The Land and the Water

1
The Land and the Water
Ms. Aarsvolds Class Example
Shirley Ann Grau uses the elements of
characterization and setting to show readers that
life is fragile and vulnerable, age makes no
difference.
2
Characterization

• Grau established the main character as growing
  young girl. She is old enough to work on her
  familys boat with her sister, yet she is still
  young enough to spend hours just playing near the
  water. We spent a couple of hours out there
  skinning our knees against the rough barnacled
  surface (266). It is important to understand
  that this girl is not an adult yet. Without
  knowing this important piece of information it
  may be unclear why she is so shaken at the end of
  the story.

3
Characterization

• By the end of the story we see a girl who cant
  seem to grasp that three people close to her own
  age have died in the storm. She states I kept
  wondering what it must be like to be dead and
  cold and down in the sand and mud with the
  eelgrass brushing you and the crabs bumping you
  and the fishI had felt their little sucking
  mouths sometimes when I swam (270). Previously
  death was not something that she had to worry
  about. Now it had hit close to home, and she may
  have wondered why her own life had been spared.
  The main character was confused at the thought
  that young peoples lives can be taken too. This
  quote also shows that she is shaken by the
  thought that she had swam in and was familiar
  with the very same water that had taken the other
  childrens lives.