The Leap - Louise Erdrich
How does the writer in this story describe her mother? Make a list of what you think are the key ways this character is created in our minds: phrases, words, actions, etc
Five Good Ways (power words - terms, phrases and words that have greater than average effect or meaning - these are perhaps opinions and informed by one’s own bias - prejudice or a preconception)
your power words need to be proven as power words - you need to validate your opinion
we want to be able to find what we think and then back it up and MAKE it the answer
knowing that process of proving what we think is true is the point of English class, in a way
Trapeze reference - this conjures up a number of ideas, descriptions, and it tells us that the woman is unique - then I said, WAIT! there is another loaded, supercharged, powerful word in there that has a ton of meaning to every single person ever BORN -
Mother - this is a psychologically rich area of literature and meaning - this brings a whole new area of thinking
can we combine these elements to think of some new ideas? some new meanings? some deeper connections?
We can take those elements of description and put them into a profile or a character sketch where we can analyse the character and come up with some ideas about what she means, what she tells us about the writer, about people, about some issue or idea (in this case, I bet it’s motherhood)
Physical descriptions - how she looked
Actions and reactions - what she did
Interactions - how she behaved with others
Point of views - what she thought, or what others thought about her (thinking)
What he/she could represent or symbolize? Meaning
This little pattern can be used as the outline for a rich character sketch - for those who wonder what to write and why.
The theme of the story is carried out and explored in the character - by looking at the character and thinking about meaning, we come up with the whole purpose of the story - the theme - which is - the powerful drive of a mother to save a child - the sacrifice of motherhood - BUT also - the way a child sees a parent and how that changes over time
Proof? - start with the old lady - blind, can’t function the same way, the memory of youth and power - the daughter sees the old lady who is still graceful and powerful to her, but she sees the woman fading, and she remembers the sacrifice and the strength of that
maybe an element of not judging someone by their appearance?
Look for examples of CONTRAST in the story. Find three good ones.
(things and their opposites put close together)
First-person POV adds to the story. What does it add to The Leap?
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