Final Writing Test (20%)

The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

Among the many english literature classics, Ernest Hemingway definitely deserves a profound respect for his writings. As a journalist, but mostly as a novelist, he succeeded many times in showing the true nature of man through his deep moral novels. When he wrote The Old Man and the Sea in 1951, it was acclaimed by the critics and he was given the Pulitzer Prize as well as a Nobel Prize in Literature the next year. People who read this book might think that it is the story of the fight between the man, Santiago and the blue marlin and that there's nothing more to it. This book actually is the perfect example of a conflict between man and nature in general. Whether it is because of the setting, of the plot or of the main themes, there's certainly more to this story than meets the eye.

First of all, the location of the action chosen by Hemingway really confirms that the conflict in this novel is the pure model of a man versus nature battle. It starts in a poor Cuban fishing village, where people live with simple ways of life. It is clear in this story that the choice of the region was made because of its simplicity. What's a simpler way of life than inhabiting a small coastal village? Also, it's important to take note that for the most part of the novel, the action takes place in the sole fisherman's boat somewhere in the Gulf Stream current. The description of the sea made by Hemingway has everything to make this man feel alone against a force that's way bigger than him.

Second of all, what contributes to this point of view of the story's interpretation is the basic elements of the plots. Hemingway made it very simple. An old fisherman deserted with luck has to feed his village. So when he's out there at sea hunting the blue marlin, he knows that if he keeps failing at his job, he will eventually die of hunger, he know that's it's a matter of winning as humans against the will of nature. What is so original about this novel is that you can see the battle between the will of those two forces in a captivating metaphor, the blue marlin representing the powers of nature, and Santiago as the ideal values promoted by man, such as courage, endurance and honor.

Third of all, the main themes of the story, according to me, lead to an similar interpretation. Men, even if handicapped by life (Santiago's old age) can accomplish great acts when their mind is sharp and brave. The values Hemingway included in this story would represent the perfect attitude to not only defeat a fish, but to treat any problem we could face in our life. Moreover, it presents a stoic model, that proves the reader how the force of will and intellectual vivacity are good weapons against a nature that is wild and uncontrollable. Some might say that the action in this novel is based in the fisherman's actions to catch the fish, It is in the way Santiago confront his problems. This attitude, once transposed to any other of our lives' issues could only be an advantage.

Finally, this simple fight between an old man and a fish can be used to find more profound meanings that Hemingway clearly wanted to transmit. By this metaphorical story, he draws the picture of the key virtues of man, that are essential for man's victory over the outside obstacles. The setting, the plot and the main themes are good aspects of the novel to base my judgment on, as they are the core of any literary work. Although no one can claim he knows exactly what Hemingway wanted to express, my interpretation of the conflict sticks with the important parts of the text.

616 words

Mid-Term Writing Test

Part A
3. Mrs. Mallard is at first very saddened by the news of her husband's death, but when she is sitting on her arm chair she mentions a sentence : "But she saw beyond that bitter moment...". This sentence explains that while she is sad, she nows that from now on she can live her own life, without her husband's domination.

5. This part of the text is certainly the one that shows the best how Mrs. Mallard really feels about her husband's death. While the scenery described in the text isn't in itself important, it expresses the state of her mind, a total interruption of thought. Also, I believe that the way the background is presented really evokes the sensation of intellectual freedom, where you see the things in life from a totally new angle, a better one maybe.

7. These two emotions have a very important place in the text, and we really get to know of their existence in Mrs. Mallard's mind pretty much only when she is sitting alone in her armchair. She had just cried and let her sadness free, and she now understands that yes, it is a difficult moment, but that the rest of her life would be happier, deprived of her husband's oppressing will.


Part B

« The Story of an Hour » is a fantastic short story written by Kate Chopin, a woman from St-Louis, whose life greatly affected this story. I personally believe that the most important aspect of this text is the irony present in it, because it is what makes it so original. The structure of the text as well as its message have a really strong link with this humour type and this is also what I’d like to convince you to believe.

Firstly, I’d like to indicate that the structure of the text, once analyzed really tells us that irony is the main component of the text. If we try to take the hints that Kate Chopin left us about the ironic nature of the message during the whole text, we will find that it really surrounds the whole story. In fact, only by looking at the first sentence, we learn about two of the most important ironic elements of the story: her heart weakness and the death of her husband. And, this irony arrives at a first high point in the middle of the text when Mrs. Mallard is sitting alone in her armchair. There is this one moment where her emotions change from sadness to happiness. The only feeling a reader could be waiting for is sadness, but instead, the writer decided to shock us when Mrs. Mallard repeats the word “free”. And finally, when we get near the ending, the author gives back life to the husband, which is the moment where everything else crumbles. In fact, the next and last sentence announce us the death of the character, and proves us that the story’s theme was irony, because its components were located at the beginning, in the middle and at the complete end of the short story.

Secondly, we could analyze the message that the author tries to highlight, so we can try to understand why she used so much irony in it or why this theme is so well developed. The best way to start to decorticate this piece of literature is reading the author’s biography. When we read it, we really understand how mixed are the character’s and writer’s lives. Kate Chopin was raised with free women, all widows and later became a widow herself. That is why I think a part of the theme of the story is about marriage and men-women relations at the time, but I think irony still is more representative of the essence of the text. Kate Chopin was a very religious person, and the way life treated her (death of her brothers, father, mother and husband) really deceived her and made her become maybe a little bitter. And this is why I think she decided to write a story about the cruelty of life, or, I should say the irony of life.

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Questions :

1) Where and when does the story take place?

2)Who are the characters?

3)What is their relationship?

4)What is the mood of the scene?

5)What and whom are they talking about?

Marc Senecal

In my first English class in St-Laurent, I came to discuss with another student named Marc Senecal and I found him really interesting. He told me his projects for the next months were mainly to have good grades in his first Cegep session and he also told me that he wanted to join the school's flag-football team. In the next few years, Marc plans on finishing his 3-year program in St-Laurent to be able to go to university to try to get an engineering degree. Marc's achievements