1. Imagine that you are among the teachers who meet with Paul (paragraphs 3-9). What action would you recommend to resolve the problems he causes?
2...Do you sympathize with Paul? Explain your answer. Use a specific quote from the short story to support your idea.
3...Which of the following statements is probably true?
• Paul's father is too strict with his son.
• Paul's father is too lenient with his son.
• Paul's father is a typical parent who tries to do his best.
• Concerning the relationship between Paul and his father, the narration presents only Paul's side of the story, not his father's. Therefore, it is not possible to evaluate the father's treatment of his son.
4...If Paul had developed an interest in sports, would he have been an observer or a participant? Explain your answer.
5...Do today's public schools deal effectively with problem students like Paul? If your answer is yes, write a paragraph about the policies that seem to work. If your answer is no, write a paragraph that pinpoints and explains the policies you would adopt.
6...Write a paragraph that evaluates Paul from the perspective of one of his fellow students.
Matt Stein
ReplyDeletePeriod 7
In “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather a young boy named Paul does not fit in to society and his father struggles to deal with the fact that his son is different. Paul’s dad is a single parent trying to raise his son. He is not a poor man but does not accept that his son is different from everyone else. Paul is a rebellious young man who seems as if his mind is always somewhere else. Paul’s dad has tried to change that by modeling a young man in his neighborhood for Paul. “He happened to be the young man who was daily held up to Paul as a model, and after whom it was his father’s dearest hope that he would pattern.” (Paragraph 24) This quote is showing that Paul’s dad is not happy with what Paul has grown up to be. Paul’s dad wants his son to go to college and settle down with a successful career and a family just like the man he models for Paul. Paul is not interested in what his dad hopes for him. Paul ends up running away from the town he lives in due to the fact that he thinks his father is too strict. Paul is even afraid to ask for ten cents from his dad which shows how strict Paul’s dad is. If Paul’s dad was not as strict and had been a better parent he would not have driven his son away from him. Due to Paul’s dads inability to be understanding towards his child he lost him forever.
Sports are not just a hobby, but a solution to everyday problems. In the story Paul's Case by Willa Cather, a young man named Paul is struggling in his life. He is rebellious, uncontrollably disorderly, and lonely. "Perhaps it was because, in Paul's world, the natural nearly always wore the guise of ugliness, that a certain element of artificiality seemed to him necessary in beauty." (Paragraph 30) From this quote, readers can see that Paul doesn't like natural beauty perhaps because he believes nature is at fault for his mother's death or the unhappiness in Paul's life. Either way, he is missing happiness. Sports are a great source of happiness, because it raises one's self-esteem, one can make friends during the process, and it acts as a stimulant. If this aspect of sports is applied to Paul, he would be a completely different person because his esteem would be higher, he would not be lonely and he would see the true beauty in life as a result.
ReplyDeleteCharacterization is the literary element an author uses to describe the actions and thoughts of the protagonist and other major/minor characters. Willa Cather in the short story, "Paul's Case," uses characterization to impact the mood of the reader. Paul's personality can be described as daring, flippant and nonchalant. However, Paul shows many actions of physical aversion and being left out because of being different. Throughout the short story, a major issue that appears is the fact that Paul is intimidated and afraid of his parents, especially his father. On Paul's way home from working as an usher in Carnegie Hall, he decides,"He would not go in. He would tell his father he had no carfare and it was raining so hard he had gone home with one of the boys and stayed all night" (Paragraph 20) This quote supports Paul being because the meaning behind it shows that Paul did not want to go home frightened so therefore he lied in order to get out of seeing his father. When reading this quote, the reader feels sympathetic for Paul and begins to question whether Paul behaves differently because he chooses to or if his family problems affect how he acts. The mood of the reader now remains feeling sorrowful and perplexed. If Paul did not fear his father and did not experience problems at home, the reader's mood would change to being more happy however the reader would still question what made Paul isolate himself from the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteJess Fink pd. 8
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between a father and son is very important. In Paul's case, by Willa Cather, the relationship between Paul and his father is not very strong. They have different views on life and want very different things. "He happened to be the young man who was daily held up to Paul as a model, and after whom it was his father's dearest hope that he would pattern." (paragraph 23). From this quote, it is clear that Paul's father wants Paul to have other interests rather than in music and theater. He is no accepting of the fact that his son is different than everyone else. Because of this, he is very strict about the way Paul acts and the things he does which reflects on the way Paul feels about his father. If he was not as strict, Paul would enjoy coming home at night and spending time in the house. instead, he dreads seeing his father and would rather be in Carnegie hall. As a result of this, Paul and his father do not stand on good terms and ultimately contributes to Paul running away to New York.
