Powder

1.The text under analysis is a short story “Powder” by Tobias Wolff. It belongs to fiction. The genre is a short story because it has an open ending and finished plot.

2.The text belongs to aesthetic sphere of communication. It addresses a wide circle of readers, because a lot of people can find the reflection of their own life in the story.

3.The main functions of the text are emotive and expressive, because this story made readers feel emotions, feelings, attitude to each other and motives.

4.The type of thinking reflected in the text is figurative, because the text describes the personality of the character, their thoughts and attitude to each other, life and actions.

5.The story is told in the perspective of a narrator; it’s also including the dialogue between the son and the father.

6.The story has 3 episodes:

The introduction – when father came to the son to took his at Mount Backer in Christmas Eve. Climax—the highpoint of tension comes as the boy removes the roadblock. Conclusion—we learn the parents eventually divorce. Characterization is brilliantly handled in this very short story.

The Denouement – when they try to drive through the fresh powder.

7.Paragraphs are short, sentences are short too. Despite the briefness, the text quite fully describes the feelings of the characters, their train of thought with the help of literature devices, such as irony and metaphor. The author uses irony to highlight contrasts and contradictions within the story. For instance, the father’s pursuit of personal happiness through the skiing trip contradicts his responsibility as a parent, adding depth and complexity to his character. The author uses metaphors to convey abstract ideas and create vivid imagery. For example, the skiing trip becomes a metaphor for the transitory nature of childhood and fleeting moments of joy and freedom.

8.The number of characters is limited: there are the narrator, the boy (son), the father, and 3 dimensional was the mother.

The father: is 48 y.o man, who wasn’t financially well (has kept sports car even though he can’t afford to), he’s kind, risk-taker persuasive, loves his family (“I want us all to be together again.”), he loves living life, so he seems fearless (they ski even though they can’t see track; violates barricade; drives though can’t see road; drives a British sports car), the father encourages son (“You have your strong points.”) , his character shows the father-figure though acts like a boy (tells son never to try this when he gets driver’s license, but sets bad example).

The son: is a young and introspective character who serves as the narrator of the story. He’s conservative, responsible, cautious (keeps clothes numbered on hangers in his closet; asks teachers for deadlines ahead of time to prepare a schedule), fears but follows father (skiing, removing road blocks), he changes by end of story, so he becomes like his father (enjoys life, sees value of memories/experiences).

9.The literary of the text is realistic, because in some family parents can face with such a problem about relationship between each other and between them and their children.

10.The author presents in the text is not committed and we see it through the eye of the main character. Everything happens without author’s opinion and we see his attitude towards characters through their descriptions.

11.The general tone of the story is lyrical and sentimental, there was the description of feelings of the characters and the moments, where readers understood that the boy parent’s divorced and the moment, when the son was still able to establish a relationship with his father.

12.The leading theme of the text passage is rebellion and relationship between member of the family. The protagonist, a young boy, rebels against his mother’s wishes when he decides to go skiing with his father and his friends. This shows that the boy is willing to defy anyone who tries to tell him what to do, which shows that the boy is independent and resistant to outside control, which is a good trait. Also, there is another theme based on the character traits. It is the quest for identity. The boy is trying to figure out who he is and where he belongs. He is searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging in the world. He feels like an outsider in his family and constantly tries to figure out who he is and where he belongs.

13.Powder becomes a symbol for something fresh, a new beginning, covering up of the old tracks, old habits, and offering an opportunity to lay down new tracks.

14.The scene is set in n the mid to late 1950's at Mount Baker on Christmas Eve.

15.There is one flashback in this story – it starts off when the narrator explains about his father, how they were skiing at the Mount Baker.

16.The ending line of the story describes what the boy took away from his experience with his father, “if you haven’t driven on fresh powder, you having driven.” So, the main idea of the text passage is if a person hasn’t tried to live their life to the fullest, why is it worth even living? This is what the boy realized by the end. The father was able to show his son that it’s okay sometimes to do things that may be a little crazy, those are the moments in life that make it worth living.

17.For me this story was quite interesting and I found in this story a lot of problem, that may occur in the modern world. There were a lot of details that really made the story come alive. This story shows the positive ending for relationship between the son and the father, and conscious behavior of parents.