Identities

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Identities, Connor Harrison

Point of View: Third Person

Protagonist: What type of character is the Protagonist? Dynamic, Round

Antagonist: The antagonist was really the neighborhood in which the narrator was describing, and where the man was driving his car.

Describe the setting The setting is a very big part in what the third person views the neighborhood as. It starts of nice and peaceful, quiet, and soothing, but then, as the story says, “A certain untidiness creeps in…” and he starts entering the more rough side of town.

Type of Conflict: Man Vs. Society.

Describe the main conflict: As the man travels around town, the suspense keeps growing from what the narrator describes to the reader. You can feel that he is uncomfortable being around the area, yet he continues to press on.

Describe the Climax of the Story: I think the Climax really is at the end of the story. The suspense kept rising through the whole story, and really was building up to the end, when he was shot.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist becomes more aware of the area, and starts to feel a little anxious of where he is. He regrets, like in the story says, “He has left no message for his wife.” This can show he is very concerned about what he has gotten himself into.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The title, identities, means something in the story that defines something or someone. Examples of this, “Eagles, tigers, wolves, and serpents ride their backs.” By just reading this, you can tell that these men seemed up to no good. That they were roaming the streets suspiciously. Because these men are part of the antagonist in the story, they played a part in what the theme was. The title also helped us foreshadow what happened at the conclusion of the story. The theme could be people misjudging each other of there identities, and consequences were viewed in the moment near the end.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main theme of this story is like the illustration the author is putting in of the neighborhood. It starts to change as the story progresses, and the picture becomes clearer of what is about to happen. The Conflict, man vs. society, is what helped illustrate the theme. It was what the reader really focused on through the whole story.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax is really the turning point of the story. When the climax hit, it really helped sum up the story at the end, or, tie off the loose ends. The climax helped illustrate the theme cause it was the big part of the theme.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile: "the grubby children who dart back and forth like startled fish...",

Metaphor: “Eagles, tigers, wolves, and serpents ride their backs.” Is also a good metaphor. It means something else than what the narrator explained it as.

Personification: "Darkness has quietly been settling, like soot."

Symbol: When the narrator said, “Eagles, tigers, wolves, and serpents ride their backs.” You can interpret this differently. The narrator means the patches or pictures the men have engraved in their leather jackets. This, again, intimidates the character in the story. Another thing is the houses, all the same, all alike in every way. This also intimidates the character.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): When the man in the car continued to explore, the suspense kept building inside of him, as he progressed through the town. When the third person put this into words for the reader, it helped the reader predict what was about to come. As I said earlier, the title also helped foreshadow the future events of the story.

Irony: The title, “Identities” is also the last thing that comes into play at the end of the story, or the climax. “he reaches his hand not in the air as he was ordered to, but toward his wallet for identity.”

Imagery: “Always there are salmon tins glinting with silver”, “The Houses have all faced toward the sun”, “The Blue glow of television sets light the windows.”, “There have been no tress or drifting leaves, no stands covered In produce,”

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The story was like a day in the life of an ordinary man, who seemed drawn to explore the surrounding area, but only to end up being shot by an officer on the street. The theme was of curiosity, cause the man continued to explore the neighborhood with no designated destination. He just kept going.

Complete 5/5

Effort 4.5/5

Content 4.5/5

Paragraph 4.5/5

total 18.5/20