Identities

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: _Identities___

Point of View: Limited Omniscient

Protagonist: the man driving the car What type of character is the Protagonist? Flat, dynamic

Antagonist: Stereotypes/Society, Himself

Describe the setting Where: City, suburbs moving to ghetto When: A Saturday Mood/Atmosphere: Lonely, nostalgic (beginning), hostile (middle/end)

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Stereotypes, Man vs. Himself

Describe the main conflict: The protagonist struggles with himself because he feels trapped in monotony of perfection and pattern. His flashback shows how he longs for something different, something simpler. He tries to lose himself but only ends up losing his way in an unfamiliar place. He observes his surroundings and sees how out of place he is. Feeling the need to return when he has not found what he set out to look for, he begins to worry and becomes blind to important details around him so that it clouds his perception.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The protagonist approaches the store. He is nervous of the neighbourhood. A police officer approaches, thinking the protagonist is a criminal. He orders the man to halt, and catches him by surprise. The man assumes this officer wants to help him, and he instinctively reaches to his wallet for identification. The officer reads his actions a different way, and miscommunication takes its toll.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? At the beginning, he is restless and wants to forget the present and go somewhere else, to another neighbourhood or even the past. When he sees how out of place he really is, he has a change of heart and feels the need to return to his family and who he really is, his reality.

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

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">This story really isn’t about what is really going on, but the subtle subtext. The whole thing is really just a bunch of metaphors. The theme is about how perceptions can change depending on your perspective and knowledge, miscommunications and stereotypes. The title, Identities, reflects how we see ourselves in relation to our surroundings and how others see us and make assumptions about us, labeling without information.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The protagonist feels somewhat without identity, so he seeks it in different surroundings, where contrast is nonexistent, then extremely evident. With just a passing, drive-by glance, we see multiple, shifting identities. Caught up in this unfamiliar place he sees that he needs to return to what he used to be, he only loses his ability to see others and himself clearly. All of this reflects how we need to see ourselves, but sometimes it keeps us from seeing others.

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The climax illustrates miscommunications, about how we assume things about people from stereotypes and label them without any information. We not only have our self-identity, but also how others perceive us. The climax especially illustrates irony in how he reaches for his identity and is judged because of that.

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

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Simile: “...the grubby children who dart back and forth like startled fish.”, “Darkness has quietly been settling like soot.”

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Metaphor: “Eagles, tigers, wolves and serpents ride their backs.”

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Personification: “…time has run away with him.”

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Symbol: his beard- “Normally, he goes clean-shaven into the world…”, “In spite of his car, he hopes his day old beard which he strokes upward with the heel of his hand, will, combined with his clothes, help him to blend in…” , “…because he has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief…” (representing a cover of identity) salmon tins “Always, there were salmon tins glinting with silver, set above hand-painted signs instructing purchasers to deposit twenty-five or fifty cents.” , “There have been no trees or drifting leaves, no stands covered in produce, no salmon tins…” (representing innocence and simplicity)

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Foreshadowing (give both elements):

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">*this isn’t the best example of foreshadowing because it isn’t really one thing and another that it directly foreshadows but it gives omniscient pieces of information that create dramatic tension*

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“So intent is he upon the future that he dangerously ignores the present and does not notice the police car, concealed in the shadows of a side street, nose out and follow him.”, “He slips his wallet into his shirt pocket, does up the metal buttons on his jacket and slips a ten dollar bill into his back pocket. Recalling a television show, he decides that if he is assaulted, he will say that the ten is all he’s got, that he stole the car, and ask them if they know a buyer.”, “…he reaches his hand not in the air as he was ordered to, but toward his wallet for identity.”

Irony: Dramatic Irony-

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“He is so intent upon the three men and the girl that he does not notice the police car drift against the curb, nor the officer who is advancing with a pistol in his hand.”, “When he turns part way around and recognizes the uniform, he does not feel fear but relief. Instinctively relaxing, certain of his safety, in the last voluntary movement of his life, he reaches his hand not in the air as he was ordered to, but toward his wallet for identity.”

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Imagery: “…the promise of a Saturday liquid with sunshine…”, “Their slick hair glistens. Their jackets gleam with studs.”, “The smell of burning leaves stirs the memories of childhood car rides, narrow lanes adrift with yellow leaves,…”

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

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Humanity is about being imperfect and still having good things in your life; it is that through hardship there is something bigger than you alone there. We see ourselves in our world compared to those around us, that is how we shape our identity. Identity is only partly how we see ourselves, but mostly what those around us have taught us about ourselves, the mirrors of our own humanity. Many aspects of humanity are illustrated in this story, mostly negative ones such as prejudice and stereotypes, in how the man drives through the neighbourhood and assumes that it is a certain way. We judge those around us only on appearance, but that is not their true humanity. We are complex beings but often we are blinded by our own misconceptions and don't see the 'real' person in front of us.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Complete 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Effort 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Content 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paragraph 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">total 20/20