think the point of the story is our ability to challenge the imagination omitting this details.So is perfect the way it is.
Mariela Torres
Engl 3104 - M10 :D!
YOMARIS:
1)When I first heard the title, in my head the words new beginning, hope, a second chance popped in my head. Yet, when I started reading, it turned out to be the opposite.
2)I imagine the dying man, as an unfulfilled person who hasn’t given life any value or importance whatsoever despite the belief he “followed” and also as a person who seems to lack of having true meaningful aspirations and accomplishments. I also see him guilty of his disease, which I believe to have been sexually transmitted by an affair. And by his way of narrating this story it seemed to be just perfect to cut off his frustration and uncertainness towards life.
The wife seems to be a very sentimental person (the myth mentioned is a hint) and probably a good wife who had suffered a lot because of her dying husband who didn’t dedicate enough time to her. (A probable reason for him not telling her what was going to happen nor why; he didn’t he want to hurt her anymore) With this said I believe that’s why she sat like a child next to him and bought a 60’’ TV. It was likely to have been the first thing in a long time they did anything together.
3)Maybe it was something he always wanted to do, men are men. But, what for? Well, I don’t think it was to watch games; it probably was an idea of his to put travel channel or something similar and find the Eiffel tower to eat at his wife’s side like he thought off before. It could have also been a sign of bondage between his wife and him.
4)YESSS I believe so. To many questions left unanswered for instance, what was his relationship with his wife like before, who were they visiting at colonial cemetery, why was the doctor embarrassed, why did he buy the TV for, what happened after the purchase?? This story left me hanging a lot of times… to make an interpretation was hard pretty difficult.
This man’s life is “morning news”. “Morning news” is the first thing of the day and the rest of the day you have it to think and reflection about it and maybe change something about yourself. He reflects that he is dying and have’s the rest of the day as an analogy to the time he has left, to change, he just wants to enjoy with his wife the litter time he has. Maybe, this man and this woman spent their whole life working and saving money and never spent it in something high value; they never experience some kind of luxury. Also, they are not so religious, they don’t think it exist a afterlife, so, he resolves this problems by going to a warehouse and buying this 60” TV, the largest in the store, to take a chance in his life that he never or she did and spend her last days with her wife happy, because, what’s the point of working so hard all your life to save money and not enjoy it. He just wants to live the moment, no past, no future, just the present.
The way the author ends her story which is the dying mans saying, “he bought the largest set in the whole god damn store” has a purpose, because all the story seem tragic, so ending it this way makes the story humorous. Also, it should be longer and with more details to make it more easily to say something about it.
Diego H. González Bravo
INGL 3104 MB5
By Daryl:
The title of the story "Morning News" reflects the things that the husband didn't do while he was healthy and instead, he waited so long that he recognized that all of his precious time was lost for good. The morning news was like an alarm for him to wake up of this sad imagination he had because he was going to die and to start to enjoying what he had left of time to live. Still, he doesen't fear death, but in the bottom of his heart he knows that his death is going to be painfull for his wife.
At the begining of the story it is hard to tell what kind of persons they are, but after the bad news occurs, it all changes his way of thinking and even of living. His depresion buries him and hides his personality.
The 60" TV means that before he dies he wants to have the chance to experience all the good stuff he always dreamed of having.
The story was really good, well explained and understood and that was the point of it, because the author wants to let us know that we don't have to be dying or sick to have the things we want. I don't believe anything was missing because the meaning was clear.
1. For me it is a very literal title because precisely in the morning of that day, this man found out that he had a terminal illness, something obviously shocking for him.
2. They do not show off to be bad persons. I do not believe that they had any religious beliefs because of his commentaries in the second paragraph. This man loved very much his wife because he only thought about what he would suffer if she was the one that was dying.
3. I believe that he bought this television because it was something that he always wanted. Now that he knew that he was going to die, he wanted to do fantastic things like that meal atop the Tower Eiffer. The television also could have been one of these fantastic things that he wanted to share with his wife before dying.
