2289471 anthology short stories

7/29/2019 2289471 Anthology Short Stories

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Anthology Short Stories

Yr 11 Revision


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Flight - plot

An old man (unnamed) whokeeps pigeons, worries abouthis granddaughter, Alice. Hehas seen his othergranddaughters leave home,

marry and grow up, and he isboth possessive of Alice and

jealous of Steven, herboyfriend. (He disapproves ofSteven's appearance and his

father's job.) The old manargues with Alice about herbehaviour, and complains tohis daughter, Alice's mother(Lucy).


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Flight - plot

At the start of the story the old manshuts up his favourite pigeon, ratherthan let it fly. But when Steven, theboyfriend, makes him a present of anew pigeon, he is more able to

accept what is going to happen, andhe lets his favourite go. The endingof the story is ambiguous (it hasmore than one possible meaning):Alice has tears on her face, as shestares at her grandfather. But we do

not know if they are for him, forSteven, for herself or for some othercause. And we do not know if theyare tears of joy or sadness or someother feelings.


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Flight what its really allabout! This kind of story is described in the

phrase rites of passage - which fitsnarratives about growing up, movingon and life-changes.

The central character in the story

has no name. We know that he is Alice's

grandfather, and that he feelspossessive towards her. We knowalso that he keeps pigeons. Thestory is told largely from hisviewpoint and whatever it means, itis certainly in some way about hislearning or accepting things aboutAlice.


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Flight - Character Alice is the old man's granddaughter. She is a

young woman but he still sees her as a child -or would like to do so. She looks young andsometimes acts in a carefree way, but mostlyshe has a serious and grown up wish to marryher boyfriend, and settle into a domesticroutine.

Lucy is the old man's daughter and Alice'smother. She is depicted as a grown up in herappearance ("square-fronted"), her actions(she looks after her father) and the way inwhich her father thinks of her (that woman).Her husband is absent (perhaps she is awidow or divorcee, but there is no evidence totell the reader more, save that it is Lucy whogives Alice permission to marry). But we knowthat Lucy married at seventeen and neverregretted it. She tries to reassure the oldman about Alice. She has already agreed toher marrying Steven, and tells her father thisin the story.


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Flight Setting

Doris Lessing grew up inZimbabwe, in southern Africa.

Yet the setting of this storycould almost be anywhere,except for a few clues. One is

the wooden veranda at thefront of the whitewashedhouse. Another, which isrepeatedly mentioned, is thefrangipani tree. (This species

of tree takes its name from anItalian perfumier; the scent ofthe blossom supposedlyresembles one of hisperfumes.)


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Flight writers craft

This is a story in whichattitudes appear often inactions. For example, whenher grandfather shouts:

Hey! Alice jumps. She isalarmed, but then becomesevasive, as we see when hereyes veiled themselves. Sheadopts a neutral voice and

tosses her head, as if to shrugoff his confrontational stance.When he thinks of Steven theold man's hands curl, likeclaws into his palm.


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When Steven gives the old man thepresent of a new pigeon both Aliceand her boyfriend try to reassure theold man:

They hung about him, affectionate,concernedThey took his arms anddirected himenclosing him, pettinghim...

Another reference to eyes - they arelying happy eyes, telling the oldman that nothing will change, whenhe and they know this is false. At the

end of the story Alice is wide-eyedwhile tears run down her face.Earlier it was the old man who wascrying at the thought of losing her.


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Flight writers craft Doris Lessing uses repetition in the story

to reinforce details of the scene(sunlight, the frangipani tree, theveranda, Lucy's sewing) or to identifypeople (the postmaster's son and hisdaughter or the woman).

There are also many references topeople's bodies - to eyes, legs and hair. Comparisons are very important. Many

of them are to natural things. Alice'slong legs are likened to the frangipanistems - "shining-brown" and fragrant.

The old man's fingers curl like claws (an

image which suggests his own pigeons).Later Alice and Steven tumble likepuppies - they are not yet enjoying adultpleasure but their play is a preparationfor what comes later.


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This story is very obviously onewhere symbolism is important to ourunderstanding. Alice is clearlylikened to the favourite pigeon. Theold man can keep the bird in, where

he cannot control Alice. But when hereceives the new pigeon, he is ableto release the favourite: he acceptsthat shutting it in is not right. Thegift also suggests that there may besome compensation for the old man

in the new situation. But really heknows that nothing can make up forthe loss of his last grandchild.


