ON THE SIDEWALK BLEEDING



“On the Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter - CRITICAL ESSAY

(You may change this plan to suit the way you want to present your essay.

Attach your plan with your final essay.)

Task: Explore how the author makes us sympathise with someone we would not normally feel much sympathy for. You must make reference to the language used and to literary terms and explain them completely.

Remember to provide PEE (point, evidence/quotations and explain) – write PEE and terms in margin.

Introduction:

- Introduce title, author, genre (tragic short story), themes (identity, gang violence, broken society, appearances versus reality, hope and loss of hope etc)

- Briefly tell the story – couple of sentences

- Say why we might not normally sympathise with the main character – proud gang member who enjoys rumbles.

- Link to the task (and continue making links throughout your essay).

1. The visitors to the dark alley (all the action happens during the eleventh hour – symbolic)

- similarity to Good Samaritan story (biblical allusion) – each time hope/suspense is built only to be dashed - no one helps therefore no positive outcome

- the drunk – comic/funny – this makes it more tragic/poignant – ironic that he thinks he is doing Andy a favour by not calling the cops

- the lovers – what he wants to be doing – they see Andy’s pain; they are similar to him yet their fear of getting involved in gang culture makes walk away without being Good Samaritans.

- the old woman – sense of delusion, despair (symbolises a world that is not noticing/caring)

- explain how these points make us sympathise with Andy

2. References to Laura (make the reader relate to Andy, as a young boy with a future)

- they had been at dance

- he is worried she will be worried

- he wants to build a new life with her (hopes to get married, move to nicer project, have children)

- she finds him but after midnight he’s dead

- explain how these points make us sympathise with Andy

3. Andy’s desire to be an individual

- first paragraph – ROYALS and Andy (use of italics to express Andy’s unspoken thoughts)

- he was stabbed because of his jacket (symbolic of membership/pride)

- lovers leave him because of it

- uses his last energy to take it off (in an attempt to regain his identity/individuality)

- explain how these points make us sympathise with Andy

4. The stages of his dying

- at first he doesn’t know he is dying – include quotations about Andy’s feelings towards the rumble, idea of waiting

- he can’t speak

- he begins to realise (turning point when the two lovers are in the alley)

- quotation of the knife hating the jacket (personification, disembodied parts)

- uses his last energy to take off his jacket (climax full of pathos)

- rain washing the blood away

- explain how these points make us sympathise with Andy – no final twist or happy ending

Conclusion: sum up your own views on how you can relate to Andy then round off the response by linking back to the purpose. Mention pathos and what you have learnt – perhaps also mention about the Guardian gang murderer – how will his life change/was all this worth it for him? What is Hunter saying about society?

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