Genre
Short story collection
Setting and Context
Set in Amsterdam and written in the context of female sexuality and relationships.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-party narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is romantic, and the mood is cheerful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character in ‘Text for the Day’ is Melissa.
Major Conflict
A conflict exists between a husband and his late wife's memories in 'A Story Folding and Unfolding.'
Climax
The climax comes in 'Text for the day' after Melissa disappears without notice, leaving her boyfriend panicking.
Foreshadowing
The break up between the young woman and her ex in ‘The Quick One’ is foreshadowed by confusing memories.
Understatement
Elizabeth and Jenny underestimate the difficulties of setting expectations within a friendship in the story ‘Jenny Robertson, Your Friend in Not Coming.'
Allusions
The stories allude to feminine sexuality and relations.
Imagery
The virtuousness of life is depicted using the imagery of school and innocence.
Paradox
The main paradox is in the story 'Free Love,' where a young lady uses her liberty to travel and overcome her sexual subjugation.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The skipping stones in the story ‘The Unthinkable Happens to People Every Day’ are used as a metonymy for astuteness.
Personification
N/A