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Superman - Author Sylvia Plath is most well known for her

poetry, which was published in twovolumes, Colossus (1960) andAriel(1965), published posthumously (afterthe writers death). Her novel The BellJar(1966) has echoes of her own life, asit records a young womans descent intomental illness and suicidal tendencies.Sylvia Plath was born in 1932 nearBoston Massachussetts. As an Americanstudent at Cambridge University shemet Ted Hughes, whom she married in1956, though they later separated. In1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life. For

many years Ted Hughes refused tocomment on their relationship, butshortly before his death, in 1998, hepublished a series of poems on thesubject in The Birthday Letters.


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Superman - Plot

The story tells how the narrator(whose name never appears) playsgames in which she makes upadventures for Superman. Later sheis invited to the birthday party of awealthy spoilt child, Paula Brown.

Paula is proud of her birthdaypresent, a blue snowsuit fromSweden. Some time later, Paula isplaying tag in the snow whenanother child pushes her and shefalls into an oil slick, which ruins hersnowsuit. Paula blames the narratorand the other children also join inthe accusation. Although her UncleFrank believes her, the narrator hasno happy ending to her story everyone is convinced that she is toblame for the damage to the

snowsuit.


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Superman - What its really allabout! The story shows how ready some people

are to shift the blame for their ownactions onto someone else. This has anobvious relevance to the storys wartimesetting. In Europe the Nazi partyencouraged Germans to blame Jews andcommunists for the past problems of thecountry. In the USA many citizens wereimprisoned for the duration of the warbecause they had Japanese or Germanparents. Yet many of these werepatriotic Americans, who wished to fightfor their country. The narrators familyseems to have a German background.

Her father is called Otto. And when heruncle speaks of Germans in Americabeing put in prison, her mother says sheis glad he didnt live to see what ishappening in the USA.


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Superman - What its really allabout! The war represents unpleasant reality.

There is a perfect illustration of thiswhen the children go to the cinema.

They expect to see a delightfulchildrens fantasy, Snow White and theSeven Dwarves. But there is asupporting feature, which appears to bea US propaganda film. This shows howthe Japanese torture and kill prisoners ofwar. It is not suitable for a child, and thenarrator vomits in the toilet.

At the end of the story, the fantasy isdestroyed forever the blue capesdissolve and vanish like the crude

drawings of a child. The narratorsuggests that fantasy is for childrenonly.


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Superman - What its really allabout! At the end of the story there is a

situation that occurs in mostSuperman narratives there is awrong waiting to be put right. AndUncle Frank is faced with the chance

to do this. The narrator tells him thetruth, perhaps hoping that he atleast will defend her reputation, oreven perform some miracle to putthings right. What is his response?

To pay for a new snowsuit and hope

that people will forget. He seems notto realize that ten years may seem ashort time to him, but to a child itseems almost an eternity this islonger than she has lived or canremember.


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Superman -Setting The narrator tells us directly that the events

in the story take place in wartime. Theopening of the story is the phrase: The yearwar began Throughout the story there arereminders of the war:

Uncle Frank is waiting to be drafted (to jointhe armed services).

Sheldon pretends to be a Nazi, while his Uncleis a prisoner in Germany. There is a war film showing with Snow White. The narrator wins a prize for drawing the best

Civil Defence signs. As well as the references to the war, there are

other details, which tell the reader thehistorical context. It is early enough for flyingto be seen as exciting and mysterious. It isafter the release ofSnow White Disney'sfirst feature-length animation, from 1937. Andit coincides with radio broadcasts ofSuperman adventures.


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Superman -Character

In this story everything is seenthrough the eyes of the narrator.

This may make us accept all herjudgements. But Sylvia Plath hintssometimes that things are more

ambiguous. For example, we aretold that Paula is unpopular but wesee that Jimmy and Sheldon andothers play with her. And when sheaccuses the narrator, the otherstake Paula's side.

The portrait of Sheldon is veryunsympathetic. His physicalweakness and obesity are presentedin negative terms, as if they are hisown fault.


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Superman -Writers Craft

Many visual references are made,some of these are similes (whichmake an explicit comparison): theblood beat in my ears like a slackdrum and wiped away like the

crude drawings of a child explainthe effect of these similes, and anyothers you can find.

