Portfolio: Analyzing Literary Text
Write a paragraph in which you summarize The Invisible Red String and Message in a Bottle and compare and contrast their structures.
Write a paragraph in which you analyze how the stories The Invisible Red String and Message in a Bottle update character types and story patterns from older stories. Explain how your analysis helped you understand the modern stories. Cite details from the stories to support your ideas.
Write a paragraph in which you identify and analyze the universal themes in the two stories. Cite specific universal themes and provide details from the two stories to support your analysis. Explain how knowledge of these universal themes can help readers deepen their understanding and appreciation of modern stories.
Ok. This is what I have so far.
(Message in a Bottle) I think this story is trying to say never be forgotten. I think that the way the story updates the character type or story pattern means he loves his mother a lot .(The Invisible Red String) I think this story is trying to say never have too high requirements or you will not get what you want. I think that the way the story updates the character type or story pattern means you must change.
(The Invisible Red String) I believe that the universal theme is renewal/rebirth, Even though the story is updated a bit to have a strong female character, the universal theme of coming-of-age or loss of innocence is unchanged. The story shows how Ju-Lin matures into an educated and confident young woman who is ready to marry. (Message in a Bottle) The story is a hero’s journey. Christy and Blackie are on a quest for a better life in a new land. They face obstacles on the way, including a monstrous storm just as they are within sight of land.
If this helps you guys, here's my essay:
The first story I will mention is called Message in a Bottle. The story starts by telling the story of a ship called the St. John; a ship that sank on the Boston Harbor. Next the story focus shifts to a fifteen year old boy by the name of Christopher Dooley. Christy faces challenges like being poor and having a crooked spine and a cruel father. Cristy escapes his home and boards the mentioned ship, St. John, going to America for Ireland with the help of Blackie. Then, the story jumps forward to when the ship was sinking as Blackie and Chisty are fighting to stay alive on the sinking vessel. In the midst of the chaos, Christy managed to fling a bottle containing his St. Christopher's medal and a flier advertising the St. John. A year later, the bottle is found by his sister and her friends, they bring it to the townspeople who ponder over the mysterious bottle, they eventually give the medal to the sister and the flier to one of her friends. Ten years later, while the sister is in America she meets a person by the name of Christopher Dolley, they talk and then they marry.
The other story I want to mention is The Invisible Red String, The story starts with her father selling his only daughter into slavery in order for his famliy not to starve. The daughter Ju-Lin is obviously distraught with this decision. Then the matchmaker Moi-Yun arrives at their farm in the night, Moi-Yun offers to help by buying the daughter to be an apprentice. Next Ju-Lin is whisked to the old matchmaker’s house, and she sets the ground rules for Ju-Ling. After a while, Ju-Lin asks Moi Yun how she gets the perfect matches, and Moi Yun explains that when a boy and a girl are born an Invisible Red String is tied around their foots and every year it gets shorter and shorter until the couple met, and the her job is to be a facilitator of the string and shorten it down so that the couple met. And she also tells her what she wants her to learn, “not to listen with your ears but with your heart”. Over a period, he learns how to read and write but also to keep records of clients. One spring morning, a wealthy matron named Madam Yuen comes to the house, she’s tired of her son's unwillingness to marry and she comes to the house for assistance. Ju-Lins takes down notes on what would make a good match for the son. The matchmaker suggests that Ju-Lin should go to “compromise his decisions' '. The next day the journey Ju-Lin sets out to tell the son that there is no match to his liking. When she gets there she tries to tell him that his expectations are unreasonable while he admires her for her smarts and looks, just then she realizes what the matchmaker meant by those words. After this Madam Yuen comes back to introduce Ju-Lin to his son, she sees that Ju-Lin and her son are hitting it off. She then prepares for the wedding.
Both stories are started with the character in some sort of poverty; but while Christy's poverty was caused by his drunk father and his low paying job, Ju-Lin’s poverty was based on a drought. They're stories are a variation on the rags to riches story; while it’s ambiguous that the Christy in the ending is the Christy that was on the ship, St. John. While Ju-Lin’s story isn’t ambiguous about the fact that she marries into her money.
