Write a note to your classmates telling what your paper will be about. Before you post, first read the comments and make a helpful suggestion about the previous person’s ideas; then offer your own.
If possible, use the "reply" button below the last person's post to make your helpful suggestion; and then in a separate new comment box present your own paper idea.
My paper would look at the deeper meaning of the word "expectant." Marcher expects many things to occur over the course of his life, but his expectations are not obvious (he doesn't know what to expect, just that something is coming). I would talk about how he is expecting the beast to pounce on him, and also in a broader scope, how he expects life to give him some type of opportunity.
ReplyDelete-Kate Rhodes
And what about very locally--like, in the sentence: how is "expectant" being used there? And how does that local use fit with the larger use... --EC
DeleteIn my paper I am going to look closer at the meaning of "wasted face delicately shone." "Wasted face" has so many unclear meanings that you can determine from the story and "delicately shone" is the opposite from "wasted face" they both are opposites but they both interact with their words together to have a stronger meaning to the story.
ReplyDelete-Shira Hartman
I think the story surrounds more around the wasted face, so I think you have to put your emphasis on that, delicately shown is confusing but it doesn't play a larger role than Marcher's life going to a waste.
ReplyDelete-Keinan
My paper will be about how the phrase "Her wasted face delicately shown" connects to the 20th century new ideas of how we don't realize what we have until it's gone.
ReplyDelete-Keinan
Great idea connecting this phrase to the 20th century but try not to stray too far from the specific wording of the phrase. I'm intrigued as to what direction you move with this analysis.
DeleteI will be writing my paper simply on the word "wasted" on page 435, and how this word can be analyzed literally, figuratively, as well as how it may relate to John's character as well as May's.
ReplyDeleteThat $ound$ like a gold mine. Because the alternative meanings of "wasted" are potentially obvious, you should probably favor multiple interpretations over in-depth explanation.- ben eggleston
Deletealthough, I won't be grading it
Delete-ben
I will be grading it, and I'd say that of course Jacob should avoid the obvious, but that doesn't necessarily mean he needs MORE interpretations than anyone else. The key thing is maybe the second part of what Jacob said: connecting it to interpretation of the rest of the story.
DeleteI'm going to write about "something something the chimney, fireless and unadorned," because it's used in a vague way and that description could apply meaningfully to either of the characters. -bennn
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really good, because it's so vague you have a lot of room for your own interesting and unique interpretations. However also because it's so vague make sure you don't get lost in all the ways it can be interpreted and be sure to focus on the locally & globally aspects.
ReplyDelete-- Gabby St Pierre
I'm going to write about the description of May and "her cold, sweet eyes" and how this can be literally talking about how her illness is affecting her, but may also be about how Marcher truly sees what she is like as a person.
ReplyDelete-- Gabby St Pierre
That sounds so interesting. Your topic just explains the novel really well in my opinion. It might be a bit hard to write an essay with your topic, because it would be extremely vague.
ReplyDelete-Jonathan Oh
I am going to write about the description of 'Mistakes'. Marcher asked May if being a idiot was his mistake. But, I think word 'mistake' means a lot of things in the novel; for example, keeping having a conversation with May is totally the biggest mistake ever Marcher has made yet.
ReplyDelete-again, Jonathan Oh
I think this could be a really interesting essay but i dont understand how is talking to May Marcher's biggest mistake? she gave him a possibility to avoid is fate of doing nothing all his life.
DeleteElla MacVeagh
I am going to write about May's first sentence to Marcher "It's never too late." How this can be interpreted different ways, never too late for him to realize his true feelings for may or never too late for his fate to come and the beast to spring, and also I will focus on the word never and the strong word choice it is and the different ways in each senario it could be read.
ReplyDeleteElla MacVeagh
I really like your ideas for this essay. Maybe you could also connect the word "late" to the recurring theme of time in the rest of that paragraph ("a minute" "waiting" "the end" "instant").
DeleteI'm going to write about the use of the word "wasted" in "her wasted face delicately shone with it." The word could refer, in context, to her sickly complexion. It could also allude to Marcher's view of May as a waste unless she has predictions regarding his future to tell him. In addition, it could refer to how May has wasted her life on Marcher and has no accomplishments or memories of her own.
