Forms of Literature (Keating's Goodreads Discussion forum) discussion
6.0. Character in Short Fiction
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6.0. Character in Short Fiction
Leslie wrote: "Arely wrote: "When evaluating Emily’s character, I considered her to be a rounded character because throughout the story she undergoes development and towards the end of the story she surprises the..." YES! Emily develops into a round character towards the end by reveling her ability to be comical, as it was inferred that she was a flat character with a lack of complexity because of her straight forward description.
Mariafernanda wrote: "In ¨I stand here ironing¨ Emily is a young girl with many feelings in her heart, she has never told her mother what she feels about her childhood but her mother knows that she is not happy but the ..."I agree with Mariafernanda's point, Emily is a flat character for most of the story. Emily is rounded, however where her comedy is concerned, she had " a rare gift for comedy on stage that rouses laughter out of the audience...", and she is seen as more than just the sallow girl she seems to be at home.
Jesus wrote: "In the story "I Stand Here Ironing", by Tillie Olsen, Emily is first portrayed as a flat-character by her mother. Emily's mother states how once Emily turns two years old "all the baby loveliness w..."Very well written and straight to the point Jesus. Great implementation of the text and excellent application of chronological use to give a great explanation of the changes of point of views.
Brandon wrote: "If Emily were to have grown up under better circumstances, such as a more stable household, better education and more money she would have most likely have been a more social individual and happier..."I agree with the whole description and how she transitioned though the years.
Arely wrote: "When evaluating Emily’s character, I considered her to be a rounded character because throughout the story she undergoes development and towards the end of the story she surprises the reader. For e..."It was a surprise at the very end because I also thought it was going to be of how she was a blessed child but it had its own turning point of Emily's character.
Arely wrote: "When evaluating Emily’s character, I considered her to be a rounded character because throughout the story she undergoes development and towards the end of the story she surprises the reader. For e..."I really enjoy the route you decided to take with the description of Emily. Instead of starting off with the implementation of Emily being a flat, one-dimension character you began by describing her as "rounded". Really shows how in depth you understood the text.
Julian wrote: "In "I Stand Here Ironing" i believe that Emily's character is displayed as being flat. Reason is because, the story is told from the mothers point of view. The mother is the one relaying the story ..."Julian, I concur with your point that the story is just being told of Emily's mother point of view, which impedes and limits the reader to just the point of view of Emily's mother. It would be an easier story to digest and 'judge' if the reader had the point of view of Emily and her mother.
Dennia wrote: "Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", char..."Dennia, if you read the story and understood what you were reading you would understand my comment. Emily was unsatisfied with her physical characteristics... because the was not blonde and curled as she wished. Complicated because she was a hard nut to break when her mother tried talking with her.
At the beginning of the story when Emily is being described by her mother, she seems to be one-dimensional. It portrays Emily as a horrible thing that happened to her mother and not they way a parent would look at their child. As the story continues her mother begins to reveal a different side to Emily. It portrays Emily as having talent and making other people laugh. Emily in my opinion is a flat character but as the story comes to an end, the reader can assume that Emily is a strong character who overcomes her troubled childhood.
Julian wrote In "I Stand Here Ironing" i believe that Emily's character is displayed as being flat. Reason is because, the story is told from the mothers point of view. The mother is the one relaying the story and we are really only getting one side of the story, We dont get to see much of Emily's point of view. So we are led to believe what we are reading, when there just might be more to it. To describe Emily in the story, we view Emily as one who had a rough childhood, and not very happy. When, little may we know, Emily could have been happy and just not show it, or satisfied with her life. I feel the mother is being a bit harsh on herself feeling like she did something wrong or she could've done more.I agree with Julian, the reader gets to only see one side of the story since it is being narrated by her mom and does not show the struggle of Emily's childhood. I believe that if the story also included an insight of Emily;s point of view, we would better understand the reality of the truth from the story.
Tracie wrote "When Emily's mother is describing her, it is pretty one-dimensional. It does not show Emily in the kind of good light that you would think most parents would look at their children."I agree fully with trace's point. Growing up my parents would cherish and praise me as if I was some sort of king. I believe that every child needs that kind of treatment growing up. In the story the narrator compares the beauty of her other children to how "ugly" Emily is. This caused some sort of psychological problem with Emily, believing that she was good for nothing.
Miguel wrote: "The character of Emily throughout the story portrays a little bit of both flat and round. In the most part Emily is seen as a left out child with not much love. The father abandoned her since the b..."I agree with you, when Emily emerged to acting and comedy, her life turned around, this demonstrates how Emily's character is rounded since she surprised the reader in the end.
