Short Story Test Review - Grade 10 Period 3
“By the Waters of Babylon”
setting: ? (upstate NY), ? (the future [distant? near?])
characters: John (son of a priest) (only priests can touch the “sacred” metal)
plot: cataclysmic war / holocaust; Hill People (slightly more sophisticated) and Forest People
1. John wants to go to the Place of the Gods (NYC – “newyork” )
2. Sees signs in the woods (white deer)
3. builds a raft to travel into the city
4. hiding from wild dogs, he runs into an apartment bldg and finds a dead “God” – just a dead man
5. he has vision of the way things were right before the end; poison gas, etc., he learns the gods are just people
6. returns back to tribe and father warns him: tell the people slowly; too much knowledge can kill you.
conflicts: person vs. society, person vs. nature, person vs. self
themes: too much knowledge can kill you; experience > learning
“The Nacirema”
setting: North America, the present (at least 1950-60s)
what was the point? The guy was making incorrect conclusion about people’s behavior. This was to highlight our shortsighted opinion about “primitive” cultures.
“A Sound of Thunder”
setting: somewhere in the United States, 2055
characters: Eckels, Travis,
plot: People pay to go in a time machine to go back in time to kill a dinosaur (that they know will die an untimely death already). They want to protect the future, so they must not change anything. (Butterfly Effect). Unfortunately, one of the men (Eckels) is cowardly and runs away, in the process stepping on a butterfly. When they return to the present, there is a different president (dictator named Deutscher)
conflicts: Person vs. P, Nature, Society, Self, Fate
themes: small things can have great effects in the long term.
“The False Gems”
setting: Paris, France, 1880s
characters: Monsiour Lantin, his young wife, (a jeweler)
plot: Mr. L has a young wife; she has 2 flaws- enjoys the theater and loves false gems.
Once she dies suddenly, he decides to sell her jewels and it turns out that they are actually real. Since he didn’t buy them, the man assumes his wife (at the very least) was having an affair. He gets rich, marries again to a faithful woman, but she is a pain in the butt.
conflicts: person vs. self, person vs. person
themes: the truth hurts, riches don’t equal happiness, things are not always as they seem
Lit. elements: IRONY (situational)
“The Interlopers”
setting: forest at night, Europe, Carpathain Mts., 1900s
characters: Ulrich von Gradewitz, Georg Znayem
plot: U is in his plot of forest looking for poachers. G is in the woods poaching / seeking a fight with U. They are enemies b/c they have been born into a generational feud / dispute over the land (rocky and worthless). They run into each other, talk a bunch of smack, and then a tree falls upon the two of them in a windstorm, pinning both to the ground. They keep making threats, etc. until Ulrich offers G some wine. G accepts, they realize their similarities, the uselessness of feud, make plans to be buddies, and then they hear something approaching. U looks up and sees a pack of wolves approaching. (their deaths are pointless, just like the initial feud and the settling of the feud)
conflicts: Person vs. Nature, Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self (decisions!)
themes: Feuds do not solve anything; Living a spiteful life leads to a spiteful death, when faced with real danger, enemies can quickly become friends, anger and ignorance are unhelpful emotions, humans are powerless in the face of nature
“Diable – A Dog”
setting: the Yukon wilderness, north western Canada, 1900
characters: Black LeClere, Diable, various traders/trappers/prospectors
plot: L. finds D. as a puppy. He selects D because the puppy attacks him. He then chokes the dog. They work together, hating each other, but never leaving each other. One night, D takes the opportunity to kill L by ripping out his throat in his sleep. L wakes just in time, but instead of killing him, LeClere bites the dog back! (also, breaks the animal’s legs). He limps his way to a doctor, but demands they nurse the dog back to health!
As they heal together, the man threatens the dog, and the dog seems to understand (he learns what “kill” means, etc.) The man also learns that playing the harmonica tortures the dog, so he does it all the time, and Diable, ashamed of his reaction, is terrified and howls in fear and pain.
