...“The Swimmer” by John Cheever is the tale of a significant period of life’s misadventures depicted over the course of a day. Neddy Merrill, the main character, begins sited at the edge of the Westerhazys’ pool on a summer day when the idea to swim a path of pools all the way through his home comes to him. He swims through the Wasterhazys’s pool and proceeds to jump to the neighbor’s one. During his trajectory through the first array of pools, he is barely noticed until he reaches the Bunkers, who are hosting a party where he greets a herd of guests indicating he is a well-known figure among the upper-middle-class society. Thereafter that event, the story’s setting and surroundings start turning darker in several ways, and Neddy starts to face complications with people’s way of treating him. In the Halloran estate, the Hallorans show sympathy because of the loss of his wife and daughters, an event he does not remember and prefers to ignore the commentaries. In the following pools after visiting the...
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...Lea Shontay Wilks Instructor Lisa Adams Lit 101 Introduction to Literature (33203.201330) 26 April 2014 An Analysis of "The Swimmer" by John Cheever Most stories can have an emotional impact on people, but once in a while certain stories can take the reader to the edge of reality. The Swimmer is a fascinating story with primary use of a setting and amazing characters that engages readers and can move them to experience life in an unfathomable way. Cheever was born May 27, 1912, in Quincy, Massachusetts, to Frederick Lincoln Cheever and Mary Liley Cheever. His father owned a shoe factory until it was lost in the Great Depression of the 1930s. His mother, an English-woman who emigrated with her parents, supported her husband and their two sons with the profits from a gift shop she operated. Cheever writing can be classified in the literary movement known as Realism. The realism movement took place in the 19th century. Based on normal everyday events realism depicts ordinary people dealing with society and its forces on living. Realistic writing is characterized with everyday events, social controversy, and protagonist/antagonist interactions. There is often and ironic undertone to Realism, as is evident in “The Swimmer”. All of the characteristics of the Realism movement mentioned are active in this story. An example of Realism in “The Swimmer” Neddy Merrill, sat by the green water, with one hand in it and the other hand around a glass of gin. He was a slender man who seemed...
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...My Little Bit of Country In the first clause, I will introduce the story “My Little Bit of Country”. The Authors name is Susan Cheever, she was an American writer who was born in 1943, who wrote the essay. She is the daughter of the famous novelist and short story writer John Cheever. The essay is from the selection called “Central Park”, which was released in 2012. The writer has written as a first person narrator through out the text. We met our main character Susan Cheever when she was very young. Her father has just returned home from the WW2. We are told by Susan that her family’s almost commonplace visits to Central Park Zoo and Central Park. Susan’s father started writing and because of the big success he had and the fact that they as parents wanted one more child, the family moved to the one of the suburbs of New York City. Susan was not very enamored of it, she loved to be in the enormous city, to skate on the ice rink and to visit the yak in Central Park Zoo. After they had moved, she eventually moved back the New York City and became an adult who raised her own kids, in the way that she wanted to be raised. In this analysis, we will focus on the writer’s use of contrast. We will also analyze the central- themes, which are explored in the text, and we will in the end put some comments on the title of the essay. In this paragraph, we will comment on the title. “My Little Bit of Country” was the title of the essay. The title was inspired by Andy Warhol, who Susan...
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...kl. 09.00 - 14.00 Mandag den 27. maj 2013 kl. 9.00 – 14.00 ------------------------------------------------- Answer either A or B ------------------------------------------------- A Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you analyse and interpret Bridget Keehan's short story "Sorry for the Loss". Part of your essay must focus on the narrative technique and the use of contrasts. Text Bridget Keehan, "Sorry for the Loss", 2008 ------------------------------------------------- B Write an essay (900-1200 words) in which you analyse and comment on Susan Cheever's essay "My Little Bit of Country". Part of your essay must focus on the use of contrasts and the themes explored in the text. Text Susan Cheever, "My Little Bit of Country", 2012 Teksternes ortografi og tegnsætning følger forlæggene. Trykfejl er dog rettet. Opsætningen følger ikke nødvendigvis forlæggene. Dog følges forlægget nøje, hvor opsætningen på den ene eller anden måde indgår i opgaven. Teksternes ortografi og tegnsætning følger forlæggene. Trykfejl er dog rettet. Opsætningen følger ikke nødvendigvis forlæggene. Dog følges forlægget nøje, hvor opsætningen på den ene eller anden måde indgår i opgaven. A Bridget Keehan is a writer who lives in Cardiff, Wales. The short story is from Eagle in the Maze ‒ An Anthology of Stories from the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2008 Bridget Keehan is a writer who lives in Cardiff, Wales. The short story is from Eagle in the...
