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In Studying A Story, Especially One That Concludes Within

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In studying a story, especially one that concludes within a few pages, forming an understanding of the characters can be challenging. Clues sprinkled within the story direct and develop the reader’s ideas about the characters, namely through the setting, tone, or even simple objects within the story.Charles Baxter’s Gryphon encompasses this exact problem; the limited number of pages contain all of the story’s information and the reader’s puzzle begins.Within the small classroom and few pages, the reality of life in Five Oaks evaporates, an implicit bond forms between Miss Ferenczi and our main character, and the reader’s begin putting together the pieces.
When a peculiar face stands at the front of the room, in stark contrast from the …show more content…

Not only do small parts of Mr. Hibler’s lesson help readers analyze Miss Ferenczi’s character through subtle parallels and her own reactions, but her tangents reveal critical information about her character. One story in particular that rattles the students was about the exotic “gryphon”, a “fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.” In comparison to their reaction to her, the students are unsure that story, or her information in general, is fact or fiction. The tales of her childhood, with a Hungarian prince as her father and a distinguished pianist as her mother, bring up the notion that she is more bizarre than she appears. Furthermore, her fanciful speech is highlighted by her saying “I want you to think about pyramids...Perhaps...scrolls were novels for the pharaohs, helping them to pass the time in their long voyage through the centuries. But then, I am joking.” To get back to the “reality” of Ancient Egypt, her lesson continues with outlining the pyramid 's “...special cosmic powers.” In order to maintain the relevance of Ancient Egypt in a rural American classroom, she teaches the students that “certain features of the Constitution of the United States are notable for their Egyptian ideas” due to Washington having Egyptian ancestry. Each day she is the substitute for the class, her fantastic stories are center stage and cause a disagreement amongst the students about the validity of her stories.
Miss

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