1.

The lady or the tiger

1. Plot story
The story is narrated in the third person addressing the readers directly. The story is set in
(lấy bối cảnh vào) ancient times. It begins with the narrator introducing a semi-barbaric
king. He exposes (shows) his barbaric side (aspect) by exercising (carrying out) an
unusual system of justice (hệ thống công lý) on his guilty people (who are criminals).
The accused person is placed in an arena, which has two doors. The accused is faced with
the task of choosing one of the doors which would lead him to freedom or death. The
door that leads to freedom has a maiden sitting behind it, whom the accused person
would be forced to marry right away. Whereas, the other door has a fierce, hungry tiger
behind it. The doors are identical( same), and this is what gives the story a surprising
ending.
This system of justice attracts the audience because the fate of the accused was in his own
hands. They loved the experience of sitting on chairs to observe the outcome
(result)―freedom (a wedding) or death (a funeral).
The story proceeds (continue) further with an interesting twist (detail) when the king’s
daughter―the princess―falls in love with a King's courtier. When the king discovers this
affair, he commanded soldiers to arrest the young and put him behind bars (nhốt vào lòng
sắt). he orders (commands) his soldiers to find the most ferocious and dangerous tiger put
behind one of the doors. in the rest door, he chooses one beautiful maiden for the young
man to marry.
The princess being madly in love with her lover, want to free (giải thoát) him. She
secretly, with power and money, finds the door leading to freedom but the maiden who
would be sitting behind it. Unfortunately for her, the maiden is also in love with the
young, and the princess detests her for that.
Finally, on the day of the trial, she sits along with her father―the king―in the arena to
witness (observe) the final outcome (result). When the accused lover is presented before
the king, he looks up to her, and she signals with her right hand indicating that he should
take the right door. As the young lover moves forward to open it, the narrator suddenly
stops the story. Thus, leaving it to the readers to decide on the conclusion―freedom or
death.
2. Setting: The story takes place in unspecified land at an unspecified time.
character:
 3. Characters:
The three main characters of the story are the king, the princess, and the commoner.
 The king is described with a hidden murderous, savage nature.
 The commoner is described as a handsome young man who loves the princess
deeply.
 Both characters are stereotypes and do not have much change in the story.
 The princess’s character has more mood changes than any other character in the
story. The emotional transformation of her when losing her lover to another
woman or the tiger, brings 2 ways of looking at her nature.
4. conflict
The entire story is based on conflicts―the conflicting nature of the king, the conflict of
emotions in the princess who has to take a decision, and the doors describing conflicts of
life and death.
5. Theme
 Cruel and Kind: The lady represents kindness and beauty. The tiger makes the
readers think of cruelty and savage.
 Selflessness vs. Selfishness: The princess’s prompt raising of her hand towards the
right door to free her lovers, shows her selfless nature. The anger and jealousy of
losing her lover to the woman she hates, bring the selfish side of her nature.
 Life and Death: The two identical doors―one leading to life and the other to
death―the final decision is made by the accused person.
 2. Marionettes, Inc.
1. Plot summary
Smith and Braling walk down the street. Smith wants to know why Braling needs to go
home so early from their night out (chuyến đi chơi đêm). Braling says he shouldn't press
his luck. Smith suggests Braling doesn't love his wife and never has. Braling agrees but
doesn't seem concerned (care). He shows Smith a plane ticket for Rio, departing
tomorrow; he says he'll go for a month and his wife will never know. As they approach
(come near) Braling's home, Braling shares a secret with Smith: he's bought a marionette,
a robot to impersonate (imitate, đóng giả) him while he's away (absent). "I think it is
highly ethical," he says. "After all, what my wife wants most of all is me," and the robot
resembles (be similar to) him "to the hairiest detail." Braling encourages Smith to listen
to the robot's heart ticking (tiếng tim đập). Smith is amazed. He is eager to get a robot of
his own from Marionettes Inc. so that he can go out now and then too. He plans to take
some money out of the couple's bank account to buy the robot. He'll tell his wife it's a
business venture (business project).
At home Smith sees his wife sleeping, and then he goes to his library to check the
couple's bank book. When he looks at the bank-account balance (số dư tài khoản ngân
hàng), he sees that a great deal of money is missing (thiếu, mất). Furious (very angry), he
decides to wake up his wife and ask her what she's done with the money. But when he
came near his wife "the horrid thought. And then the terror and the loneliness engulfed
him." He puts his ear to his wife's chest. Instead of a beating heart (tim đập), he hears a
ticking sound (tiếng tích tắc).
Meanwhile, Braling and his robot, Braling Two, are back (return) in Braling's house.
Braling Two doesn't want to be stored in a box in the basement (tầng hầm) when not in
use. He wants to go to Rio too. He also confesses he's in love with Braling's wife. He tells
Braling, "I'm going to put you in the box, lock it, and lose the key." Then he adds (nói
thêm), "I'll buy another Rio ticket for your wife." Then he forces Braling into the box that
is for Braling Two and goes upstairs to kiss Braling's wife gently on the cheek. "Why—
you haven't done that in years," she says.
 2. Setting: The setting took place in the future while Braling and Smith were on their
way to Braling house. (The homes of Braling and Smith, are situated in a city in
the future.