4. For me is tragic because his life changed a lot when he received that news that is also tragic.
5. Yes. I would like to know how did he died, how changed his life after the news and what happened with his wife.
1. I think the title “Morning News” represents the sickness of the man or the fact that he is dying since that is something he’s got to deal with everyday of his life. That would probably be his morning news.
2. They’re probably middle class people. But in my opinion, the man was someone with many doubts about maybe religion or death, because he asks himself many questions about death, fear and religion. As for his wife, I think she was someone who supported him any way she could, but that really remains a mystery, because the story doesn’t tell us how she really was.
3. The reason of why he purchased the television set I think it was because he just wanted to enjoy himself with his wife and he wanted to forget about the fact that he was dying.
4. I think the tone of the story was a bit sarcastic, because as the story progresses he doesn’t seem to make a big deal about the fact that he’s dying especially at the end when he purchased the T.V set.
5. I personally would’ve like for the story to be a bit longer, because there were a few questions left in the air for me, about his wife for example. I couldn’t help but to think who she really was, what kind of person his wife really is?
Luis O. Mercado- I think the title "Morning News" has a sarcastic feel to it, describing what would be devastating news to anyone. The couple seem to have lived their life without having a personal relationship with God. Thus having little or no faith about recuperating from the news the man received and now worrying about this final resting place. As far as the TV set, I have no clue, I agree with Raychil in the fact that maybe it was something he always wanted. If that was the case, I think he told his wife (about his impending death) and they agreed on making that his final wish.
The potential meaning is that we always woke up thinking and worrying about our day but we never think that in the morning somebody is going to come to you to tell you that your going to die soon. These couple, they may have been religious but not the kind of people that worries too much. Maybe he tought that if he starts changing his routine like maybe he didn't attend so much to church and if he goes now that would be like a reminder of how sick he is and how soon he is going to be dying. That would may be the reason that he bought the TV, that may be something he always wanted and now he can have it without worrying for the money or that he always have lived doing the things he loves to do and now he can be just relax so he bought this huge TV where everyday he and his wife can watch the big morning news.
I believe that this man is an atheist that does not know what to do and thinks of what others that have had the same situation have done. I belive he wants to enjoy hes last days on earth before hes departure.
1. For me the potential meaning that is behind the title is the tone that the story is going to have. Because literally what he is telling us in this story, for him is his morning news. This news is impacting and all the story is around that news.
2. I think that they are normal people that live their lives not believing that what you do here or what you don’t do here is your pass to the eternal live. Because when he is told of the news he didn’t think if he is going to haven of to hell. He was thinking about other things instead, and what he wanted to do in his last time.
3. I believe that because of that news, he wanted to do a lot of things to enjoy his last days, and because he cant go to Eiffel Tower he but a 60’’ television.
4. I think that this short story is a tragic one. Because one of the principal themes is the death. And all that happened in this story is surrounding that theme.
5. I think that this story has to be longer because I think that the information of what happen with his wife and with him is missing
Leonardo Cabán Rodríguez
INGL-3104 M10
1.For me “Morning News” means that as the same way most of the people don’t care about the news, specially the morning news, this man doesn’t care about the fact that he is going to die soon, or it could mean too that the news he received was shocking as the ones that are given in the morning news.
2.I imagine the two of them as that kind of people that doesn’t really care about or fear the death. Maybe it is because of their religious beliefs; maybe they just look at death as something natural that every human being have to go through some time in their lives; or is just that the man is very shocked for that news and doesn’t want to worry his wife.
3.Maybe he purchased that TV because it was, for him, the better way to pass and forget the reality of his life. I think he just wanted to relax and watch some game or movie that he knew it was going to keep his mind busy and wasn’t going to think of the bad news.
4.I think the tone used in this story was humorous because it is not easy for me to picture in my mind how some one who knows his days are counted could find happiness and relaxation in an 60” TV.
5.I think the story length is perfect, but the only thing missing in the story is to tell us the readers what was the illness the man have in this story.
