Name: Abdulaziz Alsaihati

Date: 18/9/21
Mr. T.’s Class: 10A
Assignment: Purl Notes

Notes

“Chapter,” Book, publisher (date).

- Summary
Exposition : Purl joins Bro Capital. She seems out of place.

Rising action #1: The men do not accept her.

Climax #1: Purl starts to try fitting in with the men by acting and dressing like them.

Falling action #1: The men finally start accepting her.

Denouement: A new ball of yarn joins Bro Capital.

Rising action #2: Purl wants to not accept her.

Climax #2: She finally decides to include the new ball of yarn.

Falling action #2: Purl makes the men get used to working with new balls of yarn. They enjoy
being coworkers.

Denouement #2: Purl helps a man who is new. The office’s atmosphere appears to be
friendlier.

- Theme
The idea behind the story that could be seen as a lesson is gender equality in the workplace.
The author’s theme is that women are crucial to society. I agree with his theme because

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 humans should not be judged due their gender (sexism). I also believe that the author is biased
towards liberalism. The accidental theme is the issue of changing or not changing for others.

- Relation to Other Works

Yes, the characters and situation remind me of Memoirs of an American Slave by Olive
Gilbert, which talked about Sojourner Truth. She was an American women’s rights activist.
Just like Purl, Sojourner was fought against gender inequality. In the end, they both achieved
the same goal: to end sexism. The story “Purl” shows the theme in a somewhat discreet way as
the women are symbolized as the balls of yarn.

- Personal Thoughts or Feelings

First of all, the way the men treated Purl was undoubtedly wrong as it made her feel really hurt. I
don’t feel like what Purl did was right either: she changed herself to fit in with the men. I feel
like she should just be true to who she is. She does then however perform a righteous deed.
When the men finally accepted Purl and a new ball of yarn joined, she eventually accepted her.
In turn, because of Purl, they start working together cooperatively. I also connect with what the
author was trying to show us. I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia, and it is considered to be a gender-
unequal country. It is, however, becoming more gender equal.

Score & Teacher Comments:

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Scoring:
__/4 - Summary - Situation at Beginning, How the Situation Changes, What makes the Change
Difficult or Interesting
__/3 - Theme - General Point, Specific Evidence, General Point Related to the Next Paragraph
(Must contradict or argue that something else is more important than the thesis)
__/4 - Relation to Other Works - Characters Similarity, Situation Similarity, Ending Similarity,
Theme Comparison
__/2 - Personal Thoughts or Feelings - Where the characters Wrong or Right? Why? Similar
situation in the Real World, What was the author trying to express that is true in real life?

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__/13 - Total

Teacher Comments:

- A
- B
- C
- D

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What to Fix for Next Time:
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- A
- B
- C
- D