1. Place: the geographical location of the story.
- The story begins in Sighet, Transylvania (part of Romania), and it also take place in several concentration camps in Europe: Auschwitz (Poland), Buna (camp that is part of the Auschwitz complex), Gleiwitz (Poland), and Buchenwald (Germany).
2. Time: the period in history, the season of the year, the day of the month, and/or the hour of the day in which the event of the story occur.
- The time setting of this story is between 1941~1845, during World War II.
3. Social environment: the location of characters and events in a particular society and/or a particular social class (lower, middle, or upper class).
- In the story, there are only two classes, Officers and the prisoner or victims. The location of most characters are prisoners and only few of them are soldiers and doctor.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Night - Plot Questionnaries
1. What is the story about? What are the main events in the story, and how are they related to each other?
- This story is about the Holocaust and the way in which one young Jewish boy struggles to stay alive and stay sane as he lives through the ordeal of the concentration camps. The major event of this story is when the protagonist struggle with the Nazi's persecution, and having his own faith in God and in humanity. The story and the main event related by the Jewish boy having a hard time staying in the Nazi's concentration camp and suffers there.
2. Are the main events of the story arranged chronologically, or are they arranged in another way?
- The main events are arranged in chronologically way. Not even main events but every stages and the scenes are written in order, so the story can be flow naturally and smooth.
3. How is the story narrated? Are flashbacks, summaries, stories within the story used?
- The story, Night is narrated by the protagonist, Eliezer. In the story, there are summary, story, symbols, and foreshadowing. Symbols and the foreshadowing represents something in the story and it help the readers to understand and to make people feel pity for the characters in the story.
4. Is the plot fast-paced or slow-paced?
- The plot of the Night goes with the fast-paced, however, even its flows with the fast-pace, the story tells us the whole story and we could able to understand it.
5. How do the thoughts, behaviors, and action of characters move the plot forward?
- Characters' beliefs against their God and the values help them to be endure. As the story goes and goes by, the importance of the family bond shown in the story.
6. What are the conflicts in the plot? Are they physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Are they resolved? How are they resolved? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex?
- The major conflict is Eliezer's struggles with Nazi persecution, and with his own faith in God and in humanity. The persecution is the physical conflict, the death of Eliezer's father is intellectual conflict for the main character. The major conflict and other different conflicts are solved by the fall of the Nazi and Liberation of the camp brought by American army. The good and the evil are sharply differentiated.
7. What is the climax of the story and at what point in the story does the climax occur? Is the ending of the story happy, unhappy, or indeterminate? Is it fairly achieved?
- The climax of the story is the death of Eliezer's father. This happens three month ahead before the concentration camp become liberated. The story ends with the happy ending.
8. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?
- The unity of this story is family and the bond between prisoners. All the episodes are relevant to the total meaning of the story, and it each of the incident grows logically out of the preceding incident and it leads naturally to the next story.
9. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are these occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story? How improbable are they?
- Author use the symbol and the foreshadowing idea to make the chance and coincidence. Those ideas are used to tells and resolve the story. It cannot be improbable, because the story is based on the facts and the real events that happens during the World War II.
- This story is about the Holocaust and the way in which one young Jewish boy struggles to stay alive and stay sane as he lives through the ordeal of the concentration camps. The major event of this story is when the protagonist struggle with the Nazi's persecution, and having his own faith in God and in humanity. The story and the main event related by the Jewish boy having a hard time staying in the Nazi's concentration camp and suffers there.
2. Are the main events of the story arranged chronologically, or are they arranged in another way?
- The main events are arranged in chronologically way. Not even main events but every stages and the scenes are written in order, so the story can be flow naturally and smooth.
3. How is the story narrated? Are flashbacks, summaries, stories within the story used?
- The story, Night is narrated by the protagonist, Eliezer. In the story, there are summary, story, symbols, and foreshadowing. Symbols and the foreshadowing represents something in the story and it help the readers to understand and to make people feel pity for the characters in the story.
4. Is the plot fast-paced or slow-paced?
- The plot of the Night goes with the fast-paced, however, even its flows with the fast-pace, the story tells us the whole story and we could able to understand it.
5. How do the thoughts, behaviors, and action of characters move the plot forward?
- Characters' beliefs against their God and the values help them to be endure. As the story goes and goes by, the importance of the family bond shown in the story.
6. What are the conflicts in the plot? Are they physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Are they resolved? How are they resolved? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex?
- The major conflict is Eliezer's struggles with Nazi persecution, and with his own faith in God and in humanity. The persecution is the physical conflict, the death of Eliezer's father is intellectual conflict for the main character. The major conflict and other different conflicts are solved by the fall of the Nazi and Liberation of the camp brought by American army. The good and the evil are sharply differentiated.
7. What is the climax of the story and at what point in the story does the climax occur? Is the ending of the story happy, unhappy, or indeterminate? Is it fairly achieved?
- The climax of the story is the death of Eliezer's father. This happens three month ahead before the concentration camp become liberated. The story ends with the happy ending.
8. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?
- The unity of this story is family and the bond between prisoners. All the episodes are relevant to the total meaning of the story, and it each of the incident grows logically out of the preceding incident and it leads naturally to the next story.
9. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are these occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story? How improbable are they?
