ms. sue i post question about story identities. i not get what it mean when it say what it mean to have identity?

also the first word that story start with that be normally - why that word really signficant? because it tell that this not be some ordinary day?

what neigbhourhood do protagonist live? that be in suburbs? highclass?

i don't get why he leave home and what be his goal?

He does not hurry for he has no destination. He meanders, instead, through the neat suburban labyrinth of cul-de-sacs, bays and circles, losing and finding himself endlessly. Becoming lost is made all the easier because the houses repeat themselves with superficial variations. There grows within him, however, a vague unease with symmetry, with nothing left to chance, no ragged edges, no unkempt vacant lots, no houses rendered unique by necessity and indifference.

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it ask do the guy know where he going? i don't think he know where he going. why he get lost? he get lost because he keep going deeper into nowhere?

i really not get this question which be
what be tension in this para? which words make the mood?

Identity is how we see ourselves. It also means how others see us.

http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1354411676

Here's the first part of that story.

"dentities - W.D. Valgardson
Normally, he goes clean-shaven into the world, but the promise of a Saturday
liquid with sunshine draws him first from his study to the backyard, from there to his front lawn. The smell of burning leaves stirs the memories of childhood car rides, narrow lanes adrift with yellow leaves, girls on plodding horses, unattended stands piled high with pumpkins, onions, or beets so that each one was, in its own way, a still life. "

Starting the story with "Normally," emphasizes the difference between his everyday life and this day -- which is much different.

He leaves home on that Saturday because he's tired of being "normal" -- wearing a suit, going to work, doing his chores. He wants to be carefree as he was as a child.

The tension in the paragraph is shown by his discomfort with these surroundings. He's gradually gone from his middle-upper class neighborhood to an unfamiliar and poor neighborhood. He's a little fearful about being in these strange surroundings.

Your answers are right.

thanks very much ms. sue :) i not get which words create mood in that paragraph?

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Their slick hair glistens as though shellacked. Their leather jackets gleam with studs. Eagles, tigers, wolves, and serpents ride their backs.

what mood be made by the images in that para? it be scary mood? do images be symbolic? stereotypical? I not get this.

The tension is expressed with these words.

"a vague unease with symmetry, with nothing left to chance, no ragged edges, no unkempt vacant lots, no houses rendered unique by necessity and indifference"

It's different than what he's used to or what he expects.

In the last paragraph you've quoted, it's supposed to be scary. These symbols are stereotypes of gang members and criminals.

thanks very much ms. sue :)

He passes a ten-foot wire fence enclosing a playground bare of equipment
and pounded flat. The gate is double locked, the fence cut and rolled into a
cone. Three boys throw stones at pigeons. Paper clogs the fence like drifted snow. The school is covered with heavy screens. Its yellow brick is pock-marked, chipped.

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what impression be created of description of playground and school? It not be clean. It be scary. so far what have reader impression be based on? on difference of this community and mans community?

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The houses are squat, as though they have been taller and have, slowly, sunk into the ground. Each has a band of dirt around the bottom. The blue glow of television sets lights the windows. On the front steps of a red-roofed house, a man sits. He wears black pants, a tartan vest, a brown snap-rimmed hat. Beside him is a suitcase.

what do first sentence say about neighbourhood? that is that it be really small. why man on step? why he be mentioned? i not get these 2 questions.

the colors used so far in story be black i think, it say mention colors that be mentioned. then it say speculate on possibble associations.

The neighborhood is poor. It looks as though nobody cares about it.

The man on the step is getting out of this neighborhood. He has a suitcase, which shows that he's leaving -- at least for a while.

Black is a symbol of evil and bad things.

thanks very much ms. sue :)

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Fences here are little more than fragments. Cars jam the narrow streets and he worries that he might strike the unkempt children who dart back and forth like startled fish. Street lights come on. He takes them as a signal to return the way he came, but it has been a reckless, haphazard path. Retracing it is impossible. He is overtaken by sudden guilt. He has left no message for his wife.

how do main guy feel at this point? He wants to get out of this uncomfortable place? he's nervous because he not like these bad people?

