The Buggy

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The Buggy by Roddy Doyle (2024)

Presenters: Davis, Sika, Mattia

Title: The Buggy by Roddy Doyle

• What we'll talk about: How the author uses different literary techniques to make the story more emotional.

• Key Terms: Characterization, Flashback, and Symbolism.

A man is taking a walk near the beach.

sees a baby buggy (stroller) parked right by the edge of the water, looking very lonely and dangerous, with no parents or people around it.

He waits and watches to see if someone comes back for it. While he waits, he starts thinking deeply about his own past life and memories.

When he finally gets closer to look at the empty buggy, it makes him feel a very heavy sadness about loss and things that happened in his past.

Summary:

Characterization:

Characterization is how the writer develops a character

Direct: the writer directly tells you what a character is like.
Indirect: the writer tells indirectly what a character is like

Flat: the character doesn't change much during the story

Round: the character is complex and may change during the story

Subject: The Old Man
Object: To feel useful heroic again
Helper: His memories of the past
Adversary: Old age and anxiety
Resolution: He lies to his son to boost his ego and feel like a hero

What???

types of characters:

Character table:

Types of Characterization:

Flashbacks:

Flashback
A flashback is when a story goes back to events that happened in the past.

In The Buggy, the old man reflects on his past experiences. These memories help the reader understand his life and how he has
changed over time.

To give information about the past.
To explain a character’s feelings.
To connect past experiences with the present.

Why???

What???

How???

Symbolism:

Using an object to represent a deeper meaning beyond its literal sense.

What???

To communicate deeper themes and emotions without stating them directly.

to add a deeper meaning to everyday objects in the story.

Why???

The Freezing Water: Symbolizes the shock of waking up from his mental numbness and feeling alive again

How???

Class Activity:

game name: last-man-standing

Rules for the class:

1. Everyone stands up.

2. The game leader reads a statement about the story or terms.

3. True or False: If it is true, stay standing. If it is false, sit down fast.

4. If you make a mistake, you are out and must sit down for the rest of the game.

5. The questions get harder as you go.

6. The last person standing wins!

Question: In The Buggy, the main character immediately runs over to the empty stroller as soon as he sees it.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: Symbolism means using an object to represent a deeper meaning beyond its literal use.

True or False:

TRUE

Question: A flashback moves the narrative back to an event from the past.

True or False:

TRUE

Question: In the flashback at Killester station, it was his older son Seán who fell into the gap between the train and the platform.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: The main character is a round character.

True or False:

True

Question: To reach the buggy from where he is standing, the main character has to walk down the path, across sand and stones, and over a long wooden bridge.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: A flashback is only used to give random background facts and never changes how you view a character's current actions.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: In his childhood flashback, the protagonist's most vivid memory with his father involves helping him paint the kitchen walls.

True or False:

TRUE

Question: The protagonist successfully drives all the way to Arklow, changes into his brother's tracksuit, and then calls his son to tell him the story.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: Direct characterization is when an author forces the reader to guess a character's traits entirely through their hidden thoughts and actions without ever directly telling them.

True or False:

FALSE

Question: In his childhood memory of his father eating dinner, his father refused to change his paint-stained trousers because he claimed the food wouldn't taste any better in clean ones.

True or False:

TRUE

THANK YOU