My Daddy's A Diver

The story ‘My Daddy’s a Diver’, describes the inner journey that a man goes through in a short period of time. The beginning is fairly poignant and it gives the reader an insight into the man’s life by mentioning the death of his wife. By doing this, the story connects with the reader effectively. There are only two characters mentioned in the story, which makes it easy to focus on them and to get a better understanding of the story. The first part of the story is narrative and dialogue comes in towards the end. Short, choppy sentences help to set the mood and get across simple messages. “He finned upwards, heart thumping double-time. Cramp crimped one thigh”. This part of the story describes the man swimming through the ocean, struggling to catch a fish for his daughter. It puts the reader in the position of the man and how much he risks for the wellbeing of his daughter. “Wetsuit was old, perforated, retained scant body heat, but Lizzie had priority over a new suit. Right now her principal need was nutrition. He must get a table fish.” The love he has for her is undeniable in this sentence. This story mainly revolves around the idea of love and compassion between a father and his daughter. It gives the idea that everyone feels love at some stage of their life, even people who don’t seem to show their soft side. The climax of the story seems to be when the man catches the fish and feels guilt. But towards the end, the main climax is when the little girl is watching her father cut the fish and she asks him if fish cry. After this sentence, we start to see the soft side of the father instead of the tough and masculine side that was conveyed through him catching fish in the ocean. This story is mainly about the inner journey of the main character who goes on an inner and physical journey whilst he is out in the dangerous ocean, catching fish for his daughter. He observes his surroundings and realizes that animals, such as fish, are also capable of experiencing love. All in all, this story is effective in the sense that it grabs the reader’s attention from the beginning and touches the heart towards the end.

1.Use the checklist of short story genre requirements to assess how well the story meets these. Give specific evidence in your response. The title of the short story is short and effective. It gives the reader an insight into what the story might be about. It tells the story of an event, which happens to be the father catching fish to bring back to his daughter. There are two different setting mentioned throughout the story; the beach and the man’s house. This makes it easier to keep up with the story. There is a restricted number of characters and their names are not mentioned so it is easy to remember who they are. The first part of the short story is mainly narration, and then towards the end, there is dialogue between the father and his daughter. This is also the climax of the story.
2.How well does the story connect with the reader? What emotions or thoughts does it elicit? How effectively does it use language to do this? Give evidence from the story in your response. The story is effective in grabbing the reader’s attention in the beginning. Of course, not everyone can relate to what the story is about, but it brings up many different emotions. The beginning is fairy poignant and is a flashback of the man’s past. It is effective because it gets the reader to connect to the man in the story and what he was been through in his life. ‘He finned upwards, heart thumping double-time. Cramp crimped one thigh.’ When the man is swimming in the ocean, the sentences are short and snappy, in order to get the point across that he is doing strenuous work.

PART 3 HOMEWORK:

This part of the book reflects upon the fact that people tend to stereotype and categorize immigrants. Immigrants are people who are on a journey, and in Alice’s case, her family is on a journey to find a better life in Australia. Part 3 of Unpolished Gem mentions the ‘Australian Dream’ and how the many people believe that home ownership can lead to a better life. Alice and her family, coming from a third world country, have never had the chance to buy their own home. Arriving into Australia and finding that they can own their own home was quite overwhelming for them. They had to adjust in order to fit in with their surroundings and this meant leaving behind some of their old traditions and beliefs in order to pursue a new and better life in Australia. Her family and other immigrants are on a journey to leave behind their old lives and find better ones in a new country.