Senior Portfolio Workshop 2017

The unsettling short story is filled with vivid details about the “poor” county of Anthem in New Jersey. We learn a lot about the boys and also about those they come in contact with such as Ms. Kauder and also the protagonist need to be told he was indeed good(231). We are made to feel sympathy for these boys because we learn about them as a group of friends and also bullies. Their violent acts and the motivations behind them are not simple. As we read we also slowly come to understand why they single out Eric and that the protagonist also is unsure of his motivations. It paints a both unsettling and sad picture. The use of parentheses to surround thoughts the protagonist had much later about the unfolding of events are effective. They are used sparingly and tell us more about his friends and their families that their macho speech doesn’t.