1.
Use the checklist of short
story genre requirements to assess how well the story meets these. Give
specific evidence in your response.
·
Has a title- “My daddy’s a
diver”
·
There is no clear goal to the
character to achieve.
·
It is in a closed setting with
the time period less then 24 hours.
·
The setting is used as his
physical journey. It is also very descriptive and therefore easy to imagine.
·
There is no pattern the story.
·
Good use of minimal characters-
Lizzie and the father.
·
There is more narration then
dialogue, however, this is an effective technique.
·
Does demonstrate a balance
between showing and telling
·
It does not show
characterization to help achieve its purpose.
·
Uses imagery, figurative
language extremely effectively.
·
Uses variation in sentence
lengths such as “In this moment a man, not a fish, found himself weeping.“
·
The story does not resolve
itself completely, and therefore does not surprise the reader.
·
The story is written from one
perspective
·
Does not incorporate flashbacks
·
Uses a linear structure, has a
beginning, middle and end.
2.
How well does the story connect
with the reader? What emotions or thoughts does it elicit? How effectively does
it use language to do this? Give evidence from the story in your response.
The story does not stay connected with the
reader because there is no goal or twist invovled, which therefore makes it
boring to read. Although he did involve emotions, they only came apparent at
the beginning and end. Most of the story was based around describing the things
he saw.
3.
What ideas, attitudes and
values underpin this text? You may have already identified some of these in
Question 2.
The central idea that underpins the story
is that some people take family values for granted. Rather they should realize
that many people have don’t have this opportunity to connect with their family.
Running alongside this however is that attitude which is often embedded in
society whereby people do not realize the importance of family. To emphasize
these two elements to the audience is the key idea is that the dad is doing
everything he can to supply for his daughter.
4.
What kinds of journeys do we
see evidence of in this story? Explain your answer.
This short story is evident of physical and
inner journeys. The physical journey embedded throughout this story is the
journey of the fathers dive. He sees new things travelling from point A to B.
The inner journey intertwined in the story is the relationship between the
father and daughter, and also the grieving of the mans lost wife. This is
apparent during the conversation between the daughter and father, and the mans
thoughts at the beginning.
5.
How effective is the story as a
whole?
As a whole, the story is quite effective
when reaching for the reader’s emotions. The author clearly connects with the
reader, which makes them intrigued in that the author has to say.
