A+Mountain+Journey

//**__ Short Stories - Literary Devises: A Mountain Journey __**//

//__ Point of View __// The point of view in which this story is read is in third person. (Omniscient/Limited?)

//__ Protagonist __// The protagonist in the story is Dave Conroy.

//__ What type of character is the Protagonist? __// The protagonist is a round and dynamic character.

//__ Antagonist __// In this story the antagonist is a combination of nature, and Dave Conroy himself. This is so, because Dave finds himself in various dangerous situations involving his brutal surroundings, where he can't decide whether to continue on his journey or not.

//__ Describe the setting. __// The story takes place during the cruel winter of Ohio, sometime between the 1950's-1980's.

//__ Type of Conflict? __// The main conflict revolving around this story is man vs the environment. However, there are some elements of man vs himself conflict apparent.

//__ Describe the main conflict. __// The main conflict is that Conroy can't decide if he should continue on through the harsh wilderness or rest.

//__ Describe the Climax of the Story. __// The climax of the story takes place when Conroy's fingers become frozen over. The climax occurs when he makes the decision to rest. //__ How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? __// Throughout the course of the story, Conroy becomes more determined to reach his destination. He also develops a sense of confidence near the end. How does this connect to the theme?

__//Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.//__ The title represents Conroy's story of journeying through the mountains, as well as his hardships and difficulties surviving.

__// How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? //__ The main conflict, man vs himself vs the environment, helps to illustrate the story by describing the protagonist arguing with himself whether to continue on, or rest the night. In the end, he chooses to continue on his journey, and it ends up being a horrible conflict between himself and the environment. The theme of man vs environment illustrates the end of the story by presenting the theme of death.

//__ How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? __// In the end, the climax sets the theme of the entire story; fear. The climax in this story, is the point where Conroy's fingers begin to freeze. When they become so stiff that he can bite them without any pain, he tries to convince himself they are only numb, and he continues on his journey to find shelter. The main reason he tries to convince himself into thinking otherwise, was because he was frightened, and in the end, he gives into his fear, and decides to rest, eventually leading to him freezing to death.

__** Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes): **__ Simile: "He was beginning to feel like a ghost on an abandoned planet." Metaphor: "The biting wind". Personification: "If he slept his fire slept with him." Symbol: When the sun becomes dimmer it resembles his death. Foreshadowing (give both elements): In the beginning of the story, icicles are growing on his facial hair. This gives us an idea about his fate, and how his fingers freeze. Irony: After he fell through the ice he mentions that he had always said "Mountain travel is not dangerous if one knows how to take care of themself ". Why is this ironic? Explain. Imagery: Cold, Fear, Dread, Death, Doubt, Exhaustion

//__ Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story. __// The theme of choices is a recurring one, and very important element of this story. Multiple times, Conroy must make the decision whether not to press on with his journey, and throughout the story, he just picks the wrong choice over and over. One example of this is when his falls through the ice and his fingers become frozen. Instead of resting the night, he decides to continue searching for shelter, knowing he was still hours away. Later he makes the wrong choice again, by resting halfway to his destination. This time, he does not survive, and ends up freezing to death.

Completion 5/5 Effort 4/5 Content4/5 total: 13/15

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In the frigid, bone-chilling wilderness of Ohio's winter, there is little life, and little movement. Only the bravest, and craziest of humans would venture out into this miserable climate. Dave Conroy, a determined trapper just happens to be one of those people. Aside from being significantly brave, Dave Conroy also has a very strong self-asteem. Throughout the story, his confidence helps him up, and brings him down. One example of this is when he falls through the ice and his fingers become too ﻿ frozen to move or even feel; he convinces himself that they are but numb from the water. Another feature prominent during Conroy's expedition is his foolishness; multiple times he makes the wrong decision, eventually leading to his death. This trait is most prominent when Conroy makes the decision to proceed rather than warm his fingers and get some rest. Though his confidence may often bring him down, and his foolishness eventually leads to his death, Conroy does have one entirely postitive trait; his ambition. In situations outside of his journey through the mountains, his ambitious ways could potentially get him very far, just as they almost did during this story. Over all, Dave Conroy is a very well-rounded character who just happened to make some very poor choices in his attempt to outplay the cruelty of the winter climate.

 6/6  Great supporting sentences.  Good punctuation.  Missing indent.

 Great topic sentence and conclusion!  6/6