Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.

BX

Weightless and Hysterical

Assignment 1
Find alle verberne (udsagnsordene) i præsens (nutid) i nedenstående tekst, og omskriv
dem til præteritum (datid). Skriv hele teksten som dit svar, og markér verberne tydeligt
som i eksemplet.

Eksempel: Tom gropes amongst…

Tom groped amongst…

Tom gropes amongst the old shoe-boxes, fallen scarves, gloves, and belts, breathing in faded wafts of
Sandra. Instead of the soft give of Sandra’s suede bag, his fingers find something hard. A smooth
glass column. He draws it out carefully. The green of the bottle is so dark it’s almost black. It has the
classic gold hood encasing the cork and neck. Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 1988. The 1988 is
inscribed in a dramatic flourish of white digits across the front of the label.
What a waste. Undrinkable now. Vintage, so a bit more longevity, but Champagne is generally
short-lived. All tangy fizz and excitement at the beginning, but it’s not a keeper. He slumps onto his
bottom on the bedroom floor and cradles the bottle in both hands. […]
He dives back in the wardrobe and finds the bag, agerashed1 and giving off a strange mix of Ysatis2
and mould. He takes the bottle and the bag downstairs. They sit together on the island as he scurries
about unloading the dishwasher and tidying up. Not that there’s much to tidy up. Without Sandra
and Freya everything stays in its place. He sprays the work surfaces and wonders if Sandra will be on
time and whether she’ll stop for a bit. His eyes keep coming back to the Moët and the bloody clutch.
He gets an ice-cooler from the freezer and shoves it over the bottle. Maybe it’s drinkable; he doesn’t
like to waste.
Tom taps the details into his phone.

Melanie Whipman, “Tasting Notes”, 2018

1
marked by old age
2
perfume
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

Assignment 2
a. Find og skriv fire forskellige typer pronominer (stedord). Angiv for hvert
pronomen, hvilken type det er.

Pronomen Type pronomen

1.
2.
3.
4.

b. Find og skriv to forskellige typer nægtende sætninger. Forklar ud fra dine

eksempler, hvordan man på engelsk danner nægtende sætninger.

1.
2.
Forklaring:
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

c. Angiv ud fra sammenhængen i videoen, hvilken ordklasse følgende ord

tilhører:
Ord Ordklasse
modelling (00:44)
hope (1:00)
increase (1:10)
elderly (1:24)
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

Assignment 3
Billede 1 - Deling

Ord:
Forklaring:

Billede 2 - Tegn

Ord:
Forklaring:

Billede 3 - Slutte

Ord:
Forklaring:

Billede 4 - Samle

Ord:
Forklaring:
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

Assignment 4
Write a text to match the photo (50-75 words).
In your text, you must include and underline three different adjectives (tillægsord).
One of them must be in the positive degree (1. grad), one must be in the comparative
degree (2. grad) and one must be in the superlative degree (3. grad).
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

Assignment 5
Summary
Amanda Miska's short story ''Weightless and Hysterical'' in 2016 begins with the
narrator and her friends standing outside a pregnancy clinic on a Saturday,
protesting against abortion. They appear to be attending a Christian school in
Virginia. In the midst of Kelly and Becca's visit to their boyfriends, the narrator
reveals secrets that have been hidden from everyone. Mariel is a closed lesbian
and has a boyfriend named Jordan, whom no one knows about since he is
twenty-three and the narrator is seventeen years old. Jordan and she meet at a
pet cemetery, where they often engage themselves in sexual activity. The
narrator gets to know that Jordan and his ex-girlfriend aborted their baby, as
they were too young to take responsibility for it and that’s where a small conflict
happens between them.

Analytical essay
We all conceal our identities or existences from society, which they may consider
sinful. A sin does not always appear sinful to the person committing it, but rather
beautiful, because it might feel enslaving or narcotic to the person committing it.
In some cases, people do things that they are ashamed of and are afraid to discuss
with others. This is something that the nameless narrator faces in Amanda Miska’s
short story ‘’Weightless and Hysterical’’ from 2016. The main themes explored in
the short story are identity, religion, and coming of age.

