Plot summary:
In this short story, a man, know as The American and his female partner are at the bar of a train station. While they are waiting for their train to arrive, they drink and have a conversation about a certain operation that the girl is to undego.
Themes and recurring elements :
-The conflict between personal responsibility and hedonism
-Coming of age
-Manipulation
Symbolism and setting :
-The hills in distance can be seen as an obstacle for the couple
-When Jig says :"That's all we do, isn't it--look at things and try new drinks" , it means that new things she wanted to try have become ordinary or boring to her
-White elephants can symobolise the swollen stomache of a pregnant women
Dialogue :
-The dialogue doesn't let us know much about the backstory of the characters. We have to figure it out by analysing their body language.
-Since the narrator is not omniscient, we do not know what the american and Jig are thinking. Therefore, we can analyse the story many different ways.
The Author :
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Illinois. He was raised into a strictly religious household. His first writing experience was for his school's paper. He finished high school in 1917 but instead of going to college, he got a job as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. He later joigned the Red Cross Ambulance corp and went off the World War I. Hemingway published many books such as Men Without Women (1927) and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (1938).
mardi 31 mars 2009
The Catcher in the Rye
Author : J.D. Salinger
This book's main character is Holden Caulfield. He is rebelious and out of ordinary 16 year-old teenager. The story starts with Holden, narrating what happened to him the year before from a mental hospital. He gets kicked out of his private school a couple of weeks before Christmas and there begins a series of aventures.
Later, in the story, Holden goes to his teacher's house. During the night, Mr. Antolini, the teacher, starts touching Holden, in a way that that makes him uncomfortable. This part is confusing because, in the book, it's not explicitally said that the teacher was molesting him. It also confuses Holden because before the incendent, he really respected his teacher. He doesn't know what to think of him because he is not sure that what he thinks happened really did. Therefore, it is up to us, the readers, to decide whether or not, the teacher was out of line.
One of my favorite parts is when Holden explains that he sees himself as a «Catcher in the rye». He imagines that he's garding a rye field on a cliff. He watches out for all the kids playing in the field so they don't fall off the cliff. If the kids when to get too close to trhe edge, he would catch them. Holden wants to protect the kids from becoming adults. He wants to preserve their innocence. Before that, he says: "I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory." Here aswell, Holden wishes to preserve the innocence of others. He wouldn't want anyone to have to witness his dead body. He want sto protect them from this sight.
I think that every teenager and young adult can relate to Holden in some way. He has friends and a family yet, he feels so lonely. He doesn't seem to be able to connect to people in real way because he thinks most people are phoney. He is constantly changing his personnality, depending on who he's talking to. He is closed off but that's not entirely his fault, given that he has a mental illness. The only person he genuinly loves is his little sister, Phoebe. Holden is, by no means, an role model. He drinks, swears, and does drugs throughout the story. At one point, he even hires a prostitute. Thats why, when «The Catcher in the rye» was first published, it was one of the most banned books in America. Schools didn't want their students to behave the way Holden does. By doing all this, I believe he is trying to fill a void. Being under the influence of drugs and alchool takes him away from reality. It helps him forget how alone he thinks he is.
This book's main character is Holden Caulfield. He is rebelious and out of ordinary 16 year-old teenager. The story starts with Holden, narrating what happened to him the year before from a mental hospital. He gets kicked out of his private school a couple of weeks before Christmas and there begins a series of aventures.
Later, in the story, Holden goes to his teacher's house. During the night, Mr. Antolini, the teacher, starts touching Holden, in a way that that makes him uncomfortable. This part is confusing because, in the book, it's not explicitally said that the teacher was molesting him. It also confuses Holden because before the incendent, he really respected his teacher. He doesn't know what to think of him because he is not sure that what he thinks happened really did. Therefore, it is up to us, the readers, to decide whether or not, the teacher was out of line.
One of my favorite parts is when Holden explains that he sees himself as a «Catcher in the rye». He imagines that he's garding a rye field on a cliff. He watches out for all the kids playing in the field so they don't fall off the cliff. If the kids when to get too close to trhe edge, he would catch them. Holden wants to protect the kids from becoming adults. He wants to preserve their innocence. Before that, he says: "I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory." Here aswell, Holden wishes to preserve the innocence of others. He wouldn't want anyone to have to witness his dead body. He want sto protect them from this sight.
