Point Of View And Irony In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party

The short story The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, is about a girl named Rosaura who was invited to a rich girl's birthday party, whose name is Luciana. Throughout the story people may realize that Rosaura is doing maid like things, that’s because she’s there as a maid. The Stolen Party teaches us that a person doesn’t always know who people are until they treat you for what they think one is, because Rosaura thinks she came to the party as a friend, but when she got for helping, she knew she wasn’t there as a friend. Some people think that the theme of this story is things don’t always turn out the way you want it to. But others think the real theme is people may turn out different than they expect.

Does anyone like surprises? Whenever media portrays a surprise party, it is typically in a manner that has the recipient insisting on not having any surprise party. Something usually goes wrong to prove them right. If it is not something at the gathering, it is the guest of honor turning into a horrible metaphorical monster because of being forced into the situation. It is a mistrust in surprises that create this kind of reaction, and it is also mistrust that is left behind when someone decides to throw the party anyway. In Jane Kenyon’s poem “Surprise,” she uses female imagery, regression, and active reversal to relay the theme of mistrust.

In “The Other Paris,” two characters, Carol and Howard Mitchell are soon-to-be married young adults whose actions are completely influenced by the norms of society. The author, Mavis Gallant, provides clear social commentary on the societal influences on marriage through satirical uses of irony and mockery, the use of a omniscient narrator, and substantial characterization of the relationship between the couple to show the reader how ridiculous and formulaic the “pillars of marriage” can be, and how society ultimately determines which aspects of these pillars receive emphasis.

of himself as an unwanted old bachelor and accordingly sets out to remedy the problem. The fact that he does not love Carol, whom he knows ?less than three weeks,? does not faze him in the least. Following the opinion of the 1950s, Carol, in his mind, becomes his ?competent housemaid? who will perhaps collect ?old pottery? and bake him ?little casserole dishes.? But Carol doesn?t mind. To be deemed ?complete? in the eyes of society in the decorum of marriage is enough for both individuals. In the characterization of Carol and Howard, who use each other?s presence as shields against judgment by a critical society, Gallant creates an amusing portrait of marriage as something that makes ?sense? with ?no reason?to fail? as long as both parties have ?a common interest? and ?[s]imilar economic backgrounds.?

Fun Home is a retelling of Alison Bechdel’s life through the lens of her relationship with her father. However, because of what she considers to have been his suicide, Alison is left with an incomplete picture of who he was in life. By calling Fun Home an autobiography, Bechdel enters an autobiographical pact with the reader that ensures that what Bechdel is telling us is the truth. However, elements out of her control leave Bechdel unable to provide certain objective facts necessary to her narrative. As an attempt to remedy these absences and in turn maintain the validity of her story, Bechdel uses intertextuality to fill in the gaps of in her retelling. By overlaying masterplots of fictional narratives over her own, the reader is able to get at an understanding of the kind of person Alison’s father was. In this way Bechdel is able to reveal things about her father that she can 't prove to be true, but are reflective enough of his life to become true.

Divorce is a negative experience for all who are involved, especially children. Maile Meloy’s “Hot or Cold,” a short story originally published in The New Yorker on December 22, 2003, is a reflection about her life as a child of divorce. The premise of the story is that the narrator is looking back on a memory from her childhood where she is in her family’s Volkswagen bus with a babysitter and her younger brother. Outside, her parents were skiing when a bear began to chase them, presumably because her mom was carrying chicken sandwiches in her backpack. At first, they tried to sing “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” in a humorous attempt to scare the bear off. They cross country skied back to the bus as he followed them, and zoomed off. The narrator witnessed the whole ordeal, and comes to think of it as a representation of her parents’ divorce. Meloy’s utilization of literary devices, including juxtaposition, symbolism, and imagery, tells the story of her parent’s divorce through her eyes as a young girl.

