Discussion: What it takes to really get to know a person

In Assignment 6A from the exam in English on HF B from 20 August 2019, you are asked to discuss what it takes to really get to know a person with starting point in the short story “The Gift” by Karen Phillips. The exam question also asks you to use at least two of the following phrases in your discussion: on the one hand, although, since, on the other hand, likewise, yet, in spite of, to sum up.

“The Gift” introduces us to a female narrator who has been through a divorce and who finds out that her ex-husband is marrying a woman who is completely different from her: “…I didn’t expect Ron to find my replacement quite so quickly, and somehow I thought he would choose a stronger, less tired version of me. Instead, he’s chosen Amelia of the pink back door and expensive salmon dinners.” (ll. 34-36)

Although she expected Ron to find someone else, his choice surprises the narrator and makes her question if she really knew him. The narrator and her husband ...