Longing To Belong By Annie Dillard Analysis

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Thesis
Both of the stories shared the same theme that is disappointment. To be specific, both of the lead character in these stories experienced disappointment in the end of their stories after what had happened did not met their expectations on what they think should and would happen.
Contextualizing
• An American childhood
• Dillard hangs out with boys, expose her with “rugged” lifestyles even though she is a girl—by breaking and flaunts the rules
• “Nothing girls could compare”—it means that there is a stereotypical thing about women/girls in 1950s
• Longing to Belong
• It is obvious that Shah wanted ‘freedom’ and wants to finds her roots
• As she said about the tableau vivant of the Afghan bride—oppressive society?
• She realizes that all the best things she heard about her …show more content…

Both Saira Shah and Dillard portrays their “childish attitude”
• For Dillard’s story, she called the chaser as her hero when he caught them because she imagined and felt like they were in a game and the chaser had won the game.
• For Saira Shah’s story, she imagines that she is in a “fairy tale” where there will be a happy ending (lives in her original culture) by marrying a guy to live happily ever after like most of the fairy tales.
4. Different reaction of the characters that change the whole situation/reactions of Saira Shah and Dillard
• In Dillard’s essay, the antagonizing redheaded guy acts in expected way by advising both of the child by breaking the rules (except in the term of chase) –it is adult’s responsibility to advise the children who acts in social unacceptable way.
• While, in Saira Shah’s essay, the fiancé reacts in a way that readers would not expect a conservative Muslim in an arrange marriage match to react—her future husband flirts with her through phone where is unacceptable in the Afghani-Pakistani

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