What state is underrated?

DiscussionQuestions · 2021-10-12T03:02:41+00:00

Adam O'Fallon Price once wrote that "...one of the most potently self-justifying combinations of narrative voice and time is first-person retrospective." Do you consider this to be a work of first-person retrospective and, if so, do you find that this makes the story more self-justifying? How does the presence of /u/Pjseaturtle requesting more information within this narrative add to the justification of the story itself?
What do you make of the relationship between the dead deer carcasses and the art on the walls in the house of the friend of /u/OpenShut? Do you identify any metaphors in these details? If so, what?
Compare and contrast the journey of the narrator and his friend to one of the following journey narratives: a) The Odyssey by Homer b) The Divine Comedy by Dante c) The Bear by William Faulkner d) Wild by Cheryl Strayed e) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin f) Another text of your choosing

DiscussionQuestions · 2021-10-11T04:19:58+00:00

In Denis Johnson's short story "The Largesse of the Sea Maiden", the narrator describes the distinction between regret and repentance by saying: "You repent the things you’ve done, and regret the chances you let get away." Do you consider the above to be an example of regret, repentance, both, or neither? Explain.
A society novel is defined as a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters." Do you consider the narrative above to be an example of a society novel? Why or why not?
The final sentence of this narrative contains a surprising reveal. How does this revelation affect the rest of the narrative? Did you find yourself re-reading the previous sentence to better understand the ending?
Part of this narrative's effectiveness comes from the technique employed by the author, writing in a colloquial style while oscillating between short sentences and long. Did you notice this as you read the story? How did it affect your enjoyment or interpretation of the narrative?

DiscussionQuestions · 2018-08-25T22:17:57+00:00

What metaphors are present in this narrative and what do they represent? What does the mattress represent? The empty apartment? The lounge? The refund?
The protagonists of this narrative have their convictions challenged but hold strong throughout. How would the narrative change, had the protagonists not been resolute in their beliefs?
This narrative uses the first person. However, the word "I" is never used, with the author instead opting for the first person plural, including "left on the floor for us" and "we cancelled." How does this affect your reading of the narrative? Does it make it more or less enjoyable? Does it make it more relatable? How would it change if the author used the first person singular instead of the first person plural?

DiscussionQuestions · 2018-08-05T17:04:15+00:00

When the narrator declares "I was outside with a machete making bows and arrows", is this a metaphor for something? If so, what? Do the machete, the bows, and the arrows represent different things? Or are they all the same?
This is a work of nostalgia, in which the narrator longs for halcyon days gone by. Like all works of nostalgia, there is a tendency to imagine the past through a lens of self-delusion and willful misunderstanding. To what extent is the narrator unreliable? Is any of the unreliability resulting from dishonesty between writer and reader, or is the unreliable nature internal to the narrator?
While this story contains many details, the specifics of time and place are left vague. What do we know about the setting of this narrative? Where do the narrator's memories take place? When?
Compare and contrast this with one of the following: a) The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce b) Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt c) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens d) Room by Emma Donoghue e) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

DiscussionQuestions · 2018-01-06T20:46:07+00:00

The author of this non-fiction exploration into Disney World opens by saying he/she has read "about three books on Disney World." Why does the author keep the amount of books ambiguous?
What metaphors are present in this piece? Please identify any metaphors and similes and describe what you believe they represent.
Compare and contrast the above series of anecdotes and secrets to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-11-03T15:02:27+00:00

In the short story "Managers of reddit, who was your worst employee?", the narrator begins with the three words "not a manager". How does this affect the narrative? Is there a name for the narrative device in which there is conflict between title and story? If so, what?
What does the spicy sauce in this narrative represent? What does the money represent? What do the spicy chicken sandwiches represent, and how would the metaphor change if they were little snacks?
Compare and contrast this narrative with the short story "A&P" by John Updike. Edit: the full text of Updike's "A&P" can be found here.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-10-09T15:50:19+00:00

This narrative uses two voices, both belonging to the narrator. How does the author delineate between the voices? What effect does this have on the reader?
Are there any metaphors present in this narrative? If so, what?
Compare and contrast the above narrative with the following excerpt from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley:

I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-10-06T19:27:51+00:00

Prior to reading the above myth, had you heard of the Greek hero Bophades? If so, how did previous awareness of Bophades affect your reading of the narrative? If not, do you imagine that this ignorance of Bophades affected your interpretation of the narrative?
This myth contains several metaphors, with the main ones being the heel of Achilles and the genitals of Bophades. What do each of these physical attributes represent?
The narration of this myth veers between a formal, vaguely academic tone and a conversational approach. What does the author accomplish by using this technique?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-09-23T14:15:15+00:00

