Outline IOC Runaway

Introduction:

The short story Runaway is part of Alice Munro’s collection “Runaway”, published in 2004. Throughout the passage we can identify the themes of human relationships and trust which are evidenced predominantly in Sylvia’s letter but also in Carla’s thoughts and feelings. This passage occurs shortly after Carla’s return from her attempt to run away and it consists of the letter Sylvia writes in order to apologize as well as Carla’s reaction to the letter. The importance of the passage comes mostly from the similarities that are created between Carla and her goat Flora in Munro’s attempt of sending a message to the audience about women in the society. ‘

Body Sequential:

Chunk #1: Sylvia’s letter

Ø  The first aspect that can be observed is the self-sufficient character that Munro creates with Sylvia. Through her repeated use of the pronoun “I” which shows the importance that Sylvia believes she has in Carla’s life (the only one able to help her), Munro adds to the theme of human relationships.

Ø  “You do not have to answer me”- this sentence shows the difficult relationship and tension between the two characters, Sylvia and Carla, Carla not wanting to talk to Sylvia who acknowledges and accepts it.

Ø  The fact that Munro refers to Sylvia as “Mrs. Jamieson” emphasizes again the distancing between the two characters at this point in the story.

Ø  “I am sure your husband has described it to you”. The fact that Sylvia describes the event after mentioning this sentence shows that she does not in fact believe that Clark told Carla about it. This adds up to the theme of trust in the passage.  In the same time it foreshadows a new internal conflict that will arise for Carla who will have to decide if she trusts Clark.

Ø  Lines 18, 19, 21 and 22 reveal the similarities between the character of Carla and Flora. Carla was “little” and “lost”, just an “ordinary girl” after all.

Ø  The return of Flora is connected to the return of Carla and they both caused similar effects in terms of relationships between the characters (improve the one between Carla and Clark)

Ø  Line 25 - Flora and Carla both had an impact on Sylvia’s life: Carla helped her after the death of her husband and Flora saved her during the conflict with Clark.

Chunk #2: Carla’s reaction

Ø  Lines 29-31 highlight again the conflict created by Munro between Carla and Sylvia. Carla wants to destroy the letter.

Ø  Line 36- tense atmosphere: The needle symbolizes Carla’s attempt to ignore the truth. She knows she can’t trust Clark that much after she read Sylvia’s letter, but she can’t risk destroying their relationship.

 

Conclusion:

Hence through all of these means, Munro develops the mentioned themes of human relationships and trust and describes the situation of the protagonist by depicting her both y through her actions and thoughts and through similarities with her goat Flora.

IOC Practice Family Furnishings

Hi,

For today’s blog, I have prepared a practice IOC based on the following passage of Alice Munro’s Family Furnishings (link at the bottom of the page):

Her dark hair was done up in rolls above her face and at the

sides, in the style of the time. Her skin was brownish-looking,

netted with fine wrinkles, and her mouth wide, the lower lip

rather thick, almost drooping, painted with a hearty lipstick that

left a smear on the teacup and water tumbler. When her mouth

was opened wide—as it nearly always was, talking or

laughing—you could see that some of her teeth had been pulled

at the back. Nobody could say that she was good-looking—any

woman over twenty-five seemed to me to have pretty well passed

beyond the possibility of being good-looking, anyway, to have

lost the right to be so, and perhaps even the desire—but she was

fervent and dashing. My father said thoughtfully that she had

zing.

 

Alfrida talked to my father about things that were happening

in the world, about politics. My father read the paper, he listened

to the radio, he had opinions about these things but rarely got a

chance to talk about them. The aunts’ husbands had opinions

too, but theirs were brief and unvaried and expressed an

everlasting distrust of all public figures and particularly all

foreigners, so that most of the time all that could be gotten out of

them were grunts of dismissal. My grandmother was deaf—

nobody could tell how much she knew or what she thought

about anything, and the aunts themselves seemed fairly proud of

how much they didn’t know or didn’t have to pay attention to.

My mother had been a schoolteacher, and she could readily have

pointed out all the countries of Europe on the map, but she saw

everything through a personal haze, with the British Empire and

the royal family looming large and everything else diminished,

thrown into a jumble-heap that was easy for her to disregard.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxrQRPaIaVGlbU5GeWdxVWd5Nk0

Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx

The song “Right Here Waiting” has been composed by artist and composer Richard Marx for his wife. Since at that moment they were not married yet and she was in South Africa, the two were not able to see each other for what seemed to be quite a long time. Richard Marx mentioned that the song was written in about 20 minutes and it was simply intended to be a “love letter” for his future wife and not intended to become public. Being a “love letter” it is expected that the song will transmit his powerful feelings of affection towards her and this can be noticed even from the first verses of the song. The fact that Marx says “I slowly go insane” and “I hear your voice on the line, but it doesn’t stop the pain” shows that the idea of being away from the love of his life is unbearable for him and that the only thing that would end his suffering would be her coming closer to him. His love is also noticeable when he mentions that “Whatever it takes/ Or how my heart breaks/ I will be right here waiting for you” showing that even if he suffers, he will always wait for her.

 

Oceans apart day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain

If I see you next to never
How can we say forever

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted, all the times
That I thought would last somehow
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears
But I can't get near you now

Oh, can't you see it baby
You've got me going crazy

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I wonder how we can survive
This romance
But in the end if I'm with you
I'll take the chance

Oh, can't you see it baby
You've got me going crazy

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
Waiting for you

 

Can Stories Educate You…Emotionally?

Hi,

          A story can sometimes develop more than simply your general knowledge. It can change the way you think, the way you interact with others and even the way you understand them, which in our days can be a useful skill in a great variety of occupations that humans have. 

In his essay, David Foster Wallace promotes a different type of perceiving the world, available to those who have learned how to think. His thesis is developed mostly around examples of situations which are most likely known to the audience. Such examples include the routine which sometimes appears in an individual’s life, or the feeling that sometimes everyone is simply in your way, a barrier between you and your goals. To be more specific, Wallace uses the example of a tired person, trying to buy everything that is needed from a crowded shop, instead of being where he wishes to be, at home, relaxing after a long day at work. Yet, in the end this feeling of frustration is diminished when the person decides to use his ability of switching from the automatic self-centered thinking  to conscious thinking and to sympathize with others and realize that they might just have an equally, if not much more stressful life.

This idea of “conscious thinking” being something that can be learned leads to the next idea which is the way in which literature can develop this type of thinking. Within literature, characters generally undergo different situations which make us as readers empathize with them, understand their feelings during moments of struggle or why not even glory. Observing the way characters interact is an important aspect since it can highlight the difference between what they believe and think of each other, and what actually does happen internally with each individual character. In other words, we are being given the chance to observe and understand the two (or more) different views of a situation, which is harder to do (yet not impossible) in real life. This is also what Wallace tries to explain within his speech, that thinking this way is difficult, yet it can be trained if one really wishes to.

Wallace’s theory about empathy being something that can be learned from literature is also applicable in what regards Alice Munro’s short stories. One example of short story could be “Free Radicals”. After the man who enters the woman’s house mentioned that he had killed his family, the first immediate reaction is to classify him as an ordinary murderer. However, his side of the story is also told, revealing his suffering as a kid, as well as the struggles he had faced because of his family, which for a brief moment could potentially cause the audience to empathize with him. This is an example of how knowing or thinking of a second version of a situation could influence your perception of it as a whole. Alice Munro’s short stories consist of many instances where characters interact and face their inner conflicts as well as external conflicts. These conflicts are some of the elements that allow the readers to empathize with the characters by offering the possibility of viewing a problem/situation from different angles.