Genre
A short story
Setting and Context
The events take place in a diner; neither time nor context is established.
Narrator and Point of View
It is first-person narration, and the narrator is a girl named Sally.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood of the story are calm and and secure.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the narrator – Sally; the antagonist is her boss Charlie.
Major Conflict
The conflicts of race and gender are brought up in the story.
Climax
The climax comes when John, the alien, leaves the diner with the government guys.
Foreshadowing
Charlie’s agitation and furious look foreshadow a conflict
Understatement
The purpose of the aliens coming to the Earth is understated.
Allusions
There is an allusion to the film “Casablanca”, and to the Pentagon as a headquarters of the USA’s Department of Defense.
Imagery
See the imagery section
Paradox
One paradox involves the hostile attitude to John when he enters the diner – he showed no signs of any aggression, but still was greeted with scary looks.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“I’ve seen the close-ups on TV” (close-ups means the information which the narrator watched on TV – in this case it is information about the aliens)
“The Pentagon will hold them off” (Pentagon is a synecdoche for people who serve the USA Department of Defense)
Personification
N/A
