Ms. Leo’s Short Story Questions for Period 1 25 April 2011
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Period 1
1. Discuss “the will to live”, explaining how this theme fits with (a) “The Last Leaf” and (b) “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”.
Include the “who, where, and why” aspects of each short story.
2. Read the following explanation of Ambrose Bierce’s writing style:
“ . . . bitter Bierce . . . a deeply pessimistic man . . . was also
obsessed with death . . . “
How does Bierce’s writing style affect the plot, conflict and theme in “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”?
Explain how, with regard to each element.
3. With the outcome of “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”, how does the spy affect change in the General?
In your opinion, was this a sufficiently satisfying ending?
4. “The Tell-tale Heart” is a study in “paranoia and deterioration”. Can you relate to any of the characters in this short story by Edgar Allan Poe?
If so, which ones and how?
If not, what separates you, from them?
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1. Johnsie needed the will to survive in The Last Leaf, and the leaves represented her will to live; as for Parker Adderson, he relied on his wit to escape from death during his execution sentence.
2. The plot shows the man isn’t afraid of death, the conflict shows what the man is against, and the theme shows what kind of events the story will be about.
3. Parker Adderson changed the General when the general was dying; he finally got Adderson’s philosophy of death.
4. I am not like the characters from The Tell-Tale-Heart, because I never harmed anybody for the sake of my own satisfaction, and when I tried to do something sneaky, I never gloated about the genius I pulled.
1 (a) that theme of willing to live fits The Last Leaf because for Johnsy, when the leave was going to fall, she would stop trying to fight the disease and die.
(b)In Parker Adderson it fits because the spy new he was going to die, so when he was on his way to be assassinated, he fought with all his might and brains to try to escape.
1. the will to live is a common theme because they both have the option to make out how they live or die in the short stories.
2. it creates question for both by drawing the reader to want to know what is going to happen next; it affects all the aspects of the story.
3.the spy affects the view of the general – about how the general feels about death; the general realizes what the spy was trying to say. there is nothing in between death and living. you just die.
4. I can relate to the serving man because I understand how taking the life of someone would drive them insane; no, if I had taken the life of someone, I wouldn’t be able to maintain stability.
2 his style of writing lets you feel the mood of the story through the whole story
I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT.
1. A Mr.Behrman really wanted the girl to live, so he risked his life and she didn’t have the will to live anymore. B he tried to talk his way out of being killed, then he tried to forcibly get out of being killed, and in the end he died.
2. all those things effect the plot, style, conflict, and the theme, because it is the way the guy lived and what he liked. the way he was obsessed with death and his stories were about death in the end. some of the people where pessimistic and they were ‘bitter Bierce’ people.
3. the spy talked to the general about how death was not really that big of a deal and in the end they both ended up dying. NO,it wasn’t a sufficient ending. because war stories are not interesting.
4. No, because there was something wrong with almost everyone in the story.
2- It reflects in his writing by involving more death than other writers would use. Also far more depressing and darker moods to his stories
the spy affects change in the general because the spy freaks out and mortally wounds the general
1a. Mr. Behrman helped the girl live by painting the leaf on the tree because he knew the girl wanted to die when the last leaf fell. b. he tried to talk his way out of being killed but still ended up dying because he was a spy.
2. all of the things effect the plot, conflict, style and the theme because the guy told his stories by the way he lived his life; he liked talking about death; the people were pessimistic.
3. the spy talked to the general about how death was not a big deal and in the end they both died. in my opinion it wasn’t a sufficient ending, because war stories bore me.
4. no I can’t relate to any of the characters in the story because it’s not often that I think about killing people.
1. In the last leaf the will to live fits the character that is sick. She’s waiting for the last leaf of the ivy vine to fall to symbolize when she is going to die. The spy from Parker Adderson put up a fight in an attempt to save his life; he put up a great fiight with his will to live.
2. The writing style that is used in this story makes you think not on just a normal level but a level that makes you rethink again an again.
