READING WITH ROMAISA

Why does the narrator of “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” want to be rich? The narrator of “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” makes constant references as to his being rich. The title of the story, after all, is based off of ornamental figures that are known to be owned by the wealthy. The narrator often makes it seem that he wants to be rich so he can show off his wealth because that’s the norm, but it also appears that he wants to improve his lifestyle and those of his family. When reading the story, I was wondering what his true motive was -- did he want to become rich to help his family or because everyone else is rich? Right from the start of the story, we see that the narrator, though nice enough, is materialistic. He sees love as defined by personal objects. When the bumper fell off his car, he wrote, “...then gave Eva extra ice cream, due to I had spoken harshly to her”, showing that he is providing his daughter with a materialistic apology rather than verbally apologizing to sh...

In Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”, the story deals with multiple events. First, there’s the dispute on the bus, which leads to Rye meeting Obsidian. After driving around, they later meet the man and woman who are fighting. Obsidian is shot and the man dies. Then Rye meets the children. These are multiple different events, each of which is important. This refutes Matthews’s claim that “a short story deals with … a single event”, because it doesn’t always happen. Of course, it is possible, though, for a short story to consist of a single main event. For example, in “There Will Come Soft Rains” the main event/climax is the fire at the end. Matthews also states that a short story must deal with one single character. This isn’t the case in “Speech Sounds” (or other stories we’ve read). The story is in a third-person limited point of view, following Rye, but Obsidian is another main character.  Besides them, there are the children at the end, the bus driver, and other civilians. I...