Identities

Mohand Khouider 9/25/2011 English 9 challenge Block 4

**Short Stories - Literary Devises** **Identities**

Point of View:

Third person limited

Protagonist:

A clean-shaven man who owns a Mercedes and lives in a good neighborhood

What type of character is the Protagonist?

The protagonist is round and dynamic.

Antagonist:

The protagonist is the antagonist. He leads himself to his own demise.

Describe the setting:

 The setting is depicted throughout the story, first conveying the protagonist's rich neighborhood then gradually shifts to the poorer side of town. The story happens during a Saturday in autumn; no specific date is given. At first, the mood is bored and quite reminiscent when the protagonist remembers his childhood, then when he enters the poor neighborhood it becomes grim, tense, suspenseful, and dark. I assume this story takes place in the 80’s or 90’s as the men in the story had “slick hair” while “wearing leather-studded jackets .”

Type of Conflict:

The type of conflict in the story is Man vs. Himself.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Describe the main conflict: The main conflict is the internal struggle the protagonist goes through battling his prejudices, boredom and stereotypes. Feeling as but a drone in the corporate landscape, as evidenced by he has “a boredom with the sameness – no ragged edges, no overgrown vacant lots.” This quote has an alternate meaning; it describes how the protagonist feels; as a simpleton like so many others. This leads him to try to escape his life, and this identity he so detests; and leads to his inevitable downfall. Thinking his life is so monotone and boring, he decided to go to a poor neighbourhood where everyday is a new thrill and you never know what might happen next; everyday is a struggle for survival. When he realizes this, he decides he wants out; he is not fit for living in this neighbourhood, and when he sees a police officer, who symbolizes safety, he leaps at his former, monotone life, and his identity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describe the Climax of the Story:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The climax of the story happened just before the end when the protagonist gets out of his car, even though he is nervous about the gang he had seen standing outside the corner store. By this point the protagonist is extremely nervous and afraid, and when he sees a police officer the man thinks he is safe and is relieved. He relaxes and judges he is safe and disobeys the policeman’s order to raise his hands. Said trigger-happy police officer then felt obliged to shoot, and it is implied that the protagonist, victim of his prejudices, gets struck by the angel of death. Ironically, he dies not by those he feared, but by the hand of the officer of justice.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">While the protagonist is perpetually lost, and, he was running from his identity. At the beginning, he was reminiscent of his past identity and life, when he young and having fun, therefore he decided to avoid the present by going into a poor neighbourhood; where everyday is different and you never know what might happen next;it is a constant struggle for survival. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> At the end, when he saw the police officer, he leapt at his identity felt safe, and was relieved. However, he cannot be said to learn a valuable life lesson as, by the end of the story, he is clearly lacking his life. Apart from his feelings, (at the beginning he was bored in his neighborhood, then afraid in the poor neighborhood, and then he was relieved when he saw the police officer.) nothing changes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The theme in “Identities” is that you cannot run from yourself(this is interchangeable with your identity) forever; one day, all the lies you have been telling to yourself will collapse like a house of cards, leaving nothing but disaster and despair in its wake. The title foreshadows that the theme will be something about an identity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because throughout the main conflict, the protagonist is lost, running away from his identity and the tidiness of his prior life. However, throughout the main conflict, his old life manages to seep in; ranging from guilt for not calling his family to his last lunge for a life he thought he did not want but later finds out he loves.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The climax helps to illustrate the theme because it is the moment when the protagonist’s identity finally catches up with him and he leaps to what he believes is safety; leading him to his doom. Afraid of the world around him, he latches onto what he believes is the last safe haven; much to his detriment.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Simile: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A few examples of similes are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“ Darkness has quietly been settling like soot.” Where he is comparing darkness with soot <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “Paper clogs the fence like drifted snow” where he is comparing the fence with drifted snow.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Metaphor:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An example of a metaphor is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“Fences here are little more than fragments.” Where fences are compared to fragments.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Personification: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An example of personification is: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“The houses have all faced toward the Sun.” where houses are given the human quality of facing towards the Sun.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “…but time has run away with him.” where time is given the human quality of running away.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Symbol: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An example of a symbol is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “he is driving a grey Mercedes Benz.” Which is the Mercedes he owns, which symbolizes the life he decided to leave behind yet comes with him anyways. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Another example of a symbol is the police officer, who symbolizes safety.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An element of foreshadowing is <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “Normally, he goes clean-shaven into the world…” which implies that this day is not going to be normal. Also, his appearance is what caused the officer to panic. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Another element of foreshadowing is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“When the officer, who is inexperienced who is nervous[…]” Knowing he is inexperienced and nervous means we know that the officer will be more trigger-happy then he ought to be.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Irony: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In the story, the police officer, who symbolizes safety, ends up being the complete opposite and kills the protagonist.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Imagery: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A great example of imagery was <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“The smell of burning leaves stirs the memories of childhood car rides, narrow lanes adrift with yellow leaves, girls on plodding horses, unattended stands piled high with pumpkins, onions, or beets.” While reading this, I could visualize the scene taking place.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The theme of the story relates directly to our theme of humanity. The story illustrates the innate need for every human to have an identity and feel a sense of belonging. You can’t run from yourself forever. Eventually, your identity //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">will //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> catch up with you, and all your lies will collapse around you, bringing your downfall. Also, the story illustrates that the grass is always greener on the other side; the protagonist, who thinks his life is dull, goes to a poor neighbourhood which has a bad reputation because he feels that its always fun and games over there; there's always excitement. But, when he does end up going there, he realizes his dull and monotone life has the advantage of being safe, and he dearly wishes he was back home.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Completion 5/5

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Effort 5/5

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Content 5/5

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Paragraph 5/5

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">total 20/20