Lamp+at+Noon

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: The Lamp at Noon

3rd person
 * Point of View:**

Paul and Ellen
 * Protagonist:**

Paul’s mindset, and the weather conditions.
 * Antagonist:**

Desert area, sand dunes, lots of sandstorms, very dry and hot.
 * Describe the setting**

Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Environment
 * Type of Conflict:**

Ellen wants to move out of the area and into more of a city area and live a real life, but Paul doesn’t want to.
 * Describe the main conflict:**

When Paul finds that Ellen had run away.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story:**

The title “The Lamp at Noon” relates to the story because of the sandstorms that overcome the brightness of the sunlight and forces the residents to turn they’re lamps on during noon.
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.**

The climax is when Paul finds Ellen, who had run off into the storm with his baby and finds that the baby is dead. This illustrates the brutal, harsh and depressing theme of the story.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?**

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):


 * Simile:** “…the sun raced like a wizened orange.”


 * Personification:** “The lamp between them threw strong lights and shadows on theyre faces”


 * Metaphor:** "It's a desert"


 * 1.** The story, "//The Lamp at Noon//" has an eerie, depressing and harsh atmosphere. For example, "//She had no faith or dream with which to make the dust and poverty less real.".//
 * 2.** The end result of the story is pessimistic, because in the end, the baby dies, Ellen goes insane and gives up on trying to leave the desert.
 * 3.** Ellen runs away because Paul wants to stay in the middle of the desert to grow crops, but they fail every year because of the sandstorms. Paul keeps trying to convince Ellen that the crops will grow the next year, but they wont. Ellen gets tired of the same routine and wants seek a better life, so she runs away.
 * 4.** I personally feel more sympathy for Ellen, because Paul's mindset is what is causing Ellen to lose her mind and become depressed..
 * 5.** The author of this story is saying that high doses of depression can cause nervous breakdowns within a human.

Lamp At Noon Character Sketch Assignment
Choose __one__ of the two characters listed below from “The Lamp at Noon” and complete the pre-writing activity before writing the character sketch.

Paul Choose three words that describe the inner workings of Paul.

1. Prideful

2. Hard Working

3. Stressed

Find three pieces of evidence to support your describing word choices. Include at least one quote.

1. Even though Paul's crops never grew, he never gave up, so he could keep his pride.

2. Paul kept farming for days even though there was harsh sandstorms outside.

3. Everyday, after working for hours, he went home to Ellen, who had a completely different set of dreams and mindset.