7. Write a paragraph that discusses how Willa Cather’s use of characterization illustrates the mood of the piece to the reader.
ReplyDeleteCharacterization is a technique used by writers to help fully develop a character. The author of "Pauls Case," Willa Cather, successfully uses this literary element to help portray a certain mood and tone to the short story. In the beginning paragraphs, Paul is portrayed as someone who is flippant, indifferent, and independent. The author uses examples and dialogue to help paint a picture in the readers head of what's happening and who Paul actually is. "His teachers were in despair, and his drawing master voiced the feeling of them all when he declared there was something about the boy which none of them understood," (para 8). This quote is characterizing Paul as someone who is "misunderstood". Paul has an internal problem with his father. Their relationship is harsh, and very unhealthy and they lack communication. As a result, Paul is afraid of his father. After reading about it, the mood shifts from thinking of Paul as sarcastic, different kind of person and then the reader suddenly starts to feel sympathetic. Characterization is impacting both the tone and mood of the reader. This literary element used by the author influences the mood of the story, and helps describe a main character and successfully develop Paul.
Parents often have difficulties assisting their children as they grow up. Willa Cather’s short story, “Paul’s Case,” illustrates this struggle through the relationship between the protagonist, Paul, and his father. Despite his son’s social and obedience problems, Paul’s father is a typical parent who tries to do his best for two reasons. First, like many other parents, Paul’s father wants his son to grow up to be a respectable man, which is shown when Cather states, “He was not a poor man, but he had a worthy ambition to come up in the world. His only reason for allowing Paul to usher was that he thought a boy ought to be earning a little,” (paragraph 26.) As parents have the obligation to teach their children how to be a part of society, Paul’s father’s is only doing his job. He’s not too strict because he’s just carrying out a normal parental obligation, and he’s not too lenient because he’s setting standards for his son. However, Cather creates an external conflict between Paul and his father because Paul detests authority, and strives to have a unique personality. If anything, this conflict only further shows that Paul’s father is trying his best, because he hasn’t given up on his son despite his son’s resolute determination to not conform. Second, Paul’s father tries hard, but he can’t effectively help his son because of Paul’s inclination to lie. Cather characterizes Paul as an individual who fabricates excuses to get out of actual discussion when she says, “Paul was quite accustomed to lying; found it, indeed, indispensible for overcoming friction,” (paragraph 3.) It’s not Paul’s father’s fault for not effectively dealing with the internal conflict Paul faces throughout the story due to his refusal to conform because Paul has never even tried to convey his feelings to his father. Paul’s father may not be perfect, but he does try to help his son become a functioning member of society. As a result, Cather’s short story shows that sometimes, children can have problems independent of their parents’ actions, as proven through Paul’s father’s actions.
ReplyDeleteJake Korek Period 8
ReplyDeleteCharacterization is a literary technique that helps writers convey the emotions and actions that characters in a piece have. The author of the short story "Paul's Case", Willa Cather, uses Characterization to illustrate the mood of the piece to the reader. In the beginning of the story, one does not know what to think of Paul. Then he is described as a bad kid in school, "In one way and another he had made all his teachers, men and women alike, conscious of the same feeling of physical aversion" (Page 1, Paragraph 3). This quote conveys that Paul is very disrespectful to his teachers. This changes the mood of the reader from not exactly knowing what to expect of Paul, to thinking of Paul as a bad kid. This is how Characterization of Paul, which is saying that he makes his teachers feel bad, can be used to convey the mood of a piece. People's actions can have large impact on other's opinions in life.
Daniel Maldonado
ReplyDeletePd 7
7. Write a paragraph that discusses how Willa Cather’s use of characterization illustrates the mood of the piece to the reader.
