...Have you ever read the short story titled ‘There’s a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella’ (by Fernando Sorrentino) ? http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TherMan.shtml What do you think of the story? As I read this short story in the beginning, the gist of what I have captured the narrator writing is whether the man with a strange habit does really exist or not. Or, if he did exist who was the man that was hitting the narrator in the story on the head without stopping. It sticks in my mind wondering who the strange man was to the narrator. Somehow, despite the agony of trying to understand the motive underlies the story; I was at first wondering what was the strange man had gone through actually and somehow I could feel the strange man’s plight humorous. Was it a medical condition that was driving him crazy? It’s rather hard for me to really understand the whole point of the story until it came to the end and after repeating reading it a number of times. Based on the description the narrator described about the man in the story, I assumed that the man is an old man and came from rather an average community. This story has kind of deep meaning. There’s no such thing one real man can be with us all the time without eating, doing nothing except hitting people with an umbrella for the past 5 years uncontrollably no matter how the narrator tried to get rid of that man. From what I could see the narrator is trying to convey messages...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...Happy: Melanie feels happy when she's with someone that she likes. Throughout the story Melanie becomes less guarded, she becomes friends with Habaek and is really happy when she is with him. Melanie is also happy when she is doing something she likes like reading a book or going horse riding. When Melanie is happy and smiling you would never know that she is an assassin, people would think that she is like any other pretty girl who is enjoying life and who doesn't have any hardships to face. Sad: Melanie has a very tough life, she knows the emotion sad and betrayal a lot. She is so used to sadness that she doesn't feel sad as much as most people would anymore and doesn't show it either. She fights down the sadness and is a strong and tough...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
...Bailey Belser Professor Ippolito English 112-11F February 3, 2014 In the Eyes of the Other Person Authors will often choose to use elements to help give the audience a better understanding of the message in their story. Elements are what make up the story in its entirety and help the reader create an image in their mind. A great example of a short story that includes such elements is William Carlos Williams’ “The Use of Force.” In this story, elements such as theme, background, symbolism, and image are utilized in a way to communicate the idea that there are two sides to every situation. In this short story, there appears to be an overall theme. William Carlos Williams seems to want to make the audience understand that there are usually two sides to every situation—in this case, for a little girl, a doctor’s visit is frightening and for a doctor, it is just another job. Williams demonstrated just how scared the little girl was throughout the story in many ways. In one instance, the mother reassured the little girl to not be afraid and that the doctor would not hurt her (Williams 80). In another instance, Williams writes, “As I moved my chair a little nearer suddenly with one catlike movement both her hands clawed instinctively for my eyes and she almost reached them too” (81). Williams uses the girl’s actions to further convey his message that she was frightened. It is easy to assume that a grown man having to deal with this would get frustrated. Williams chose to demonstrate...
Words: 1224 - Pages: 5
... Reading a story, a poem, or a play introduces you to an imaginary world (Clugston, W.R. (2010). When reading literature we must enter the imaginary world; enter the world the author is creating. The story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty in 1941 and the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost in 1916 both use the theme of journey to symbolize life decisions. One speaks of a “Path” the other a “Road” the theme that each of these writings share is presented differently throughout the piece of literature. These two pieces of literature symbolize a journey, through using content, form, style, symbolism and imagination, although used differently in many ways they both are symbolizing a journey through life. The theme in a story is a representation of the idea behind the story (Clugston, W.R.(2010). In the pieces of literature I have chosen, the theme is speaking of journeys, one journey for love and the other life, but both having to make life decisions. The authors took different approaches in showing the reader the journey, the life decisions that had to be made. Both works have characters making a journey. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, the narrator has been traveling and has reached a point where the road divides. The narrator is a traveler. Likewise, in the short story “A Worn Path”, the main character is on a trip to town. She is travelling from home through the pines up the hill and down the valley. In both the poem and the short story, the characters are...