I think that every teenager and young adult can relate to Holden in some way. He has friends and a family yet, he feels so lonely. He doesn't seem to be able to connect to people in real way because he thinks most people are phoney. He is constantly changing his personnality, depending on who he's talking to. He is closed off but that's not entirely his fault, given that he has a mental illness. The only person he genuinly loves is his little sister, Phoebe. Holden is, by no means, an role model. He drinks, swears, and does drugs throughout the story. At one point, he even hires a prostitute. Thats why, when «The Catcher in the rye» was first published, it was one of the most banned books in America. Schools didn't want their students to behave the way Holden does. By doing all this, I believe he is trying to fill a void. Being under the influence of drugs and alchool takes him away from reality. It helps him forget how alone he thinks he is.
mercredi 4 mars 2009
Mid-term writing test
1.What is Louis Mallard’s opinion of marriage? Indicate the paragraph that suggests it?
In the 12th paragraph, Louise says that marriage is basically a crime. She thinks that being married means living for someone else and not be free.
2.Explain how Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time?
Despite the fact that Louise felt free, she still feels sad because she did love her husband. She is, however, glad at the same time that he’s gone because now, she can start living for herself.
3.Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?
At the 3rd paragraph, Louise stops crying. She does so because she does not feel sad anymore.
4.How does Louise’s sister and his friend, Richards, feel about the Mallard’s marriage.
They think that their marriage is strong, especially Josephine. She has a hard time telling Louise that her husband’s dead because she thinks that Louise loves him.
The story of an hour by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who learns that her husband was killed. All of the events happen in a matter of an hour. The irony used in this short story and the way marriage is perceived is what makes it so captivating.
Louise Mallard learns that her husband, Brently Mallard was killed in an accident. You would expect her to be sad, completely heart-broken. However, it is not the case. Louise feels this peculiar joy, this freedom emanate from her. She feels that she can finally live for herself. This is particularly ironic. She feels reborn, like she has been given a second chance at happiness when her husband dies. At the 14th paragraph, she says : "Free! Body and soul free!". The death of someone else freed her. Instead of thinking that something was taked from her, she feels like her life was given back to her : « Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own». The irony in this story is strickingly present at the end of the story. Louise dies of happiness and right after, her husband returns, alive. Her joy will be the source of her death.
When Louise goes alone to her room, she feels strange. What she mistook for joy, was actually the beginning of a heart attack : « She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will ». The fact that she tried to fight « joy » means that , for a short moment, she feels guilty of being so happy.
At the beginning of the story, Josephine doesn’t know how to break the news to her sister : « It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.». Josephine probably thought that Louise loved her husband. That means Louise was faking her marriage. She made it seem as though she was happy being married. She felt happy in the end because she was relieved; faking must’ve been exausting.
From Louise’s point of view, marriage is like being emprisoned. She felt trapped. She feels that, alone, she can be completely happy and enjoy the rest of her life.
This short story is very different from what I’ve read before. It’s unsettling to read about a woman who dies of happiness upon learning her husband’s death.
415 words
In the 12th paragraph, Louise says that marriage is basically a crime. She thinks that being married means living for someone else and not be free.
2.Explain how Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time?
Despite the fact that Louise felt free, she still feels sad because she did love her husband. She is, however, glad at the same time that he’s gone because now, she can start living for herself.
3.Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?
At the 3rd paragraph, Louise stops crying. She does so because she does not feel sad anymore.
4.How does Louise’s sister and his friend, Richards, feel about the Mallard’s marriage.
They think that their marriage is strong, especially Josephine. She has a hard time telling Louise that her husband’s dead because she thinks that Louise loves him.
The story of an hour by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman who learns that her husband was killed. All of the events happen in a matter of an hour. The irony used in this short story and the way marriage is perceived is what makes it so captivating.
Louise Mallard learns that her husband, Brently Mallard was killed in an accident. You would expect her to be sad, completely heart-broken. However, it is not the case. Louise feels this peculiar joy, this freedom emanate from her. She feels that she can finally live for herself. This is particularly ironic. She feels reborn, like she has been given a second chance at happiness when her husband dies. At the 14th paragraph, she says : "Free! Body and soul free!". The death of someone else freed her. Instead of thinking that something was taked from her, she feels like her life was given back to her : « Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own». The irony in this story is strickingly present at the end of the story. Louise dies of happiness and right after, her husband returns, alive. Her joy will be the source of her death.
When Louise goes alone to her room, she feels strange. What she mistook for joy, was actually the beginning of a heart attack : « She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will ». The fact that she tried to fight « joy » means that , for a short moment, she feels guilty of being so happy.
At the beginning of the story, Josephine doesn’t know how to break the news to her sister : « It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing.». Josephine probably thought that Louise loved her husband. That means Louise was faking her marriage. She made it seem as though she was happy being married. She felt happy in the end because she was relieved; faking must’ve been exausting.
From Louise’s point of view, marriage is like being emprisoned. She felt trapped. She feels that, alone, she can be completely happy and enjoy the rest of her life.
This short story is very different from what I’ve read before. It’s unsettling to read about a woman who dies of happiness upon learning her husband’s death.
415 words
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