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...The Enormous Lie Exposed in The Enormous Radio John Cheever’s "The Enormous Radio" begins with the Westcotts appearing like the perfect "all-American" family. Cheever describes them as "the kind of people who seem to strike that satisfactory average of income, endeavor, and respectability" (Cheever 817). What is ironic about this story is the Westcott's are far from being the "perfect family," and the community they try to conform to is just as flawed as the Westcott's themselves. A way the Westcott's try to conform to their society is by keeping secret the fact that they listen to the radio and attend musical events. This is because these activities were not something members of their community did, much less talked about. The reader knows this because Cheever says the "Westcott's differed from their friends, their classmates, and their neighbors only in an interest in music. They went to a great many concerts although they never mentioned this to anyone" (817). A particular instance that shows the Westcott's aren’t the "perfect family" and the society they try to conform to is just as imperfect, is the fight between the Osborn's. This shows the Westcott's’ community is flawed because Mr. Osborn is overheard being an abusive husband. Irene tells Jim: "Mr. Osborn’s beating his wife! They’ve been quarreling, and now he’s hitting her" (822). This incident also causes the Westcott's to question the "perfection" of their own marriage, and Jim and Irene end up having a disagreement...
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...Essay and e-mail - Reunion A. An essay analyzing the short story This essay is going to be an analysis and interpretation of the short story ‘’Reunion’’ by John Cheever. It will begin with a summary of the short story. Afterwards the plot, the conflict and the setting will be analyzed. Then I’ll move on to the characterization, the possible surprise ending and the theme and message. Finally I will draw parallels between the short story ‘’Reunion’’ and the essay ‘’Living With Strangers’’ by Siri Hustvedt. ‘’Reunion’’ is a short story about a boy called Charlie and his last interaction with his father. Charlie was travelling by train from his grandmother’s to a cottage his mother had rented. He would be in New York for about an hour and thirty minutes while waiting for the new train and therefore he wanted to meet his father. He hadn’t seen his father for three years and Charlie was exited to see the man he looked up to again. Because of the lack of time, they couldn’t go and see the father’s club, so they had to find a restaurant in the area. They went to four restaurants and they get more or less thrown out of all four. The father in this short story was either really drunk or/and very arrogant. In all occasions he talked down to waiters or behaved bad in one way or the other. In spite of his bad behavior they managed to get a ‘’Beefeater Gibson’’ at one place. It all ended with the father going up to a newsstand, again with a bad attitude, which was the final straw for Charlie...
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...Reunion By John Cheever Analytical essay The short story “Reunion” is written by the American novelist and short story writer John Cheever. The short story was published back in 1962, which later was included in “ The stories of John Cheever” in 1978. The short story is about a teenage boy named Charlie. Charlie is about to meet his father for the first time in a couple of years, and he is very excited and happy about the meeting. Charlie has not seen his father since the end of his parents’ relationship. They are going to meet at Grand Central Station in New York. The father and the son go to several restaurants, but the son Charlie ends up leaving him because of his disrespectful way of acting. The place of the story is in New York. It starts at the Grand Central Station, where they meet for the first time after three years. After that, the story moves on to all the different restaurants and bars. The story ends where it started, at the Grand Central Station, where the father and the son say goodbye to each other. The point of view in the story is written in the first person. The narrator tells us about an important moment in his life which happened in the past. The narrator Charlie is a young teenage boy. We do not get to know his exact age, but I think that he probably is about 18 years old. The reason why I think that is because we get to know that he is taking the train alone in New York and also that the waiter does not want to serve him an alcoholic...
