Easy way to Understand the Key Idea of the Story You read

The author of the story may send different messages to the readers and an easy way to understand them is to know what that all might mean. So this is some general information on it:

1.                   A Life Lesson

   We all learn in different ways. When we think of learning, we usually think of teachers and school. However, a great deal of our learning takes place outside the classroom. Life is the greatest teacher of all, and our experiences often change our lives forever.

    In the following stories, the main characters undergo important changes through a single incident of a chance meeting, as occurs in “Thank You, Ma׳m”. As you finish each story in this part, ask yourself How did the characters learn a lesson? and  Have I ever experienced a similar situation? You might be surprised to find you have learned a lesson just from reading these stories.

1.                A Day’s Wait Ernest Hemingway

2.                Thank You, Ma’m Langston Hughes

3.                The Corn Planting Sherwood Anderson

4.                The Quicken Lisa Interollo

2.                   The Unexpected Twist

   Life is full of surprises. How many times have you been amazed by the turn of events in your own life and the lives of your acquaintances? You were sure, for example, that your best friend would marry the girl next door, only to learn that he eloped with someone he just met. Or, you׳re deep into that mystery novel; you think you can name the murderer. Then you get to the story. You׳re astounded to find out that the least suspicious character is really the guilty one.

   This literary device, used by most writers of suspense novels, is called the “unexpected twist” or the “surprise ending”. O. Henry, the famous American author, never failed to shock his readers by his totally unpredictable endings, as you׳ll discover in “The Last Leaf”. If you read the following stories carefully, you׳ll find some hints that the authors give to indicate that a surprise is coming. Look for these clues.

1.                The Last Leaf O. Henry

2.                The Ambitious Nathaniel Hawthorne

3.                The  Lottery Shirley Jackson

4.                The One Day  Wa  Judith Soloway

3.                   Irony

   Irony, sometimes defined as cruel twist of fate, “is a technique used by many famous authors. Perhaps that is because in real life we׳re always running into ironic situations that make us realize how much our existence is governed by chance or luck. You have already encountered some ironic elements in Part Two. In “The Ambitious Guest,” the stranger - who has such great expectations for his life – perishes with the family. The ultimate irony of the plot is that all the characters would have survived if they had stayed in the cottage.

   Not all irony has to be tragic, however. You will be amused by the turn of events in “The Third Level,” the fist story in this part of the book.

1.                All  Summer in  a  Day Ray Bradbury

2.                Desiree׳s  Baby Kate Chopin

3.                The  Third  Level  Jack Finney

4.                    Family  Relationships

   From Birth until death we have to deal with the first people who come into our lives – our parents and siblings. Even if your home life is essentially happy, there are many problems in close relationships. Perhaps you believe that your mother favors your brother or sister, or you don׳t quite understand your father. Resentments and misunderstandings repressed in childhood can often surface in adult years. Or, conversely, what you once perceived as cruelty can be viewed later as kindness, as you will see in one of the stories from this part.

   All three selections in this part deal with the most complex relationships of life – living day by with other human beings in a group we call family.

1.                A Visit to Grandmother William Melvin Kelley

2.                Too  Soon  a  Woman Dorothy M. Johnson

3.                My  Father  Sits  in  the  Dark Jerome  Weidman

5.                    Meeting Challenges

   In the latter part of the twentieth century, human beings challenged the universe. We landed on the moon, penetrated the mysteries of space, developed computer technology to a science, climbed mountains, and made remarkable archaeological discoveries. All challenges, however, do not have to be physical or phenomenal. Every day we take up small challenges; we fight daily battles of our own.

   There are innumerable situations that have rested you since the days of your childhood: your first day at school, meeting new friends, and adjusting to unfamiliar environments. Currently, you might be competing for a job or trying to break a bad habit. Whatever you are facing now, you should be able to relate to the challenges of the characters in this final part of the book.

1.                A Rice  Sandwich Sandra Cisneros

2.                The   Circus William  Saroyan

3.                The Warriors Anna Lee Walters

4.                Talking to the  Dead Sylvia Watanabe