Essays: Ind Aff

IND AFF: The Irony of Pulling the Trigger
Julia Koslowsky
26 February 2015

Many different tones and perspectives exist in literature, but some stories find their narrators to be older, wiser, even bitter versions of their protagonists. “IND AFF: or Out of Love in Sarajevo” by Fay Weldon is one such story, woven together by the narrator’s ironic reflection on a past love. As the story progresses, this ironic and mature tone of the narrator aimed at her youthful indiscretion disappears as the protagonist “c[omes] to [her] senses” and realizes her true feelings for her lover Peter Piper (177).

At the beginning of the story, the narrator’s attitude insinuates disapproval towards the actions of her younger self, especially in regards to Peter. “This is a sad story,” she opens. “It has to be. It rained in Sarajevo and we had expected fine weather” (173). We discover her irony in these first few sentences, painting a picture of how the narrator felt and presently feels about the memory of this story: it should be sad, but it is not, as we discover at the end.

Essays: Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown: Losing Faith to the Father of Lies
Julia Koslowsky
21 April 2015

    Oscar Wilde once wrote, “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell” (The Duchess of Padua). By this epigram he illustrates that every man is his own worst enemy, whether we realize that fact or not. Among the many types of characters in literature, every so often, we come across a protagonist who loses this struggle against his inner demons: he falls then wallows in his tragedy rather than choosing to overcome it. In the short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the titular character succumbs to the Devil’s trickery and lies. Though he believes he can flirt with evil and remain unchanged, Brown’s night in the forest transforms him and affects the people around him more than he realizes.

Essays: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

This is an essay I wrote for an English class last semester on the iconic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s and how it relates to the women’s independence movement of the 1960s.  I’m going to be posting a few of my essays on varied topics every now and again.  I hope you enjoy them!

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Julia Koslowsky

4 December 2014

Women’s Independence and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

          The 1960s were full of movements regarding rights, wars, and students.  This decade was a turbulent time as opinions exploded and tales of injustice and freedom were preached to the masses.  A very prevalent movement in the ’60s was the women’s movement.  Restlessness sprung to life in the hearts of housewives and young women alike, calling other women to claim and show their right to equality with men.  Although this movement did not reach its peak until the late ’60s and early ’70s, that did not stop the influence of the early ’60s on the movement.  Blake Edwards’ 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s was ahead of its time as far as the issue of women’s rights.  Because the first books on those issues did not appear until a few years after the film’s release, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was the cultural and cinematic precursor for the feminist movement, illustrated by the constant struggle of Audrey Hepburn’s character to not be contained or caged.