Questions

ACT 1 The Setup 

A) What is the story's setting? 

The story is set in a large urban city.

1. What epoch? 

In modern time.

2. What class or kind of society are we in? 

We're in normal democratic, capitalistic society.

3. What pressures on the characters does each environment exert? 

It poses the stress of safety, overcrowding, apathy towards other people, and the concern of money.

B) Characters. Who are they and what does each represent? 

- Lee is the superhero who doesn't quit even when he's failing. He's the representation of that guy who thinks he needs a girl to help or to save all the time, never quite listening long enough to realize otherwise.  No matter how pure his intentions, he doesn't ever quite get it.

- Lisa is a common girl with a spitfire personality and the representation of the girl who can take care of herself.

1. What are their names, characteristics, and relationships?

- Andrew Lee Ricker is the super hero.  He doesn't like his first name, so he uses his middle name instead.  He's blonde with a huge ego to match his huge smile.  He's had a few relationships in his day, but nothing real.  Love has always seemed to elude him.  He has always been given what he wanted, not what he needed.

- Elizabeth Eowyn Peters shortenes her first name because she thinks it takes too long to say.  She's usually soft spoken, but doesn't stand for injustice.  She's far from a "type A" personality.  She doesn't smile or talk much, but she laughs easy, and she always considers her words carefully.

2. Who is most important and why? 

They both are in their own way.  He's the one who attempts to save her.  However, she doesn't actually need him, so if i had to chose, I would probably say that she is the most important person.  The theme centers around her and her actions.  The fact that she doesn't need him makes the story the way it is, which would be completely different if she did actually need him.

3. What does each character represent in the work's design? 

I would say Lee represents the human's selfish, stubborn nature.  Lisa represents the willingness to change, to learn, and to not tolerate the norm.

4. What is the main character's agenda--what must he or she get, do, or accomplish?

She must first get herself out of the situation she is in, and then see the better side in someone who may not be the greatest person.

(Consider this for the story as a whole, then define agendas for each scene. Do they add up?) 

For each scene... He first has the agenda to save her.  She has the agenda to deal justice.  He has the agenda to be loved and to feed his ego. Then she has the desire to leave and be left alone.  He has the desire to want to be with her, but is ashamed of not being able to help her. He has the agenda to get to know her even if she doesn't want to get to know him.

5. Through whose point of view do we mainly experience the story? 
(The POV character is the one whose experience we most share. POV can also move from character to character, according to the storyteller's intentions about what the audience should feel.) 

We mostly experience the story from Lisa's POV.  She now is watching him receive an award when her purse is stolen.
C) Conflict. What opposing forces are at work in the story? 

The purse thief and the thugs, as well as Lee's mouth...

1. What minor problem does each main character face? 

Lisa has a temper.  She may reveal her secret identity once day because of that.  Lee has the desire to be loved and to protect everything even if he's bad at it.  His ego is his worst enemy.

2. What obstacles prevent them from carrying out their agendas? 

I said before that Lee has an ego.  Because of his own pride, he may not get to being loved by Lisa, and he definitely didn't get to protecting her.  Lisa is trying to hide her true identity.  She also has to get past Lee's prideful nature to see any good in him.

3. The main character's conflict is between Lee's mouth and the purse thief. 
(Be careful here that you can name forces in opposition, not just an emotion or tension in the main character.) 

4. At what point is exposition complete and the audience in possession of all necessary setup information? 

I think the audience has everything they need as far as setup info when Lee takes off after Lisa during the ceremony to help her catch the thief.
ACT II Complications 
A) How have the obstacles faced by the main character changed? 

She now has thugs trying to do bad things to her.  She also has to try and stay patient to protect her identity while she waits for Lee to actually get rid of the people for her.

B) What adaptations does he or she make while trying to solve each problem? 

She finally decides that he's taking too long and she doesn't care about revealing her identity so much that she's willing to wait until the sun sets.  So she does something about it.

C) What new factors raise the stakes? (What developments make the main problem harder to solve?) 

There's the fear of what the people might do to her, or might do to him.  There's also her response which is completely out of the ordinary.
ACT III Confrontation, Crisis, and Resolution 
A) What drives the situation toward the final crisis point? 

Lisa is led into a large alley and surrounded by men.

B) Where do opposing forces come into the final, decisive confrontation? 

They are physically threatening to the main character.  The final part is whether she actually accepts Lee, though.  And I've intentionally left that open to decide.  The audience should fill in the blank of whether they actually get together, I think.

C) How is the apex of the problem resolved, and which of the opposing forces wins? 

Lisa wins (versus Lee who should have won).  She beats up the people.  

D) Does anyone learn and grow, even minimally, from this resolution, and if so, how? 

Lee learns a little humility and maybe a little bit about love. Lisa learns to basically rely on herself only. 
Meaning and Purpose 
What genre is this story and under what rule does its world usually run? 

It's a short story built for humor and a tad of suspenseful romance.

What patterns can you see that might be significant to the story's meaning? 

There's sort of a back and forth--"anything you can do, I can do better..."  Which totally makes sense because she's a girl saving herself.

Who is the point of view character? 

Lisa

What forces does the story make this character(s) confront, and why? 

It makes Lee confront his ego, and it makes her confront her fear to be found out and her unwillingness to do something for herself (rather than for someone else).

What are the qualities of the main characters and what can we expect of them at the outset? 

Lee has a desire to do good, even if he isn't good at it.  Lisa has the desire for justice, even if she doesn't want to always use her abilities for herself.

Does anyone in the story develop--learn, change, grow? 

Lee learns a little humility and maybe a little bit about love. Lisa learns to basically rely on herself only. 

How does the story want to act on us?

Uh?  What does that mean exactly?  It wants to act humorous?

 What does it say about the individual in relation to how the world works?

She's the opposite of most women.  So as an individual, she's against the crowd, which I've mostly been in my life too.  There's a quote that reads something along the lines of "if I find myself ever agreeing with the majority, I have to stop, reflect, and find out what I'm doing wrong..."

 
What is the story's premise? 

Considering the context, this question hardly makes sense... But if I had to say what it's premise was, I'd probably have to say that opposites can attract, even if they explode some along the way.

What is its theme?

Theme is girls can take care of themselves, even if they need a little kick to get going...