She is soon swept off her feet by a man who is much younger named Tea Cake. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake is extremely different than her previous relationships. She is stronger and more independent now. She also is married to him because she chose to be, not because she is forced to be or was tricked into marriage.. Tea Cake’s acceptance and respect towards Janie helps her grow and allow her to let her guard down. For the first time, Janie is happy and in love. During this time, love was rare in a marriage because most marriages were set up simply for financial stability. In her previous marriages, the men wanted to control and mold her to be the perfect wife. Tea Cake just wants Janie to be happy and does not expect her to be his trophy wife. Because of this they have a more enjoyable and adventurous relationship rather than a strict and controlling relationship. Though their relationship did end tragically, Tea Cake has shown Janie the true meaning of real

In her short story “Happy Endings”, Margaret Atwood uses different literary techniques that can alter the interpretation of the story’s theme. The story starts off with a generic “fairy tale” ending in which a husband and a wife live a happy life together and eventually die. However, as the story progresses, Atwood’s style and tone makes the alternate scenarios of John and Mary give off a sense of uncertainty of what main ideas she is trying to convey. Good opening and thesis.

Maria comes home one day earlier than usual. Her family, two daughters of age five and eight and a stay-at-home husband, is surprised to see her so early and unexpectedly. The tired look on her face reveals the experience she had at work. She brings out a sluggish smile as her daughters rush up to greet her with their warm embraces, reminding her of the happiness they constantly provide but also saddened by their questionable future. Quietly, she sits down in front of her anxious spouse as he patiently awaits the news, sensing the tension in the air.

The Husband loves his wife and the narrator writes through the tenderness of the Husband's eye. When Ann slices her finger re-washing the silverware, all animosity is lost as he scrambles up stairs to get her a Band-Aid as a peace offering to cease the argument. He finishes the cleaning in the kitchen and goes as far as to mop the floor while he waits for the frustration and anger to subside in his Wife.

In a country where Divorce is more normalized than ever before, one can be guilty of neglecting to consider the pain it can cause, not just the couple, but also their children. The short story “Hot or Cold” by Maile Meloy is a remembrance from the author's life which communicates the divorce of her parents represented in a nostalgic memory from her past. In the piece, the author’s young self plays in a van while her parents deal with an unexpected encounter with a bear. After a brief chase, the parents escape and the family drives away. The author masterfully develops the story by hinting at the nature of the parents relationship by adding clever metaphors, until it is apparent that the parents eventually divorce and that the story is only a dream. In the short story, the author utilizes juxtaposition, a motif, and metaphors, to suggest that memories create narratives, true or otherwise, that help one comprehend events that are otherwise incomprehensible.

In the story “Happy Endings” the author Margaret Atwood gives 6 scenarios in alphabetical order from A to F of how a couples life could play out over the span of their lives. In these six scenarios Atwood uses satire to emphasize how interchangeable and simple each couples life is. In this story Atwood uses character, style, and point of view to chastise the desire for the everyday common life and the concern for only the “whats” in life and not “how or why”.

First, Brush starts off the story by describing the couple that were at the restaurant. “They were a couple in their late thirties, and they looked unmistakably married.” “The man had a round, self-satisfied face, with glasses on it; the woman was fadingly pretty in a big hat.” Brush has now provided us with an image of the main characters in this short story. Furthermore, he became “hotly embarrassed” when he realizes what is going on. Towards the end of the story the wife was “crying quietly, and heartbrokenly and hopelessly, all to herself, under the gay big brim of her best hat>” When her husband did not appreciate

This story is about a wife named Louise Mallard who has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefully about her husband’s death. Her sister, Josephine, is unfortunately the one who has to break the news to newly widowed wife. One of her husband’s friends, Richard, learned about her husband’s death when he was reading the newspaper and heard about the crashing of a train that Brently was on. Louise is devastated when she learns of her husband’s death and runs upstairs to be alone. Louise sits down and ponders about life while looking out the window and hears a vendor yelling what he is selling. Still crying, she looks into the distance wondering what’s next. She is nervous for her life ahead and doesn’t know what she is going to do without her husband. She starts to think about what life is going to be like without having anyone telling her what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. She starts to feel warm inside knowing she is finally free. Louise knows she will become overcome with emotions when she is forced to see Brently’s body. She imagines the years

The title of this short story is very deceiving the tone is different from the tone of the story. The tone changes from happy to sad as soon as the cake is brought out. The women tried to show affection and love towards her husband by the cake but it was basically turned down. The point of view is through a random person who doesn’t know the couple at all. The speaker doesn’t know how they are as a couple but can see that the woman is upset at her husband’s reaction to the cake. “You looked at him and you saw this and you thought, “Oh, now, don’t be like that!” this quote almost lets us know that the