9. K. Mansfield “The Singing Lesson”.

Лингвистические средства, с
помощью которых автор создает психологический портрет персонажа.

The author Born in New Zealand in 1888 as Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp,

Mansfield managed in her brief life to establish a reputation as one of the finest
practitioners of short fiction in English. Witty, gutsy, belligerent and strong-willed,
this 19th century writer’s work and life, is both intangible and grappling. One of
the most striking modernist writers of her time, Katherine Mansfield has inspired
many of her contemporaries and has also been the subject of animosity among
those who never flourished as much as she did in the genre of ‘short-stories’.

Style and themes. The stories by Katherine Mansfield are not tales of violent
action, nor have they complicated plots. She reveals human conduct in quite
ordinary situations. Katherine Mansfield's style was often compared to the style of
Chekhov. Katherine Mansfield declares that life must be taken as it is.

She is very sensitive to class distinctions, and her sympathy is always on the side
of the have-nots. Besides that, any kind of egoism and pretense on the part of her
bourgeois characters is treated with ironic objectivity.

Mansfield transmitted details obliquely, via allusion and suggestion, seemingly

‘trivial’ incidents and ‘random’ associations. She draws unexpected comparisons,
achieved through personification and unusual metaphors and similes.

The story “The singing lesson” is written by Katherine Mansfield who was an
outstanding English short-story writer of the 20th century. She is the author of a
number of excellent short stories which deal with human nature and psychology.
Taken from Katherine’s ‘The Garden Party and Other Stories’ collection, it’s a
short story written in third person from an unknown narrator’s perspective.

Summary.

Miss Meadows, a music teacher, receives a letter from her fiancé which states quite
plainly that Basil, her fiancé, isn’t ready to marry her and feels that the marriage
would fill him with disgust. The word “disgust” is scratched lightly and written
above it is the word “regret”. Naturally she’s filled with despair, anger & sadness.
And due to her bad mood she sees everyone and everything in a negative light. Her
usual calm and cheery demeanor turns gloomy and angry that day and this change
doesn’t go unnoticed by her students.

During the lesson she’s rather harsh with her students. She tells them that today
they would be practicing a lament, without any expression at first. Each stanza,
each word, each breath seems like a sob or groan and lament to her gloomy mind.
Then she tells them that they must feel the despair, the pain and the sorrow in order
to perform the piece perfectly. Though the way she tells them so is not that simple.
They are rather frightened by the sudden change in her behavior.

During the lesson she’s informed by another colleague that Basil, her fiancé, has
sent a telegram for her. Her first thought is that Basil has committed suicide! Yes,
you read that right. It’s because the school has a rule; telegram can be sent to the
workers during working hours only in case of death or emergency situation. But in
the telegram Basil had asked her to ignore the first letter and that he had bought the
hat-stand which they had been thinking of lately. In short, the marriage is
happening. The content of the telegram definitely lights up her mood and she’s
back with her usual cheery demeanor.

She returns and continues her class, now practicing a cheerful song, singing with
expressions, more loudly and cheerfully than any other student.

Plot and mood.

The plot construction is a very simple one. The few events of the story are revealed
through flashbacks and letters, and the main plotline deals more with the emotions
of the protagonist as she reacts to the events.

From the starting lines of the story, there’s a slight touch of mystery and lyrical
content. The author’s way of making Miss Meadows see the reflection of her
own gloomy mood in everything, even in the sweet greeting from her colleagues
and students is quite realistic because our mood can make us behave in the most
peculiar ways at the most wrong times.

In the opening scene, the interaction between the Science Mistress & Miss
Meadows is quite sarcastic and from that we can conclude that Miss Meadows
was rather pessimistic. Is it due to the shock she has received from her fiancé or is
it just her general nature? We don’t know. But of course, towards the end her mood
changes and she’s perfectly cheerful, so may be we can say that the pessimistic
way is only due to her bad mood. It’s also safe to say that Miss Meadows chose to
show her feelings and moods through music rather than words.

