Return to Week At A Glance
created by L. Lopez, 9/25/04
“Frightened by Loss”
J. Merill-Foster
  1. Paragraphs 1-5 of the essay describe the old woman.  This description is carefully organized in a dramatic fashion.  How does the description in paragraph 1 differ from that of paragraphs 2-5?
  2. The details of paragraphs 1-5 lead up to the concluding sentence of paragraph 6.  What details in paragraphs 1-5 relate to the idea of being “frightened by her own loss of power”?
  3. What type of organization do paragraphs 1-6 have in relation to each other?
  4. Look at paragraphs 7-10, 11-13, and 14-18.  Where in time is each group taking place (past or present)?  Do you find the essay’s chronology effective or ineffective?  How so?
  5. How would you characterize the author’s feelings for the old woman?  What evidence can you cite to support your ideas?
  6. In a standard dictionary, look up pity and empathy.  Which does the author feel for the old woman?  Which does the writer evoke in you?  Cite examples to support your opinion.
  7. Where in the essay do you find the author generalizing about old age?  Look at what generalization is being made about the author’s mother and about old age.  Put the two ideas together to express the thesis of the essay.
  8. The author alludes to a play and an operetta (11), and to an epic, a poem, a novel, and a play (12).  What do these allusions imply about the author’s mother?  What do they contribute to her characterization--the person she was then and the person she is now?
  9. Examine paragraph 13 for details.  What do they imply about the author’s mother?  How do those characteristics compare with those you can deduce from paragraphs 7-10?  What does this contrast achieve?
  10. You will note that throughout the essay the author never refers to the old woman by name.  What is the effect of using the pronoun instead?  What effect is achieved by holding off identifying her as “my mother”?
  11. The essay concludes with a metaphor.  Rephrase the metaphor in your own words and explain how the statement supports the thesis of the essay.