The story is a hero’s journey. Christy and Blackie are on a quest for a better life in a new land. They face obstacles on the way, like personal and environmental obstacles. Christy is the hero of the story on his quest to start a new life for himself and his family, Blackie plays the mentor figure keeping Christy out of trouble. Christy’s Da, although brief, plays the villain, being the catalyst for Christy’s quest. It updates the hero’s journey transforming the goal from finding an object or defeating the villain, to a personal one which is to be rich enough to get his family out of Ireland to live a life of luxury away from his father. This update on the hero’s journey tells readers to focus on the characters more than on the adventure. The Invisible Red String resembles a fairy tale in structure. Ju-Lin is the hero, and her challenges include leaving her family and serving in the matchmaker’s place. Her story has a fairy-tale ending, for she marries a handsome young man. However, her intelligence, not her beauty, wins his heart. I think this updated story, with its strong female hero, sends a better message than traditional fairy tales. It encourages girls to be strong and smart.
The universal theme of Message in a Bottle is about fresh starts and never forgetting his past. Christy and Blackie face obstacles on the way, including a monstrous storm just as they are within sight of land on their way to a better life. Even when he is on his journey to America, he still remembers his past. A good example is when he decides to send a message in a bottle to indicate where he is to his Ma. The universal theme for the Invisible Red String is coming-of-age/loss of innocence even though the story is updated a bit to have a strong female character, the universal theme of coming-of-age or loss of innocence is unchanged. The story shows how Ju-Lin matures into an educated and confident young woman who is ready to marry.
But do me a favor, don't make mine solely your version. Read the stuff, and make your own opinion. But you're free to take notes from this.
Some of you are using this as your unit 10 portfolio....double check that this is what your teachers are asking you to complete... I have a feeling it isn't and many of you will receive a zero.
not really i use a app called paraphrasing tool heres the link or something paraphrasing-tool.com if its not blue just put it in your search bar and use that for when ever you wanna use a answer cause you cant come up with anything and just make sure to use a check my work thing so then you can fix if its too close to something else i always get A's when i do work with it
arent you guys scared to post ur answers, bcz teachers can see this website, and will be able to tell that, that is ur answer; and will know its you...?
I'm dieing
This is what I had on my (Word) document and I got 100%! God Bless Happy Easter!
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The Invisible Red String:
Ju-Lin (Main Character) – Hero
Moi-Yun (Matchmaker) – Mother Figure/Mentor
Poverty – Villain
The story pattern would be a mix between Ju-Lin venturing far from home on a ‘quest’ and her losing everything. She would have lost everything because she would have lost her family due to them going to sell her away. Ju-Lin’s family did not want to do this, but they had no food and needed money, and she was the only girl child. Her parents were seriously thinking about sending her away, but a matchmaker by the name of Moi-Yun came and made Ju-Lin a sort of an apprentice. She traveled far from home because she was in the care of the matchmaker and the matchmaker traveled places.
THEME: The theme of the story is the power of destiny and fate, which brings people together regardless of how far apart they may be.
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Message in a Bottle:
Christopher (Christy) Dooley (Main Character) – Hero
Clare Dooley (Ma) – Mother Figure
Patrick Dooley (Da) – Villain
Blackie Mcclure – Mother Figure
The story pattern would be venturing far from home because Christy is a stowaway on a ship to America. He wants to go to American to make lots of money and then come back for his Ma and siblings. “He figured 15 was old enough to do something about it.” (pg. 5) Whatever his Da made for money, he used the money to buy stuff in the pub. Christy did not like his Da because his Da mistreated his Ma and insulted and physically abused Christy. When Christy left for America, he never told his Ma about his plans, because he claimed it would worry her. (pg. 7)
THEME: The theme of the story go for your dreams and more than you could have ever wished for could happen. This is because Christy had the dream to go to America and get lots of money, but he ended up getting more of that. By sending that message in a bottle, he soon found his future wife and had struck gold in the California Gold Rush.