Tuesday, March 31, 2009

10A Homework due Thursday

In the comments section of this post, I have posted the rest of the plot division of Leiningen versus the Ants. You must have this copied into your notes by Thursday.

1 comment:

Miss Jones said...

I. Exposition/Introduction

 Characters:
Leiningen: Leiningen is characterized by being very calm, resolute, and confident in his intelligence. His motto is: “The human brain needs only to become fully aware of its powers to conquer even the elements.” (81)
400 native plantation workers (82)
The ants, first referred to as “they” to build suspense (81)
 Setting: A plantation in Brazil, probably around the early 1900’s.
 Conflict: Leiningen’s plantation is being attacked by 20 square miles of ants, which is about 32 square kilometers. (81, 83)
II. Rising Action
1. The Brazilian official tells Leiningen that the ants are coming (81)
2. Leiningen assembles his workers and tells them the situation. He tells those who are afraid to leave, but all stay because they trust him. (82)
3. A stampede of jungle animals reveals the impending arrival of the ants. (82)
4. Leiningen and his men prepare for the arrival by sending the women, children, and livestock away and by taking up different defensive positions along his first defense, a large ditch that is filled with water from the nearby river. (82)
5. 20 square miles of ants approach and slowly line up along the outlying ditch.
6. Once they have all assembled, the ants rush into the ditch and use the dead bodies of drowned ants as bridges to cross. (84)
7. Leiningen and his men defend the ditch by spraying the ants with petrol and sinking them with clods of dirt and sand. This works for awhile but also starts to fill up the ditch, so it can’t be done forever. (84)
8. One of Leiningen’s men is attacked by the ants as they climb onto his shovel and he is bitten many times. (85)
9. The power of the water in the ditch begins to increase because the dam’s gate had been opened more. This makes it more difficult for the ants to cross, so they retreat for the night. (85)
10. The next morning, Leiningen surveys his plantations and finds the ants cutting down leaves and making leaf boats to cross the ditch (85)
11. Leiningen orders his men to bring petrol to stop them and sees a large stag attacked and devoured by the ants, reduced to bare bones in 6 minutes. He sees that in one area, the ants have almost crossed the ditch. (85)
12. Leiningen tells his men to alternate the speed of the water by moving the dam’s gate up and down so that they can flush away the bridge, but it’s not entirely successful. (86)
13. The ants cross the first barrier, so Leiningen and his men retreat to the area within his second ditch, which is filled with petrol rather than water. He calls this his “inner moat.” (86)
14. The men are safe but the ants devour everything outside of the inner moat, including Leiningen’s crops (88)
15. The ants begin to gather twigs and leaves to form another bridge to cross the petrol ditch. (88)
16. Once the ditches are filled with ants, Leiningen sets the petrol on fire and burns them (89)
17. Many ants are destroyed but they don’t give up. Leiningen fills the hot trench again with petrol and the ants attack again. He burns them again, and this continues several times. (89)
18. The petrol reserve starts to get low and there is also something blocking one of the pipes, so it becomes clear that something else must be done or they will be devoured by the ants (90)
19. Leiningen realizes that the only way he can defeat the ants is if he floods his entire plantation (90)

III. CLIMAX

1. Leiningen ‘arms’ himself and prepares to race to the dam. He instructs his men to burn the last of the petrol once he passes the inner moat. (91)
2. He races to the dam and begins to feel the ants bite him when he’s halfway there. He continues to race and reaches the dam’s gate. He opens it as wide as possible and the plantation begins to flood (90,91)
3. Leiningen begins to race back and he starts to really feel the painful and debilitating effects of the ants’ poison. (91)
4. Leiningen reaches the inner ditch, which is still burning. He sees a figure through the flames and then passes out from the pain and the poison. (91)

IV. Falling Action
1. The native workers take Leiningen into the house (91)
2. The plantation is completely flooded, except for the farmhouse, the barns, and the storehouses, which are located on an elevated area of land. (92)
3. The ants are destroyed, drowning and burning to death because they are trapped between the fire of the petrol ditch and the water from the river. (92)
V. CONCLUSION/RESOLUTION

1. Leiningen, laying in bed and recovering from his wounds, hears the reports of the workers concerning his plantation. (92)

2. He reminds his men that he would come back, and jokes about how he is skinny now that he’s lost so much flesh to the ant’s attack. He then drops off to sleep. (92)