Response Paper
The short story “Revolt of the Evil Fairies” by Ted Poston
With past and continuing cases of racial discrimination in our society, I believe this short story serves as a reminder of the unacceptable and inhuman nature of racial discrimination and other forms of discrimination. The narrator in the story, a colored-skinned character, is the short story’s protagonist. He was determined to succeed in gaining the role of Prince Charming in order to prove that African-American people could provide an interpretation of a leading role in a play. However, his compelling urge for achieving it was Sarah Williams, his one sided love affair, being assigned the role of a Sleeping Beauty. The intensity of the narrator’s need for persistence
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Another issue that is unveiled in the story is the societal stereotypes and prejudices in the film industry. Until recently, minority groups have been wrongly represented in the film industry, with most minority characters being assigned the undesirable roles or characters that are generally disliked by the audience, such as villains. Also, black people have for a long time depicted as ruthless and ignorant with most of them taking roles of low-income population. A similar context is depicted in the story where the protagonist, being a black, is denied the opportunity of playing the role of Prince Charming despite having qualified to play the role.
The short story “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter
After reading Gryphon, I think the story is not just about Ms. Ferenczi’s sanity, neither is it about whether she is right or wrong. She is a breath of happiness and excitement in the otherwise dull routine of the children, and that makes me, as a reader, consider her heroic. However, she can only be regarded as a heroic if we accept the false dichotomy that school is a difficult choice between thrilling fictions and boring facts. What I found to be truly important in the story is the intense longing of the children for something more intriguing and magical than their daily experience.
Chapter 13 Writing About