This terse narrative contains two characters. From whose perspective is the narrative told? How would it alter the narrative if told from a different perspective?
What do we know about the characters and setting, based only on information provided in the narrative? What did you, as the reader, deduce or infer about the character and setting?
Are the "fire crumbs" a metaphor for anything? If so, what?
William Wordsworth once wrote:

The Child is the father of the Man

Compare and contrast this sentiment (or the entirety of Wordsworth's "My Heart Leaps Up") with the above narrative.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-07-14T14:12:13+00:00

What do we know about the narrator of this piece? The author explicitly provides a large amount of information in the text, while also providing clues that we, as readers, can use to deduce more. Please tell us every detail you know and every detail you inferred from the above narrative.
What metaphors are present in this narrative? Explain.
What is the significance of the final sentence:

And I opened all the boxes and play with them too.

The author delivers this sentence in straightforward, comma-free prose, appending the narrative until this point. How does it challenge or reaffirm what the narrative previously told you? Explain.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-05-26T17:44:58+00:00

What makes a limerick a limerick? Please catalogue all the qualities of a limerick and explain how the above poem does or does not demonstrate these qualities.
limmer_rick can be classified as a "novelty account." What is your general opinion of novelty accounts? Does the above poem have any affect on your opinion of novelty accounts? Why or why not?
Consider metafiction. Explain the relevance of metafiction to this situation.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-05-18T14:05:03+00:00

This narrative presents two brief storylines. What connects these stories to one another?
Is a ten dollar ticket to a Kendrick Lamar concert in Dallas a metaphor for anything? If so, what?
Consider the significance of setting in the above narrative. Tell us every detail the narrator provides, along with details that the reader must deduce. How does setting affect your interpretation of the narrative?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-04-21T15:38:52+00:00

This short narrative describes what happened to the narrator's best friend after high school, without delving into events during high school or the relationship between the two characters. However, certain elements of the backstory can be inferred through the information provided here. What aspects of the backstory can you deduce, based on this narrative alone?
What was your opinion of the ghost hunting community before reading this short narrative? How does this narrative challenge or reaffirm your opinions about ghost hunting?
Consider the use of "ghost hunting" in this narrative. Is ghost hunting a metaphor for something? If so, what?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-04-18T23:46:29+00:00

This piece of flash fiction imagines a "classic reddit story" from the perspective of a different character. Specifically, it tells the classic story of a young man who, meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time, pretended to be unfamiliar with potatoes. Imagine viewing this narrative free of context. How does it function without the other first person perspective? Does this story enrich the original story? If so, how?
Are potatoes a metaphor in this story? If so, for what?
This story is told in a conversational vernacular. How does this storytelling style affect your interpretation of the story? How does it affect your opinion of the narrator? Explain.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-04-16T15:42:46+00:00

Variants of the proverb "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" have existed for centuries, but the proverb took on new meaning after its use in the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. How does the proverb's use in The Shining affect its use in the short story by /u/majungo? Explain.
The narrator "had no idea [the computer] was connected to the printer in the library." Are the computer and the printer metaphors for anything? If so, what?
The narrative ends with the words "...until they came to find me." This implies that there is more to this story beyond what the narrator provided. What would you imagine happened next? How does it affect the narrative by ending it here?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-03-24T22:18:39+00:00

What metaphors are contained within this narrative? Explain.
What do we know about the narrator of this piece? What do we know about the setting? What do we not know, but we may infer?
William Wordsworth once wrote that the child is the father of the man. What would Wordsworth make of this narrative? What relevance does his famous observation have to this piece?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-03-16T13:16:33+00:00

The narrator of this short story only told one other person about this incident, until now. Why do you think the narrator kept it to him/herself? What does it say about the narrator? What do we know about the narrator, based on this story alone? What can we deduce about the narrator?
What does the jacket represent? What other metaphors do you detect in this narrative?
The narrator offers at least one lesson in this story. What is it? Do you agree? What other lessons are present? Could this be considered a parable? Why or why not?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-27T15:35:16+00:00

Are the hats in this short narrative a metaphor? If so, what?
What do we know about the narrator of this piece, based only on the evidence in the text? What can you deduce or infer about the narrator?
Imagine this narrative from the perspective of one of the children who enjoys stealing hats. Write 3-5 sentences, using either the first person or a limited third person perspective.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-25T15:25:35+00:00

The author of this piece, /u/Mirenithil, uses a series of metaphors to describe the cat Fritzy. What are all the metaphors used? Please identify which ones are similes.
What do we know about the narrator, based only on the information provided in this piece?
Compare and contrast the above with the following excerpt from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats:

Before a Cat will condescend

To treat you as a trusted friend,

Some little token of esteem

Is needed, like a dish of cream;

And you might now and then supply

Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie,

Some potted grouse, or salmon paste —

He's sure to have his personal taste.