The story flow is a bit intriguing as well because at first there’s no mention of
why Miss Meadows is in such a bad mood. Readers are left to wonder and
assume on their own. But the answer becomes quite clear at the right time,
without making the readers angry or irritated with all the guess work and
questions.
Narration. Miss Meadows’s ordeal in "The Singing Lesson" is written in the third
person from a female perspective. Mansfield, noted for her preference for a
woman’s point of view, moves away from the examination of a woman at home at
the turn of the twentieth century and instead concentrates on the woman at work.
Although the short story employs the third person narrative point of view, the
omniscient narrator has ready access into the workings of Miss Meadow’s
mind. This is achieved by employing the technique of the interior monologue.
At different points in the story, the main narrative of a music class being held
is interrupted with the interior monologues from Miss Meadows. It is through
these monologues that we get insights into the mental state the music teacher
was in – first despairing over the loss of an engagement and wondering if her
fiancé really loves her, and then thinking about how she would have to leave
her school in order to avoid the embarrassment of everyone finding out that
her engagement had been called off by her beau.

The songs she asks her class to sing mirror the emotional state of Miss
Meadows. The first song, a lament, perfectly reflects the pessimistic state of
mind Miss Meadows, the second song, which was one of celebration, reflected
the jubilant state the teacher was in.

Setting. Though there’s no mention of the place where it all takes place, we can
ascertain that it’s probably set in the United Kingdom or its provinces, judging
from the terms used to describe the hierarchy of its faculty and the grade levels.

Characters.

There aren’t many characters but those that are there, are described quite properly
and aren’t exaggerated. Protagonist of the story is Miss Meadows. The minor
character is her fiancé, Basil.

Miss Meadows is a thirty-year-old singing teacher at a girls’ school who is

engaged to marry Basil. Miss Meadows seems to be a sensitive person who can
feel a great connection to both the weather and music, but she also responds to her
unhappiness by becoming cruel to others, spreading her despair to the students.
Miss Meadows is a strong character. Despite going through deep internal turmoil,
she does not let it affect her sense of duty, but shows up to take music classes the
day she got betrayed by her fiancé. Miss Meadows chose to show her feelings and
moods through music rather than words.

Basil makes no appearance in the story, and the readers get to know of him from
the one dreadful letter he sends to Miss Meadows and her memories of him. He is
a twenty five-year-old man. However, even this limited resource on Basil is
enough to show him as a flaky man who has serious commitment issues and is
unsure about what he wants. Out of the blue, he discovers that he is not a
“marrying man”, and even goes as far as to say that the thought of marriage fills
him with disgust, which he later scratched and replaced with regret. Basil non-
committal but he is also impulsive, taking rash decisions and actions as per his
moods and whims. A reader from Mansfield’s time would see many hints in the
story that Basil is gay and is marrying Miss Meadows to cover this up. He is vain
about his appearance and overly concerned with furniture, which were stereotypes
for gay men in the early 20th century.

The main themes.

In The Singing Lesson by Katherine Mansfield we have the theme of despair,

sadness, reliance, appearance, desperation and happiness.

The theme of marriage is the most important one. This shows the importance of
marriage in the life of a woman approaching thirty. So much of a woman’s worth
came from marriage, that she would consider giving up a steady job just to avoid
people seeing her as a failure. This story then shows how marriage became tied to
a woman’s validation and sense of self, so much so that they would even take a
flaky man in place of having no man at all.

The theme of appearance is another important theme explored in the story. How
Miss Meadows appeared to the world was more important for her than her career
and finding the right man. This is why when Basil called off their engagement, she
was considering leaving her job to avoid being seen as a woman who had been left
right before her wedding.

The main idea. The central idea of the story is to show how a person’s emotional
state and mood can affect their actions and the way in which they view the world.

Symbols.

The Singing Lesson symbolism is nested. The corridors of the school are cold,
symbolizing the coldness that has gripped Miss Meadows’ heart upon finding out
that her fiancé wishes to call off their engagement. The willow tree outside the
class with all its leaves gone, save for a few tiny ones wriggling like fishes caught
on a line is a symbol of the condition of Miss Meadows’ relationship, now drawing
to a close after her fiancé discovered that he is not a “marrying man”. Even the
rain outside is a symbol of the storm going on in Miss Meadows’ life.

Language of the story. The setting, theme, descriptions, narration of the story is
quite simple, lyrical and at times, comical as well. The author has definitely
succeeded in making the reader feel each agitation, irritation and overwhelming
happiness of Miss Meadows. It definitely makes up for a light reading.

My opinion. The Singing Lesson by Katherine Mansfield is a wonderful short story

that depicts the ups and downs in the emotional state of a woman whose
engagement got broken off and then got back on. The writers has used the
emotions of the protagonist to influence the setting and the actions of the story.
The narrative technique of employing interior monologues not only makes the
story engaging, but also helps reader form an intimate connection with the
protagonist. The writing style is fluid, almost lyrical, making for a pleasant read.

