Identities

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Identities

Point of View: Limited Omniscient

Protagonist:The Man What type of character is the Protagonist? He is a rich person with lots of mild luxuries. He is a flat, dynamic character

Antagonist:The Police Man

Describe the setting It is sunny and beautiful at the beginning. Then, as the man drives on, it becomes darker. Later, his surroundings become more and more fear-inducing and run-down. Ultimately, He goes somewhere where he is scared and unfamiliar. The mood is very nice and pleasant at the beginning, then gradually becomes less tolerable. Eventually it becomes quite tense and frightened. It reverts momentarily (when the man notices the policeman) to a relieved and safe feeling.

Type of Conflict:Man vs self and Man vs environment

Describe the main conflict: He goes to a run-down part of town and gets nervous. The surroundings scare him and cause him to freak out. He is judging everything he sees. Describe the Climax of the Story: As he reaches for his wallet for proof of his innocence and identity... ** BANG! **(He is shot)

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? At first, he is in a familiar area of town, he is sure of himself, not thinking about safety. Feeling very relaxed, he then gradually feels boredom because of the lack of variety and excitement. As he drives on, he gradually becomes nervous as he enters an unfamiliar and run-down area of town. He eventually gets quite scared as he gets lost in the run down area.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The theme is related to the title because the theme is prejudice. Everyone has true identities and others may misjudge by using one's first impression.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The conflict is how he is starting to misjudge everyone and starts getting scared of his surroundings which is directly linked to the theme of prejudice.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? His prejudice is flipped on him as the police judges him for his appearance.

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

Simile: //"Paper clogs the fence **like** drifted snow."//

Metaphor: //"Their leather jackets **gleam with studs**. Eagles, tigers, wolves and serpents ride their backs."//

Personification:

//"This act of faith containing all the stories he has read in childhood about the North – cabins left unlocked, filled with supplies for lost wanderers – **wakes** in him a desire to temporarily abandon the neat yards and hundred-year-old oaks."//

Symbol: Fragmented fences: symbolizes darkness, run-down-ness, destruction

Foreshadowing (give both elements): 1.  //"Becoming lost is made all the easier because the houses appear identical, repeat themselves with hardly a variation. There grows within him, however, a boredom with the sameness – no ragged edges, no overgrown vacant lots."//

2. the boredom and the ambition that it creates gets him lost and eventually kills him

Irony: Unaware to him, there is a police car trailing him (dramatic)

Imagery: //"The fences here are little more than fragments"//

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. The relationship between "humanity" and "Identities" is that our identity is represented by our humanity. I think the theme of the story is "prejudice" because it is the main thing this story revolves around, and is also a main trait of human nature. The definition of "prejudice" is really to misinterpret one's identity based on insufficient or incorrect information, usually appearance. As humans, we cannot help but lean to first impressions as a significant statement of identity; prejudice is one of the many imperfections that make us human.

Complete 5/5

Effort 5/5

Content 4/5

Paragraph 4/5

total 18/20