Tasks, page 251

1.
a) What do you think is the significance of the opening sentence of the story?
 I think that the significance of the opening sentence of the story "Sharing doesn't work" is:
The children are very quarrelsome and wild. There are more children than Carrie can handle, and she feels that she doesn't have control. She calls them "s shoal of piranhas" because they can't share and they fight all the time
b) Sum up in your own words the dilemma facing Carrie in her new life in India
Carries is working with orphans in India, and her new life is stressful. The children are full of energy and steals enery from her. At one point she doesn't know if she can take it any longer. She stands in the middle of a dilemma, should she do what she want and leave or should she do what is morally right do do and stay.
c) How does Carrie's approach to the children differ from Didi's? Why do you think this is?
Didi keeps things in order. She takes care of all the physical needs like feeding and bathing the children. She is there just fulfilling the first two steps on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, physiological needs and safety. Carrie on the other hand, cares about the children in a completely different way. She plays with them and give them love.
d) What point of view is the story written from, and what effect does this have on our understanding of what goes on?
The story is written in the third persons view. This means that the author knows everything about the characters. We see the story from the outside. The point of view are altered occasionally, but in this case we mostly see it from Carrie's perspecive.
e) What do you think is the significance of the last sentence of the story?
The last sentence "She can feel his stiff body waiting for something more, more than touch, more than she can give, but she cannot move" creates an open ending. Just when Carrie is making her decision, in the end of the story, something comes up and it makes us want to read more. The little boy wants something Carrie knows she can't give him, and it is a very difficult situation for her. 
f) What do you see as being the theme of the text? 
I think that the theme of the text can be several things. Courage, love, charity and compassion. 

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3.
a) "The kids surge forward like a shoal of piranhas" The children are not used to share, because they have never had someone to learn them. Piranhas are known to be greedy and here the children are compared to piranhas. 
b) "...she's battered ny noise..." Describing it this way makes it more real for the reader. Carrie is surrounded by noise and you really feel like it when you reed that sentence. 
c) "...the edges of the maelstrom..." When something is really close to collapse. In this case, Carrie. 
d) "The children dissolve in a squirming puddle..." Refering to the children this way makes us think about them in a negative way.
e) "In this part of town, buildings are pressed thin by other buildings, rooms are compressed to corridors" The author used personification. This makes it easier for the reader to imagine the surroundings. And it gives a scary image. 
f) "Sharp voices ricochet off the walls" She is surrounded by constant, sharp and loud noise.