Answers for the Story, "Literally"
Put your answer to the question you received in class today as a comment to this post. Please identify which question you are answering first, before your paragraph. A good answer will range from 150 to 200 words and use one or two short quotations. It will be easier if you relate your answer to the overall "gist" of the story (how does the element you discuss fit with in the story in other words). I will provide a model answer here by Saturday noon.
Also, remember to annotate your story before coming to class next week. Bring your annotated story and word processed answer to class. Thank you!
25 comments:
What effect does the author's point of view have on us and the way we view the work? (from Questions about Point of View)
Antonya Nelson makes good use of omniscient narration in her story, “Literally.” The narration allows us, for example, to know on page one that Suzanne has “begged to attend” her private school. An omniscient narrator provides a convenient way for us to know details important to a story. Readers will notice that the narration concentrates mostly in our protagonist, Richard, and his thoughts are given to us frequently. How he thinks makes the story interesting; one example that helps us to understand his character better occurs when he supposes, on page three, that a “flighty intern” had “probably phoned in the threat” of a bomb in his office. Our access to his thoughts lets us know him deeply, however flawed and judgemental he may be. Thus, by the end of the story, readers are better prepared to have empathy for what is revealed about Richard’s wife, Eve, and her apparent suicide. Omniscient narration is tricky to pull off, but in this story Nelson uses it well and shows Richard to us, a man deeply hurt and trying, as best he can, to raise his children alone.—186 words
What is the social environment portrayed?
On page four of the story “Literally”, we see the two boys (Danny and Isaac) have
close friendship- “they made a town”, and “a shared imperative driving the boys out
together.” However, we also see Danny says, “It’s weird I’ve never seen inside their
apartment.” despite that Bonita has been working at Richard’s house for a decade and
Isaac is Danny’s best friend. In addition, on page two, Antonya Nelson describes
Richard’s neighbourhood as: “populated by university professors …staffed by nannies
and gardeners and housekeepers,” and when Richard drives to Bonita’s house, he feels
like “crossing the border”. One more thing, I feel that Richard seems to be worried
that other drivers think Bonita and he are a couple while they are driving together
without the children. It reflects that no matter how heavily the people in high social
class relay on the people like Bonita, there is an invisible barrier between them. In
child’s world, they may not sense it, but Danny still feels something abnormal. It’s
obvious that social status makes people live in their own network and plays an
important role, even in modern time. ----188 words
What sensuous qualities does the author give to the setting? (What does it sound like, look like, feel like?) Is one dominant impression created? What is that impression and why has it been created? (From page four)
Page four is set in Richard’s house and his neighborhood. Through searching the lost two children on this page, the narrator shows readers that parenting is not easy and always needs to be caring. Richard and Bonita try to look for their sons around his neighborhood. When Richard came home, he noticed that the two boys who were supposed to be playing the game at home were not. He found miniature items such as “cars, stores, blocks, houses, businesses, roads, and paths” that the children needed for making their town in the living room. Two boys once built a habitat for a turtle in their little city which they made previously. From these situations, I can feel how big and wide his house is. Readers can know easily that his house has enough space to make their town in the living room. On page two the narrator mentions that his neighborhood is “populated by university professors and medical personnel.” Bonita comes to his house every day as a housekeeper. Through these statements, readers can imagine how gorgeous and luxurious his house is. This plot might be happening in the late morning, after Richard had breakfast with his staff and came home to his spacious living room and his wealthy neighborhood.
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Discuss an important new idea in plot. (from questions about plot)
On page 8, after an impulsive embrace between Bonita and Richard, the author naturally presents a new idea that “they could simply wed.” This is an expositive plot. The narrator thus reveals that they both have some suffering experiences in marriage that “he minus a wife, she with her problematic ex-husband,” and they both need to take comfort in each other. In this story, Antonya Nelson directly describes the numerous details of life about the protagonist such as Richard’s daughter, a high-strung perfectionist, the contact between his son and Isaac. However, in here, author dramatically assumes an idea that Richard and Bonita regroup a new family so that readers can taste the sweetness and warmth of the after wedding in advance. I believe this is strong exposition to the difficulties of the single-parent families. It also presents a striking contrast between a normal family and a crippled family and thus, forms an internal conflict inside the emotions of the characters. Of course, the idea of regrouping is an assumption in the story, but keeping this assumption in the mind, I believe that the readers will understand with more ease the protagonist’s hurt and plight of raising children.
