Identities


 * Short Stories - Literary Devises Title:___Identities___ **


 * Point of View: **Third person

The unshaven man in blue jeans. Round, dynamic type of character. The protagonist himself.
 * Protagonist: **
 * What type of character is the Protagonist? **
 * Antagonist: **

This story takes place in what seems to be a town that has been brought down by criminals, hence the sunken buildings, broken and clogged fences, and trashed streets. According to some hints in the story(like lack of cellphones, and stereotypical "look" of bad guys), I'd say it was around the 1980s or 90s, during fall.
 * Describe the setting **

Man vs self.
 * Type of Conflict: **

The conflict could be when the man pulls up to the store and sees the three shady figures. At that moment, he has decided that they are likely to mug him, and hides his wallet. This conflict led to the climax.
 * Describe the main conflict: **

The police confronts the protagonist, and instead of raising his hands into the air, he reaches for his wallet for his identity. The policeman mistakes him for another man (a criminal) and "shoots" him. The actual shooting isn't stated, but as a cliffhanger-type story, it is implied at the end to make us decide the ending for ourselves.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story: **

The protagonist was nervous and weary throughout the entire story, but once he met the policeman, all of that was gone and he thought that he was safe from any harm.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? **

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">First of all, I think that the theme of the story is that humans stereotype others just by the way they dress or looks a lot. It is in our nature to make assumptions based on what the person's attire is. The title "Identities" refers to the different identities we can take on just by the way we dress.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. **

The main conflict is when the protagonist arrives in front of the store. He sees the three people and immediately makes a judgement that they are bad guys.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? **

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">The climax shows the police mistaking the man for a criminal, and when he reached for his wallet to identify who he actually was, he was shot. This show that everyone makes judgements, be it criminals or policemen. The protagonist hid his wallet because he thought the those people were going to mug him, therefore when he was reaching for the wallet for identification, the police also made a judgement that he was reaching for a gun.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Simile: **

"Paper clogs the fence like drifted snow "

"Darkness has quietly been settling like soot. "

"grubby children who dart back and forth like startled fish "


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Metaphor: **

"The houses are squat " "Eagles, tigers, wolves and serpents ride their backs. "


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Personification: **

"Eagles, tigers, wolves and serpents ride their backs. "


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Symbol: **

"Eagles, tigers, wolves and serpents ride their backs. ", symbolizes that those people have tattoos of those animals on their backs.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Foreshadowing (give both elements): **

"So intent is he upon the future that he dangerously ignores the present and does not notice the police car, concealed in the shadows of a side street, nose out and follow him."

"He is so intent upon the three men and the girl that he does not notice the police car drift against the curb, nor the officer who is advancing with a pistol in his hand."

In order to save his money from any robbers, he zipped his wallet up into his pocket, which when he attempts to pull out for identification, looks like he is pulling out a gun. He saved his money but lost his life.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Irony: **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Imagery: **

"The houses are squat, as though they have been taller and have, slowly, sunk into the ground. Each has a band of dirt around the bottom. "

"The houses have all faced toward the sun. Now, as he passes grey stone gates, the yards are all proscribed by stiff picket fences and, quickly, a certain untidiness creeps in: a fragment of glass, a chocolate bar wrapper, a plastic horse, cracked sidewalks with ridges of stiff grass. "

<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Our class theme is //Humanity//, and our ability to judge others by the way they look is in our nature. I think that the story identities represents a few of the traits of humanity. Us humans each have good and bad points. We are able to read into situations quickly and efficiently, like how the man immediately jumped to the conclusion that the neighbourhood he was in was dangerous. That ability is something animals lack. But on the other hand, that ability may lead to negative points. Jumping to conclusion too quickly may result in misunderstandings. Such misunderstandings have caused us hatred, grief, and in "Identities", the death of an innocent man. This cannot be changed, for it is our nature as humans to do so, but I think the story "Identites" is trying to tell us to understand a situation better before you make any crucial judgements.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. **

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Completion 5/5 <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Effort 5/5 <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">Content 5/5 <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Paragraph 5/5

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">total 20/20