Turning HW into an essay

7. The necklace symbolizes Mme. Loisel’s ego and desire for wealth. When she picked up the necklace, her heart began to beat with “boundless desire” and her hands “trembled” as she put it on. Mme. Loisel’s pride skyrocketed and she felt rich enough to attend the party. Her ego is symbolized by the necklace because it emphasizes her deep admiration for materialistic things. The price of the replacement necklace represented how much she valued it. She cared about how wealthy it made her look and how expensive it seemed. This fools her into paying a debt of thirty four thousand francs. But, in reality, it was only five hundred francs. Her desire for wealth is represented by her action of choosing the necklace, the most beautiful piece of jewelry she saw, over the bracelets and necklace of pearls. She wanted the most eye-catching, amazing “treasure” that she could find.

Erika

7. In the short story “The Necklace,” the necklace symbolizes false appearances. Mme. Loisel borrows the necklace in the first place to give the appearance of being affluent, reasoning that “there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women.” Meanwhile, the “superb necklace of diamonds” gives the false appearance of being authentic when, in reality, it is not. We can even infer that Mme. Forester owned the necklace to give the appearance of seeming wealthier than she really was.

8. The irony Guy de Maupassant uses in the denouement is how M. and Mme. Losiel were stuck paying off ten years of “frightful debt” to replace a diamond necklace that turned out to be false. Ironically, the necklace’s seemingly authentic appearance was as artificial as Mathilde’s portrayal of wealth at the ball.

Jessica

In the first few paragraphs of the story, the writer uses imagery and symbolism to help establish the setting. The descriptions of loud music drowning out hardships suggest that while not everyone there is the happiest, they try to make the most of it, making it both a happy and sad place. “At almost any hour of the day, El Building was like a monstrous jukebox…” (Paragraph 1). Imagery is used in descriptions of Elena’s time in school, giving the images of cold, gray skies and showing the pain in Elena’s hands. The use of imagery here shows her discomfort, and how she wished it would end

Throughout the text, Elena references snow, and how in wealthier areas, the snow is white and clean, rather than the grey slush that she sees in her neighborhood. The snow symbolizes her and her family’s dreams of moving and having a better life. In the denouement, Elena experiences an epiphany when she realizes that her identity ruins any chance of a relationship with Eugene. Her dreams are represented by the white snow, something she can’t have in her current position. The gray snow represents her reality, and that she can't necessarily have what she wants. “I did not look down to see it turning gray as it touched the ground below” (paragraph 36). As she watched the snow fall, she avoided looking at the gray snow, just as she didn't want to accept the reality she wished she didn't have to face.

Annabel

In the denouement, Elena looks out of her window and watches a street light turn on. It had “pink halo” around it and white snow fell “like a lace veil over its face.” The snow symbolizes what Elena wants in life. The snow is white and pure, but only in rich neighborhoods. She dreams of moving out of El Building and living a much more relaxed, happy, and comfortable life. Elena also has a crush on Eugene, a Caucasian honors student who had recently moved into a house near her apartment building. The dirty snow symbolizes reality. Elena has an epiphany and realizes that her social class and nationality will prevent her from ever having a relationship with her crush. Her dream of dating Eugene, symbolized by the white snow, is now grey and ruined. In the last paragraph of the story, Elena states, “I did not look down to see it turning gray as it touched the ground below.” This also tells us that she does not want to accept reality.

Erika

3. Ortiz-Cofer titled her story “American History” because of the underlying conflict that is President Kennedy’s assassination and it’s deep toll on American history. The president was seen as a symbol of hope for racial equality. When he died, people felt as if this hope for an end to discrimination died with him. This explains why the Puerto Rican women in El Building, who were often faced with racism for their ethnicity, were so distraught and thus decided to “wear black for weeks.” Out of respect for their beloved president, the residents of El Building didn’t “hang out on the front stoop” or blast their usual loud music. Even people in the streets were unusually quiet and “no horns [were] blasting that day.” The author is trying to make the point that tragedies like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy shape American history and deeply affect the lives of our country’s citizens.

4. In the denouement, Elena has an epiphany about appearances. When looking at the street light, the “white snow falling like a lace veil over its face” portrays how everything around her appeared to be perfect and hopeful, free of discrimination. Her avoiding looking down “to see it turning gray as it touched the ground below” symbolizes how she now realizes there is hate and racial inequality in the world, though she wishes to avoid it as best she can. For example, she sees herself and Eugene grow old together in his house, sat at the dining table, “drinking some coffee and talking about books.” This fairy tale is shown to be unrealistic when she is met with his mother’s cruel racism and the false appearance of Eugene’s seemingly perfect family.

Jessica

5. The Scarlet Ibis is a very rare bird, it is not a common sight. When it dies it is a very sad moment because rare things should be cherished and not taken for granted. This could be related to Doodle because he is definitely a rarity, and should be cherished. However, he was not a that led to him dying because his brother left him in a time when he really needed help. Once he was dead and his brother came back and saw him, “I began to weep”, he realized in that moment that he had never cherished his brother like he should have, and he let his pride overtake his love for his brother. Doodle was his scarlet ibis, “I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the hershey of rain.”, he let this unique one of a kind person die and he knew he messed up. The scarelt ibis dying was meant to foreshadow Doodle’s life and represent who he was in this world, unique.

Isabella

Compared to the narrator, Doodle’s lies were “twice as crazy”. His lies were about people who could fly and surpass the laws of nature. His favorite lie was about a boy named Peter with a pet peacock that had a “ten-foot tail”. To Doodle, these lies are a fantasy where no one is bound by physical limitations. What these lies tell us about Doodle is that he wishes he was free from his crippled body and that he could be independent. Doodle perceives his limitations as an obstacle stopping him from being truly independent and normal.

Roshanie

The lies that Doodle tells are fantasies and stories of mythical people that he created in his mind. He talks about how everyone had wings and they “flew wherever they wanted to go”. They were free to do what they pleased without any difficulties. These lies helped Doodles go beyond his limitations. In his “favorite lie”, a boy named Peter wore a gold robe and a pet peacock, and, whenever he walked through the sunflowers, they turned to face him. Peter was everything that Doodle wanted to be. He wanted to be looked at as something powerful and magnificent, rather than being considered a burden by the people who were meant to care for him.

Jona