1. List the Qualities That the Author Gives to Mary. for Each Quality

MARY WHITE: QUESTIONS

I. CHARACTER SKETCH

1. List the qualities that the author gives to Mary. For each quality:

A) state what method of characterization is used to present it

B) state whether the quality gives a positive or negative impression

C) state whether it seems realistic or believable that Mary could have this

quality –think about the way it’s presented

2. A) In what ways does Mary White seem like an “ordinary” teenager? (Keep in mind the time period in which she lived).

B) In what ways does she seem unusual or extraordinary? (Keep in mind the time period in which she lived).

3. What impression of Mary is given by each of these sentences?

A) No angel was Mary White, but an easy girl to live with, for she never nursed a grouch

five minutes in her life.

B) Everybody rode with Mary White – white and black, old and young, rich and poor,

men and women.

C) But young people – great spring-breaking, varnish-cracking, fender-bending, door-sagging

carloads of “kids” – gave her great pleasure.

D) She was a Peter Pan, who refused to grow up.

4. Based on 1 – 3 and your reading of the essay, explain what dominant impression of Mary White

is created.

II. EULOGY & TONE (Consult your lecture notes and handouts on the eulogy)

5. Often in a eulogy, the Persona will idealize the subject person, leaving the reader to wonder what

she or he was really like.

A) In what ways does White idealize his daughter?

B) How does he maintain a feeling that she is “real”?

C) Overall, do you think he has “gone too far”? Explain.

6. Here are the standard kinds of content that appear in eulogies. For each one, find write down

an example in “Mary White”:

A) “shock factor” (unusual form)

B) idea of ‘not rightness’

C) description of funeral – which details?

D) others’ reactions

E) contrast between person alive & body in coffin

7. Give examples of these standard kinds of diction used in eulogies:

A) concrete, specific details about Mary’s appearance

B) concrete, specific details about Mary’s surroundings

C) specific anecdotes about Mary (‘the story about…’)

D) restrained language

E) connotative language

8. Is a tone of pathos created? Explain.

9. A) Using the “What is Stance” sheet, identify the Stance White uses in this essay.

B) Explain why this stance is (or is not) appropriate for a eulogy.

10. The purpose of a eulogy is to make the general Reader ‘feel’ the loss of the departed person, even though the reader did not know her personally. Does the essay, “Mary White,” succeed as a eulogy? In a paragraph, explain why or why not. (REMEMBER: it’s the general reader, not you alone)