All Summer in a Day

                                                             All Summer in a Day

                                                               By: Ray Bradbury

Summary-

The story starts on the planet Venus, and a little girl named Margot talks about the sun. The other classmates do not believe in her and think she is weird. Venus gets only one hour of sun every seven years, but as the children were going to have fun, the children lock Margot in the closet, missing the rare sun.

Characters-

The main character, Margot may seem week, but you have to notice that, even though she was laughed at, she stuck with her beliefs. Normal people would have just gone with the crowd, but Margot did not want to lie about what she believed in. Margot loved the sun.

The antagonists of this story, William and the classmates are bad kids because they teased Margot for being different. They seem to not trust strange people shown when they did not trust Margot, and possibly forgetful as they forgot that Margot was in the closet while they were happily playing.

Plot Elements-

The exposition in the short story would be when the story takes place on Venus, and it rains for pretty much seven years, and in those seven years, only one hour of sun shows.

The rising action in the short story would be when William and the classmates teased and tortured Margot for being different, and saying that she is lying about the sun.

The climax in the short story would be when the sun is finally about to show, but William leads his classmates to trap Margot into a closet, while they go and see the sun.

Truth be told, I can’t find a real resolution in this story because, Margot never got to see the sun, nor is there any compensation for the trouble she went through. But, if I had to say something, then it would be when she is released from the closet.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I truly enjoyed how to story was going because I thought that this story would show a happy ending, but was saddened by the ending because she never got to see the sun. I enjoyed the setting of the story because of its originality, but was shocked by the ironic twist near the end, because Margot never saw the sun.

If there was a moral in this story, it would be, show some trust. Because the children did not believe in her, 

Margot suffered for no real reason. I truly feel like this is a important moral.

I have three words for this story, I am sorry.

Rikki-tikki-tavi

                                                                    Rikki-tikki-tavi

                                                                By: Rudyard Kipling

Summary-

Rikki-tikki is a mongoose who is saved by a family. He starts to live with them, and spends his time protecting them. One of the things he does to protect his family, is to fight cobras. Rikki-tikki fights two cobras named Nag and Nagaina, and eventually wins. After his win, he spends the rest of his life protecting his family.

Characters-

The mongoose, Rikki-tikki, is a brave mongoose willing to do anything in his power to help his family and friends. He seems to have an adventurous side, along with a curious side shown when he travels around. He is also clever because of his plan to defeat Nag and Nagaina.

Nag and Nagaina, are a pair of cobra and the antagonists. Nag and Nagaina are married. They both are cunning and evil, showing how they killed a baby bird, and attack the humans. Nagaina however, shows an affectionate side for her eggs.

Teddy is the son of said family, is a kind and caring person.

Darzee’s Wife is a smart and brave bird, who helped Rikki-tikki to defeat the evil cobras, Nag and Nagaina.

Plot Elements-

The exposition in the short story would be when the story talks about the war between Rikki-tikki and Nag/Nagaina. Also, how he was adopted into the family.

The rising action in the short story would be when Rikki-Tikki kills a cobra named Karait.

The climax in the short story would be when Rikki-tikki fights Nag and Nagaina, to protect everyone he cares about.

The resolution in the short story would be when Rikki-tikki wins the war, and kills Nag and Nagaina, and he lives the rest of his life protecting his family.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I am not a big fan of animal stories, but I do love animals, just not a big fan of animal stories. I found the story ok because it was an animal story. But, many animal story lovers would enjoy this story because of its various animal themes, and the wits of the animals. For a person who is not a big fan of animal stories I was only partially interested. But, I do believe it has potential for others.

The moral of this story would be, protect the ones you love, showing how Rikki-tikki is putting down his life to protect his family.

I would most likely give this story a 4/10.

The Ransom of Red Chief

                                                         The Ransom of Red Chief

                                                                     By: O. Henry

Summary-

The two kidnappers kidnap Johnny, and will be held for ransom. But, little do these poor kidnappers know, that they are the ones in trouble. Johnny spends his entire time with them tormenting them, that they decide to return him to his father, but the father wants money to take back his own son. They pay him and run away.

Characters-

Two of the kidnappers, Sam and Bill, are kidnappers, who wish to kidnap Johnny. They seem to pretend to be smart, even though they are not, and they also seem to be quite patient and kind. They seem to be patient because they did not hurt or abuse Johnny, even though Johnny was abusing them. They seem to be kind for the same reason. They do however seem to be greedy, shown at the beginning of the short story, but at the end it seems that they are not.

