Buzz
Prompt: Exposition of the short story 'Silent Sa Pa' by Nguyễn Thành Long
I. Outline
II. Sample Exposition Essay
Exposition of the Short Story 'Silent Serenity in Sa Pa' by Nguyễn Thành Long
I. Outline of the Exposition on 'Silent Serenity in Sa Pa' by Nguyễn Thành Long
1. Introduction
- Introduce the literary work.
2. Main Body:
a. Author:
- Nguyễn Thành Long (1925-1991) was born in Duy Xuyên district, Quảng Nam province.
- Also known as Lưu Quỳnh, Phan Minh Thảo.
- Specialized in short stories and essays, he was recognized as a prominent short story writer during the 1960s-1970s.
- His primary theme was everyday life. Notable works include 'Bát cơm cụ Hồ,' 'Gió bấc gió nồm,' 'Chuyện nhà chuyện xưởng,' 'Những tiếng vỗ cánh,' 'Giữa trong xanh,' and more.
b. Work:
- Writing context: Resulted from the author's actual summer trip in 1970 to Lào Cai.
- Origin: Extracted from the collection 'Amidst the Serenity' published in 1972.
- Title significance: Emphasizes the contrasting theme of the lively, devoted life in Sa Pa against its serene and quiet appearance. Depicts the enthusiasm of people working silently for their country and society, embodying high ideals.
c. Story Situation:
- The chance encounter of tourists on a journey to Sa Pa with a young meteorologist working on Yên Sơn peak.
d. Content of the Work:
* The pristine and captivating beauty of Sa Pa's nature.
* Human Beauty:
- The Young Man:
- Enduring living and working conditions.
- Admirable soul beauty, embracing positive thoughts about work, passion for labor, considering work and profession a joy in life, clear awareness of the value of work, and their mission in the nation's construction and defense.
+ Beautiful thoughts about life, finding answers to self-worth, understanding life's meaning, feeling happiness in contributing to society, dedicating efforts to the nation's development.
+ Personality traits like openness, thoughtfulness towards others (gifting flowers to the female engineer, eggs to the male painter, etc.), humble simplicity (rejecting the painter's offer to draw), disciplined lifestyle, meticulousness, etc.
- The character of the female engineer, a recent graduate engineer willingly taking a post in Lào Cai, abandoning the glamorous city life and a dull, tasteless romance. A chance encounter with the young man instills strength and ignites profound beliefs and emotions in her, aligning with high ideals of life.
e. Artistry:
- Excellent fusion of sentimental, autobiographical, and commentary elements.
- The story's imagery is gentle, pure, simple, and romantic.
- The plot is straightforward, and characters are intricately portrayed with various facets of life.
3. Conclusion:
Express your impressions.
II. Sample Essay on the Short Story 'Silent Sa Pa' by Nguyễn Thành Long
In literary creation, especially in the modern Western-influenced literature that began to enter our country in the last century, writing about people and the beauty of everyday life has become a familiar and beloved theme for many authors. As Thạch Lam wrote: 'Beauty permeates the universe, seeps through every corner and alley, hiding in every ordinary thing. The writer's job is to discover the beauty tucked away where no one expects, to find the discreet and concealed beauty of things, offering others a lesson to observe and appreciate.' The short story 'Silent Sa Pa' by Nguyễn Thành Long is one such work. It is a profound and well-crafted short story that explores the ordinary laborious life of unnamed, unknown individuals who silently sacrifice and dedicate themselves to the homeland.
The author, Nguyễn Thành Long, was born in 1925 and passed away in 1991. He hailed from Duy Xuyên district, Quảng Nam province, born into a small civil servant family. Besides using his real name in his works, he also had pen names like Lưu Quỳnh and Phan Minh Thảo. Nguyễn Thành Long was one of the young writers who grew up during the resistance war against the French, specializing in short stories and essays. During the 1960-1970 period, he was recognized as a prominent short story writer. His main theme in writing was everyday life, and his short stories often leaned towards the epistolary style, exuding the pristine, poetic beauty from nature and the human soul. Representative works include 'Bát cơm cụ Hồ,' 'Gió bấc gió nồm,' 'Chuyện nhà chuyện xưởng,' 'Những tiếng vỗ cánh,' 'Giữa trong xanh,' and more.
