“With All Flags Flying” by Anne Tyler

1. “With All Flags Flying”by Anne Tyler Interrupted Reading

2. Directions • The first paragraph of “With All Flags Flying” has been divided into five sections. Please complete your work about each section before going to the next. • Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator • After you finish the five sections, briefly describe both the narrator and the tone of the paragraph

3. Definitions of terms • Syntax = sentence structure • Diction = word choice • Detail = particulars, specific and descriptive information

4. Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator Section #1: Weakness was what got him in the end.

5. Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator Section #2: He had been expecting something more definite—chest pains, a stroke, arthritis—but it was only weakness that put a finish to his living alone.

6. Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator Section #3: A numbness in his head, an airy feeling when he walked. A wateriness in his bones that made it an effort to pick up his coffee cup in the morning.

7. Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator Section #4: He waited some days for it to go away, but it never did.

8. Analyze the section, taking into account what syntax, diction and detail reveal about the narrator Section #5: Meanwhile the dust piled up in corners; the refrigerator wheezed and creaked for want of defrosting. Weeds grew around his rosebushes.

9. Analyze how syntax, diction and detail convey meaning inparagraph one of “With All Flags Flying.” Weakness was what got him in the end. He had been expecting something more definite—chest pains, a stroke, arthritis—but it was only weakness that put a finish to his living alone. A numbness in his head, an airy feeling when he walked. A wateriness in his bones that made it an effort to pick up his coffee cup in the morning. He waited some days for it to go away, but it never did. Meanwhile the dust piled up in corners; the refrigerator wheezed and creaked for want of defrosting. Weeds grew around his rosebushes.