... the only character to show human emotion all through the story. One begins to understand her, like her, and even have compassion for her. Joy's imperfections are what make her human, and not everyone is who they project themselves to be. Her inadequacies vary from external to internal including, ... physical ailments, immaturity and naiveté. First and foremost, Joy is forced to overcome a great obstacle at a very young age. The loss of her leg in a hunting accident must have been very traumatic for ... the Ph.D. in Philosophy and this left Mrs. Hopewell at a complete loss- (188). In he...

• Word Count: 1128
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... understand the meaning behind the short story, "A Pair of Tickets", by Amy Tan, a reader must first read her novel, "The Joy Luck Club" and know a little about the author's biography. The short story is taken from the last chapter of the novel "The Joy Luck Club" which contains many elements from Tan's life. Tan did not learn until she was a teenager that she had half sisters ... from her mother's previous marriage. The deaths of her father and brother are reflected in "The Joy Luck Club" in Suyuan Woos loss of her twin daughters and her own death. These and other examples from Amy Tan'...

• Word Count: 423
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... account of the authors struggles. By contrasting the lives of two brothers, who were both afforded the same opportunity, but chose different paths he is able to offer an insightful commentary on the struggle of blacks living in the racial division of Harlem. Baldwin imbues the story with many aspects of his own experiences, such as the discrimination, poverty and the ... that something different is able to appreciate Sonny for what he is, in this case it is a woman. Baldwin grants his would be antagonist the ability to bring his wife joy, after suffering an unimaginable loss, both Sonny...

• Word Count: 2134
• Approx Pages: 9

... characters. Upon reading the short story, it is plain to see the author is indicating there is a deeper meaning underlying than trying to obtain luck. In the dramatic DH Lawrence writing of the Rocking Horse Winner, the deep underlying problems surround a very mentally disturbed boy named Paul. The ... story's success hinges on the author's establishing the psychological problems of a young boy, stemming from the point that the boy must prove he has luck so his mother will love him. In this short story, we meet a 20th century family from England, who lived in style, yet were unhappy ... ...

• Word Count: 613
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... a man "who had time and energy to devote to civic action." He not only is in charge of the lottery, but he also ran the square dances, the teen-age club, and the Halloween program. Nebeker says that "Mr. Summers, who ironically runs the coal business, arrives with the postmaster, Mr. Graves, who carries the three legged stool and the black ... lottery as a normal daily event taking no time to fully appreciate the actions they are about to perform" (Oehlschaeger, 3). The reader assumes that the lottery will bring about someone's great luck. The town all arrives in the square to see who w...

• Word Count: 812
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... whispering- of the "unspoken phrase- began coming from the "rocking-horse- and behind "the smart doll's house."" The mother's obsession with becoming "lucky,"" her interpretation of luck is money, would drive the "unspoken phrase- of "There must be more money, there must be more money,"" to haunt the house forever. As a nave, young boy ... -called dissatisfaction that she possesses. In a conversation between Paul and his mother, Paul learns from his mother that "It's [luck] what causes you to have money."" In hence Paul strives for luck at the horse racing tracks and drives himself to not...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... this short story with signs of how the ending will eventually unfold. It seems the people in the small town consider that a large sum of money is won through sheer luck. Small signs that point toward the somber ending may not be clear to even the sharpest reader until the ending is actually read. Literary devices are strongly used to show ... ritualism in the event. Had the lottery been for money, I'm sure the box would have been glorified with all different colors and designs in order to display the happiness and joy of the day. In "The Lottery, the text shows how superstition has an o...

• Word Count: 1226
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... when in truth a lot of rich families are very depressed and unfulfilled. In D. H. Lawrence's short story, Master Paul rides his rocking horse to find "luck". What Paul finds is that if he rides long enough the name of the winning horse will appear in his head. I think the way that Paul rides ... never happy with what we have. I think that a major mistake in looking for love and happiness through money is that money and luck are short term. You might have money and luck, but money eventually does go away. If you base your happiness on money, and your money runs out you are then left ......

