Second-hand+World

Christian Cleere Colleen Carscallen English 102 4 March 2015 Secondhand World Secondhand World was a very interesting short story. It was in first person for the first segment, and third person for the second. In the first part, there is an 18 year old describing the recovery process of severe burns. The narrator talks about simple things to do to help keep your mind off of the pain. The second segment of the story was a riddle. The riddle was about a plane traveling from NY to Canada and crashing. When the rescue team gets to the scene 2 days later they are unsure whether to bury the survivors in the US or Canada. The trick is that you don't bury the survivors and they keep living and dealing with the traumatic near death experience. The two separate stories, seemingly irrelevant, are actually related. Secondhand World was actually Katherine Min's first novel. I tried to do a little bit of research on fires that happened in NY during June 1976 but I could not find much information. I found it interesting that in the first segment the narrator was an 18 year old. This 18 year old seems very affected by what has happened to him and his family. There is a very depressed tone for this segment. The second segment opens up with a much different, almost excited tone. The whole first paragraph in the second segment is a riddle. The riddle is concluded by the narrators input on the puzzle. The narrator begins to resolve he puzzle but then begins to take it a step farther. The survivors in the riddle are then expanded on and reviled to be forever scarred by the event they lived through. Normally one would not dwell on the lives of the fictional characters. The title “Secondhand World” gives the idea that the world is being inherited and is no longer in its original form. I have concluded that the title gives the idea that the lives in the stories are forever affected by the events they have been through (fire or plane crash). They were given a second chance at life and have inherited pain and suffering that will always haunt them.
 * Traumatic Events
 * Recovery
 * Distractions
 * Focus
 * Imagery

Wiki 2 Internet Resource: Information on Katherine Min This site is Katherine Min's faculty page for The University of North Carolina Asheville. It is a beneficial site to use because it gives her perception on writing. It also has a list of all of her literary works. The site also shows the classes she is teaching and has taught. Her education is listed as well.

Database Resource: Articles on [|Secondhand World] This article is a brief review on the short story "Secondhand World" by Katherine Min. This summary shows the authors ideas on how to perceive the short story. The writer describes the setting of the short story within the novel and gives the reader a better understanding on what is actually happening in the short story.

Works Cited: "Faculty." //Katherine Min //. Web. 1 Apr. 2015. <http://literature.unca.edu/faces/faculty/katherine-min>.

Web. 1 Apr. 2015. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=lec_infores&tabID=T001&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|A163064740&&docId=GALE|A163064740&docType=GALE&role=LitRC>.