Setting Where does the text take place? I think it’s in Britain. Is it in a real or in an imaginary world? It’s in a real world. Does the place of action remain the same or does the setting change? It’s most in the school, but also at home. Is there any indication in the text of the social environment? We know that the mother is a dentist receptionist so I don’t think that he earns that much money. I think they are a part of the lower middle class. Is the setting described in detail or hinted? I think the setting is described in details. Does the setting create a particular atmosphere?
Does the setting reveal anything about the characters’ feelings? No Characters How many characters are involved in the action? Four. Clara, her mother, Stan and the head mistress. Who are they and what do we learn about them? (age, appearance, family, situation, background, education, feelings, thoughts and so on) Clara: Clara is a teenager who went to the high school. I don’t think that she have many friends, I do not even know if she has. Often she hangs out with two girls from her class. But are they real friends? Her parents are divorced and she lives together with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend.
One day she takes off all her clothes in the school. It’s not normal for Clara because she is normally very shy. When the head ask her why she did it she doesn’t want to tell her the truth. The reason why Clara did it was that she want’s attention from her mom. Clara’s mother: She works part-time as a dentist’s receptionist. She has a boyfriend called Stan and is a very chaotic woman. Her boyfriend Stan gets all her attention. She doesn’t notice that her daughter needs her attention too. She is a very self-centred woman that want’s her daughter to be like her. When the letter from the head comes she only laugh about it and is very roud of her daughter. Stan: He is a muscular man with black hair on his chest. The smell of him is powerful he smells of sweat and aftershave. He is an actor and is only free in the afternoon. He doesn’t care that much about Clara. Head mistress: She has three boys and a husband. She is the head of the high school were Clara went to school. She wants to help Clara a little bit. She asked Clara why she took all her clothes off and if she had problems at home. I don’t think it’s enough. If she really wanted to help Clara she would have called her mother and talked seriously to her.
Are they all introduced at once or do they appear gradually? No. The head is introduced in the school, the mother when Clara went home from school and Stan is introduced when Clara thinks of his mother. Are the characters flat or complex? Clara and her mother are complex characters. Stan and the head mistress are flat characters. Do the characters remain the same or change? Clara is changing her character very often in the history. When she takes off all her clothes she is very cool and don’t care what the others say. When she is talking with the head, she is very cold and when she is at home she don’t say that much and is very reluctant.
Structure Does the story have an introduction or does it start in medias res? There is a short introduction but then it fast change to what is happening. Are the events presented in chronological order? Yes they are. There are no flashbacks. Is the ending open or closed? She is sitting in the kitchen and crying. It’s an open ending. Is the ending predictable or unpredictable? Very unpredictable. What effect does the ending have on the reader? (surprise, relief, sadness) I were really surprised when Clara began to cry. Narration Is it a first person or third person narrator? It’s an third person arrator. Is the narrator reliable or unreliable? The narrator is unreliable. If it is third person narrator; is the narrator omniscient or non-omniscient? He is omniscient, because he describes her flings and thoughts. Are the characters described by the narrator or by what they do and say? The caracters are described by the narrator. Theme What does the text fundamentally deal with? Attention from parents. Clara really wants the attention of her mom. What is the main idea of the text? The main idea of the history is that parents have to watch out how they’re children feel.
Most of all when they are in the teenage. When they are teenagers they are very confused of who they are. I also think that when parents get divorced, it is often hard for the children’s. The parents have to talk about why they did it. Style Is the language simple or complex? The history has a very simple language. Is it formal or informal? The style is informal. Is symbolism applied? No, there are no symbolises. Title What is the link between the title, the characters and the cause of events? When I heard the title I had never thought that it was about a girl that needs attention from her mother.
So I don’t think that the title and the characters in the history fit together. But he characters and the event does. What expectations does the title create? A special day were something happened for a girl called Clara. I thought it was a good thing that happened. Other texts Relate the text with other texts on the same or similar theme? I think the history “The shining mountain” reminds a bit of it. It’s also about a girl were the father wants her to be like him. The father is a mountain climber. The father wants her to climb a mountain and the only reason, that the girl is doing it, is that she wants the attention from his father.
