Final Writing Test

A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

Mendacity: a nine letter word that signifies all that is ugly in the world. That signifies untruthfulness, lies, hiding the truth. And what could be more beautiful (if not as beautiful) than simply truth itself. I believe that is the message Tennessee Williams tried to communicate in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Written in the fifties, this play was define as one of the greatest work in American theatre, giving its author his second Pulitzer Prize. The play is about a wealthy southern family’s struggle with that very concept of mendacity: a possibly homosexual ex pro footballer, his seductive and tenacious wife, his dying father and his mother in denial and his brother and wife, both as cunning and devious as one another. In a play where all the themes line up towards one, and where that one key element is falsehood itself, the question (maybe a bit too solemn) can be asked: Will truth ever conquer?

The play starts in Maggie and Brick’s room. She is undressing while he is taking a shower. And she talks. She is telling him how much is brother and sister-in-law are lurking around his father’s will, Big Daddy’s will, knowing that he is going to die soon. It is Big Daddy’s 65th birthday and everyone is celebrating. Celebrating what? Big Daddy is going to die and everyone knows it except the victim himself, and his wife.

«What's that smell in this room? (…) Didn't you notice the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? »

In the very beginning of the play, we come in that mendacious world. Everyone wants that inheritance: Big Daddy owns one of the biggest plantations in the country, and everyone is ready to do a whole lot to get it, however hypocritical it may be. Except Brick who is disarmingly disinterested (or simply drunk, one might say), aloof. He doesn’t care what Maggie says he doesn’t care what his brother does, what his brother wants; Brick is tormented.

Tormented with what? One of the many brilliances of the play is how the story is built: the plot will expand to dimensions you wouldn’t even have imagined, or have cared to imagine in a small gap of time, revealing whatever it might have been hiding. It is in this way that we uncover Brick’s history. Why does he drink so much? Why doesn’t he want to sleep with his wife (whom is quite attractive) and why is he not the responsible human being everyone is hoping he would be? Brick is troubled with his friend Skipper’s death. A friend who might have been more then a friend: a friend who might have gotten too close to the ex pro footballer. A possibly homosexual footballer—there’s something that would have been kept silent in the fifties, in a southern state of America. And there’s another mendacious relationship, another lie, or series of lies, which is circumscribed in the atmosphere of the play.

Whether the lie is implicit or explicit, whether it is purposely stated or a simple omission, the word mendacity takes as much place in the play as it does the first time Brick mentions it. I do not believe truth has conquered by the end of the play. Even though everything was said, the play ends on this final statement from Brick, right after his wife tells him she loves him, which, I believe, was Williams’ way of telling us we would always live in a fallacious world. : «Wouldn't it be funny if that were true? »

Word Count: 593

Sentence pattern 10 and 11

Sentence pattern 10: Interrupting modifier between
subject and verb, using two:
Commas (,)
Dashes(—)
Parentheses (( ))

Ex.: American fast food is very popular and steakhouses (not to mention McDo and KFC) are in most countries.

10 a) Using a full sentence: a statement, question or exclamation (particularly with the dash or parenthesis)

Ex.: Narcissus ignored Echo so completly (how could he? she was such a lovely nymph!) that she faded away.

Ex.: Narcissus ignored Echo so completly (he was so stupid) that she faded away.

The statement, or question, or exclamation in the parenthesis is a lower case. So it is not capitalized and there is no period. The only punctuation would be to express the intention (excalmation mark, question mark.)

Sentence pattern 11: Introductory or concluding participles

Ex.: Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite, there will be a show tonight.

Put extra attention to the subkect. The concluding participles have to refer to the subkect of the clause.
Walking on stage, the spotlight focused on Maggie. The spotlight isn't waling on stage, Maggie is, but the subject is the spotlight.

Writing Journal (24th november)

Team: Zakia A. Zaharah S. Elizabeth M.-L.

HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS

'' Describe your feelings about the character''

In Hills like white elephant, two people discuss the matter of abortion: the American, a man we now very little about, and Jig, his partner, a young woman who, apparently, is pregnant. My favorite character of the story is Jig, She impresses me very much. She is, in her way of being and in the comments she adds to the story, the most interesting character. She seems to be evolving throughout the story. She seems to be, or she tries to evolve. In contrast with her partner, she wants more out of life than what she has and what she always wanted. She is bored of being what she is—a hedonistic girl, part of a couple she can’t even see a future to, and looks to what else there is to life, in the present case, maybe a child. She is bored, and you feel it in everything she says. By mentioning that everything she tries for the first time, everything she ever dreamed of doing and everything she used to take pleasure in, tastes like licorice, a common and flat taste, she is establishing that very emotion of boredom and is able to connect us to her. And just the character, without even considering the words she says, is an interesting character. Her name, Jig, is a slang word for sex which is quite relevant in the story as she first appears to us as a fun woman whose life revolves around pleasure. But, in the end, we realize that her longing for something more is deeper than anything else; she wants to start an adult life, she wants to be responsible. A quality I personally admire in a character.

Zakia Ahasniou

Sentence Pattern 8 and 9

8 - Repetition of a key term using a dash -- or comma (using a phrase)

1. Ex. We all inhabit a mysterious world -- the inner world, the world of the mind.

2. Ex. In "The lottery" Jackson mocks community worship of outdated customs, customs that have no meaning, customs that are uncivilized.

