The narrator of the story, Tim O'Brien, repeatedly recounts memories of the war, each with an added detail or an object that carried a significant amount of weight that makes the story seem more factual than what it seems. ... The objects they carried were true and false, imaginary and existing, and uncertain and certain. ... The power of salvation from stories is derived from forgiveness, and to tell a story of someone that is to employ good feelings and thoughts of them. ... O' Brien grabs hold of the reader, raising them up with his powerful hand and tells his stories of the thing...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The Ralph Ellison short story titled Battle Royal, is a great exemplary of this everyday struggle. ... "...I never told you, but out life is a war and i have been a traitor all my born days"(Ellison 230) , "Live with your head in the lion's mouth. ... The narrator takes this moment in his life as of of the most significant because of how shocking the statement was. ... Unlike Battle Royal, the short story Sonny's Blues takes place in the 50's but in the heart of New York city, however it does. ... If you could not already tell the story is focussed around Sonny, y...

• Word Count: 611
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

He would not hesitate to help or offer assistance to anyone who needed it, as well as take the time to tell stories to the town's children. ... But are Dame's wild accusations about her husband true? ... Fed up with how he is being treated at home (or the colonists tired of the British rule), Van Winkle decides enough is enough. ... The last half of the book speaks true to the American tradition, even today. ... He is insistent that the story is true, and that it follows historical happenings in the start of our early country. ...

• Word Count: 1834
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Point of view also allows one to tell his or her story most effectively. ... The mother in "Everyday Use" tells the story and tries to explain to the reader the great differences between her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. ... When we read the story from Momma's point of view, it makes us conscious of how she feels about herself and how she feels about Dee and Maggie. ... But Dee does not have a true appreciation for those quilts; they are impersonal to her. ... The quilts serve a testament to the family as a piece of history, surviving generations through war and tough times....

• Word Count: 1091
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Lion (1987) is a novel which takes place in Toronto in the years following the First World War. ... They also help build up his identity and true self. ... It reveals Patrick's true character. In the beginning of the story, it does not mention how he felt about the society he is living in. ... As the story progresses, his true character divulges and the readers learn more about him. ...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

The ending of the story doesn't tell you whether or not Nancy actually is murdered the last night the father leaves her at her cabin. ... In Red Leaves Faulkner tells a story Native Americans who own slaves on their plantation. ... This story is interesting because not only does Faulkner play with the perspectives of people very different than him, he plays with how people talk among themselves. ... Although the Native American's live like white men on their plantation, they still hold true to certain rituals when the chief of their tribe dies. ... There are many theories that Mi...

• Word Count: 1764
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

"Don't ever tell anybody anything. ... In 1942 Salinger was drafted into the army in which he served through World War II. In the war he served as an interrogator in the Counter-Intelligence Corps and a participant in the D-Day offensive and the campaign to liberate France. ... Salinger focused on this so much is because it was very true in his own life. ... Even from reading just the first couple chapters, I began to get sick of how much Holden complained and just viewing everything from the same way he saw life. ...

• Word Count: 1119
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Whitney tells Rainsford that, "the place has a reputation---a bad one" (Connell, 10). ... The physical setting of "The Child by Tiger" is America's deep south following World War I. ... Wolfe's story presented both a probable physical and social setting which makes the story literary fiction. ... Each page of the story in a way to keep you flipping and wondering what will happen next from the story's title to its' final sentence. ... In the literary fiction story, "The Child by Tiger", Wolfe lays out a plot for the readers to feel like the stor...

• Word Count: 2328
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

During the pre-war era, women were to be domestic. ... Hale went on to say "I know how things can be-for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. ... Hale grimly adds "How-she-did-change.... Little did he know, a simple joke proved to be truer then he'd thought. ...

• Word Count: 1562
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School