First Stage Notes Second Stage Notes

1. A: Ellen seems to be a kind and thoughtful 1. A: It's essential to note Ellen's

person throughout the story but does act behaviors as they help make clear
selfishly or impatiently during parts of the her actions in the story. At the
story. Later in the story, she becomes delusional beginning of the story, Ellen seems
due to losing her baby. Her mindset in the story like a pretty reasonable person in
is that she wants to escape the farm life because conversation, she seems mentally
she is very lonely. She wants to move away to and emotionally drained probably
the city to have a better life. Her motivation to because of the dust storm she had
do this is for her child to have a better future. been enduring, but she is still
Another motivation of hers is that she wants reasonable. An example of this is
more, she is still young and wants to enjoy life. when Paul comes back to the house
Paul, on the other hand, Is quite ignorant, after working the farm and Ellen
emotionless, and quite prideful at times in the and Paul begin to talk about how
story but is also very hardworking and they feel about their current life.
dedicated to his family. He fears emotion as Ellen voices her urge to leave the
well as failure. He is also very traditional and farm as well as her desperation to
that tradition fuels his pride. His mindset convince Paul to leave the farm, “I
throughout the story was to tend to his crops can’t stand here any longer. He cries
and persevere through the harsh conditions he all the time. You will go, Paul-say
was facing to bring the farm back to its former you will. We aren’t living here-not
glory. His motivation was, similarly to Ellen's, really living-” This quote touches
the future and well-being of their child and that on how Ellen's current life is a bleak
he has to succeed as he is carrying the burden of one and how she wants to move
being the provider of the family. away and live a better life. It also
B: The story's setting seems to be a desolate displays her compassion for her
Canadian prairie during the Great Depression baby. At the end of the story
and the Dust Bowl at the time. The social though, Ellen is in a delusional state
setting is that the family is quite literally alone after attempting to get away with
as they have no one else to socialize with other her baby which results in the death
than themselves. The physiological setting is of her child. Ellen doesn’t seem to
that Ellen feels as if the farm is a cage she is pay too much attention to the death
trapped in and wants to flee. The emotional of her child as seen when she
setting is one of isolation and loneliness as well comments on how tomorrow will be
as hopelessness. fine which is ironic as it would be
C: The Major conflict present in the story is the complete opposite. Paul’s
whether the family should stay on the farm behavior throughout the story stays
which is Paul's idea or if they should leave and mostly the same in that he is a cold
move to the city which is Ellen's idea. Some person who takes pride in his farm
other conflicts presented, both internal conflicts, and doesn’t let anyone tell him
are Ellens's difficulty with making decisions otherwise. An example of this is
even as small as holding the baby or hugging during Ellen and Paul’s argument,
Paul, and Paul's internal conflict on whether he Paul continually expresses how
is right in his own decisions what they have is enough and that
D: The POV I recognized in the story was third the dust will clear up soon and he
person. sometimes makes assumptions
E: regarding Ellen's feelings.
- "Poor communication within (“Tonight, though, you’ll see it go
 relationships and desolate surroundings down…,” “I told you this morning,
can leave an individual feeling isolated Ellen; we keep on right where we
and trapped." are. At least I do. It's yourself
- “Being too hopeful and being hopeless you’re thinking about, not the
is the same in that both can lead to an baby.”). This shows how Paul is
individual's destruction.” quite cold toward Ellen and how
F: Some literary devices present in the story are ignorant he can be. Near the end of
the Lamp, wind, and land being symbols of the story, when Paul leaves the
hope and hopelessness, the conflict between the house after His and Ellen’s
two of them, and the dire situation they are in. argument, He goes to the stables to
Some other literary elements present were feed his horses where he begins to
similes (“ distraught like a bird who has felt the think about Ellen and what she had
graze of talons on its wings…”), Irony (Paul did said. Paul, throughout the story, is
not want to take charity but had to take loans to quite prideful and always thinks that
survive), pathetic fallacy (“Demented Wind”), things will get better and his farm
and foreshadowing (“See, Paul - I stand like this will flourish, but after the storm has
all day. I just stand still - so caged! If only I cleared up, the land “Lay black,
could run”). naked. Beaten and mounded smooth
2. While I don’t know any other texts that truly with dust as if a sea in gentle swell
connect to this story, I do have a personal had turned stone.” I believe this is
experience that helped me better understand when Paul, even with his loyalty to
Paul's character in that I was always told to “be the land and the pride had had in it,
a man” and that a man takes initiative and to not that Ellen might be right, that he
let anyone tell you otherwise. This has affected was a fool. At the end of the story
me in similar ways to that of Paul where I had when Paul finds Ellen, in her
feelings of regret and I pondered if the choices I delusional state, and their dead
had made were the right ones. child, the effects the storm had on
3. - What could the prairie land represent in the Ellen dawned on him as he couldn’t
story and what could the author be trying to even find words to say.
