Blizzard under blue sky analysis
A. Nemtin, A-339
A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY
Text analysis
The story I would speak about is written by Pam Houston. Pam Houston (born January 9, 1962, Trenton, New Jersey) is an American author of stories, novels and essays. Houston's stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. It comes as no surprise then that "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" is a very interesting and deep short story despite the fact that it occupies only four pages.
The story opens with narrator’s words “… I was clinically depressed”. We can see then some details what has got her down in life: there are bills to pay, work to be done, and men uncommitted men. The author enhances the effect of this entire decadent mood in second sentence incredibly: story takes part in February, the month that is always imbued with grayness of everyday life in anticipation of spring and “in which depression runs rampant”; on striving the desired effect the author uses epithet “inversion-cloaked” in regard to the place of action and in comparison with Park City where “city dwellers escape” it seems stronger and shows main character’s self pity. The combination of this, and the haze of winter, made it so that "the machine that drives [her] is broken". According to the story, the doctor, she is consulted with, suggests medication to get her rid of melancholy, but she comes up with an alternate solution: winter camping.
Then, the story transfers the readers to the forest with its “fresh snow and blue sky”. In the description of the wood Pam Houston uses epithets (crystal-coated trees, diamond-studded sunshine) and sound imitations (squeaking of my bindings, the slosh of water, the whoosh of nylon, the jangle of dog tags). These devices help the reader to depict marvelous view and feel the atmosphere.
The main character goes on a journey not by herself but with her dogs. The much of humor of the story,
A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY
Text analysis
The story I would speak about is written by Pam Houston. Pam Houston (born January 9, 1962, Trenton, New Jersey) is an American author of stories, novels and essays. Houston's stories have been selected for volumes of Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Short Stories of the Century. It comes as no surprise then that "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky" is a very interesting and deep short story despite the fact that it occupies only four pages.
The story opens with narrator’s words “… I was clinically depressed”. We can see then some details what has got her down in life: there are bills to pay, work to be done, and men uncommitted men. The author enhances the effect of this entire decadent mood in second sentence incredibly: story takes part in February, the month that is always imbued with grayness of everyday life in anticipation of spring and “in which depression runs rampant”; on striving the desired effect the author uses epithet “inversion-cloaked” in regard to the place of action and in comparison with Park City where “city dwellers escape” it seems stronger and shows main character’s self pity. The combination of this, and the haze of winter, made it so that "the machine that drives [her] is broken". According to the story, the doctor, she is consulted with, suggests medication to get her rid of melancholy, but she comes up with an alternate solution: winter camping.
Then, the story transfers the readers to the forest with its “fresh snow and blue sky”. In the description of the wood Pam Houston uses epithets (crystal-coated trees, diamond-studded sunshine) and sound imitations (squeaking of my bindings, the slosh of water, the whoosh of nylon, the jangle of dog tags). These devices help the reader to depict marvelous view and feel the atmosphere.
The main character goes on a journey not by herself but with her dogs. The much of humor of the story,