... American short story. In my analysis, through comparing the two stories I want to look at the different functions legends play in the creation of the narrative. First of all, we should consider the narrative tone of the two stories in order to create a reader's perspective on the text and thus become able to trace their respective messages. Whereas the Canadian story is written in a rather grave ... and matter-of-factly tone, Irving's story abounds with irony and satire and there ... which, by the way, he most firmly and potently believed". Ichabod fails in his matrimony designs only du...

• Word Count: 2890
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... World's Fair. In life, fate can be very unpredictable and sometimes ironic. In Kate Chopin's short story, The Story of an Hour, many ironic elements are used to help the reader understand the fate of the main character, Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard is a woman who at first shows difficulty in taking the news ... joy, and in the end, it was "...joy that kills,"" (Chopin 263). Mrs. Mallard looked forward to all the years of life she had alone to come and, "opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome,"" (Chopin 262). This is ironic because in the short hour that she had left, there ... h...

• Word Count: 4614
• Approx Pages: 18
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... that there is no single precise and universally applicable definition of stories of initiation in literary theory. This is mainly due to the fact that many theorists (as well as fiction authors) made statements about the character of the initiation-story only as a kind of by-product while analyzing specific examples of the genre. There are some attempts to build a concise theory, though, on which the following chapter ... focuses on different aspects of the passage from childhood or adolescence to adulthood than the anthropologic term denoting mainly rituals of primitive societies. In g...

• Word Count: 5305
• Approx Pages: 21
• Grade Level: High School

... is an abashed man who searches and collects things, and who is isolated from everyone who is close to him. This passage also provides emotional endearment for the readers, since it illustrates Patrick's compassion and perception. It reveals Patrick's true character. In the beginning of the story, it does not mention how he felt about the society he is living in. It talks ... . As the story progresses, his true character divulges and the readers learn more about him. This causes the passage to be one of the most important ones in the story, since it informs the readers of Patrick's inner ...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... story we psychoanalyzed what he said and what he avoided to talk about. Actually through these silences of the text, the most important points about character and the Author himself will be discovered. However, it seems that at least we can come to terms with Allan Poe's and Freud's claims that truly "The Aim of all Life is Death". For further research, The Picture ... of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, À rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans and ... "William Wilson" (Short Story) and 'To My Mother ... ...

• Word Count: 3098
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... he did respect their beliefs, but thought they handled them inappropriately. "Even the very intensity of their faith, so admirable in a way, made them, he thought, liable to bigotry" (Waggoner 15). In most of his novels and stories, there is a strong display of the Puritan society's reaction to a certain primary character's struggle. Hypocrisy being a major element, Hawthorne also used guilt, confession, and sin as smaller ... Black Veil." In the novel, Hester Prynne has guilt, but no inner guilt that she is hiding from anyone. Everyone knows she has sinned, and it is all out in the open...

• Word Count: 3188
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... his teacher's cruel remarks. That was just his attitude. Paul was in another world, above all these irrelevant judgments. The words of his teachers could not harm Paul, he was simply out of their reach. This sort of belief held by Paul leaves him to judge himself. No amount of discipline could ever change his set ways unless Paul did so on his own. He is ... the way Paul substitutes art and music with relationships or education in "Paul's Case," exposes the true character of Paul. In the introduction of the story Paul is at an interrogation in front of his teachers to defend his offensi...

• Word Count: 2556
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Hundred Grandmothers is an interesting display of his sense of humor. This story is the title story of a collection of short stories. Ceran Swincegood, the main character in the title story, is a member of an expedition to an inhabited asteroid. This race of beings is known as the Proavitoi. The main character, Swincegood, is obsessed with the eternal question, "How did it all begin?" He meets what he believes ... to be one of the Proavitoi women, Nokoma. She begins to tell him stories of how ... secret behind the human race, but the quest begins to change him. He starts to become viol...

• Word Count: 2850
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... assumption is incorrect. What makes Strazinsky a very interesting character, is the fact that he throughout the story remains an enigma to all. After the journey to the funeral, none is more confused than Caine. The inner machinations of this individual are carefully guarded from all unwanted trespassers -much like it is the case with Caine's character. So, while the two are separated by several obvious ... differences, they also share certain similarities. The ride to the funeral, and the funeral ... assumption is incorrect. What makes Strazinsky a very interesting character, is the fac...