3. The general saw the time before he died, but was still living.
4. no, I don’t relate with the murder or killing; the old man bugged him so much he couldn’t keep his cool in front of the cops and he eventually broke down and admitted to it; I would have kept my cool and just ignored the noise and gotten away with it.
4-no
1) Mr. Behrman helped the girl stay alive by painting a picture of the last leaf. she thought that after the last leaf fell, she would die.
He tried to talk his way out of dying, but was still killed because he was a spy.
2) All of the things effect the plot,conflict, style and theme because the guy told his stories, talking about death.
3) The spy talked to the General about about how death wasn’t a big deal, and in the end they both died. In my opinion, it was not that good of an ending.
4) No, I cannot relate to any of the characters.
4- No, because I’m not delusional and crazy and wish people to die like he did
1. In both stories they are about life and death. In both stories it’s about someone close to death and trying to live.
2. Ambrose Bierce’s life affected plot, conflict and theme. The plot was a spy who was captured behind enemy lines and executed. The conflict was the spy trying to talk his way out of execution to the General, and making him think. The theme of the story was basically about death.
3. When the general is getting ready to have the spy executed, the spy makes the general kind of think twice, but the general ends up dying too.
4. No, I can’t relate to anyone in the story The Tell-Tale Heart, because I’m not anywhere close to as creepy as anyone in that story
1.The theme fits because – the people in both stories, the characters, are trying to live. In The Last Leaf, Johnsy had a sickness and was trying to get over it. In Parker Adderson, he is a Northern spy that gets caught and gets executed.
2. Bierce’s writing style has effect because in Parker Adderson, the plot was a Northern spy that got caught and he was going to die. Parker didn’t want to die; he was trying not to at all. The conflict was the spy trying not to get executed, and he was sweet-talking the General so he wouldn’t die. The theme was to not die, and the spy did.
3.The spy affects the change in the General because he was being wise with the general. Also the spy didn’t want to get executed; he wanted to kill the General.
4.No, I can’t relate to any character in The Tell-tale Heart because there weren’t any characters like me. What separates me from them is that the character is into killing, and I don’t like that at all.
i can relate to the police officers, because they were friendly and they were doing their job.
i can’t relate to the guy who killed the old man because he is obsessed with weird stuff and is hearing things
1.The will to live is generally how badly you want to live through something. It relates to the last leaf in many way. Johnsy thought she was going to die when the last leaf fell. Her will to live wasn’t as great as she would have liked it to be. It relates to Parker Adderson by the fact that the spy wanted to live badly, in fact he wanted to live so bad that he attacked the general.
2. Bierce’s writing style affected the plot in Parker Adderson. The whole story had this dark outlook about it. The whole story was the spy trying to escape death. The conflict was the spy vs. the general. The spy ended up attacking the general, and they both died in the end.
3. The spy affected change in the General at the end. The general had so many bad outlooks on life, and the spy shared his Philosophy with him. Toward the end, the General started to see things in a different light. When he died, he was at peace.
4. I cannot relate to any of the characters in The Tell-tale Heart. What separates me from them is, I’m not really a dark person. I don’t want to kill an old man just because of his eye.
1. The will to live in The Last Leaf was that Johnsy was holding on to life by the leaves falling. In Parker Adderson, he was trying to put on an act that life wasn’t important to him, but really inside he wanted to live, and tried to get out of it.
2. Ambrose Bierce’s dark writing style affects his stories; since he is obsessed with death and suffering, he makes his characters suffer or die in his works.
3. In Parker Adderson, the spy affects the general by making him feel sympathetic towards him, and then in the end the general was annoyed with him, and wanted to kill him them.
4. In a way I guess I can relate some to the people in Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, but not really; they were very unique individuals.
@Dalton You can relate to the characters in Poe’s stories but not really? I don’t see how that works.
1. The will to live in The Last Leaf was that Johnsy had to deal with a sickness and did not want to live; In Parker Adderson, he was a spy that got caught and fought to live
2. His dark writing style affected the plot, theme, and conflict by people dying or people getting hurt, as when the spy had killed the General and when the spy got shot to death
1. the leaf in The Last Leaf was a symbol for death that would decide Johnsy’s fate. and the candle in Parker Adderson, Philosopher is a symbol of death for the general
2. Bierce’s writing style affects the plot because he was obsessed with death; in the story the General is brutally killed and the spy was also brutally killed.