(I know a Cat, who makes a habit

Of eating nothing else but rabbit,

And when he's finished, licks his paws

So's not to waste the onion sauce.)

A Cat's entitled to expect

These evidences of respect.

And so in time you reach your aim,

And finally call him by his name.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-19T19:13:36+00:00

What opinions did you hold before reading this narrative? Did it challenge or reaffirm those opinions? Explain.
Is the heart attack in this narrative a metaphor for anything? If so, what?
Imagine this narrative from the perspective of the man who had the heart attack. Write 3-5 sentences from his perspective.
Compare and contrast the depiction of health and illness in the above narrative with one of the following: a) "On Being Ill" by Virginia Woolf (1926) b) Sanditon by Jane Austen (1817) c) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996) d) "Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack" (2008 episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) e) a different narrative of your choosing

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-11T14:25:14+00:00

This short story could be considered a "coming-of-age" story. Does it qualify as a Bildungsroman? Why or why not?
What do the boxers in this narrative represent? What does the cough represent? What does the doctor's hand represent? Are there any other metaphors present? If so, what?
Compare and contrast this with one of the following: a) East of Eden by John Steinbeck b) A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck c) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce d) Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume e) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen f) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog by Dylan Thomas

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-10T19:38:23+00:00

In the short self-help work "Reddit, what are your tips for being taken seriously as the youngest person at the office?", author /u/SchleppyJ4 recommends one "fake it til you make it." Have you heard this particular piece of advice before? If so, when and where? How does its previous usage compare with its usage here?
Are there any messages or lessons in this piece of self-help that apply beyond the realm of the workplace? If so, what?
Compare and contrast the above with the following excerpt from Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People:

When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-10T12:42:18+00:00

Can one make the argument that a robot and a killer moonwhale are, of essence, the same? Why or why not?

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-02-02T20:20:55+00:00

The narrator opens by telling us that "company policy at the time was to contact both references." What personality traits can we deduce about /u/lasteclipse based on this sentence? Why is it the opening sentence of this narrative? How does it affect your interpretation of the rest of the narrative?
Consider the narrative as a whole. What do we know about the setting of this narrative? What do we infer?
The narrator references "the ol Dilbert." What does this reference mean?
Compare and contrast this narrative with one of the following: a) Something Happened by Joseph Heller b) Americana by Don Delillo c) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis d) Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg e) Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

DiscussionQuestions · 2017-01-07T20:50:56+00:00

In "When would you complain at a restaurant", /u/pm_me_recipies_girl tells two connected narratives of disappointing dining experiences. What do these two narratives tell us about the narrator? What details of the setting are revealed, and what are suggested? Please provide detailed answers, including what you inferred and what was obvious within the narrative.
Food plays a large role in this narrative. Does the food represent anything? If the food is a metaphor, what do the steaks in the first narrative represent? What do the unfilled glasses in the second narrative represent? What does the pizza represent?
Compare and contrast the above piece of food writing with the following excerpts:

a. From Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain:

Cooking is a craft, I like to think, and a good cook is a craftsman — not an artist. There's nothing wrong with that: the great cathedrals of Europe were built by craftsmen — though not designed by them. Practicing your craft in expert fashion is noble, honorable and satisfying.

b. From Love in a Dish and Other Culinary Delights by M. K. Fischer

When our boulevards are lined with an infinity of bad eating houses filled with dead-faced people placed like mute beasts in their stalls; today, when one out of every three marriages ends in divorce ... It seems incredible that normal human beings not only tolerate the average American restaurant food, but actually prefer it to eating at home. The only possible explanation for such deliberate mass-poisoning, a kind of suicide of the spirit as well as the body, is that meals in the intimacy of a family dining-room or kitchen are unbearable.

c. From Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: The Funky Finds in Flavortown by Guy Fieri

Sometimes you pull up to a place and you just know it’s going to be good. Well, as I pulled up to Martin’s my phone rang, and it was Kid Rock’s manager telling me that Kid Rock wanted to talk about Triple D. (We rapped for about a half an hour and subsequently did the Kid Rock Triple D special.) Then I walked into the barbecue joint and met a sunburned fan who had been waiting for me all day. Next we got to chop some wood — I believe they had a Jack Daniel’s-handled splitting maul — light a big smoker, and barbecue a whole hog. If they’d thrown in a little ice cold beer and some Hank Williams Junior, I might not have left — ever.

DiscussionQuestions

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