Identities


 * Short Stories - Literary Devises **
 * Title: ** Identities


 * Point of View: ** Third Person view.


 * Protagonist: ** The Protagonist in this story is a clean man who lives in a suburban area in blue jeans.

The Protagonist is a round character in my opinion because I can tell that he is usually shaven every morning, and judges someone based on their looks. I can also tell that he loves his wife and children very much, which is why he was trying to call them not to worry about him. The character is also flat because he doesn't change throughout the story...except in the end because he dies.
 * What type of character is the Protagonist? **

The Antagonist is the Protagonist in this story because if the man hadn't judged the police man based on his looks, he would probably still be alive now.
 * Antagonist: **

The setting is described as neat suburban streets and cul-de-sacs, the striking similarity of the houses, all of which makes it easier for "him" to get lost. The houses also all face toward the sun. Next, as "he" passes grey stone gates, the yards are all proscribed by stiff picket fences and quickly, a certain untidiness creeps in: a fragment of grass, a chocolate bar wrapper, a plastic horse, cracked sidewalks with ridges of stiff grass. "He" passes a ten foot fence enclosing a playground bare of equipment and pounded flat. The gate is double locked, the fence cut and rolled in a cone. The houses here are squat, as though they have been taller and have, slowly, sunk into the ground. Each has a band of dirt around the bottom. The blue glow of the television sets light the windows. On the front steps of a red roofed house, a man sits. He wears black pants, a tartan vest, and a brown rimmed-hat. Beside him is a suitcase. Fences are little more than fragments now. Cars jam the narrow streets. Darkness has quietly been settling like soot. Street lights come on. He tries to return the way "he" came, but it has been a reckless, haphazard path. So intent is "he" in finding a phone booth or store, he doesn't notice the police car, concealed in the shadows of a street light, nose out and follow him. Ahead, there is a small store with windows covered in had painted signs and vertical metal bars. "He" edges nervously along the fender and past the grille. The store illuminates the sidewalk like a stage. Beyond the light everything is obscured by darkness. "He" is so intent upon the inhabitants if the small store that he does not notice the police car drift against the curb, nor the officer who is advancing with a pistol in his hand. So, as you can see, the setting changes from a boring suburban area to a dark scary neighborhood full of unknown people.
 * Describe the setting **

Man vs. Self
 * Type of Conflict: **

The main conflict is that the main character judges everyone by the way they look, so when a police officer tells me to "halt," he doesn't because he assumes the police officer won't do him any harm. Ironically, the police man thinks the protagonist of this story looks like an inhabitant of the neighborhood he is currently in and so shoots him because he thinks that he is reaching for a gun in his jacket, when he was actually just reaching for his wallet.
 * Describe the main conflict: **

The climax of the story is when the man reaches for his wallet.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story: **

The Protagonist changes over the story by first wanting to get his identity, and so in order to do that, he runs off without telling anyone where he went, but then he thinks of his family and how worried they must be, so he decides to head back home. He tries but the road is to hazardous, so instead he decides to phone them and tell them not to worry.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? **

Identities. The theme in my point of view is to not judge a book by its cover. Your identity is part of who you are, and therefore your personality. If someone is judging you by your looks, it affects your personality and identity, which is what the relationship between the title and theme is. That your identity and personality are one thing when combined.
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. **

The main conflict is that the main character is being extremely prejudiced. The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme by helping him realize at the end to not judge a book by its cover.
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? **

The climax helps illustrate the theme by putting the main character in a dangerous situation, and, ironically, indicating that the police man is being just as prejudiced as the main character was previously.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? **

Curley was flopping like a fish on a line "Paper clogs the fence like drifted snow." When Chris ran, he was a speeding bullet racing along the track. "The houses are squat, as thought they have been taller and have, slowly, sunk into the ground." "Three boys throw stones at pigeons." The window winked at me. Car. The car is they symbol o this story because the police man judged the main character by comparing the car to the main character. The car is an excellent example to not judge a book by its cover because thought a certain car may not look great, it might still be able to go pretty fast. "He is so intent upon the three men and the girl that he does not notice the police car drift against the cur, nor the officer who is advancing with a pistol in his hand." "Instinctively relaxing, certain of his safety, in the last **voluntary** movement of his life, he reaches his hand not in the air as he was ordered to, but toward his wallet for identity." What if the guy who invented McDonald\'s was a vegetarian? The main character reaches towards his wallet for his identity papers; it turns out he had his identity all along. In our kitchen, he would bolt his orange juice (squeezed on one of those ribbed glass sombreros and then poured off through a strainer) and grab a bite of toast (the toaster a simple tin box, a kind of little hut with slit and slanted sides, that rested over a gas burner and browned one side of the bread, in stripes, at a time), and then he would dash, so hurriedly that his necktie flew back over his shoulder, down through our yard, past the grapevines hung with buzzing Japanese-beetle traps, to the yellow brick building, with its tall smokestack and wide playing fields, where he taught."  Examples:   1. "He passes grey stone gates, the yards are all proscribed by stiff picket fences and quickly, a certain untidiness creeps in: a fragment of grass, a chocolate bar wrapper, a plastic horse, cracked sidewalks with ridges of stiff grass."    2. "He passes a ten-foot wire fence enclosing a playground bare of equipment and pounded flat. The gate is double locked, the fence cut and rolled into a cone. Three boys throw stones at pigeons. Paper clogs the fence like drifted snow. The school is covered with heavy screens. Its yellow brick is pock-marked, chipped."  3. "Faced with this, he decides to call the next time he sees a store or phone booth. 3. "So intent is he upon the future that he dangerously ignores the present and does not notice the police car, concealed in the shadows of a side street, nose out and follow him."
 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **
 * Simile: **
 * Metaphor: **
 * Personification: **
 * Symbol: **
 * Foreshadowing (give both elements): **
 * Irony: **
 * Imagery: **


 * Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. **

The relationships between the class theme and the story are about humanity and identity respectively. They both identify who you are, which is how they are very similar. There's a saying that goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover," and I believe it applies to humanity and identity. A lot of people are prejudiced and base people on their looks, like the man and police man in the story. They judged other people based solely on their looks, therefore judging them unjustifiably. Humanity and identity are synonyms; each are words that describe our qualities and traits, though the difference is, humanity approches a more broader subject and is much more descriptive in terms of charecteristics we have.

Complete 5/5

Effort 5/5

Content 5/5

Paragraph 5/5

total 20/20