The potential meaning of the title "Morning News" can be that no one knows what's gonna happen the next morning you wake up. I think that this two persons aren’t religious and that's why he is wondering what is gonna happen to him when he dies. I agree with some of my classmates that said the dying man purchase a 60" television set because he wanted to have it before he dies. Maybe because he didn't have a large imagination, he just thought about a big TV. The tone of this story I think it is sarcastic, because of the way he refers about his death. I think that the author want us to work in our imagination, and let us imagine the beginnig and the end of the story. But maybe some little details would help us see more clearly the image of this short story.
When someone passes away (died) we keep thinking where is he or she finally going, and that is a question that no body can really answer. This man who know that is about to die have an agony waiting for the day to discover where is he finally going. His anxiety put him in a very hard situation where no body can help, and that make him to buy the 60" television, because that was probably something that he had never done before and obviesly there wasn't to many chances to do it later.
1. The meaning of the title of this short story is when he received that news. Also I think he is sick and be alive each day is a new a “morning new”.
2. They are or were normal people, a couple. The story tells he was a person without religious believing. The story doesn’t tell about his wife. Also the story doesn’t tale if they were good or bad, but I believe they were a good persons because; when he fainted the first thing came up to his mind were his wife. Also when they were sitting in the store show maybe the humble they could be.
3. It was like his last meal, a gift to him before died. Because he tells when the persons are dying and want something to have and do when they have months to life.
4. I think is sarcastic. He is dying, and he is doesn’t thinking if God is going to send him to hell or something he is doesn’t thinking about that. he is just thinking how he want to spend he last days, and just want to see TV in a big one.
5. I think the story is just fine like is writing because is the feelings of this man. The only thing we have to do is understand him.
Alexander Ortiz MB5
The most obvious meaning to the title is literal. It talks about the news he receives about dying from his doctor. The not so obvious meaning that comes to mind when I read the title is the type of morning news at about 5 or 6 in the morning that you hear on the t.v while you get ready to go wherever it is your going. The type of news that you listen to while outside it's still a dark maybe misty but definitely chilly yet fresh. That news that you hear can determine how you might feel that day. Cycles on the the news of life, death, weather, celebrities and traffic. In all 'life' in it's whole full circle.
I don't imagine this couple being religious. I see them more as a couple that live this one life and do the best they can it. I liked how the author faints and as he lays on the floor he thinks about a tomb that says '"Peace at Last". He asks where is the fear, what do people do next? Interesting questions that show us that not everyone reacts the same way to death. The way TV sensationalizes,the tears,screams and whys. Maybe they do come, later on.Maybe the author knows that death isn't necessarily violent or unfair (it could be) but final peace. His confusion in what to do next is interesting. What do you do for the amount of time left? Do you read books you may not finish, take trips and stay at unknown places? Where do you decide to die? Do you change your routine and decide to cram things in that you never decided to do before into your short schedule?
The man may have purchased the t.v so he can see things he didn't get to see on a big screen. Maybe he did it because he never really spent too much money on something like a huge T.V or, maybe he did it just because. It's possible that he did because it didn't matter what he wasted his money on. It's also possible he's just like me shocking news,shocking new toy.
I don't feel the story was tragic, maybe a bit humorous because of his matter of fact way to by the television set. There is an obvious pain here but it isn't dominating the author to the point of dragging himself around crying out 'all woe is me'. There's more of a general acceptance to the unchangeable. I'm not in any way stating that this is all there is to it. That he'll never react. It could all be a will to try and be strong and nonchalant about things. His reasons not for religion but for what he leaves behind and a general confusion of how do I wait-no how do I finish waiting because since we are born we wait for death.
I believe the story is good in the way it's presented. The author had a purpose in putting it that way and it helps create the effect of a bit of shock and gives the story it's uniqueness. I guess it even reminds me a bit of "An Enigmatic Nature" the t.v part being the punchline. In "An Enigmatic Nature" the punchline would be when the lady states: Another old general-very well off.
I apologize for my lack of proof reading what I wrote so there are some typos in there.
the only potential meaning "morning news" has is that dying is not the news you expect on mornings. I imagine the couple in a mature age, silent and careful when using words. When somebody tells you in the morning that your going to die you would just wanna do something radical. If your not passionate in religion you would consider a 60" television(i would, and i go to church.)
