Robert Hass Analysis

Submitted By putnamj
Words: 865
Pages: 4

FINAL EXAM

Question 1 In this short prose piece, Robert Hass briefly tells an influential story of the relationship between an older women and a composer. The composer believes he has fallen in love with a woman of almost sixty, a Japanese painter. With such as drastic age difference it is hard not to imagine such a relationship. I find this to be a creative use of imagery.
In one particular scene late at night they are both found at her door and the female artist acknowledges her mutual desire, but warns him that she has had a double mastectomy. After hearing this, the young composer decides to leave her. In the morning he finds that she has left a bowl on his doorstep, filled with dead bees covered by a layer of rose petals.
I believe that from the description of the artist’s gift, Hass reveals the complexity of the relationship between sexuality and illness. The author’s use of the mastectomy creates both an image of the artist’s body and displays the character of the composer. Similarly to this, the author then makes a connection to the composer and the artist through the descriptive image of the petals and bees. It seems to lead the reader to work out the message it carries. The man's selfish reaction to the woman's body can be reflected in the ominous mass of dead insects only thinly concealed by his superficial sexual attraction. I truly see how all of the choices Robert Hass chose to us worked together to shape the meaning of the piece. Right from the beginning, the reader was provided with character, setting, and imagery. Throughout the piece the author created a voice that fit well with the characters and also set the tone for the reader. Using all of these characteristics of writing in this piece is amazing due to the fact that the paper is less than 200 words. Each sentence had a specific meaning leading up to the next. In the end the piece left the reader interested and wanting more.

Question 2 When dealing with the concept of balancing scene with summary one must first understand that it is a method of treating time in a fictional sense. It is a summary that covers a relatively long time period in a relatively short compass. Take for example the idea of an individual’s life. We want to know their history and what makes them who they are, but we do not want to wait around to hear about it. This is where scene and summary come into play. Summary allows the author to give a brief back ground of the character so that the reader can have an overall understanding of what lead up to this point. Their goal is not to bore the reader, but rather to inform them in a timely fashion. Scene is the crucial meaning of allowing the reader to experience the story. Take for example the turning point of a story. Once a significant moment happens often it does not happen in really time. The author slows down the story through detailed description so that the reader feels deeply involved and a vivid picture is painted in their mind. Take for example my prose piece titled “There’s no place like home.” It is about a young boy who is shipped of overseas to the war in