...Claire Andersen-Wheeler's - Vernissage When a child is growing up, the parent's relationship influences the child a lot. But happy married couples, don't always stay happy. In Claire Anderson-Wheeler's short story “Vernissage”, a child lives his life, oblivious to the change in his parent's relationship, until he 'happens' to overhear a private conversation. The story, vernissage is about a family which contains a mother, a father and a son. The son - called Alex is the main character, and we're following the family through his eyes. Beside that we see out of his eyes, we also can hear/read what the boy is thinking. The story starts out in-media-res when the boy, Alex, is picked up at school by his mother. On their way home Alex questions his mother about the bag she's got in the car as well. And then the whole thing starts. Because the dress has been bought by Alex's mother because of the vernissage - which is a art exhibition, which her and her husband are going to later that night. Even though Alex's parents will not be home at night, Alex have the company of a babysitter named Anne-Marie. But Alex does not like Anne-Marie because she calls him Ally, which in Alex opinion was a girl's name. Another thing about Anne-Marie that Alex don't like is that there was fat under her eyes. Alex is a young boy - I would guess around the age of 9 because he can fit under the bed. He is not a common young boy despite that he lives with his parents. Which we do not hear much about...
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...Engelsk A Studentereksamen Opgave A 1. Actors usually hate themself when they make mistakes in front of a live audience. - Actors usually hate themselves when they make mistakes in front of a live audience. Fejl I det reflektive pronomen – Mangler fleretals form grundet i at actors er i fleretal derved skal det reflektive pronomien også bøjes i fleretal. 2. The old World War II veteran was moved to tears when he shaked the presidents hand. - The old World War II veteran was moved to tears when he shook the presidents hand. Her er der fejl i verbummet. Verbummet er uregelmæssigt og bøjes derved anderledes. 3. A friend from New York took me on a trip who took us all the way down to the coast. - A friend from New York took me on a trip, which took us all the way down to the coast. Fejl i det relative pronominer. Det relative pronomien fører tilbage til “trip” og derved skal det være which. Desuden sættes der et komma før which. 4. The older guest treated Mr. Smith very nice and offered him a seat at their table. - The older guest treated Mr. Smith very nicely and offered him a seat at their table. Fejl i adverbiet. Adverbiet beskriver verbummet og derved kommer ly-endelsen på. 5. His hosts felt extremely embarrassed when he because of an insulting remark from his dinner partner left. - His hosts felt extremely embarrassed when he left because of an insulting remark from his dinner partner. Forkert ordstilling. Left er placeret forket i sætningen...
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...Vernissage essay This short story is called “Vernissage.” And the author is Claire Anderson-Wheeler. This story is about a young lad named Alex. The readers follows the story from Alex’s point of view. Since this story starts in the middle of an action, and we get nothing beforehand, means that there isn’t any introduction to where we are, such as country or city, or who we are dealing with, except for Alex and his mother. In the text, it says that Alex hides under his parents’ bed, because he doesn’t want to do his homework. From under the bed, Alex witnesses that his mother is trying to get his father’s attention, but it isn’t going too well, since all he cares about at that moment is the vernissage that they’re going to at the evening. In the text, we also read about how his parents affects him growing up, in a bad way. Reading the text, it seems like Alex is maybe, in the very early teens, over maybe even a bit younger than that. I would say between 9 and 14 years old, which is a bit of a gap, but it is not easy to know, since we’re never told how old Alex actually is. I have estimated his age to be right before the teens, because of the way he acts. It seems like he wants to be like a grown up person, but yet again, stay back as a kid, and instead of taking those important decisions he just wants to stand back, and stay with his safety and his norms. It says in the text, “Maybe he was getting too old for banana sandwiches. He thought about saying that he didn't...
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...Vernissage Many parents are often too protective towards their children. That is showed clearly in the text ''Vernissage''. The short story is written by Claire Anderson–Wheeler in 2008. The story is about the main character Alex who is going through his rite of passage. In the story there are different symbols that show that Alex is developing personally. The big question in this story is how the relationship between Alex does and his parents influence his development? Alex is a boy there was about 10 years old and goes in school. ‘’There was something about banana sandwiches, sweet and soft, that made him think of babyfood. Maybe he was getting too old for banana sandwiches’’ (page 8, line 48). The quote says Alex likes banana sandwiches. In the end of the text Alex describes, he wants to grow up because he wants a new toothbrush. It tells us he starts to grow up. But still he get babysit. The relationship between Alex’s parents is very special. The parents are dispute because the mother wants to keep the family together and the father doesn’t love the mother as much she loves him. Every time she talks to him, he ignored her. She dresses her on for him. So she can get his attention. The main theme in the story leads to the different symbols in the text. The text includes different passages with symbolizes Alex’s rite of passage. One example is when Alex just got home from school and he eats a banana sandwich. The narrator tells that Alex thinks that banana sandwiches...
