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• André Soares de Freitas

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Questions about “The company of wolves”, by Angela Carter

1. What kind of fictional world does Carter construct in the story? Where are we? When is it set? The whole movie is based on a visual and dreamlike journey full of symbolism, and the story takes place in an indefinite time. 2.

How does the story begin and how does it end? What is the conflict of the story? Is the ending open or closed, that is, does it end with everything resolved or does it leave the reader with ideas unresolved, ambiguities or with anything to reflect upon? In the opening paragraphs an opposition is established, which initially seems quite stable: the basic division is human. Early in the film, the grandmother tell her a fantastic story on the evil and seductive men with thick eyebrows that meet. Still defines men as wolves furry inside. Figure werewolves can represent sex or sexual desire. The sex is then associated with animal nature, or irrational human being, the wolf that each carries within it, both men and women. The red accents represent the passion or sin. The idea of women’s liberation is revealed in the ending of the story, where the girl stays peacefully with the wolf, or rather the man.

3. What is the purpose of the stories within the main story? How do they link with the primary narrative of the girl and the wolf? The first part of the story is devoted to description of the brutal nature of wolves inhabiting a forest near a village. In a second stage of the story, when one of the reports made by the narrator describes a beautiful girl dressed in her red hooded shawl ready to go to visit his ailing grandmother and give her a basket with food. After entering the forest to begin her journey, she hears a howl, early scares and holds a knife that brings with it in the basket, but who appears at this point is an attractive and courteous young man with a hunter's hat; she is delighted because he is not like other men of his village, and at that time the stories are.

4. What is the effect of the use of second person narrative voice? The effect in this case makes the reader feel inserted in the context of history. Once the tale that brings the dream images, this effect causes the reader is introduced in an intimate way in the context of the fantastic realism of the story.

5. Identify at least five phrases used to describe the wolf. Make sure they include examples of physical appearance, simile, metaphor, connotative lexis. For each one comment upon its connotations and its effect. 1) The wolf is carnivore incarnate and he’s as cunning as he is ferocious. It shows the wolf as a devouring. 2) The eyes of wolves shine like candle flames, yellowish, reddish. Using metaphors can see the wolf as a being scary. 3) There is so little flesh on them that you could count the starveling ribs through their pelts, if they gave you time before they pounced. It shows the wolf as a being ugly.The wolf is carnivore incarnate. 4) His feral, muzzle is sharp as a knife. It shows the wolf as being bestial and killer. 5) The wolfsong is the sound of the rending you will suffer, in itself a murdering. It shows the melancholy side and more human than wolf.

6) How does Carter present the girl? How does she compare with the traditional representations of LRRH with which you are familiar? Identify key words and images which construct the character of the girl. Find examples of how the girl is presented as: a) strong, independent and confident; b) on the verge of sexual maturity. Little Red Riding Hood is the character that best It is the archetype of the obedient wife and follower of good behavior and correct way. In the history of French writer Charles Perrault We have a fable whose final it presents the established moral women of the time. In Carter 's narrative Little Red Riding Hood shows up as a girl prepared , alert and who knows the pitfalls and challenges facing the forest. Moreover, Little Red Riding Hood Carter is a prepared girl sexually and that indulges the pleasures that you can provide without guilt. 7)

Comment on how Carter uses the colors red and white in this story. Find examples of alliterations and comment on their effect in the story. Carter uses the red color of blood to associate it with menstruation and the passage into womanhood, which in turn is linked with the moon, as is the werewolf myth. : "At night, the eyes of wolves shine like candle flames, yellowish, reddish…red for danger".

8) The white symbolizes purity in this character before its transition almost erotic short story. On her door hangs a white chiffon dress symbolizing the path of purity to adulthood for adolescent girls.

9) How does Carter present the characters of the wolf and the girl? Try to find examples of the following techniques: In The Company of Wolves the girl doesn’t show fear as she knows “she was nobody’s meat” indicating that the girl feels free and independent. Carter seems to include a negative description of the wolves, in both her tales. In The Company of Wolves she refer to the wolf like being “cunning as he is ferocious; once he’s had a taste of flesh then nothing else will do”. i) The direct description of the characters by narrator: identify specific examples of lexis and imagery; In the opening lines Carter starts to show through the field-specific lexis, “Cold; tempest” and “smoky” possibly indicating winter ii) What the characters say; iii) What they do; iv) The relationship between the characters; v) The way the characters develop or change in the narrative vi) How they compare and contrast with traditional images of the wolf and the girl in the LRRH story vii) How they can be seen as images of masculinity and femininity.