“But what just did she want?”

Helga Crane is having an existential crisis.

happiness: feelings; BEAUTIFUL things, attention

happiness is harder to understand than hate.

Whose thoughts? Helga’s, through the narrator. Are there moments when the narrator tells more than what Helga knows?

the school as machine, cutting everyone out into the same pattern, all accepting of the Naxos mentality.

Helga wants to leave Naxos: this could mean unemployment, venturing into new communities, dealing with different people, money, not having something set up to go to, schedule, benefits (housing!), relationships (only one, with James Vayle), no family to back her up, references, she’s young (22).

James Vayle: he likes his position at the school. Helga’s fiance. they started working at Naxos at the same time, but he assimilated quickly while she has not fit in. He is close with his large, high-standing family.

Project #1:

thesis statement: at the end of the first paragraph.

introduction moves from topic to thesis statement

thesis statement: a roadmap to the rest of your essay, specific to the stories and topics you write about.