ReplyDeleteI really like this Idea, because you considered May's life to be wasted, where as I immediately thought Marcher was the one who's life would be more associated with the word "wasted" since he basically spent his life avoiding life. I think you can look at this word from many different perspectives! good luck! :)
Delete-Corrina
I also really like your idea and the fact that you're looking at it in regard to May, as opposed to Marcher, since we all can tell Marcher pretty much wasted his life doing nothing. I like the fact that you are trying to show how May actually waster her life. nice work Claire :D
Delete-Bianca
I'm going to write about the sentence "and her hand grasped the shelf while she kept him waiting, grasped it a little as for support and encouragement." and how Marcher has been waiting all his life for something big to happen and now May is also keeping him waiting for something he doesn't know. I'll also talk about how May has always encouraged Marcher to not give up but now she is the one who needs encouragement and Marcher doesn't give it to her.
ReplyDelete-Bianca Dempsey
"A break in their custom was really the beginning of the end"
ReplyDeleteSo this quote, I feel like, resembles Marcher's revelation after May dies. The word I am basing this paper of off is "revelation". My thesis is going to be based around the idea that figuratively May is like Marcher's God, and Marcher is a pitiful man awaiting his baptisim. However, by the time he find's that May is his answer, it's too late.
(I know this is a little confusing, I'm still working my idea out)
-Corrina
I think this is a really interesting idea! I really like the idea of religion tying into it because when you first read the story there doesn't seem to be any elements of religion on the surface.
DeleteI want to focus on the quote "she appeared to present it as inordinately soft" The word soft can mean many things, it can mean quiet, emotional, as well as physically soft. This could mean that May believed Marcher's fate to be very quiet and anticlimactic compared to all of the build up he has created and all the time he and may have spent waiting. I also think she could mean that his fate will be very emotional and it will be hard for him due to the fact that he has been trying to remain emotionally distant from people around him.
ReplyDeletei really like the idea of looking into the different meanings of the word "soft" and drawing interpretations from that. I also think you could do some very interesting things in relating may's "softness" to the story in general.
DeleteI plan to write my paper about the words "without consequence". in context this refers to a perceived insignificance to the soft, kind expression on May's face as she tells him the truth. However, this expression even at the time is very representative of what he could have had. In the greater context of the story, the way he views what he does as he waits for his fate as being "without consequence" directly causes him to essentially wast his life.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to be careful with this one. I think you should play with "without consequence" indicating how he expects that "the beast in the jungle" will not be in response to anything he does; that is, it will just happen on its own. I think this is a more succinct way of dealing with this phrase.
DeleteMy essay will be about the phrase “it was his theory, as always, that he was lost in the crowd.” Locally, this phrase is referring to the "party of visitors" at the luncheon he is attending; this suggests that he feels unnoticed -- not bringing attention to himself.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is reason to believe that "lost in the crowd" means more than just feeling unnoticed, there are also hints that Marcher feels different from the crowd and unique. Later in the novella, when May recounts Marcher's explanation of "the beast in the jungle," She says that he'd had “the sense of being kept for something rare and strange." The fact that Marcher has some "rare" awakening, unique just to him, also makes him different from the "crowd."
I really like how you caught this phrase in the beginning and interpreted not only the phrase, but the entire situation that he is then in when he is introduced to the reader, as a metaphor for what is later a main theme in the story. Looking through a similar lens, you could also talk about how May's introduction connects to her role in the "crowd" and how this relates to Marcher's.
DeleteI really like the quote you choose, because almost anyone knows that feeling of wanting to be in the crowd. To seem normal but also special so we aren't all robots. I think marcher struggles with finding the balance.this idea is a major theme in the book and therefore has a lot of evidence for you do use. Nice choice
ReplyDelete- Marisa
In my paper I want to talk about fear and how it controls marcher in the passage " I am, then a man of courage?" "that's what you were to show mean" he still, however wondered. "but doesn't the man of courage know what he's afraid of-or not afraid of? I don't know that, you see. I don't focus it. I can't name it. I only know I'm exposed". Marcher believes he is a coward but is he? He still gets up every morning and lives. He doesn't hide in his bed fearing that something might happen? But he does keep to himself, shutting people out in fear of bring revealed that he is diffrent. So is he a coward?
ReplyDelete- marisa
I am going to write about the part of a sentence, "...and her hand grasped the shelf while she kept him waiting, grasped it as little as for support and encouragement". The essay will be focused around the idea of "support" and who it applies to, and I will talk about why it is that May may need this "support and encouragement" even though she is the one who has the power in the situation, as she is withholding something from him. This will be connected to May's potential perspective on their relationship throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, i like your idea about talking about who "support" applies to, and that it does apply a lot to May, even though she appears to be the one in control the whole time.