There have been no trees or drifting leaves, no stands covered in produce,
no salmon tins, but time has run away with him. His wife, he realizes, will have returned from bridge, his children gathered for supper. He also knows that, at first, they have explained his absence on a neighbour’s hospitality and gin. However, by the time he can return, annoyance will have blossomed into alarm. His safe return will, he knows from childhood and years of being locked in domestic grief, degenerate to recriminations and apology

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how do this para tie with one earlier in story? this one tie in because in earlier one he trying to escape from his neighbourhood and now he want to go back? what is known of mans family attitude toward him? They be really loving? what be the recriminations? i not get how his marriage be?

He's heading back to normal family life. His wife and kids love him, and will be worried about him because he's been gone for so long. And because they're worried, they'll also be angry when they find out he's o.k. He should have called them, but he didn't. They'll tell him that.

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Faced with this, he decides to call the next time he sees a store or phone
booth. So intent is he upon the future that he dangerously ignores the present
and does not notice the police car, concealed in the shadows of a side street, nose out and follow him.

how he not know about present? i not get this question. why he be followed by police? that is because the police think he be a criminal like the other people around in neighbourhood.

Ahead, there is a small store with windows covered in hand painted signs
and vertical metal bars. On the edge of the light, three young men and a girl
slouch. One of them has a beard and, in spite of the advancing darkness, wears
sunglasses. He has on a fringed leather vest. His companions wear leather
jackets. Their peaked caps make their heads seem flat, their foreheads nonexistent. The girl is better looking than she should be for such companions. She is long legged and wears a white turtle-necked sweater that accentuates her breasts.

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why there be bars on windows? i not get this. what r 4 people like? They are very criminal like. how can you tell. that be because they not be clean, and be wearing dark stuff symbolizing they be evil. what main guy think about girl. he think that she should not be hanging with guys like that. how do this reveal his character? i not sure.

In spite of his car, he hopes his day old beard which he strokes upward

with the heel of his hand, will, when combined with his clothes, provide
immunity. He slips his wallet into his shirt pocket, does up the metal buttons on his jacket and slips a ten dollar bill into his back pocket. Recalling a television show, he decides that if he is accosted, he will say that the ten is all he’s got, that he stole the car, and ask them if they know a buyer.

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what kind of immunity he think about? he think about trying to blend in with those bad people so they don't attack him. why he put wallet in shirt? so that they don't know about his identity? why he ready to tell false story? cause he don't want to get killed?

He eases out of the car, edges nervously along the fender and past the
grille. The store window illuminates the sidewalk like a stage. Beyond the light,
everything is obscured by darkness. He is so intent upon the three men and the
girl that he does not notice the police car drift against the curb, nor the officer who is advancing with a pistol in his hand.

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in wat sense do the main guy be on stage? he be on stage because he be visible to bad guys surrounded by darkness. why police have gun? he have gun because he be on lookout for bad guys?

When the officer, who is inexperienced, who is nervous because of the
neighbour-hood, who is suspicious because of the car and because he has been trained to see an unshaven man in blue jeans as a potential thief and not as a probable owner, orders him to halt, he is surprised. When he turns part way
around and recognizes the uniform, he does not feel fear but relief. Instinctively relaxing, certain of his safety, in the last voluntary movement of his life, he
reaches his hand not in the air as he was ordered to, but toward his wallet for his identity

what do police man think of main guy? He thinks the guy be bad. do there be foreshadowing that police man think of guy like this? i not get this.

what be ironic abt main guys reaction seeing police? he be surprised?

what do words last voluntary movement of life tell? that he die?

what be meanings of last setence?
that identity be real important and u should not lose ur own.

why story in past tense? because it tell about mistake guy did? do this be good choice?