The man is then accused of having murdered a partner they all liked. While he is in a noose, the trappers learn outside that it was actually an Indian commited the murder. Diable bumps the box and sees he can finally kill the man, so he smiles at him and knocks the box out from under the man. The man smiles back, and dies. The settlers come in to see Diable swinging from the corpse of the dead man, and they shoot him.
conflicts: Person vs. Nature
themes: badness can be born, some people and relationships thrive on hatred,
“The Monkey’s Paw”
setting: Laburnam Villa, England, late 1800s
characters: Mr. and Mrs. White, their son Herbert, the sergeant major
plot: SM visits the Whites after being overseas a long time. He tells them strange tales, and shows them a monkey’s paw. He owns the paw b/c the last owner wished for his own death – “the last wish is always for death.” The Whites joke about it, Mr. White buys the paw from the SM for a low price. He then makes a wish $200. (a house payment). In the morning, nothing has happened, so they all laugh. Then, H goes to work and is dragged into a machine and is ripped apart. The family finds out b/c a man arrives and gives them a payment for the son’s death from the co. (settlement)
The wife demands Mr. W wish son was alive. He does. They hear later scratching and noises at door, wife tries to open it, husband gets paw at last moment and wishes son dead.
conflicts: person vs. self, p. vs. fate
themes: be careful what you wish for; don’t mess with fate
“Fight Club”
setting: in the United States, around the year 2000.
characters: unnamed narrator, Tyler Durden (mentioned, not appearing), boss
plot: at a meeting at an office; nar. can’t give presentation b/c he is bruised and bleeding from the night before (fight club). He used to clean to relieve stress, his life was aimless and clean. fight club exists to relieve stress, feel alive and manly. “We are a generation raised by women.” Issues with dads. Car symbol = 50s car in perfect condition (“stock cherry”) is a waste ; “I don’t want to die without a few scars.” “Sometimes you need to break somehting in order to rebuild it”
conflicts: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. society
themes: see above
setting: ? (upstate NY), ? (the future [distant? near?])
characters: John (son of a priest) (only priests can touch the “sacred” metal)
plot: cataclysmic war / holocaust; Hill People (slightly more sophisticated) and Forest People
1. John wants to go to the Place of the Gods (NYC – “newyork” )
2. Sees signs in the woods (white deer)
3. builds a raft to travel into the city
4. hiding from wild dogs, he runs into an apartment bldg and finds a dead “God” – just a dead man
5. he has vision of the way things were right before the end; poison gas, etc., he learns the gods are just people
6. returns back to tribe and father warns him: tell the people slowly; too much knowledge can kill you.
conflicts: person vs. society, person vs. nature, person vs. self
themes: too much knowledge can kill you; experience > learning
“The Nacirema”
setting: North America, the present (at least 1950-60s)
what was the point? The guy was making incorrect conclusion about people’s behavior. This was to highlight our shortsighted opinion about “primitive” cultures.
“A Sound of Thunder”
setting: somewhere in the United States, 2055
characters: Eckels, Travis,
plot: People pay to go in a time machine to go back in time to kill a dinosaur (that they know will die an untimely death already). They want to protect the future, so they must not change anything. (Butterfly Effect). Unfortunately, one of the men (Eckels) is cowardly and runs away, in the process stepping on a butterfly. When they return to the present, there is a different president (dictator named Deutscher)
conflicts: Person vs. P, Nature, Society, Self, Fate
themes: small things can have great effects in the long term.
“The False Gems”
setting: Paris, France, 1880s
characters: Monsiour Lantin, his young wife, (a jeweler)
plot: Mr. L has a young wife; she has 2 flaws- enjoys the theater and loves false gems.