convey with it? B: Each setting plays an important
- How do gender roles play a part in the story role in the story and how the
and how did they shape the characters' dynamic between the characters
perspectives and experiences? plays out. The physical setting plays
4. “See Paul - I stand like this all day. I just stand an integral role in the development
still - so caged! If I could only run!” of the characters in that it is set
“Are you blind? Thistles and tumbleweeds—it's during the Great Depression as well
a desert. You won't have a straw this fall. You as the Dust Bowl and is in the
won't be able to feed a cow or a chicken. Please, Canadian prairies. The financial
Paul, say we'll go away.” struggle of regular folk during the
"I'll take him again. Such clumsy hands—you great depression coupled with the
don't know how to hold a baby yet. See how his harsh conditions that the Dustbowl
head falls forward on your arm." brought emphasizes the isolation
5. Some Inferences that I made regarding the story and desperation felt in the story. If
is the story was say set in modern-day
- The protagonists' isolation in "The Canada, I feel like the story
Lamp at Noon" shows the significant wouldn’t have the same gravitas as
effect that solitude can have on their the situation isn’t as dire as it was.
mental and emotional well-being. The social setting is that the family
- The never-ending dust storm in "The is quite alone as they have no one
Lamp at Noon" symbolizes a broader else to socialize with other than
 human struggle for adaptation to and themselves. It is never stated in the
overcoming harsh environmental story that Ellen has any friends to
conditions. talk to which I would make the
6. Unfamiliar vocabulary: inference that she doesn’t have any
- Eaves (Page 140) friends she can socialize with which
- Granary (Page 140) I think plays a large part in her
- Wizened (Page 140) descent into delusion as human
- Muslin (Page 141) interaction is a very, very important
aspect of life as without it, even if
you are surrounded by family like
Ellen is, you can feel quite lonely.
The physiological setting is that
Ellen feels as if the farm is a cage
she is trapped in and wants to flee.
This is evident in the quote “See
Paul - I stand like this all day. I just
stand still - so caged! If I could only
run!” This is important to the story
as it explains why Ellen ran away
and how being cooped up on the
farm has affected her mental health.
C: The major conflict I recognized
was whether the family should stay
at the farm which is what Paul
wants (“We’ll have crops again,”
“Good crops-The land will come
back. It's worth waiting for.”), or if
the family should move to the city
and possibly work for her father
which is what Ellen desires (“Even
as a desert it's better than sweeping
out your father's store and running
his errands…”). I see this conflict as
the main plot point of the entire
story and it perpetuates character
actions like Ellens's action of
running away and Paul's realizing
his mistakes. I also recognize two
other internal conflicts that play a
part in the story. Those being
Ellens's difficulty making decisions
even as small as holding the baby
(“She would like to rock him, to
feel the comfort of his little body in
her arms, but a fear obsessed
her…”) and I feel like this fear
plays a part in her rash decision to
run away. The second conflict I
noticed was Paul on whether he is
making the right decisions which is
evident on page 147 from lines
18-36 where he questions if the
future he had planned out was just a
dream that would not come to
Flouishen.
D: The POV I recognized in the
story was third person, specifically
limited. I see this as they use vocab
like him, they, her and the story
doesn’t give information that the
characters themselves wouldn’t feel
or know (“The eyes frightened
him..” “They creaked and
sawed…”)
E: “Being too hopeful and being
hopeless is the same in that both can
lead to an individual's
self-destruction.” I feel as though
this theme statement sums up the
story pretty well in that Paul is very
hopeful that the farm would return
to glory eventually which blinded
him to Ellen’s feelings which led to
the death of their baby. Ellen feels
that trying to save the farm is
hopeless and that they should leave.
Paul's constant neglectment coupled
with her desperation to escape the
isolation she is in leads to her
running away which results in the
death of her baby. Both Paul and
Ellen’s outlook on their situation led
to the same result which is their life
crumbling apart.
F: The literary devices I found
helped add to the overall plot of the
story, The biggest one being the
symbolism present in the story. The
lamp was a symbol of hope as well
as hopelessness. I say this because
throughout most of the story, the
lamp is lit which symbolizes that
Ellen and Paul still have hope on
the farm, but when Paul heads to
back the the farm to check on Ellen
and finds the house empty, he also
sees that the lamp had gone out.
This foreshadowed that Ellen had
lost all hope in the farm which is
why she ran away. The other
 symbol was the storm which I feel
was a symbol of Paul and Ellen's
conflict. This is evident in that the
storm was persistently raging
throughout a majority of the story
as for the majority of it Paul and
Ellen were arguing. The storm only
cleared up when Ellen ran and the
baby died which I believed meant
that the storm was ‘over’ in the
sense that the two had another
problem that trumped their issues.
The other literary devices I feel
added further description for the
reader to bite on and connect to.
Some examples of this are the
foreshadowing in the story like
“See, Paul-I stand like this all day. I
just stand still caged! If I could only
run.” This shows how Ellen feels
like she is caged, a prisoner in her
own home, and how she has the
desire to escape her cage. This
foreshadowed her action of running
away from home.