10. Saki “The Open Window”. Приемы, используемые автором для

создания юмористического эффекта.

The Author. The story “The open window” is written by Hector Hugh Munro,
better known by the pen name Saki. He was a British writer whose witty,
mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and
culture. He is considered a master of the short story, and often compared to O.
Henry and Dorothy Parker.

Munro remained part of English society into adulthood and participated in society
in many ways. However, under the pen name "Saki," his short stories often
criticized and satirized society in Edwardian England, especially from the point of
view of children and outsiders. In his stories Saki satirizes society's values with
regard to raising and educating children, especially through the character of the
aunt who cannot control or answer the questions of the children she watches over.

The literary style of the author is really unique. It contains a blend of satire, irony,
startling endings, clever dialogue, sparkling wit, and sometimes even horror. The
short stories usually contain character who play tricks on each other and usually
end with a surprising twist.

Summary.

«The open window» is about Framton Nuttel and a strange story that happened
with him. Framton Nuttel is a single man in a new town. His sister has arranged for
him to meet several of her acquaintances to prevent him from becoming lonely
there. On one such visit, Vera, the 15-year-old niece of Framton’s latest host, Mrs.
Sappleton, invites him to sit and wait with her while her aunt readies. As he waits,
Framton anxiously thinks about an appropriate way to compliment the young girl
while reserving the highest flattery for her aunt. Framton wonders to himself
whether Mrs. Sappleton is married, and he notes signs of “masculine habitation” in
the room.

After determining that her aunt is a virtual stranger to Framton, Vera decides to
inform him of her aunt’s “great tragedy” which she states occurred three years ago,
shortly after Framton’s sister left the town. Framton cannot imagine tragedy
striking such a calm, country town, but nevertheless listens intently to Vera’s story.

Vera points to a large, open, French-Style window in the room and remarks how
odd it is to keep it open on such a warm October afternoon.Vera explains how
three years ago her aunt’s husband and two young brothers exited through that
window to go snipe-shooting. Tragically, nobody recovered the bodies; since that
day, her aunt has kept the window open during the evening, ever-hopeful that her
husband and brothers will one day return, hunting dog in tow, and walk back in
through the window.

Suddenly, Mrs. Stapleton jumps to attention and excitedly remarks that the hunting
party has finally returned. Unbelievingly, Framton looks to Vera, expecting to
share with her a look of pity at the depth of Mrs. Stapleton’s delusions. But Vera
does not return his gaze. Instead, she looks out, horrified, onto the lawn. Framton
quickly turns towards the window and notices the silhouettes of three men, each
armed, walking towards the house.

At that moment, Framton grabs his belongings and bolts out of the house, narrowly
escaping a collision with a passing cyclist on the street.One of the men,
presumably Mr. Stapleton, asks Mrs. Stapleton about Framton’s quick exit. She
explains that the fleeing man is named Mr. Nuttel and wonders why he looked as
though “he had seen a ghost”

Just then, Vera interjects that it must have been the dog that frightened Framton.
She then tells a short, extravagant story detailing Framton’s supposed deep phobia
of dogs stemming from an awful incident in which a pack of dogs chased him
through a South Asian cemetery and forced him to hide away all night in a freshly-
dug grave.

Genre, mood. “The open window” is an ironic, thriller story. This story shows just
how fine the line can be between sanity and insanity. Mr. Nuttel’s susceptibility to
deceit is no different from that of the reader of the story. Yet Mr. Nuttel is insane,
and the reader, presumably, is not. In order to maintain this distinction, the author
forces his reader to consider the nature of insanity and its causes. The dark and
intriguing moods are prevalent in this story.

The main idea of this story is that you do not need to believe in every word of a
stranger, never believe something that you heard without clear evidence or make
sure beforehand. Rechecking the information will avoid us from being deceived.

The number of characters is limited. Two characters are revealed and developed
most of all. Framton Nuttel is one of the main characters of this story. He is very
shy, nervous man due to both his medical condition and having to meet many
people he doesn’t know. He is a dynamic character because in this story his
characteristic is changed after he faced an event. Nuttel has neural problem which
makes him cannot think logically and makes him easily believed in Vera’s story.