3. Characters

Grace Ansley
Mrs. Grace Ansley, a middle-aged widow, is a wealthy New Yorker who is vacationing
in Italy with her daughter Barbara, and her neighbor Mrs. Slade, and her daughter Jenny
Slade. In Mrs. Slade's opinion, Mrs. Ansley has led a staid, uneventful life. Although she
presents the picture of the proper middle-aged widow, for instance, knitting and looking
at the Roman view, her calm exterior hides a secret past.

As a young lady in Italy, Grace (Mrs. Ansley) fell in love with Alida's (Mrs. Slade's)
fiance, Delphin. However, after meeting him one night at the ruins of the Colosseum, she
had become quite ill. When she rose from her sickbed, she immediately married Mr.
Ansley.

Despite her marriage to Mr. Ansley, she has always nursed the memory of her evening
with Delphin, and the letter he had sent her. When Mrs. Slade reveals that she, in fact,
sent the letter, not Delphin, Mrs. Ansley's fantasy is destroyed. She, in turn, reveals to her
friend an even more devastating secret: that her dynamic daughter, who Mrs. Ansley has
long noted is so different from either of her parents, is in fact Delphin's daughter.

Mrs. Alida Slade, a middle-aged, wealthy, New York widow, is vacationing in Italy with
her daughter Jenny, her neighbor Mrs. Ansley, and her daughter Barbara Ansley. The
wife of a famous corporate lawyer, Mrs. Slade found her married days filled with
excitement and adventure. She prided herself on being a charming entertainer, a good
hostess, and a vibrant woman in her own right. After the death of her husband Delphin,
Mrs. Slade finds life dull, with only her daughter to divert her; however, Jenny is quiet
and self-sufficient.

Mrs. Slade feels both superior to and envious of her lifelong friend, Mrs. Ansley. She
also has been nursing a decades-long resentment against Mrs. Ansley, for falling in love
with Delphin when Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade were both young ladies on vacation in
Italy. Afraid that Grace (Mrs. Ansley) would steal away her fiance, Alida (Mrs. Slade)
sent Grace a note, signing Delphin's name. When Grace went to meet Delphin, she
became quite ill.
During this trip to Italy, Mrs. Slade, wanting to hurt her friend even after all these years,
confesses to Mrs. Ansley that she, not Delphin, sent the letter. Mrs. Slade immediately
regrets her action, and she can't help but feel sorry for her friend, after she sees how Mrs.
Ansley has cherished the memory of that letter. When Mrs. Slade expresses this feeling,
however, Mrs. Ansley shocks her with the revelation that Barbara (the daughter of Mrs.
Ansley) is Delphin's daughter.

 Braling: who regretted marrying his wife and dreamed of going back to Rio.
 Braling 2: a robot version of Braling.
 Smith: Braling’s friend
 Nettie: over-affectionate wife of Smith.
 Braling’s wife
The antagonist is Braling two who starts to have feeling for Braling’s wife and wants
to be free and not locked up in the basement until Braling decides to let him out again.
Braling 2 decides to lock Braling into the basement forever so he could live with
Braling's wife.
The protagonist of the story is Braling, who wants to be able to go on a trip to Rio that
he's never finished because he was forced to marry his wife. He thought he found a
way of making that happen by buying a Marionette of himself so his wife wouldn’t
notice when he was away.theme

4. Theme
The short story “Marionettes, Inc.” shows how technology is a great tool and a privilege
to have. It was used to help Braling deal with a situation that he didn’t want to deal with.
Braling was “married to a woman who overdoes it,” she wanted to be all over him all of
the time and it kept getting worse. It’s unfortunate for Braling because he married his
wife for the wrong reasons. When Braling married his wife, he was only thinking about
his business, his mother, and his father. When you marry someone for the wrong reason
there are consequences that you have to deal with and the consequence is not good and
it’s not something that you expect to happen
A conflict between man and machine and depicts (describe) the human dependence on
technology
Both Smith and Braling try to avoid their wives by replacing themselves with
marionettes. They so intensely want to get away from their controlling wives that they are
willing to commit crimes, as using marionettes is illegal.

