Practice Inserting Quotes with “Appointment in Samarra”

1. Practice Inserting Quotes with “Appointment in Samarra” Excellent Work

2. Your quote intro (NF) should tell who is talking, to whom, and when in the story. A1. Personification in “Appointment in Samarra” strongly affects the mood. The servant comes trembling to the merchant and says, “When I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.” Personification of Death introduces an eerie and surreal mood to this story. Everyone knows that the concept of “death” is always present in the world, but it strongly affects the reader to have it shown as a casual encounter in a public forum such as the marketplace. GaurikaMester

3. Connect the quote to the topic A2. Personification in “Appointment in Samarra” strongly affects the mood. When the merchant seeks out Death the next morning to inquire about the threatening gesture his servant had reported, Death denies having threatened the servant saying, “It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.” This quote creates a surprising sort of ironically sad mood because the reader knows that in going to Samarra, he servant was trying to escape death, but really death was going to meet him in Samarra. Darius Hannah

4. Your quote intro (NF) should tell who is talking, to whom, and when in the story. B3. The first person point of view by Death makes her seem more acceptable and approachable for the reader.After the servant had ridden away on the horse, the merchant meets up with Death. Death recalls, “He saw me standing in the market and he came to me” to talk. It is startling for the reader to have the character of death speak up about the actions of the merchant, revealing herself to be the narrator of the story even. The first person perspective makes her less like the scary stereotype of a hooded figure and therefore more approachable for the reader. Sophia Elky

5. Connect the quote to the topic B4. The first person point of view by Death makes her seem more acceptable and approachable for the reader. After the merchant approaches Death in the market and accuses her of threatening the servant, Death responds, “That was not a threatening gesture…only a start of surprise.”This response doesn’t sound like a response from an evil being, but from a regular, approachable woman in an average marketplace. Darren Kasoff

6. Your turn C. Appointment in Samarra shows that it is impossible to avoid one’s own fate. In this story, the servant meets Death in Bagdad and flees to Samarra to avoid her. Death is confronted by the servant’s master and says, “I ws surprised to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment in with him tonight in Samarra.” This shows that your fate is unavoidable because even thought the servant fled to avoid Death, in fact, it was his fate to die in the city to which he fled. His fate was to meet Death all along. Kara Siglin