July 26, 2026

NATALIE LIU

The Way Up to Heaven: Spoiler Alert – only read this if you have already finished the story.

“The Way Up to Heaven” by Roald Dahl is focused on two married old folks, Mrs. and Mr. Foster. Mr. Foster treats his relationship with Mrs. Foster like a mean sibling would, purposefully using Mrs. Foster’s fear of being late to pull a prank that extends the necessary time to stay. Reading this feels like you’re watching a slow-motion car crash and want the collision to complete. Dahl immediately hooks you in with Mrs. Foster being all dressed up and packed, waiting; she has a “pathological fear of missing a train, a plane, a boat”. My initial reaction to this was feeling irritated by Mr. Foster’s behavior, because his calculated delays felt agonizingly cruel. The reader’s experience mirrors Mrs. Foster’s distress in those moments, when a “tiny vellicating in the corner of the left eye, like a secret wink,” twitches as the clock ticks. The plot relies on a strict and rigid timeline, just like how Mrs. Foster always likes to be. In the story, you want to root for Mrs. Foster amid Mr. Foster’s negativity. This negativity is amplified by the household staff, who choose to side with Mr. Foster. While the driver openly states that Mr. Foster is delaying on purpose, the butler, Walker, demands he stop, pretending to be oblivious to the obvious pranks. By defending Mr. Foster and enforcing his false narrative, the staff effectively gaslights Mrs. Foster, deepening her isolation within her home.

The plot uses a repetition of missing the gates and then the weather crisis, to build pressure and stress. The turning point is the next day, when Mrs. Foster goes to catch her flight again, and Mr. Foster has something to give to her for their grandchildren, a comb box. When Mrs. Foster catches his blatant lie, the power dynamic switches. Mrs. Foster gets into the house, yet after hearing a noise, she quickly runs out and directs the driver to leave. After a few months, she comes home and calls the elevator repair; Mrs. Foster has finally sought revenge. The irony of this all is that Mr. Foster chose to take the elevator to stall, but ended up dying in it, and along with the title, the way up to heaven shows Mrs. Foster’s new heaven-like experience on earth without the disturbance of her husband.

July 16, 2026

TIMPER XU

In the short story “Afternoon in the Jungle”, Albert Maltz revealed the society under the Great Depression with an absurd fight between a thirteen-year-old child and “a small, shabby man of forty-five”.

Everything started with imaginative play: Charles Fallon threw imaginary missiles and picked up imaginary money, but then his dreams were interrupted by a lady who “came out and told him to stop leaning against the glass and move along”. His day became worse when he didn’t have money to buy the candy that he wanted; then, change suddenly came as neighbor Mr. Sheehy dropped a 50¢ coin (worth almost $15 in today’s money) when he was getting on a bus.

Due to the limited time, Mr. Sheehy told Charles that he’ll give him a dime if he could find the coin he dropped; Charles decided to find the coin, but he didn’t think of giving it back: “It would be the simplest thing in the world of course to tell Old Man Sheehy that he had not been able to find it”. So he decided to borrow three pennies from his mother to buy chewing gum; then, he could fish the coin up with the gum. The main conflict of this story starts now.

Overall, Maltz’s story gives us a peek into the physical and psychological conditions that people went through in the Great Depression: readers can see how the collapse of the economy caused a once normal or even wealthy family to become penniless, how people like the “small, shabby man of forty-five” being forced to live off of picking up coins, how the Roaring ‘20s popped like the imaginative play Charles imagined. Indeed, entirely new industries were invented, such as high level scavenging. Picture to yourself the lengths this small man went in his pursuit of lost treasures: “Secured to the inside of his coat by leather straps were four lengths of broom handle, whittled to reduce their thickness, each about three feet long, each fitted at one end with a rubber socket by which it would be joined to another length”. Naturally he is better equipped for salvaging the 50¢ piece.

It isn’t only the life under the Great Depression that Maltz showed; what he also wanted the readers to feel is how extreme poverty and unemployment turn everyone (including children) into beasts that only care about money (this is why this story is named “Afternoon in the Jungle”). The change of Charles from a child who plays on the streets to a beast that “grabbed a chunk of ice” and “flung it” at a person for 50 cents is the strongest evidence and provides a snap back to the title, as does the last line: “Charlie stood trembling in triumph, his face turned to stone. It had become dark.”

March 28, 2026

TIMPER XU

Rather than saying Larry’s essay is a pure reflection on the Idaho chapter of State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, saying that it is a guide that leads readers to understand the history that is behind this chapter would be more reasonable and accurate.

