The story "Of Mice and Men", how does the excerpt from Candy relate to the American Dream and Garden of Eden?
"Old Candy watched him go. He looked helplessly back at Curley's wife, and gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into words. "You God damn tramp", he said viciously. "You done it, di'n't you? I s'pose you're glad. Ever'body knowed you'd mess things up. You wasn't no good. You ain't no good now, you lousy tart." He sniveled, and his voice shook. "I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys." He paused, and then went on in a singsong. And he repeated the old words: "If they was a circus or a baseball game... we would of went to her... jus' said 'ta hell with work,' an' went to her. Never ast nobody's say so. An' they'd of been a pig and chickens... an' in the winter... the little fat stove... an' the rain comin'... an' us jes' settin' there." His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn, and he rubbed his bristly whiskers with his wrist stump." I'm not a Christian, so I really don't know how this scene parallels the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Will you rate my story excerpt?
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/ShannonH87/1755410/ This is an excerpt from a much larger piece so it might seem like you've been droppped into the middle of a story. Any feedback is appreciated. Not overly concerned with grammatical errors at this stage but would be interested to see if the story or characters grabbed your attention in any way or made you curious about what happens next.
What does excerpt mean?
So, I do an online schooling called Montgomery Academy, and I had to read two stories. Now I have an assignment called Compare Genera's. It says to write an excerpt for each story. Can anyone explain to me what an excerpt is? Thank you!
What does this excerpt from the beginning of the short story "Winter Dreams" tell readers about Dexter's motivations as a character?
He became a golf champion and defeated Mr. T. A. Hedrick in a marvellous match played a hundred times over the fairways of his imagination, a match each detail of which he changed about untiringly—sometimes he won with almost laughable ease, sometimes he came up magnificently from behind. Again, stepping from a Pierce-Arrow automobile, like Mr. Mortimer Jones, he strolled frigidly into the lounge of the Sherry Island Golf Club—or perhaps, surrounded by an admiring crowd, he gave an exhibition of fancy diving from the spring-board of the club raft. . . . Among those who watched him in open-mouthed wonder was Mr. Mortimer Jones. a. Dexter dreams of upstaging Mortimer Jones at golf and gaining his admiration. b. Dexter dreams of becoming a champion golfer and buying an expensive automobile with the winnings. c. Dexter dreams of being admitted into high society and gaining its admiration. d. Dexter dreams of befriending Mortimer Jones so he can convince him to give him a job. e. Dexter dreams of impressing Mortimer Jones so he can borrow his automobile.
What does this excerpt from "A rose for emily" mean?
No. Colonel Sartoris is not Emily's father. The paragraph means that ever since 1894, Miss Emily had not been required to pay taxes. Colonel Sartoris, who was mayor at that time, had made that ruling, and had ordered that her exemption from taxes should continue for the rest of her life. Why should she be exempt from taxes? Colonel Sartoris made up a story that Emily's father (who was somebody else, NOT Sartoris) had done the town a big financial favor, and this was the town's way of repaying him-- by exempting his daughter from taxes. Maybe you are confused by the word "hereditary"; no, it has nothing to do with her parentage; it means that the town, for generation after generation, continued to take care of Emily. Or the word "fathered"? No, it means that Sartoris had written the law forbidding black women from appearing in public without wearing an apron (as a demeaning uniform), not that he had literally "fathered" any particular child.
What does this excerpt mean?
say you are a kid on the playground and some bully comes up and takes your lunch and punches you in the nose. If there is no on duty to complain to (for redress), your first impulse may to run after the bully and punch the bully in the nose. It seems like playground justice. Until you realize that you have just become the bully to someone else - the cycle could be endless if this is how we chose to "redress" the wrongs done to us. Then your friend comes up and tells you the hardluck story of the century - about how the bully hasn't had any food for a week and lives alone under a bridge. Now you feel really guilty for "redressing" the bully. You say to yourself, if I'd known the bully was just hungry, I would have given the bully my lunch. That is putting yourself (the avenger) in the place of "him who has done the wrong". good luck
Does this short excerpt of mine need more work?
I think it's a good start! I actually liked that he smirked because it indicates that he’s a bit full of himself, which adds depth to your character. However, I think I would need more of the story to know if it is working or not. This is an interesting line by one character, but how does Juliet respond? What circumstances led them to this conversation? What will be the outcome of their conversation? (Perhaps you are going to write a quite different take on the classic Romeo and Juliet.)As far as this line goes, though, I don't think you need to say “self-satisfaction” after he smirks. The smirk can indicate many things (sarcasm, self-satisfaction, etc), and shows the reader what your character is doing, rather than telling them. It's always better to use your characters’ actions and speech to build them, rather than using too much explanation. Showing even leaves room for the reader to guess about the character, to form their own opinions and questions. If Romeo smirks, I might read it as sarcasm, but as the story grows, I will realize he meant it. That gradual understanding of characters is wonderful when you are reading a story, so keep that in mind. You don't need a lot of description, particularly a lot of description right up front. Let your readers get to know the characters on their own terms. When you meet a person in real life, you don't know everything about them that instant. Instead, you spend more time with them and slowly learn more about them. Your readers don't need to know everything about your characters the moment they meet. Their relationships with the characters can grow over time.Your line could be (and it doesn't have to be; my critiques are not perfect and might not fit with your voice): “You know, I would draw you Jules, but I won't because you're already a work of art.” Romeo smirked, as he gave himself an imaginary clap on the back.(These are just suggestions, so you can ignore them if you don't like them or if you feel they aren't right for your story/voice. But I hope this helps, all the same.)