Read pages. 36 – 38 and Donald Mangum: “Hostess” p. 39-41
Read the short story, write a paragraph or two about the inferences you make about the hostess, the narrator of the story.
Include the facts on which these inferences are based.
respond to two comments (No limit word)
1. We can see many examples of the kind and considerate hostess person in Donald Mangum’s short story, Hostess. In the story the woman says, “I was the hostess, and something I had to do” (Cooper 39). She cares about the trailer people because she decides to put a bowl on the floor, so that they won’t mess up the carpet. She takes R.L. when some confusion happens. He will be guided to the utility room to show him the state his love is in. It calms him down in time to save him from doing foolishness. Later in the story, a strange woman who has just lost a family member receives a call from the hostess. She comforts and tries to calm the woman on the phone, “Ma’am, you dialed the wrong number” (40) She wraps her hand around her lips and mouthpiece and says. A collection of examples shows the generosity of the hostess towards strangers and the cautious handling of items.
2. In the sixth paragraph of the book, we can find the sentence: “I’m here to say, when R.L. saw that precious thing curled up in front of the hot-water he sank to his knees in shame.” I could have made two inferences here. First of all, I could think that R.L. was ashamed of what he did to her. Considering his behavior of kneeling and the circumstances given, this can be a proper guess. As another Inference, I thought that he may still love Meg and feel bad about making her so upset. It also makes sense to take the knee-sank action as a feeling of apology, not regret.