Learning Path » 5B Interacting
Ex 1
1) The setting is a wedding-fest. The mariner's story is set on a ship, in the sea of the South Pole.
The characters are: the ancient mariner, the gallant who is stopped by the mariner, the ship's crew, the albatross.
Brief account of the story: During the waiting of a wedding, a sailor stops a guest to tell him a story which the first is involved in. At first the guest doesn't seem to be interested in listening it but afterwards, hypnotized by the shining eye of the mariner, he decides to hear about his tale. The story is about a crew in a ship that makes a long journey and is exposed to weather conditions: storm, fog, snow and ice. After having survived all this, the ship's company meets an albatross that follows them and eats with them for some days. In the end the sailor says that he killed the bird with his crossbow.
2) There are two storylines: one set in the present and the other in the past. The first is the one in which the ancient mariner stops a gentleman who is going to a wedding. The second is the story told by the mariner.
Ex 2
1) The portrait of the mariner is not very detailed. The only traits that the reader discovers are: the long grey beard, glittering and bright eyes, the skinny hand.
2) The old man doesn't seem to be a true-to-life figure. He is like a supernatural character who keeps the reader's attention and curiosity with his ambiguity.
Ex 3
1) The journey starts with a safe landscape: the harbor, the church, the sun shining. Then the weather becomes an enemy: the storm, like a demon with wings, attacks the ship. Nature is also described as a beast: the ice growled, roared and howled.
2) The natural element which are personified are:
- the storm, because it was "tyrannous and strong"(adjectives usually referred to a person) and because it had "overtaking wings".
- the ice which "cracked and growled, and roared and howled".
3) Nature is presented in a symbolic and supernatural way.
Ex 4
In my opinion the contrast between reality and supernatural is represented by the presence of the albatross. The bird isn't a supernatural character itself, but its function in the story represents the good omen and, as a divinity, it led the ship to safe waters.