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ESSAY STUDY POINTS

(Fried Green Bananas by S. Angelique)

For Teachers to Present to Students

Students generally have no idea how much planning and thought is part of a publishable story. Here are the main discussion points:

1- At the beginning, it is intentional that the reader is not told who the woman is or her relevance to the story. In fact, her name is never revealed.

2- The author calls the food green bananas. The Indian woman calls it plantanos. This difference is at once delicate and course. It is actually, in English, platains, a fruit that looks like a large banana, but isn't, and is always cooked before eating. Therein lies thus, an intentional hint of ethnocentrism, which we should find natural in this situation.

3- Point out the correct use of ";" in the second sentence.

4- The third sentence reference to Kipling suggests the author values the reader as being (at least fairly) well read. (Attentive students who happen not to know this phrase, will find it easily by using an internet search engine.)

5- The fourth sentence shows us that this is in a place somewhere far away, but it does not tell us so. Hints (Spanish and Quechua) suggest South America, but the reader is not yet to know the precise location. Additionally, instead of "knowledge of..." the words are "grasp of..." a more energetic word choice.

6- The old woman's reaction suggests, but does not tell, that there is something very special and/or sacred about the water. Further, the verb "drained away" is carefully selected for color.

7- "Legends" begins the portion of the essay whereupon the writer leaves the old woman's house to give us a colorful broader history that is meant to place things into context. You may ask the class if it thinks the deviation to explorers and quests succeeds in providing color and context.

6- The paragraph starting with "Francisco" means he went and found the Amazon River (also correctly, Amazons RIver). Notice how it is phrased.

8- That the old woman stopped counting her years at 100, causes the reader to feel (correctly) that she is very, very old. Yet, it is never stated.

9- Then, that she has a grandmother still alive, automatically requires a woman older still.

10- Instead of stating that someone was walking toward the room, the writer says that the "sound of someone walking entered our ears." Yet, it could mean nothing else than what was not stated, but, the reader's mind paints the picture, rather than the writer.

11- The description of a wrist "one watch lighter" paints a picture of having made a payment, yet it is never stated.

12-The reference to a "quietvolcano" is meant to tie the reader back to the earlier story of the traveler with the special water.

13- Now the reader's interest (e.g. where is this place?) is tended to by indicating the specific country and the people of the story.

14- Next, "Caribbean Indians" is intended to connect back to an early reference to San Juan.

Students likely would have written "San Juan, Puerto Rico." They may ask why only the city name appears. This is because (with Americas-based students) the writer allows them, by supposition, the reasonable knowledge to already know where this major city is located.

15- The last two paragraphs finish up the story and tie up the Ponce-searches-for-the-foutain-of-youth idea.

16- Notice too the syntax "upon whose information Ponce relied." This is at once more prosaic and avoids being left with a naked preposition at the end of the clause. Other examples of this are also present. You can ask the class to find them.

17- Students may also be pointedto the use of further and farther, both used in the story. These are not interchangeable, yet many beginner students of writing use either one randomly.

19- Some attentive students may point out that translations (in perentheses) are "wrong." They are not wrong, of course. Simply they are actual rather than literal. (Bilingual students will have understood this automatically since they deal with this regularly.)

20- And did the writer ever drink any of the water? Was the writer there in search of the water? We are intended not to know, but to imagine for ourselves.

Permission is granted to reproduce this essay and its analysis as long as it is done complete including author's name.