Question

Visit to Lawnrest Nursing Home ​

The protagonist, Mike, visits his grandmother at Lawnrest Nursing Home after his sister Annie falls ill and cannot accompany him.
Mike feels conflicted about the visit, grappling with guilt and anxiety about entering a nursing home, which he associates with hospitals and death.
His mother, who frequently visits his grandmother, expresses concern about Mike's appearance, particularly his moustache, which has caused him issues with movie ticket pricing.

Grandmother's Condition

Mike's grandmother, once vibrant and full of life, now suffers from arteriosclerosis and memory loss, leading to her admission to the nursing home.
Despite her condition, she has moments of clarity, during which she recalls fond memories and expresses joy at Mike's visit.
The narrative highlights the emotional weight of their relationship, as Mike reflects on his grandmother's past and the impact of her illness on their connection.

Interactions and Memories

During their conversation, Mike's grandmother mistakenly believes he is her late husband, Michael, leading to poignant moments where she seeks forgiveness for past grievances.
She reminisces about their shared history, including a significant event that caused a rift in their relationship, revealing her vulnerability and longing for reconciliation.
Mike struggles with the emotional burden of her memories and the realization that she is not just his grandmother but a complex individual with her own life experiences.

Emotional Climax and Resolution

The visit culminates in a moment of tenderness where Mike, feeling overwhelmed, agrees to forgive her for past mistakes, despite the confusion surrounding their identities.
After a brief moment of connection, his grandmother's lucidity fades, leaving Mike feeling a mix of sadness and relief as he departs.
The narrative concludes with Mike shaving off his moustache, symbolizing a shift in his identity and a desire to move forward from the emotional weight of the visit.

Themes of Identity and Connection

The story explores themes of identity, as Mike grapples with his own sense of self in relation to his grandmother's memories and expectations.
It highlights the complexities of familial love, the impact of aging and memory loss, and the bittersweet nature of reconciling with the past.
Ultimately, the visit serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring bonds of family, even amidst the challenges of illness and memory.





Practice (page 7): Read “The Moustache,” a short story by Robert Cormier. Use what you have learned about alliteration and the repetition of sounds to answer the following prompts using the provided spaces below.
Prompt Answer
a. Identify all the examples of alliteration in the paragraph.

b. How does this alliteration reinforce the narrator’s feelings about the woman?

c. What do you notice about the rhythm of the sentences?

d. How do the sound devices affect you as a reader?


Rewrite that summary, using different words to express an experience of holding someone’s hands. Be sure to include alliteration, repetition, and rhyme where possible. Write your revision in the provided space below.

Answer 1

Here are short answers to the prompts (based on the summary you gave), followed by a rewritten paragraph that emphasizes the experience of holding someone’s hands and uses alliteration, repetition, and rhyme.

a. Examples of alliteration in the paragraph
- "grappling with guilt" (repetition of the /g/ sound)
- "moustache...movie" (repeated /m/ sound in nearby words)
- "moments...memories" (repeated /m/ sound)
- "poignant moments...past" (repeated /p/ sound in “poignant” and “past”)
- "mother...frequently" and other nearby /m/ sounds (clusters of /m/ create a recurring musicality)

b. How the alliteration reinforces the narrator’s feelings about the woman
- Repeated consonant sounds (especially the softer /m/ and the heavier /g/ and /p/) mirror the narrator’s emotional weight — melancholy, hesitation, and the gravity of memory and guilt. The repeated sounds pull attention to key words (guilt, memories, past), strengthening their emotional impact and making the grandmother’s history and the narrator’s conflicted feelings feel more present and resonant.

c. What you notice about the rhythm of the sentences
- The rhythm alternates between short, plain statements and longer, reflective clauses. That uneven cadence (quick staccato phrases beside lingering lines) mimics the stop-start nature of memory and conversation with someone whose lucidity comes and goes; it creates a hesitant, intimate tempo.

d. How the sound devices affect you as a reader
- Sound devices make the passage more musical and memorable. They emphasize emotional words, set the mood (somber, tender), and slow you down to feel the narrator’s uncertainty and the grandmother’s flashes of clarity. Overall they increase empathy and make small moments — a touch, a word, a memory — feel weightier.

Rewrite (focus on holding hands — uses alliteration, repetition, and rhyme)
I took her hand — small, soft, scarred by stories. My thumb traced the thin, trembling tracks on her skin; she met my touch and held on, held on, held on, as if practice could perfect the past. The squeeze was slow and sure, a steady song that soothed and said the same: stay, stay. Soft warmth spread, a small sun in a shrinking room; our hands fit like familiar halves, and for a moment the hush hummed long instead of short, long instead of gone. We kept that cadence — grip, release, repeat — and in that repeated rhythm forgiveness found a foothold: mend to end, friend to friend.