Johnny is the type of kid teachers hate. Johnny seems to enjoy tormenting people, and shows no fear of the danger that may fall upon him or the target. He also seems to be quite a bad son, showing that his father does not want him back, unless the kidnappers pay him.

Last, Ebenezer Dorsett is Johnny’s father, and seems to not care about his son, and cares more about money.

Plot Elements-

The exposition in the short story would be when Bill and Sam thought up the idea of kidnapping someone for money.

The rising action in the short story would be when the kidnappers actually kidnap Johnny.

The climax in the short story would be when the kidnappers are done with Johnny because of his mischievous ways, and decide to give him back to his father. But, the father will only accept him back if the kidnappers pay him.

The resolution in the short story would be when the kidnappers pay Ebenezer his money to take Johnny back.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I truly enjoyed this story, and found a new author that I enjoy. I loved how O. Henry used irony as his main point in the story, and how he showed many interesting and funny things throughout the story. This truly was enjoyable. I believe the moral, if it actually had any, would be never kidnap, but in reality this would most likely never happen.

I would describe this story in one word. hahahahahaaahahahahahaha   

Seventh Grade

                                                                  Seventh Grade                       

                                                                   By: Gary Soto

Summary-

It is Victor’s first day of 7^th , and he signs up for a French class to impress a girl he likes. He recites a French saying, but gets it wrong and the only one who knows he got it wrong is Mr. Bueller. Mr. Bueller decides not to tell because of a reason. Overall Victor decides to work hard.

Characters-

Theresa seems to be a nice girl, and was called cute by Victor.

Victor is the main character of the story, and because of his infatuation with Teresa, he enlists for French class. Also, he is not good at French, which he lies about to impress Teresa.

Michael is the friend of the main character Victor.

Mr. Bueller is the French teacher. He is the one who knew about Victor’s idiocy in French, but he did not tell anyone he was wrong because Mr. Bueller saw Victor as he did in his college years. Mr. Bueller would lie to impress girls, which he found similar to Victor.

Plot Elements-

The exposition of the short story would be when Victor starts his first day of seventh grade, and signs up for French class, to impress Teresa.

The rising action in the short story would have to be when Victor lies about knowing French, to impress Teresa.

The climax would be when Victor goes back to French class, and he accidentally meets Teresa in the classroom.

The resolution of the short story would be when Mr. Bueller would not tell anyone about his lie, that he knows French. The reason Mr. Bueller does not tell anyone is because he went through the same situation.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I enjoyed the story because of its simplicity and funny moments. I also enjoyed how this can relate to real life, because almost all people have trouble conveying their feelings to the one they love. This story greatly relates to people because of how showing love is so difficult.

I believe that the moral of this story is, never lie about who you are, but tell the truth. You should never be ashamed of who you are, but embrace who you really are. The greatest reason, on why I enjoyed this story is because of how it relates to life.

This is a fantastic short story, and I would have to give it a score of 6/7. 

The Monkey's Paw

                                                               The Monkey’s Paw

                                                                By: W. W. Jacobs

Summary-

The story begins with the Whites waiting around the fire, and Morris comes. Morris shows them a monkey’s paw and this paw can grant three cursed wishes. They wish for something, and Herbert dies. Mrs. White uses the second wish to bring him back, but Mr. Herbert is afraid of what might happen, so he wishes for an unknown wish.

Characters-

The character Herbert White is the son of Mr. and Mrs. White. He seemed to be a good son, but he dies because of one of the wishes the Whites made.

The father of Herbert White, Mr. White, seems to deeply care about his son and wife. He seems to be a curious fellow, because he wished to obtain the monkey’s paw.

The mother of Herbert White, Mrs. White, seems to deeply care about her son, evidenced when she would accept him as a corpse or not.

Sergeant-Major Morris seems to be the antagonist because, even though he told them not to make any wishes, he told them how to do it. He seems to be quite evil, or just stupid because of this.

Plot Elements-

The exposition of the short story would be when the Herbert White, Mr. White, and Mrs. White are near a fire doing various things, and out of nowhere Sergeant-Major Morris appears.

The rising action in the short story would be when the family wishes for 200 pounds, to clear their debt and buy their home, but in exchange for these 200 pounds, Herbert White died.