ReplyDelete-Becca Robinson
I'll be writing about the words "beautiful and vivid". They are used by Marcher to describe May and the fact that she is holding back a secret from him. I think that these words are somewhat out of place to use to describe a secret, since they are in a way two contrasting ideas.
ReplyDelete-Becca Robinson
Becca, I think thats a great idea. Writing about contrasts are usually fun and there can be a lot to write about. I think it would be cool if you went into depth of how out of place these contrasting words are. Also you could hit on why Marcher would use these words instead of other words that may not have been so contrasting.
Delete-Jack Corcoran
I will be writing about the phrase, "she turned off and regained her chair". I thought 'turning off' could be interpreted many different ways and depending on how each individual interprets it, the meaning could be interpreted differently.
ReplyDelete-Jack Corcoran
To figure out the different interpretations to write about, you can write down how you felt when you first read it, and then put yourself in the point of view of someone else (a character) and see how they might have understood it differently.
Delete-Brandon Martone
I think the phrase is interesting, but you might want to focus more on how it relates to the story as a whole and how different interpretations of the phrase could affect the meaning of the story.
Delete-Sarah Fleming
I will be writing my essay about the phrase "she appeared to present it as inordinately soft." Soft has many different meanings and connotations, so I plan to focus on the idea of softness as a sort of vulnerability vs. softness as dullness. Also, the phrase is somewhat vague--it is unclear what "it" is exactly (the truth? Marcher's fate?), so I will examine the different meanings of "it."
ReplyDelete-Sarah Fleming
I also like the word "inordinately"--it seems such an extreme word to use in that context.
DeleteI am going to be writing about the sentence "...her face shining at him, her contact imponderably pressing, and his stare all kind but all expectant." I feel that this sentence and shows a major plot theme because it talks about May smiling at Marcher and Marcher looking kindly at May. This defines their relationship and shows how May and Marcher truly feel about each other, while also making another subtle point about how he is looking at her "expectantly".
ReplyDelete-Brandon Martone
Sounds like a great idea Brandon! But what is the question that you will be raising about this specific passage?
Delete-Corey
I think I am going to write my essay on the phrase, "She only kept him waiting, however; that is, he only waited." This passage obviously relates with the larger theme of the book "waiting", but could be read several ways and has multiple meanings.
ReplyDeleteThats a good phrase to write about! What are the ways that you are looking at how it could be interpreted? And you could also relate the theme throughout the whole story to this one specific phrase.
Delete-chloe
I'm writing about the phrase "still full of unspoken". This phrase is speaking to something that has been left unsaid. The ambiguity of this passage comes from what is the thing that is unspoken and the different ways readers can think of this as a more general statement or a more specific one.
ReplyDelete-Chloe Fishman
Great choice Chloe. I think it truly captures the theme and essence of the story as a whole. I would also very much like to see whether you will be relating it to the overall arc of the story or if you will find something deeper in its meaning to focus on. Either way, it looks like you are off to a good start with your paper.
Delete-Jamie Lamoureux
The phrase I chose to write about is "what he had expected failed to come". I found a few different interpretations for this excerpt. Both were literal and very specific to the theme of the story. The first was that what John expected literally did not "come". This means that he expected a response from May and such a response never came. Another interpretation is that May indeed give a response to him but it was not what he initially expected to receive.
ReplyDelete-Jamie Lamoureux
Interesting sentence to chose Jamie. It is a great choice because you will be able to relate this to the story when you write your paper. Personally, I think it is great that you have two meanings that you found, which will definitely help you out when you write the paper because you will have more to write about. Great choice of a sentence and good luck to you when you begin the writing process.
Delete-Ayan Noyan
For my paper I chose to use the sentence "diminished the distance between them." I found to be quite interesting as I read it in the passage. To me it seems like it represents the idea that May possibly loved John Marcher and she was trying to connect with him before she passed away. When Henry James uses the word "diminished" one can get a powerful feeling that the amounted distance between May and John was getting smaller, but not quite since John does not realize it due to his selfishness. Another idea I got from this sentence was that May was tired of waiting for John and messing with him; and just decided to finally connect with Marcher before her death.
ReplyDelete-Ayan Noyan
That's a really interesting point. Marcher's cluelessness definitely makes the word "diminish" stand out, which you're showing in your essay. the distance between them is never able to be diminished.
DeleteDo you think the interpretation of may dying means she was ready to connect or just ready to die? Because she doesn't really connect. Why?
awesome blossom!
