Identities

Short Stories - Literary Devises

Title:__**Identities**__

Point of View: Third person

Protagonist: the man who owns the grey Mercedes Benz What type of character is the Protagonist? Dynamic and round.

Antagonist: policeman, society, himself

Describe the setting: The story begins in suburban neighborhoods then urban neighborhoods more of a untidy are, on a saturday, throughout the day. The mood begins content and peaceful but slowly moves toward anxious throughout the story until it becomes very nervous.

Type of Conflict: man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. self.

Describe the main conflict: I think that the main conflict is man vs. society because the protagonist is judging people by the way they look and by the area in which they live and the reason the man is shot and killed in the end is because a person of society (policeman) judges him by the way he looks and the area he is wandering in, deciding that he is a thief when he reaches for his identity.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of the story is when the policeman decides that the man is reaching for a gun but he is really reaching for his wallet in which he keeps his identity. The policeman told the protagonist to put his hands in the air but instead of obeying, he reaches for his pocket where he keeps his wallet. The climax is right before the man is shot.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? The protagonist changes because he begins the story by leaving the house without notifying anyone and without any thought for how worried his family will be when they don't see him all day. But as the story proceeds he does think of his family and he realizes he should let them know where he is. He begins selfish and then becomes more thoughtful of others.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. I think that the theme is about misconceptions and judging people from the outside without really knowing their true identity. The title and theme are related because the man is judging people and yet he does not know their true identity and identities is ironically the title. So the overall theme is hidden in the title.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict is man vs. society and the man is judging the area and people around him is the theme. The main conflict helps to illustrate it because he is fighting against society and the judgement of a policeman that he is a thief of the expensive car and he is being judged and he was judging. So both the conflict and the theme are related to judgement and misconceptions. Because of the judgement and misconceptions, the man was killed by the conflict of society believing that he was a thief.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax is immediately proceeding the death of the man by bullet of a police officer. This helps to illustrate the theme because the policeman was being prejudice in believing that the man was a thief of the Mercedes when he was the owner. The police looked at the neighborhood and what the man was wearing before discovering the protagonist's true identity. The police had misconceptions and he was judgemental, which is the theme of the story.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile: paper clogs the fence like drifted snow

Metaphor: liquid with sunshine

Personification: a certain untidiness creeps in

Symbol: the grey Mercedes Benz- this is the reason that the police officer follows the protagonist, while believing that the car was stolen. The Mercedes represents a piece of the man's identity.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): "The store window illuminates the sidewalk like a stage. Beyond the light, everything is obscured by darkness." - I think that this foreshadows the man's death because if it is like a stage, something is going to happen on that stage and the fact that other than the light, everything is darkness, could represent "the light" or the end of the man's life.

Irony: Dramatic Irony: The police car is following the protagonist and the protagonist doesn't know it. The man is shot while trying to prove his innocence and reaching for his identity. The police officer gives him a profile of a thief and not a good person just like he was giving other people in the neighborhood a profile of rugged, uncivilised people.

Imagery: The smell of burning leaves stirs the memories of childhood car rides, narrow lanes adrift with yellow leaves, girls on plodding horses, unattended stands piled high with pumpkins, onions, or beets.

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. Humanity and identities can be two very similar things. Humanity is what defines a human being and identities are what each individual is described by the world and by themselves as. When somebody holds up a mirror to show us the humanity inside ourselves or reflect our identity, we see two of the same things. Identity and humanity are essentially the same, the way "x=y". Identity can be a piece of our own individual humanity or our humanity can reflect our identity. The story's theme is about misconceptions and prejudice and that is one of humans' many problems. Before anybody bothers to find out about someone's personality and their true identity, most people judge a person by their appearance. Humanity has many faults and judgement is one of them. Therefore humanity and the story "identities" are linked together. Like a chain, each needs the other.

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