- Author use the symbol and the foreshadowing idea to make the chance and coincidence. Those ideas are used to tells and resolve the story. It cannot be improbable, because the story is based on the facts and the real events that happens during the World War II.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Thursday, December 6, 2012
A Tale of Two Cities: Reflection
I've always willing to read Charles Dickens and I finally took the chance to read through A Tale of Two Cities-which my friend recommended to me. Even though Dickens is using so many metaphors, which I mostly did not understand, and even his English was really old and hard, that cannot be any obstacles for understanding this book. By reading this book helps me reflect on my life and it taught me one main lesson, LOVE.
Ultimately, "A Tale of Two Cities" is about SACRIFICE, and that is the reason why I love the character of Sydney Carton. Anyway, I admire Carton because of his udying love for Lucie Manette, even though he will never be with her because she chose Charles Darnay, who happens to look like Sydney Carton. Both people are completely different from each other, almost opposites. On one hand, you have Charles, who seems young and perfect and happy. On the other hand, you have Sydney Carton, the depressed drunck who has a negative outlook on life from being neglected.
Despite his negativity, Carton still loves Lucie and will do anything for her, just to make her happy. The man switches places with her imprisoned husband who is going to be executed. Carton knows that Lucie would be miserable if Darnay was beheaded by Guillotine, so he takes his place and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Without his love towards Lucie, he could never make that kind of decision. Because he loves her, he sacrifices himself.
All in all, I suggest reading "A Tale of Two Cities." Even though I was forced, I would read it again. The only disclaimer I have is to read it carefully and pay attention to all the metaphors. And I better read it more than once so I can find all the foreshadowing.
Good thing I have my own copy of the book besides the the one I borrow from school library. Then I can read it as many times as I want.
Ultimately, "A Tale of Two Cities" is about SACRIFICE, and that is the reason why I love the character of Sydney Carton. Anyway, I admire Carton because of his udying love for Lucie Manette, even though he will never be with her because she chose Charles Darnay, who happens to look like Sydney Carton. Both people are completely different from each other, almost opposites. On one hand, you have Charles, who seems young and perfect and happy. On the other hand, you have Sydney Carton, the depressed drunck who has a negative outlook on life from being neglected.
Despite his negativity, Carton still loves Lucie and will do anything for her, just to make her happy. The man switches places with her imprisoned husband who is going to be executed. Carton knows that Lucie would be miserable if Darnay was beheaded by Guillotine, so he takes his place and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Without his love towards Lucie, he could never make that kind of decision. Because he loves her, he sacrifices himself.
All in all, I suggest reading "A Tale of Two Cities." Even though I was forced, I would read it again. The only disclaimer I have is to read it carefully and pay attention to all the metaphors. And I better read it more than once so I can find all the foreshadowing.
Good thing I have my own copy of the book besides the the one I borrow from school library. Then I can read it as many times as I want.
A Tale of Two Cities: Main Characters
Describing the goals, dreams, and motives behind a main characters:
Charles Darnay is a French aristocrat by birth, and he chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system. Darnay displays great virtue in his rejection of the snobbish and cruel values of his uncle, the Marquis Evremonde. He exhibits a admirable honesty in his decision to reveal to Dr. Manette his true identity as a member of the infamous Evremonde family. So, to prove his courage in his decision to return to Paris at great personal risk to save the imprisoned Gabelle.
Sydney Carton was a alcoholic lawyer who works with Stryver. Carton has no real prospects in life and doesn't seem to be in interested to any. However, fall in love with Lucie, and his feelings for her eventually transform him into a prospective man. At first, you will think that Carton has opposite situations and personality, but in the end Carton morally overcome the man to whom he bears a striking physical resemblance.
Lucie Manette is a young French woman who grew up in England, she was raised as a helper of Tellson's Bank because her parents were known as to be dead. Her love has the power to hind her family together, in the book often called her as the "golden thread." Futhermore, her love has the power to transform those around her. It enables her father to be "recalled to life," and it sparks Carton's development from a "jackal" into a hero.
Dr. Manette is Lucie's father, he was imprisoned for 19-years as a prisoner in the Bastille. In the beginning of the book, he does nothing but make shoes, a hobby that he adopted to distract himself form the tortures of prison. As he overcomes his past, he proves to be a loving father who prizes his daughter's happiness above all things.
Charles Darnay is a French aristocrat by birth, and he chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system. Darnay displays great virtue in his rejection of the snobbish and cruel values of his uncle, the Marquis Evremonde. He exhibits a admirable honesty in his decision to reveal to Dr. Manette his true identity as a member of the infamous Evremonde family. So, to prove his courage in his decision to return to Paris at great personal risk to save the imprisoned Gabelle.
Sydney Carton was a alcoholic lawyer who works with Stryver. Carton has no real prospects in life and doesn't seem to be in interested to any. However, fall in love with Lucie, and his feelings for her eventually transform him into a prospective man. At first, you will think that Carton has opposite situations and personality, but in the end Carton morally overcome the man to whom he bears a striking physical resemblance.
Lucie Manette is a young French woman who grew up in England, she was raised as a helper of Tellson's Bank because her parents were known as to be dead. Her love has the power to hind her family together, in the book often called her as the "golden thread." Futhermore, her love has the power to transform those around her. It enables her father to be "recalled to life," and it sparks Carton's development from a "jackal" into a hero.
Dr. Manette is Lucie's father, he was imprisoned for 19-years as a prisoner in the Bastille. In the beginning of the book, he does nothing but make shoes, a hobby that he adopted to distract himself form the tortures of prison. As he overcomes his past, he proves to be a loving father who prizes his daughter's happiness above all things.
Monday, December 3, 2012
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