Analyze a selection using Formalist Approach
TITLE OF THE SHORT STORY:
AUTHOR:
CHARACTERS:
Please identify only the major
characters in the story. Also, write a
short description for each character.
SETTING:
Speech Sounds
Octavia E. Butler
Valerie Rye is a woman and a former teacher that
was led to be a widow and impaired by some kind
of virus or disease that spread in the science fiction
world of the story. She is the story’s focus as she
starts to seeks out other living family members in
the face of hopelessness and purposelessness in life.
A man given the name “Obsidian” by Rye is one
who made a short-lived but deep connection with
Rye. Obsidian was described to be a young left-
handed bearded man who donned the uniform of
the Los Angeles Police Department despite the
disbandment of large organizations, both
governmental and private, as the story points out.
The last two characters I consider to be very
significant and signify a great symbolism in the
story are the 2 children who could understand
language and speak coherently. These two children,
a boy and a girl, are presumed to be the children of
a woman who was stabbed to death in the latter part
of the story.
In a world overwhelmed by a strange disease, the
people lose their ability to write, speak and
understand language though its effects were
incomprehensibly experienced in different degrees.
With the onslaught of this strange disease, people
are easily overtaken by negative emotions like rage,
anger, jealousy, and envy thus leading to the
world’s current setting. This is a world where fights
may break out anytime and anywhere. Murder is
common and committing criminal acts usually go
unpunished. With the lack of proper means of
communication, how different do you think the
world can be? Well, this story takes us to their
world where you’ll see just how much important
communication, spoken, and written language is.
Rye, the main character of the story, is seen to be
travelling through places in California, USA of the
seemingly parallel world to ours.
CONFLICT:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  from giving up and taking her own life. The story
POINT OF VIEW:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  nothing,” we can see the use of third person
PLOT:
The main conflict we witness in the story tackles
the main character Rye’s internal struggles on what
to do with her life. Helpless in the face of the
disease, Rye sets out from her home looking for
protection, warmth, and something to prevent her
narrates, “She had experienced longing for the past,
hatred of the present, growing hopelessness,
purposelessness, but she had never experienced
such a powerful urge to kill another person. She
had left her home, finally, because she had come
near to killing herself. She had found no reason to
stay alive”. Being a former teacher and educator, it
can be seen that the strange disease that has
overtaken the world took away what she considered
was most precious to her – her literacy. The thought
of being unable to read and write while others could
overcame her with jealousy and even the thought of
murder came into her mind though in the end she
was able to be rational and control herself.
The story was narrated in a third person point of
view detailing the actions, thoughts, observations of
the main character Rye. In the lines “She held
herself still, staring at him, almost seeing his blood.
But her rage crested and ebbed and she did
pronouns like she and him.
Exposition: Rye stood aboard the Washington
Boulevard bus. She ventured outside her home in
hopes of reuniting with living family members from
her brother’s side in Pasadena. Unfortunately,
trouble was near and a dispute broke out in the bus
which was likely stemmed from a small
misunderstanding turned into a larger one because
of the limited ability to communicate.
Rising Action: Rye got off the bus as the fight
ensued when suddenly a battered blue Ford pulled
up in front of the bus. A big bearded young man
who donned the uniform of the Los Angeles Police
Department got off and asked her what was
happening. After diffusing the fight in the bus, the
man gestured to Rye inviting her to come with him.
After pondering for a bit, Rye decided to go with
the man as he seemed not to bear any ill will
towards her.

Climax: The man set off driving towards Rye’s

chosen direction. Rye gave the man the name
“Obsidian” from the man’s name symbol – a glassy
black rock. Rye and Obsidian conversed through
symbols and hand gestures, getting to know each
other better. Both asked questions about the other
and the opposite tried their best to convey their
answers through limited language. The two liked
each other’s company and Rye decided to ask him
to come home and stay with her. Despite his initial
refusal, he decided to accept Rye’s offer the second
time she asked.

Falling Action: The two decided to head back

southwest, towards home. She decided that she
didn’t have to go to Pasadena because now she was
no longer alone. On the way back, Obsidian
suddenly braked hard as he witnessed a man
holding a knife while chasing a woman who ran
across the street. Obsidian and Rye chased after
them in an attempt to help the woman. While Rye
was assisting the woman, the man suddenly seized
Obsidian’s revolver and shot at him. Rye shot at the
man back. Once again, Rye was alone with three
corpses by her side. Two children, a girl and a boy,
ran towards the dead woman’s body and shook her
in hopes of waking her up. Rye was devastated.

