Story Structure: Three Ways
Story as a Journey
The Mother
Lydia Davis
The girl wrote a story. "But how much better it would be if you wrote a novel," said her mother." The girl built a dollhouse. "But how much better if it were a real house," her mother said. The girl made a small pillow for her father. "But wouldn't a quilt be more practical," said her mother. The girl dug a small hole in the garden. "But how much better if you dug a large hole," said her mother. The girl dug a large hole and went to sleep in it. "But how much better if you slept forever," said her mother.
Lydia Davis
Questions to consider:
- Where does the protagonist want to go in the story (i.e. what is her desire?)
- What obstacles does she encounter?
- What does she do to overcome (or not) the obstacles?
- Is there a change that occurs in the story? What about for the reader?
Story as a Power Struggle
What Belongs to You
Garth Greenwell
That my first encounter with Mitko B. ended in a betrayal, even a minor one, should have given me greater warning at the time, which should in turn have made my desire for him less, if not done away with it completely. But warning, in places like the bathrooms at the National Palace of Culture, where we met, is like some element coterminous with the air, ubiquitous and inescapable, so that it becomes part of those who inhabit it, and thus part and parcel of the desire that draws us there.
Questions to consider:
- What are the potential conflicts the author is setting up with this opening passage?
- Who (or what) would you call the protagonist and the antagonist in this passage? Is the antagonist a character, an abstract force, some combination of the two?
Story as Connection and Disconnection
Jazz
Toni Morrison
Sth, I know that woman. She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going. When the woman, her name is Violet, went to the funeral to see the girl and to cut her dead face they threw her to the floor and out of the church. She ran, then, through all that snow, and when she got back to her apartment she took the birds from their cages and set them out the windows to freeze or fly, including the parrot that said, "I love you."
Questions to consider:
- Take a moment to map out the various connections and disconnections between characters. Would you characterize the novel as a comedy or tragedy, from what's given to us in this first paragraph?
- What connection or disconnection stuck out to you the most?
- Pay attention to the parrot—where does a bird like that learn language?
I think it is showing how the daughter always shows her mom things and her mom always tells her to do better and what if. The daughter always does what the mom says.
ReplyDeleteThe author at first seems to set up conflict with Mitko. However I think internal conflict plays a huge role. The antagonist could be this natural pull or desire the speaker feels for mitko.
ReplyDeleteThe Mother
ReplyDelete1.) The protagonist wants to get away, let loose and have fun without anyone else telling her what to do
2.) Her obstacle is her mother because she keeps telling the protagonist to do something else, pushes them around
3.) The protagonist doesn’t overcome it because they do what the mother says
4.) The change is the escalation of what the mother wants them to do, has a solemn feeling at the end
The protagonist was the narrator, and the antagonist, his desire. The conflicts were both man vs man, as with the idea of the betrayal, as well as man vs self with the narrator fighting against his desire
ReplyDelete1. For the passage What Belongs to You the conflict is that she doesn't want to be drawn to the place and she keeps having the desire towards Mitko
ReplyDelete2. The protagonist would be the narrator and antagonist would be Mitko in the passage. The antagonist would be a character and she is drawn to places like the National Palace of Culture where they met.
What Belongs to Us-
ReplyDelete- Potential conflicts could be a self sabotage because the narrator is forgiving of the other character following the betrayal, even though he potentially shouldn't.
- The protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist could either be Mitko B. or the desire in general.
Reading #2
ReplyDelete- The conflict in this passage seems to be set up by the main character and is an exploration of the values she holds versus her relationship with this person she is talking about. The potential conflicts arise from how she talks about the situation.
- The protagonist seems to be the main character, the person narrating the story, while the antagonist seems to be the person that is being talked about.
The story is on a daughter and her mother and the mother just doesn’t let the daughter do her own thing, she’s always trying to one up her in a way. The end took a turn when the mother said how about she sleep forever? It sounds more like a tragedy more than a comedy.
ReplyDeleteWhat belongs to you
ReplyDeleteI could sense some foreshadowing. The main character got betrayed by Mitko B., and the main character will go on to get betrayed again later in the story. For some reason the main character keeps his/her trust in Mitko B.
The protagonist is the narrator or main character. The antagonist is Mitko B.
In “The Mother”, the protagonist just wants to be happy with what she has done but the mother keeps putting her down. To try and overcome it she keeps trying different things, and at the end she finally does what she says and digs a bigger hole, but that wasn’t enough. This change also has a change for the reader afterwards, because the mother tells the child to “sleep forever”.
ReplyDeleteThe author had some sort of conflict with Mitko and that made their interest in Mitko almost completely disappear. But then they are still trying to justify why they feel like that
ReplyDeleteZoe Brewer
Answering questions for Story as a Power Struggle
ReplyDelete1. The potential conflicts set up in this passage include an external conflict between the narrator and Mitko B as well as an internal conflict between the narrator and the setting. Greenwell’s introduction has readers wondering about the narrator’s relationship with places like the bathrooms at the National Palace of Culture— do they want to escape the hold it has on them? Or will they spend the story being drawn back to the Palace over and over again.
