ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. It is said that the theme of love in any literary piece is one of the most used
and abused and yet, is one that relates to most people. How does Daguio’s
The Wedding Dance differ from any other stories of love?

2. How does Anton Chekhov use punctuation marks to heighten the emotions of
the scenes in “The Lottery Ticket”?

3. After reading the story, what do you think is the meaning behind the last
paragraph of the story: "A few more weeks, a few more months, a few more
harvests—what did it matter? She would be holding the bean flowers, soft in
texture, silken almost, but moist where the dew got into them, silver to look at,
silver on the light blue blooming whiteness, when the morning comes. The
stretching of the bean pods full length from the hearts of the wilting petals
would go on. Lumnay’s fingers moved a long time among the growing bean
pods"?

4. In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, how did the role of the narrator as
one of the townspeople help set the reader up for the twist at the end of the
story?

5. What could be the reason why Miss Emily killed Homer Barron and why has
no one suspected her of committing the said crime?

MODEL ANSWER:
After reading the story, what do you think is the meaning behind the last paragraph
of the story: "A few more weeks, a few more months, a few more harvests—what did it
matter?She would be holding the bean flowers, soft in texture, silken almost, but moist
where the dew got into them, silver to look at, silver on the light blue blooming
whiteness, when the morning comes. The stretching of the bean pods full length from
the hearts of the wilting petals would go on. Lumnay’s fingers moved a long time among
the growing bean pods"?
In the story, the stretching of the bean pods symbolizes the culture of the community
wherein the couple lives while the wilting petals stands for the love of Lumnay and
Awiyao. By looking at the symbolisms used, the stretching of “culture” will always go
on, regardless of what come its way, even “love”.
If we are to analyze the situation of the couple in the story, we will understand that there
is a conflict between culture and the people who are part of the culture itself. "Bonfire"
was also used to symbolize the light of the law itself; the unwritten law within the culture
and society where the couple lives. It is unbreakable that even the love of Lumnay and
Aniyao cannot break it. They simply do not have the courage to do so because none of
them has ever dared to do so.