Journal Response 2: Choices

In the Story “Choices” by Susan Kerslake she gives off the impression that we are responsible for the things we go through and that life is about choices. The story is about a woman who contemplates going on a trip with a friend she met over the summer. She decides to go on the trip and later gets into an accident. Throughout the story, she describes her feelings of not knowing what she’s going through. This is a very sad story especially when she come to the realization that she is paralyzed and that the man she was with is no longer there for her.

But who is responsible for Peggy’s injuries? Was it Ken’s, or was it Peggy’s? Should Peggy really be responsible for the accident where she was not in control of the vehicle? The answer is yes. Peggy indeed chose to go on the trip with ken and chose to not say anything when she didn’t feel safe. She didn’t say anything when she noticed the condition in which the motor was in. She described it “Some parts were clean and shiny, most were caked with oil and dirt.” (pg.118) which was not safe. She also said “On the street at fifteen miles an hour she felt safe” (pg.118) Which was not the case when ken was driving.  The author wrote “He seemed attached to the car at the small of his back, she supposed it was the pressure on the gas pedal” (pg.119). this implies that ken was driving fast and Peggy did not say anything about it. Another thing the author did was include the little fact that Peggy asked ken to stop at the liquor store. Was Ken drinking? If he was why did Peggy not voice herself if she wanted to be safe?  It’s because she was to distracted by ken to say anything. And she was probably distracting him too.

Peggy is a good example of a real person. We all have that person inside us that wants to leave things unfinished and not have to worry about them. Peggy analyzed the tasks she needed to get done but didn’t think about the consequences of not finishing them. We need to trust our gut feeling. This will help us make the right decision when we have to make a fast one. We don’t want to end up regretting them at the end of the day which is what Peggy felt at the end of the story.

Journal Response:” The Hockey sweater”

1. I liked the first paragraph. The starting sentence was a complete sentence, and the conclusion sentence seemed to finish off the first pargraph well. It also told us a little bit of the background story. The last paragraph was okay. I thought it was kind of flat. Ended very short like and not like you would have expected. The mood created by the opening paragraph is happy.
2. The way I can relate to this story is that I was never allowed to wear makeup when all my friends wore makeup. My mom would leave to work before me so I would some of hers on. But after school I would get in trouble. But all I wanted to do is fit in.