Resolution: Rye was about to drive away leaving

the two children to fend for themselves when she
realized what she was doing. She decided that she
would look for a place to bury Obsidian and the
woman’s body. As she was about to take the
woman’s body, the little girl shouted and objected
to her in coherent speech. Rye was stunned.
Thoughts and possibilities rushed through her mind.
The hope given to her by two children rekindled the
fire and passion of being a teacher and a protector
within her. With conviction and determination, Rye
spoke to the children saying, “I'm Valerie Rye. It’s
all right for you to talk to me."
TONE:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  an African-American feminist author who grew up
MOOD:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  devastating its effects can be. The statement
One look at the passages from the story, we can see
the author’s evident disdain to the brash, violent,
and aggressive attitude the men displayed in this
fictional story – perhaps taking inspiration from her
real life experiences. The author, Octavia Butler, is
facing many obstacles both because of her descent
and of her gender. Criticisms of the society and its
chauvinist members were blatantly expressed in the
story. Perhaps one may conclude that disdainful is
the author’s tone in the story but I think that beyond
that deep-rooted disdain is a sort of hopefulness.
From my perception of the story, I think that the
tone of the author is hopefulness - restrained
hopefulness, to be more precise. This was what I
thought of from the described actions of Rye
throughout the story. Though she is affected by the
disease, she did not give up on herself. She didn’t
shoot herself despite losing her family. From the
loneliness and helplessness she experienced, surely
she can decide to take her own life but she did not. I
think that this symbolizes the author’s hopefulness
that there will be a positive change in the future.
The statements “She had no idea what he intended,
but she stood her ground. The man was half a foot
taller than she was and perhaps ten years younger.
She did not imagine she could outrun him. Nor did
she expect anyone to help her if she needed help.
The people around her were all strangers,”
skillfully points this out. The statements “Nor did
she expect anyone to help her if she needed help.
The people around her were all strangers” shows
the author’s disdainful attitude towards the present
situation but by “standing her ground”, the author
also shows that she possesses hope despite the
challenges she faces in the present.
I think that the mood the readers will experience in
this story is helplessness. At present, the loss of
communication may not seem important to most –
perhaps the thought of this has never even occurred
to us. But when it truly comes, the story shows how
“People making intercity trips like Rye's from Los
Angeles to Pasadena made plans to camp out, or
risked seeking shelter with locals who might rob or

