Death by Scrabble Literary Analysis
Anoushka Divekar
October 17th, 2012
English 9
Mr. Hartwig
Death by Scrabble Literary Analysis
People do not like it when their plans take an unexpected turn. A prime example is in Charlie Fish’s Death by Scrabble. While playing a game of scrabble where the words the protagonist chooses to come to life, he tries to kill his wife. Later, to his own demise, he realizes that his plan has backfired. His wife, the antagonist in this story is an intriguing person. The antagonist is very smart. The protagonist in this story provides such a big contrast to thee antagonist that is makes her seem more cunning. The antagonist can carry out her plan with minimal speech. For these reasons, the antagonist from the short story Death by Scrabble is the most provocative of all the antagonists from the stories.
The antagonist from Death by Scrabble is very smart. She is a great planner, and she is a good schemer. The protagonist thinks, “I watch my wife’s smug expression as she rearranges her letters” (Fish 1). This shows that in the beginning of the story, she has already started to scheme. To be able to rearrange letters during scrabble game takes a great amount of concentration and skill. Not only does the antagonist create words granting her many points, she also lays words that eventually kill her husband. The protagonist narrates, “She plays SWEATIER, using all her letters. 24 points plus a 50 point bonus” (1). This shows that while getting a high amount of points, the antagonist is able to make her husband more uncomfortable at the same time, eventually killing him. She is incredibly clever, and uses it to her own advantage.
The protagonist in this short story provides such a big contrast to the antagonist. This makes her look very cunning. The protagonist states, “It’s a hot day and I hate my wife” (Fish 1) Later, he says, “[...] Maybe I should cheat again, and pick out the letters I need to spell SLASH or SLAY” (3). There two quotes show how different the protagonist is from the antagonist. in Death by Scrabble, the protagonist feels the need to make it plain that he hates his wife. he even feels the need to kill his wife in order to get rid of the apparent burden she places upon him. These actions are different from the antagonist, who is very cool with her plan, and who carries it out without making a fool of herself.
The antagonist can carry out her plan with minimal speech. The protagonist observes, “My wife plays SIGN [...]” (2). Though the protagonist doesn't really understand it at the time, at this point in Death by Scrabble, the antagonist is trying to kill him. However, she thinks she should give some warning, She without talking, gives the protagonist a ‘SIGN’, but not realizing this, he doesn't pick up on it. After asking two questions in this intense game created by Charlie Fish, the antagonist can kill her husband. This makes her seem very provocative, because the reader does not know what is going on in her head. This makes her seem very mysterious, and overall creates a better story.
The antagonist in Death by Scrabble is smart, the protagonist provides a contrast to her, and she can carry out her plan with minimal speech. Because of these reasons, the antagonist in Charlie Fish’s Death by Scrabble is the most provocative antagonist of all the short stories.
October 17th, 2012
English 9
Mr. Hartwig
Death by Scrabble Literary Analysis
People do not like it when their plans take an unexpected turn. A prime example is in Charlie Fish’s Death by Scrabble. While playing a game of scrabble where the words the protagonist chooses to come to life, he tries to kill his wife. Later, to his own demise, he realizes that his plan has backfired. His wife, the antagonist in this story is an intriguing person. The antagonist is very smart. The protagonist in this story provides such a big contrast to thee antagonist that is makes her seem more cunning. The antagonist can carry out her plan with minimal speech. For these reasons, the antagonist from the short story Death by Scrabble is the most provocative of all the antagonists from the stories.
The antagonist from Death by Scrabble is very smart. She is a great planner, and she is a good schemer. The protagonist thinks, “I watch my wife’s smug expression as she rearranges her letters” (Fish 1). This shows that in the beginning of the story, she has already started to scheme. To be able to rearrange letters during scrabble game takes a great amount of concentration and skill. Not only does the antagonist create words granting her many points, she also lays words that eventually kill her husband. The protagonist narrates, “She plays SWEATIER, using all her letters. 24 points plus a 50 point bonus” (1). This shows that while getting a high amount of points, the antagonist is able to make her husband more uncomfortable at the same time, eventually killing him. She is incredibly clever, and uses it to her own advantage.
The protagonist in this short story provides such a big contrast to the antagonist. This makes her look very cunning. The protagonist states, “It’s a hot day and I hate my wife” (Fish 1) Later, he says, “[...] Maybe I should cheat again, and pick out the letters I need to spell SLASH or SLAY” (3). There two quotes show how different the protagonist is from the antagonist. in Death by Scrabble, the protagonist feels the need to make it plain that he hates his wife. he even feels the need to kill his wife in order to get rid of the apparent burden she places upon him. These actions are different from the antagonist, who is very cool with her plan, and who carries it out without making a fool of herself.
The antagonist can carry out her plan with minimal speech. The protagonist observes, “My wife plays SIGN [...]” (2). Though the protagonist doesn't really understand it at the time, at this point in Death by Scrabble, the antagonist is trying to kill him. However, she thinks she should give some warning, She without talking, gives the protagonist a ‘SIGN’, but not realizing this, he doesn't pick up on it. After asking two questions in this intense game created by Charlie Fish, the antagonist can kill her husband. This makes her seem very provocative, because the reader does not know what is going on in her head. This makes her seem very mysterious, and overall creates a better story.
The antagonist in Death by Scrabble is smart, the protagonist provides a contrast to her, and she can carry out her plan with minimal speech. Because of these reasons, the antagonist in Charlie Fish’s Death by Scrabble is the most provocative antagonist of all the short stories.