The climax in the story would be when Mr. and Mrs. White wish for their dead son back to life, but Mr. White pounces for the Monkey’s Paw.

The resolution of the short story would be when Mr. White makes an unknown wish, which we do not know what it is exactly.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I enjoyed this short story because of its twist, how Herbert died for 200 pounds. I truly wondered if the monkey’s paw really had the power to grant cursed wishes, or if it was just chance, that Herbert died for 200 pounds, and the knocking at the front door.

I believe the moral of the story is quite obvious, be careful what you wish for. Because of their greed, the Whites had lost their son.

Overall the story in two words would be, lesson learned.

Young Goodman Brown

                                                      Young Goodman Brown

                                                      By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Summary-

The story starts off with Goodman Brown leaving his home for some reason, and he enters a forest. While he is travelling through the forest, he meets a man with a snake staff, and because of him various issues happen to Goodman Brown. Near the end of the story, because of these issues, Goodman Brown loses his faith in everyone.

Characters-

The first character would be Goodman brown. In the beginning of the story, he is a good man, and a loving husband. But, because of the snake staff wielder, he loses his trust in the world.

The wife of Goodman Brown would be Faith. Faith is a loving and beautiful wife, who loves Goodman Brown. It is possible that she is evil.

The snake staff wielder is the antagonist of this story. He seems to enjoy the corruption of people; the evidence would be when he corrupted Goodman Brown.

Another interesting character would be Goody Cloyse, who helps children learn the bible. It is possible she is evil.

Deacon Gookin was seen at the ceremony, it is possible he is evil.

Plot Elements-

The exposition starts off when Goodman Brown says his goodbye to his wife, and enters the forest.

The rising action would be when Goodman Brown meets the snake staff wielder, and when he shows him the so called truth.

The climax of the short story would have to be when he finds out EVERYONE around him is evil, but this could be true or false.

The resolution of the short story would be when Goodman Brown loses his faith in everything, and lives his life with zero faith.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I found the story very depressing, because of how it ended. To be honest, not one of my favorites because of the gloomy ending, don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of gore and violence (books and movies only), but I just felt empty. I would not recommend this to someone who is having emotional problems. I find it funny how his name is good, but I guess that is a pun.

I believe the moral lesson of this story would have to be trust, definitely trust. If Goodman had a lot more trust, he might have made it out of there with his stable mind.

This story can relate to people because of trust, I believe that this story shows how weak the trust between people are, and why we should strengthen them.

In two words I would describe this story as L. 

On the Gull's Road

                                                    On the Gull's Road 

                                                              By: Willa Sibert Cather 

Summary-                                           

The story starts off with the narrator meeting someone. They each talk about the arts, and with this conversation, the narrator has a flashback. In the flashback he meets a beautiful woman, and over time they start to develop feelings for each other. But, the woman is married. They agree to go their separate ways, and over time she dies. 

Characters-

The first character is the Narrator/Male Lover. He is the one who loved Mrs. Alexandra Ebbling. They both dearly loved each other, even though they did not know each other for a long time. Overall, they decide to go their separate ways. After 20 years, he opens a package containing…

Mrs. Alexandra Ebbling is the one who loved the Narrator/Male Lover. Again, they both loved each other, but she knew that they could not be together, and died because of her illness.

Mr. Lars Ebbling, the one who is married the Mrs. Alexandra Ebbling, is a player.

Plot Elements-

The exposition in the story would be when the Narrator/Male Lover, meets the painter and talk about the arts, until he has the flashback to remember her.

The rising action in the story would be when they talk about her life, and her love for the ocean.

The climax in the story would be when they tell each other their genuine feelings for each other.

The resolution in the story would be when they decide to go their separate ways, but he later finds out that she has died, leading him to open a package from her.

My honest feelings for the short story-

I have heard of this short story, but never had any interest in reading it until now. When I read I would have to admit that my eyes had a little drop in them. I truly enjoyed how she developed the feelings of these two, and making the story a sad one, showing a different type of style, then other stories. My feelings have been shaken, and I have wondered how love can reach such a beautiful state. This truly is a classic.

I admit that I was a bit moved, and while I was moved I found a moral lesson. That would be, never ever, give up on love, these two partially gave in, but in reality love must be strong, that is why it is love. Truly sad, yet magnificent.  

In one word, this story would be a titanic.