Often Sylvia Plath uses metaphors(where the comparison is implied):the threat of war was seeping in

everywhere, hair tied up insausage curls and the colossalblackboard of the dark.


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Superman -Writers Craft Mecca and Jerusalem are holy places to which

Muslims and Jews make pilgrimages. For thenarrator, the airport was a place that she hoped oneday to visit to see the planes more closely.

Salvador Dali was a famous Spanish painter. Hisbest-known work is in the style known assurrealistic. It is highly realistic in its detail but putsthings into arrangements which seem impossible orwhich confuse the scale of different things. SylviaPlath's comparison is ambiguous. At first, it mightseem that such a landscape is unbelievable. Butseeing is believing the paintings of Dali, like vividdreams, may seem wholly believable to somespectators. So the meaning of the comparisondepends on the reader.

Daedalus was a famous inventor in Greek myth.King Minos of Crete kept him prisoner with his son,Icarus. Daedalus made wings with which he and

Icarus escaped. But Icarus flew too near the sun,and the wax in the wings melted, so he fell to hisdeath. The comparison here is quite a loose one, asthe narrator falls from the sky but lands safely.


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Superman -Writers Craft Flying In the story flying is a symbol of possibility

and imagination. At the start, the narratordreams of flying, and seems able to believe inher dreams. At the end, flight is no longer apossibility and the airplanes vanish withSuperman's cape.

Clothes The story contrasts two costumes one isSuperman's famous blue suit, with the redcape trailing behind; the other is Paula'spowder-blue snowsuit. They seem torepresent opposing ideas. Superman'scostume is a symbol of justice and miraculousdeliverance from evil. Paula's snowsuit comes

to represent self-indulgence and pettymaterialism. Colour Colour represents the mood of the narrator

and their outlook. The story begins with lots ofcolour (Supermans costume and thekaleidoscope) however as the fantasybecomes a negative reality all we are left with

is a black board.


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Your Shoes - author

Michle Roberts was born in1949. Her father was English,while her mother was Frenchand a Roman Catholic. Thefamily lived in North London,

and Michle attended aconvent school. The Catholicchurch influenced her workprofoundly, and the youngMichle wanted to become a

nun. She went on to study atOxford University, where sherejected her religious faith andbecame a feminist.


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Your Shoes - Plot

The story is a monologue, spoken by awoman whose daughter has left home -the speaker reflects on her own past, herrelations with her parents and the now-vanished daughter. At the end of thestory she seems to think that herdaughter has returned, but this appears

to be a fantasy. In the AQAAnthology,there is an illustration of a pair oftrainers - we know that the shoes inquestion are white trainers (line 130)with "white laces that" the narrator hastied together so that "they won't getseparated or lost" and that she has

"washed and ironed" (lines 31, 32). Wealso know that the narrator bought themwithout her daughter's approval or eveninvolvement.


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Your Shoes What its really allabout! Your Shoes is very much about the

ways in which parents and childrencommunicate, or fail to do so.Michle Roberts considers howparents can oppress children by

trying to live through them, and howwe confuse material gifts with realconcern for others' welfare. Thestory looks at ideas of self-knowledge and self-deception - butends with an emphatic denial of

what the reader sees to be true. Thestory also, therefore, makes usquestion the judgement andtruthfulness or sanity of thenarrator.


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Your Shoes - Character

The missing daughter is a mystery to thereader - we know her only from her mother'saccount, and she (mother/narrator) is wrongabout so many things, that we cannot trusther to be right about anything. So she buysher daughter new curtains of the sort thatshe (the mother) would have liked as a child -only to find that her daughter wants the oldones back that she has thrown away. Butapart from the hint that the design is not tothe daughter's taste, we suspect that the girlmay resent having something she sees as asale bargain. And we are sure that she willresent the mother's replacing the curtainswithout asking her. Her bedroom will be herown personal space, and she will feel uneasy

at the way her mother tries to take over thisspace - indeed this seeming lack of privacyappears to the reader as one of the reasonswhy the teenage daughter may have lefthome.