The short story 'Silent Sa Pa' is the result of the author's actual summer journey in 1970 in Lào Cai. The work is extracted from the collection 'Amidst the Pure Blue' published in 1972. The title 'Silent Sa Pa,' with a reversal from 'silent' to the front, emphasizes the contrast with the quiet and serene appearance of Sa Pa. In reality, life here becomes vibrant with people passionately dedicated to labor, silently contributing to the country, to society, realizing the ideals of a noble life at the pinnacle of our beloved homeland during the country's renewal period.
The story's situation revolves around the chance encounter of guests on a journey to Sa Pa with a young meteorologist working on Yên Sơn peak. This conveniently portrays the main character's profile naturally and expresses the theme of the work about laborious life, the silent sacrifice of the people here.
The first aspect that author Nguyễn Thành Long focuses on in the short story 'Silent Sa Pa' is the dreamy, poetic beauty of nature in this place. This is vividly depicted in a lengthy description at the beginning of the story, 'The sunlight now...threading through the bottom of the car.' The author concentrates on describing the unique features of this place with the winding stretches of passes, the natural appearance of herds of wild cattle with bells, sunlight, pine trees, cherry blossoms,... Especially, the unique beauty of Sa Pa's nature is revealed with its fresh, natural, and extremely poetic charm that captivates readers.
The second aspect that the work emphasizes is the beauty of human characters depicted by the author through characters such as the young man, the painter, the engineer, the driver, the vegetable garden engineer, and the research map freezing engineer. Firstly, the character of the young man appears with a rather unique living and working situation: a 27-year-old man working in meteorology and geophysics at Yên Sơn peak, 2600 meters above sea level. His main task is to measure wind, rain,... for weather forecasting. It can be said that this is both a lonely and challenging living and working situation, especially for a young and vibrant person like the young man in the story. In this character, we see the beautiful soul with admirable thoughts about work, dedication to work, love for work, considering labor, and the profession as a joy in life. At the same time, this character is very aware of the value of work and his mission to contribute to the country's construction and protection. Moreover, the young man also has beautiful thoughts about life, knowing how to find answers to his own values, the meaning of life. He also feels happy when doing useful things for society, contributing effort to the construction of the country. Not only that, the image of the young man is also portrayed through beautiful personality traits such as openness, thoughtfulness towards everyone (giving flowers to the female engineer, giving eggs to the male painter, giving eggs to the driver Tam That,...), humble and simple lifestyle, meticulousness,...
The character, the young engineer, is noteworthy in the narrative. Freshly graduated, she eagerly takes on a posting in Lào Cai, stepping beyond the enchanting realm of student life. She dares to abandon the bustling city life and a lackluster, insipid romance. A serendipitous encounter with the young man instills in her strength and kindles a profound belief, a grand affection for the noble ideals of a life in service to the homeland and society.
The character, the driver, serves as the storyteller, playing a role in introducing the young man. With an open and jovial personality, he adds vivacity and joy to the story. The vegetable garden engineer impresses with interesting actions such as observing bees pollinate flowers, self-pollinating carrots,... making the young man find life fascinating, beautiful, and more loveable. The research map freezing engineer is always ready in a posture to endure the cold, rushing out at the first thunder, living alone for 11 years without a wife, thinning hair with age, wholeheartedly researching cold maps. All these characters demonstrate devotion, self-sacrifice for their work. They love their work, considering labor as glory, an ideal of high value, truly admirable.
The primary art in 'Silent Sa Pa' is the exquisite combination of sentimental, autobiographical, and commentary elements. The story's imagery is gentle, pure, simple, and romantic. The plot is straightforward, and the characters are meticulously portrayed with various facets of life.
The short story 'Silent Sa Pa' is one of the most exemplary works in the creative career of author Nguyễn Thành Long. The work successfully explores and depicts the images of ordinary laborers, most notably the young man working in meteorology on Yên Sơn peak. It affirms the beauty of these ordinary laborers, whose faces and names are forgotten, and praises their silent sacrifice, daily contributions to their beloved country.