2. For me, I relate to this story,
specifically to Paul, through my
own experiences. I was always told
growing up that a man had a set role
he had to play. I was told that a man
cannot show emotion that a man
should be the provider as well as the
backbone of the family and that a
man must prove himself. I feel like
this is similar to what Paul thinks in
the story as he has these traditional
values of men and women and he’d
be dammed if he didn’t stand by
them. Some examples of this are
“...That is was his self-respect and
manhood against the fretful
weakness of a woman…”, and
“That was something to work for, a
way to prove himself.”
3. 1. What could the prairie land
represent in the story and what
could the author be trying to convey
with it? I felt that the prairie wasn’t
just a physical setting, but a symbol
of isolation and desolation. In the
 story, the prairie is quite barren, like
a desert, due to the raging dust
storm. There is also rarely mention
of other individuals on the prairie
besides their neighbors who they
did not talk to in detail. I think what
the author is trying to convey with
this is that in such an isolated and
quite literally dead environment,
both physically and socially, an
individual can feel a sort of
bleakness in life, like what they are
doing right now has no real future
to it.
2. How do gender roles play a part
in the story and how did they shape
the characters' perspectives and
experiences? I felt like gender roles
were most definitely present in the
story as during Paul and Ellen’s
argument, it is stated that Paul is
more emotionless and cold while
Ellen is more vulnerable and
emotional toward Paul. Ellen sees
Paul as a wall that she can put all
her emotion into and it won’t
crumble (“She wanted to hug him,
to feel his arms supporting her, to
cry a little just that he might soothe
her…”).
4. “See Paul - I stand like this all day. I
just stand still - so caged! If I could
only run!”
Significance: This quote has
significance because it expresses
Ellen's deep sense of frustration and
imprisonment. She expresses her
longing for freedom and an escape
from their farm's solitude. It
portrays her internal struggle and
desire for a different life,
emphasizing the mental and
emotional toll that their isolated
lifestyle has placed on her.
“Are you blind? Thistles and
tumbleweeds—it's a desert. You
won't have a straw this fall. You
won't be able to feed a cow or a
chicken. Please, Paul, say we'll go
away.”
 Significance: This quotation
stresses Paul's practical worries
regarding their farm and their
livelihood. It illustrates his
dedication to persevere and make
the farm work despite the
challenging conditions. Ellen's plea
for them to go shows her sense of
helplessness and concern for their
future. This quote highlights the
tension between Paul's devotion to
the farm and Ellen's desire for a
more secure and less solitary
lifestyle.
"I'll take him again. Such clumsy
hands—you don't know how to hold
a baby yet. See how his head falls
forward on your arm."
Significance: In light of Ellen's
delusional state following the death
of their baby, this quote takes on a
truly sad and heartbreaking tone.
Ellen's remark regarding Paul's
carelessness with the infant
illustrates her changed perspective
of reality during her delusory crisis.
It highlights her confusion and
sorrow as she believes Paul is
incapable of caring for their child.
This quote emphasizes the
catastrophic impact of grief and
mental instability, emphasizing their
family's profound tragedy and the
disorienting influence it has on
Ellen's vision of the world around
her.
5. The protagonists' isolation in "The
Lamp at Noon" shows the
significant effect that solitude can
have on their mental and emotional
well-being.
Explanation: In "The Lamp at
Noon," Sinclair Ross effectively
depicts the awful solitude felt by the
main characters, Ellen and Paul, on
their farm during a seemingly
endless dust storm. This isolation
had a negative impact on their
mental and emotional health,
leading to greater tension and
 depression. Ellen's urge for
connection and Paul's drive to keep
the farm running intensify their
emotional battle. The story serves
as a commentary on the adverse
consequences of solitude, stressing
how it can lead to loneliness and
desperation, harming the characters'
mental and emotional states. Ross
uses this depiction to emphasize the
difficulties that people had during
that era, demonstrating how the
harsh environment and isolation
challenged people's strength and
sanity, making it a compelling
investigation of the human
condition in the face of hardship.
- The never-ending dust storm in
"The Lamp at Noon" symbolizes a
broader human struggle for
adaptation to and overcoming harsh
environmental conditions.
Explanation: In "The Lamp at
Noon," the persistent dust storm
that engulfs the characters' farm
represents the larger human effort to
cope with and overcome hard
environmental circumstances. This
ferocious storm exemplifies the
hardship of that era, depicting
devastating droughts, soil erosion,
and crop failures. It is a metaphor
for the constant challenges that
individuals and communities
encounter in surviving unfavorable
conditions. This metaphor is used in
the story to draw attention to the
environmental effects of human
actions and the determination of
individuals who persist in the face
of environmental degradation.
6. Eaves: This is the part of a roof that
meets or overhangs the walls of a
building. The wind made a whistle
when going through the eaves.
- Granary: a storehouse for threshed
grain.
- Wizened: shriveled or wrinkled
with age.
- Muslin: lightweight cotton cloth in
a plain weave.