Setting

1. Place: the geographical location of the story – a country or a city, a large city or a small village, indoors or outdoors, or both.  
A: The setting is in a small New Hampshire town.
 

2. Time: the period in history, the season of the year, the day of the month, and/or the hour of the day in which the events of the story occur.

A: In the late 20th century.

3. Social environment: the location of characters and events in a particular society and/or a particular social class (lover, middle, upper class).

A: The characters' social class are in the middle class. And the environment of the setting are not that quite good, also the story didn't tell much about the environment.

Plot

1. What is the story about? What are the main events in the story, and how are they related to each other?

A: A story is about a blind girl named Anna, who lived with her mother.She doesn't view her mother so much as a trapeze artist who lost her livelihood, but rather a struggling mother to whom she owed so much to. The main event is when she thinks about her mother’s career, however, because her mother preserves no keepsakes from that period of her life.

2. Are the main events of the story arranged chronologically, or are they arranged in another way?

A: No, the main events are arranged chronologically.

3. How is the story narrated? Are flashbacks, summaries, stories within the story used? 

A: The main character is like a narrator, and this story is an Autobiographical

4. Is the plot fast-paced or slow-paced? 

A: Because it is a short story, then the plot was fast-paced.

5. How do the thoughts, behaviors, and actions of characters move the plot forward?

A: Because of Anna's action by struggling, then she would help her mother and herself in any ways that she could do.

6. What are the conflicts in the plot? Are they physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Are they resolved? How are they resolved? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex?

A: She is blind, and losing her sight, ends up also struggling with everything. Interestingly, the daughter can't see her mother as a  artist who lost her livelihood, but rather a hardworking mother to whom she owed so much to.

7. What is the climax of the story and at what point in the story does the climax occur? Is the ending of the story happy, unhappy, or indeterminate? Is it fairly achieved?

A: She find the best way to make both her mother and her in a better living by thinking about her mother's old career. And they end up a happy and a better life.

8. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?

A: Yes, all the episodes are relevant to the total meaning of effect of the story. All of the incident grow logically, and out of the preceding incident, and lead naturally to every next part of the story.

 

9. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are those occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story.? How improbable are they?

A: The story end up nicely, and easy. With both the mother and Anna living in a better living. And they lived better now, with the help and hardworking of Anna.

Characters

1. Who is/are the main character(s) in the story? What does the main character look like?
A: The narrator, Anna. Anna is beautiful and cute, but she is blind.

2. Describe the main character’s situation. Where does he/she live? Does he/she live alone or with others? What does the main character do for a living, or is he/she dependent on others for support?
A: She doesn't view her mother so much as a trapeze artist who lost her livelihood.

3. What are some of the chief characteristics (personality traits) of the character? How are these characteristics revealed in the story? How does the main character interact with other characters? Note the degree of complexity of his/her behavior, thought, and feelings; their appearances their habits mannerisms, speech, attitudes and values. What is the main character’s attitude towards his/her life? Is he/she happy or sad, content or discontented? Why?
A: Probably she would be sad, because she can't see her mother. She ends up also struggling with balance and coordination.

4. What sort of conflict is the character facing? How is this conflict revealed? Is it resolved? If so, how?
A: She is blind and struggling with her sight, and she realize catlike precision of her movements may be the product of her early training. She also rarely thinks about her mother’s career in the Flying Avalons, however, because her mother preserves no keepsakes from that period of her life.

5. Is any character a developing character? If so, is his change a large or a small one? Is it a plausible change for him? Is he sufficiently motivated? Is the change given sufficient time?

A: She is still blinded, but she changed herself by struggling with balance and coordination. She also still navigates her home so gracefully, never upsetting anything or losing her balance, as she do it always.

Point of View

1. What point of view does the story use? Is the story told from a first-person perspective, in which the narrator is one of the characters in the story, and refers to himself or herself as “I”? Or is the story told from a third-person perspective, in which the narrator is not one of the characters in the story or may not participate in the events of the story?

A: The Leap by Louis Erdrich is told by the narrators point of view. The story is an autobiography. The author refers to himself.

2. What are the advantages of the chosen point of view? Does it furnish any clues as to the purpose of the story?

A:The advantage of the first-person perspective is that the author can give thoughts and how she feels. First-person perspective can explain and describe more on how the characters are feeling.

3. Is the narrator reliable or unreliable? Does he/she have a limited knowledge or understanding of characters and events in the story? Does the narrator know almost everything about one character or every character including inner thoughts?

A: I would say that the narrator’s understanding and knowledge of character and events in the story is everything. But then it’s not that it is unreliable because most of the things are explained. The narrator knows everything about one character including the inner thoughts. The narrator understands and has much knowledge about one character. For the other character, the understanding and knowledge is limited but most of the thoughts were explained.

4. Does the author use point of view primarily to reveal or conceal? Does he ever unfairly withhold important information known to the focal character?

A: The point of view is used to reveal the character resolution. The narrator doesn't withhold the important information known to the focal character. The information, details, and understandings are clearly told. The point of view is the one that gives approval to Lalla’s decision of coming back.

The Leap

Red Scarf Girl pg.1-50

            The story was about a girl, she was born on the Chinese New Year. Her parents named her Ji-li, that means lucky and beautiful. They which that Ji-li would be the happiest girl in the world. And she was. She had a happy life with her parents and everyone.

            With Ji-li red scarf, the emblem of the Young Pioneers, tied around her neck, and she smiles with proud and with joy. She achieved and grew every day until that fateful year, 1966. In that year, she was only twelve years old, in sixth grade. And in that year, the Cultural Revolution started.

             Ji-li was at the top of her class and the da-dui-zhang, or Student Council President, of her school. Which Ji-li was very proud of this. However, her father prevents her from auditioning for the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy due to her poor class status or rank. And she would broke her face with shame and with her rank. Ji-li felt bad to this reason for her not to go. Her grandpa is also a landlord. And this also made her look more low class.

             Ji-li must find ways to proof that everyone could be equal, even though her family is still a poor class. Her life is very rough and hard to live. She got to learn for her hard job. And lets see, what would happen next....

Red Scarf Girl