The irony in "The Chaser"

Irony is the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant, what is said and what is done, what is expected or intended and what happens, what is meant or said and what others understand. The short story "The chaser" has many of these examples. For example, Alan is a young man looking for a love potion to make a girl he is interested in fall in love with him. The old man who sells these potions first talks about a "glove cleaner," which we later learn is an antidote to the love potion Alan seeks. The irony in this is the main character Alan thinks he wont have to go back for anything because he will be so happy, but the old man already knows that he will go back for the death antidote. In the end of the story, after Alan leaves the store, he says "Good bye" thinking he won't ever have to go back, but the old man says "Au revior" which in french means "see you later," because he knows that Alan will come back later.

The Chaser

The short story "The Chaser," by John Collier, has many ambiguties within it. The main character Alan is looking for a love potion to make the person he's interested in show love towards him. The other character- the old man -first talks about a potion that speeds up the process of death before even mentioning he has a love potion. Menacingly, the old man describes the antidote that speeds up one’s process of death. (adverbs out of order). The old man says that it costs 5,000 dollars for just a teaspoon. The old man describes the potion as a "life cleaner" but Alan doesn’t catch on that it ends someone’s life. The old man talks about one thing, but Alan takes it to mean something else. This is the source of ambiguity in the story.

Born in the USA motif

“Born in the USA” are the recurring words in the song. They highlight what life is really like to live in America and how it’s not as great as it seems. Bruce Springstein tries to show the reader what it really is like to live in the USA. For example, "The first kick I took when I hit the ground," The moment he is born he's going to have a hard life to live. Also "Got in a little home town jam so they put a rifle in my hand and sent me off to kill the yellow man" states that he got into trouble and instead of going to jail he went off to war. In the song Springstein tries to tell us how hard it is to get a job even after serving his country. Bruce Springstein's song is a poem about what it's really like to live in the USA.

Ishmael Beah: Life in Seirra Leone

In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah writes about his experiences as a young boy soldier in Sierra Leone, a country which, according to the CIA, suffered: "domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle". Throughout the novel Beah transports the reader into a war zone. He uses imagery: "Bodies, furniture, clothes and all kinds of property were scattered all over". Beah also writes of how the rebels just left the bodies there: "There were bodies everywhere and flies were feasting on the congealed blood on them". According to many resources refugee camps where created, but don't do much. National Gepographic states, "Many live in refugee camps, fleeing persecution, armed conflict, murder, rape, and mutilation. Being in a refugee camp doesn't mean you're finally safe. It doesn't mean you're sure to be fed. It means your odds are better. Maybe." Author Sebastian Junger also writes about the tragedies about Sierra Leone: "The last time the RUF had occupied Freetown, in 1999, they'd massacred thousands of civilians and set up checkpoints where they methodically chopped the arms off of everyone they chose not to kill. It looked like the horror show was about to happen again, and the population was in a panic."A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah lived in the fears that the people now in Sierra Leone go through, and he also was the fear that Sierra Leone runs from.

Short answer MCAS

Queen Elizabeth’s speech to her navy are words of inspiration and confidence in a time of war. Within the speech Queen Elizabeth inspires her soldiers by letting them know that even though she is a woman she still loves England as much as they do. She says "I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king". Throughout the rest of her speech she speaks as any leader would to her people regardless of her gender. Queen Elizabeth's speech tells us that she would do anything for her country.

Characterization in "The Secret Life of Bees"

Rosaleen: “Rosaleen worked for us since my mother died.” (p.2)
“You’d put his brain in a bird, and the bird would fly backward” (p. 12)
“There is worse things in the house than chicken sh*t” (p. 11)

T. Ray: “He didn’t believe in slumber parties, or sock hops, which wasn’t a big concern as I never got invited to them anyway.”
“My daddy who I called T. Ray because “daddy” never fit him.”
“Goddamn it Lily, this ain’t funny”

Lily: “That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise”
“Not a single person had ever said, “Lily, you are such a pretty child””
“There was nothing I hated worse than a clump of whispering girls who got quiet when I passed.”

Discussion question Secret Life of Bees

What do you think will happen to the bee that Lily caught? Do you think it will have any positive effect on her and T. Ray's relationship?

Sue Kidd’s Secret Life of Bees follows a young girl yearning for stability in a complicated life style. In the beginning of the novel Kidd uses imagery to help the reader visualize. For example, she describes the swarm of bees in the character’s room: “During the day I heard them tunneling through walls of my bedroom sounding like a radio tuned to static in the next room, and I imagined them turning the walls into honeycombs with honey seeping out for me to taste”. The author wanted to show the readers how the character feels about her mother and her mother’s death: “That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise.” Kidd also wanted to show that the character wanted to share her experience with the bees with not only herself but with others: “Still, the sight was a true spectacle. Suddenly I couldn’t stand not showing it off to somebody, even if the only person around was T. Ray.” Using different images to help the reader experience the characters life, Sue Kidd tries to write as if the reader was there.

McCarthy’s Diction in Child of God: By Talia Bodner



In the excerpt from Cormac McCcarthy’s Child of God the author creates diction which is both different and southern. McCarthy describes the main character: “He’d just shoot directly he seen the feathers fly you couldn’t tell it.” The author’s diction even includes fragments: “him with a rifle you with a shot gun.” The author describes the character as handy with a rifle: “we’d never seen the like of shootin.’” As shown McCarthy’s diction in this novel is a unique type of slang.

Talia B.'s MCAS portfolio

This is the place I'm posting my writing and work for my MCAS English program.