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...The Swimmer Poster Board In the first scene, Neddy Merill, wakes up from a saturday night of drinking. Cheever describes Merill’s physical appearance using a juxtaposition. The author claims that Neddy has the “especial slenderness of the youth- while he was far from young” (Cheever 1). Soon after Neddy says he is leaving to swim across the county home. He wants to get back to his four daughters who are at his house, 8 miles away. He then jumps into the Westerhazy’s pool to begin his journey home. In the second scene, Neddy Merill is continuing his journey and ends up swimming through the Graham’s pool. He comes put of a bush to end up in their backyard. Mrs. Graham says to Neddy “What a marvelous surprise” (Cheever 3). This would be considered...
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...way. However, the prevalent expenditure of alcohol throughout the story hones the alteration of time and Neddy’s sagacity of discontent. The ingestion, quota, and yearning for alcohol convert to substantial stimuluses for Neddy as well as a mode to measure his communal standing. Cheever uses a spiritual allegory, in lieu of a world utterly given over to surfeit: “everyone” is referred to as, the parishioners leaving church, the priest himself, the leader of the Audubon group, are all afflicted with superfluous, symbolized...
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...Most of us have a place we prefer to be. A place we feel safer and a place we feel more at home. Some feel they belong to the country while others feel they belong to the city. Others might go to the extreme and move to a different country to feel at home. But what do you do if you are still a child and your parents are taking you away from the place where you belong? This is the problem Susan Cheever dealt with when she was a child and her parents moved from Central Park to the countryside. Susan Cheever is an American writer. She was born in 1943. Her father is a famous novelist and short story writer, John Cheever. Susan Cheever writes her memories in the anthology Central Park which is published in 2012. The first three to four years of her life (p. 7, l. 28) she was raised in the area around Central Park. She loved it. She loved everything about the place and was completely uncomprehending when her parents decided to move to Westchester on the Hudson River (p. 8, l. 23-24). Her parents wanted to get away from their two-bedroom apartment, the noisy traffic and they wanted to get a bigger family and a family car (s. 8, l. 71-76). She did not like it in the suburbs. She wanted to move back to Central Park. When Susan got old enough to be allowed to take the train alone, she travelled to New York as often as she could. “Later in my life I heard Any Warhol say that it was better to live in the city than the country because in the city he could find a little bit of country...
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...All people on planet Earth are different. Some think that the city life is the ideal place to live, others think the suburbs are. The short story “My Little Bit of Country” by Susan Cheever deals with the life of the protagonist, who is Susan herself, from early age to adulthood. The story depicts Cheever’s life in New York City and shows the eternal love she has for the city life, being the exact opposite of her view on the country life. Central to story are the themes growing-up and urban living vs. suburban living. To comment on the short story and on its main points it is obvious that Cheever tries to convince her readers to obtain the same opinion as she has regarding whether to live in the city or in the country. Cheever attempts to accomplish this through a description of the spectacular city and park by using numerous adjectives and metaphors to paint beautiful and romantic pictures for the readers: “… but its incidental beauty has often taken my breath away” (p. 9). Feeling comfortable and happy living in the country or in the city is different from family to family or even from individual to individual. All humans are unique, which makes it impossible for everyone to feel at home in either of the two mentioned places to live. As Cheever mentions in her story she had had her first memories with her dad in the city. These early memories about her trip to the zoo where she was always greeted by her good friend Joe might have been the cause of her close connection and...
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...Reaction Paper-Fiction: Short Story “Misery” by Anton Chekhov Scott Battaglioli University of Phoenix “Misery,” written by Anton Chekhov is a story about a lonely old sledge driver in 19th century Russia. In the story, Iona Potapov has just lost his son a week before. He is drowning in grief, expressed by his sitting still on his sledge and allowing himself to be covered in snow. He is a man who seems to have lost all hope. The only thing that Potapov wants is to discuss the loss of his son with another human being. He longs to connect to someone and try to make sense of the situation. Maybe he just seeks to connect so that he does not feel so alone. In this story Chekhov was trying to illustrate his belief that people have grown accustomed to the suffering of others, and therefore pay little attention to it. Chekhov shows us different characters with different personalities, but all indifferent to Potapov’s plight. The military officer is impatient and rude. He pretends to be deep in thought to avoid the conversation with Potapov. The three young men are self-absorbed and rowdy. They take advantage of Potapov’s grief and pay him an unfair wage. They also so abusive behavior towards him. The young cabby at the yard shows complete indifference to the older man’s suffering by falling asleep while Potapov bears his soul. Potapov’s final chance to get his feelings out comes with his horse. Though she cannot answer, she can listen. I think most people can...