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Your Shoes - Setting

The story has no indications ofhistorical time, other than somereferences to material products(freezer, microwave, Styrofoam cup,trainers and a telephone thatunplugs) that place it sometime

after 1970. (The story was publishedin 1993, and seems mostly to fit thisera.) There are hints of moreimmediate time - though thenarrator looks back to her ownchildhood, the monologue appearsas a stream of speech or unspokenthoughts that go through thenarrator's head one afternoon andevening, while she sits in herdaughter's room, before herhusband returns (from work,apparently).


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Your Shoes Writers Craft The story does not have a conventional story

structure - for example while it may have abeginning, middle and end, it does not have them inan obvious sense or even clearly in this order(there's a lot of middle, something of a beginningand not much of an end).

If there is a structure it does not come from theaccount of the runaway daughter's disappearance,so much as from the mother's life story.

The final part of the (printed) story is certainly notan ending of the daughter's (life) story, but doesrepresent something both conclusive andinconclusive for the mother. She comes to somekind of idea about the girl but it is a delusivefantasy, in which the teenager becomes an infant,while her shoelaces are no longer sweet in ametaphorical sense, but become like liquorice asthey "taste sweet" - it seems as if the mother is

sucking the laces to bring back the scent or taste ofthe child. And in doing this, she thinks that the girlhas come back, while she repeats, like a mantra,her cry of love. We might use a modern expressionand say that she is in denial.


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Your Shoes Writers Craft

The grammar reflects the sense ofthis as spoken language - so we findmany things set out as sentencesthat would not be normal in a moreformal literary style: "Like hers." or

"Moan whine" Pronoun use is very important - thestory contains no names at all, butvery frequent use of the pronouns I,me, you and pronominal possessiveadjectiveyour.

Michle Roberts uses euphemismto show the mother's evasiveness,as when she calls her husband'swords "unfortunate expressions".


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Your Shoes Writers Craft

The title of the story points out themost obvious symbol in it. The girl'sshoes stand, perhaps, for severalthings.

the mother's wish to keep herdaughter as a child;

the daughter's having to accept hermother's control, and

the mother's seeing love in terms ofthings that she can buy for herdaughter.

But we are also made to think of theexpression about putting oneselfinto another's shoes - to see theworld as he or she does, rather thanforce our own view on someoneelse. In this respect, the mother failswholly.


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Growing Up - author

Joyce Cary (1888-1957) wasborn in Londonderry. (Youmay think of Joyce as afeminine personal name, butin this case it is a man's

name.) He studied art inEdinburgh and Paris beforereading law at OxfordUniversity. Joyce Cary was aRed Cross orderly in twoBalkan wars and served with aNigerian regiment in WorldWar I. In 1920 he returned toEngland, settling in Oxford,where he lived for the rest ofhis life.


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Growing Up - Plot

The story is very simple inoutline. A man comes homefrom work for the weekend.He plays with his daughters,

who attack him. In thestruggle their pet bitch* biteshim. The girls tend to hiswound, and he goes out to his

club for some male company.Beneath this simple narrative,lots of other things arehappening.


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Growing Up What its really allabout! Like several of the authors, Joyce Cary chooses a title that

suggests one of the themes of the story - that of growing up.This appears to refer mostly to the two sisters, Kate andJenny. Later we see that it may also apply in a way to theirfather, Robert, who has been able to play with them foryears, but now sees a time when he will be cut off fromthem, good only for paying the bills. The author makes thisidea clear in the last sentence of the story.

Another theme might be nature - and this story looks atnature in human, animal and vegetable terms. We see

the way the garden grows wild, the way the bitch, Snort, plays and the way the girls act In all three cases there is a contrast between ideas of

cultivated and civilized nature and nature in the wild oruntamed - a contrast that appears clearly as the girls go froma ferocious attack on Robert, to acting as nursemaids, andtending to his wound. (Which of these is the real nature ofthe girls? A trick question - their nature includes both ofthese.)

A last theme might be that of self-consciousness - especiallyRobert's concerns about his vanishing dignity and themeaning of his life, as his children become independent.


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Growing Up -Character

We see the story through Robert'seyes, and have access to histhoughts. He seems very differentfrom his sensible wife (who does actlike a grown up). He is very close tohis daughters who have missed

greeting him on his return homeonly once in several years. The factthat he recalls this incident soclearly shows the importance forhim of their concern.