THEME:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  narrates, “The illness was stroke-swift in the way it
LITERARY DEVICES:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  Throughout the course of the story, we can see the
murder them” shows just how much
communication and language is important in our
daily lives. Without it, things would be so much
harder. The statement “risked seeking shelter with
locals who might rob or murder them” shows just
how much risk the people in this fictional world
takes, endangering even their own lives just
because of travel. Imagine, what more for basic
needs like food, water, and shelter? It also shows
how lawless the world is just because of this one
disease affecting our communication. Perhaps some
readers may even relate how similar the world in
the story and the world in real life is because of the
pandemic experienced in both. Just as we
experience helplessness against this COVID
pandemic in real life, the readers can also
experience helplessness against the disease stated in
the story which also spread as a devastating
pandemic in the story’s world.
Unquestionably, the central theme of this science
fiction story is communication. Throughout the
story, we see the effects of the loss of
communication and language on human
relationships and on people’s daily lives. The story
cut people down and stroke-like in some of its
effects. But it was highly specific. Language was
always lost or severely impaired. It was never
regained. Often there was also paralysis, intellectual
impairment, death.” The story gives us a preview of
the tragedies that await us if we ever find ourselves
in the same situation.
This short story by Octavia Butler is limited
especially by the nature of the world portrayed in
the story. Only a few short dialogues were present
in it but I think that the author really did a good job
presenting her story with just mostly narration.
author’s skillful use of symbolism instead of
dialogues especially in the pivoting events in the
story. An evident example of this is when Rye and
Obsidian introduce themselves to each other. “…he
slipped a gold chain over his head and handed it to
her. The pendant attached to it was a smooth,
glassy, black rock. Obsidian. His name might be
Rock or Peter or Black, but she decided to think of
him as Obsidian... She handed him her own name
symbol—a pin in the shape of a large golden stalk
of wheat. She had bought it long before the illness
and the silence began. Now she wore it, thinking it
was as close as she was likely to come to Rye.
People like Obsidian who had not known her before
probably thought of her as Wheat.” Another
example is the two children who could speak.
“Fluent speech! Had the woman died because she
could talk and had taught her children to talk?... If
the illness let these children alone, she could keep
them alive.” The two children who could speak
fluently were the symbolism of hope in the story.
Obsidian’s LAPD uniform and the weapons Rye
(“old forty-five automatic gun”) and Obsidian
(“revolver”) brought with them also symbolized
being a “protector” and the threat of violence easily
faced, respectively. The author also used
onomatopoeia to represent the sound people made
despite the loss of communication. An example is
“People screamed or squawked in fear.” Another
literary device used is connotation with the example
“young men roared in excitement” in which roar
obviously refers to another thing. Imagery was also
used in the story. “The driver got out—a big man,
young, neatly bearded with dark, thick hair. He
wore a long overcoat and a look of wariness that
matched Rye's.” Use of repetition is also present to
give emphasis – “no more LAPD, no more any
large organization.” The narration “watched him
shout in wordless anger” also made use of
oxymoron. Hyperbole was used by the author in the
phrases “a houseful of books”, “flood of
memories”, and “almost throwing her off the seat”.
The author also used figures of speech like simile
(“hooting like chimpanzees”), metaphor (“the
animal across the street”), and idioms (“to make
room”). Situational irony was also used in the story.
Examples of its use are “dead murderer” and
“Obsidian had been the protector... And now that
there was something worth protecting, he was
gone.” Rhetorical questions were also used in the
story. “Had the disease run its course, then? Or
were these children simply immune?”
FIGURES OF SPEECH:
Please provide textual evidence.
Textual evidence may be
lines/quotes/events/situations in the
short story that justify your answer.  fear” and “hooting like chimpanzees” which makes
Analyze a selection using a Moralist Approach
TITLE OF THE SHORT STORY:
AUTHOR:
Cite lines/quotes/events/situations in
the story that justify your answers.
What is the main character’s view in
life? What is his or her relationship
to God? What is the significance of
his or her life on Earth?
What ethical principles does the
story present?
Figure of speech, being a subcategory of literary
devices, were also used in the story. As I have
mentioned earlier, the author used figures of speech
like simile, metaphor and idioms. A few examples
are “watched her with at least as much curiosity as
use of simile. The phrase “The animal across the
street” in which the animal talked about is referring
to a person made use of metaphor. Common idioms
were also used in the story like “to make room”.
Speech Sounds
Octavia E. Butler
The main character Rye’s view in life could be
described as neither optimistic nor one that
wallowed in despair from the challenges she faced.
From my point of view, I would describe Rye as
one who would “go with the flow”. She was sad,
lonely, and angry when she and her loved ones were
affected by the disease but she did not give up on
her life, though the thought of suicide crossed her
mind indeed. When she was given hope nearing the
end of the story, her passion was rekindled, she was
determined to survive and raise the two kids. From
this, I would say that her viewpoint in life mostly
depended on her instinct to live and to survive.
From the passages in the story, we can grasp the
information that all her close family members that
she lived with were now all dead – including her
husband, children, parents, and siblings. Despite all
this challenges in life, she could not bear to take her
own life, perhaps we can see this as her courage and
strength to hold on to life amidst all the obstacles.
This also indirectly leads us to believe that life is
important for her because as we all know life is
given to us by God and we should take care of it.
This is given by the statements “She had been alone
herself for three years. The illness had stripped her,
killing her children one by one, killing her husband,
her sister, her parents… She had experienced
longing for the past, hatred of the present, growing
hopelessness, purposelessness, but she had never
experienced such a powerful urge to kill another
person. She had left her home, finally, because she
had come near to killing herself. She had found no
reason to stay alive.” Other scenes in the story
showing that she valued life is when they attempted
to help a woman about to be murdered, when she
made the decision that she should take care of the
two children, and when she thought of burying the
dead bodies to give them a proper place to lay rest.
“She had almost done it, almost left two toddlers to
die. Surely there had been enough dying. She would
have to take the children home with her. She would
not be able to live with any other decision… Before
the silence, the police had always said some of the
most dangerous calls they went out on were
domestic disturbance calls. Obsidian should have
known that—not that the knowledge would have
kept him in the car. It would not have held her back
either. She could not have watched the woman
murdered and done nothing… Better to take the
bodies with her and bury them next to her husband
and her children.” Although these statements
support her moral ethics, throughout the story, we
have not seen any direct mention of her spiritual
connection to God. Another factor we can look at
here is when Rye had sex with Obsidian. As
Christians, we believe that sexual relations should
be done only within marriage. Obviously, Rye was
not married to Obsidian. In fact, “Obsidian” was
just a name she gave to the stranger she met. This
leads us to the conclusion that although Rye has and
follows moral ethics, specifically valuing and
protecting life, she does not have a strong faith in
God. At the end of the story, we can see that Rye
finds her long-lost purpose in life. We can say that
the significance of her life on Earth is to lead the
youth towards a hopeful future where language and
communication is once again made possible.
Guiding the two children to grow up properly and
surviving through difficult times will be her duty as
a teacher and protector. In this relationship between
her and the two children, we can see that the
children are not the only ones being helped. In a
way, the children will also be helping her because
what Rye lacks is a purpose in life to prevent her

