1. In this discussion, through the observations of my classmates I realized that the author uses words with positive connotations in the first paragraph, such as "lucky" and "good fortune" to display the content outlook the "Box Man" maintains, despite his dire situation.
2. I wish that we had discussed the other characters, the lady who lingers at the coffee shop and the woman with six cats, in greater detail because they provide just as much insight into the meaning of the passage as the homeless man.
3. I wish that I had drawn attention to the paragraph that reveals how the coffee shop woman receives a Christmas card yearly from her former boss. The author's inclusion of this seemingly trivial fact is undoubtedly important because it further illustrates the small amount of social contact the woman engages in.
I agree that we should have discussed the two other ladies in more depth. They provide a stark contrast between a life of chosen loneliness and a life of undesired solitude.
ReplyDeleteI also wished that we would have spoken more about the other two women. I found the passage about the Christmas card to be significant as well and would have liked to hear more about your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteI also learned about the positive connotations of these words and how they reflect the boxman's attitude. I'm glad that so many people agree on the fact that we missed discussing the elderly women, I thought I was the only one! As for your final point, that is quite insightful. Every detail an author writes has a meaning and I totally skipped over this one. That is very sharp of you to catch that and relate it to the portrait of loneliness created.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about how the small facts are not as trivial as they may seem and I think we should have spent more time perhaps analyzing the small details that got overlooked. I too overlooked the connotations of the words in the first paragraph and thought that it was a good point that was brought up in class.
ReplyDeleteThe connotations and denotations in the first paragraph were both things i had not noticed before as well, but I sense that talking more about the women, and now the structure and diction around her, is more what, not how.
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