In the short story “Paul’s case”, Willa Cather characterizes the protagonist Paul in order to convey the mood of fear to the audience. Paul is often seen suffering at the hand of society because of he does not want to conform to the community he lives in. This creates an internal conflict or gathering of feelings within Paul that causes him live in fear. He may be afraid of being unique amongst other peers or faculty in the school he attends. Paul has also come to be frightened when around his father which may harm the growth of their relationship. As Paul is furthered analyzed by the author, it seems that it elaborates upon the fear obtained by the audience. This is seen when the narrator says, “Even when he was a little boy it was always there--behind him, or before, or on either side. There had always been the shadowed corner, the dark place into which he dared not look, but from which something seemed always to be watching him--and Paul had done things that were not pretty to watch, he knew.”(Paragraph 42). This quotation shows the constant distress and fear that Paul must tackle during his everyday life in order to get by. He is always engulfed by a shadow or darkness, which is a symbol for anxiety. He has always existed amongst this anxiety for being different from the rest of society. The frequent characterization of Paul adds emphasis to the mood that the reader obtains. The reader once reading about the dark motifs surrounding Paul gets a feeling of fear. The fear exists in each reader due to the fact that Paul’s depression is hard to comprehend or respond to. This feeling of distress affects both the character Paul and the reader. The mood of fear in, “Paul’s Case” is transmitted to the audience through Willa Cather’s use of characterization of the character Paul.
Helina Dawit
ReplyDeletePeriod 8
All teenagers, at some point during their adolescent years, start to distance away from their parents or go through some things they wouldn’t feel comfortable telling them. Paul, the protagonist in Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case” is someone who is going through a though time but doesn’t have anyone to turn to because he feels like his school is against him and his father has to high of his own expectations to car; however I believe public school nowadays effectively deal with student’s like Paul by giving them a support group and working on the problem from the core outward. Through dramatic irony, the reader understands that Paul isn’t as bad as his teacher’s think he is, we see a side of him that all the other characters miss to acknowledge due to the fact that they never see him around the things he loves, like music and art, and to make things worse they actually take those things from him at some point… which is the difference between public schools then and now. Public school’s nowadays deal with problem kids like Paul, for starters by recognizing that all problems have deep cores and figuring out ways to help not only deal with the problem. Also they have support groups of councilors, social workers, and teacher that are there to find the source of the problem and either get rid of it or help the student deal with it in a healthier, happier way. Though Paul was unfortunate in the lack of emotional support he received from the people around him, the school systems and society alike have now grown and changed to be able to effectively deal with situation like or similar to Paul’s.
Charlie Florio-pd 7
ReplyDeleteNo two people are completely alike, therefore they act and obtain information differently in a learning environment such as school. Paul, the main character in Willa Cathers story "Paul's Case" has problems interacting with students and teachers witch makes it hard for him to be involved in school. There are plenty of students like Paul that struggle socially in school that are effected education wise as well. There are also many ways that we have today to overcome students who have certain social problems. The main way that teachers strive to do is to reach out and talk privately wit the student and try to get them to open up wit the teacher. This allows them to understand the students situation and allows them to have a more natural relationship."His teachers were in despair, and his drawing master voiced the feeling of them all when he declared there was something about the boy which none of them understood." (paragraph 8) This shows how if Paul's teachers were able to open up with him they would be able to know more about him and help him with his troubles. Paul is only one of many students that have trouble inside and outside of the classroom, and with conversation and understanding kids will be able to overcome these problems.
2...Do you sympathize with Paul? Explain your answer. Use a specific quote from the short story to support your idea.
ReplyDeleteI do sympathize with Paul because I feel he is yearning for someone to understand him. Not many kids enjoy school and feel they are wasting their time being there, so they put no effort into their work or learning. They also begin to lie about their actions or behavior in school to avoid the disappointment of their parents. A quote from the story states, “…he wanted to come back to school. This was a lie, but Paul was quite accustomed to lying; found it indeed, indispensable for overcoming friction.". This quote shows how Paul is a child who does not enjoy school and doesn't want to be there. Instead of showing his true feelings he lies to keep his father happy. In my opinion children should be able to express their feelings without the worry of disappointing or upsetting their parents. Paul enjoys theatre and music. His job as an usher made him feel overjoyed. Being able to sit in the theatre and just listen made him happy. That is where he wanted to be; not in school. But he is too afraid to tell his father, so he lies. This shows how Paul needs someone understanding who he is, and i feel the satisfaction of his father being that 'someone' who change Paul for the better.
Tori
Period 8