Burgettstown Area School District



Name_________________________________________Period______ 10-B

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“One Ordinary Day With Peanuts” study guide

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Background

Though Shirley Jackson never specifically names the city in which her story is set, specific details she gives allow the readers to figure out where the action takes place. For example, Coney Island is an amusement park and the Bronx Zoo is a world famous attraction in New York City. NYC was the most heavily populated city during Jackson’s life, with over 7 million people, and it still is today with over 9 million people. NYC is more than 25 times larger than Pittsburgh!

On a typical day, 2-3 million MORE people travel into NYC for work and school. More than 2 million people live and work in the area called Manhattan.

• Have you ever been to NYC? ____________________

• If so, how would you describe the environment? ______________________________________________________________________________

• If not, would you like to experience life in a crowded, fast-paced city like NYC?

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• Next, analyze photograph on P. 367 (crowded street) and answer: How can being involved in hectic situations lead to unfortunate circumstances for the innocent?

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Vocabulary

1. Resoling (sole of a shoe)- replacing the bottom part of your shoe

2. Precise- exact, clearly expressed

3. In spite of – despite or regardless of/ spite – ignore/not listen to

4. Conviction (not related to crime)- a fixed or strong belief; doing what you say you’re going to do

5. Carnation- flower often given as gift

6. Detour- an alternative route

7. Civil- to act in civilized manner

8. Genial- happy or pleasant

9. Solemn- quiet, serious

10. Comrade- a friend or someone on your side

11. Dismay- to upset

12. Sober- not under the influence of anything; very serious

13. Cross (not like the street or religious)- angry

14. Adorn- to be decorated with something

15. Brooch- a clasp or ornament having a pin at the back for passing through the clothing

16. Irony_ the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning

17. Unwittingly(look up ‘wit’) doing something without thinking or being aware of the situation

18. Timid- very shy and quiet

19. Counterfeit- something that is fake

20. Gesture- a facial or body movement that sends a message to someone

21. Fond- liking someone or something A LOT

22. Dumbfounded- confused or shocked by something

23. Sullen- depressed, upset or mad

24. Encompass- to include or enclose everything around you

25. Haste- being in a hurry or rush

The Elements of Fiction

Point of View

• The Point of View for this story is 3rd Person Limited because the Narrator is telling the story through Mr. Johnson’s thoughts and feelings, but Mr. Johnson is not narrating the story.

Setting

• Uptown NYC on a bright, sunny morning where the mood is happy

• In a neighborhood with houses, apartments and small stores

• People are on their ways to work

• ________________________________________________________

Characters

• Mr. John Phillip Johnson- older man, very happy, dressed up, walking around town helping people who are having bad days

• Little boy and Mom moving to Vermont with Grandpa/movers

• Young lady who is late for work = Mildred Kent

• Arthur Adams = on his way to work/ran into Mr. Johnson

• Bus driver, newspaper man, homeless man

• Young couple looking for an apartment

• Beggar who gets a free meal and tip from Mr. Johnson

Plot

Exposition-The story starts off with Mr. John Philip Johnson starting off his day and walking down the street. He is feeling as everything is well in the world. Mr. Johnson is being exceptionally nice to everybody, but not everybody is being nice back.

Rising Action- Mr. Johnson stumbles upon a mother and her child moving out of their apartment. The mother is having trouble keeping watch of the movers and her child. Mr. Johnson offers to watch the child and, after a moment’s hesitation, she agrees. After that Mr. Johnson meets a young woman named Mildred Kent and a man named Arthur Adams. He gives them both a day’s pay and tells them to do whatever they want with it.

Climax- Mr. Johnson decides to go to lunch and get a veal cutlet sandwich at a restaurant; on the way out he sees a beggar and gives him enough money to buy a veal cutlet sandwich and to give a tip.

Falling Action- Mr. Johnson decides to take a taxi home instead of walking; Mr. Johnson has to go uptown while the taxi driver has to go downtown. The taxi driver has to go downtown because one of his former patrons (customers) told him to place a $10.00 bet on a horse downtown. Mr. Johnson decides to give the taxi driver an extra $10.00 and gives him advice on betting. The taxi driver agrees and drives Mr. Johnson home. Mr. Johnson reaches home and goes to the kitchen and asks his wife about her day, she gives various stories on how she gave different people and a hard time during the day. Mr. Johnson asks what’s for dinner and they are having veal cutlets.

Dénouement- Mr. Johnson's wife and Mr. Johnson decide to “switch jobs” tomorrow. This means that the next day Mr. Johnson will be mean to everybody and Mrs. Johnson will be nice to everybody.

Themes/ Style, tone and language

Shirley Jackson’s main writing technique was irony. Her technique in many of her stories consists of slowly building up a somewhat everyday tale about normal people, then suddenly introducing at the end of the story an ironic shift that will leave readers confused.

Shirley Jackson's stories often deal with the interplay of good and evil, as this story does. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde types. As Jackson presents him, Mr. Johnson is tiresomely good. However, one can find clues in the story to suggest that he is not always this way.

In “One Ordinary Day With Peanuts”, a man’s activities during the day are described. In every scene he is shown being very helpful to people that he meets. At the end of the day, he is home, eating from a bowl of peanuts. His wife enters. He asks how her day went. She summarizes her day. She caused trouble in every scene. The man looks at her and says, "You look tired. Why don't we switch around tomorrow."

The man has just suggested that tomorrow, the wife could be the angel, and the man would be the devil.

The theme of this short story was that there can be evil found in ordinary things.

Another look:

A husband and wife couple assume the roles of “good” and “evil” , “good luck” and “bad luck” for the day, each of them going out into the world to affect everyone they meet. I mean, this is like their job, to go be the human embodiment of fate. Anyway, the story follows the husband through his seemingly mundane daily duties, wherein he positively affects the lives of everyone he comes in contact with by making the tiniest of efforts to turn their day’s luck for the better. Conversely, at the end of the story, you find out that the wife’s job was to even the scales negatively. While both of them take their jobs seriously and objectively, the wife still asks to trade the next day because really, who wants to be the bad guy ALL the time.

Conflict

• While there is no true conflict in this story, many of the characters experience internal conflict when interacting with Mr. Johnson because his actions are so unexpected and borderline bizarre.

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