Responding to the essential question: What makes a good story?
When choosing a favourite I decided to choose the story that had the most emotional impact for me. The Sniper wasn't a new story for me because I had read it before, but this time it meant so much more. In looking at the history of Ireland and seeing how cause and effect related to the Irish Civil war I was so interested in really understanding why it came to be that brother fought brother in Ireland during that war when I had always thought that England was just Ireland's enemy. The effect of the sniper learning that his enemy was his brother was more profound for me this time. I was so impressed with O'Flaherty's use of suspense in the rising action and shock at the end of the story to get his message across.
I also loved seeing you guys pretend to shoot each other in our history activity we did with Ms. Snively's class.
The Humanities Blog is a place where students can use technology to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Students will use blogging to respond to teacher prompts and posts as well as craft their own posts in order to enhance their ability to communicate effectively, think creatively and reason critically.
I didn't really enjoy reading the Sniper because even when i've read the story previous times, I never enjoyed the main point of the story even when I enjoy stories on fighting and war.
ReplyDeleteI also loved shooting my peers with guns. I also loved his way of creating suspense. Interesting ideas about the English not being the only enemy.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really enjoyed sniper as it is all about the "war" things. I like your flow of the story of explaining relating explanation about you're experience and the book evidence from this book. I agree with you about the questions you made about this story!! :D
ReplyDeleteI like stories that involves violence,guns and happy ending. Although sniper involves guns and violence, I didn't enjoy reading Sniper because it was also very emotional and sad stories. I don't like a book based on emotional and sad stories with a sad ending.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like the first few parts in "The Sniper" because it's way to long and pointless but I like how the ending ends.
ReplyDeleteI thought the story was a very good one but I didn't really enjoy reading it because the story reminded me of the time we lived in Sudan, during there civil war. The story was too emotional for me and I didn't like the ending of it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the story but I didn't really find it that suspenseful in the beginning. But it was really interesting and I wasn't expecting that it would be his brother who he had killed.
ReplyDeleteI also like "The Sniper". I love the way the author shows he conflict and the theme through the end of the story. It makes me interested more in Civil War. Although I hate guns and violence. But the story was really touched!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Sniper wasn't my favorite story, I still liked the interesting setting the story was set and the position Ireland was in at the time. The ending was moving and shocking, which I thought was a good way O'Flaherty ended the story.
ReplyDeleteI was so shocked when I found out that it was all about brothers against brothers, how cruel civil wars are. I also agree with you how intelligent O'Flaherty is when he just had ended the story by saying "He saw his brother's face." without telling how actually he felt. It makes us to think more.
ReplyDelete"The Sniper" wasn't my favourite story- that title was taken by "Thank You Ma'am"- but I loved how it had a very interesting ending, designed to shock people into realizing the horrors of civil war. I found the O'Flaherty used good descriptive language and that his writing came very 'alive', possibly because he was at war himself at one time, and so knew exactly how things happened.
ReplyDeleteI also loved getting to shoot Mrs. Snively's class!
(Aidan L)
I enjoyed reading "The Sniper" although I preferred "Lamb to the Slaughter". This was because I liked the twist at the end and how the author basically told us what the conflict in the story was, brother vs. brother.
ReplyDeleteI semi-agree with your post. I also loved reading about the irish civil war, but I enjoyed the lamb to the slaughter exercise more because I love acting.
ReplyDeleteEven though I didn't like the Sniper I felt that your paragraph had a really nice flow to it and descriptive.
ReplyDeleteI also liked this story, because it was quite interesting and sad at the same time, because we found out how important our family and siblings are at the end of the story. It gave me a strong impact.
ReplyDeleteI like how the story ends because it's heart-touching and dramatic(?). Although I like Lamb to the Slaughter more but I think O'Flaherty is really good at making "war story" like how the brother killed his brother and the setting for the story.
ReplyDeleteI also like this story a lot because it has a great idea and a message and great ending. It really made me think after I read it.
ReplyDeleteI thought the "The Sniper" kinda reveals the chilling reality of civil war, but what really struck me was the last sentence of the story, "Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face"
ReplyDeleteThe Sniper was my second favorite short story in our unit. I never knew anything about the Irish Civil War until we studied it for a short while. In this story, I also love how the author made us suspense throughout the story, and shocked at the end. And I hated how he ended with, “Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.” because it makes us look at the bad things war does, which was his message.
ReplyDeleteI liked the story but I didn't really find it that interesting in the beginning. But it was really interesting that how the author rises the suspense and I wasn't expecting that it would be his brother who he had killed in the end of the story
ReplyDeleteI agree, and think that this story was indeed quite interesting regarding brother vs brother war, and how the sniper actually killed his brother while at war!
ReplyDeleteI do agree that The Sniper has a background that s ore than meets the eye considering it was based on a civil war in Ireland, although I do prefer Lamb to the Slaughter because of its plot and really good characterization.
ReplyDeleteI loved the story of the sniper because, it talks about the war where the sniper cursed the war. Even though I read this story five times I never got bored because the ending really hit me when it says that he killed his brother.
ReplyDeleteI also found "The Sniper" interesting, but my favorite short story is "Lamb to the Slaughter". My favorite part of "The Sniper" was probably at the end, where the sniper learns that his enemy was his brother.
ReplyDeleteAlthough 'The Sniper' is action-packed and full of suspense, it just didn't really draw me in. It might be that I'm just not a big fan of war stories, but I also thought that it dragged on a bit in the beginning which kind of made me lose my interest. However, it did have the biggest emotional impact on me of all the stories from this unit.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to agree that "The Sniper" is a very fascinating story. It teaches history of civil war in Ireland and also shows civil wars make brothers try to kill each other. By the way, this story was my favorite short story of our unit.
ReplyDelete"The Sniper" is a very interesting story about civil war. I didn't like the beginning of the story but the ending interest me because of the brother vs brother conflict and it also teaches the history of the Ireland civil war.
ReplyDeleteThe Sniper was also my favorite story and I agree with you about how much it emotionally impacts the reader. I had no idea that there was such a bloody history about Irelands independence or the fact that England still controls the northern states.
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