"Giving a Clock": Annotations
Annotate
each page with at least two different kinds of annotation. Present three of your annotations here,
one from pages 1-3, one from 4-6 and one from 7-8. Use literary terms in each
annotation (setting, characterization, conflict and so on).
Avoid reading anyone else's annotations before posting your comment. This way, we will have a better variety of responses to help us to understand the story well.
20 comments:
In the middle of page 3, the narrator’s description of her relationship with Philip gives us important information on her character. But, more importantly her internal conflict about her present “more selfish” behaviour shows us she has changed, perhaps not for the better.
That the aunt’s “daughter is a doctor but would rather treat her patients than her sick mother” (on page 5) is ironic. We often assume that our loved ones would love us best of all, but the real world can be far more cruel and indifferent than we would wish to believe.
On page 8, Frances Wang uses a flashback (one of a number) to bring us back to her aunt, alive, “with clear shining eyes as if she is staring into her future.” This has an unsettling effect on me, as does calling her aunt’s presence “ceremonial.” Life is full of unacknowledged ceremonies I guess.
—149 words
At the bottom of page 1, the narrator talks about the plans in aunt’s house, which
strive to live although there is not enough space and water. It is a metaphor of
aunt. Both of them have the “complex, defective” lives that are “nothing simple.”
On page 6, there is one of the ironies that show aunt’s internal conflict. Aunt has
a quadriplegic son, yet she says that she is going to find a wife for him, which
reflects her own situation. Even though she has gotten the “death sentence,” she
still longs for her future.
There are dialogues in every page of the story, but only aunt’s words are quoted.
It sounds like only aunt talks, all others serve as a foil. At the end of page 8, I find
the reason. Frances uses this special way to emphasize that “aunt is the focal
point.” She “overwhelms the others.”
---150 words
In the beginning of page 1, the author provides and interesting view of what was going on in her mind when she observed her aunt while she (her aunt) slept. “Sometimes I get a glimpse of what my aunt used to be.” She remembers that her aunt used to be a strong woman. And that sometimes, she was even afraid of her. And the irony is that now she is and looks so frail.
Page 4, gives us an insight about the relationship between the author and her mom. Apparently, her mother compares her with her aunt “You’re stubborn like your aunt.” I am not familiar with Chinese culture but in my in my opinion, that is not a healthy way to treat your children.
The last paragraph on page 7, the author describes the weather and the feeling in the air the last time she spoke to her aunt.
-150 words
In the first paragraph on page 1, Frances Hwang gives and very interesting image of her Aunt. “Earthy and obtuse…. Her painted on eyebrows”. It makes me think about my friend’s grandmother who was very much like that.
At the bottom of page 4, when the Aunt is talking about how her kids don’t want to help her when she is sick, it makes me sad for her. But also makes me think that she is giving her niece a bit of a guilt trip. My grandma and my mom are very good at those, so I know all about them.
At the end on page 8, I loved how Frances Hwang reflected on the celebration at her Aunt’s house on July Fourth. When she said “During the fireworks, everyone’s gaze wandered toward her (aunt)” It really makes it feel like the whole family got together before she died to show their love for her.
155 words
On the first page in the third paragraph, our main character describes how alike her aunt is compared to a coo-coo clock, “She reminds me of a bird because of her delicate legs and her pointed shoes.” This simply gives us an idea of what her aunt looks like, but also may be the hint of personality of her character as well.
On the fourth page, the mother mentions that our main character is just like her aunt for being “stubborn”, which I find as irony after looking back at the second page where her aunt said that our main character was just like her mother in being “conservative”. There are both points of view that can see a lot of the other sibling in the same character.
On the last page, the aunt said “I don’t mind dying...if death is like a dream” which shows that she had came a long way from being in denial in most of the pages about her, this is what the plot had focus on, and the reactions of her family that had come to terms with the unfortunate news of her condition.