-Danielle Balanov
That sounds interesting, particularly because you can also discuss the ways that the 2 characters are close, and the ways that they (Marcher) are distant. You can also talk about if the distance had tried to be closed before, or she did manage to diminish the distance at that point. ~Marie
DeleteAyan, I completely agree with that interpretation of "diminished" that May was trying to reconnect with Marcher before she died. In addition, in order for the distance between the two of them to get smaller, it has to come on both of their parts, like you said, and Marcher is too vain to realize this.
Delete-Jordan Bayer
Call me original, but for my paper I will be writing about the phrase, "She waited once again, always, with her cold, sweet eyes on him", focusing on "cold, sweet eyes".
ReplyDeleteOne interpretation of this phrase is May's love for Marcher. While her gaze is nonjudgmental and not harsh, her sweet eyes stare upon Marcher. Even in her time of Death she is in love. I think, in this moment, Marcher is aware of her love. He is aware of her gaze but doesn't acknowledge it.
Another interpretation is just that May is sick. Her cold, sweet eyes are ready for death. His gaze is simply a sympathetic, heart-tugging stare. Her eyes, like her body are cold and sick. Even in her last moments, May is sweet.
-Danielle Balanov
Another interpre
Oops I replied to the wrong one. I like your interpretation of awareness vs. acknowledgement. It could be interesting to see how that connected to the rest of the story, like his awareness of the beast but lack of acknowledgement to what it is. ~ Marie
DeleteI think that I will write about the phrase "Something else took place instead,which seemed to consist at first of the mere closing of her eyes". There is the literal meaning of closing her eyes, like oh she's sick and tired. But I think that eyes in this phrase are key because closing them can close her off to Marcher, hiding something with in herself, or it could be that she doesn't want to see him any more. I also think that the wording of "at frist" and the "something else that took place" are also interesting. ~ Marie Koalrik
ReplyDeleteGood choice in analyzing such a simple phrase, you should definitely use the word scrim :)
DeleteSomething that makes this phrase difficult to interpret in my eyes is the perspective. Marcher seems to be reading so much into her resting, so maybe you should consider mentioning what might make him think that, what's happening around that conversation, and how the rest of the story plays out/ how the rest of the story reflects this action. Really good starting place!
~Rebecca
My sentence is "her eyes, when one got their full clearness, were still as beautiful as they had been in youth, only beautiful with a strange, cold light." I'm more specifically focusing on the last part. One connotation that interested me was the idea of her having a light in her eyes. This could be her spirit and fervor in her task of watching. However, it could also be her very life, shining only though her eyes while the rest of her failed. The word "strange" is also striking because it is so lacking in definition. Since we are looking through Marcher's eyes, the reader gets an added sense of confusion and distance between the two characters since Marcher is so incapable of identifying the difference. This distance that the strangeness and her changing brings about is foreshadowing further separations between the too. It could also show how little he is aware. He believes himself to be incredibly observant, yet misses any major signs from May and from his life.
ReplyDelete~Rebecca Krane
I like this sentence. I think, because it is a recurring phrase in the text, you could possibly focus your entire paper on just the "strange, cold lift" which is very unclear. Does cold mean distant? Does cold mean she doesn't like him in the same way? Does it just have to do with her illness? I think that your points are good, and focusing on Marcher's seeming lack of perception is a very good start for this.
Delete~Daniel Krane
For my essay, I am going to be writing about the sentence "It was the end of what she had been intending, but it left him thinking only of that." This sentence is full of ambiguity, from unclear/abstract wording, to a seeming contrast in perspective between John and May. First of all, I'll write about what "it" was- in this scene, May has just sat down after confronting John. Is the "it" her sitting down, her giving up, her speech to Marcher, his inability to comprehend her love for him? "The end of what she had been intending"- a) what she had been intending- was it for them to be a couple, or for John to seal his fate? The end could mean that she is just done for the moment, or done with her feelings/fighting for her love for John. "It left him thinking only of that" is a little more obvious- while it uses pronouns, I can pretty confidently say that its meaning is that John's impression of her speech left him only thinking of his fate. Overall, I will use all of these possible meanings to guide my paper.
ReplyDelete~Daniel Krane
This sentence has a lot of ambiguity and will be interesting to dissect. Make sure to explain each of the meanings in an orderly way. I like your interpretation of John's impression of May's speech.
Delete-Jared Videlefsky
I will be writing about "she turned off," and its ambiguous meaning. I am going to compare it to a light bulb turning off as well as her emotions turning off. Lastly, I will discuss how the ambiguity of this phrase relates to the story.
