英语短篇小说作业

The Chrysanthemums

After I learned , I can find the contribution of the the setting to the development of the story. For example, the scenery and the weather of the first paragraph settle the setting of this story. 'The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot. 'As far as I'm concerned, I think it's strange that the high grey-flannel fog on the mountains was described as a closed pot.

The two sentences reflect that the environment of Elisa's life is isolated from the outside world. 'The yellow stubble fields seemed to be bathed in cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley now in December. It reflects that Elisa is depressive. She was lonely and she wanted to be loved and accepted by others. I think the women want the equality and freedom. But from the first paragraph, it indicates the pursuit of Elisa was bound to be a failure. And the traditional mind made her lack of feminity. Her fate likes the chrysanthemums. The description reflects the society was cruel and unreasonable at that time.

Early Autumn

From the selected reading of , I think the characters of Mary and Bill were well described.

First of all, I want to talk about the character of Mary. First, she is impulsive. She married a man she thought she loved. Maybe she made a wrong decision. And she leaded a needy life later. Second, when she met and recognized Bill, she said'always wondered what happened to you. 'On the one hand, I think she is not reserved. As if she forgot that she have been married. In her age, she isn't elegant. On the other hand, she is enthusiastic. She is curious and careful about Bill's life. Third, 'the lights on the avenue blurred, twinkled, blurred. 'This sentence shows when she knew that Bill got married, her mood was from surprised and excited to totally disappointed. She has tears in her eyes. She still loved Bill. It reflects that she lived in memory. So she named her little son Bill.

Next, I want to talk about the character of Bill. He is wise. When Mary had married another man, he chose to go away. He didn't make himself unhappy all the time. Insdead he tried to develop himself. He worked to make himself perfect. After many years, he lead a happy and rich life. He is mature. He knew he should keep a distance with Mary. And when Marry lifted her face as though wanting a kiss, he just held out his hand. So I think he is a reserved man and he has a charm of the men.

A Clean,Well-lighted Place

The conflicts in this story are evident and intense. The conflicts are between young and old. The old man didn't want to go home and he always made himself drunk. 'He was deaf. 'It means he was isolated from the outside world. Because of loneliness, he didn't go home. But

the young waiter wanted the old man to go home early. He had his wife waiting in bed for him. The conflicts also reflected between religion idealism and nihilism, confidence and despair, everything and nothing, sympathy and lack of sympathy, understand and lack of

understanding, light and darkness, clean and dusty, youthful and aged, sleep and insomnia. We can find that the conflicts are in many ways. The two waiters are different from each other. One can understand the loneliness of the old man and show the sympathy to him. But the other waiter is lack of understanding and sympathy. He even said an old man is a nasty thing. He didn't want to look at the old man. And he wished the old man go home early.

The cafe is a clean, well-lighted place. In the daytime, the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late. The conflict is between clean and dust. Though the old man is lonely and nihilism, he still hoped to find a clean and bright place to make himself comfortable.

The last paragraph writes like this'many must have it. 'So I can learn that the people nowadays are lonely and nihilism. They need light and order.