Homework Clinic
Social Science Clinic => English => Topic started by: appyboo on Jul 20, 2018
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Sum up the character of the daughter Cornelia.
What will be an ideal response?
Question 2
What is stream of consciousness? Would you call The Jilting of GrannyWeatherall a stream-of-consciousness story? Refer to the story in your reply.
What will be an ideal response?
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Answer to Question 1
- Cornelia, evidently the oldest of Grannys children, is a dutiful daughtera fact resented by her cantankerous mother (par. 10). Granny feels demeaned by her knowledge that Cornelia often humors her to keep peace. And, like mothers everywhere, Granny regards her daughter as far less competent than herself. Cornelia is tenderer, less tough than Granny. She weeps beside the deathbed. The old woman fails to appreciate her daughters care and compassion because she scorns her own need of them.
Answer to Question 2
The storys point of view is one of selective omniscience. The events are reported in the third person by a narrator who can see into Granny Weatheralls mind. When Granny is lucid, the story proceeds in tidy chronological order. In the storys most interesting passagesespecially in paragraphs 1718 and 2431Porter uses stream of consciousness with great skill to present the randomly mingled thoughts and impressions that move through Grannys dying mind. By fragmenting Grannys thoughts, by having her shuttle back and forth between reality and fantasy, by distorting her sense of the passage of time, the author manages to persuade us that the way Granny experiences dying must be nearly universal