The series, WPA State Guides is the starting point of this history: it is the first series that gathered and edited the information of every state, which revealed how the USA isn’t only what you see in your own hometown or state.

Decades later, State by State is written; it is more interesting, shorter, and easier to understand compared to the “lengthy books named the WPA State Guides”.

In A Panoramic Portrait of America, every author of every state is independent, so every chapter is equally important and interesting, and when we consider that we live in a federal republic of fifty more or less interdependent states with their own governments and laws, we can see that the book is a valiant and accurate reflection of our country.

Look at Idaho! The author never wrote boring, dry, outdated history: the author shown his views on Idaho with the conflicts between the US government and “the Tukudeka tribe”, the author wrote about the natural landscape, and his own thinkings about change (“The history of our planet is one of absolutely relentless change. Everything…eventually goes extinct”).

The most special part of A Panoramic Portrait of America is that it is alive, you can feel emotions and thoughts from it, like a person telling you a tale from their hometown.

February 20, 2026

AUBREY CHU

The mice got to the lake by first Miss Bianca decided to resign from Chairwoman and to keep to her private life. Bernard decided to throw her a party, so then they had a water picnic to celebrate with no speeches on Miss Bianca’s . The mice danced, “The Dashing Brown Mouse, Roll out the Walnuts, Jenny’s Whiskers and then they danced to Hickory Dickory, Mousetown Races, and that oldest favorite of all, Belling the Cat!” They danced on lily pads and Miss Bianca would have liked Le Cambert, but she still enjoyed the other dances. As she admired the view, she noticed an old turret with ivy crawling over the walls, when she looked in the water, she saw the reflection and said “Do observe, Bernard, the reflection of the turret in the moat! It’s quite like Canaletto!”

“The Piazza San Marco in Venice” by Canaletto

When she looked closer she saw a piece of paper, and sent a Boy Scout to scamper up and fetch it. The Boy Scout went and brought down the piece of paper, which in reality, was a piece of linen or fabric. Miss Bianca was a bit angry that mice or people would litter like that! So, she told Bernard to hold onto it until they reached a bin. After she spoke of her going back to her private life, she then cast a backwards glance to the turret after her speech and saw a second piece of paper! She was very quiet on the way home because her thoughts were occupied, but since most mice were quiet too, nobody remarked. Miss Bianca finally told Bernard what was bothering her, “I tell you that the turret has a prisoner inside!” She soon went back to the second piece of paper, realizing it was another piece of fabric, and saw the name that was faintly visible: “Mandrake”. At first, Miss Bianca was not too deeply sympathetic, or sorry, but she soon realized that the Grand Duchess would kill him for letting Patience escape. She soon felt that she had to help and rescue him.

January 21, 2026

LEONA ZHOU

Response to “The Tower of Cirith Ungol”:

I was so relieved when we finally zoomed back to Sam and the situation he was stuck in with Frodo being taken away and being done who knows what to him. As Sam made his way to find Frodo and access the home turf of Sauron, he seemed to find a new sense of courage and pride within himself. And seeing him do so is renewing, because we already know throughout the last book and now that he was extremely loyal and true to Frodo as a friend, but he needed a little character development with bravery and derring-do. We see him do exactly that in this chapter; inching bit by bit evermore out of his comfort zone. “‘Come on, you miserable sluggard!’ Sam cried to himself. ‘Now for it!’ He drew Sting and ran towards the open gate… Hardening his will Sam thrust forward once again,” (882). This was almost monumental since it’s almost like the leading role of the Ring is up to Sam now – which basically it is as he has the Ring. His fight with terror as he explored the horrid place is admirable, because we must not forget that at the end of the day he was just a hobbit who loved his food, garden and pipe. But now he has cast that aside and whole-heartedly committed to dying, if needed to save Frodo. Adding on to him being a hobbit, we could truly see in moments when Sam decided to put the Ring on that he is almost just as pure and good as Frodo. Of course, all hobbits are strong and have quite an ability to hold against such forces like Gandalf had said. “Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land… In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden,” (881). And along the way of exploring, Sam encountered an Orc who was actually afraid of him. It’s some much needed comedic relief in such a tense moment: “For a moment the orc crouched, and then with a hideous yelp of fear it turned and fled back as it had come. Never was any dog more heartened when its enemy turned tail than Sam as this unexpected flight. With a shout he gave chase. ‘Yes! The Elf-warrior is loose!’” (883-884).

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