Roman fever
1. Plot summary
 Work: Roman Fever is a 1934 short story by American writer Edith Wharton,
first published in the magazine Liberty and later included in Wharton’s final
short-story collection, The World Over.
 Author: Edith Wharton is a three-time Nobel Prize nominee for Literature who is
considered one of the most successful and accomplished American novelists of
her era.
Plot:
 Grace Ansley and Alida Slade discuss their lives and their daughters, Barbara and
Jenny.
 Mrs. Slade reveals that 25 years ago, she wrote a letter to invite Mrs. Ansley to a
romantic meeting with Mrs. Slade’s future husband, Delphin. Mrs. Slade expects
Mrs. Ansley to be left alone and humiliated.
 Grace reveals that she responded to the letter, so Delphin came and met her.
The short story "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton takes place in Italy. the story begins
with 2 American women, Alida Slade and Grace Ansley, they're standing together on the
terrace of an expensive restaurant in Rome, enjoying the beautiful view of the city. Mrs.
Slade and Ansley used to be old friends, but they have not seen each other in many years,
and they don’t know much about each other. After getting married, they move to New
York and coincidentally their houses are opposite. Years later, both their husbands pass
away, and they have to raise their children by themselves.
Mrs. Slade has 2 children, one daughter Jenny, and a son who died when he was young,
and Mrs. Ansley has just one daughter Barbara. Barbara and Jenny have separated
personality traits. While Jenny is serious and reserved, Barbara is a dynamic and clever
girl. Mrs. Slade considers herself to be worse after losing her husband because being the
wife of Mr. Delphin Slade- a famous lawyer, is an honor and a prominent social role.
Mrs. Ansley thinks that Mrs. Slade’s life is full of failures and mistakes, and she feels
pity for her.
Part 2 begins with the tolling of the five o’clock bells and the decision of the 2 women to
stay on the terrace and continue enjoying the view. From where they sit, they can see the
Colosseum. Mrs. Slade remembers that the gates to the Colosseum are locked at night,
but sometimes lovers still secretly meet there even though it's so cold and wet.
Suddenly, Mrs. Slade decides she needs to confess something. She tells Mrs. Ansley that
she knows Mrs. Ansley went to the Colosseum one night to meet the man whom Mrs.
Slade was engaged to. Mrs. Slade reveals that she is the person who write the letter 25
years before to trick Mrs. Ansley into getting into the horrible weather condition hoping
she would become ill as punishment for thirsting for her future husband.
Mrs. Ansley replies that she wasn't alone. Delphin was there waiting for her. She had
responded to the fake letter and told Delphin she would meet him, so he appeared that
night. Mrs. Slade is upset that she never knew her husband met Mrs. Ansley; however,
she still feels like she got the better deal. After all, Delphin married her while Mrs.
Ansley just had that one night with him. Mrs. Ansley replies that she also had Barbara,
her daughter, because of that night. This surprise admission concludes the story.
Climax:
 Mrs. Slade reveals that she knows Mrs. Ansley came to the Colosseum 25
years ago to meet her future’s husband- Delphine, the man that Mrs. Slade
was engaged to.
“Why—your not knowing that I've always known why you went ... Slade as though she
were looking at a ghost.”
 Mrs. Ansley explains Delphin actually met her that night.
“Mrs. Ansley had not moved for a long time … So he came.”
 Mrs. Ansley replies she also has Babara because of that night.
“…”
2. Setting
The story takes place in the afternoon through sunset, in the city of Rome, at a restaurant
overlooking the Forum.
3. Characters
 Alida Slade: Middle-aged widow (hóa phụ) of Delphin Slade. Because so much of
her identity is wrapped up in her relationship to her husband, "it was a big drop
from being the wife of Delphin Slade to being his widow."
 Grace Ansley: Middle-aged widow of well-to-do Horace Ansley. She is "smaller
and paler" than Mrs. Slade and "evidently far less sure than her companion of
herself and of her rights in the world."
 Barbara Ansley: dynamic, brilliant.
 Jenny Slade: reserved, safe, serious.
4. Conflicts
The main conflict in "Roman Fever" is between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley over
Delphin Slade. When the two women were young, they were both in love with the same
man, even though he was engaged to Mrs. Slade.
 5. Point of View: The story is told from a third-person, omniscient point of view.
6. Theme
 Love and passion: Though Mrs. Slade considers herself more passionate than her
friend, it is Mrs. Ansley who reveals hidden depths of love in her confession of her
night with Delphin Slade.
 Friendship: Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley have been friends since they first met as
young women in Rome, but their relationship is complicated by the fact that they
are also rivals.
 Rivalry: The rivalry between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley is expressed subtly and
sometimes directly through their thoughts and actions.