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...We all have been through it. The change, the very special change, where you get a revelation, and suddenly realize that things are not quite as you expected them to be. The story “Vernissage” is written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler, and is about the main character, Alex, whose parents have a slightly dysfunctional relationship. The story begins in media res, which means there is no introduction. The first scene is when the mother, Frances, is driving Alex, her child, home from school. At home, Frances makes Alex a ba-nana sandwich. Later when Alex has to do his homework, he decides to hide under his parent’s bed. Unfortunately, he witnesses a conversation between his parents, where his mother tries to get his father’s attention, which his father keeps dismissing, and instead focusses on the art exhibition. Here Alex becomes aware that the relationship between his parents is not going as good as he thought. Afterwards he crawls out from under the bed, and goes straight to the bathroom, looks at himself in the mirror, questioning himself. Alex is a boy somewhere around 10 and 12 years old. His age has not been mentioned anywhere, but he seems like a boy who is nearing adolescence. We know he is a child because he behaves like a child when he is having dinner, (p. 2) by playing with his food and eat with both hands. Aside from that, he is not old enough to take care of himself therefor he needs a babysitter (p. 2). He is in a phase in his life where he can’t decide whether he...
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...ESSAY – VERNISSAGE In the short story “Vernissage”, written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler, we meet a young boy named Alex. Alex is facing the dilemma whether he wants to stay in childhood or move on and enter adult¬hood. Alex’s parents, John and Frances, are having trouble figuring out their marriage. These troubles affect their son, and make him decide, that he wants to grow up and become an adult. The coming of age is the dominating theme through the story. Alex is a young boy, which exact age we do not know, but trough the story he seems like a boy who is being at the crossroads between childhood and adulthood. In the opening of the story, we can trough comparison with his mother se that Alex is clearly on a different level. On page 1 Alex is being a child by thinking of the fact that he did not get the subject beetles, which he wanted but instead he got earthworms, as a problem. Frances does not manage to understand his problem, which illustrate the differences between them and their experiences in life. Alex is using his imagination very much, which makes him childish as well. Alex likes to think of the dad’s vernissage as a person, he stretches out the word and transforms it to a persons name: Vernie Sadge. In this quotation Alex describes what “Vernie Sadge” would look like and how he would be: It is obvious that Alex does not like “Vernie Sagde”. Alex knows that the vernissage is to blame for the troubles between his parents. Later on (page 2), Alex is eating...
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...Vernissage The short story Vernissage is written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler and is narrated by the main character, Alex, who is a child. The child allows the reader to follow his point of view. Vernissage starts in media res; we do not get an introduction of the characters, but it starts in the middle of a scene. The short story starts with the mother, Frances, who is driving her child Alex home from school. Alex asks the mother about the new dress, which she has bought for the opening of an art exhibition. When they reach home, Alex eats a banana sandwich, which makes him think about his age and about how he could grow too old to eat a banana sandwich. Later, Alex hides himself from his mother under the parents‟ bed because he thinks the mother wants him to do homework. Underneath the bed, Alex becomes a witness to his parents‟ conversation, and becomes aware of the fact that the parents‟ relationship is not going the way he thought. In the end, Alex crawls out from under the bed where he goes to the bathroom which again reminds him of his age. In front of the mirror, he decides that he is too old to have a crocodile toothbrush – exactly like the banana sandwich episode. At the beginning of the short story, Alex is still a young child. We can see it through the way he asks his mother too many questions (p. 1, ll. 22-29) which children always do. Also, Alex behaves like a child when they have dinner, for example. He plays with the food (p. 2, ll. 53-55), and he eats with both...
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...“Vernissage” by Claire Anderson-Wheeler “Vernissage” is a short story written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler. The short story describes a young boy called Alex, who is uncertain on whether it might be time for him to grow up or not. As he overhears a conversation between his parents he finally makes up his mind. The main character is called Alex. He is a young boy, whose age isn’t mentioned in the short story. Though, it seems like he is a boy at the age between ten and twelve as his mother makes sure he does his homework and afterwards checks his homework. Mentally he seems like he is in the stage between being a child or a teenager. In that stage you want to be more mature and responsible like an adult, but at the same time you stick to the known and don’t wish for changes. This is seen in Alex’s behaviour as he isn’t ready to give up his banana sandwiches even though he thinks he is too old for them. "Maybe he was getting too old for banana sandwiches. He thought about saying that he didn't want to eat them anymore. But he liked them …" (Page 2 line 49-51). Then Alex debates whether he should be more grown up, stop eating those childish banana sandwiches and leave his childhood behind or if he just should be a child and grow up when he is ready. Later on he finally comes to the conclusion that it might be time for him to grow up as he witnesses a conversation between his parents as he hides under their bed. The text gives a hint that says that the relationship between Alex's...