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

... , Freedom's Story, TeacherServe). With O'Connor living in the South it becomes evident why her writing was influenced this way. O'Connor has a number of characters with racist traits but there were three that stuck out to me. "The Geranium" reveals a character named Old Dudley. He is an interesting character, and from the first page we get the sense that he's quite arrogant, full ... a short story called "The Barber." Rayber is the main character in this story as he confronts the political detachment of the local election that is taking place. Just as Old Dudley struggled to deal with ra...

• Word Count: 2519
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... is exposed to the reader. In many of Poe's works, setting is used to render a dark and gloomy picture in the reader's mind. It is these images that help to set the stage for those twisted conflicts, which Poe so effectively portrays. Poe also writes introspectively, which lets the reader glimpse into the mind of the narrator or the main character of the story, exposing to us his ... fears, his hate, and his perversion. Many of the characters in Poe's stories seem to be insane. The narrator often seems to have some type of psychological problems. For example, in Poe's "The Cask of Amonti...

• Word Count: 4324
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... reader would expect that a second- generation youth would be more liberal than an old world character. Ali seems to take on the role of an old world character as he continually assimilates himself with his religion and culture, our people are oppressed' and my people have taken enough'. This is a contrast to his father who has given up following the Koran and ordered his wife ... , was continually searching for an alternative to just living to make money' This is in direct contrast to The Rocking Horse Winner', where Paul rides himself to death on a quest to make money and buy happiness....

• Word Count: 2806
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... open-minded and honest man. He becomes aware that his presence probably makes the narrator uncomfortable, and he recognizes how he and the narrator's wife have been leading the discussion all evening and seems genuinely committed to making a human connection with the narrator (James Esch, 2008). He is a caring, easygoing man who sets even the narrator at ease. He inspires the narrator ... open-minded and understand life better than narrator (Allan SImes, 2008). Themes Prejudice and Ignorance In this short story, Carver uses the main character's skeptical tone and first person point of ...

• Word Count: 3978
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the same time engage its immense vitality and diversity. There is, in fact, an admirable balance in Mistry's Bombay, which brings us back to my earlier proposition: that Mistry's writing in its development of the time-honored fictional ingredients-setting, character, style, and plot-seeks and maintains a delicate balance. And that balance leads into subtle thematic implications. Tales from Firozsha Baag. The middle ... and shrines, and temples and shrines become dust and ruin, does it matter where?" (338). Where and why serve as the motifs of Such a Long Journey, a novel about how publi...

• Word Count: 4673
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the same time engage its immense vitality and diversity. There is, in fact, an admirable balance in Mistry's Bombay, which brings us back to my earlier proposition: that Mistry's writing in its development of the time-honored fictional ingredients-setting, character, style, and plot-seeks and maintains a delicate balance. And that balance leads into subtle thematic implications. Tales from Firozsha Baag. The middle ... and shrines, and temples and shrines become dust and ruin, does it matter where?" (338). Where and why serve as the motifs of Such a Long Journey, a novel about how publi...

• Word Count: 4675
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... time the blind man and the narrator are drawing the cathedral. At this time, the narrator feels obligated to use what powers of sight he does have to convey to the blind man what he has missed all his life. When the blind man asks the narrator to close his eyes and the narrator obeys, he realizes for the first time what it might be like ... . Although the narrator speaks conversationally to the reader, his monologue clearly is constructed through both inclusion and exclusion of details. For example, the narrator tells the reader about his wife's past; through his inclusion of certain det...

• Word Count: 11148
• Approx Pages: 45
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... himself from them, to stand aside and tell their story. He exposes them with all their weaknesses yet he tries to build them up as heroes. He tries to justify their beauty in spite of their "damnation." But they are never as "beautiful" as he tries to make them. This is a failure of the novel. Racism is introduced in this novel with the character of Joseph Bloeckman. When the ... reader is asked to admire the novel's rich people ... , the upper class aristocrats, he/she is also asked to admire their racist views. There is no need to go through every nasty remark made about Italians, gar...

• Word Count: 2828
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School