“Just Lather, That’s All” Point of View and Conflict

First, summarize the story for your notes First, summarize the story for your notes. Try to think of a few main points. When summarizing a story, focus on the elements of plot. Include one point for each different part of the story. This should bring your summary down to about 5 sentences.

Literary Techniques Notice the way the writer opens the story - he catches you on the narrative hook - that is, he arouses your interest immediately: “He came in without a word. I was stropping my best razor. And when I recognized him I started to shake.” How does this opening catch your interest? What do you immediately want to find out?

Literary Techniques Cont’d Hernando Tellez chooses to tell this story in the first person narrative style. One of the characters, the barber, is the narrator - that is, he tells the story. What are the other narrative styles? How does first person narration make the story effective? Would a different style have changed the story?

Conflict From the beginning of this story we are made aware that the two men are going to be engaged in a form of external conflict. When do we first find this out? Why are the barber and Torres in conflict? external conflict: a conflict going on between a character and an outside force.

Conflict Cont’d The internal conflict, the struggle that goes on within the barber, is the most intense part of the story. What is the underlying cause of this conflict? Explain why this is the most intense part of the story.

Types of Conflict Character vs. Self is when the main character in the story has a problem with him or herself. There’s something to overcome within. Character vs. Character(s) is when, in a narrative, there is a conflict between the hero and another character or group. Character vs. Society is when the main source of conflict is social traditions or concepts. Character vs. Nature places a character against forces of nature (animal, storm, desert, sea, fate).

What type of conflict do we see in “Just Later, That’s All”? Is the conflict resolved from the barber’s point of view? What about Captain Torres’?