The+Interlopers

13 Questions?

completion 5/5 effort 4/5 content 4/5 total: 13/15

Question Completion Mark 5/5

total: 18/20 Short Stories - Literary Devises Title:_The Interlopers_

Point of View: 3rd person, limited omniscient

Protagonist: Ulrich von Gradwitz What type of character is the Protagonist? He is definately dynamic, as he changes his mind about being enemies with Georg, but there is not a lot said about him otherwise. I think he is also mostly flat.

Antagonist: Georg Znaeym

Describe the setting Winter in a forest, the mood is cold, lonely and angry at the beginning, but near the end it is more forgiving.

Type of Conflict: Man vs Man, Man vs Environment

Describe the main conflict: Ulrich and Georg have inherited a feud between their families and they are both out in the woods trying to find and kill each other.

Describe the Climax of the Story: The climax of this story is at the very end, when the men realize that the figures running forward, probably to help them, are in fact wolves.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story? At the beginning, Ulrich has murder on his mind as he is tramping through the forest, but after he becomes trapped under a tree with the very man he set out to kill, he decides to make peace and end the feud between their two families.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. The title "The Interlopers" relates to the theme of the story, which is that nature is much more powerful than any human being, because in the end, Ulrich and Georg solve their problems, but they are still both interlopers on nature's territory, and nature has the final say.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict over the strip of forest helps to illustrate the theme by showing how the two characters are fighting over who owns the land, while really, no one can own it because it is nature. Nature is just there, and it cannot really be owned.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax of the wolf attack helps to illustrate the theme by showing that while human beings can worry about who owns what where, but nature itself cannot be ignored. The tree falling and the wolves coming down the hill are examples of what cannot be controlled by humans.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Simile: "We have quarreled like devils all our lives..."

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Metaphor:"... what a Heaven-sent draught it seemed!"

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Personification: "... through the whistling and swirling of the wind..."

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Symbol: The fallen beech tree is a symbol of the feud that has trapped the two men, and trying to escape together symbolizes that one can escape from such a long feud.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Foreshadowing (give both elements): " If only on this wild night, in this dark, lone spot, he might come across Georg Znaeym, man to man, with none to witness - that was the wish that was uppermost in his thoughts.<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">" This is foreshadowing because the only reason Ulrich is in the forest is to find Georg, and eventually hea

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Irony: The irony in this story is the fact that Ulrich and Georg believe that the other is trespassing on their land, when in fact they are both trespassing on nature, and in the end, nature is what ends the conflict, and their lives. They are both "Interlopers" on the forest, so the forest deals with them.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> Imagery: "... and wandered far down the steep slopes amid the wild tangle of undergrowth, peering through the tree trunks and listening through the whistling and swirling of the wind and the restless beating of the branches for sight and sound of the marauders.<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The class theme of choices and the story's theme of nature being more powerful than humans are can be connected. For example, humans can choose who owns this piece of land and who owns the land behind it, but in the end, it is still just land. A hurricane does not worry about who owns the buildings it floods, or who bought the trees it rips out, because it is simply nature taking it's course. Humans can choose what to build and where, but in the end it does not really matter who owns the land; the land owns the land.


 * __13 Questions__**

1. What is Ulrich hunting for? Ulrich is hunting for Georg Znaeym because they are old enemies who frequently fight over that part of the forest, and Ulrich suspects Georg would be there that night.

2. How did Ulrich come to own the property in question? Ulrich came to own the property because his grandfather had won a lawsuit disputing the ownership of the land.

3. Why do Ulrich and Georg hate each other? How did it all start? The two characters hate each other because of a family feud that started because of a court battle over a strip of border forest.

4. Identify the foreshadowing in the second paragraph. The foreshadowing in the second paragraph is that "...there was movement and unrest among the creatures..." pg. 190. This is foreshadowing because both men, being creatures, are prowling the forest in search of one another. Also, the paragraph talks about the storm-winds that were blowing that night, and usually during wind storms trees fall down.

5. Why did they not try to shoot each other the moment they saw each other? They did not try to shoot each other immediately because "... a man who has been brought up under the code of a restraining civilization cannot easily nerve himself to shoot down his neighbor in cold blood and without word spoken..." pg. 190.

6. What saves Ulrich’s feet from being crushed? Ulrich's heavy shooting boots save his feet.

7. What lies do they tell each other after realizing they are both trapped under the tree? The lies that the two men tell each other are the promises to have their men kill the other as soon as they come. If they hesitated when they had the chance, they would not be able to do it after they escaped either. Also, they became friends, so they would not have killed each other, even if their men had come.

8. Why does Ulrich change his mind about killing Georg? Ulrich changes his mind because he is tired of the foolish battle, and he realizes, as both men are struggling against the pain, that Georg and himself are very similar.

9. What significance is there in the title of this story? What are some possible meanings of the title? The significance of the title is that both men believe that the other is the interloper on their land, while both, technically, are interlopers on the forest.

10. In the end of the story why do each of the men hope that their men will come first to rescue him? In the end, both men want their men to come first so they can be the first to "...show honorable attention to the enemy that had become a friend" pg. 193.

11. Describe the irony in this story. The irony in this story is that the feud between their families has gone on for so long and these two men have hated each other since childhood, that when the conflicts are finally resolved, they die.

12. What metaphor can you find in relation to the tree pinning down the two characters? A metaphor in relation to the tree pinning them down would be that the men are trapped by the weight of the ongoing feud between their families.

13. Is the ending of this story effective? Why or why not?===== The ending of this story is effective because it is very ironic. The old enemies have become friends, so the reader expects there to be a traditional, happy ending with a simple moral. Instead, after becoming friends, it is implied that they are both killed. This ending, while being depressing, makes the reader think in a different way than if they had had the men survive and live happily ever after.