What moral teachings does the
author present?
What do you think is the author’s
attitude toward the world? toward
fate? toward God?
from giving up on herself and taking her own life.
Having the children with her will serve as her
motivation and torchlight that will illuminate her
path. Obviously, this also leads us to the idea that
this is Rye’s role as an adult that will guide the
youth towards a bright future just like in a normal
world even before they experienced the pandemic.
The main moral lesson or teaching of this story is
not to give up on life no matter the hardships we
face. As individuals living in this world, it is
unavoidable for us to encounter problems in life.
We may someday be like Rye who was faced with
struggles in life – losing her family and the disease
taking away her passion as a teacher and a writer.
She was beaten down by the tragedies she has
experienced but nevertheless she decided not to
give up and instead she ventured to seek out other
family members despite the difficulties she will
face along the way. Instead of bowing down in the
face of struggles, we should ask God to help us
overcome what we are facing. Life is something
precious and irreplaceable that was given to us by
God. The hardships that we face at the moment may
seem impossible to overcome but surely God will
always make a way for us. God gives us challenges
not to give up on but to face head on and to
overcome bravely because He is by our side and He
will aid us as long as we call for Him. The story
teaches us that as long as we do not give up, we will
someday meet the hope we are waiting for.
I think that the author’s attitude toward the world is
hopeful – hopeful for the future and hopeful for the
positive change she is waiting for. I think that the
author aims to spread awareness on the issues of the
world through her works. Through her writing, she
hopes to inspire and urge the people to fight
alongside her in her cause. This also goes to show
that she doesn’t want to accept just any fate dictated
toward her. Through the author’s background, we
can see a strong impact of racial discrimination on
her life because she was an African-American. Her
mother who was a single parent supported and
raised her while working as a servant to a white
American household. Despite the discouragements

Is the author’s treatment of the
subject matter, theme, and character
sincere, mature, true, sensitive, or
brave? How is that so?
and criticisms thrown toward her passion in writing,
she still continued it and eventually she made a
name for herself as a writer, even receiving awards
for her works. This shows that the writer wishes to
build her own future and her own fate, not just
accepting the fate dictated to her by the judgements
of the people around her. Throughout the story, the
author doesn’t seem to tackle about religious issues
in any way. From this, I think that the author’s
attitude toward God is neutral. Octavia Butler was
apparently raised in a strict Baptist household but
she has also stated in an interview that she has
detached from the religion. Through the moral
ethics we have witnessed in her work, we can
certainly say that the author values life and
encourages a positive outlook in life but the main
character in her work, Rye, agreeing to have sex
with a stranger definitely hit us in another way. This
leads us to think that the author preferred not to
have any religious attachment. In conclusion, we
can say that the author didn’t possess a deep faith
and connection towards God.
I think that the author’s treatment of the subject
matter and theme is very sincere and brave.
Typically, the thought that communication and
language would be lost will not even cross our
minds. Perhaps, themes of miscommunication and
arguments because of differences in language and
nationality is often discussed but language and
communication lost altogether is on another level.
We can see here that the author attempts to show us
a different possibility of the world inside her mind.
At the same time, through this unique story of hers,
the author also aims to give us a new viewpoint in
life and draw attention to issues that are commonly
ignored or not paid enough attention in today’s
society. Some of the issues she has discussed in her
story are gender inequality, domestic violence,
suicide, depression, and poverty. As she grew up
facing obstacles in life due to her African-American
descent, the author aims to draw attention to issues
in which she herself had experiences of her own.
From this we can see her sincerity in her work. The
story also shows how blunt the author is in pointing
out society’s commonly ignored problems. She was

Does the text aim to manipulate the
reader or prompt him to do negative
things? How is that so?
able to show her maturity and sensitivity to the
issues around her and bravely confront and
encourage the public to address these issues through
her work. This shows that author is thoughtful and
gives great effort in creating a meaningful work that
will help our own world.
Rather than negative things, the story aims to
encourage and prompt the readers to do things that
will help our society. We can see that the main
focus of this story is on surviving and supporting
one another in the apocalypse-like world brought
about by the loss of communication and language.
The story shows us that Rye, the main character,
did not give up on life despite the tragedies she has
experienced. This tells the reader that suicide and
giving up on life will not solve anything because
when we give up, it is the end. On the other hand,
when we do not give up and continue to live despite
the hardships in life, we will eventually gain hope
and realize that things can change. The story also
teaches us that each and every one of us has a
purpose in life, just like the characters Rye,
Obsidian, and the two children in the story. The
story encourages us to address the societal issues
that are not given due attention by discussing these
issues in her work. Through her work, the author
aims to urge us to do our part in society and in the
whole world.