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...The Vernissage This short story was written in 2008, so it is a quite new one. It is about Alex and his family. At the beginning of this short story, Alex’ mother is picking him up from school; they are talking about everyday experiences about his school and her new bought dress. The mother has bought a new dress for the Vernissage she is going to attend to with her husband the following evening. Therefore Alex is going to stay home and doing his homework with company of his babysitter Anne-Marie. At six o’clock his father is coming home. At this hour Alex is laying in his parent’s bedroom underneath his parent’s bed listening to his mother getting ready for the coming evening. When his father gets in to the room a conversation with few words begins. At the ending Alex’s parents walks out and he goes into the bathroom and begin brushing his teeth even though he is soon going to have dinner. As we already know has Alex been for school and he gets into his mother’s car with a bit trouble because of the group of mothers waiting outside the school gates. He is still a boy who loves banana sandwiches. Yet he still wants to grow older and no longer be considered a child (p. 2, l. 48) “There was something about banana sandwiches, sweet and soft, that made him think of babyfood. Maybe he was getting too old for banana sandwiches,” He loves his mother and has a better relationship to her than he has to his father, he talks and has a lot more contact to his mother shown throughout...
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...Vernissage essay Have you ever peeped on your parents? Well Alex has. And he isn’t just peeping. He describes every little thing. Maybe that’s just how it is, to be a child, or maybe that is the stage where a child wants to show, that he turns into a teenager. Describing his banana sandwich as baby food normally means child food aren’t good enough for Alex. He wants to be a grown up and eat grown up food. Making projects about earthworms in Nature class is also one of the childish struggles, you have to go through, if your name is Alex. He even needs to have a babysitter for one single night, while his parents are out for something called a vernissage. All this means Alex hasn’t turned into a teenager yet, but he really wants to. It seems normally for the parents to contact a babysitter, like it happens pretty often. It means that his parents, often are out for something. But that’s not the real problem. The real problem is between Alex’s parents. Alex’s mum Frances sighs several times. She is unhappy with something. Her husband John is always working, and when he gets home, all he thinks about is the next thing he’s going to do. Frances feels used. And she doesn’t earn her husbands respect. She shows up in her new dress in front of John, and his response is “It’s very nice”. You can easily feel the ironic and sadness in the answer. When the parents are out for something, for instance the night in the text, John is not even out with Frances. He’s only at the vernissage...
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...Essay – “ Vernissage” “Vernissage” is a short story about a young boy called Alex, whose parents have a slightly dysfunctional relationship. Alex is confused; he has reached an age where he wants to grow up. The father doesn’t care about the mother, and Alex sees that. Alex imagines that Vernie Sadge is a father who cares about the family, and especially about the mother. Alex seems like any other boy in his age,(10-12) at the start we meet Alex getting out of school and into his mother’s car. There they share a quick conversation about Alex’s school day. His mother has bought this new dress for the “Vernissage”, it is an event later that night witch Alex’s mother and father will attend to at the evening. In the start we see that Alex is a curiously child, that is shown by Alex asking his mother about the dress. When they come home a little later, his mother makes him these banana sandwiches. But it is pretty easy to see that, Alex does not like “Vernissage”. Alex knows that “vernissage” is the problem. The “vernissage” is the blame for the troubles, between his parents marriage. Alex is eating these banana sandwiches, witch is clearly symbolizes his childhood. All though Alex is trying to make up his mind, whether he should stop eating the banana sandwiches, or that he should continue eating them. If he stops eating them, he could come in to an unknown adulthood, but Alex is very confused. (Page 9 l 105-121) After witnessing the conversation between Alex’s parents...
