Identities

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: Identities

Point of View : Third Person

Protagonist:  The man who gets shot at the end

What type of character is the Protagonist? He seems to be well-off, and perhaps that is what makes him prejudiced and judgmental towards those who aren’t in the same class as him. Basically, he is human in the way that he judges people based on their looks. That is the inference I could make based on what was written.

Antagonist : The policeman, himself, and his surroundings

Describe the setting:  The setting is in two neighborhoods, one which is nice and suburban and the other which isn’t as nice, a bit on the grungy side. The story seems to have taken place in the 60’s (or before cellphones were invented) as the man seems to not have a cellphone. But then again, h could have left it at home

Type of Conflict:  Man v/s Himself, Man v/s Environment, and at the end a bit of Man v/s Man

Describe the main conflict: The main conflicts in the story are man v/s himself in a way as he wants to go back home but he keeps on going even though his mind wants him to go back home. Man versus environment because he is in a neighborhood where people are making judgments about him and he is becoming prejudiced against the people, so he is battling his neighborhood as he goes because he feels nervous where he is. And the fairly obvious one is when the policeman shoots him, and that is man v/s man because it is him against the policeman.

Describe the Climax of the Story: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';"> I think the climax of the story starts when the policeman walks toward the man with his gun ready, but that is still pretty much the rising action, the main climax to me is when the protagonist reaches his hand into his pocket to get his identity because it’s the turning point of the story and nothing really happens after that because the protagonist dies!

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">I think the main way the protagonist changes over the course of the story is really how his mood changes. At first he is relaxed because he is in his neighborhood and he’s so comfortable that he almost starts to feel bored. Then as he drives along he enters the more third-class neighborhood where because he is not in his surroundings he feels more nervous and shifty. He also changes in his way perception of things, for example he starts to stereotype the people he sees in the third-class neighborhood, which is ironic because in the end that is what leads him to his death.

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The relationship between the title and theme is to me, that everyone is born with their own identities but because of your looks sometimes your identity is misjudged which then usually leads to prejudice. From the title, I can also tell that the story is going to be various different personalities Another way that I connect the title to the theme is that sometimes while trying to find your identity you might even die, because there will always be people trying to stop you.

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because the main conflict being man v/s environment, the theme connects to that because of the following. The man was stereotyping all the people he saw on the road and the people he saw were probably doing the same thing to him. The at the end the policeman also judges him, so the conflict that he is facing in his mind and in his environment comes back to him and eventually leads to his death.

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The climaxes relation to the theme is ironic because while the man is reaching for his identity he is killed. So basically, while looking for something to prove him innocent the man is deemed as dangerous or guilty by the policeman and shot.

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Simile: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“The store window illuminates the sidewalk like a stage.” <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“Darkness has quietly been settling like soot.” <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Metaphor: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“A Saturday liquid with sunshine ” <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“The car drifts” <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Personification: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The car drifts <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Symbol: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Leather Jacket: To me that symbolizes two things. It either means that you are cruel and rich enough to kill a cow to get the leather and pay that much money to get the genuine leather. Or it could mean, like in the story, in which the person belongs to a gang because leather jackets usually symbolizes a tough person in a way. <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Foreshadowing (give both elements): <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">“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.”Is the first part of the foreshadowing, that statement lets you know that the police car is dangerous in a way because the author says that he dangerously ignores the present and continues on with the future. <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Irony: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';"> Technically, the entire story is based on irony which in this case, could be labeled as karma. The man who was continuously stereotyping all the people he saw on the street met his death, because the policeman prejudged him the same way he did to others. So basically, the irony is that what he did to others, came back to him and resulted in eventual death. <span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Imagery: <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Ahead, there is a small store with windows covered in hand painted signs and vertical metal bars. On the edge of the light, three young men and a girl slouch. One of them has a beard and, in spite of the advancing darkness, wears sunglasses. He has on a fringed leather vest. His companions wear leather jackets. Their peaked caps make their heads seem flat, their foreheads non-existent. The girl is better looking than she should be for such companions. She is long legged and wears a white turtle-necked sweater.

<span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">I think that the main relationship between humanity and the story "Identities” is that the main protagonist in the story shows so many human characteristics. For example, the man shows a very common characteristic which is stereotyping, I think all of us atleast once in our lives have looked at someone and made a judgment about what their character is like. Of course we can never know for sure what a person is like by looking at them but it a very human characteristic to judge. Another characteristic the man feels is scared. Again, all humans have felt scared atleast once in their lives most probably more than that. The man feels comfortable and relaxed when he is in his own neighborhood but as soon as he moves into the seedier looking neighborhood he becomes jumpy and nervous? Why? If the man had lived in that neighbourhood he would have felt right at home but because his surroundings were lower class than his he didn't feel right. That in a way is another human characteristic as well because it could also be said that the man is prejudiced against the latter neighbourhood. The last characteristic the man shows is trust. For example, the man trusts the policeman because he thinks of him as one of his own, almost ignoring the fact that the policeman is human too and is judging the man, the same way the man judged others. As for the other people he sees in that neighbourhood, he does not trust them and fears that they will assault him when in fact they too are mostly harmless humans. I think this story really connects to humanity in the way that we are all human and we all have our own identities and sometimes while finding our identities we could actually lose ourselves...

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Complete 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Effort 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Content 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paragraph 5/5

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">total 20/20