3. Ex. The cuban hurricane was devasting -- devasting for the people, devastating for their land.

9 - Emphatic appositive at thend after a colon :

1 Ex. Metro thieves have a common target : the wallets or purses of old people.

2 Ex. The country elected .... as PM: Stephan Harper

3. Ex. Children only want one thing for Halloween: candy.

4. Ex. I love to eat desserts: Cheesecake, particularly after diner.

Sentence Pattern 6 and 7

Pattern 6: A internal series of appositives or modifiers using dashes -- or parentheses ( )

Ex. My favorite french wines - merlot, chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon - are wonderful to savour.

Ex. Many books students enjoy reading ( Emma, Little Women, Jane Eyer) show women in traditional roles in society.

My Favorite fighters from the gym -Librado Andrade, Hermann Ngoudjo, Olivier Lontchi, Joachim Alcine - have important upcoming fights.

All punching forms (jab, hook, uppercut) are very harmful.

Pattern 7: Dependant Clauses -subordinating conjonctions- in a pair of serie( beginning or end)

Ex. Because it may seem difficult at first, because it may sound awkward, because it creates long sentences, this pattern seems forbidding to writers, but it's easy; try it!

Ex. Since he has little imagination and since he had even less talent, he wasn't hired for the job.

Because of his stamina, because of his strength, because of his fighting heart, Andrade will defeat Bute with ease.

Time: When, since, after, before, while
place: where, where ever
purpose:because
Contrary: although, though, even if,
Condition: if, unless

Mid-term Writing Test

Part A
1. What is Louise Mallard’s opinion of marriage? Indicate the paragraph that suggests it?

In the twelfth paragraph, Louise claims that she would no longer have to sacrifice herself for her husband. She clarifies her view of marriage as a power game of one imposing his will on the other.

2. How does she feel about her future as a widow? Cite the line in the text, using just the first few words, then a series of dots …?

There would be no one to live for… She is obviously choked about her husband’s death; however she is considering her future life as a widow with a rather positive outlook. She realizes that she can now have a life of her own: no one to live for but herself.

3. Why is there so much description of what is outside the window when Louise is alone in her room?

Death and grief, sorrow and pain—all could be considered as themes of this short story. By describing what is happening outside, the author is showing what is really happening inside of Louise: She is awakening to life.

4. Why did the author make the story so short?

The title explains itself: it is the story of an hour. The author was trying to illustrate how drastically a situation can change in short period of time. By making the story so short, he adds emphasis to that matter.

Part B

The Story of an Hour tells the story of a cardiac woman who learns that her husband has died. In this short story, our protagonist, Louise Mallard undergoes a series of emotional variations: she starts with sadness and desperation to end up with a sort of genuine happiness, before dying in an unstated, contradictory emotion. It is quite clear that one of the main themes of this story is women’s independence in marriage. In her description and discovery of widowhood, Mrs. Mallard shows us just how unsatisfactory was the married life in that time.


Women’s independence is not portrayed as the first feature of the story; it is more or less the solution to the situation which confronts us. It is not glorified by the story, but implicitly indicated in the criticism of marriage the author establishes: One cannot live happy in marriage if not living for herself in total freedom of the imposed will of the partner. Louise is of course shocked by her husband’s death; however, as the story unravels, she considers widowhood as more of a blessing than a sorrow. We realize that when she leaves her room in triumph and pride, glory and dignity. It is, however, when Brently Mallard, Louise’s husband, comes into the room, that the message is even clearer; Louise dies of heart diseases, one may say out of shock, I suggest out of disappointment. Indeed, the story takes an ironical turn when Brently, whom was thought dead, comes in. In the beginning of the story, Louise’s sister and Richard’ a friend of her husband breakdown the news to her so carefully, concerned about her heart condition. As Mrs. Mallard embraces her faith as a widow, sees it like a breath of fresh air, a new era, a great deliverance, the sight of her live husband chocks her even more: chocks her to death. The author’s point of view of marriage in those times is interesting. Prison, moral obligation, blind power game—each a negative element of marriage the author is depicting in the thoughts of her protagonist. By making her character fulfilled in grief, she shows us the idiocy in the marriage institution and its sexist approach to life.

I believe the message of the story, even if somehow a bit old-fashioned, is interesting and can be transposed to many aspects of today’s society. Old-fashioned because we do not see marriage in the same grotesque and sexist as it is described here. Women and men are, in most western communities, equal. The story in its all is stylishly written and touching and enjoyable.

431 words

Hills like white elephants

• Short story by Ernest Hemingway, Published in 1927, in the collection Men without Women.
• Often studied in literature classes for its brief but rich and powerful content.
• Iceberg theory. Minimalist style.
• The story of a hedonistic couple waiting for a train somewhere in Spain, drinking alcohol and debating on some sort of operation.

• Recurring theme:

1. Alcohol. Jig tries a new drink, could symbolize her interest in doing something new, new experiences, new relationship.
2. Abortion: although implicit, really important theme
3. Relationship: distance between the characters.

• Symbolism

1. Jig: Slang for sex.
2. Hills like white elephants: refers to the abortion for the woman, and the baby for the man. Something not worth the trouble.
3. Two: bags, drinks, pens, tracks, pads, people… 3 is a crowd.
4. A hedonist couple: that the couple has—or uses to have hedonistic values and that it no longer satisfies Jig as she claims that everything new she tries and dreamt of trying tastes like licorice.