“All Summer in a Day” and “Bullet in The Brain”

1. How does each story lead you into its climactic moment? 

“All Summer in a Day” leads us into the climactic moment when the children finally experience the sun, which causes them to feel guilt. As they finally get a glimpse of what the sun is, they are devastated by the loss when it disappears for another seven years. The sun’s rare appearance is what changes their perspective about Margot. In “Bullet in The Brain”, the event that leads to the climax is Anders’ unrestrained critique towards the bank robbers. Because Anders continues to provoke the robbers, it leads to a gun under his chin, which forces the narrative through a series of memories. This is the climax because Anders spent most of his life critiquing ordinary or overused situations, but the gun to his head finally exposes all of his memories that molded his life as a consequence.

2. What does each stretch out its climactic moment when it arrives?

In “All Summer in a Day”, the climactic moment that gets stretched out is the moment when the children realize that they have left sun-inhibited Margot in the closet. After having now experienced the pleasure brought by the sun on Venus’ dreary environment, the children are struck by the terrible deed they committed by locking Margot away during the one moment she had been wishing for her whole life. The moment when the class looks at each other in hesitation has uncomfortable tension, which the author takes advantage of by stretching it. As for “Bullet in The Brain”, Anders’ series of memories is stretched out to highlight moments when he appreciated imperfections. This is stretched to reveal what kind of person he used to be to contrast it with the person he is in the present. Before he gets shot, the reader is able to observe the large difference between his critical mind and his more accepting mind.