ReplyDelete-Jared Videlefsky
Interesting. Maybe compare it to something else in the story and be more specific about its ambiguity.
DeleteI will be writing about the phrase, "she was dying, and his life would end". I think it's interesting how her dying leads also to him dying inside because he finally realizes what's going on, but can't fix it. I'm also going to analyze the specific word "end".
ReplyDeleteCool, You should also try to focus on the fact that his life is dependent on hers, based on this sentence, but her life isn't hinted at being dependent on him. You could focus on the one sided nature of this relationship.
Delete-JD Nurme
I'm going to write about the phrase "turned off" which is used to represent May's return to her calm and collected state after experiencing a "shudder". I intend to focus on how this breaks away from the complex prose of the piece, as well as how it could be interpreted as May giving up in a way.
ReplyDelete-JD Nurme
That's a good idea, and you could also talk about how their relationship is pretty much "turned off" with a standstill regarding what may knows and what Marcher doesn't. ALso with May's death, how she is permanently "turned off" from Marcher and from life.
Delete-Jordan Bayer
I am going to write about the phrase, "fireless and sparsely adorned". There are a few ways to look at these words, first "fireless" could mean that May has exhausted all of her energy and is ready to die, leaving Marcher. Two, Marcher might not have the energy any longer to try to figure out what May has been keeping from him. Finally, this might imply that the fire is out for a short time but it is Marcher's job to relight the flame. That it is up to him to take actions into his own hands and realize that it isn't too late to find his calling, and realize what May was talking about. But he has to initiate this because May is dead.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Bayer
Jordan, I like your idea. It's interesting because one would normally not describe a person as "fireless." Maybe go into the fact that an inanimate object would normally be considered fireless (like a fireplace, a candle). What does this, then, say about May's or Marcher's (or both of their) humanity or human condition?
DeleteAlso, maybe delve into explaining "sparsely adorned." Why is that paired with fireless?
-Anna Parkhurst
I am going to write about the phrase "She only kept him waiting, however; that is, he only waited." I'm going to write about how the "that is" shows hesitation on the narrator's part; a revision of the previous statement about May's actions. The hesitation then switches the statement to be about Marcher and his actions. From here, I could discuss the narrator being Henry James because he is able to revise and be self-aware regarding statements about situations, an ability Marcher lacks in his solipsism. Or I might write about the irony of the whole statement. Although both May and Marcher's actions contain some form of waiting, Marcher's action is more definitive because he waited (he chose to wait for May's secret) and therefore ultimately has more power in the relationship. It's weird that there's power in passivity.
ReplyDelete-Anna Parkhurst
I like this idea, Anna, and I think it will make for a good paper. I would also consider that Marcher might not be hesitant but merely correcting an error in his statement. It is ironic that he would say that at all simply because it is so absurd to imply that May could be the one causing the wait when she has waited her whole life for him. For that reason, he may just see the ridiculousness of what he said and correct it. This might be an alternate interpretation, either way, I like your connection to James and I'd stick with it.
DeleteJames Wronoski
"It's weird that there's power in passivity."
DeleteThere is always power in passivity!
Tentatively, I believe that I will write my paper on the phrase, "what he presently stood there gazing at was the sounded void of his life." I seems to me that the is the sentence in which John most plainly reveals the true beast and yet it is still up for interpretation. It is not clear if he means that there is a specific void within his life that was brought on by a lack of action on his part concerning the love that he could have had with May, or if he means that his entire life has been a void and it was his interminable waiting that allowed him to wander through his life, blinded by expectancy, to ultimately no end, all the while looking at his life from the outside, trying to observe the moment that he would be struck down by the beast. However, in my opinion it appears that the latter is more plausible and that's why I'm not sure about this phrase.
ReplyDeleteJames Wronoski
I think James' (both of them) two views on Marcher's void is a good, because it provides both a focused and broad avenue to approach deciphering James' knot of ideas (the other James). I also agree with James (W) that Marcher was probably upset with the void that constituted his whole life. You might also mention that the void could be the lack of substantial conversation between Marcher and May (a more literal look on things). It sounds promising.
