Understanding

“Marigolds”
 Who is the author?

• Eugenia Collier (b. 1928) is an award-

winning writer and critic best known for
her 1969 short story "Marigolds," which
won the Gwendolyn Brooks Prize for
Fiction award.
 Setting/Geography

– What is the setting of the story?

• a poor section of rural Maryland
– What is the social setting/time period of the story?
• the United States in the midst of the Depression
– More?
• Dust everywhere, dirt roads, shanty/ramshackle homes colored
dull gray, yards and roads colored brown
• Describe the weather/season.
• Late summer
– Consider the hour
• it’s just after 4 A.M.
• What are some characteristics of time just before dawn?
– Four o’clock in the morning is a time when few people are
awake and it is still mostly dark. It is a time when a person
who is awake can easily feel “alone in the world.” The early
hour tends to isolate Lizabeth and makes the reader wonder
what she plans to do.
– How does all of this affect our character(s)?
• “smoldering emotions of that summer swelled” (8; parag. 58).
 Setting/Geography
Continued…
– Describe Miss Lottie’s house?
• the most wretched, and her “queer headed” son
on the porch adds to the impression of lowliness
– What does this tell us about her
character?
• house is a reflection of her social standing, which
is probably lower than Lizabeth’s
– How does all of this affect plot?
• The setting acts as an intrinsic part of the
characters motivations for behaving in the manner
in which they do.
 Conflicts characters
encounter
• Person vs. person
– Boxers, a debate
• Person vs. self
– Liar, Liar with Jim Carey
• Person vs. nature
– Castaway, Survivor Man
• Person vs. society
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Person vs. machine or technology
– Matrix
• Person vs. the supernatural
– Haunted Mansion
 Conflicts…

• In most stories one of the opposing sides is

human.
• Almost always the central character engaged in
the conflict is the one with whom readers identify,
for they want to see how and why the tension is
resolved.
• This character, whether hero or villain, is called
the protagonist.
• The force opposing the protagonist is called the
antagonist.
 Word origins

• Pro--for, in front of
• Anti--against
• Agonistes--actor
• Agonia--contest
 Character
– Who is our PROTAGONIST?
– Is she a ROUND or a FLAT character?
– How does she illustrate the complexities found in
real people?
• She is confused, she acts before thinking
– How old is Lizabeth? Why is her age significant in
the story?
• 14-going-on-15
– How old is Lizabeth as she narrates her story?
• How does this affect the point-of-view, tone and
mood of the story?
 Character continued…
• Who is the ANTAGONIST?
• Who is Miss Lottie?
– She is a big frame woman; she has smooth, reddish-brown skin.
She has Indian-like features. She is very unemotional in her
facial expression. She didn’t like intruders and she never left
her yard nor did she have any visitors.
• What conclusions can you draw from her
description about the likelihood that Miss Lottie will
punish the children for their actions?
– She won’t punish them because she is very old and she moves
slowly.
• Why do you think the children “pick on” Miss
Lottie?
– They know that she is powerless and that she won’t be able to
do anything to them because she can’t catch them.
 Character continued…

• Describe Miss Lottie’s son, John Burke.

– “ageless…in a mindless stupor…but he
would become enraged” (5, parag. 20).
• Is he ROUND or FLAT?
• How is he important to the story?
– He adds to the setting of decay and limits
Miss Lottie’s freedom to break away and find
a better life.
 Central Conflict
• Identify the conflict Lizabeth struggles with
following the attack on Miss Lottie.
– She is torn between feeling sorry for attacking Miss Lottie and
feeling that she somehow had a right to attack her.
• What feelings are at the root of her conflict?
– Deep down, Lizabeth knows she behaved childishly and she is
angry at herself for doing so.
• Summarize the conversation that Lizabeth
overhears.
– She overhears her father crying and her perception of her father
changes drastically.
• How does the sound of her father’s crying affect
her?
– It makes her feel confused, helpless, and angry.

Internal Conflict/Person vs. Self

 Plot Development
Climax

Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition
Resolution/
Denouement

•Exposition:
…
…
…
 Plot Development
Climax

Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition
Resolution/
Denouement

• Rising Action:
…
…
…
 Plot Development
Climax
Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition Resolution/
Denouement
Climax:
• The climax occurs when Lizabeth returns to Miss Lottie’s
garden and destroys it. (p.84) Here is where Lizabeth loses
control and strike out as a result of the conflicts she has
been struggling with.
• How does Lizabeth change in the moment she comes face
to face with Miss Lottie? What does she recognize in Miss
Lottie’s face?
– Lizabeth realizes that as hard as her life is, Miss Lottie’s life
is much more difficult and without hope – she is able to feel
compassion for Miss Lottie.
 Plot Development
Climax

Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition
Resolution/
Denouement

•Falling Action:
…
…
…
 Plot Development
Climax
Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition Resolution/
Denouement

•Resolution Denouement:
 …
 …
 …
 Symbol
• Interpret what marigolds symbolized to Miss
Lottie?
– For Miss Lottie, the marigolds were a symbol of
beauty and hope in an otherwise hopeless
environment.
• What do they symbolize for Lizabeth as a
child?
– They symbolize the beginning of her life as an adult.
• Why are the marigolds important to the adult
narrator, Lisabeth?
– They may serve as a reminder of her past and her
lack of humility as well as the beginning of her adult
life.
 Critical Thinking
– Why does Lizabeth destroy the flowers?
• She is disturbed by her father’s frustration and by her own changing
emotion
– Why does Miss Lottie never plant marigolds again, despite
Lizabeth’s “wild contrition” – her sincere remorse?
• Lizabeth’s destruction of the marigolds also destroyed Miss Lottie’s last
hope and desire to create beauty. Lizabeth “defeated” Miss Lottie.
– What do you think the narrator means at the end of the story
when she says that she too has planted marigolds?
• She has also tried to create beauty amid ugly circumstances. She has
tried not to get depressed even in hopeless situations.
– What does the narrator mean when she says “old fears have a
way of clinging like cobwebs”?
• People keep irrational childhood fears even after they’re old enough to
know that the fears foolish.
– What type of literary device is this?
• simile
– What were your reactions when you finished reading the story?