Some of us had been threatening our friend Colby' is a book by Donald Barthelme. Details on what Colby actually did and his friends' attitudes towards him remain vague throughout the story. Take up the quiz on the book and see if you understood the literature techniques used within the book.
The omission creates understatement
The omission creates mystery
The omission creates satire
The omission creates irony.
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Capital punishment has been done away with absolutely
We'd probably have to fly one in from England or Spain or one of the South American countries
Then the question of the hangman came up
The noose could be adjusted to the appropriate level and Colby could just jump off something -- a chair or stool or something
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This statement identifies Howard as the fairest individual in the group of friends.
This statement highlights Colby’s traits that leads to his punishment, meriting his death.
This statement is ironic because the group’s decision to execute Colby is unreasonable.
This statement is said at the beginning of the story, setting up the increasingly ridiculous decisions in the event-planning process.
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The harm inflicted by friends who wish to help.
Intentional ostracism of someone based on arbitrary factors.
The danger in creating a social structure based on relative moral codes
The triumph and honor in accepting negative consequences.
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To show how the narrator begins to feel sympathy for Colby until Colby gives him a pitiful look, which causes the narrator aggravation at his friend’s weakness in the face of justice.
Colby, who has been vehemently fighting his fate throughout the entire story, finally accepts the punishment for his actions and, through his grateful look, acknowledges the sentence as justified.
To show how the narrator begins to sympathize with Colby as his gratitude humanizes him, however any doubts about the moral validity of their actions are immediately stifled as the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the system.
Colby, who has been halfheartedly trying to escape his sentence, has the chance to accept his punishment with dignity, but he cowers in fear at the prospect of a painful death, as evidenced by the grateful look he gives the sympathetic narrator.
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The characters' suggest what he did to “go too far”.
It is generally understood what it means to “go too far”.
The characters’ response to the action is more important than the action itself.
It is generally understood that death is always the consequence of “going too far”.
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It highlights the need for additional death penalty laws
It intensifies the debate with death penalty law we have in our society.
It reassures people that the death penalty is the best solutions that we currently have in our legal system.
It illustrates the fact that the death penalty may just not be the only solution we have in a democracy.
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