What means has the author used to demonstrate the character’s qualities? Does the character show growth or change over the course of the story? How much of the story’s meaning depends upon that growth or change?

Protagonists

Prompt:
Write a 3-page essay in which you compare and contrast the protagonists (main character) in both Papadiamantis’ novel, The Murderess, and Vizyenos’ short story, “My Mother’s Sin.” Consider the following questions. Do not simply answer the questions.

1. What means has the author used to demonstrate the character’s qualities?

2. Does the character show growth or change over the course of the story? How much of the story’s meaning depends upon that growth or change?

3. To what extent is the character conditioned by his time and/or place?

4. How much has the author worked to involve the reader’s sympathies with a particular character, and how does this contribute to the reader’s assessment of the issues of the conflict?

5. Is the conflict in the story inherent in the personality of the characters assembled by the author, or in the backgrounds they represent?