Is The Epigraph Of Lorrie Moore's A Gate At The Stairs
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Assignment: Answer each question in a complete sentence. Include textual evidence to support 6 answers.
1. Summarize the plot of the opera, “Madame Butterfly,” in your own words. Why would Moore include an epigraph that quotes this opera? In Madame Butterfly the plot of the opera is that a birth mother loses her a child an adoptive mother who later on loses the baby. The whole time Suzuki, the servant, witnesses everything, but can do nothing to help. Moore quoted this opera in the epigraph because much in Madame Butterfly where Suzuki is very relied by Madame Butterfly to do basically everything for her. This is just like how Sarah relies on Tassie to do everything for her, such as raising …show more content…
He didn't seem very into Emmie at all, adopting her or playing with her after they adopted her. I feel like he just didn't seem too fond of having a biracial baby. He didn't even come to any of the adoption meetings until the middle of the one with Bonnie. It seemed like he was always missing in action in some sort of way, throughout the adoption process and at home. He seemed to be a big flirt towards Tassie. He would always look at her with a certain look and then all my thoughts were confirmed at the end of the book when he asked her to go to coffee with him. I don't think the “small conspiracy” offered a more sympathetic view of him. It was kind of weird because from the start of the book basically Tassie and Edward had a secret that they wouldn't tell Sarah. I think Tassie realized the kind of person Edward was during this conspiracy and how he probably keeps a lot of secrets from Tassie, Sarah, and probably other people. This came up especially when he said “'Let's not tell Sarah,' said Edward. 'She's got a slightly obsessive side'” (Moore 113). Also I think Edward didn't want to get to know the child because I think it brought back bad memories from the first …show more content…
Once 9/11 occurred, racism grew in America, yet it was still there before it occurred. When Tassie would take Emmie out for errands, she would be looked down upon for instance when Tassie said “This was all said in looks, so the truth could not be uttered, but I saw again and again what it was simply to walk into a store for a doughnut and have a wordless racial experience (Moore 167-168). She especially got looks from white people such as when she said “To the white woman I was a whoring girl messing around with anyone (Moore 167). The comments and encounters in the novel showed that there are many forms of racism in our society. The first way that I stated was more of a looking down upon way while “Instead, he glared right at little Mary-Emma and shouted, 'Nigger!'” (Moore 151) was more of a verbal
Assignment: Answer each question in a complete sentence. Include textual evidence to support 6 answers.
1. Summarize the plot of the opera, “Madame Butterfly,” in your own words. Why would Moore include an epigraph that quotes this opera? In Madame Butterfly the plot of the opera is that a birth mother loses her a child an adoptive mother who later on loses the baby. The whole time Suzuki, the servant, witnesses everything, but can do nothing to help. Moore quoted this opera in the epigraph because much in Madame Butterfly where Suzuki is very relied by Madame Butterfly to do basically everything for her. This is just like how Sarah relies on Tassie to do everything for her, such as raising …show more content…
He didn't seem very into Emmie at all, adopting her or playing with her after they adopted her. I feel like he just didn't seem too fond of having a biracial baby. He didn't even come to any of the adoption meetings until the middle of the one with Bonnie. It seemed like he was always missing in action in some sort of way, throughout the adoption process and at home. He seemed to be a big flirt towards Tassie. He would always look at her with a certain look and then all my thoughts were confirmed at the end of the book when he asked her to go to coffee with him. I don't think the “small conspiracy” offered a more sympathetic view of him. It was kind of weird because from the start of the book basically Tassie and Edward had a secret that they wouldn't tell Sarah. I think Tassie realized the kind of person Edward was during this conspiracy and how he probably keeps a lot of secrets from Tassie, Sarah, and probably other people. This came up especially when he said “'Let's not tell Sarah,' said Edward. 'She's got a slightly obsessive side'” (Moore 113). Also I think Edward didn't want to get to know the child because I think it brought back bad memories from the first …show more content…
Once 9/11 occurred, racism grew in America, yet it was still there before it occurred. When Tassie would take Emmie out for errands, she would be looked down upon for instance when Tassie said “This was all said in looks, so the truth could not be uttered, but I saw again and again what it was simply to walk into a store for a doughnut and have a wordless racial experience (Moore 167-168). She especially got looks from white people such as when she said “To the white woman I was a whoring girl messing around with anyone (Moore 167). The comments and encounters in the novel showed that there are many forms of racism in our society. The first way that I stated was more of a looking down upon way while “Instead, he glared right at little Mary-Emma and shouted, 'Nigger!'” (Moore 151) was more of a verbal