3. the spy made the General feel bad for him, and in the end that all changed and he wanted the spy dead then.
1. The theme “the will to live” fits with A) “the last leaf” and B) Parker Adderson, Philosopher.The 2 people would be in a) Johnnsy and in b) the spy. The Setting of where this was happening would be a) in her bed and in b) the Civil War in the tent. A) Johnnsy knew she was going to live when she saw the last leaf still there when she woke up.B)The spy wanted to live a longer live.
2. the style affects the plot by a spy getting captured and held in his tent; he wants longer execution time, but gets in trouble and they shorten it; the spy dies. the style affects the conflict by the General wanting the spy to die and the spy wanting to live longer. the style affects the theme by the will to live or die. Parker Adderson and Owl’s Creek Bridge, another short story by Bierce, have the same theme.
3.The spy affects change in the General by the spy’s moments of dying; the General finally realizes what his philosophy was. I think it was a pretty good ending.
4.none of them.
1. In “The Last Leaf” Johnsy has to fight for her life and also, in “Parker Adderson, Philosopher,” the general has to fight for his life as well. This is why they have a common theme, the ‘will to live’. These characters had the will to live because they weren’t about to give up.
2. The quote “Bitter Bierce, a deeply pessimistic man, and obsessed with death” affects the plot, conflict, and theme in “Parker Adderson, Philospher” because this short story is about fighting and is filled with many conflicts, such as spy v. general, north v. south, and also Adderson v. will to live and death. Parker Adderson also had dark thoughts and a dark philosophy about death.
3.In “Parker Adderson, Philosopher,” the spy changes the general’s view about death and gets him to understand his philosophy about death. I think “Parker Adderson, Philosopher” had a good ending; I think the general understanding Parker Adderson’s philosophy ended the story well, wrapping everything up.
4. In the “Tell-Tale Heart,” I can’t relate to any character, but the man in this short story definitely has something going – on maybe some psychological problems.
1) The “will to live” fits both “The
Last Leaf” and “Parker Adderson, Philosopher.”
The spy, Adderson, was awaiting his death. When
the sentenced time of his death was shortened, he tried
to to keep it the same time. He wanted to live
longer. Johnsy was sick and thought that when
the last leaf fell, she was going to die. When
she awoke and saw the last leaf still there,
she knew she was going to live.
2) Plot: A spy, Adderson, gets captured and
held in a tent until his execution time. He
starts trouble and gets his execution time
shortened. The spy dies along with the general.
Conflict: Spy VS. General – the spy wants to
live and the general wants the spy to die.
Theme: There are many themes and one of them
is consequences – responsibility for your own
actions.
The will to live – Adderson tried to do all
he could to try and live longer than intended.
“Parker Adderson, Philosopher” has the same theme
as “Owl Creek Bridge”.
3) The spy affects the General by allowing the
General to finally understand what his
philosophy meant.
My opinion – I thought it was a sufficiently
good ending.
4) I don’t relate to any of the characters in the “Tell-Tale Heart.”.
I don’t creep into people’s rooms at night.
1. Johnsy needed something to hang onto, while Parker Anderson needed and wanted to have something to die for, like a Spy, instead of like any Soldier found to keep a sense of pride and honor in what he did.
2. Ambrose Bierce’s character had a problem after war, which made him think of death a lot; for example, he could have seen a lot of his friends die in battle, and experienced thoughts about death – having his mind set on how death could have been for those people, since he was in war himself and lived it. (War does effect those who are in war, and those who aren’t in war.)
3. The spy allows the General to think more about the outcome and what Death feels like … plus the fact that the spy stabbed the General.
4. None of them are like me since I don’t think or act upon death or anything they’ve done . . . I don’t harm people physically or try to kill people. o_o..