Name: __________________
Comparing Two Stories: “Appointment with Love” and “The Chaser”
Answer the following questions after reading the two stories and bring the answers to
class for the second class session.
Plot:
1. What interior or exterior conflicts exist in “Appointment with Love”? How are
they resolved?
2. What interior or exterior conflicts exist with “The Chaser”? How are they
resolved?
3. Are there any events in either story that seem implausible?
4. What is the climax of “Appointment with Love”? What is the climax of “The
Chaser”?
Theme:
5. Which story leaves the reader with the greatest sense of completeness at the end?
Explain the reason for your choice.
6. Both stories deal with the theme of love. Construct a theme statement (a sentence
that states the main idea of the story) for each story. How do the two statements
contrast?
7. The title of a short story can be simply a detail from the story, or it can be an
important image given emphasis, or it can express an entirely new, yet related
idea. Which of these stories has the more suggestive title? What does it add to
the story?
Tone
8. Tone includes the words and phrases that establish the mood of the story and
explain the author’s attitude toward his characters. Go over “The Chaser” and
find words that make the story creepy. List them below.
9. Why is the old man in “The Chaser” nameless?
Character:
10. How much does the reader know about each of the characters? Is there more that
you would like to know? Write down one question about Lt. Blandford and one about
Alan Austin.