Roland wrote: "At the beginning of " I Stand Here Ironing" through the mother's point of view Emily is portrayed as a flat character one-dimensional one who doesn't show many traits. She is portrayed as a sad an..."I completely agree with you being a multi-dimensional character as the story progresses.It's quite interesting how you can see her development unfold through another person's perspective, and how vividly it explains it to us. Although, I will say she was flat in the sense that we didn't get any insight from Emily herself. Nevertheless, I completely agree with your statement.
Traci wrote: "When Emily's mother is describing her, it is pretty one-dimensional. It does not show Emily in the kind of good light that you would think most parents would look at their children. When you get de..."That's exactly what I thought at first it may seem Emily's character is flat, but if you read more thoughtfully you can see the change in bearing. I guess that's why it's best if you read the story a couple of times, but more carefully to catch details like that.
Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", characterizing her ..."I can see how you would consider Emily to be a flat character in the beginning of the story, and that in the end she developed into a rounded character for the unexpected turnout Emily became.
I agree with Traci on her comment that throughout the story she is described as pretty one dimensional until the end.Traci wrote: "When Emily's mother is describing her, it is pretty one-dimensional. It does not show Emily in the kind of good light that you would think most parents would look at their children. When you get de..."
In the short story named, "I Stand Here Ironing" the character Emily is a very distinct type of character. She is different on comparison to her other siblings. The way her mother described her was detailed up to a certain point, only to her point of view. Though as she described her it seemed as if Emily was a kind hearted, sweet, smart girl. Her mother described her to be such an silly actor that would make her laugh all the time. By that statement it reveals to the reader what characteristic Emily had, which was being an actor that likes to make people smile and laugh. Also her mother described her to be so insecure of herself as well. She was very insecure of her hair, her body, her face due to her lack of physical development compared to her sisters appearance. In addition, she was also a strong character. She was a flat kind of character due to the point of view that the narrator was telling the story. However, her mother was only narrating the story in her point of view so it was not stating the feelings of Emily's character. In other words, we are limited on Emily's point of view of her character.
Traci wrote: "When Emily's mother is describing her, it is pretty one-dimensional. It does not show Emily in the kind of good light that you would think most parents would look at their children. When you get de..."I agree with you Traci, since the story was told by Emily's mother, we get a certain understanding of Emily's character but this is because her character is being described by the mothers point of view. As Emily stars growing older, we see that her character is not so flat and actually has some round to it.
Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", characterizing her ..."I agree with you Leslie, Emily's character is portrayed by her mother and the reader only gets to learn that side of the characters personality. As the mother describes her, Emily is seen as a sad troubled child but as she grows older we learn that Emily was not such a flat character but was a rounded one as well.
In the story "I stand here ironing" Emily who is the protagonist undergoes many changes.While evaluating such character she could be described as a round multidimensional and complex character. The protagonist as a start undergoes many changes because her life impacted her personality and the way she thinks. Starting from the way her lifestyle is, since her mother works daily and gives her little attention but profound love, she changed into a very independent person,for example she as a kid started to not need the help of her mother at some point she started to be affected physically and her health was progressively affected.In the story is stated that Emily started to look like a skeleton,thin,and not so healthy compared to the rest of the kids.
She is a round and complex character because she grows as an individual, her thoughts change and her perspective of life changes as well. Throughout the story you see many sides of her which makes up such a good complex character.The protagonist grows individually and discovers that the only thing she enjoys to do is using humor to cope with the daily struggles.
Since the story is told by the mothers point of view you can't get a real view of the characters changes and dimensions,but she does shows and explains her daughters changes somehow,physically,emotionally and even mentally to a certain extent.
I do agree with you Lupita, that it is more hard to understand the protagonist since the story is told from the mothers point of view only. And that just from the mothers descriptions and explanations of Emilys personalities and actions its not enough to understand the character fully.
What I mainly paid attention to would’ve been her character in this story. Her character portrays herself in different setting such as her being comical when she is performing. Emily is very upbeat yet comical when it comes to her lines or anything with a positive or something that makes her joyful. Though, throughout the story we do not go that much depth with her as a person.
I agree with you Joanna, that we as readers don't get as much from her as a person. That even though its described how comical and a positive character she is we are still missing some sort of depth or more specific information about her; in able for us to understand her completely and connect more with her character.