Words: 2134 - Pages: 9
...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
Words: 98420 - Pages: 394
...AC English 9 Unit Exam Study Guide Doehrmann First Nine Weeks Your unit exam will cover four short stories that can be found in your textbook. Specifically, by Thursday, you should have already read: “The Lady or the Tiger” “The Most Dangerous Game” “The Leap” “The Interlopers” “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” “The Garden of Stubborn Cats” What will you need to know? Portions of the exam will assess reading comprehension. Be sure you thoroughly understand all of the stages of plot development for each story (TPPS, Rising Action, Climax, Resolution) Literary elements and reading strategies: Static and Dynamic characters, Suspense, Flashback, Dialect, Irony *3, Antagonist, Protagonist, Internal Conflict, External Conflict *3, Diction, TPPS = Exposition, Fiction, Imagery, Rising Action, Climax, Resolution, Science Fiction Vocabulary words as provided by the instructor How will your test be formatted? You can expect to see any combination of matching, true-false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. In addition, you should expect at least one essay question. Usually, I provide multiple essay options so you can choose one that best fits your writing talents. You will not take the same exam as your peers from the other AC English 9 class. A blind draw will be conducted to determine the order of exams. How can I prepare efficiently and effectively for this exam? 1 - Budget your time and activities between now and this...
Words: 384 - Pages: 2
... English and Literature Short Story Review - "There's Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella" by Fernando Sorrentino In: English and Literature Short Story Review - "There's Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella" by Fernando Sorrentino Have you ever read the short story titled ‘There’s a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella’ (by Fernando Sorrentino) ? http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TherMan.shtml What do you think of the story? As I read this short story in the beginning, the gist of what I have captured the narrator writing is whether the man with a strange habit does really exist or not. Or, if he did exist who was the man that was hitting the narrator in the story on the head without stopping. It sticks in my mind wondering who the strange man was to the narrator. Somehow, despite the agony of trying to understand the motive underlies the story; I was at first wondering what was the strange man had gone through actually and somehow I could feel the strange man’s plight humorous. Was it a medical condition that was driving him crazy? It’s rather hard for me to really understand the whole point of the story until it came to the end and after repeating reading it a number of times. Based on the description the narrator described about the man in the story, I assumed that the man is an old man and came from rather an average community. This story has kind of deep meaning....
Words: 435 - Pages: 2
...again conquered by another foreign country, Japan. Philippine literature in English came to a halt. Except for the TRIBUNE and the PHILIPPINE REVIEW, almost all newspapers in English were stopped by the Japanese. This had an advantageous effect on Filipino Literature, which experienced renewed attention because writers in English turned to writing in Filipino. Juan Laya, who uses to write in English, turned to Filipino because of the strict prohibitions of the Japanese regarding any writing in English. The weekly LIWAYWAY was placed under strict surveillance until it was managed by Japanese named Ishiwara. In other words, Filipino literature was given a break during this period. Many wrote plays, poems, short stories, etc. Topics and themes were often about life in the provinces. A. FILIPINO POETRY DURING THIS PERIOD The common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation was nationalism, country, love, and life in the barrios, faith, religion and the arts. Three types of poems emerged during this period. They were: 1. Haiku –a poem of free verse that the Japanese like. It was made up of 17 syllables divided into three lines. The first line had 5 syllables, the second, 7 syllables, and the third, five. The Haiku is allegorical in meaning, is short and covers a wide scope in meaning. 2. Tanaga –like the Haiku, is short but it had measure and rhyme. Each line had 17 syllables and it’s also allegorical in meaning. 3. Karaniwang Anyo (Usual Form) –like those...
Words: 742 - Pages: 3
...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
Words: 98420 - Pages: 394
...decision? A decision where you much choose one option or the other? The short story Hills Like White Elephants depict a situation in which many, if not all readers can relate to at one point in their lives. The author Ernest Hemingway describes this scenario with a young couple who are at a crossroads in their life, and they are unsure of the future. The young couple are forced, but shying away from the rather large “white elephant in the room”, deciding to go through with having a child or an abortion. The theme in Hills Like White Elephants is expressed using typical thematic literary elements. Hemingway uses elements such as character, setting, conflict, and irony all to express the short story theme and symbolism. All of these elements help to develop the theme of decision making and sacrifice. The reader gets very little background on the relationship of the young couple but at the same time receives insight into the norms of the relationship between the “American man” and Jig the “girl” who is pregnant. Jig is represented as a young dependent girl, in article Tim O’brian writes, “Even the nickname "Jig" develops this central conflict. The name suggests a dance, the music for the dance, and a joke, for instance, and thereby exposes the man's ultimately condescending attitude toward her: she is entertainment, material for an interlude, perhaps. “Hemingway uses the character as an element to his short story as well. He uses the characters to depict different stages of life,...
