+ What's the significance of the title?
Jerry’s mind is bound to wander back to younger, if not better, times - most of which were devoted to herding longhorn cattle.

+ What role does the setting play in the story?
The house on the prairie gives an impression of being far removed from everything else.  Sure, there are neighbors nearby, but they are ( Read more... )

The textbook we are reading is entitled, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication - Identities in a Global Community.

( SPCH 1311 Essay #1 )

INSTRUCTIONS:

Write a two-page (about 500 words) essay involving one of the pieces we've looked at so far (story, film, song).

Your goal is to make a clear argument about the story's "meaning" (remember no morals of the story or how we should live life; just how life "is.") and how a particular character in the story illustrates it. Then PROVE that ( Read more... )

The comments below were based on the following links (the last three are videos):

Trying to sell luxury goods amid stark poverty
Crusader sees wealth as cure for India caste bias
In India, vegetarianism is not a passing Bohemian fad
In India, the paradox of 'choice' in a globalized culture
Top Bollywood stars swept up in nativist politics
India: Rich vs ( Read more... )

I do apologize about the length here.  I tried to do a cut, but LJ is just all screwed up right now and I can't even begin to figure out how to fix it.

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My thoughts were all over while reading this story, so I answered each question as it came to me - not necessarily in order.  Reading back over them, I can see my ( Read more... )

+ What do you make of the style of this story? Who is the narrator?
The style kept me interested.  It was just offbeat enough to make me wonder what sort of twist lay in store at the end.  Turns out, the ending was surprisingly anti-climactic, but as such still made for an interesting twist - the narrator turned out to be a far more decent ( Read more... )

1. What is the significance of the colors of the vans and the mountains through the years?
The protagonist starts out feeling very much a part of his surroundings.  He is a part of the town, a part of the region, a part of the Mexican purple of the nearby mountains.  He never notices the green… why should he?  He is an American citizen and they are ( Read more... )

+ What role does the television play in the story?
I believe this is the main character’s way of escaping his current reality. I think he’s going through some changes, maturing, but not entirely willingly. These changes are coming at a difficult time for him and it’s just too much for him to process, so he escapes into television. It could also be ( Read more... )

+ What are your stereotypes of Dallas and how do they play into this story?
Having lived in Dallas for about 5 years, I can tell you that it wasn’t what I expected. In fact, it was less Texan than anywhere else in this state that I have lived. No ten-gallon-hats or big hair. Most of the people I met (and now maybe this was due to my own narrow ( Read more... )

+ What is the main character afraid of?
I think Walter is afraid of really living… and failing at it.  He’d rather let alcohol take control of, and all the blame for, his mediocre life than actually take a crack at it, himself.

+ Who are the real "whores" of the story?
It would seem that all the local townspeople, including and especially Walter, were ( Read more... )