Once she dies suddenly, he decides to sell her jewels and it turns out that they are actually real. Since he didn’t buy them, the man assumes his wife (at the very least) was having an affair. He gets rich, marries again to a faithful woman, but she is a pain in the butt.
conflicts: person vs. self, person vs. person
themes: the truth hurts, riches don’t equal happiness, things are not always as they seem
Lit. elements: IRONY (situational)
“The Interlopers”
setting: forest at night, Europe, Carpathain Mts., 1900s
characters: Ulrich von Gradewitz, Georg Znayem
plot: U is in his plot of forest looking for poachers. G is in the woods poaching / seeking a fight with U. They are enemies b/c they have been born into a generational feud / dispute over the land (rocky and worthless). They run into each other, talk a bunch of smack, and then a tree falls upon the two of them in a windstorm, pinning both to the ground. They keep making threats, etc. until Ulrich offers G some wine. G accepts, they realize their similarities, the uselessness of feud, make plans to be buddies, and then they hear something approaching. U looks up and sees a pack of wolves approaching. (their deaths are pointless, just like the initial feud and the settling of the feud)
conflicts: Person vs. Nature, Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self (decisions!)
themes: Feuds do not solve anything; Living a spiteful life leads to a spiteful death, when faced with real danger, enemies can quickly become friends, anger and ignorance are unhelpful emotions, humans are powerless in the face of nature
“Diable – A Dog”
setting: the Yukon wilderness, north western Canada, 1900
characters: Black LeClere, Diable, various traders/trappers/prospectors
plot: L. finds D. as a puppy. He selects D because the puppy attacks him. He then chokes the dog. They work together, hating each other, but never leaving each other. One night, D takes the opportunity to kill L by ripping out his throat in his sleep. L wakes just in time, but instead of killing him, LeClere bites the dog back! (also, breaks the animal’s legs). He limps his way to a doctor, but demands they nurse the dog back to health!
As they heal together, the man threatens the dog, and the dog seems to understand (he learns what “kill” means, etc.) The man also learns that playing the harmonica tortures the dog, so he does it all the time, and Diable, ashamed of his reaction, is terrified and howls in fear and pain.
The man is then accused of having murdered a partner they all liked. While he is in a noose, the trappers learn outside that it was actually an Indian commited the murder. Diable bumps the box and sees he can finally kill the man, so he smiles at him and knocks the box out from under the man. The man smiles back, and dies. The settlers come in to see Diable swinging from the corpse of the dead man, and they shoot him.
conflicts: Person vs. Nature
themes: badness can be born, some people and relationships thrive on hatred,
“The Monkey’s Paw”
setting: Laburnam Villa, England, late 1800s
characters: Mr. and Mrs. White, their son Herbert, the sergeant major
plot: SM visits the Whites after being overseas a long time. He tells them strange tales, and shows them a monkey’s paw. He owns the paw b/c the last owner wished for his own death – “the last wish is always for death.” The Whites joke about it, Mr. White buys the paw from the SM for a low price. He then makes a wish $200. (a house payment). In the morning, nothing has happened, so they all laugh. Then, H goes to work and is dragged into a machine and is ripped apart. The family finds out b/c a man arrives and gives them a payment for the son’s death from the co. (settlement)
The wife demands Mr. W wish son was alive. He does. They hear later scratching and noises at door, wife tries to open it, husband gets paw at last moment and wishes son dead.
conflicts: person vs. self, p. vs. fate
themes: be careful what you wish for; don’t mess with fate
“Fight Club”
setting: in the United States, around the year 2000.
characters: unnamed narrator, Tyler Durden (mentioned, not appearing), boss
plot: at a meeting at an office; nar. can’t give presentation b/c he is bruised and bleeding from the night before (fight club). He used to clean to relieve stress, his life was aimless and clean. fight club exists to relieve stress, feel alive and manly. “We are a generation raised by women.” Issues with dads. Car symbol = 50s car in perfect condition (“stock cherry”) is a waste ; “I don’t want to die without a few scars.” “Sometimes you need to break somehting in order to rebuild it”
conflicts: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. society
themes: see above