• Word Count: 737
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... the story Charlie's father kept on bringing up his "club." Now the first thing that comes to mind when he says club is the typical party club but then I thought to myself why would a mature man want to go to a party club? I figured that what he meant by club, he meant strip club. The whole point of this long time no see father son ... ...

• Word Count: 1058
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... a very difficult piece of literature for me to understand since I didn't grow up in the african american society. One boy is invited to speak at local men's club where he will deliver his graduation speech. As I go on, I will discuss the nature of the short story and how it affected me. In one way it ... how the male portion of the society reacted to certain forms of entertainment. While their wives were probably at home tending the children, these men at this club were killing all the dignity and respect that the narrator had at that time. The dream that the narrator has at the end of t...

• Word Count: 1491
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... . Her test is to take off her leg and show him where it joins on her body. When he has the leg in his possession he tells joy he isn't what he claims to be. He tells her about his recent "relationships" and how he likes to steal certain body parts from other women. ... When he is finished he runs off with the leg and leaves Joy lonely in the loft. Joy then realizes that he was never interested in her; al he wanted was her prosthetic leg. Mrs. Freeman witnesses the salesmen running off in the ... find his true self. It wasn't until the tattoo of Christ on his back for him to realize his t...

• Word Count: 1461
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... is perfect," (O'Conner, 435) seemed to be really naive. She actually hoped for the best from every circumstance but has a weak heart for those with medical problems like her daughter Joy-Hulga. Mrs. Hopewell is very vulnerable because she doesn't understand her own weaknesses. That is how they both fell for Manly Pointer. He told both ... that he had a heart condition and they sympathized with him, inviting him to dinner and inevitably a picnic For him and Joy-Hulga. I think when Manly told Joy-Hulga that she was very brave because she had a wooden leg he got her attention. Joy-Hulga ha...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... or evil in them. We find this out in this short story. The characters and their names mean a great deal in this short story. Mrs. Hopewell, Joy/Hulga Hopewell, and Manly Pointer all have very significant, symbolic meanings to their names. First of all, Mrs. Hopewell's name is very symbolic of the good ... ways, continue with the way she is acting, and become just like Pointer, or become Joy again, a much nicer, softer and kinder person. The name Joy Hopewell has two very positive words in it: "joy" and "hope". Yet Joy has not had true happiness in her heart or in her life before. She fel...

• Word Count: 1028
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... a story of his grandfather and his adoration for being in what God gave him. His lust for being nude takes him into business as he had opened his own naturalist club, Club Soleil standing for Sunshine in French. The grandmother is then introduced and is portrayed as a cautious, loving and forgiving wife to the grandfather. Signs of cautiousness arise early when the ... , lined skirts, aprons, and even good aprons worn over the everyday aprons" (593). This is what led her to the neglect of her husband's annual July rites ceremony at the club. She had tried everything imaginable to get out...

• Word Count: 653
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... game they play. It's an event that happens once a year to escape the sin of all the townsmen. To place all the sin on one individual who is picked by luck and chance. Whoever draws the unlucky paper surrenders and gets stones thrown at them until they die. This is known to all the townsmen as a way to clean everyone's soul ... her husband choosing the dreadful slip. Instead of staying quite and accepting her fate she spoke aloud. She tried to fight that it was unfair. Due to her outrage the luck of the lottery went in the opposite favor and she was the "lucky" one who chose the wrong sl...

• Word Count: 402
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner" talks about a little boy who grows up believing luck means money. He secretly rides his rocking horse to help him pick the winning horses in racetracks. Paul knew that his mother did not love him, he saw it in ... mother's love. His mother regretted the day she married for love. She hated the very idea of not being rich. She allowed him to misunderstand the meaning of the word "luck". Therefore, Paul strongly believed that to be lucky meant to be rich. Now, all he ever thought about was how to make more money. The boy's riding of the rocking ... h...

• Word Count: 254
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... one of more relaxed and not caring. In the plot his character fights a lot with the mother and especially in front of Paul. These fights consist mostly to do with "luck."" which in the movie and story is perceived as money. The fighting may be used as another answer to why Paul finds the urge to make money for the family ... fits well with the atmosphere of the movie being eerie and disturbing. In the short story it opens as Paul being curious and questionable to the term of "What is luck?- This creates an impression of a young nave boy. The two interpretations have disparity in the beg...