DeleteThat's all I got,
Colby
I'm drawn to this sentence, "He had been standing by the chimney piece, fireless and sparely adorned, a smmall, perfect old French clock and two morsels of rosy Dresden ..." However, I've switched my focus from Dresden (partly because of the discrepancy between the dates) to the chimney piece. I found this using google and found a chimney piece actually means the thing around the fireplace. I view this as a state of mind he (Marcher) is "standing by." How the chimney piece remains "fireless" and "sparsely adorned" could symbolize the void James (both of 'em) was talking about. The fire which the chimney piece is so close to, yet never comes to know could parallel the danger and allure of secret held by May Bartram. More specifically, Marcher could now be seen as fireless, because May is dead (and has only maintained his "perfect old French clock" status).
ReplyDeleteColby
"has only maintained his "perfect old French clock" status"
DeleteHa! That's a funny way to see Marcher--like an antique, waiting for glory days that will never come. Also that he's "French"--I always saw him as a secret American stuck in a London clubman's life, but either way he's out of place and doesn't know what to make of it...
I think i will be writing my paper on the phrase, "She only kept him waiting, however; that is, he only waited." This comes at the obvious climax of the story just before May, "Turned off," or basically Marcher has lost his final opportunity to become truly happy and commit to an intimate relationship with May. It can be read in the literal sense, and could just be a reference to the awkward pause felt between the two. It is more likely that James made this sentence to act as a microcosm for the entire story. Primarily, their relationship has a playful, flirty feeling as May is keeping herself reserved so as not to discourage Marcher, or she may have just been embarrassed and wanted Marcher to initiate their relationship, much like teenagers. The story lingers on and after a considerable amount of time passing like this, the mood shifts to May anxiously waiting to see if Marcher will ever move past his fear of "the beast in the jungle". The phrase also serves as a blatant reminder of what the underlying tragedy of the story is.
ReplyDelete-Mike W
This quote, as you explained, clearly has a great amount of meaning behind it. Picking a quote that comes at the climax of the story definitely has it's advantages. One being that it is easily understood as it most likely revolves around a main theme. As you mentioned, Marcher and mays interactions and overall relationship can be compared to that of a teenagers. This connection provides many variables, and can lead to an interesting story.
Delete-Chris
I'm going to write my paper on this quote, "May Bartram, whose face, a reminder, yet not quite a remembrance, as they sat, much separated, at a very long table, had begun merely by troubling him rather pleasantly." I find this sentence interesting because it sets the scene for what is yet to come. May's demanding presence is eminent from the very beginning. I like this sentence mainly because Marchers emotions can be found in many day to day interactions. Being intimidated by someone is a feeling none of us live without. Lastly, it provides itself as a ticket into Marcher's mind, and connects the reader even more with the characters.
ReplyDelete-Chris
This is a good quote. Try incorporating into your analysis the contrast between the words "trouble" and "pleasant" as this can accurately describe the feeling of intimidation.
DeleteI agree that this sentance is a good to analyze. It is differently a great example of Henry James recognizable style, it being a long sentance with numerous commas. I think you can also talk about how this is one of the few exampels where James decides to give insight on May. This rare knowledge is definetly important to the story, because James only lets the reader see into the mind of May a few times throughout the story.
Delete- Sam KW
"She only kept him waiting, however; that is, he only waited"
ReplyDeleteThere are (at least) two interesting aspects of the structure of this phrase. One is the semicolon and the clause "that is". They allude to the fact that the sentence shouldn't be read as May keeping Marcher waiting, but rather as Marcher missing her point and waiting for something more. This brings me to the other interesting choice of words in the word "only". It could mean that he only waited around with nothing better to do. Whilst that's likely true, it can also mean, as the previous clause, that only he waited - that she was exactly where she needed to be and Marcher was oblivious.
"always with her cold sweet eyes on him."
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting description of May's stare as quite contricting. Cold and sweet are not usually adjectives used in conjuction. Yet both words could have multiple meaning, "cold" could represent the beauty in winter or the pain of winter.
- Sam KW
I am also writing about the sentence "always with her cold sweet eyes on him" however I am discussing the different connotations that this sentence has. Once could perceive the contradicting words as implying a fake personality. Once could also perceive "cold" meaning her being reserved which we see in terms of her answering Marcher's questions.
ReplyDeleteThe interpretation for the word "cold" in terms of May being reserved is interesting. The sentence really reflects Marcher's attitude toward May throughout the short story and is a good translation Marcher's emotional reaction to May.
Delete-pema
I am going to write about the quote "he enjoyed her corrections." It is a thought that Marcher has when he first re-meets May. He thought the first time had been in Rome, but she promptly corrected him and gave him all the details of the day. He isn't sure if what she is saying it true, but he still "enjoyed her corrections," foreshadowing their relationship in the years to come.
ReplyDelete-pema