-197 words
What is the social environment portrayed? (The manners, rituals, mores, codes of conduct etc.)
The social environment in “Literally” by Antonya Nelson is that of an “insulated” upper middle class neighborhood (contrasted with lower class). Almost at the beginning of the story this community is described as “a neighborhood populated by university professors and medical personnel, with equitable two-income, two car, two- children homes, staffed by nannies and gardeners and housekeepers, an insulated hub of bleeding-heart liberalism.” Such an upper middle class family is well educated and well disciplined. These families use cars rather than transit. They have two kids rather than five kids, and they have two incomes. They have parent-teacher meeting and family conversations. Little Isaac was “tentative, alert to any little sound or look of disapproval” and his mother (Bonita) describes him as nervous and with an unseen disability. He is sensitive to social environments, and he was close to his stepbrother Danny. His stepfather Richard makes excuses for his behaviour and attitude. He has five siblings in Guilfton who caused a lot of problems to his mother. Their father was a drunken and cruel man, and he was away from home most of the time. They had a bad neighborhood, and Isaac is not well adjusted even though he is expected to adjust to changes. Isaac, his siblings and his mother are from lower class.
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Discuss an example of an important internal conflict in Antonya Nelson’s story “LITERALLY“. (From Questions regarding Conflict)
Antonya Nelson uses internal conflict quite efficiently through out the story. The Internal conflict that I believe to be most prominent to the plot of the story is the conflict between Richard and the mental struggle with the loss of his wife Eve. For instance, on page ten, Richard recalls a secret his wife Eve had told him before he proposed marriage. He recalls her telling him that she “ As a teen-ager, I used to play a dangerous game“, she explains, “Closing my eyes. Turning off the lights. Speeding.” [sic] Eve then tells Richard that she “really didn’t care if I lived or died.” Richard struggles and agonizes over his wife’s accident, contemplating that she could of committed suicide. Further more, on page ten, Richard becomes enraged thinking of his wife and placing blame saying “a plosive pure fury at his wife for his wife for not being here where she was needed.” Nelson executes the internal conflict nicely by exhibiting Richards’s emotions and mental anguish regarding the loss of his wife. Nelson also displays the same conflict with the majority of the characters of the story. As they all struggle with the death of Eve.
-197 Words
P.3 / Irony - situational Irony
Question #3: List instances of situational Irony;
Explain the importance to theme of these instances.
Antonya Nelson’s fiction “Literally” reveals the awkward life of the Richards. The ironies can be found everywhere; that’s very useful to reveal the contradictions, conflicts, and dark side of the characters. On page three, many situational ironies are used. Isaac “was suffering” a chronic affliction, but “often eased after a few hours of an ongoing game the boys called “town,” on the living room rug.” This irony contrasts the bad thing in common sense (“chronic”) and a gleam of light (“eased”) in their hopeless life. The dull-head dad, Richard, lacks of judgments: believes the rumors, goes to find people “milling and muttering outside”. In fact, it was “evacuated”. The Irony about the flighty intern’s flirting and then claiming sexual harassment just reveals what a dirty place he used to go. The irony about “hand-me-downs” also tells us something. She accepted “entire closetful” every year, and wearing a pair of jeans now, but “shaken her head, turned her face as if ….” Bonita has double faces, splitting inside. Having parents like that, no wonder no one has challenged and admonished those poor children when they need. Those ironies imply clearly: why the Richards pray for nothing exactly bad happened every day.