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...Vernissage - Claire Anderson-Wheelers Claire Anderson-Wheelers short story Vernissage is a story about an afternoon in a boy’s life. After school, Alex’s mother picks him up. At home she serves him a banana sandwich, and tells him to do his homework. Alex doesn’t want to do his homework, and therefore crawls under his parents’ bed to hide. Here he overhears a conversation between his parents. The short story does not tell the age of Alex. Instead it tells about Alex as a young boy being in the spot of going through a transition process. He observes things he used to like in his everyday life as now being baby stuff. “(…) and took down his toothbrush. It was green, a crocodile, yellow eyes. This too, he decided, was a child’s thing. “(p. 11, l. 168) “Maybe he was getting too old for banana sandwiches. He thought about saying that he didn't want to eat them anymore. But he liked them …” (p. 8, l. 49). Alex has a hard time letting go of these childish things. He likes them, but at the same time he knows, he is a little too old for them. However, after listening to the conversation between his parents, he decides to quit the childish toothbrush and ask his mother for a regular one. “He would ask his mother for a new toothbrush, one that was a toothbrush and nothing more.” (p. 11, l. 170). He goes from being a small child into a sensitive boy, maybe on his way to being a teenager. After a day of observing and sensing everything around him – especially regarding his mother, her...
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...An essay on Claire Anderson Wheelers “Vernissage” B When a child is growing up, the parents’ relationship affects the child a lot. A child views the world with fresh eyes. They have not seen many things before and their lives are about learning and exploring. As children grow into adults something changes, their thinking changes and it’s different how a child becomes a grown-up. “Vernissage” is a short story about Alex and his parents, from 2008 written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler. Alex is the main character and he is in the transition from a child to a grown-up person. In the beginning of the short story, there are several things that show us that Alex is a child. He asks many questions like children often do: “What’s in the bag?”, “What did you buy a dress for?” (l. 22-29) In the beginning, Alex shows signs of how he is about to grow out of his childhood, but first we see that his mother still picks him up after school and he asks a lot of questions. He also lets his childish imagination run wild by picturing a man by the name Vernie Sage every time he heard the word vernissage. Alex likes banana sandwiches, which he himself admits is a bit childish “There was something about banana sandwiches, sweet and soft, that made him think of babyfood.” (l. 48-49) and “Suddenly the taste in his mouth was sickly-sweet, and he gulped it down quickly” (l. 77-78). This is point of no return, the banana sandwich symbolises the childhood and the fact that Alex does not want to eat the banana...
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...Claire Anderson-Wheeler is the author of this text “Vernissage”. The text is about a young boy, named Alex and his two parents; his parents are having some troubles in their relationship. The middle of this text Alex is hiding under his mom and fathers bed, because he doesn’t want to do his homework. While Alex is hiding his parents come in, they are wrangle a bit, his mother tries to get the fathers attention, but he keeps dismissing her instead. He don’t want to listen to her, he’s even more care about the Vernissage they are going to later that night. She is asking, “What do you think?” and he replies “It is very nice, Frances. Lovely.” He is trying to get out of the conversation between them as easy as possibly. While Alex lay under the bed, he was thinking about how his fathers reaction was, when the mother was asking, “what do you think?” he knew that voice, it was the same reaction as when Alex showed him something he’d make at school, it was always the same reaction, even though it was something special. Alex is not teenager yet, but I think he is on his way to become teenager, because he wants to give up his banana sandwiches, even though he liked them so much. But he is not mature enough yet, to give up his sandwiches even though he thinks it is time to stop eating banana sandwiches. Then we can she he is not mature enough to take hard decision as here, because he still cares about others opinion, he is still scared of being bullied...
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...The dress The short story is about Alex, who gets picked up from school by his mom, while Alex were in school his mom bought a dress for the vernissage she is going to with his dad. Alex hides under his mother’s bed and sees and hears his mom and dad talking without them knowing. The main character is a boy called Alex, We get the impression of he is a young boy, because his mom picks him up after school and makes him sandwiches when he gets home. ‘’Alex mother was waiting in the car. Her hand signaled to him out of the open window, brisk as a lollipop lady’s.’’(p. 7 l. 4-5). And ‘’At home she made him banana sandwiches.’’ (p. 8 l. 48). And when his mom is going to the vernissage, she hires a babysitter to take care of him while his father and she are going out. But at the same time Alex seems smarter than the parents thinks. Alex asks his mom question and mention things that a child who has a babysitter and eat banana sandwiches would not ask. Like ‘’what did you buy a dress for?’’(p. 7 l. 28.) Like he knows that you do not just buy a dress to wear it on an ordinary day, but people wears dresses on special days. And ‘’is the new dress so as you look pretty for Vernie Sadge?’’ (p. 8 l. 42.) When Alex says Vernie Sadge he means vernissage, but he likes to think of vernissage as a person. Alex seems to get the impression of his mother bought and is wearing the dress for someone and not something. And mention something on an other woman: ‘’her fingernails on the strap of her...
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