Short Story: Golden Girl



Short Story: Golden Girl

• Characters:

• Anna Murphy

• Mrs. Grainger

• Donna

• Mr. Mcallum

• Bob Lowther

• Dennis Mason

• Elly Kovacs

• Mrs. Snow

• Michael

• Liam

• Doug Washburn

• Stacey

• Warren Pelletier

Setting: A high school, classroom. a hallway, where trophies also are on display, parking lot, school gym, outside under an oak tree and a coffee house.

Point of view: First person, because as an example she says “I worked really hard to be Anna Murphy’s best friend.”

Protagonist: Donna is the protagonist because she has a major character change. At first she goes from being jealous of Anna saying in the beginning “I used to hope that some of whatever she had would rub off on me. I mean I deserved some pay off for all the crap she dished out.” Then in the end her jealousy takes over the best of her. She tried to set up Anna for a fall but it backfired on her when Michael called her vicious and defended Anna.

Antagonist: In my opinion Anna is the antagonist. I think this because Anna’s actions in the story put Donna in the neck of everyone. Anna’s ex boyfriend, Michael, blames Donna for Anna’s actions and acting like a fool for liking Mr. Mcallum. He got mad at Donna at the dance when he said, “You said she’d drop it”, almost as if that what Donna said was what was suppose to happen and blamed her for Anna’s actions continuing. Anna’s actions put Donna into a bad position with Michael, because Donna likes Michael but Anna’s actions are reflecting badly upon Donna. Michael thinks that Donna is to blame for Anna liking Mr. Mcallum. Her actions oppose Donna.

Atmosphere: I think the atmosphere is tension. I think this because even though it is Anna liking Mr. Mcallum, her actions are making it tense. When she asks Mr. Mcallum to dance and they do, everyone else is in a crowd around them and senses tension of student-liking- teacher. It is very awkward for a high school student to dance with a teacher at the school dance and it is also suspicious. Also Mrs. Grainger has to come to his classes after the dance because of what had happened at the dance, so the inappropriate act pushed the boundaries a little more. Also the class knew what was going on when the teacher came to his class. Donna narrates “I bet almost everyone had worked out why she was there. Funny, though. No one said anything to Anna. If it had been me jokes would have been all over school now.’’

Mood of protagonist: The mood I think Jillian tried to create within Donna was jealousy. I think this because through out the story, examples of jealousy occur and even in the end. An example of her being jealous is when she says in the end, “After all, gold just keeps on shining. It’s only us cheap imitations that tarnish and get junked.” She realizes how no matter how hard she tries to over power Anna, Anna will always come out on top.

Mood of reader: The mood I think Jillian tried to put in the reader’s mind, or the reader had in the mind was pity upon Donna. She tried to make the reader feel bad for Donna in this story because her best friend’s actions had put Donna in a bad position towards a guy she liked (or had a bit of feelings for). Also I think she tried to add in hatred for the reader towards Anna, because she made her seem stuck up and overpower everyone. Also that she didn’t treat Donna exactly nice; she only cared for her opinions so it would make her feel better. As an example after Anna read she thought she sounded like an air head and was complaining to Donna, but Donna said “And I saw him looking at you while you were reading, like he was impressed.”

Major conflict: The major conflict in this story is Anna liking Mr. Mcallum. The reason why is because her liking Mr.Mcallum in this story is affecting not only Donna but Michael too. Her actions of liking Mr.Mcallum are putting her in a bad position with Michael. Michael thinks Donna can stop all of her actions but she cannot because she is not in full control of Anna’s foolishness. Michael is jealous of Anna because he likes Anna and wants Anna to not like the teacher. Anna’s actions are making him mad. When Anna went to go talk to Mr. Mcallum in the classroom, Michael came by outside in the hallway and Donna told him “Anna doesn’t want us to wait.’’ Then he said “What’s with her?’’ and she narrated “Even with the noise in the corridor I could hear how mad he was.”

Plot (rising action, climax and falling action)

Rising action: Donna and Anna are in English class. A new student teacher, Mr.Mcallum, comes into their class and Anna has to read the part of Portia in a book they are reading. Anna reads the part and after she feels that she felt like she made herself look like a bimbo in front of him and starts to develop a crush on him. The next day Anna went to go talk to Mr. Mcallum after class and shoos Donna out to not wait for her in the class. So she waits outside of the door and tries to listen to what they are saying. Anna’s ex Michael comes by and gets mad when he knows she is talking to him and tells Donna to tell Anna he is in the field. Later on in the story there is a dance and Donna gets picked up in the car for a car ride by Michael, Anna and Doug, He is Donnas’ boyfriend. They walk into the school and hang there coats up and enter the school gym. They all find a table and Doug asks Anna to dance. Mean while when they are dancing, Michael says to Donna like he is blaming her, saying Anna would have dropped it by now.

Climax: Anna eventually makes her way around to find Mr. Mcallum, and a bunch of girls are crowding around him. Anna’s brother who is the DJ puts a slow song on and Anna forces Mcallum to a slow dance with her.

Falling action: Michael realizes what is going on and storms out of the dance. They all realize after that he is gone because Doug went to go the parking lot and found his car to be gone. The next day Anna was talking to Donna on the phone about Mr.Mcallum and how she felt when she danced with him and she pretended to listen. The next school day Mrs. Grainger showed up to his class, along with the other days after. Then on Thursday of the next week, Donna suggests to Anna to write him a note, and Anna writes it saying to meet her at the coffee house a 11:00 am Saturday. Mr. Mcallum looks at it and throws it out though. After she goes outside and heads toward Michael who is sitting under a big Oak tree behind the gym. Then she talks to him about how ridiculous she is for her to write a note to Mr.Mcallum. Michael then gets mad at her because he thinks she is setting her up and not being her friend, calling her vicious.

This story has a resolution because in the end she goes down to the coffee house. She watches her for an hour, sipping coffee, trying not to cry. We know that its way past the time he was suppose to meet her there for, so we know he is not showing up. In the end she also states “After all, gold just keeps on shining. It’s only us cheap imitations that tarnish and get junked. She ends with her saying that people like her come out on top while the others just get dumped on.

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