In my eyes, Emily’s character in “I Stand Here Ironing” is a rounded character because she changed a lot throughout the story but in the beginning she is portrayed as a flat character. The reason why she was a flat character is because after Emily was away from her mother she became sad child. Emily always find an excuse to not to go to school and once her younger sister grew more,Susan, would “steal” Emily’s joke. This made Emily feel inferior which cause her to be very insecure at such a young age. After her mother suggest to “..do something like this in the school amateur show?”, Emily became “somebody” and she was happy with herself. Emily has changed to be a sad, depressed child who just didn’t want to do anything to a happy cheerful child that everyone knew because she perform at different schools.
In I Stand Here Ironing, the narrator gives us a glimpse into Emily's life. Although told in first person limited omniscient by Emily's mother, the reader can still identify that Emily is a round character. Emily is a round character because of the contradictory nature of her characteristics and actions. Emily isn't exactly a flat character because as the story progresses, she grows and matures, thus influencing her traits and characteristics.At the start of the story, the narrator describes Emily as a miracle and tells of how she was a beautiful baby. However, when Emily and her mother are finally reunited after Emily’s stay at her paternal grandparents, the narrator recounts how she hardly knew Emily because her mannerisms had changed and that “All the baby loveliness was gone.” This contradicts the narrator’s feelings toward Emily she had before. Emily as an older child exhibits some contradictory traits, as described by her mother. For one, her mother highlights Emily’s insecurities, including those regarding school and physical appearance. However, at the same time the narrator also acclaims Emily’s acting talent with a pleased and loving attitude. The reader interprets Emily as a reserved and diminutive girl, yet at the same time one who shines freely on stage. She has been through a lot and therefore has a worriedness to her, but is fearless of anything at certain points in the story.
Jennifer wrote: "Emily's character throughout, "I Stand Here Ironing" by Olsen, is told throughout the eyes of her mother. Emily's character..."Jennifer, I like how you introduced the fact that because the story is not told from Emily's point of view, Emily might seem round based on her mother's narration of her. I never thought of that; it's interesting how point of view really does play into a lot.
Moy wrote: "I would say that Emily’s character in, “Here I Stand Ironing” is a combination of a flat character, and also a rounded one. As you read the story, you realize that the majority..."i>I agree that Emily can be considered either a flat or round character due to the point of view. I agree that the analysis of Emily's character can be seen either way.
I would say Emily's mother is describing her in a one-dimensional form. In I stand here Ironing Emily's mother talks about her kind of in a not parent way. Emily's mother does not explain how her daughter is at the beginning of the story. Towards the end of the story Emily's mom then starts talking about Emily's personal image. Emily a girl that tells jokes to make people laugh like her mother and when she performed on stage. In the end of the story I came to the conclusion that Emily's mother described her in a flat form, but in reality she is a round character, because she is a normal kid and at times she is a comedian.
Eliana wrote: "In the story "I stand here ironing" Emily who is the protagonist undergoes many changes.While evaluating such character she could be described as a round multidimensional and complex character. Th..."
Great response, the only thing that was missing is textual evidence because none was given in the respond. I agree with her respond 100% but only that was missing, overall enjoyable.
Maya wrote: "In I Stand Here Ironing, the narrator gives us a glimpse into Emily's life. Although told in first person limited omniscient by Emily's mother, the reader can still identify that Emily is a round c..."It has good textual evidence but it needs more, not only just one example from the story. I did enjoy her response and just needed more evidence.
In "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily's character is portrayed in a flat manner. Even though we know all about Emily's life from when she was born up to her teen years, we do not know what is going on in her mind because we are limited to the mother's point of view. Thus, we do not know if Emily undergoes a significant change in character. Yes, we see Emily grow physically, but it is never clear whether or not she changes internally, and it is because of this that she is a flat character. Emily's traits are constant throughout the story where as the mother undergoes a change when she is reflecting upon her relationship with her daughter. Even though the story is focused on Emily, she is not the protagonist because she does not undergo a change in character, and since her traits stay the same, she is a flat character in the story.
