Exam Review – Short Stories
Be sure to re-read these short stories, in particular, the parts which are alluded to in the literary devices column.
Elements 
Story
The Test
Boys and Girls
The Lamp at Noon
Setting
Characters
Literary devices and examples
Theme
“shady suburban
streets”
Marian
Mrs. Ericson
The inspector
Symbol – the bridge on which Marian fails her test represents her
failure to cross from one world (that of inferiority) to another (that of
equality)
Discrimination
Female narrator
Mother
Father
Laird
Henry Bailey
Foreshadowing – the “caution” sign leading up to the bridge suggests
there is danger ahead for Marian
Symbol – Flora, the horse that attempts to run away, represents the
narrator’s resistance to forces greater than herself
- The foxes are raised in pens, spaces in which bodies are
confined and controlled, just as the narrator is confined, for
the most part, to the household
Canadian prairies
Rural setting, the
prairies of Canada,
during a drought
and dust storm
Paul
Ellie
Baby
Note: the setting in
this story acts as a
character since it
evolves with the
storm
The Blue Kimono
Urban setting
Allusion to Robinson Crusoe – the father, like Crusoe, does not
recognize that she does not accept her inferior social status
Point of view – because the story is told in third person omniscient,
the reader appreciates both Paul and Ellie’s points of views; the
narration is divided almost in half between their perspectives on the
story
Commentary on
human nature
through Mrs.
Ericson’s racism
Gender roles
Coming of age
Hope
Loss
Motif – repeated references to Ellen’s eyes; they are the window to
her inner thoughts
Irony – Paul’s refusal to work for Ellen’s father is ironic; he believes
his farm will survive, though there is no hope of restoring it
George
Symbol – the lamp serves represents the hope that Paul and Ellie
need to survive their desperate situation; when it is extinguished, it
signals the loss of hope, and foreshadows the loss of their child
Symbol – the kimono represents the relationship between George
Hope
Marthe
Walter (the baby)
Do Seek their Meat
from God
Village in close
proximity to the
wild
Humans
Panthers
and Marthe as husband and wife; it has become tattered and torn
due to the harshness of their lives, however, Marthe’s commitment to
restoring the kimono suggests that the marriage, too, will be restored
Allusion - Psalm 104:21 "The young lions roar after their prey, and
seek their meat from God."
Juxtaposition – humans are painted as a caring and compassionate
race, as opposed to the panthers, who act out of necessity
Fierce competition
between humans
and animals
Struggle for
survival (popular
Pathos – Roberts (the author) establishes pathos for the human
theme in Canadian
beings by painting them as civilized and compassionate beings, so that literature)
the reader celebrates the man’s defeat of the panthers
Short stories – Exam preparation questions
Compare the use of symbol in “The Lamp at Noon” and “The Blue Kimono”.
o In “Boys and Girls” and “The Test”
- What role does setting play in “The Test” and “Do Seek their Meat from God”?
o In “The Lamp at Noon” and “The Blue Kimono”.
- Compare the development of the protagonist in “The Test” to that which occurs in “Boys and Girls”.
- Discuss the significance of stereotypes as displayed in “The Test” and “Boys and Girls”.
- Discuss the use of foreshadowing in “The Test” and “The Lamp at Noon”.