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A Certain Night Questions

Decent Essays

A Certain Night Questions

Knowledge and Understanding 1. As it is quite obvious in the story, the narrator does not think that these men and women deserve to die. This is abundant when in the very last line of the story the narrator states, “when will it be light?” 2. Throughout the story, the narrator describes the communists as young, brave and handsome, although they are powerless martyrs. The narrator makes the nationalist seem “murderous looking,” and “cunning, malicious and smug.” The chief executioner has a “revolting moustache,” and an “evil voice”, as well as an “ugly and vicious face, which seemed to symbolize the cruelty of all the rulers to the oppressed.” This made it easy enough to distinguish between the …show more content…

Not only of his death, but also by showing her passion for her beliefs. 6. A major theme in the story is to stand your ground, and fight for what you believe in. In other words, be willing to die for what you stand for, but proudly. Another theme is showing the absolute cruelty of humans. It is showing the brutal behaviors humans can portray on one another.

Thinking and Inquiry 1. The tone of this story is dark and bitter. Ting Ling achieves this in the characters emotions throughout the story. This is also shown through imagery, through the gloomy vibe of the story. Ting Ling used figurative language and vivid descriptions to make the story come across as both bitter and dark. 2. The setting of the story contributes to the tone because it is set up during a dark, cold, windy, snowy night. The overall mood of the story was both gloomy and somber, which contributes to the tone I think Ting Ling was going for. Everything from the prisoners falling down in the snow, to the soldiers stomping throughout it, made the tone come alive through the text. 3. There are many different symbols throughout the story. For the chief executioner, he resembles both cruelty and oppression whereas the young poet symbolizes innocence and better reform. At the end when the prisoners are singing to their death, it shows a sense of resistance, which symbolizes the acceptance of their death. 4. The sound of trampling feet connotes punishment as a

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