1. Practice with Alice Munroe’s “The shining houses”
Close reading
Practice with Alice Munroe’s “The shining houses”

2. For each of the passages, explain the following: (a) what is the purpose of this passage? (b) how does the author accomplish this purpose?
(1) Mary smiled, answering Mrs. Fullerton’s high-pitched and not trustful laughter. Mrs. Fullerton was old, as she had said — older than you might think, seeing her hair still fuzzy and black, her clothes slatternly-gay, dime-store brooches pinned to her raveling sweater. Her eyes showed it, black as plums, with a soft inanimate sheen; things sank into them and they never changed. The life in her face was all in the nose and mouth, which were always twitching, fluttering, drawing tight grimace-lines down her cheeks. When she came around every Friday on her egg deliveries her hair was curled, her blouse held together by a bunch of cotton flowers, her mouth painted, a spidery and ferocious line of red; she would not show herself to her new neighbors in any sad old-womanish disarray (Munroe 1-2).

3. It’s a character paragraph – Mrs. Fullerton
her hair still fuzzy and black
she would not show herself to her new neighbors in any sad old- womanish disarray
her raveling sweater
her hair was curled, her blouse held together by a bunch of cotton flowers, her mouth painted
Her eyes showed it, black as plums
a spidery and ferocious line of red
things sank into them and they never changed

4. So if I had to write an essay on this…
In this passage, Munroe talks about Mrs. Fullerton’s traits.
(Score: 3)
her hair still fuzzy and black
her raveling sweater
Her eyes showed it, black as plums
things sank into them and they never changed
her hair was curled, her blouse held together by a bunch of cotton flowers, her mouth painted
a spidery and ferocious line of red
she would not show herself to her new neighbors in any sad old- womanish disarray
It’s about Mrs. Fullerton

5. Another try at the essay…
In this passage, Munroe seeks to establish Mrs. Fullerton’s character. She does this by including both positive and negative traits.
(Score: 5… maybe 6)
Character of Mrs F.
Unpleasant traits
Pleasant traits
her hair still fuzzy and black
her raveling sweater
Her eyes showed it, black as plums
things sank into them and they never changed
her hair was curled, her blouse held together by a bunch of cotton flowers, her mouth painted
a spidery and ferocious line of red
she would not show herself to her new neighbors in any sad old- womanish disarray

6. How an English teacher would do it
In this passage, Munroe establishes Mrs. Fullerton as an eccentric personality, chiefly through visual imagery, creative metaphors, and direct characterization. (Score: 7+)
Character of Mrs F. is eccentric
Visual imagery
her hair still fuzzy and black
her raveling sweater
her hair was curled, her blouse held together by a bunch of cotton flowers, her mouth painted
Direct character -ization
things sank into them and they never changed
she would not show herself to her new neighbors in any sad old-womanish disarray
Her eyes showed it, black as plums
a spidery and ferocious line of red
Creative metaphors

7. And now on to the essay…
In this passage, Munroe establishes Mrs. Fullerton as an eccentric personality, chiefly through visual imagery, creative metaphors, and direct characterization.