Jan's Short Story Exploration

The one thing that struck me the most as I read through “How to become a writer” by Lorrie Moore was the roommate. Throughout the short story, we follow as the narrator continues their troubled journey through attempting to become an author. Constantly throughout the story, the narrator mentions the remarks made by her roommate. The remarks are typically disheartening and are an attempt to bring the narrator back to earth. We are first introduced to the roommate when the narrator goes off to college and meets her new boyfriend. After the boyfriend recommends cycling as a way to beat motivation and stress, the roommate recommends the narrator finds a new boyfriend.”Your boyfriend suggests bicycling. Your roommate suggests a new boyfriend.” The purpose of this comment seems to be that the narrator’s boyfriend is recommending a fake “positive” response to her issues and the roommate believes that the narrator should find someone who can really give realistic advice. I believe that the p

In the short story “How to Be an Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore we follow the affair between Charlene and a mysterious man she meets on the bus. As the affair continues we get a deep look into the mind of Charlene from a second person perspective. Charlene spends more time with the man she begins to change her personality. One clear example of this is when the man mentions that his wife Patricia is a very organized person and makes lists. “She makes lists for everything. It’s pretty impressive.” After finding this out Charlene begins to makes lists for herself that document her life and give the reader a closer look at her thought process and mind. These lists have a variety of topics, from the contents of the man’s medicine cabinet all the way to how she feels about the affair and her deeply personal thoughts. I believe that Lorrie Moore included these lists to give the reader a look into the mind of Charlene and compare her actions to what she really believes. After the man brings