Words: 200
List the key conflicts (important to the story). For each of these major conflicts, list the ways in which the conflict has been resolved, if it has. (from questions about conflict - P6)
“Literally” contains a variety of appropriate external and internal conflicts which have given it vividness and attraction. Richard and Bonita’s attempts in searching for their lost kids and facing with Bonita’s ex-husband whom “could not legally reenter the place [Bonita’s apartment]” are of the most important conflicts of the narrative. The story gets more challenging by the intense reaction of the protagonist, Richard, when he yells, “I’m calling [Police] ... open this fucking door! Danny!” And finally, the problem gets resolved when Bonita persuades her ex-husband to leave. In fact, Antonya Nelson by utilizing expertly these conflicts reveals the personality, feeling, and thought of the characters and shows their reactions to each other. She proves Richard’s responsibility and his concerns about the kids, Bonita, and their complicated situation. The narrator also through these conflicts has made her narrative more interesting so that the reader chases the story curiously and enthusiastically. In conclusion, I deem “Literally” as a successful fiction because of its suitable conflicts, the conflicts which have made the story not only exciting but also imaginable and tangible.
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Shows internal conflict in the mind of main character (From page ten).
The story "literally" by Antonya Nelson ends with the internal conflict in the mind of main character,Richard. Nelson shows that Richard has a soft corner for his housekeeper Bonita , who has been working at his home for so many years. Nelson shows this attachment on page eight, when Richard feels that it was Bonita who consoled him and shared mutual impulse when his wife died three years ago in a car accident. He thinks it would be convenient for both of them if he marries Bonita, as she can live a decent life with her son Izzac at his home. However, it is possible only, "if they could just ignore that troubling enigma of love." On the other hand, the memories of his wife are still fresh in Richard’s mind. His children are also emotionally attached to their mother and her belongings. Twenty five years ago,
Richard's wife had told him to forget marrying her," but that had turned out not to be true.He couldn't." Though Richard is mentally very strong, yet he is struggling with the memories of his
married life and present life. The story ends with a dilemma in his mind, whether to marry Bonita or to
live with the memories of his wife.
- 214 words
Conflict (page 6)
The short story, “Literally”, by Antonya Nelson contains variety of external and internal conflicts that make the story interesting and exciting. On page 6, when Richard and Bonita’s children lost, they made a good guess that Danny and Isaac might be at Isaac place. After Bonita got to her suit, she gave Richard a signal to permit him come upstairs, and Richard met Bonita’s ex-husband who is “could not legally reenter the place [Bonita’s apartment]” on the hallway. The conflict between Richard and the ex-husband is the most important conflict on page 6. At first, Richard assumed he is a handyman who protects the tenants, but after Isaac opened the door, he knew he was wrong. The conversations on the hall brought Richard’s memory back to the old days that he was scantest understanding of his wife and Bonita’s conversations. The conflict on page 6 that ended with Bonita made her ex-husband to leave.
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How do the characters relate to another? What pleasures and conflicts do their relationships with one another cause? (Questions about Character on page five)
In the story “literally” by Antonya Nelson, she successfully reveals a different level of relationship between the characters throughout the day. Richard who lost his wife feels hard to move on his life; Bonita who is a housekeeper works for Richard in a decade. Both of them are exhausting single parent. In most situation, they rely on each other a lot; therefore, Richard once thought “how terribly useful if they could simply wed.” On the other hand, according to what Richard supposed “sitting beside each other in the car made them both nervous,” it tells us their vague relationship sometimes makes them feel embarrassed. I also suspect that is why Bonita refused to accept his wife’s hand-me-downs anymore. Actually, their relationship is perplexing; hence, they sometimes are full of contradiction but sometimes pleasure. Since they have similar fate Richard feels tender and protective toward Bonita. On page 5, we can know Richard really care about her safety, so he usually waited till “Bonita showed herself on the balcony and waved to him.” Furthermore, Richard also takes the responsibility for looking after her son, such as playing intermediary to school and paying attention to his mental problem. In brief, those conflict and pleasure caused by the relationship between Richard and Bonita unveil their trait very well.