Vera, Mrs Sappleton’s niece, is the second main character of this story. Vera is 15
years old, intelligent, shrewd, creative and imaginative, a perfect actress. She likes
to invent mysterious, even mystical stories. Vera is the center of this story because
she is the one who sets this story from beginning until the end. And the theme of
this story matches with Vera’s role in this story. Vera seems to be truthful when
she tells Nuttel a sad story of Mrs. Sappleton and her family, but in the end it was
just a lie.

Narration. The Open Window” is a third-person narrative, meaning that its action
is presented by a narrator who is not himself involved in the story. This allows a
narrator to portray events from a variety of points of view, conveying what all of
the characters are doing and what they are feeling or thinking.

The most remarkable of Saki’s devices in “The Open Window” is his construction
of the story’s narrative. The structure of the story is actually that of a story-within-
a-story. The larger “frame” narrative is that of Mr. Nuttel’s arrival at Mrs.
Sappleton’s house for the purpose of introducing himself to her. Within this
narrative frame is the second story, that told by Mrs. Sappleton’s niece. The main
form of representation is narration. This type of representation makes the reader to
think a lot about the answers on the questions, if they were the protagonist of the
story.

The window is at once a symbol of the aunt’s hope that her husband and brothers
will return and a symbol of Vera’s expansive imagination. Vera uses the window
as a means to escape the boring, adult world and reimagine a more fantastical
reality. The window also symbolizes the desire for change.
The title of the story is “The open window” because all the action took place next
to this window, and made the main character run away from the house.

Stylistic analysis.

The author used a lot of stylistic devices to disclose the main idea of the story. In
the text we can find: Simile (“…quiet evenings like this”, “So like you menfolk,
isn’t it?”), epithets (“a very self-possessed young lady”, “restful country”, “a white
coat”). Epithets increase expressiveness and figurativeness of language works.
Repetitions (“Bertie, why do you bound?”, “Poor aunt always thinks that they will
come back some day, they and the little brown spaniel that was”, “Poor aunt”).
Repetitions emphasize the most important thoughts. Compares (“...quiet evenings
like this", “So like you menfolk, isn't it?"). It helps to see new, invisible sides of
the object. Metaphors (“a whirl of apologies”, “in a treacherous piece of bog”, “my
poor carpets”). It helps to see new, invisible sides of the object. In the author’s
style epithets s and metaphors are predominate. These stylistic devices make the
author’s style unique and interesting for readers.

Vera’s Name (Verbal Irony)

Vera’s name is a play on the word 'veracity', meaning 'truth'. Ironically, she is the
trickster of the story, always spinning a new tale to her audience.

Girl Trickster (Situational Irony)

In Saki’s time girls were frequently portrayed as trustworthy and honest people. It
is thus ironic that he chooses a female character to play the role of trickster and
storyteller in “The Open Window.”

Framton's Fright (Situational Irony)

Framton retreats to the countryside in order to recover from a bout of nerves.

Ironically, the countryside only adds to his anxiety and Framton is thrown into
another nervous fit when he believes he has seen ghosts.

Another irony in Saki's story is that the people Framton expects to be so

wholesome and serene are nuttier than he is. The monotony of country living has
allowed them to blossom out in their unique eccentricities.

My opinion. As a reader I consider the story presented for the interpretation very
interesting and unusual. The story is very unusual and filled with some mystery. I
think this story is worth reading.
11. W.S.Maugham “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Лексико-
синтаксические приемы для выражения конфликта в текстовом
отрывке.

The author. William Somerset Maugham, British playwright and novelist, was one
of the most reputed and well-known writers of his era, and one of the highest-paid
authors of his time. His work was popular for his simple style of writing, as well as
his sharp and accurate understanding and judgment of human nature.

Maugham's modernism expressed itself not in his literary style, but in the themes
of his stories, which demonstrated the disaffection of his characters with the
modern world.

Style. Somerset Maugham's style of writing is clear and precise. He does not
impose his views on the reader. He puts a question and leaves it to the reader to
answer it. When criticizing something he sounds rather amused than otherwise.

Summary.

The author recalls his childhood and how he learnt certain of the fables of La
Fontaine by heart back then (flashback). One of them was The Ant and the
Grasshopper, it’s an inner story and it’s similar to the story of Tom and George.

Maugham’s The Ant and the Grasshopper is a story about 2 brothers who has
rather different lifestyles. They are the representation of ant and the grasshopper of
La Fontaine’s fable. Tom (the grasshopper) takes life easy while George (the ant)
works hard, takes no joy and in turn gains very little happiness from life and at the
end Tom, with all his faults, is the lucky one; while George with all his virtues
ends dull and upset.