When the girls attack him, Robert

has no means to defend himself.Here are two possible reasons. He is not able to control his

daughters by force of personality. He wishes not to use physical force

for fear of harming them.


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Growing Up -Character

The girls have some contradictoryfeelings. We see that growing up doesnot mean becoming more sensible orlike real adults. The girls' excitability andwildness makes them in some ways lessresponsible than when they wereyounger. We see this contrast in the way

they speak to their father. Look at whatthey call him: "Paleface" and "PalefaceRobbie" or "Daddy". What does each ofthese names tell you about the girls'feelings at the time? They know that"paleface" is a name used in Westernfilms by "Red Indians" (the old name for

Native Americans) - and they are heresuggesting that they are savage, like thestereotyped view of the "Red Indians" inthe cinema.


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Growing Up Authors Craft

Simile a bamboo likened to a spear (line 71) a garden rake compared to a lance (line 89) the girls' bones compared to birds' legs line

95)

The writer uses patterns of balance withrepetition or antithesis.

"The original excuse for this neglect was thatthe garden was for the children...The originaltruth was that neither of the Quicks cared forgardening."(Lines 11 to 13)

By using the same words initially, the writer

makes clearer the contrast between theQuicks' public and private explanations,before showing how the original excuse overtime became true.


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The End of Something -author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was born in

Illinois, in the USA. In the First World War, hejoined a volunteer ambulance unit in theItalian army, winning a medal for bravery.After the war he worked as a reporter. Hepublished his first novel, The Sun Also Rises,in 1926, followed by A Farewell to Arms(1929. His most ambitious novel, For Whom

the Bell Tolls appeared in1940 while the shortnovel The Old Man and the Sea came out in1952.

Hemingway was a keen sportsman. He wroteabout straightforward people in conflict withthe brutal power of the modern world.Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for Literaturein 1954. In his last years, Hemingway suffered

from depression. In July 1961 he took his ownlife with a shotgun. The End of Somethingcomes from The First Forty Nine Stories,published in 1938.


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The End of Something - Plot

This is a simple story, or at first seems so, and isone that happens many times in the real world. If ithappens to you, you may not be sure if it is a goodor a bad thing. Years later you may find an answer,of course - or maybe not. A young man, Nick, goesout with a young woman, Marjorie, at night. Theyare in a boat on a lake, which Nick rows, settinglines to catch fish. They draw up the boat on abeach and begin to talk, while Marjorie brings out a

basket of food for supper. Nick seems to be pickinga quarrel with Marjorie, and eventually tells her thattheir relationship is not fun any more. Marjorieleaves, and after a while Nick's friend, Bill, arrives.He asks about Marjorie, and we see that Nick musthave told Bill what he was going to do. Nick tells Billto go away - but Bill does not go far, helping himselfto a sandwich and going to look at Nick's fishingrods. Before we read this story, we read anotherone, which tells of a town, made rich by lumbering(cutting down trees, sawing them up and selling thewood), which goes into decline as the industrymoves away.


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The End of Something -Character In this story, for much of the

time, it is Nick who seems tobe making things happen. It isonly when he makes it clear

that he sees no future in therelationship that Marjorieleaves him. It is not clearwhether she is being decisive,too, now or is simply angry or

even distressed. Nick clearly wants to end therelationship but cannot do soeasily without trying tomanufacture a sort of quarrel.


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The End of Something -Character Nick seems easier in his relationship

with Bill - and seems to have toldhim that he plans to break up withMarjorie. Although he appears tohave a quarrel with Bill, and tellshim to go away - this is not a break

up in their friendship, since Billmerely goes to look at Nick's fishingrods while he calms down.

Nick does not manage tocommunicate clearly with Marjorieuntil he tells her "it isn't fun anymore" - she is happy as she unpacksthe basket to eat supper. Later hecannot look directly at her. He maybe relieved that she has her backturned, so he does not need to faceher.


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The End of Something Writerscraft the characters' body language

- the way they stand or move,and the gestures that revealtheir thoughts or feelings.

Here are some examples: Marjorie turns her back to

Nick.

Nick is able to look at her back

(but maybe not her face). Nick lies face down on the

blanket.

Bill does not touch Nick.


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The End of Something Writerscraft Hemingway is a very physical and visual

writer. He tells the reader what happens- things that you would see and hear ifyou were there. Think of things like themoonlight or the sound of Marjorie'srowing.

