These short stories, all of them written by Kiwi authors, have a range of different storylines, but if you compare them, you will find that they have some similarities. I have grouped them into three categories- character development, sorrow and sacrificial. Read on to find out how each story fits into its category and how it makes them interesting to read.
In all of these stories, the main character changes their thoughts by the end of each story. “Violet” is a teenager who doesn’t fit in at her school. Her behavior totally changed within two weeks, from being an odd one out to being popular, but that’s not making her any happier. The author, Lucy Ellingham, described how Violet tried to change her personality to blend in with the popular crowd. She also wrote in a “casual” tone to show the narrator is a student and how they would talk to each other at school. She’s branded as “uncool”; she’s described as “weird” and she’s called a “loser” by everyone, except by her best friend Leo, who adores Violet for who she is. Violet usually couldn’t care less about what the others think of her, but one day, she gets tired being so unpopular and decided to change her ‘loser’ image. Leo is confused by her actions and is afraid he might lose his best friend, but in the end, Violet realizes that she can’t be contented to be anybody else except herself.
“Cyclone” is a story about a girl whose name is very uncommon and nobody in her class can pronounce it correctly. The author, Sita Heti included rhetorical questions and the first few paragraphs are written in a frustrated manner to show that Saikoloni really disliked her name. “I was so ashamed of my name. Why couldn’t I have an ordinary name like Jane or Susan?” Saikoloni hates the roll call...
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...r since they hatch from their eggs, their goal is to find a host (preferably something/somebody who is fat) and inject their eggs in them. The eggs produce a powerful drug that slowly leaks into the bloodstream of the host and they will feel devoted to keeping their parasites safe and well fed. In fact, the host will love them so much that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the parasites. In the end, almost the entire human race was wiped out by these blood-thirsty aliens.
I think being willing to sacrifice yourself for somebody or something you love is a very brave and generous move, and these stories are great examples of different situations where you might choose to sacrifice yourself.
These stories show the reader different scenarios and how the characters react to them, giving some examples for how the reader might act if they happen in real life.
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
The human need to be relatable is unquenchable. We love to be able to see parts of ourselves in others, and to be able to feel like our idols are not untouchable. The Hero’s Journey format is one that can be found in almost any story, even in real life. Overall, it is the perfect recipe for keeping readers engrossed. Another place the journey has shown up is in Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Odyssey by Homer. These two stories—one a biography, the other, an epic poem—are so effective in their storytelling, it is easy to see how authors today continue to use the same method to make stories that grab the readers’ attention. What makes them most alike, however, is the emotions and thoughts they have the power to provoke.
In Each story at least one of the characters has given up on life and is just going through the motions of daily life.
At the outset, Atwood gives the reader an exceedingly basic outline of a story with characters John and Mary in plotline A. As we move along to the subsequent plots she adds more detail and depth to the characters and their stories, although she refers back with “If you want a happy ending, try A” (p.327), while alluding that other endings may not be as happy, although possibly not as dull and foreseeable as they were in plot A. Each successive plot is a new telling of the same basic story line; labeled alphabetically A-F; the different plots describe how the character’s lives are lived with all stories ending as they did in A. The stories tell of love gained or of love lost; love given but not reciprocated. The characters experience heartache, suicide, sadness, humiliation, crimes of passion, even happiness; ultimately all ending in death regardless of “the stretch in between”. (p.329)
One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical, powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunning this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. The “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” , “Leda and the Swan”, and “Harrison Bergeron” all utilize an archetypical powerful character to create tension from how each character uses their power.
Through their stories, writers often use literary elements to enhance the impact on their readers. Using such devices, writers frequently blur the line between true reality and fictional reality. As Tim O’Brien said in “Good Form,” “stories can…make things present” (O’Brien 751). Reading a story rather than just reading facts allows readers to have a personal connection to it. It makes it “real.” Writers such as Hemmingway and O’Brien in their short stories “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Man I Killed,” use symbols and character conflicts to blur the lines between factual and fictional truth. It is this blurring that makes the stories “real” and allows the readers to have a personal connection to them.
“Choosing My Name” by Puanani Burgress is a poem that reflects Burgess idea of her identity and how it is related with her different names. Despite having three different names Chirstabella , Yoshie and Puanani, she particularly likes identifying herself as Puanani although it is not her “official name”. Strange as it sounds, I aslo have three different names: Basanta, Kancho, Xxxxxx. My third name Xxxxxx is my cultural name that I cannot disclose thus I have decided to write it Xxxxxx as it is made up of six letters. Xxxxxx is my favorite and preferred name because it connects me to my family, my culture and my land.
Throughout A Loss for Words, Lou Ann discusses the impact of having deaf parents played in her and her sister’s childhood. Some examples include, being an interpreter and a guide for her parents while she was growing up, causing her to more of an adult rather than being a child (Walker, 1986, p. 2). Lou Ann never minded though she loved to feel important and to help her parents, along with her two sisters, with their business affairs. It was not always easy though Lou Ann says that, “in a few instances I was an unfaithful go-between,” for instance, “the garage mechanic who refused to serve them because [her parents] were deaf” (Walker, 1986, p. 21). As children of deaf parents, Lou Ann and her sister were apart of the deaf culture, but they were also the connection to the hearing world as well. Her parents would often look to her for clues in different situations such as a thunderstorm, someone walking into a room, etc., but they never tried to place any pressure on her it simply came naturally to Lou Ann to help her parents because they relied on her. If I were Lou Ann I probably would have done the same thing, no one should feel helpless and have no one that can help them accomplish tasks that need to be done.
...ndoubtedly brave, but the poem The Lady of Shalott, the Lady of Shalott does give up her life for someone who she has never even met, or talked to. This seems a very silly thing to do, as she was fully aware that she would be risking the curse.
reader should be able to step into the shoes of one of the characters. In the stories listed
These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to. While each of these tales is not exactly alike, they do share a common core of events. Some event and or character flaw necessitates a journey of some kind, whether it is an actual physical journey or a metaphorical one. The hardships and obstacles encountered on said journey lead to spiritual growth and build character. Rarely does a person find himself unchanged once the journey is over.
in the story the author has given an example of such situations and has left the readers to make their own
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
An important theme in Potiki is the enduring idea that creating and sharing stories as a central part of being human is important. It is a significant theme because the novel is heavily imbued with Maori culture, in which the stories and spoken teachings are given prominence, and also because it is a popular belief that people need narratives to give meaning, structure and value to their lives. This theme is displayed resolutely and poignantly in Potiki’s plot, characters, setting and symbolism, as the people of a small rural New Zealand community rediscover themselves through stories spoken and found in Maori carvings. The idea that humans need narratives is the core theme in Potiki, and it is used also to link other themes and aspects of the novel; it is in this way that we know the idea of storytelling is an intrinsic part of the novel’s structure.