The title place the time of the story but what lie behind… for many people the news in the morning make them change their schedule for example if in the morning news the reporter said that in Route 123 an accident is slowing down the traffic people would change the route that they were taking. For this man the news he receive for sure have change the route he is taking the time he has left.
They (the man and his wife) appear to me that are working class. They have their things like the car, but don’t have luxuries
The man don’t want a dinner on the top of the world he last wish, he last taste of a good life is to buy a TV set without too much thinking.
The tone is a little bit sarcastic because of the decision the men makes knowing that he will die soon
The story length in my opinion is just right… it gives the right details and keeps your imagination running with what will happen to the man, how the wife took the news and so many others aspects
I look forward to discussing this story in class. You all offered unique insights into the state of this man's psychology at the knowledge of his death. Some of them were especially striking. I'll bring them up in class. Please feel free to talk to one another in the class about the story.
1. Well, "morning news" always means that something has happened, but in this case, more specifically, it means the announcement of something that happened to him that morning. From what could be read we find out that the man has been told that he was sick and from the dramatic reaction i believe the news were of death.
2. I could see that they were good people but had no religion to follow. Maybe they were like the kind of people that know and kind of believe in God but don't go by any religion. In one part he tells us that he has students but i don't actually think it has much to do with it.
3. During the story the man thinks about the things he would be losing by dying and the way he would like to live before he died, so in other words he wanted to live fully before dying. When he decides to buy that gigantic tv he is beginning to live life to the fullest. ^ ^
hehe sorry
I think the tory was meant to be short and to leave people thinking about it's meaning. Maybe, in my opinion, if he had made it longer the impact would have been different.
<~Nahtaniel Gonzalez~>
The morning news is the first thing that you hear in the morning and this man hears that he is going to die. It makes a great to open a story because the reader would want to know what happens next.
They are close partners even though they dont follow a religion they see life as a good gift and he tries to enjoy the life as much as possible.
The man probably purchased the tv because it was something that he wanted a long time ago and before dying he tried to enjoy his last week or months alive.
Morning news in this story means that there is an important news because always the morning news are the most important news. In this case is a very hard and difficult news for the dad because now he knows that he will die soon.
I imagine the dying man and his wife to be a very close family and united. I imagine that the man is still loves a lot his wife because he said that if she was the one very sick it will be much difficult.
I think that the dying man purchase a 60" television so that he can live the childhood life that he see on his earnestly mystical students
1.its like the newspaper,the morning news are like the ones that keep us thinking the whole day of it,and it troble us cause they are the ones from the day before,just like the analisys he took that reveal he's illnes.
2.I personaly dont understand this question but,Idont think it reveals what is happening to him fully,its traying to make us think harder and read harder but its incertain.
3.he found out that he nneds to start doing all the things he can do before his time expires,it trys to tell us the way he is managing hes problem for the rest of his days even though the story wont reach til then.
4.its tragic,and when he says the biggest tv of the whole God_______ store he sound sarcastic like if hes loosing it.
5.i think the writers purpose its done in the lenght ofthid short story,he want us to thirstt for moree and dig for more.
Vanessa Estrada-
The title "morning news" i think that means that all the story is based in the news that the doctor gave him in the morning. I imagine the couple like an old man and a pretty old lady that are in love, because he thinks in how she was going to react when she knew the bad news. I think the shortstory should be larger so we can understand a little bit better the story.
1. The title is meaning that in the morning we received news from tv, newspaper or a family member, but they could be good or bad.
2. Well they are not religious,so they dont have faith in everything happens to them. i think they are not that close to each one.
3. Maybe to satisface the pain of the news, a present, to have more time together
4. At the beginning its tragic when the Dr. tells him how sick he is, at the store is sarcastic.
5. Yes. how was they life before and after that day? Why he buy the tv? If he gave the news to the wife? what have went time pass?
HEllop
The tittle "Morning News" for me has a potential meaning that anyone can be on the morning news. People don't expect bad things in life and is not thinking on a sudden death. A morning news can help people visualized themselves throughout the morning and make them more visible trough life.