The title of the story makes it clear thatthere is a parallel or analogy betweenthe history of Hortons Bay and the storyor personal history of Nick and Marjorie.

This is a simple comparison - ofsomething that was good andproductive, but that comes to an endbecause circumstances change. At the

same time, the people in the story areaware of what happened to the townand feel some nostalgia - but theirshared affection for the "old ruin" is notenough to keep their love alive.


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Chemistry - author

Graham Swift was born in London in1949. He studied at CambridgeUniversity. Swift began writingstories in his teens and taughtEnglish literature at various colleges

until he became a full-time writer in1983.

Graham Swift's novels have wonvarious awards and been translatedinto many languages. His mostfamous novels, Waterland (1983)

and Last Orders (1996) have beenadapted as feature films. Chemistrycomes from Learning to Swim(1982).


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Chemistry - Plot

A widower lives with his daughter,also widowed, and their son. Hisdaughter starts a relationship withanother man, and eventually thisman quarrels with her father. He

retreats to his garden shed wherehe spends time in his hobbies ofchemical experiments and modelmaking, and where his grandson

joins him. The grandson dreams ofhis dead father. The old man

swallows Prussic acid, which killshim. After the funeral, the grandsonthinks he sees his grandfather in apark where they had once sailed amotorized model boat.


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Chemistry What its really allabout! This story is very much about relationships -

especially within families and across thegenerations. It is also about loyalty and itsopposite - betrayal.

The story looks at the difference betweenappearance and reality - in terms of things

that are seen and unseen. The boy seesthings others do not, and is aware of thingsthat are out of sight or invisible. Here aresome examples:

Invisible things: the line that joins the boy andhis mother to his grandfather; the invitationon the green door to the shed.

Hidden things: the aeroplane at the bottom of

the sea; the model boat and the acid bottle inthe pond. Things only the boy can see: his father,

dripping with sea-water; his dead grandfatherby the pond.


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Chemistry - character

The boy who tells the story isboth an observer and anactor in the events of thenarrative. Perhaps he is the

only one who sees all thatgoes on - though he noticesthat, because he is so young(only ten) the police,

encouraged by his mother, donot ask him about thegrandfather's death.


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The grandfather is a constant character.He misses his wife, but consoles himselfwith the company of his child andgrandchild - seeming (as the narratornotes) to see the features of his wife inboth. He treats his daughter in someways as he would a wife - he buys her

jewellery, and expects her to cookmeals, while he supports her financially. He shows loyalty and expects it in

return. When his daughter chooses toside with Ralph, he does not exploit hisownership of the house, but retreats tohis shed. There is a hint that he may be

planning some scheme to reclaim whathe has lost, but it seems he is planningonly his own exit.


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The mother is the most ambiguousand dynamic character - shechanges, where her father and sonremain loyal. It is her actions thatdisturb the "symmetry" of which thenarrator thinks, and the "equation"

that he works out in his head. Thereis a sense, though, that she is notwholly in control of her owndecisions, that they are not reallychoices. While later she thinks herson too young to speak to the police,at one point she asks him to help

her decide how to act: "What am Igoing to do?" The narrator is startingto form a plan, but he does notanswer his mother, and she makesher own decision, to go to Ralph.


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Chemistry Writers Craft

Chemistry Chemistry is commonly used today to

refer to personal relationships. In thisstory chemical change is present both asreality and as symbol. The grandfatherreally experiments with chemistry - butwhen the boy asks (line 183) "People

change too, don't they", his answermakes the comparison clear. There ischemistry in natural objects and also inor between people.

The invisible cord In the opening paragraph the narrator

suggests (lines 14 and 15) that there is"an actual existing line" between himwith his mother and his grandfather onthe other side of the pond, as if the oldman "were pulling us toward him onsome invisible cord".


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Chemistry Writers Craft

The story uses water as a thematic image.Here are some of the ways in which itappears.

The story opens and closes with a scene on apond.

In the opening the narrator likens the pond toa sea (line 2).

The boy's father is lost in the Irish Sea. Laterhe returns, dripping with seawater. The grandfather has a special kind of water -

laurel water or prussic acid - in his shed; andthis kills him.