George told the narrator that his brother didn`t like to work, he did what he wanted
to do. He had a family and children but one day he decided to leave them and start
a new life. So George said that as Tom didn`t work he used to borrow money.
George also gave him money in order to start his own business, but Tom didn`t do
it he spent money on jewellery and motorcar. George understood that Tom had
never settled down and refused to support him. Then Tom decided to blackmail
him. He worked as a waiter or driver of taxi it was impossible for George as he
was a nobble man. He was rich in a noble family. It was really shame for him
that`s why he continued to give him money. Then one day Tom nearly went to
prison but George saved him again. Tom had trouble with Cronshaw. He was
determined to take the matter into court; he said Tom was a scoundrel and should
be punished. But in reality when George gave him 5 hundreds to settle the affair,
they cheated him. They took this sum of money and went to Monte-Carlo. Tom
enjoyed his life and George hard work every day to effort a small cottege in the
country when he became a retired. It was his dream. It wasn`t the end of Tom
adventures, then George told that Tom got married with one old woman. Later she
died and left for Tom a good fortune, a house, half a million pounds, a yatch.
George was upset, furious. The narrator laughted at him, after that George had
never spoken with him.

Narration. In this story the author uses the retardation of the exposition, it helps to
create tension. The narrative structure of the story is framing, the beginning and the
end of the story coincide. It contributes to the integrity, compactness and
completeness of the text. 1st person narration –Tom.

Structure of the text.

The structure of this text is ordinary there are the exposition, the narration, the
climax and the denouement.

So in the exposition, the narrator introduces us into the plot of the story and
presents the main characters: they are George Ramsey and Tom and the narrator.
So at the beginning the narrator shows us one of the problems of this text. It`s Tom
Ramsey a blackmail of the family. Here we can also notice the George feelings.
(he had an expression of such deep gloom, he was staring into space though the
burden of the whole world sat on his shoulders). This mood was caused by Tom`s
behavior.

Then in the narration we can find the description of their families, their
appearance and some information about their life. At first the narrator speaks
about Tom`s life. He uses the direct methods of description. (He had begun life
decently enough: he went into business, married and had two children. The
Ramsays were perfectly respectable people and there was every reason to
suppose that Tom Ramsay would have a useful and honourable career) But
then we can see the antithesis ( he changed his life, he wasn`t suited for
marriage, he wanted to enjoy himself, he left his family and spent 2 years in
Europe capitals, he spent borrowed money on luxuries with plesure) Then
there is a description of Tom ( he was charming, unscrupulous, he was easy-
going, he dressed beautifully, He always looked as if he had just stepped out of
a bandbox. Though he was forty-six you would never have taken him for more
than thirty-five. He was a most amusing companion and though you knew he
was perfectly worthless you could not but enjoy his society. He had high
spirits, an unfailing gaiety and incredible char, you could not help liking him.)
As for his brother George, he was an industrious, respectable faithful and honest
man. He was an absolute anthetesis to his brother Tom. George was boring and
calm. As for their relationship, George helped his brother in difficult situations,
but we can understand that he helped him just because his reputation, it was
shameful for him. It means that George was also selfish and egoist.

In the climax there is the most important moment of this story. The narrator said
that Tom found the other way to live perfectly. He found an old wife who left him
her fortune. There we can see a moral of this fable. The main idea of this text is to
do what you want and in this way you will be happy. Follow your dreams and take
the best from the life.

In the end we can see the attitude of the narrator to the brother`s situation. He was
always sympathizing such way of life and now he found the approval of that.

Characters.

George, in the story, is presented as responsible, dutiful, respectable, hard-working

and tensed for the future. George is always indulged in the work to make his future
better. George is considered “respectable”, “hardworking, decent, respectable, and
straightforward”, “Poor George, only a year older than his scapegrace brother,
looked sixty. He had never taken more than a fortnight's holiday in the year for a
quarter of a century. He was in his office every morning at nine-thirty and never
left it till six. He was honest, industrious and worthy. He had a good wife, to whom
he had never been unfaithful even in thought, and four daughters to whom he was
the best of fathers. He made a point of saving a third of his income and his plan
was to retire at fifty-five to a little house in the country where he proposed to
cultivate his garden and play golf. His life was blameless.” At the end of the story
we can see George’s real face, he is angry and envious (“George grew red in the
face.”, “George Ramsay beat his clenched fist on the table.”, “It's not fair, I tell
you; it's not fair. Damn it, it's not fair.”)