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...The short story “Reunion” is about a boy named Charlie, who hasn’t seen his father for a very long time. He hasn’t seen him due to the reason that his parents divorced eachother exactly three years ago. As a result of that, Charlie makes an appointment with his father, simply to see him again. During this appointment, they visit four different restaurants, where the father’s dissatisfaction and bad mood gets them kicked out every single time. While being in the restaurants, the father’s behaviour towards the employees is very aggressive and arrogant, which eventually results in them getting kicked out. After visiting a ton of restaurants, Charlie remembers that he has a train to catch. Time passes by and he has to leave. But, as he wants to leave, his father kindly offers him to purchase a newspaper – an offer he can’t refuse. While the father is ordering a newspaper, he yet again gets aggressive and angry with the employee working there. Charlie simply hasn’t got time to wait anymore as he’ll miss his train, so in a rush he manages to say goodbye and silently walks away. This was the last time he saw his father. From an environmental point of view, the story takes place at the Grand Central Station in New York City. As Grand Central Station is a train station, it is logical that both Charlie and his father go by train to meet up. In the story, we hear how Charlie schedules time to see his father while he waits for his next train. Therefore it seems like Charlie is used to...
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...In most literary works, journey is commonly conceived as a way of escaping from the harsh reality. However, in the Swimmer, Neddy Merrill’s journey in the swimming pool leads him to back to the reality by resembling the process of his life. If readers continue to neglect this distinctive characteristic of Neddy’s voyage, they will not be able to comprehend the transitions of mood made in the story. Therefore, this short paper aims to illustrate how the protagonist’s journey of swimming holds metaphor for his own life and leads him to encounter the tough reality. At a first glance, the voyage of the protagonist seems to be pleasant and cheerful. The reading mentions that Neddy himself was “pleased with everything” and the day was beautiful...
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...7t hA ve Eastern ParkwayBrooklyn Museum 2 3 Brooklyn Museum START Franklin Ave (Subway) East 2 3 4 5 ern P kwy S . ve hA us tb Fla V Brooklyn Botanic Garden PARK SLOPE 7th Ave F 9 th (Subway) St . Pr os pe ct Pa rk W es t 2 6 5 Prospect Park Botanic Garden (Subway) e. gton Av Washin 1 HALF-MARATHON May 19, 2012 7:00 a.m. BROOKLYN 15 St./Prospect Park F (Subway) Pros p Pr os pe ct Ex pr es sw ay 15 th St . Q S Prospect Park (Subway) ve. Ocean A ec tP ar kS o. 3 7 4 ide rks Pa Ave. 1 Mile Markers Race Route Water Stations Ft. Hamilton Pkwy (Subway) F . y kw nP ilto am rt H Fo ve. nA ato C ve. nd A y Isla Cone FLATBUSH Church Ave (Subway) Q Gatorade® F ve. hA urc Ch Q Beverly Rd (Subway) Toilets Medical Aid Stations Baggage Volunteer Check-in Kids Activities Festival Church Ave (Subway) Q Cortelyou Rd 8 y Parkwa Ocean (Subway) Ditmas Ave (Subway) F BOROUGH PARK th 18th Ave 18 (Subway) F e. Av . ve kA kir w Ne Q Newkirk Ave (Subway) Q Avenue H V K (Subway) MIDWOOD 9 J Avenue Q Avenue J (Subway) Bay Parkway (Subway) F y Parkwa Ocean Q Avenue M (Subway) As of April 17, 2012. For updates please check nyrr.org. To confirm transit information, mta.info. Avenue N (Subway) F 10 Avenue P enue P (Subway) F Av gs Kin y. Hw Q Kings Hwy (Subway) Kings Hwy (Subway) F S Avenue y Parkwa Ocean BENSONHURST Avenue...
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