The people in this marriage don't represent religious belief.
I believe the purchase of the 60 inches T.V is a way on showing use the little importance that many people has toward their life and how conformist they can be.
Carlos M. Font
jejeje... Prof. jumm sorry for the hellop, comment it was just for testing if I could leave comments without singing in...
ANswers:
- BEhind the title I could findout that early one day there was an event that impact someone's life.
- They dont seem the type of people that fight fr a cause theyjust think a little and then realize theres nothing they could.
- May he purshase that TV foe him to enjoy his last days of life.
1. The title “Morning News” is both symbolic and literal. Is symbolic because nobody lives thinking what comes ahead in their lives in the next morning, the next week or the next month, because people always feel secure of what they have at the moment and no one ever thinks that something can affect or change in a drastic way the course of their lives. The title is also literal because the man received the morning news from his doctor that was going to die.
2. I think the couple was wealthy people but they didn’t seem to be bad persons, the man reacted as many people would have reacted in this situation, he was shocked. The man didn’t show to have any religious beliefs but he seems like he filled his life with the love that he felt for his wife, because he was thinking about the suffering that he would be through if his wife was the one who was going to die.
3. I think that he bought the TV because it was something that he wanted to buy from some time ago.
4. I think the tone of the story is tragic because he was dealing with the fact that he was going to die.
5. I would have liked the story to be longer because there where many untold details, like if he told his wife that he was going to die, what kind of disease he had.
The title Morning News is in a way a look at how someone is going to start up the day, if good news is received probably the person is going to be happy, if in the other end is bad news it can cause the person to be sad, mad or dissapointed and is going to set up the mood for the whole day.
I believe that the man and the woman are normal people probably working class, the man seems to have his doubts about if there is life after death.
I think he buys the 60 inch tv to enjoy and do the things that he have never done in his life, probably he wants to enjoy life at is fullest, since he knows he is going to die,he doesnt care he bought the biggest tv, how expensive it was, he wants to enjoy what is left of his life.
The story i find it to be a bit humorous, he knows he is going to die, well why not enjoy what is left before dying.
Well it would have been good to know what illness does he have, how much time does he have, and what age, i have a mental picture of him being 40-60, what other things he is going to do before he dies, i compare it a bit like the movie The Bucket List it would have been nice to see what other things the dying man is going to do before he hits the bucket.
The title morning news can be many things. But in the story is about an old man that faints in the morning after hearing the news that he was dying.
The old man and his wife look like people that work hard to have a normal life. The started thinking about what to do before they die because the news where sudden.
I think he bout the TV because he wanted to visit many place but didn't have the time. With a 60" television one can see better and imagine if you where there.
I think is tragic because if they say that you are going to die you wont start dancing a laughing.
I think the should have added a little more information about them.
Posted by Jose Gabriel Arce
10:36 AM
I think the story is about a man how saw a offert in the tv, one of those morning sales and he and his wife went to the sale and buy a new tv wich they didn't need. And they saw the offere i the morning,but the guy was sick and he didn't knew if was going. I think that was what happened.
3104 MB5
1. At first, the title "Morning News" made me though about a Disney-like-happy-story. I really identified the title with something good, but after I read the whole story, it kinda let myself hanging with the doubt.
2. I imagined the dying man to be a very misterious person. He didn´t explain much, so lot of things were left in mid air. Besides that, the man seem to be unhappy and maybe troubled for something.
The wife seemed kinda attached to the husband, maybe too attached. The story didn´t say much about her either, but I think she was a very calm person who loved her husband and missed their time together.
3.Well, he is dying, maybe he wanted to do something extravagant for a change.
4.Yes! It should have!! I got consufed big time with this too-short-for-it´s-own-good-story. A lot of things were left hanging and I don´t like when I don´t get things. (I get really, really frustraded)
I think that the title "Morning News" reflects the daily life of people. In my opinion, this guy is dying, and on this day, he woke up and contemplates the idea of death (how many time of life could be lefting him). He finally understands that the only thing to do is live to the fullest and enjoy his life doing whatever likes his wife and him.
Post a Comment