FALL 2016
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 9th, 2016
I am not sure what to make of this story. It feels awkward and somewhat uncomfortable, especially in the dialogue. A lot of the conversation doesn’t even occur in quotations, but in the context of the confusing and muddled paragraphs. I tied this largely to the cultural separation but I realize that Yiyun Li creates this […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 8th, 2016
Butler does not use a lot of complicated methods in “Snow.” It is fairly simple. It is written in a simple style, nothing is too technical, yet it is still a powerful story. “Snow” is in first person, told by a Vietnamese girl who works at a Chinese restaurant. Part of the reason behind the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 8th, 2016
“Snow” is written in first person, and has a story telling quality in the opening lines. We are in the narrator’s head, but she is also speaking to us in: “I wonder how long he watched me sleeping. I still wonder.” There is a quality of being outside of her head in this. The narrator […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 8th, 2016
In “Snow” by Robert Butler, the author really captures the narrator as a person, giving her flaws, interesting quirks, insecurities, and realistic thoughts. She feels like an outsider, a person from Vietnam who has not become an American yet, but has not found a Vietnamese community in the United States either. She thinks this may […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 6th, 2016
The setting of a restaurant creates a kind of entrapment to the narrator and the man named Mr. Cohen. The store, Plantation Hunan, sounds like it could be a bustling place with lots of people. Yet, in the story, it is described as having only two people in the main area, with a divide between […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 1st, 2016
The characterization of Henry (senior) is done primarily through his view and actions towards others. In other words, through very little telling and mostly showing without any analysis of his actions. Strout trusts her readers to be able to develop their own thoughts and understanding of Henry. Besides the shifting between past and present at […]