Tom is presented as relaxed and luxurious, who spends the time with the beautiful
ladies visiting expensive restaurants without caring for the future. Fortunately,
Tom gets an opportunity to get married to a wealthy lady and should not have to
take tension about the future Tom is portrayed as an “idle, worthless, dissolute, and
dishonorable rogue”, “charming and unscrupulous. I have never met anyone to
whom it was more difficult to refuse a loan. He made a steady income from his
friends and he made friends easily”, “For twenty years Tom raced and gambled,
philandered with the prettiest girls, danced, ate in the most expensive restaurants,
and dressed beautifully. He always looked as if he had just stepped out of a
bandbox. Though he was forty-six you would never have taken him for more than
thirty-five. He was a most amusing companion and though you knew he was
perfectly worthless you could not but enjoy his society. He had high spirits, an
unfailing gaiety and incredible charm. I never grudged the contributions he
regularly levied on me for the necessities of his existence. I never lent him fifty
pounds without feeling that I was in his debt. Tom Ramsay knew everyone and
everyone knew Tom Ramsay. You could not approve of him, but you could not
help liking him.”

So, if we examine the life of George and Tom, we find Tom’s life more fortunate
and comfortable.

Something that becomes clear to the reader when George discusses with the
narrator how much money he will have when he retires. This may be
important as it suggests that both George and Tom have one thing in
common. A love for money. Though money is a necessity in life both men are
also aware of its power and its ability to influence others. George may feel as
though he will be placed on a pedestal by others when he retires due to the
fact that he has set aside so much money while Tom is obviously aware of the
power of money. He has used money, other people’s money, to get what he
wants in life.

Syntax. The choice of short simple sentences (He wanted to enjoy himself. He
would listen to no expostulations. He left his wife and his office.), anaphora –
initial repetition (he) make the rhythm and style of narration muscular, energetic,
pulsating.

Language. The narrative structure is focal for the message of the story. The
development of the action turns into “a somersault story” in which the outcome is
opposite to what the reader expected (defeated expectancy effect).

Stylistic devices. Stylistic devices as hyperbole (as though the burden of the whole
world sat on his shoulders) and litotes (I’m not in hilarious spirits) and priority
implication (He sighed. “Yes, it’s Tom again”) plunge the reader into the events
and support the interest to the very end. The reader starts wondering who is Tom
and what he did (narrative hook).

We can see the author’s irony in describing George, the narrator seems to be
mock-serious when proclaiming sympathy with him (Poor George, …).

The title of the story, The Ant and the Grasshopper, is quite predictable, it alludes
to the well-known fable of La Fontaine which has the same title.
Message: The fable carries the message that hard work is rewarded while laziness
is punished. The story presents a more realistic view of the world. Sometimes good
things do happen to lazy or even quite bad people, causing them to end up better
off than those of us who work hard all our lives.

This fable teaches “the useful lesson that in an imperfect world industry is
rewarded and giddiness punished”.

12. O. Henry “While the Auto Waits”. Речевая характеристика

персонажей.

The author. The story «While the auto waits» is written by William Sydney Porter
(September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an
American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm
characterization and clever twist endings.

Style features:

O'Henry is honored as "a father of modern American short story" for his major
contribution into the development of this ganre. The main stylistic characteristics
that made him one of the world's renowned short story writers:

1) A twist ending or surprise ending. His stories are characterized by extreme

unpredictability. Most of them have unexpected conclusion or climax which often
causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters. 2) Attention to
details combined with minimalism. O'Henry achieves compression by exercising
a rigid selectivity. He chooses the details and incidents that contribute most to the
meaning he is after; he omits those whose usefulness is minimal 3) Heavy use of
different kinds of humor (irony, satire).With the help of satire and humor
O'Henry exposes some important problems of American reality. 4) The use of
allusions. An example of O'Henry's artistry with words can be seen in his many
literary allusions, especially toward Shakespearean plays and the ancient classics
5) The use of slang words. Lexical structure of O' Henry’s novels includes
common literary, conversational and low colloquial expressions and slang.6) Puns
& wordplay. Puns and other plays on words are signatures of O. Henry's fiction.
His short stories are well known for their wit and wordplay. Word play represents a
literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the
work.
Summury.

