Critical Reading Practice 2

I know I haven't updated for 8 days, and I really apologize for this but I was very busy and right now, I'm not even getting enough sleep. Nevertheless, I feel that it is pivotal that this SAT blog must go on, so here we are.

Today's passage is actually longer than what you'll see on SAT. However, it's still good passage and one of the shorter short passages. It's called "Game" by Donald Barthelme, who is famous for writing Snow White.

Unlike previous practice, I'm going to give brief description of who he was. He was a man who had many different jobs from soldier in United States Army (at Korea and Japan in 1953) to newspaper reporter, a museum director, and so on. Of course, he is a well-known writer, who happened to become famous from a good SAT practice material site ------ The New Yorker.

Anywa, here's the short story from internet. If the link is not working, then find this story somewhere I suppose.

http://www.latexnet.org/~burnt/Game.html

Questions
RECALL AND INTERPRET
1. Where are the characters? According to the narrator, what are the details of their assignment? In your opinion, what is their actual assignment and how does it affect their behavior?
2. How long have the characters been in their current situation? Why, according to the narrator, have they been there for so long? Do you agree with the narrator? Why or why not?
3. What are the main tensions between the two men? What does each man's response to these tensions reveal about his character?
4. How does the narrator describe the "overtures" Shotwell makes? Are there any signs that the narrator may give in to these overtures? Explain, using details from the selection.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
5. What methods does Barthelme use to reveal the character of the narrator? In your opinion, do these methods prove a clear picture of the narrator? Support your response with evidence from the story.
6. What words, phrases, and sentences does the narrator repeat in the story? What effect does this repetition have on your reading?
7. In your opinion, does the title" Game" simply refer to the game of jacks, or does it have deeper meanings? Explain.














Answers....
1. Live underground in either Utah, Montana, or Idaho; their assignment is to watch the console (a control panel for an electronic or mechanical system) and if certain events happen, they put in their keys simultaneously to let the bird (or rocket) fly. I think the real assignment is human experiment of putting two unusual people in the restricted area. Their behaviors become even more unusual.
2. 133 days; oversight; I disagree because I think that there is a larger purpose on doing this. After all, these two are armed and supposed to be (and are) vigilant of something important.
3. Arms; narrator's .38 versus Shotwell's .25 caliber Beretta; both are about the same level of intelligence and show strong aversion to each other. They always keep attention on other's weapon partially.
4. Shotwell's "overtures" area basically his attempt to get narrator's key. There is no sign that the narrator will give in unless Shotwell gives jacks and rubber ball. Proof: "But there must be a quid pro quo. I insist on a quid pro quo. I have something in mind."
*NOTE*: "quid pro quo" - The Latin expression (literally, "what for what") meaning "on equal exchange."
5. Constant repetitions of sentences and Shotwell's attention to the narrator; pretty clear that the narrator is unusual and irrational; "I am not well... I do not know... I am not well.." (last two paragraphs)
6. "I do not know"/"I am not well"/"Shotwell is not himself"/"That is fair."; Strong feeling of narrator's erratic mind, and irony that he's not aware that he has erratic mind.
7. Deeper; "Game" in my opinion, really relates to the confusion and somewhat of "battle" battle between the narrator and Shotwell (mentally and maybe physically..? There's no physical contact between them though). Game of jacks provides the setting but it is the game of narrator and Shotwell that seems to be central game.