A clean, well-lighted place

1. Plot summary
In a quiet café, an old deaf man decides to stay late into the night to get drunk.
The young waiter serving him is frustrated that he’ll be stuck at the café serving the old
drunk instead of at home in bed with his wife, a grievance (complaint) he airs (expresses)
to the older waiter working with him. The older waiter, however, sympathizes with the
old drunk, highlighting the fact that the man tried to commit suicide the week before. He
imagines that it must be nice for the old drunk to stay up late in a quiet, clean, well-
lighted place.
Eventually, the old drunk waves the young waiter over to ask for more brandy, which
irritates the young waiter even more. When he arrives to take the order, the young waiter
warns the old man that he will get drunk. The old man, however, does not reply, and the
young waiter reluctantly returns to get a saucer and some brandy (rượu mạnh). While
pouring the brandy, he tells the old waiter that he wishes the old drunk would have killed
himself—then he repeats this sentiment to the old drunk himself, who cannot hear the
young waiter since he is deaf.
The young waiter and the old waiter discuss why the old man tried to kill himself. While
the younger waiter argues that he's "lonely" or that old people have nothing to live for,
the old waiter speculates that the suicide attempt was not from loneliness or destitution,
but rather out of despair about the meaninglessness of life. Moreover, the old waiter finds
the old drunk to be admirable in his manner: he is dignified in the face of
meaninglessness and despair, as he doesn’t get drunk in an unseemly way. To this, the
young waiter replies that the old waiter is “talking nonsense.”
After requiring the old drunk to leave the café, the young waiter finishes his conversation
with the old waiter and leaves as quickly as possible. The old waiter, however, continues
the conversation with himself, trying to locate the reason for both his empathy for and his
fear of the old drunk. He decides that both his empathy and fear spring from his
knowledge that “it was all a nothing and man was a nothing too.” In other words, he
decides that what’s bothering him is how the old man’s behavior reminds him of the
meaninglessness of life. Upon this realization, he recites the Lord’s Prayer, swapping out
many of the words with “nada.” He also recites the Hail Mary, swapping out words for
nothing: “Hail Mary, full of nothing. Nothing is with thee.”
After finishing his soliloquy, the old waiter decides to go to a bar to get a drink. After
telling the barman he would like “nada” to drink (and getting called a crazy person), he
decides that, like the old drunk, he does not want to get drunk in a dirty place. In order to
face meaninglessness with dignity, he needs a quiet, clean, well-lighted place. He then
goes home and waits until the morning to fall asleep.
2. Characters
 The Old Man: A deaf man who likes to drink at the café late into the night. The
old man likes the shadows of the leaves on the well-lit café terrace. Rumor has it
that he tried to hang himself, he was once married, he has a lot of money, and his
niece takes care of him. He often gets drunk at the café and leaves without paying.
 The older Waiter: A compassionate man who understands why the old man may
want to stay late at the café. The older waiter enjoys staying late at cafés as well.
He thinks it’s very important for a café to be clean and well lit, and he sees the
café as a refuge from despair. Rather than admit that he is lonely, he tells himself
that he has insomnia.
 The Younger Waiter: An impatient young man who cares only about getting
home to his wife. The younger waiter is usually irritated with the old man because
he must stay late and serve him drinks. He does not seem to care why the old man
stays so long. His only concern is leaving as quickly as possible
3. Theme
 Solidarity: The older waiter expresses solidarity with the old man, and the climax
of this sense of solidarity is also the climax of the story.
 Good conduct: Like much of Hemingway’s fiction, “A Clean, Well-Lighted
Place” is concerned with ethical conduct and the upholding of certain rules.
 The unknowable and nothingness: “Nada,” or “nothing,” is the central word in
the story, which treats human life as fundamentally beyond understanding, or even
meaningless.