How do the characters relate to another? What pleasures and conflicts do their relationships with one another cause? (Questions about Character on page one)
In the story “Literally”, Nelson successfully reveals that the main character, Richard is a cautious father by relating his children to him. Obviously, on page one there are several specific examples. Firstly, when Richard’s sixteen-year-old daughter Suzanne sobs and cries “God damn it”, he doesn’t directly talk to her and comfort her although he’s care about her. His great caution makes him do nothing because he doesn’t want to hurt her. Finally he relaxes and “let out his breath” when Bonita’s coming. That shows us that he deals with his daughter carefully and covers his feeling a lot. Moreover, another character, his son Danny relates him much closer. When Danny heard about Suzanne’s complaints, he starts to complain about what she did. At this moment, Richard doesn’t directly comment on what Danny says and subtly leads the topic to the expression of the word “anal”; Richard also intentionally responses Danny’s word “exaggerates” as “Literally ” incorrectly because he wants to “make his son smile”. In short, throughout the pleasures and conflicts caused by the relationships between Richard’s children and him, a careful, indulgent father is unveiled vividly by Nelson.
-- 189 Words
P.4 Setting - Place #2
What sensuous qualities does the author give to the setting? (What does it sound like, look like, feel like?) Is one dominant impression created? What is that impression and why has it been created?
In “Literally,” by Atonya Nelson, she describes the setting very well. It looks like
the neighborhood Richard and his family live in is quite small because “[Richard] and Bonita divided the neighborhood in half and began walking,” searching for Danny and Isaac. If it was a fairly large neighborhood they would need to drive or require more than just two people looking for the children. The neighborhood they live in also feels safe as Danny and Isaac occasionally leave the house unattended to “fetch a pile of twigs or sand or stones” for a game they play. Bonita and Isaac’s apartment looks too small to fit their large family. With only two bedrooms, Isaac complains “he never knew who would be asleep beside him when he woke up.” It feels like Richard and his family is living in the more well-off part of town, while Bonita and Isaac are in the less fortunate side. Nelson displays the two families in contrast and really shows the differences between them.
-168 words
How do the characters relate to one another? What pleasure and conflict do their relationship with one another cause?
The story, literally, revolves around the family of three with their housekeeper, Bonita, and her son, Isaac. Richard is the father of two children, Suzanne and Danny. The sixteen year old girl, Suzanne, is a high-strung perfectionist like her mother. She can’t go to school without neatly ironed skirt. After Bonita’s arrival, Richard finally let out his breath. Bonita’s son, Isaac, has been Danny’s best friend since they are little. They go to school together and play hooky on the same day. No one can challenge them when they decide to do something alone. The families in the school district are wealthy. Unlikely Danny’s family, Isaac lives in a family with violence and poverty. After visiting Isaac’s apartment, Danny is passionate about his best friend facing the dangerous neighborhood and suffering from his family problems. Luckily, the passionate boss, Richard, always stand by their side while they are dealing with difficulties. Being a single parent is tough, Richard has thought about that would be “useful” if they could regroup as a family. He knew he couldn’t because he could not stop thinking about his wife.
Losing a loved family
Discuss an important conflict on page 9
Antonya Nelson’s way of revealing the main idea through Suzanne`s inner conflicts has strong impacts at the end while the beginning of the story shows a usual and external conflict between characters. `After an anxious hour` at work, Suzanne can`t stand it any longer` because she worries about her missing cell phone which contains her dead mother`s message. That delivers us details of her personality and how much she misses her dead mother. Moreover, description of `always been high-strung … a compliment` overlaps with her mother`s image at the propose night. Especially creases in two women`s upper face tie them firmly. Suzanne never imagines indescribable sadness of losing a loved family and living without her before her mother died. However, she`s dedicated to find her way despite of struggles. At last, even her fussy nature seems coming from her mother; her mother is with her always. (146 words)
Page.5 #2- what does the author think of the social environment? (is he/she approving, ambivalent, disapproving?)