The setting of the short story takes place in the state of Virginia in the US. Some of
the events take place outside the pregnancy clinic where the narrator and her
friends, Mariel, Kelly, and Becca are protesting against abortion by holding signs
and by verbally assaulting people coming in for a procedure. Virginia is a southern
state where abortion is legal, but the majority of its residents are highly religious,
which means that most are anti-abortion. The story also takes place in Noah’s Ark
Pet Cemetery, where the narrator goes there to meet her boyfriend, Jordan. There
is quite a contrast between the shed in Noah’s Ark Pet Cemetery and Mariel’s
Tudor. ‘’We’d seen a lot of each other once spring rolled around- inside the shed-
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

so much the smell of old dirt immediately turned me on.’’ 3 The shed is definitely a
stark contrast to Mariel’s house. ‘’Mariel’s house was a huge brick Tudor with a
pool and cabana in the back, a perfectly manicured lawn, and a top-of-the-line
security system.4 Different moods are expressed by the narrator in these different
locations. In the cemetery, she wanted to live up to Jordan’s unspoken
expectations, but at Mariel’s house, she is a quiet and composed Christian girl. The
contrast between the locations highlights the differences between their desire,
their true self, and their surroundings.

As the story is told from the perspective of the first-person narrator, readers
receive only limited insights into the world the characters live in. The narrator is a
17-year-old Christian girl, and readers are privy to her private thoughts and
feelings. It appears that the narrator is quite analytical whenever she questions
Christian beliefs, especially when she discusses sex. ‘’Orgasming into oblivion
sounds much more enjoyable than singing hymns and playing harps all day. Would
I go to hell for just thinking that?’’ 5 This shows that the narrator constantly
questions herself whether she is doing the right thing or not. She has always been
on a different wavelength compared to her Christian friends. It’s like she has an
inner conflict between her Christian teachings and her guilty pleasure.

The story opens in medias res, where the narrator and her friend are volunteering
at a protest outside a pregnancy clinic when they talk about how a small fetus can
also feel pain. There is a linear plot structure in this story, where we follow the
narrator's Saturday, but there are multiple flashbacks describing her relationship
with her boyfriend. In the exposition, we are introduced to the narrator and her
friend, who are standing outside a pregnancy clinic, and we also get introduced to
their hidden secrets. In the rising action, we get a sense that maybe the narrator is
in conflict with what she has been taught and what she desires. ‘’ They made a
beeline for Xavier, who was holding the door and waving them in, just as Mariel
yelled, ‘’Baby Killers!’’ And Kelly yelled (…) And I stayed silent.’’ 6 As the narrator
was still underage, her boyfriend rejected her request for sex, which climaxes the
short story. ‘’I stepped closer and slipped my hand down the front of his pants. (…)
3
P. 2 ll. 40-41
4
P. 4 ll. 159-160
5
P. 2 ll. 47-49
6
P. 2 ll. 83-85
Joshitha Valluri Analytical essay 2.BX

I let go of him and stormed out of the shed. I walked and walked to the edge of the
grounds, listening for footsteps.’’7 In the falling action, the narrator finally decides
to tell Mariel about her hidden boyfriend, and the narrator didn’t get any judgment
from her friend as she expected. ‘’ ‘’Jordan,’’ I said. (…) It was the first non-
judgemental thing I think she’d said her entire life. I knew she was still judging,
inside, but at least she was trying. I felt strangely proud of her.’’ 8 The resolution of
the short story is when both of them drive to Mariel’s home and when they say
grace. ‘’The steam from the pizza rose up and swirled around his face like a holy
fog (…) I squeezed. She squeezed back.’’9

In conclusion, the short story deals with themes such as identity, religion, and
coming of age. Throughout the story, the narrator constantly questions Christian
teachings that have influenced her life. She expresses that what she has been
taught all her life is in conflict with what she desires and wants. This short story
delivers the message that not all of our teachings should be taken seriously. This is
because sometimes it can go so far that you have to hide your identity like Mariel.

7
P. 3 ll. 114-124
8
P. 4 ll. 150-156
9
P. 4 ll. 169-172