Words: 1701 - Pages: 7
...Debra Bronstein English 1B Short Story Essay Prompt Essay Due: Monday 10/15 at the beginning of class (100 points) Please write a 4-5 page essay. All papers should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), with one-inch margins. All papers must analyze how the rhetorical/formal/symbolic/narrative elements of the short story contribute to your understanding of the text. Please review these terms from your literary terms quiz and your class notes to remind yourself how authors deploy them in the stories. Please choose one of the following topics. Note: I ask a lot of questions within each of the topics because I want to give you many options to consider; however, this does not mean that you have to answer all the sub-questions. Use them as guides to jumpstart your thinking. 1. Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Jewett’s “A White Heron,” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” track a particular symbol throughout the short story. Focusing on one of these stories, show how the author uses the development of the symbol in order to reflect the demise or spiritual growth of the main characters. Hint: for “The Things They Carried, you can focus on the word carry rather than on a specific individual symbol. 2. Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both narrated by unreliable narrators who go crazy. Focusing on one of these stories, how does the author portray insanity...
Words: 879 - Pages: 4
...doubt. It was divided, among all, between the pursuit of the artistic ideal and the continual lure of easy success. He became a victim of the myth of success and money instead of the perpetrator. Nevertheless, Fitzgerald’s incredible prose style and beautiful talent shined through his tragic, disillusioned life and he was able to successful create a beautiful world for his readers to escape to. In the early 1920’s, Fitzgerald was accepted as a symbol of youthful sophistication. He became intensely aware of the strangeness and mystery behind the rich at a young age, and tried so hard to echo their actions through sheen curiosity and characterization. It was then that he established a rich and enduring symbolic value throughout his stories and was led into a dazzling world full of limitless opportunities. Fitzgerald also developed an unusually sharp eye for a character and a scene, an excellent ear for dialogue, and an uncommonly acute sense of time and place. The Last Tycoon shows how true and delicate Fitzgerald’s feelings for a scene, a character, a situation, and a moment really were. In the scene when Stahr,...
Words: 1489 - Pages: 6
...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
Words: 98420 - Pages: 394
...Theme and Narrative Elements of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty Josetta James ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Instructor: Angela di Gualco 01/10/2014 Theme and Narrative Elements of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” The theme is one of the most involved elements of a short story. The themes job is to give the readers the over-all idea that is fabricated behind a story. A short story is marked as portraying broad ideas and elements into small pieces. In short, the theme in a story reflects or serves as the presentation of its ideas. (Clugston, 2010) The objective of this essay is to reveal the ways in which the literary elements tone and character contribute to the larger narrative theme by analyzing the short story by James Thurber titled The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. James Thurber created the character of Walter Mitty whose life seems so ordinary and boring. Walter Mittys imagination (daydreams) helps him to escape his dull life. His imagination places him in heroic situations such as a commander in the Navy steering his crew though bad weather in an 8-engine Navy hydroplane, or thinks he's a famous surgeon who is asked to help a rich Englishman, who is a friend of President Roosevelt. James Thurber set the tone for Character Walter Mitty by his actions of day dreaming, escaping reality Tone is more than merely an author’s attitude toward his/her audience and characters; it is the stylistic means by which an author conveys his/her Attitudes in a work of literature...
Words: 739 - Pages: 3
...Betha, Dean. "Phoenix Has No Coat: Historicity, Eschatology, and Sins of Omission in Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path'." The International Fiction Review 28, nos. 1 and 2 (2001): 32–41. Quoted as "Phoenix Has No Coat: Historicity, Eschatology, and Sins of Omission in Eudora Welty's 'A Worn Path'" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Eudora Welty, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 30 Oct. 2015. Betha offers a critical view of the short story “A Worn Path”, she provides a description of Phoenix Jackson, who is the main character of the short story. She provides a list of difficulties that Phoenix Jackson encounters while doing her journey. Betha describes Phoenix as a woman that has not coat. She gives the interpretations that she has about this story, and along with other critics she describes the historical importance of Phoenix Jackson in the short story “A Worn Path”. She mentions perseverance in the way she describes the attitude Phoenix has towards the difficulties she encounters in her path. Additionally, she mentions other difficulties that Phoenix encounters during her life: Racism, poverty, slavery and many others. These stones that she found during her path were obstacles that gave her...
Words: 1364 - Pages: 6
