A Close Reading of
Helprin
"A Vermont Tale" by Mark
Mark key passages in the text, but also write some notes and
comments in response to these questions to help you prepare for
our class discussion and to hand in.
1 Who is telling the story? How old is he "now" (when he's
telling it)? How old was he when the story took place? How
does he convey a sense of what he was thinking and feeling at
the time? What is the atmosphere, the tone of voice, at the
beginning of the story?
2 Why do the boy and his sister go to Vermont?
3 What do we learn about the children's parents? What do we
learn about the children's grandparents?
4 Why does the grandfather tell the story of the loons?
the story about? For whom is he telling it?
Who is
5 To what extent do the children understand what is going on?
What does the story of the loons "mean" to them (and remember
that for all of us "meaning" is "feeling," so maybe I should
ask, how does the story feel to them)? In what ways (and at
what points in the short story) is the boy's understanding
different than his sister's.
6 What images, colors, words, stand out to you-- either because
they are particularly vivid or because they are repeated-- and
how does Helprin use them to create meaning/feeling in the
story?
7 What do you feel at the end of the story? What does the boy
feel? In the glow of that feeling, look back at the story and
try to say what it has been about. Try to put it in writing
here for a sentence or two: