The story begins—and ends—with references to the summer heat, andthere are several days of rain after the marriage takes place. Is this just scene-setting, or is there a larger significance to the descriptions?
What will be an ideal response?
- Even without cues from the author, we would be tempted to associate the summer heat with the fires of lust, especially at the beginning of the story. Arredondo makes the connection all but unmistakable when she refers, at the beginning of the second paragraph, to “the arrogance that precedes combustion,” and ends that paragraph by having her narrator, Luisa, tell us that “I was certain of having the power to dominate passions, to purify anything in the scorching air that surrounded but did not singe me.” The very last sentence of the story reinforces this connection.
The several dreary days of rain, following an “afternoon of menacing dark clouds” (par. 32) before the marriage, present a classic instance of the pathetic fallacy, which in its broadest definition signifies the ascription of human feelings to nonhuman things, but often—as here—indicates the use of nature to reflect emotions appropriate to a character or situation.
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Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
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a. that b. which
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Lupe Zarzuela es de México y habla español. Estudia en la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles. Estudia geografía, inglés y economía. Toma clases todos los días por la mañana. Trabaja por la tarde en la librería de la universidad. Por la noche, descansa y habla por teléfono con sus amigas. Los fines de semana, Lupe pasa tiempo con su novio y mira la televisión. 1. Nationality: __________________________ 2. University: ___________________________ 3. Classes she is taking: __________________________, __________________________, __________________________ 4. Place where she works: __________________________ 5. After-work activities: __________________________, __________________________ 6. Weekend activities: __________________________, __________________________
Philippe a réussi à un examen après cinq tentatives (attempts). _______
a. C’est dommage! b. Enfin!