I think in this story “literally” Antonya Nelson is ambivalent with the social environment, because she reflects on two different aspects of environments. One of which is Richard a middle class man with two children, two cars, and two in-comes, staffed with nannies, gardeners, and housekeepers. Bonita who is his housekeeper a mother of five, living standards are a lot more different than his as she lives a low class lifestyle as described as a “singles complex with shoddy ruin, broken balcony railings . . . a dry swimming pool filled with forsaken furniture and fenced off with concertina wire.” What the author seems to show in this piece of writing is that no matter what kind of lifestyle you have, everyone has his or her own share of problems to deal with. Richard who is having a hard time dealing with his wife death, and trying to give his children the best life they can have. Bonita who has to worry about staying away from her ex-husband a drunk and cruel man, and also worries for her son Isaac who is a “little tentative, and alerts to any little sound or looks of disapproval.” I believe the author doesn’t want you to approve or disapprove of the social environment but to be ambivalent while reading this story.
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Character on page 8
In the story Nelson developed her characters in an interesting way. Most characters in the story are round. In page eight we can see that the conflict between the characters arises, and one of the characters is revealed, which is Isaac. We can see the conflicting attitudes from the conversation between Richard and his son. That starts when Danni asks his father, “Dad, inside your head, do you hear conversations,” and that wasn’t a common question for an eleven year old to ask. And when Danni said “Isaac says that inside his head people are talking,” Richard realized the unavoidable fact that his son’s best friend Isaac is schizophrenic. In that part we can see an epiphany in Isaac’s character, which revealed to use the personality disorder that Isaac was suffering from. In the story “LITEARALLY” Nelson established her characters wisely and that made the story more exciting.
How do the characters relate to another? What pleasures and conflicts do their relationships with one another cause?
Page #2
In the story “literally” by Antonya Nelson, She tells us about a young boy by the name of Isaac, and he is the youngest of five other children. He spoke fluent English unlike his mother. Danny (son of Richard) and Isaac are close friends because of their parents. They would walk to school together, and when they were young, they would hold hands. Isaac was a very quiet kid, unlike his other siblings, who use to get in trouble a lot. Like school failures, Arrested, sisters getting pregnant and even car accidents. Isaac was afraid of several things; Nelson said “loud noises, crowds, dogs, busy streets, elevators, balconies… and most of all, his father.” He was a drunken and brutal man. Throughout the pleasures and conflicts caused by the relationships between Isaac and his family, plus Danny and his family, Nelson showed us some of the struggles Isaac and Bonita (his mother) had.
- 153 words
At page ten of the story “Literally” by Anotonya Nelson, there are some physical and sensuous worlds combinations the author actually wrote through the whole story. The most important sensuous world in my opinion would be when Richard recalled Eve’s speaking “…I used to play this dangerous game when I was driving…I was that unhappy. I really didn’t care if I lived or died.’’ It sounds like a joke literally, but that was what actually her wife did leading to the car crash and death. After finish reading the whole story and basis on the evidence of what her wife ‘’joked”, it is not hard to figure out the wife had some mental illness. This sensuous world also indicates that it doesn’t matter how hard Richard is trying to forget, he just can’t. The reason of creating this sensuous world is to emphasis the truth of the car accident and as well as the reason that Eve told Richard “Just forget marrying me and move on.”
pg 10
the ending
The ending of the short story, Literally, written by Antonya Nelson consist some reflection elements. Richard and Danny were both frustrating after the tiring day, but they both thought it was glad because there was actually nothing bad happened. While Richard was helping his daughter searching her cell phone, he recalled back his wife. He was upset because his wife wasn’t here when she was needed. Also, he suspected Eve might commit suicide because he said “her accident hadn’t been an accident.” He thought Eve might unhappy; she told him she would drive crazily and ignore the fact whether she would live or die. Besides, I would say Richard is a loyalty man for his wife warned him that “You can change your mind about me. Just forget marrying me and move on.” However, he couldn’t. After his wife passed away for three years, he still remains single and take cares of their children patiently. In brief, I believe the author was trying to show how observational Richard was because the point of view is based on him.
178 words.
#3 how do the social environments portrayed affect the characters?