190 words
Martha .T. Hamda
On pages 1-3, Frances Hwang describes her aunt’s character and attitude. We also learn that her mother is prettier than her aunt. Hwang mentions the similarities between the two sisters - they both have sharp tongues inherited from their mother. Hwang’s aunt’s smoking habit and snoring forced her to sleep in a separate bedroom from her husband. This separation shows this couple’s weak bond in terms of their relationship. On page 3, Frances Hwang’s aunt states that she envies everyone because they will keep on living after she dies.
Hwang’s attitude is revealed when she ignores her mother’s advice about not eating spicy foods. Later on, Frances Hwang clarifies the definition of the title “Giving a Clock,” and she indicates its associated negative connotation within the Chinese community. Hwang’s uncle’s statement, “when you’re young, you have energy to take pictures,” emphasizes how time influences people to do certain things at a particular time. Life is full wonders; ups and downs, happiness and sadness. The internal conflict within Hwang’s aunt finally gets resolved as she gives up to live and compares death with dream.
(185 words)
In the beginning of page 3, the narrator’s relationship with her cousin, Philip, is ironic. She describes, “There isn’t the same pleasure in waiting on him as before.” Unfortunately, relationships between people change. Sometimes we lose relationships and sometimes we gain them. The depth of relationships is not something that we can control for the future, but it is something we can try to work on now.
In the beginning of page 4, it is ironic to observe her relationship with her mom who is concerned about her daughter’s diet. We often feel bothered by the way some people show their love for us because the love language they use is different than the one we expect to receive.
At the end of page 8, the narrator shows the other side of the aunt’s character trait describing “shining eyes as if she is staring into her future” The aunt hosted a celebration knowing that she is dying. What a most wonderful event in our lives! She is giving hope to people that death is not an absolute despair but a new start which we can expect.
- 186 words
At the bottom of page 2, the aunt’s thought reveals. Although she knows “other people’s hope” for her, it becomes “a burden” of her. I think she conflicts with her own burden of acceptance between desire of her life and the truth of her incurable disease.
On page 6, the first of her dialogue makes me sad how difficult the aunt’s life would be with her “quadriplegic” son. As a mom, she takes good care of him to live his life better, and is still willing to “find a wife” for him. Mom’s love is endless, but her pitiful life doesn’t seem to be an end with her cancer.
In the middle of page 8, Frances Hwang uses the number four - “four o’clock,” “July Fourth” - to show something: a death as a superstition, or the boundary of “disconnection.” For the aunt, it seems to relate “all the fate” (page 4), but her presence should be “the focal point” for what she has believed, and how she has accomplished in her life.
– 173 words
In the dialog of page 2, the narrator’s description gives us important details of her aunt’s personality. Unlike what I expected, the conversation is compared to be very relaxing; perhaps her aunt doesn’t want to show her internal pain and decides to suffer without telling.
It is ironic to know that the narrator “[has] always been vulnerable to what [her] mother says” as “no one has as much influence over [her].” Usually, people assume that they pay more attention to suggestions from their beloved ones, but the reality is that people often refuse to take those helpful advices.
In the middle of page 7, the description of the “old photographs” reminds readers of the happy moments the narrator’s aunt and her uncle spent together. Frances Hwang provide readers with an insight of how picture visually reminds people of their past as life slows down.
-144
Page 2
It is very pitiful and sad to read that the author's aunt feels that "it is terrible to think that everyone will still be here when I am gone." She is reluctant to leave this world and is worried that no one will remember her. She is upset that her time on Earth has been cut so short that even her “dog will live longer than [her].” Her mixture of jealousy, envy and dismay rang very true and touched my feelings.
Page 6
This page was largely about a day of treatment at the hospital. By comparing her quadriplegic son's miraculous situation to her own, she betrays her hope that a similar miracle could happen to her. However, the author states that her aunt “has become inseparable from her disease” and doesn't really have any real hope of escaping her cancer.
Page 8
The description of a Fourth of July celebration on the last paragraph brought was exciting and happy, rather than sadness and misable. Her aunt “remained calm and untouched” in the excitement of the party and was the center of the whole gathering. The author's vivid and detailed description of her aunt reminded me of the first paragraph where she used a similar description to introduce her aunt to the reader, but in a quite different perspective.
