Unit 1: Short Stories 

“Just Lather, That’s All” 

by Hernando Tellez 
____________________________________________________________________________

Answer the following questions directly in the Google Docs. Once you are finished, submit to the corresponding D2L 
Dropbox.  
  
1. Make a​ list of the reasons​ the barber gives himself for killing and ​not k​ illing Captain Torres when he has 
the chance. 
1. One of the reasons is because he doesn't want to be a murderer and have blood on his hands. 
2.A reason is that he thought to himself, I am just a barber and, he is an executioner and, he came for a 
haircut and, that's what I will do, no more than that. 
3.Another reason is that he wants to do his job honorably and perform his work perfectly and, killing would 
make that wrong. 
4.The last reason is that killing is harder than you think and, Tom confirmed that by saying that “killing isn’t 
easy" at the end of the story. 
 
2. Write a ​well-constructed paragraph​ in which you identify and explain three ways the story develops 
suspense ​for the reader. Ensure that you follow proper MLA guidelines in your paragraph writing.   
 
11/19/2020 

Emily John 

Ms. Weiditch 

ENG2D1-06 

Question #2 

The story develops suspense for the reader. The first way the story develops suspense for the 

reader is when the barber thinks about killing the captain while shaving his beard with a razor that could kill the 

captain if the barber wanted to.  

Unit 1: Short Stories 
“Just Lather, That’s All” 
by Hernando Tellez 
____________________________________________________________________________

The second way the story develops suspense for the reader is when the captain leaves because he could 

have come back and murdererd the barber for being a rebel and for being information from him and telling the 

others. 

The third way the story develops suspense for the reader is when the the barber hopes that the 

captain doesnt notice that he is a rebel because the barber thought that if he knew he would kill him. 

3. Write a brief ​character sketch​ (description) of either the barber or the Captain. 
The Captain(aka Torres) was in the military. He is an executioner who murders. 
 
4. Explain how the last paragraph of the story makes the reader ​reconsider ​his or her interpretation of the 
story.  
The last paragraph of the story makes the reader reconsider his or her interpretation of the story because 
the entire time I the reader thought that the captain had no idea that the barber was a rebel and was 
thinking about killing him right there with his razor which he was using to shave his beard.