The social environments portrayed affect the characters is some on page six of “Literally” by Antonya Nelson is emotional for me to read it. Bonita is five children’s mother and got threaded by her terrible ex-husband. They used to live in a place that expressed like much of Houston, but now it is shoddy ruin, with broken balcony and a dry swimming pool filled with forsaken furniture and fence off the concertina wire. Richard is deeply struggling with his 25 years marriage’s wife, was died in a car accident. Whatever that Bonita does, it always reflects Richard’s ex-wife attitude in words to Richard. Since Bonita had met Richard, her life turned upside down. Bonita decides to tick her ex-husband out of her life with lock the door or use a legal document to keep him away from her life. Even your life was discouraged in your social environments, but you knock it off and move on.
-156 words
Page#7 Discuss an important coflict in Antony Nelson's story.
Antony Nelson shows the reasonable string of the conflicts in her story,"Literally." On page seven, the writer - through the accident at Bonita's apartment - demonstrates an internal conflict of the main character. The protagonist, Richard, realizes that the boys were in the dangerous place, "while Isaac sat trembling" in his room. At that moment, Richard "[wasn't] angry so much as scared." His thoughts logically flow from today's mishap to Danny's, his son,future.However, our character's reflections always round off on his wife,Eve. He misses her every time and everywhere for three years. Richard can not do things as well as Eve did . The protagonist hopes that a time will happen, when his family won't "be ambushed by missing her." Behold the turtle. It makes progress only when it sticks its neck out. ( 151 words)
List the external and internal conflicts of the story or literature you are studying. Are any of them related? Draw a line between the conflicts that seem to be related. (page 1)
In the story, “Literally,” Antonya Nelson used the external and internal conflict skillfully from the beginning to the end. Suzanne’s edgy and detailed oriented personality was portrayed with clarity. On page one, for example, Suzanne’s lack of understanding of their housekeeper’s continual tardiness was described clearly. Her resentment towards her mother’s untimely death is a contributing factor of her anxiety; therefore, creating a conflict within the household. “She’s always late! She complained. “Still others had punctual housekeepers, or parents who ironed.” Her mental struggle of her mother’s untimely death is tearing her apart. In addition, due to her unhappiness, Suzanne and her younger brother are distant. Furthermore, Bonita’s tardiness not only creates an external conflict with Suzanne, but also, an internal conflict with the protagonist, Richard. For instance, after announcing her late arrival, “Lo siento!” she said. Richards let a big sigh of relief and uttered, “Thank God.” I believe that both internal and external conflicts are related, because they are caused by one source: Bonita’s unreliability. Antoya Nelson’s creativity in this story was presented well.
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What sensuous qualities does the author give to the setting? (What does it sound like, look like, feel like?) Is one dominant impression created? What is that impression and why has it been created?
Antonya Nelson,the author, described the place in a very interesting way. On page four of the story "Literary", she gave some hints about the living room by talking about the town that the kids were making in the living room. This means that the room should be big. Moreover, when the kids were lost Richard and Bonita went to look for them in the neighborhood, so the neighborhood should be safe for the kids to hang around.They also divided the neighborhood between them; therefor, the neighborhood is small. Nelson also described Bonita's apartment. It was a small two-bedroom unit on the third floor. It was to small to fit their large family . She also describes Bonita's neighborhood further in the story; it is a poor neighborhood. Overall, the author described the setting in good details.
160 words
What sensuous qualities does the author give to the setting? (What does it sound like, look like, feel like?) Is one dominant impression created? What is that impression and why has it been created?
On page five, the narration reveals the habitat in which Bonita was living as “it was a shoddy ruin, a place with broken balcony railings and pocked with a hundred ugly satellite dishes, a dry swimming pool filled with forsaken furniture and fenced off with concertina wire.” It looks like a slum in a city, just like the old Jewish ghetto in Europe. This above mentioned place setting created one dominant impression, “poverty,” that I can assume Bonita’s family was very difficult to live on only her salary from the fact that “one of Isaac’s chief complaints was that he never knew who would be asleep beside him when he woke up in the morning: brother, sister, nephew, niece” depicted on page four. I think this impression has been created because the narrator should have some relevant reasons to explain the present hard living condition to take care of her youngest son’s serious, insidious disease Bonita confronted, but did not recognize. ----------- 161 words
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