Theme and Symbolism in "Only Partly Here"

Essential Question: How do we analyze and interpret characters in story?

We read the beginning of "Only Partly Here" by Lucius Sheppard.  We identified certain repeating themes.  We noticed that certain items were blue.  The shoe Bobby finds is blue, the "silhouette of the dancing lady" is in blue neon, and the bar is called "The Blue Lady."  Our characters are at Ground Zero sifting through the rubble of 9/11.  They are recovery workers.

What can we tell about the personalities of the main characters of Bobby, Mazurek, and Pineo?  What is the lady at the end of the bar like?  Describe the characteristics of each character in this graphic organizer.  Cite specific examples from the text using page and paragraph number.