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You Gave Me Hycanthis Analysis

643 Words3 Pages

“You Gave Me Hycanthis” is a short story by Janette Turner Hospital. This story follows a nameless woman as she narrates her life of her first year as a high school English teacher, and the struggle she has teaching a certain student poetry, but in the end they both learn things about themselves and life. Throughout this story the main theme is feeling like an outsider, which is expressed frequently through the main characters’ life in a new town. There are three main characters introduced in this story; the main character (MC), Dellis and Gian. The MC is in a small town, of which she is not only unfamiliar with the town itself, but also the people and their way of life. The MC is trying to connect with her student Dellis, and is even willing to cross her own boundaries in order to fit in and understand Dellis, such as skinny dipping with her student and also stealing cane from a parked car (pp.26, 28). Delis on the other hand, is young and trapped in an outdated town, but with no ambition or desire to get out, a mindset which the MC finds difficult to understand. Gian is the last character introduced in ‘You Gave Me Hycanthis’. Gian is a Torres Strait Islander boy who escaped an abusive home life after killing his …show more content…

Yet as the story progresses, the mood begins to change as the author introduces a more joyful tone. This takes shape through the MC and Dellis’ adventure on the beach, them running through the rain together, and the MC repeating Dellis’ catchphrase of, “you spoil things”, which was also a significant point in the development of the MC’s character and the theme of being an outsider, as the MC was finally beginning to fit in (pp.29). The description of Gian’s house creates a clear imagery of the orchids having and ethereal glow to them, in the otherwise dusty cane field

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White Tiger Orchids: The white tiger orchids are a recurring symbol in the novel Uglies and are relevant to the plot and theme of the story for various reasons. It is a motif due to the fact that it recurs again and again throughout the story at intervals. The orchids show up for the first time when Tally waits for the rangers in a field of the orchids, a second time when the rangers explain to Tally the dangerous nature of the flowers, and final time when Tally and David cross through the desert created by the orchids on their way back to the city. The white tiger orchids, though they may seem insignificant at first, are extremely relevant to symbolizing the plot of Uglies itself, The orchids symbolize the theme of perfection and appearance

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Chrysanthemums are beautiful, delicate flowers, which often symbolize happiness. In the short story, “The Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck walks the readers through the lives of Elisa and Henry Allen. They live on a foothill ranch in Salinas Valley, California, where they spend most of their days living a simple lifestyle. The Allens focus their time on maintaining their ranch, but in the eyes of Elisa, this meant more time for her to tend to her beloved chrysanthemums. Steinbeck incorporates quizzical diction and repetition to characterize Elisa and to define happiness, to convey the message that it is more important to be happy than to try to please everybody else.

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In a simile, she compares gardening to “boxing… The wins versus the losses” (Hudes 16). Through this comparison, Hudes conveys Ginny’s deep desire for a sense of control and success in her life. This desire is fed by the memory of her father, who was only bearable when he was gardening. Specifically, the assertion of this desire for control is evident as she recalls that her father “was a mean bastard…” but “became a saint if you put a flower in his hand” (Hudes 15). From those experiences of dealing with her father, a psychological analogy between nature and peace was instilled in Ginny’s mind at a young age, and is what she relies on as an adult to handle her emotional trauma.

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He describes the childhood friend of Sonny as being “high and raggy” and smelling “funky,” and later a woman as having a “battered face” and being a “semi-whore” (68-69). These vivid character descriptions sharply contrast the strong lack of environmental descriptions found at the beginning of the story. These environmental descriptions are not yet found because Sonny has not yet come back to the city. Since the environment is used as a tool for describing the relationship between the brothers, it can not be described fully until the relationship is at play. As soon as the narrator is reunited with Sonny, he begins to fully describe his surroundings.

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Philips uses the postcard to further develop her belief in that there is a considerable difference between reality and dreams. Despite one's yearns to live somewhere appealing and calm, like the orange trees in Florida, the actuality of the world is a disarrayed household. Ultimately, Philips features both the unappealing physical look of the sewing woman and her grungy house to unveil how cruel the real world is, regardless of the fantasies one might

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In Karen Russell’s short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, she develops the progression of the characters in relation to The Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock. The characters, young girls raised as if they were wolves, are compared to the handbook with optimism that they will adapt to the host culture. The girls’ progression in the five set stages are critical to their development at St. Lucy’s. The author compares Claudette, the narrator, to the clear expectations the handbook sets for the girls’ development. Claudette’s actions align well with the five stages, but she has outbursts that remind her of her former self.

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Additionally , the house that the narrator mentions is illustrated as “ mansion of gloom “ which might be a sign that the aura of the house has something dreadful in it. However , the Narrator reveals something important about his first impression for the house by saying “ I looked upon the scene before me , upon the mere house, upon the bleak walls , upon the vacant eye-like windows ( 3 ).To illustrate , the words such as “ air of heaven , silent tarn , mystic vapor “ used as a reinforcement for making the ambience of the house as gloomy. In fact , in the light of these facts , it could be said that the house has an darkness appearance which might be an indication of its mysterious atmosphere.

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“There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while

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In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations. Through her use of the stylistic device diction, Eugenia Collier is able to describe to the reader the beauty of the marigolds compared to the drab and dusty town the story is set in.

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He creates a playful tone towards the harsh environment described in the short story. He describes the lifelike house as if it were a simple minded living being. For example he gave the house features of repetition and used phrases like, “it repeated the date three times for memory 's sake!”. His choice of words are charming and lighthearted rather than unpleasant to the ear. He continues to use these such words throughout even when he begins to talk of the sick scene.

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In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior.     At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.

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Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.

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