Imagery

We will read the short story Identities by W.V. Valgardson. Identities is a strong model of descriptive writing: writing that recreates a sensory experience for the reader by appealing to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch), and including figurative language. (Imagery) You will be asked to identify descriptions you find particularly powerful, and note what made them powerful. Your response will be posted on your blog.

The Large Ant

Humankind is crippled by our fear of the unknown. This theme is explored thoroughly in the short story The Large Ant by Howard Fast. We will destroy anything we perceive as a threat to our wellbeing. “I was just reaching for a fresh cigarette when, when I looked up and saw it. I swept the club over and down, struck it a savage blow and killed it.” Without even thinking, our first response to intimidation is violence. Morgan, the narrator of the story, doesn’t think twice before butchering the giant insect. This is a prime example of the way we can become all consumed by fear. Because that terror is our automatic ‘go to’, we are burdened with the aftermath of our actions. “I had to look at the ant now, and I realized that I had not truly looked at it before. We don’t look carefully at a thing that is horribly repugnant to us. You can’t look carefully at a thing through a screen of hatred. But now the hatred and the fear were diluted. It was nothing I had ever seen or dreamed of.” The regret that follows Morgan’s actions is blatantly apparent. If we are not able to think rationally before reacting to an uncomfortable situation, we are forced to turn to our most primal instincts. However, Morgan is not alone in this way of viewing the world. A majority, if not all of the world, would have done what he did. “Then why don’t you publicize this? Put a stop to it before it’s too late!” “We’ve thought of that,” Fitzgerald nodded. “What then—panic, hysteria, charges that this is the result of the atom bomb? We can’t change. We are what we are.” The scientist proves a valid point. The world wouldn’t know what to do with the information of this new species. And like Morgan, they would become fearful and irrational. A worldwide panic such as that cannot be contained. So perhaps we are not as evolved as we would like to believe. What differentiates us from our primate ancestors is our self awareness and ability to process complicated situations. But if we are full of fear and hatred when the going gets tough, how different from the animals are we?

Six Point Scale Scoring