---205 words
In the last several paragraphs on page 3, the author shows us the conflict between the Aunt and her son Philip, who feels “sick of his mother’s talk” and “replies stonily that he does not need her help” when his mother tries to assist him. The parents always want to give more to the next generation who doesn’t appreciate it. They don’t really understand what the other one really needs.
On page 4, the author uses a flashback to illustrate a story of her aunt. Her aunt accepted a gift of a clock for her birthday, defying taboos and superstitions. It is believed that receiving a clock for someone’s birthday can bring in bad luck or even death. Is it fate or lack of luck that she comes down with cancer?
On the last paragraph of the story, the narrator’s descriptions of her aunt on the celebration bring us a strong feeling about the Aunt and the life. After you finish reading the story, you cannot forget the “shining eyes” of the Aunt, “as if she is staring into her future.”
--181words
From page one to three, we discover the main protagonist, the aunt, from the writer’s point of view. The aunt expresses her affection in a tyrannical way, is outgoing and seems a kind of naughty woman with a greedy appetite for life .In page two we read Frances’ aunt saying that what she miss “most of all” is “the feeling oh hope. Of having a
future.” This last quotes perfectly describes Frances’ aunt appetite for life and set up the
inner conflict she will have between the page four and six .
Between these pages the aunt is conflicted and in denial. At the hospital she positively talks about her son, who escaped death at height and for whom, she now imagines finding a wife. As if she will lives longer and escape death.
Finally the pages seven to height show a stable situation.In page height the aunt’s inner conflict is resolved. “I don’t mind dying” “if death is like a dream” she says.
-164
At the first page, the narrator describes that her aunt was sturdy as “a horse” and careless, but funny like “Showing us her underwear!” and “blowing smoke in the air”. She changed to be weak as “a bird” that “Her body has no weight” and careful and frustrated like “she is giving away her life”. I can see how everything changed on her when she got a cancer.
On page 5, I could see how sad and hopeless she was because of cancer. When she talked about her taking “thirteen sleeping pills” during night and acting “like a monkey!”, it showed a picture about how struggling inside of a cancer patient. Her mother’s “sleeping pills” and “A forty-year-old woman still asking for her mother” made her understand her mother’s hopeless just as herself at that moment.
At the end of the story, it showed a picture of her aunt’s celebration before the end of her life. Her aunt’s suddenly being excited likes many people before death. It usually doesn’t last more than one day, but most of them still wish being alive. It just like her aunt “gazes at the camera with clear, shining eyes as if she is staring into her future.”
-185 words
On page 3, Frances Hwang describes aunt’s character, she used to be very blunt but after suffering from a life-threatening disease, she is living a hopeless life. She has no charm around because she sees death standing in front of her. Death is a bitter truth of life when someone sees it closely.
On page 6, I see conflicts between her family and her emotions. She never gets closeness from her kids rather than she is pleased to see her sister and gives her a tight hug. Sometimes, we don’t get attention from our loved ones when we need it in our crucial time. It is ironic, when her own kids don’t care about her but her niece takes her responsibilities.
On the last page, this is the unsettling for me that when aunt wakes up from sleep, she sees everyone is around; “All of you are here because I’m going to die.”
153 words
At the end of page 2 Frances’s aunty says, “It’s no good living when you have a death sentence hanging over your head.” It seems she really loves to live and enjoy the life, but everybody will die at some point anyway. The writer is looks she very compassionate to her aunty and cousin “as a child, I was devoted to him.”
On page 4 which unveils the title of story “Giving a Clock” means “going to a funeral” in Chinese traditional. It’s very interesting and it depends on people’s believe whether they are superstitious. Like some Afghans believe taking nails at night is very bad and it brings unhappiness at home.
On page 7 when Frances uncle said, “We were spoiled and didn’t appreciate everything our parents had given us.” It reminded me of Ali (my friend). He was the only son of his parents and his father bought him sporty bike, IPhone, car, brand name cloths and so on. But, he was still complaining about his parents that they are not buying him a brand new car. He was spoiled and didn’t appreciate what he had.
-188 words
In the beginning of page 2, the narrator shows us how her mom is worried that she is looking more like her sister, the aunt even questions the niece “she is afraid of getting old and ugly like me?” She smiles back at her aunt, not telling her that she is right.
In the middle of page 4, we see a close up of the relationship between mother and daughter, and how their impolite conversation is taking place in the kitchen, while her mother tells her “you are stubborn, just like your auntie.”
At the ending of the story the narrator tells us how her aunt is surprised by seeing everyone around her while waking up from the morphine, she opens her eyes and says “all of you are here because I am going to die” she closes her eyes and goes back to sleep saying “I don’t mind dying.”
-150 words
On page 2, Frances Hwang tells her aunt about the acupuncturist, who could make a miracle to cure her disease. And, her aunt says, “Give me her number,” it shows her inner conflict that she is still ready to pick any chance to get back to her healthy life. Though, she has already lost her all hope as she says, “It’s no good living when you have a death sentence hanging over your head.”
In the middle of page 4, narrator’s shows that “[her aunt] accepted a clock for her birthday,” and her mother connects it “going to funeral” is ironic. Sometimes, we become superstitious and if any thing bad happens in our life, we relate it to our fate and lose our faith.
On page 6, narrator expresses her aunt’s feeling who does not want to die, “They stapled me together and I was completely cured,” but tries to face this reality unwilling that she will dye soon, “ now its come back, growing in my spine.”
words----155
On the first page the author drew a perfect and strong picture of the character by describing her mother and her aunt. She describes their personalities, how they look like and how alike, unlike they are even though they are sisters. As she says “My Aunt Reminds Me of a Bird.....”
On page four, the narrator gives us a clear view of conflict between characters. The conflict between mother and daughter when the mother tries to tell her daughter how bad the salt is, as she say “ Salt Causes Stomach Cancer” and her daughter replies by saying “Please Leave Me Alone”. This is a very common issue between parents and their children.
On page eight, the setting in the aunt’s house is heartwarming in some ways. The whole family has gathered together, but on other hand, it’s sad knowing they have gathered because they know that their mother/aunt is dying. Perhaps they all knew she was sick, but never visited her until now. I think we are all guilty of this at times even with our closest relatives and best friends. It’s kind of harsh and gloomy. It’s also sad how the aunt is welcoming the unfolding future and accepting her death. As she says “I Don’t Mind Dying. If Death is Like a Dream.”
[216 Words]
At the end on page 2, the aunt called the narrator went into her bedroom and having a conversation. But, it turns into a sad ending; the aunt releases the pressure to the narrator "Sometimes, it becomes such a burden - other people's hope". She knew that everyone in the family was hoping she could recover, but the hopes became an invisible pressure for her.
On page 4, we can see lots of events happened. The whole point of the story started: "Song zhong". A kind of superstitions stands for going to a funeral. We can also see how conservative the narrator's mother is, but not the aunt.
In the beginning of page 8, the aunt realized it was the time; she was leaving. "I don't mind dying if death is like a dream" shows the aunt was afraid facing death, but when she dreamed playing with Grandpa; she was not afraid, and she comforted people who were surrounding her.
160 words
On the bottom of page 3, the aunt says realizes that she will be forgotten, and that she is “the only one who is not living…,” however it is ironic as the narrator just described Philip as being very dependent, but withering over the years, trapped in his own skin and losing touch with the world.
On page 4, the narrator shows the aunt’s double standard as she takes the fortuneteller’s advice very seriously, but then dismisses all the superstition around her (the gift of a clock, the black front door which dictates the energy flow around her home). This shows the aunt’s world has been turned upside down, as she believes that “it’s no good living when you have a death sentence hanging over your head.”
On page 7, the narrator begins to dream vivid dreams about her aunt, and about how surreal it felt. The dream came because suffering builds strong bonds as they shared their time together during the battle, (driving together, seeing the doctor).
To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. - Friedrich Nietzsche
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