Reader: Young-Jin Sohn

Author: Sarah Anderson

Date: 10/15/14
1. There was significant amount of detail in the multiple settings.
And these helped to add layers to the characters who inhabited
the spaces that the details described. A question I do have about
the setting is why those regions in the cemetery made you gag?
The transition between two or more places/spaces were well
done I believe especially towards the end as the inevitability of
the grandfathers death was well built with the scene of the
grandfather asking her a question.
2. Yes, the character: her grandfather was developed enough to
give a sense a who he was after he Alzheimers seemed to hit
him. Though I do think perhaps a little more exposition on which
he was before it wouldve helped the reader connect more to the
character. The relationship between the narrator and this
character is very clear and has shown the impact he has had on
the narrator.
3. The balance between scene and exposition is overall well done.
In the beginning there was a lot of exposition I thought, but the
following scenes moved us forward in the relationship between
the narrator and her grandfather. I was confused however at the
description of the care center, why the mention of the
needlepoints, and why were the employees impermanent? The
exposition I thought helped slow down the pace of the narrative
and really prepared the reader for the powerful scenes that occur
in the care center.
4. The first asterisk came when the narrator talked about having
her name spoken in a way she had never experienced before. It
was a very interesting observation and is something I would want
as a reader to be more largely expanded upon.
The second asterisk is a metaphor that I thought was very well
written to describe how it feels to be stuck within the confines of
just certain thoughts and memories and having to repeatedly
only call upon those.
The last asterisk is the bringing back of the voles from the
beginning of the piece but this time their nuisance and
debilitating of the ground are gone and how lovely the author
was able to symbolize death and being at peace.
5. The writer is trying to get across an essay about tragedy and
loss. The scenes in the care center direct the reader to just how
painful it must be experience this. There are no really scenes
that directed the reader away from this, only I think if expansion
on any of the scenes would help the reader.

6. What I learned from this essay was that I should try to leave
behind a legacy where I have been able to have a positive
impact on the lives of people I get to meet so that when I am
gone from this world it makes the loss less bitter to those I have
left behind.