• Word Count: 1399
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... in his house; rides his violently on his magic rocking-horse that predicts the winner to horse races. Paul does this in order to please his mother, who relates money luck to money, and money to class and success. Although Paul=s mother comes off prominently as a antagonist in the story, Paul=s uncle and gardener, Bassett play an equal if not dominating ... ). After Paul dies there does not seem to be much indication that his mother learned anything from her his=s death. She is most definitely a driving force for Paul=s obsession with luck. However in the end it proves to be the men that ...

• Word Count: 557
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Mallard. Upon learning of her husband's death she is immediately overcome by sadness. However, once she is alone she allows herself to experience her feelings of joy at the prospect of being free from "repression." She is no more able to staff off the feeling that was approaching her than trying to stop the ... feelings. Once she had abandoned herself the word "free" had escaped from her lips. She did not deliberately want it but it had come anyway. Unmistakably, a joy over took her. Not that she would not be sad again, but for now she was like a bird let out of the cage. As she was pro...

• Word Count: 563
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Academy and also in Hackensack, New Jersey at the Newman School. Fitzgerald wrote for the Nassau Literary Magazine and the Princeton Tiger and wrote scripts and lyrics for Princeton Triangle Club musicals while going to Princeton(Bruccoli). Fitzgerald wasn't the brightest man. He was on academic probation and wasn't expected to graduate so he went into the army without graduating with ... up in a poor home. Recalling his past, he said: "That was always my experience-a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boy's school; a poor boy in a rich boy's club at Princeton...I have never ...

• Word Count: 1307
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Dystopia of Omelas "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas- is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin. Omelas is a place where joy and leisure reign, where there are few rules, no kings or slaves, and the citizens are safe and happy. All citizens save one; a child imprisoned in a small room in a basement. ... The child has no contact with anyone except for the few who are brought to see or feed the child. The citizens' joy rest entirely on the fact this child suffers. Le Guin uses irony to show a utopian society can not exist. She portrays this through a nave narrator, a child in misery, and the ...

• Word Count: 774
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... walk away, and the ones who know about it continue to live in their perfect world. The characters that look away from this event thrive on joy of denial, and the ones who confront it walk away in search for something a little more perfect. However, it is the town's attitude of ... why the ones are walking away from a perfect city. We anticipate the answer more when we arrive at "Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing." As readers, we lower our heads and widen our eyes. This keeps our gaze fixed on the pages ... knowledge of its existence, ...

• Word Count: 711
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... her from her room where she has secluded herself. Josephine believes that her sister is going to make herself ill worrying all alone. On the contrary, Louise is feeling the joy of freedom for the first time since she has been married to her husband. While in her room, she is not becoming sick as her sister believes, but is in ... was obligated to stay with him. One can see resemblances of this unhappiness in "The Story of an Hour". It says "she had loved him - sometimes". That and the pure joy that we witness after Louise learns of her husbands death demonstrates that this clearly was a...

• Word Count: 1009
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , an outcast despised by colleagues and inmates alike, and who is commonly known as "The Tower Pig" by all the prisoners at the facility. "Pain, joy, worry, are shielded away until the cell doors slam and we"re alone in our solitude. For ten days in the hole, I had nothing to do ... had brought with it pain, which had proved difficult to handle. Living a withdrawn existence is probably not a thing Strazinsky enjoys, and he evidently finds neither joy nor pleasure in his status as a recluse. So, in spite of his willing isolation, it is my guess that the daunting prospect of letting his em...

• Word Count: 2809
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a futile mission to begin with, but in his innocence, Paul does not realize this. At this point in the story, the mother makes her biggest mistake. She tells Paul that luck is what "causes you to have money. If you are lucky, you have money"(320). Paul then begins to believe that by becoming lucky, or making money, he can make ... in the sustained use of symbolism to suggest with bold economy the death-dealing consequences of the substitution of money for love" (1973). If only the mother had realized that luck doesn't equal money, and had chosen not to impose this thought on her child, ...

• Word Count: 878
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School