Death by Scrabble Self Reflection
Title of the Piece
Death by Scrabble Literary Analysis
Content
This essay is written on Charlie Fish's Death by Scrabble. It explains why Death by Scrabble has the most compelling antagonist of all the short stories read in the first trimester of the 2012-2013 school year. Using quotes directly from the story, this essay demonstrates the wit and cunning nature of the antagonist.
What Do You Feel is Good in this Writing?
I think the best part of this essay are the arguments made and the quotes used to prove them. I think all three of the arguments support the thesis really well, and they logically make sense. The direct quotes used are properly cited and quoted properly. This was one of the first essays I had written using this in-text citation format, and so I think I did quite well following those directions given to me.
What Do You Feel is Poor in this Essay, and How Would You Change It?
Because this was one of the first essays of the trimester, I think that it is my weakest essay.
I think the hardest part of this essay was that neither the protagonist or the antagonist had a name, and while i was trying to use fewer pronouns, I said 'the protagonist' or 'the antagonist' a lot, which made the essay a little harder to read.
Another thing that definitely needed to be changed was the first paragraph. The attention getter was weak, with little impact. The sentence is not something one would say in everyday English, and it sounds a little bit awkward. It was not very gripping, and definitely not something I'd pick up to read out of a big pile.
Sentence structure is another aspect of this essay that needed to be changed in general. In the first paragraph, many of the sentences begin with 'the antagonist,' again making my writing feel boring and slightly childish. The structure of these repeated sentences needed to be changed to make them less repetitive.
Looking back at this essay, I honestly think I could have picked either a better thesis, or even used a different story. Though I did the best I could with the supporting points I used, I don't think I truly believed what I wrote. Antagonists from other stories, I thought, were definitely more provocative than the one from Death by Scrabble.
In the fourth paragraph, I used the word 'doesn't.' This should have been changed to 'does not,' because contractions cannot be used in essays. This problem could have easily been solved by the simple yet slightly tedious task of proofreading.
I think the fourth paragraph in particular needed a different main idea. The fact that the antagonist could carry out her plan with minimal speech may have made her seem mysterious; however I don't think it was a good enough reason to prove her the most provocative antagonist.
My final paragraph needed to sound better in general. It did have the elements the last paragraph needed, but there was no "nice bow on the present" at the end. I think more detail could have been added to finish it off better. The supporting details could have also been stated in a more professional way, because they were very bland, and the essay didn't feel complete.
Both the thesis in the first and last paragraph needed work; they did have all the aspects of a thesis, but they didn't have any impact. Reading this essay months later, I don't really believe my assertions in this essay, mainly because I don't believe the thesis. Specifically, I would probably add much more detail, and add voice to my thesis. This would make my essay a lot more fun and make it easier to read.
I don't really know why, but I don't really like this essay very much, reading it at the end of the school year. My major problem was definitely lack of detail and probably lack of experience too. This would probably be an essay I would completely re-write, most likely with a different thesis and at least different supporting points.
Death by Scrabble Literary Analysis
Content
This essay is written on Charlie Fish's Death by Scrabble. It explains why Death by Scrabble has the most compelling antagonist of all the short stories read in the first trimester of the 2012-2013 school year. Using quotes directly from the story, this essay demonstrates the wit and cunning nature of the antagonist.
What Do You Feel is Good in this Writing?
I think the best part of this essay are the arguments made and the quotes used to prove them. I think all three of the arguments support the thesis really well, and they logically make sense. The direct quotes used are properly cited and quoted properly. This was one of the first essays I had written using this in-text citation format, and so I think I did quite well following those directions given to me.
What Do You Feel is Poor in this Essay, and How Would You Change It?
Because this was one of the first essays of the trimester, I think that it is my weakest essay.
I think the hardest part of this essay was that neither the protagonist or the antagonist had a name, and while i was trying to use fewer pronouns, I said 'the protagonist' or 'the antagonist' a lot, which made the essay a little harder to read.
Another thing that definitely needed to be changed was the first paragraph. The attention getter was weak, with little impact. The sentence is not something one would say in everyday English, and it sounds a little bit awkward. It was not very gripping, and definitely not something I'd pick up to read out of a big pile.
Sentence structure is another aspect of this essay that needed to be changed in general. In the first paragraph, many of the sentences begin with 'the antagonist,' again making my writing feel boring and slightly childish. The structure of these repeated sentences needed to be changed to make them less repetitive.
Looking back at this essay, I honestly think I could have picked either a better thesis, or even used a different story. Though I did the best I could with the supporting points I used, I don't think I truly believed what I wrote. Antagonists from other stories, I thought, were definitely more provocative than the one from Death by Scrabble.
In the fourth paragraph, I used the word 'doesn't.' This should have been changed to 'does not,' because contractions cannot be used in essays. This problem could have easily been solved by the simple yet slightly tedious task of proofreading.
I think the fourth paragraph in particular needed a different main idea. The fact that the antagonist could carry out her plan with minimal speech may have made her seem mysterious; however I don't think it was a good enough reason to prove her the most provocative antagonist.
My final paragraph needed to sound better in general. It did have the elements the last paragraph needed, but there was no "nice bow on the present" at the end. I think more detail could have been added to finish it off better. The supporting details could have also been stated in a more professional way, because they were very bland, and the essay didn't feel complete.
Both the thesis in the first and last paragraph needed work; they did have all the aspects of a thesis, but they didn't have any impact. Reading this essay months later, I don't really believe my assertions in this essay, mainly because I don't believe the thesis. Specifically, I would probably add much more detail, and add voice to my thesis. This would make my essay a lot more fun and make it easier to read.
I don't really know why, but I don't really like this essay very much, reading it at the end of the school year. My major problem was definitely lack of detail and probably lack of experience too. This would probably be an essay I would completely re-write, most likely with a different thesis and at least different supporting points.