ONE ATTEMPT :: Essays Papers

ONE ATTEMPT 1. Every one of us strives to be better, accomplish more, and do it faster. Some of us may be occasionally disappointed, but it is whether or not we choose to try again that determines our success. John Steinbeck gives us one example of this in â€Å"Chrysanthemums†. [."] The theme of this story is that although most people are eager to do more and try different things with their life, not everyone will succeed with this attempt. [This is not a very fruitful thesis -- the story deals primarily with a problem of just women, not "most people."] 2. To characterize Elisa’s lifestyle, one would conclude that she wants more out of her life than what she has now. For example, she wants more responsibility and wishes to help with the orchard, and she tries to prove this to her husband by saying, â€Å"Maybe I could do it, too†. She also finds the peddler’s traveling lifestyle appealing. She states this by saying more than once, â€Å"That would be a nice way to live†. 3. Elisa also wants more love than what she has now. The first example of her need for more love is her sexual advances [hmmm] toward the peddler. Elisa is explaining the night sky, but she is also being very sexual by stating: â€Å"I’ve never lived as you do, but I know what you mean. When the night is dark-why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there’s quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It’s like that. Hot and sharp and–lovely.† [The preceding quotation should be analyzed in more detail. It is certainly interesting, but why, if she is, is she being so sexual in her comments to an old peddlar?] Elisa is also sexual towards the peddler by saying; â€Å"I could show you what a woman might do†. [She doesn't mean it that way -- she means that a woman can do more than men think they can do.] 4. A second example of her need for love is she near nagging her husband for a polite compliment. She does this by asking several times, â€Å"What do you mean by ‘nice’?