Genre
Short stories
Setting and Context
Set in the 20th century in the United States of America
Narrator and Point of View
Written in the third person-narrative and first-person narrative in "Wife Days" and "Workhorse," respectively.
Tone and Mood
Wistful and Apprehensive
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are the discontented women, and the antagonists are the burdens they bear.
Major Conflict
Reagan and the divorced women have a conflict with grief they have to manage to survive.
Climax
The climax comes when Reagan and fellow central characters discover how to deal with their grief.
Foreshadowing
Reagan’s troubled future is foreshadowed by the death of her mother.
Understatement
In "Workhorse," Marianna plays down the insinuation of Zach's kindness.
Allusions
The story "Wife Days" alludes to the 1935 Coca-Cola advert and Miss Lake George 1932.
Imagery
Reagan describes the activities in her range to paint a clear image to follow the unfolding events in the reader's mind.
Paradox
The divorce in "Workhorse" is paradoxical because no paperwork is involved.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The ranch is personified as being friendly.
