CYRIL POTTER COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

TURKEYEN CAMPUS, TURKEYEN, GEORGETOWN, GUYANA

Title: Self-Study Tasks (Weeks 1-13)

An Assignment
Presented in Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Course
CSEC Novels and Plays

INSTRUCTOR: Jared McPhoy (B.Sc)

By

Kelly Bacchus

20th December, 2022.

Approval……………………
 1. Identify two themes in each of the stories .

Man of The House by Frank O’Connor

 Responsibility
 Temptation

Mom Luby and The Social Worker by Kristen Hunter

 Love and responsibility
 Change

2. Identify instances in the story that support the themes.

Man of The House by Frank O’Connor

In the short story, ‘Man of The House’ by Frank O’Connor, the themes of responsibility and
temptation are explored. Gus Sullivan, a ten (10) year old boy with an absentee father bares the
‘burden’ of having to take care of his sick mother at such a tender age while missing out on his
childhood. Gus would usually answer his mother’s messages, light the fire and make breakfast
for her. Gus dreads leaving his mother at home by herself so he decides to stop going to school
which makes his mother feels guilty but Gus doesn’t care because he knows no one else would
do it. He took up the mantle of becoming the ‘man of the house.’ As the story progresses, Gus is
greeted with temptation at the dispensary when he is tasked to uplift medicine for his mother.
Like Adam, Gus was tempted by an ‘Eve’ who made it seem that drinking his mother’s medicine
was not something wrong to do. Gus succumbed to the temptation but later regrets it.

Mom Luby and The Social Worker by Kristen Hunter

Mom Luby and The Social Worker by Kristen Hunter examines the themes of love and
responsibility. These interconnected themes are usually displayed together. The theme of love is
shown when Mom Luby harbors Elijah and Puddin’. Mom Luby made it her duty to take care of
both children even if it meant lying to the government. She claims the children as hers and
nothing else. Instead of leaving the children to fend for themselves, she decides to lie to the
welfare officer, Miss Rushmore, in hopes that she’ll receive benefits for the children. Despite
Mom Luby doing right by the children, she is still greeted with disappointment by the social
worker. Miss Rushmore does not appear to be the type to bend the rules of the system to satisfy
anyone’s needs. In the end, it can be seen that both Mom Luby and Miss Rushmore are not
willing to change their beliefs in each other.
 3. State how the author of one of the stories uses characterization/ setting to his advantage
to support the theme.

Miss Sullivan is a character that Frank O'Connor employs in his short story "Man of the House"
to help illustrate the theme of ‘responsibility’. In this short story, Frank O’Connor decides to
make Miss Sullivan a sickly woman. Gus is forced to take care of his mother because it is just
him and Miss Sullivan at home, making him the "man of the house." Frank uses the sickly
character to his advantage to portray his theme of ‘responsibility’. It shows that no matter how
young Gus is, he still managed to take care of his sick mother.