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All the Years of Her Life. By Morley Callaghan. Setting: . The setting of this story is not important: it could be anywhere and has no impact whatsoever on the story itself . However , certain clues tells us this : New York City (6th Ave. Elevated )
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All the Years of Her Life By Morley Callaghan
Setting: • The setting of this story is not important: itcouldbeanywhere and has no impact whatsoever on the story itself. • However, certain clues tells us this: • New York City (6th Ave. Elevated) • workingclass area (fatheris a printer) • 1930s-1960s
Thirdperson(limited, intimate) narration • Point of view of Alfred – we are toldwhatheisthinking (intimate) and feeling but not the others(limited) Characters: • Alfred, Mr. Carr, Mrs. Higgins Complication (initiating incident): • Alfred iscaughtstealingagain Externalconflict(minorconflict in story) • Man vs. Man: • Alfred vs. Mr. Carr and hismother
InternalConflict: • The central conflict in the story iswithin – not the factthatheisconfronted by his boss • Man vs. Self • Mrs. Higgins struggling as a mother, trying to do her best despite the problems of herchildren • Alfred strugglingto growintoadulthood and feeling guiltly over the pain hismothersuffers
Topic and theme • Topic: • Parenting teenagers • Teenagers’ poordecisions • Theme: • Unconditional love for ourchildren • Growing self-awareness as an adult, new respect for parents • Reliance on parental love and sacrifice
Climax – the big shift in tone ‘Be quiet. Don’tspeak to me. You’vedisgraced me again and again,’ shesaidbitterly. ‘That’s the last time. That’s all I’msaying.’ ‘Have the decency to be quiet,’ shesnapped. Theykept on theirway, looking straight ahead. ….’You’re a bad lot. Godforgiveyou…’
The trembling hand: …atthat moment hisyouthseemed to be over. … It seemed to himthatthiswas the first time hehadeverlookeduponhismother.
Characterdevelopment • Writers ‘paint a picture’ of charactersdirectly, by telling the readerwhatthey are like, and indirectly, by describingtheir actions and letting the readerreachhis or herown conclusions. • Welldeveloped or ‘round’ charactersare portrayed in detailwhile‘flat’ characters are like background actors in a film. • Dynamiccharacters change over the course of the story; staticonesstay the same.
Characters • How doeseachcharacter change? Why? • Discuss how Morley Callaghan paintsthesedifferentpictures of eachcharacter – use a flow chart to record how the characters change.
Sample: Mr. Carr Before meeting Alfred’smother After meeting her Noddedhisheadencouragingly Began to feel warm and genialhimself • soft, confident • smiled and strokedhis face delicately • Looked hard-faced and stern
Make a chart and record evidence • Write down ONLY the wordsthe authoruses to describe the character. • Once you have finished, youwilldrawyourown conclusions about eachcharacter.
Characteranalysis Make a list of wordswouldyou use to describeAlfred’scharacter: • Immature? Naïve? • Irresponsible? • Survivor? Troubled? • Compassionate? • Caring? Egotistical? • Ignorant? • Thoughtful? Whatevidence do you have to back up yourwords?
Writing a characteranalysis • Title: name of character • Introduction: Include the title of the story (in quotation marks) and the full name of the author -- as well as the name of the characteryouwilldiscuss. Make a generalstatement about the character. • Body: Includespecificevidence (actualwords and quotations) to illustrateeach of your points. • Conclusion: Summarizewhatyou have said and comment on the author’ssuccess in portraying the character.