In the story, “I Stand Here Ironing “by Tillie Olsen Emily’s character is described through her mother’s perspective. At the beginning of the story Emily is described as a flat character. The mother states how Emily never had, “a direct protest, never rebellion. I think of our others in their three‐, four‐ year‐oldness—the explosions, the tempers, the denunciations, the demands”. Because Emily was left alone for so many years and never received the loved she needed, she preferred to not ask and not wish for that motherly love. Instead she would make excuses” I feel sick…Momma it’s a holiday today, no school, they told me.” to receive the love she needed without having to personally ask for her mother’s time, company or love. Later on in the story there is a transition from the mother describing her daughter as a flat character to a round one. The mother describes Emily’s “her rare gift for comedy on the stage that rouses laughter out of the audience.” The perspective of the mother of Emily’s character changes from a dull, lonely child to a funny, joyful and social one. This gives Emily the acceptance she has been looking for in his classmates but does not really obtain her mother’s time nor attention. At the beginning of the story Emily starts off as a flat character because of her inability to receive her mother’s attention and love but because of her talent at the end of the story her mother changes her perspective in Emily and she accredits her as a round character.
In the story "I stand here ironing" by Tillie Olsen Emily is first mentioned as a round character do to the fact that the mother portrays her through out the whole story. Emily mother portrayed Emily as a very young beautiful girl at first but as she passed the age of two everything changed. the mother mentions all of the problems Emily pass through giving the feeling that Emily lives a sad hard life but all that changes when the mother says that Emily has a talent of making people laugh and she used that to give Emily hope. by her mentioning that it gives another look into Emily life. so with this Emily is a round character because she is first discussed as a sad character then as the story goes on she is mentioned as a girl that changed for the better and can now take care of herself.
In “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, the story is narrated by Emily’s mother describing the hardships of motherhood. With the mother’s perspective we are introduced to the main protagonist, Emily who is a troubling child who constantly feels outcasted from society. One would think that the Emily would fall under a flat character since it’s told in the eyes of another individual, when in fact the narrative shocks readers by making Emily the most complex character in the story while also making the narrator just as complex. With the narration of Emily’s mother, she recounts about the troubling times Emily experienced being aware that she was “frail” and “foreign looking.” Emily’s psychological state alters as well, with at first constantly pleading for the love of her absent, hardworking mother to not even desiring a speck of love from everyone. What this does to a girl mentally makes the reader’s empathetic even though the story lacks the inner thoughts of the protagonist herself. However, with the mother’s narration and thoroughly elaborating Emily, the lack of Emily’s conscious is compensated for.
As Emily is being described by her mother in the short story "I Stand Here Ironing", I personally think that Emily is a regular child that is trying to get her mother’s attention by acting in different ways. For example, Emily tries everything to stop her mother from leaving her by stating "don’t go Mommy". She would say this because of the lack of attention the mother gave to her and because the mother worked a lot. This is very common with small children. Small children are the ones that want more attention from the parents. For Emily, this is the same thing she wants from her mother. At last, the mother noticed that Emily tried everything to get her attention, but she noticed that too late.
Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", characterizing her ..."I agree with you Leslie, the way Emily was described by her mothers' point of view sounds like she was a flat character. The mother never really gave detailed descriptions about her, just brief descriptions.That's why Emily is an example of a flat character.
Jesus wrote: "In the story "I Stand Here Ironing", by Tillie Olsen, Emily is first portrayed as a flat-character by her mother. Emily's mother states how once Emily turns two years old "all the baby loveliness w..."I agree with you Jesus, that at the beginning of the story the mother sees Emily as a depressed child, but at the end the mother changes the perspective she has on Emily right after Emily starts her comedy career.
Andrew wrote: "Sometimes if the reader only knows about a character through the eyes of another, the portrait that emerges is flat. Explain how you would evaluate Emily's character in "I Stand Here Ironing." In w..." In the story "I Stand Here Ironing" we can depict that from her ways of personality as well as a character overall that she is a flat character due to how throughout the story she plays a role in which she is this "Depressed" and "Seldom" child, but later on is revealed to further unwrap her inner self and let the reader know of her other side which contained a talent which was "Comedy". In addition, Emily could as a matter of fact be said to be a flat character throughout the majority of the story, but eventually evolved into another type due to her change as a character in personality and acquiring more knowledge as we learned new things further on in the story.
Jesus wrote: "In the story "I Stand Here Ironing", by Tillie Olsen, Emily is first portrayed as a flat-character by her mother. Emily's mother states how once Emily turns two years old "all the baby loveliness w..."I agree with you Jesus In the idea that the mother shifted in thoughts after the Emily's talent of comedy was exposed and made the mother think different of Emily.
Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", characterizing her ..."I agree with you Leslie, in how Emily changed throughout the story to a round character due to her change in portrayal towards the end of the story
Emily was be beautiful at birth to her mom but as the story goes on her mom explains how she turns into someone who looked sick "She started to look more like her father" her mother stated. Emily became to be someone independent slowly drifting off from her mother because of the lack of love and affection that she didn't receive as well as care. compared to her siblings she was the most forgotten. Although she spent much time away from home and didn't have the opportunity to be at ease with both her mother and father she turned to out to be someone wonderful with an amazing sense of humor in which she went from being a "nobody" to a somebody.
At the beggining of the story of, "I Stand Here Ironing" we are told that Emily is in fact a flat character. This is because we are told that Emily is a rather depressed an lonely child, wishing to look like her sister Susan. However, as the story progresses, we see that Emily is added more personal traits, one being her talent in comedy. This allows Emily to become a rather rounder character, by showing us that there is more to Emily than a lonely child.
Throughout, "I Stand Here Ironing" Emily's character, as told and described by her mother, is perceived as flat and strictly one-dimensional. Everything the reader is told about Emily is told through the narrator's eyes perspective; thus, giving us very limited information and ability to comprehend Emily. This is what makes Emily so flat and one-dimesional.
In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing" Emily is described by her mother as a very one dimensional character as the mother tends to describe her daughter in the beginning of the story. Emily's mother would describe Emily as someone who always wanted affection, but never got it as the time went on she did not need it anymore. For example, Emily's mother states, " Now when it is too late (as if she would let me hold and comfort her...)". Emily's mother is describing how Emily is not open minded and is just stuck to her way of not wanting attention because of how she lived before she was fully supervised by her mother. Another example being when Emily mother states, "She was not glib...". Emily's mother is describing her daughter as not fast to grasp certain concepts school wise. Emily is one dimensional because they mainly describe all the negative traits of her at the beginning of the story. So, throughout the story Emily has a higher percentage of being one dimensional instead of being multi dimensional.
Leslie wrote: "In the story, "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is portrayed in her mother's point of view as a flat character. For instance, her mother describes her as "a child seldom smiled at", characterizing her ..."Leslie is correct in stating how Emily is flat in the beginning because of all of the descriptions that Emily's mother describes Emily with. As Leslie states, Emily is portrayed as a depressed child as the beginning of the story is told. I also agree with your point that Emily does have a change near the end of the story.
Arely wrote: "When evaluating Emily’s character, I considered her to be a rounded character because throughout the story she undergoes development and towards the end of the story she surprises the reader. For e..."I never saw that perspective until I read your post and I have to admit you made some valid points with the text you used from the story. Emily does go through major changes from being a pure kind hearted child to a non-affectionate female. This does allow her to grow up.
Moy wrote: "I would say that Emily’s character in, “Here I Stand Ironing” is a combination of a flat character, and also a rounded one. As you read the story, you realize that the majority of what is told abou..."I agree with you in that Emily is both a flat and rounded character, but to me it seemed that Emily leaned more toward flat than rounded. As you mentioned before, the reader's knowledge and understanding of Emily are limited to her mother's perspective and how she herself views Emily. That contributes a lot to how Emily is portrayed and viewed by the readers. The readers themselves don't really have the opportunity to ever form their own perspective of Emily or to ever see her from someone else's point of view. This is why Emily seemed more of a flat character than a round one to me.
Uzi wrote: "Emily's character in "I Stand Here Ironing" is flat. The only details of her characteristic are given by her mother. A mother who was not always there for her therefore Emily shows little to no emo..."I completely agree with you. Because we are limited to only the mother's perspective, she is a flat or one-dimensional character. If we had seen more of Emily through other character's perspectives or through Emily herself she would be considered more of a rounded character.
In the story,” I stand here Ironing,” her mother sees Emily as a “beautiful baby.” Although her mother was a hard worker and tried to do the best she could for her family, she was never really there for Emily. The absence of her father has turned her into someone whom her mother no longer recognizes. Going through this, turned her into someone who was “a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear.” Which explains why she is seen as a flat character in the beginning of the story. As the story progresses, Emily begins to perform in front of people which soon, is seen as a comical person. "Her rare gift for comedy on the stage that rouses laughter out of the audience so dear they applaud and applaud and do not want to let her go". This shapes her into becoming a round character despite what has happened throughout her life. From being a person people would see as a “slow learner”, she was Somebody, and as imprisoned in her difference as in anonymity.
I agree with your post! She does become more of a multi-dimensional character when her character traits are shown and we learn about her comedy and how she tries to surpass her childhood as painful and is was. I think that it would have added even more of a multi-dimensional traits for Emily if per say one of the other siblings would have talked about her or described her.