Short Story - February 24th, 2011 *The Masque of the Red Death

On Friday I will post the information for a classic short story that we have not read. You may choose to read the story online, in paper format and/or listen to an audio version. Please answer all questions using full sentences and paragraphs (where appropriate). You will be asked to respond to the following:

1)Describe the narrative point of view (4). Is it first person or third person? Is it limited or omniscient? Is the narration retrospective or written in present tense?
The narrative point of view is in third person, this is because the story is not written in dialogue or with 'I' in it. Along with the story being written in third person, it was taken place in a limited point of view, this is mainly because it is based around Prince Prospero. Lastly, the narration is written in present tense.

2)Where is the story set? Why do you think the author chose this setting for this particular story?(4)
The story is set in a very detailed castle. It has many 'apartments' in it, nine to be exact. Each with special features and certain details. I believe he chose the setting for this story because it is a very mythical story taken place in a time frame well earlier than ours, so the reason why this setting was so well to use with this story is because there is a thousand people being used, a dance happening and a fairy tale of a creature roaming around the country.
3)Who is the protagonist in the story? Who is the antagonist? What are each of them trying to accomplish? (4)
The protagonist in the story is Prince Prospero, a well known man in his community for his work. The reason he is the protagonist is because there is not much negativity going on in the story other than the fact that they are all going to die by the antagonist. In this case, Prince Prospero doesn't change throughout the story.
The antagonist in the story is the mythical 'Red Death' that haunts the outer barriers of the castle within. I believe that the antagonist is the 'Red Death' because it is the most feared character in this story, it is very un-reveling and shadowing the very interesting costume ball.
The protagonist is simply just trying to live in his castle life with his many friends in the abbey, meanwhile the antagonist is stalking the outside walls of his castle waiting for a chance to sneak in and destroy all which lies beneath.

4)What theme or themes does this story raise? (4)
The theme of the story was portrayed right at the very end of the short story. There was a reference from within the Bible stating ''peace and safety....shall not escape''. No one escapes death. Human happiness is the way to live now, and is was shown from Prince Prospero when the 'Red Death' came upon them, they all simply just put on some nice clothes and had a costume party. The way I like to hear it put is that live everyday to the fullest potential possible and you never know when death shall be upon you, it can come like a thief in the middle of the night.

5)Explain why you feel Prince Prospero is either a static, dynamic, three dimensional or a flat character. (4)
The Prince Prospero character is dynamic because he relates physically and mentally with the antagonist, either it was him having the worries of his castle members or the random interactions he had with it. I also believe this is true because the dynamic character does not have much change physically, but physchologically they drastically change.

6) In a well written paragraph, explain whether you would like to see this short story adapted into a film format. Use details from the story to explain why you would or would not like to see a film version of the 'The Masque of the Red Death'.
In the future I would very much enjoy to see this film produced into a movie because even after reading it I could picture myself being inside the story, being apart of the castle house people. The very interesting introduction of each room really sucked me into the story when reading it. I would be interested in seeing this film done really well because this is a childhood story that could easily grab the younger audiances attention, I would rate the movie pg-13 and have it filmed in three-dimensions to get the full effects.