1. by Katherine Mansfield
“The Garden Party”
by Katherine Mansfield

2. A “theme” can be defined as a “comment about life” that an author expresses in a story. It is through the theme that most of us can relate to a story.
Every Essay 2 probably will explain
a character or characters
a conflict
a resolution

3. Choose one character from the story and tell us what you think about that character. What facts from the story cause you to see the character in this way?
Insert Team Name Here  says, What we think about Laura is that she wants to be a part of her family as much as possible, but when it comes to making decisions by herself, she is torn with herself on whether she should agree with her family or herself. This is shown when Laura wants to cancel the party when the man down the street is killed but her family doesn’t want to cancel.

4. Choose one character from the story and tell us what you think about that character. What facts from the story cause you to see the character in this way?
The David’s says, Laura is kind hearted and wishes to not be set in classes of society. She feels comfortable being around the workers, as she think of “why couldn’t she have workmen for her friends“. She also thinks that the classes of society are “absurd class distinctions” which “she didn’t feel them. Not a bit, not an atom…”.

5. Choose one character from the story and tell us what you think about that character. What facts from the story cause you to see the character in this way?
Sap Green says, Laura is an emotional character whose sympathy clouds her judgment. This is shown when she talks to Jose about canceling the party because of the dead man. Jose says “If you're going to stop a band playing every time someone has an accident, you'll lead a very strenuous life. I'm every bit as sorry about it as you. I feel just as sympathetic”. While they are both sympathetic about the situation, Laura was very extreme and was set on canceling a large event.

6. Choose one character from the story and tell us what you think about that character. What facts from the story cause you to see the character in this way?
Interpretor says, Laura is a confident and observant person. In the beginning of the story Laura states she likes to arrange things, because “she always felt she could do it so much better than anybody else”. The line “His smile was so easy, so friendly, that Laura recovered. What nice eyes he had, small, but such a dark blue!” shows how observant Laura is.

7. What types of conflict--person versus person, society, self, nature, and God/fate—do you think are in the story, and how are the conflicts shown?
team pepperoni says, We think there is definitely a few person versus person conflicts. Laura has disputes with her mother and her older sister. Also, there is some person versus self going on. Laura is having a moral crisis. She wants to be cooperative with her family, but she feels like she’d be doing the wrong thing. She wants to cancel the party but does not want her mother upset. Then, she feels bad for just giving the widow the leftover scraps from the party, but she wants to do at least something.

8. What types of conflict--person versus person, society, self, nature, and God/fate—do you think are in the story, and how are the conflicts shown?
Benson says, Person versus person for Laura. She kept feeling almost guilty for having the garden party, although the others told her she was being absurd. Laura started to second guess herself. “Is mother right? She thought.” “Am I being extravagant?”

9. Identify at least one thing in the story that you think might be symbolic. What might this symbolism contribute to the story?
Woebegone Godzillas says, One symbol in the story is the hat. When Laura gets the hat from her mother, she forgets all about the mourning family. However, when she visits the family, she is ashamed that she is wearing the hat and even apologizes to the dead man. The hat symbolizes her class. Being upper class blinds her to the problems of the lower class. However, when she is actually there amongst them, she is ashamed of her class and their treatment of the lower class.

10. Identify at least one thing in the story that you think might be symbolic. What might this symbolism contribute to the story?
Team Name says, [Laura] sees herself in the mirror wearing her mother’s extravagant daisy-trim hat. This is Symbolic because it is showing that she is turning into what her mother is.

11. Identify at least one thing in the story that you think might be symbolic. What might this symbolism contribute to the story?
Whatever says, The hat because it symbolizes the wealth and the class division between them and the rest of the town. When she wears the hat she falls into the same morality of the rest of the family. When she wears it to Mr. Scotts house it can be seen as disrespectful due to what happened and how the family continued to have the party.

12. A “theme” can be defined as a “comment about life” that an author expresses in a story. What does this story seem to be telling us about life?
Sap Green says, The story’s theme is to appreciate life. Enjoy what life has given you and what you can continue to experience. Life is precious no matter what class you are.

13. A “theme” can be defined as a “comment about life” that an author expresses in a story. What does this story seem to be telling us about life?
1999 ft. Me says, I think this story is telling us that there is more to life than material things such as money and flowers and fancy crème puffs. It’s trying to remind us of the value of life itself, as well as the companionship of family and friends. No matter how big your house is, or how many extravagant parties you have, we’ll all end up in the same sized grave. I believe the underlying theme is that life is precious, and we should stay humble.

14. Another Thing to Consider
"No," sobbed Laura. "It was simply marvellous. But Laurie--" She stopped, she looked at her brother. "Isn't life," she stammered, "isn't life--" But what life was she couldn't explain. No matter. He quite understood. "Isn't it, darling?" said Laurie.

15. Another Thing to Consider
Laura obviously is overwhelmed with emotions and seems to realize something important at the end of the story. What does she realize?

16. A final thought . . .
Excellent work!