A+Mountain+Journey

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title:_A_Mountain Journey **Point of View:** 3rd person / Limited Omniscient **Protagonist:** Dave Conroy Dave Conroy is a static character. His motives do not change at any point in the story. However, as he dies, he realizes all the bad choices he made brought him to death. **Antagonist:** Environment, Himself **Describe the setting** Time - Sometime in the early 1900's, judging from Dave's equipment that is mentioned in the story. Also, fur trading is now illegal, and around that time is when fur trading was still legal. Somewhere in the Rockies, the story starts off happy and giddy, like the reader wants this guy to bring home his furs to support his family. As Dave dies, he realizes the choices he have made have brought him down in the end. Wanting comfort, he risked it all just to get to the cabin, not thinking of the possibilities, like if the cabin had burned down. A Mountain Journey gives the metaphor of a thousand-mile journey, and that all journeys must begin with a single step. This connects to the theme by telling the reader about the monstrous journey in front of all people, and the choices that need to be made. The conflict shows what choices //not// to make, and what could happen if they are chosen. The climax illustrates the lesson of making good choices, no matter how uncomfortable it is, or how disgruntling, draining or tough it is. Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. Completion: 3/5 Effort3/5 Content3/5 total: 9/15 = = =Character Sketch Traits - Stubbornness, Drive, Greed=
 * What type of character is the Protagonist? **
 * Type of Conflict: **Man vs. Environment, Man vs. Himself
 * Describe the main conflict: **The environment is constantly draining Dave's strength, drive, and patience. This leads to some of the bad choices he makes. Dave's own greed propels him to the cabin, only to find it burned down. Now that his hands are frozen, he can't make a fire. All of these choices led to another. Dave, however, never took into account any problems he might have during the trip. He just did what he wanted, with no thought for the future.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story: **The climax of the story comes up at the end, where Dave makes his worst choice of all; to rest. Sleep can be deadly in winter, especially in the mountains.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? **
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. **
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? **
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? **
 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **
 * Simile: **Page 91, paragraph 2 "...white and soft as flour."
 * Metaphor:** ﻿"The cold was an old man's fingers..."
 * Personification: **Page 94, Paragraph 4 "...ski points...tight cheeks pulled back in a cadaverous grin."
 * Symbol: **Page 98, Paragraph 2. The open door symbolizes Death welcoming Conroy.
 * Foreshadowing (give both elements): **In the beginning, Conroy fails to make good choices. This foreshadows that his choices will lead to a bad outcome. The story does end badly, with death.
 * Irony: **Page 98, Last Paragraph "...darkness of the sunlight." ﻿Ironic because sunlight is the sole natural thing that brings light to the world, and saying that sunlight is dark is defying nature itself.
 * Imagery: **Page 95, Paragraph 3 "...like a parade of skeletons, dancing up the mountainside."

Dave Conroy: Did his choices lead to his death, or was it simply fate and bad luck that brought him to his demise? During Dave's trip over the mountains, his stubbornness, drive, and greed get him into situations that need careful thought to be resolved, but Dave simply dives through it all, determined to get to the cabin where comfort and warmth await. Dave Conroy displays his stubbornness when he falls into the river and when he reaches the cabin; though the circumstances clearly illustrate that Dave should stop, rest, and dry himsel f, in the case of the river. His desire to reach the cabin leads us to his greed. Dave's greed rears its ugly head (too informal) when he falls into the river. As mentioned before, he should have stopped and thought about the consequences of staying and resting, or going on to the cabin. So large was his greed for creature comforts that Dave forgot all about actually surviving through the ordeal he had gotten himself into. Lastly, Dave's drive to reach the cabin seemed to keep him alive and going much longer than he normally would have. Dave might have gone into a mind-over-body situation, and kept going through sheer willpower. Such mental strength is rare in humans. Though some of Dave's death was governed by luck (the burned cabin), Dave's stubbornness and greed dug most of his grave(too informal). However, his drive gave him a chance to be found, gave him a chance to stay alive.

5/6