"To my surprise this brought from her the story about the cornfield which she had evidently quite forgotten telling me, twice before." (Fisher). 9. Something that i found interesting about this was how Minnie had, every time, forgotten about already have told this story to her niece. She told the story a total of three times, and yet every time she told it, she was, according to her, telling it for the first time. I believe this is supposed to help emphasize Fisher's point about how memory deteriorates and changes as we get older. Minnie doesn't seem to remember telling the narrator the story the first two times, perhaps due to the fact that it has slipped her mind. Also, each time she tells the story it changes drastically from the last time she told it. This could be due to the fact that she is coming to terms with how it actually occurred, or she is telling the story at different times to get different points across. An alternative explanation to the changes in the telling of the story would support why Minnie keeps forgetting that she already told the narrator the story. The fact that her mind is deteriorating. She could be changing the story because she is constantly, as time progresses, losing pieces of the truth of the story. This would all tie to Fisher's point that memory of certain events fade, and change as you grow older and start to forget the whole truth.
"'He bored me to death but he was so sincere and genuine I couldn't be rude to him. He was just good country people, you know,' she said, '- Just the salt of the earth.'" (O'Connor). 6. This is ironic because Manly turns out to be the exact opposite of "good country people". He turns out to be a very bad and twisted man, in fact. He enjoys tricking people, and conning them out of certain possessions. O'Connor has Mrs. Hopewell see him as a good person to prove her point about deception and reality. She is proving that how certain things, or people, appear at face value, isn't exactly how they are. She is expressing that you should really get to know someone, how they are inside, not outside, before you fully trust or judge them. O'Connor has Mrs. Hopewell see Mr. Pointer as a good country person, but in reality he symbolizes the devil in the story. He tricks Joy into giving him her leg, symbolizing her soul, and he gets away with it. She uses this irony to help express this character as a deceitful individual. She wants the reader to see that you should always know exactly who someone is, not just how they look, before you trust them.
"' And keep your eye out, Mrs. Peters, for anything that might be of use. No telling; you women might come upon a clue to the motive-- and that's the thing we need.' Mr. Hale rubbed his face after the fashion of a showman getting ready for a pleasantry. 'But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?'" (Glaspell). 5. The male characters in this scene feel like the women would be unable to pick out a clue, even if they were to find one. They are very open about this general negative connotation towards the women in this scene. Showed by county attorney saying " No telling; you women might come upon a clue..." He is expressing how he, nor Mr. Hale believe that the women would even be capable of finding a clue. This negative aspect of the women is also shown by Mr. Hale saying, "But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?" Here he is stating that even if they did find a clue they would be too stupid to realize that it was a clue. This is all very important because it helps express Glaspell's main theme that you should never underestimate women. The men in this story don't think the women are going to be able to find anything at all that would tie Minnie to the murder of her husband. They figure they are going to easily find some proof, while the women sit downstairs and do something trivial and silly. Glaspell proves her point that women shouldn't be underestimated by having the women find all the clues to the murder, and hiding them from the men. While the men have nothing to show for their search.
"There was the doughty doughnut, the tender oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes." (Irving). 1. This imagery reveals just how much food the Van Tassel's had at their party, and just how extravagant it was. This is crucial because it ties directly to one of Irving's themes. The theme of the abundance of wealth and resources that the U.S. had. Irving wrote Sleepy Hollow to show how great America was, and one of the ways he went about doing this was expresses the amount of extra resources and wealth we had in Sleepy Hollow. He expresses how fancy and expansive the Van Tassel's manor was, and he goes into great detail to describe how extravagant the food looked. This is to show that the Van Tassel's, a wealthy American family, had extreme wealth, and resources. His point was that in America this can be attained by anyone if they work hard enough at it in America. He uses detailed and lengthy descriptions of the land and the food to show the readers just how nice it all truly was. This is why Irving is regarded as the first "American" writer. Through his expansive detail and use of imagery he showed how great the U.S.A. was and that anything in this country is attainable.
"called the child's attention to certain sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar." "' My! What a rain! It's good two years sence it rain' like that '" (Chopin). 2. This setting gives the premise for the overall point of the story. This massive storm sets up the confrontation between Calixta and Alcee. It allows for Bobinot to be away from home so Alcee can meet Calixta at her house in order to have sex. This is important because it symbolizes their desire for this act of adultery. With the storm raging Calixta lets Alcee into her home knowing that Bobinot is going to be late getting home. She is aware that Alcee, and herself, still have feelings for each other, and she knows what letting him in could lead to. But with the storm raging she felt it was the proper thing to do, and gave her an excuse to let him into her home. They end up having sex for the first time during the storm. Chopin describes this interaction as sensual and emotional. After the storm ends Alcee goes back to his life, and Bobinot comes home, and Calixta goes back to her life. Everything returns to normal, yet the bond that Alcee and Calixta had shared is still there. The storm allowed Calixta and Alcee to act upon their fantasies that under other circumstances would have been impossible. This proves that the storm is a crucial setting for the story to take place, and the point to be expressed.
"Soon after the people began coming in streams. The band struck up; the hired waiters ran from the house to the marquee. Wherever you looked there were couples strolling, bending to the flowers, greeting, moving on over the lawn. They were like bright birds that had alighted in the Sheridan's garden for this one afternoon, on their way to-where?"(Mansfield). 7. the detail in this scene is important because it shows the rich people in this time enjoy their elegant party, only worrying about themselves. This scene shows the people arriving at the Sheridan's party and enjoying their frivolities that only the rich at that time had. this is significant because it adds to Mansfield's overall point about how the rich class in this time period felt they were higher than everyone else. these people were enjoying their party while down the short hill from their house a poor carter man had just died. These people were not enjoying themselves at a fun garden party. These people were grieving for the life that they just lost, and how they are going to cope now that he is gone. The Sheridan's knew about this fact and, yet, they still go on with their party, and ignore this, insignificant fact. While the rich are enjoying their niceties, the poor people down the hill are grieving for their lost love one. This comparison of actions between the two classes in this story help express the author's main theme. The theme that the rich thinking they were better than everyone else in this time period, and they got to enjoy everything that was best in life.
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