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5 comments:
LOL. Is it cheating to post a comment on my own group's question? Oh well, here it goes! There have been a couple stories we've read this semester so far that have had opening statements that do a good job setting the stage for the plot. One of these was the opening of Updike's A&P: "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits." How many stories have you read that starts that way? It immediately grabs your attention and transitions well into the story.
oops. It would be nice if you knew who I was, wouldn't it?
-Aaron Bentley
there you go
Most stories that we have read in the class this semester do have a first line that draws in the reader or at least give the reader an idea of how the story is going to be. For example, in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings the first line reads, "On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and thow them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench" My first thought was "What?" As i read on it seemed more and more like a fairytale-like story, not quite sure if it really is "A Tale for Children" but I suppose children might find it interesting.
btw this is jorge..=D
I would have to agree that A&P has the strongest opening line that we have read this semester, though every story has had a strong opening. For instance, Lawrence's The Horse Dealer's Daughter: "'Well Mabel, and what are you going to do with yourself?' asked Joe, with foolish flippancy. Foolish flippancy? Word choice that definitely pulled me in. As John Updike said: "I want stories to startle and engage me within the first few sentences, and in their middle to widen or deepen or sharpen my knowledge of human activity, and to end by giving me a sensation of completed statement." I could not have said it better myself.
For me, it was the opening of Maugham's "The Appointment in Samarra." Once I read that Death was narrating the story, I knew there was going to be a moral or life message. I wasn't disappointed.
-Aaron Caudill
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