2. I think the protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is a combination of the Mitko B character and the setting that the narrator describes as “inescapable.”
The protagonist’s desire is just to gain her mother’s approval, but nothing she does is ever enough for her mother. // A change occurs when the story progresses from simple tasks such as making a quilt, to becoming dark asking her to dig a hole, lie in it, and sleep forever. // I don’t think she was able to overcome the obstacle.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the potential conflicts the author is setting up with this opening passage?
ReplyDelete-He is setting up an obvious conflict between himself and whoever Mitko B. Is because he states that their first encounter ended in betrayal
Who (or what) would you call the protagonist and the antagonist in this passage? Is the antagonist a character, an abstract force, some combination of the two?
-The protagonist would be Garth Greenwell (the author) and the protagonist would be Mitko B. who is a character in the story.
The potential conflicts is the betrayal of Mitko B. and the narrators desire for him. The protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is Mitko B. and the element in the air that brings them back National Palace of Culture. One antagonist is human and the other is an abstract force.
ReplyDeleteWhat Belongs to You-
ReplyDelete- the author is setting up conflict between himself and Mitko B.
- in this case the protagonist is the author and the antagonist is Mitko B. I think the antagonist is a mix of a character and a force.
For "what belongs to you" we talked about how the author is setting up internal conflicts with the protagonists- like man vs. self. I would call the narrator the protagonists and then the antagonist the author again as well. What's right or wrong here isn't clear, it's a spectrum of gray as the conflict is wholly internal.
ReplyDeletewhat belongs to you
ReplyDelete-The potential conflicts has to do with Mitko B. and the fact that he doesn't want to like him.
- The protagonist is the author and their perspective. The antagonist is Mitko B. since he betrayed him.
What Belongs to Us:
ReplyDeletePotential conflicts could be self-sabotage because the narrator is forgiving of the other character following the betrayal, even though he potentially shouldn't. And the protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist could either be Mitko B. or the desire in general, causing pain and anger.
The author is presenting a conflict through the description of some kind of person or abstract force that betrayed him. The author also describes how its personality was addictive. The protagonist is the author and then the antagonist is Mitko B. I believe that the antagonist is a mixture of a being, as well as an abstract force that haunts the author.
ReplyDeleteI would categorize the story tragedy, where Violet was cheated on. Violet was with the man that shot the girl, and was jealous of their love; hence why she showed up at the funeral. There is nothing she could do to make the love Sth and her significant other had go away, so in a last ditch effort or revenge, she lets Sth's birds go. The parrot saying "I love you" at the end, was likely hinting at the love Violets boyfriend had for Sth. For the parrot to repeat the words, it would have to have heard the words often.
ReplyDeleteWhat Belongs to you - Garth Greenwell:
ReplyDeleteI think that the some of the potential conflicts that could be brought up from this first passage could be interpreted in a physical or emotional way. The first way I perceived this passage was some sort of business betrayal by maybe taking a client out from under his feet. The other way I kind of saw this was a some sort of threat. As the Author says “is like some element coterminous with the air, ubiquitous and inescapable”. When the author wrote inescapable in the setting he described as a bathroom I could not get the image of a poor man being beaten by some angry business man that didn’t get his way.
I think that the author portrays himself as the protagonist, but as for the antagonist I believe he is more of an abstract force that also works as a character. I say this due to the brief mention of the character but the hyper focus on the antagonists actions and the setting they met each other in.
The Mother
ReplyDelete1) The protagonist’s desire in the story is to create and do what she wants and thinks is best.
2) The obstacle she encounters is her mother telling her she should have do something different or better.
3) She does not overcome her mother as in the end she gives in to her mother.
4) There is a change that occurs in the story as the protagonist gives up on making what she wants and does what her mother thinks is best.
Story as a Power Struggle:
ReplyDeleteWhat are the potential conflicts the author is setting up with this opening passage?
From my interpretation, I think the author might have had high expectations before meeting Mitko B and the reaction we’re getting from the author is how they felt afterwards.
Who (or what) would you call the protagonist and the antagonist in this passage? Is the antagonist a character, an abstract force, some combination of the two?
The author writing would be consider as the Protagonist because its from their point of view. I feel that the antagonist is a little bit of both because they thought they knew who Mitko B was but in reality they don’t.
1. For what belongs to you I feel like the conflict is that there is a betrayal of Mitko b.
ReplyDelete2. The protagonist is the narrator and the antagonist is mitko b and the antagonist is Both a human and a natural force.
