2004-05-20, 11:12 a.m.
1.Douglas Coupland grew up in suburbian Vancouver, in fact his parents still live in the same house he grew up in. Which then leads you to believe that this isnt just a story, its an autobiography. A day in the life, if you will. That and Douglas Couplands fascination with Vancouver and its glass like buildings seems to be the only personal imagery used in this short story.
2.His writings seems to be sincere and honest, a little gloomy at times, a little risqu others, but his works seem to be general exposs of modern life An eye into the mind of different lifestyles, people, and the world that encompasses them. Not so much a consistent theme, but a consistent viewpoint. They all give a dramatic and often times bizarre look into lifes trials and tribulations. Douglas Coupland seems to be a jack of all trades in regards to the fact hes written a series of hit novels (Shampoo Planet, Generation X, Microserfs, Polaroids from the dead), stirring magazine articles, editorials for art shows, etc. He is in all regards a journalist. Whose works range from "a short story on Dolly the cloned sheep in Time magazine (U.S. edition) to guest-editing two special issues of Vancouver Magazine on Vancouver's quirky future as a city state on the Pacific."
3.This story is a day in the life of the main character. He resides in the suburbs of the lower Vancouver mainland (The North Shore). He wakes up in his sloppy, untidy house hunched over a coffee table late one night and begins to reference his day. He watches tv, wanders aimlessly around the house, hints at an ocean of desperation under the surface, then goes to his parents house who live just up the hill. There he watches tv, wanders around, feeds the wildlife from the sliding glass door in the living room, converses with his parents, then goes home to bed. Things that fly seem to make quite numerous appearances in the story, birds on tv, birds out the window, birds at the zoo (again on tv), flying squirrels, references to cranes, airplanes, Superman even. But the story itself seems to really deal with nothing, nothing but everyday life. Its mostly bizarre thoughts, and a strange yet depressing mood.
4. A) the setting appears to be modern day Vancouver lower mainland, The North Shore specifically. At his house and his parents house. This is a key aspect of the story as it creates the mood for the simplicity of his life, yet the complexity of his thoughts.
B) The major characters here are the narrator, his mother and father. They are all for the most part round, static characters. Character is mostly revealed indirectly by way of the narrators thoughts or by his actions.
C)You are lead to believe the narrator is really Douglas Coupland by way of references to the surroundings, The North Shore, and his loose relaxed lifestyle. Its a subjective limited omniscient viewpoint, for the reason that it most likely is the writer and its his thoughts being written about in his day to day life.
D)narrative hook: Im sitting hunched over the living room coffee table on a Sunday night, in a daze, having just woken up from a deep deep sleep on a couch shared with pizza boxes and crushed plastic cherry yogurt containers.
Exposition: is him wandering around his house then him going to visit his parents. It briefly builds a setting and idea of who this character is without giving too much away.
Rising Action: seeing as this is quite the informal short story its hard to peg an exact rising action. Though the part in the story where he starts referencing all the things that fly would probably hit the mark.
The climax: would most likely be the part where he makes a desperate plee to God to become like a bird, because its all he ever wanted. This is once again difficult to determine seeing as the plot is nearly non-existent.
Falling Action: would be when he decides to go home to bed.
Resolution: would be him dreaming hes trying to save Superman. Im not quite sure how it resolves anything. But in reality its the closest to resolution this character will find himself.
major conflict: would be conflict of self, though we dont know what it is about himself that the narrator is in conflict with. Perhaps his inability to cope with always being on the brink of something great and never being able to achieve it. This conflict is never really solved, though I dont suppose its meant to be. I think solving a conflict like that is a lifelong ordeal, not something that can be resolved over the course of the time we get to know the Character.
E) Themes: Sometimes the simple things are the most important to our daily life, life is a never-ending journey of discovery, life is being on the verge of something great, or the subconscious is a powerful thing.
5. Significant quotation: straightening a pile of CDs glued together with spilled Orange Crush in the living room. I suppose I was trying to pretend I had real things to do, but, well, I didnt. (Page 143) I chose this quotation because it gives you the best idea that the character is living a simple life. I believe this is incredibly important because he helps bring about the mood and setting of not much going on, but constant hinting at something much deeper.
mom said that people are interested in birds only inasmuch as they exhibit human behavior---greed and stupidity and anger---- and by doing so they free us from the unique of being human. I think this quote says a lot about the overbearing gloomyness that is shown in the story. It says a lot about what the reader, or narrator thinks of people in general. That were simple creatures, with bad intentions. I believe it tries to bring about the correlation to birds, with the narrators unique fascination with them.
6.Special Topics: Something to consider would be why the author chooses to beat around the bush? He never explains what trauma and contention the character is dealing with, only hints at it. For the most part he never really provides enough information for us to guess what it is, we are only given references to things that occupy the narrators mind so he can try and deal with them. What does it do to the story? Upon first reading this you see it as being quite brief, and uneventful. We then realize that whats captivating you to read is that youre not being told whats going on. You arent even given a basis for assuming, its simply a matter of guessing. In fact its not even that, its a matter of acceptance, that things are the way they are. You arent quite sure why? They just are.
7. For the creative response Ive chosen to write a free verse poem. The point of this poem is that I know whats going on and Im trying to convey an Idea without telling my basis for writing it. Im trying to set a mood, and carry out this idea without you really knowing why, with the intent that it partly parallels the stories (in terms of the human condition).
I'm killing you for the money.
because there's never anything noble about what I do.
and I'd probably kill myself if they payed me enough.
You get it?
because we're just gluttons for punishment.
Well, I am.
So when I smother it.
when I squeeze the life out of it.
when it's buried.
We'll both feel much better.
Well... I will.