A young man often came across a young woman in the park. He noticed that she
always reading a book till midnight. Her dress was gray, and plain enough to mask
its impeccancy of style and fit. A large meshed veil imprisoned her turban hat and
a face that shone through it with a calm and unconscious beauty. This day he had
an opportunity to talk with her. On a happy occasion, the young woman’s book fell
down. He took this as a chance to talk to her, and without a moment longer the
woman asked him to take a sit right next to her.

He took it and began talking with her. They both were engrossed on speaking of
matters from being a rich and its typical advantages to someone. The young
woman insists that she wants to get out of that kind of lifestyle. She talked about
different stuffs of social life, about the innovations inherent in the elite. She kept
her name out of print. The young man therefore shares that he is a plain guy
working in a restaurant just across the street. This night he was on the night turn,
so he had time to talk with her.

The woman then hurries to leave, she asked man to stay on this bench. A young
man decided to keep her well in sight, and he started to follow her till he finally
saw her destination. She went inside the backdoor of a restaurant and came out
wearing the same clothes as those inside. The woman then took her place on the
cashier. After that a young man proceeded to an automobile and demanded the
Chauffeur to bring him to a club.

Genre and mood.

«While the auto waits» is a short ironic story. The theme of the story is that looks
can be misleading. So there is a wonderful quote that describes this theme: “Don’t
judge book by it’s cover”. This story is basically about a couple of young people
who get acquaintance in a park. The girl in a plain gray dress presented herself as a
rich woman who is trying to remain incognito. A young guy in simple clothes
introduced himself as a common man. In fact, their roles were mixed up. The guy
was quite wealthy, and the girl was poor and worked as a cashier in a nearby
restaurant.

The main idea of the story that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover or a person
from the outside. Appearance is usually deceiving.

The number of characters is limited there are only a young woman and a young
man. There is no protagonist or antagonist in the story, there are only main
characters. One of the main characters is Mr. Parkenstacker. He is a young man
who does not care about the position of a person in society. He is curious, calm,
polite. He is humble in his desires. He planned his acquaintance with a stranger for
quite long time, which means he does not have decisiveness. He is a good actor, he
could easily introduce himself as a poor man. Another main character is a young
girl. She proved herself ambitious, bitchy and arrogant. I can also say that she is a
good actress and has good intuition. She easily invents fables about her rich life.

The literary trend of the text is easily traced – it is realistic as the action may
happen anywhere anytime to anyone.

Narration. The story is a third-person narration. The author demonstrates the

heroes from the side. You can watch the heroes as a spectator. The tone of author’s
narration is light-hearted.

Setting. Most of O. Henry's stories are set in his own time, the early 20th century.
Many take place in New York City and deal for the most part with ordinary people:
clerks, policemen, waitresses, etc. The setting of the story is on a quiet corner of a
city park. Needless to say that the story happens in a public place where both rich
and poor are visiting to find pleasure not only with the place but also with the
people around them. O. Henry had an inimitable hand for isolating some element
of society and describing it with an incredible economy and grace of language.

The organization of the text is mostly dialogue it also combines with such types of
narration as description and account of events.

The symbols of the story are the veil and the "New Arabian Nights" book. The veil
shows the secrecy of the character and the fear of revealing the whole truth about
his life to the outside world. The "New Arabian Nights" book demonstrate that this
young girl live in her own dreams. She is like the heroine from fairytale. When at
the end of the story she dropped the book, then her fairytale ended and the whole
truth about her life came true.

The title of the story tells about the time period during which the main action takes
place. Events occur while man’s auto is waiting for him.

The message of the author he sends to the readers is then you in dream, you
shouldn’t miss your real life in dreams. And also that people’s look cam be
misleading.

Stylistic analysis.

The author used a lot of stylistic devices to disclose the main idea of the story. In
the text we can find: Simile (dancing like little marionettes ), epithets (red-head
girl, natural man, small park, pretty lamps), oxymoron (elegantly threadbare,
awfully glad), repetitions (Parkenstacker). From the examples it is clear that the
author’s style is very unique and rhythmic. He used a lot of SD, as epithets and
repetitions to fully convey the atmosphere to the smallest detail.

My opinion. As a reader I consider the story presented for the interpretation very
interesting and instructive. It addresses important social issues. The story, in my
opinion, will not go out of date.