Winning Words Lesson Guide (Adults) Winnning Words Lesson Plan Guide | Page 17

Suggested Answer

The clearest connection between Allison Cadogan’s title and her story is that the
title relates to the back and forth movement of the swing on which the narrator Calli
is swinging for most of the story.
However, the most significant link between the title and the story may be their shared
style of withholding information that we need to get an immediate, clear sense of the
story’s focus.
In a number of ways, this title prepares us for a story in which a lot is implied not
openly stated. It probably piques our interest first because it is only one word long
and what it means is uncertain. In addition, it is quite unusual to have a title with
suspension dots before and after it. This makes us to wonder what the story is about
and start reading to find out. We would also have learnt in English language classes
that suspension dots can show that something is interrupted. So we might wonder if
this applies to the story and what exactly has been interrupted. (Would you
consider the mother’s suicide as an “interruption” of life because she does not die by
natural causes [when God is ready for her]?)
In language classes we would have learnt too that suspension dots can show that
what is omitted is so obvious that it does not need to be spelt out (it goes without
saying). But until we read the story, there is a mystery in the title because no
meaning is obvious to us. (Having read the story, do you feel you now have a
complete understanding of what it addresses?) All in all, the story’s title and its style
match because both (probably) leave readers with unanswered questions.