Book Report2

1) MLA citation
Webster Jean. Daddy-long-Legs. Japan: YOHAN, 2007.191 pages

2) RESPONDING TO THE PLOT: d) choose the quotation from a character in the book, include the page number, and describe the situation in which the character makes the remark. Explain Why you choose it.
First of all, Daddy-Long-Legs and Jervis is the same person. Interestingly, Jerusha Abbott did not notice it until the end of this story. She has only seen the shadow of Daddy-Long-Legs and she does not know his real face and who he is. On the other hands, she has the acquaintance with Jervis and talks with him again and again directly. It was really interesting how different impression which she has about the same person. Here is the quotation of her first impression to each of man.
Daddy-Long-Legs: “The shadow pictured grotesquely elongated legs and arms that ran along the floor and up the wall of the corridor. It looks, for all the world, like a huge, wavering daddy-long-legs. ”
Mr. Jervis Pendleton: “He’s tall and thinnish with a dark face all over lines, and the funniest underneath smile that never quite comes through but just wrinkles up the corners of his mouth.”

3) LITERARY TERMS
1, Setting
The setting of this story is in the 20th century of orphanage and university in America. In this age, the right of female and each female’s values were not so respected in social.

2, Point of View
In the bingeing of this story is told by the omniscient. On the contrary, other part of story is told by the first person. Most part of this story except the chapter one is composed by letter for “Daddy-Long-Legs” which is written by Jerusha Abbott who is the heroin of this story. This type of story is also called epistolary style.

3, Conflict
Jerusha conflicts with her own environment, ignorance and impatient feeling. She has been grown in orphanage since she was born because her parents died when she was a little girl. Therefore, she has never experienced ordinary family’s and young girl’s life. She is ashamed of herself. Even though it is the common knowledge for the same age of people with Jerusha to read some literary books such as Alice in wonderland and Cinderella, she never read these kinds of books.

4, Climax
This story has a happy ending. After Jerusha graduated from university, she started to work in the farm which is located in Lock Willow. Simultaneously with her farmer job, she tried to keep writing her novel in order to be female novelist. One day, she was proposed to get marry by Jervis Pendleton who is the uncle of her best friend in her university. She also loves him, so that there is no reason to reject his proposes, but she didn’t accept it. She has had one complex that she was brought up in orphanage. However, in the end of this story, Jerusha got married with Jervis. This incident is the first time for Jerusha to get comfortable family in her life.

5, Symbol
The symbol of this story is that woman’s social position in the 20th century of America and the opportunity to express their own ideas and feelings should be offered to people who is anxious with studying and learning regardless of female. In this age, as for female, going to university and taking high level education are not major customs. However, thanks to her unique ability of English composition, Jerusha gets the chance to grow her writing skill and aim to female novelist.

6, Irony
The irony of this story is that, in fact, Jervis Pendleton, who got married with Jerusha, was exactly the same person with “Daddy-Long-Legs” who suggested Jerusha to go to university and continued to support her campus life economically. However, she did not notice this fact during spending her campus life and sending her letter to him. When she rejected Jervis’s marriage propose, she send letter to Daddy-Long-Legs to ask if her decision was right or not and she wants to meet him directly. This is the first time for her to recognize Daddy-Long-Legs and Jervis is the same people.

7, Theme
The themes of this story reflect Webster's interests in social work and women's suffrage. Some scholars have criticized Daddy-Long-Legs as being an "anti-feminist fairy tale", while others have argued that Judy shows growing independence, including increasing disobedience to her benefactor. In addition, gradually his wishes, and indeed succeeds in educating Daddy-Long-Legs that he cannot control her, and that his socialism needs to move from the academic into real life.

3) REFLECTING ON THE STORY; a) How does the character’s life compare to your own.
I and Jerusha Abbott have both the difference and the similarity in our lives. First, Jerusah has never experienced ordinary family’s life because she was brought up in orphanage and does not have parents. On the other hands, for about twenty years of my life is the typical example of ordinary family’s life. I was grown by respectable parents and had a little quarrel with my older and younger sisters moderately. In addition, the education was good enough and the financial situation in my family was not so bat. It is not too much to say that it is ideal environment. So it is really pity that I cannot share the negative feeling in her mind such as isolate and ashamed of ignorance. However, both of us left for the capital from our home-town to go to university. I greatly sympathized that she was perplexed to new environment while I was reading this story. Changing the life style, adjusting the new environment and living with strange people are more uneasy and uncomfortable things than many people have expected.