On a first reading one might think that thestory shows that water takes things away. Butthe narrator claims that things are not lost,

only changed - this is the fundamental idea inthe science of chemistry. The boy's father andgrandfather are changed (by death, by thesea) - and so is his mother. He knows that themodel boat and the bottle of nitric acid arestill at the bottom of the pond, as his father'saeroplane is at the bottom of the sea.


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Snowdrops - author

Leslie Norris was born inMerthyr Tydfil in 1921. Heworked as a teacher andbecame a headmaster. Formany years after this he

taught literature and creativewriting in Americanuniversities, most recently atBrigham Young University inUtah. Here he wasChristiansen Professor ofPoetry. Leslie Norris has beenwriting poetry since 1941 andhas published elevencollections, including aSelected Poems


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Snowdrops


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Snowdrops - Plot

The story appears to be about a boy and hisday at school. He goes to a primary school inWales - in a town that seems like the author'shometown of Merthyr. Apart from a few veryspecific details that tell us this, the town couldbe almost anywhere. His teacher haspromised the class that they can go outside tolook at the snowdrops that are now coming

up. While the children are looking at the

snowdrops, they can see a funeral processionpassing the school. The boys' parents havespoken earlier about a young man, killed in amotorbike accident, and it is his funeral.Evidently the teacher knows this, for shestands watching and crying. The story that

Leslie Norris does not tell directly, but tellsindirectly by hints and clues, is about the lovebetween the young man who has died and theteacher, Miss Webster.


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Snowdrops What its really allabout! snowdrops symbolize the renewal of

life that comes in the spring, orperhaps eternal life beyond thegrave for those who have died.

The story is about:

frustrated love parents and children

hope

the idea that in the midst of life weare in death

the dangers of motorcycling nature

how children see and hear morethan they are meant to


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Snowdrops - Character

He has a sense of innocent wonder -he is eager to see the snowdropsand looks upon his home town as aplace of adventure, because ofthings like receiving a glass marbleand Edmund's finding a running

medal. He enjoys drawing a robinand is pleased when Miss Websterpins it up. He also watches hismother's knitting with fascination asthe pullover grows behind herfingers. He is fascinated by theunfamiliar taste of his sandwich.

He touches on the adult world of hisparents and teachers, but also is athome with his peers, and has asense of Geraint as much younger.


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Snowdrops - Character

She is absent from school at thestart of the day.

When she arrives she is dressed inblack.

She once trapped her finger in a

cupboard door but did not cry. She reads a story about a dragon.

She takes the class out at twoo'clock.

She does not explain about the

snowdrops. She stands by the gate, crying, as

the funeral passes.


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Snowdrops - Setting

The story is set in the valleys ofSouth Wales - once a coal-miningand steel-smelting area. There are afew clues that tell us this:

The boy in the story does not speak

Welsh but recognizes it because ofhis grandmother - this stronglysuggests that the story is in SouthWales (in the north he would learnWelsh from an early age; in SouthWales this might come later).

The boy's father speaks of workingin a "rolling mill" - this would be partof a steelworks, like those oncefound in the valleys of South Wales.


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Snowdrops Writers Craft

The narrative style is vivid anddirect - we find lots ofsentences that are verysimple:

The boy didn't know. (Line 49)

The boy drew a robin. (Line103)

He thought about this for along time. (Line 136)

The boy nodded. (Line 186) We also find sentences that

have a passage of speechfollowed simply by "said [hismother/Edmund and so on]" or"he asked".


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At other points the author uses a vocabulary(lexicon) that suggests the boy's thinking - hissense of wonder at what adults might notnotice. We see an example when he tastesthe cold bacon and is not sure what it is:

"The taste was incredibly new andmarvellous..."

This story has a very familiar symbol in it - thesnowdrop as an emblem of new life.Throughout the story the author builds up asense of the boy's expectancy and hope - thatis finally rewarded with a sight of the flowers.

When this happens, the boy has a verycomplex experience; he sees the snowdrops,and thinks of them as both resilient andfragile. They look slight, but bend with thewind and survive the very coldest weather.And they come back every year, bringing newlife with the spring


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It is easy to makecomparisons in the story. Weare led to make comparisonsbetween these things, amongothers:

ideas of before and after -such as things before andafter they change, the familybefore and after Ralph'sarrival

attitudes of the boy and of hismother different kinds of water -

water in the pond, sea water,laurel water

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