Potential conflicts that the author is setting up is person vs self but also person vs person. The author has set it up in a way to make it seem that after the encounter they had a falling out yet she still was thinking about where they met and maybe trying to come up with a reason to justify his actions, then showing the person vs self because she stated she liked him less yet she is still trying to find a way to like him after the bad encounter. I would call the protagonist the one thinking about where they met and the one who was disliked after the encounter as the antagonist. the antagonist is a person, but also i feel that the protagonist getting in their own head makes their overthinking a antagonist as well so that is a somewhat abstract force.
ReplyDeletewhat belongs to you
ReplyDeletepotential conflict: he makes us assume that Mitko B. does something to betray him, and that he should have seen that coming from the beginning, even though the author desires Mitko B
protagonist: the desire for Mitko B, antagonist: warning of Mitko B betrayal
I think the conflict of this is that she doesn’t want to be attracted to Mitko B. She doesn’t want to really like him.
ReplyDeleteThe protagonist of this excerpt is the author and what their perspective is. I feel like the antagonist is the character and a mix of the unusual force.
I read “What belongs to you” and what I gathered was that the woman was in a relationship with a man who betrayed here. I wonder how he betrayed her? She says that there were many warnings that she should have caught onto but never did until after she was betrayed. The potential conflicts the author has set up would definitely be a conflict between the man and woman because he betrayed her and now he has lost her trust. I would say the protagonist is the woman and the antagonist could either be the man or the bathroom at the National Palace of Culture. I think the woman is the protagonist because she is the main character experiencing struggle. The man and the bathroom both resent things that makes the woman struggle with desire.
ReplyDeleteThe Mother
ReplyDelete1. The protagonist wants to be able to be free and do what she wants/go where she wants.
2. She encounters her own mother. Her mother does not think that anything she does is good enough.
3. The protagonist gives in to the mother at the end of the story.
4. There is a change in the story because in the beginning, the protagonist had a sense of confidence, but toward the end she started to feel defeated and eventually gave into her mother.
Betty Lundal
ReplyDeleteWhat belongs to you-
conflicts between the characters with betrayal was known yet there wasn't a big enough warning. Seems like the bathroom is the root of the conflicts.
Jazz
ReplyDelete- I would consider this a tragedy. Violet had to have had a connection to the 18 year old girl. The woman had a connection to the birds. The parrot had to have hear the words "I love you" said by the woman.
- Disconnection- Is the woman mentioned at the beginning "violet"?. Disconnection between the parrots words and the woman.
Jazz
ReplyDeleteThe wife and husband clearly don’t get along, there is a feel of disconnection. I would characterize this as a tragedy. The first paragraph feels like its all over the place, I can’t really make out what is happening here. The bird could have learned it from the disconnective tendencies of the woman.
Jazz definitely feels like a sad and desperate tragedy. The only connection I can kind of make with the character in this story is the willingness and how desperate the character was to keep something going. I can’t connect to wanting to want to feel a certain feeling so much that I shoot someone for it. The parrot saying “I love you” because a parrot repeats what it hears, so someone had to be saying “I love you.”
ReplyDeleteThe encounter with Mitko B., and the writ er, saying he should have given him more time. I think the protagonist is the writer, and the antagonist is Mitko. B, he is making the protagonist life hard.
ReplyDeleteI looked at the story The Mother
ReplyDeleteWhere does the protagonist want to go in the story (i.e. what is her desire?)- The protagonist in this story is the little girl. She wants to get her mothers approval.
What obstacles does she encounter? Her obstacles include her mother never being satisfied with what she makes or does.
What does she do to overcome (or not) the obstacles? She doesn't necessarily do anything. Her mother keeps telling her it would be better if she did something else but she never does anything to please her mother.
Is there a change that occurs in the story? What about for the reader? Towards the end of the story it almost seems like the mothers attitude is getting more aggressive. She's not happy with anything that she does.
1) From what is given to us in the first paragraph I would characterize this novel as a tragedy. The connection from each character that creates many different disconnections allows the reader to see the tragedy that has been formed through death and the loss of love.
ReplyDelete2) The connection that stuck out to me the most was the connection between Violet’s husband that the relationship he had with the 18 year old girl. The disconnection that stood out to me the most was the death of the 18 year old girl.
3) A parrot learns to speak through the environment in which it lives. This tells us that what once was a loving environment is no longer able to show love.
I felt a lot of disconnection between violet and the 18 year old girl but also the husband with either of those characters. I would describe this novel as a tragedy. The parrot definitely learned that language through what it hears from its owners.
ReplyDeleteThe protagonist could be either Mitko B. or desire in general, with the narrator serving as both. She doesn't want to be lured to the location, yet she can't help but be drawn to Mitko. In the passage, “What Belongs to You” .T he narrator is forgiving of the other character after the betrayal, even though he perhaps shouldn't be, which could lead to issues.
ReplyDelete