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I asked, “Timothy, where is your home?”

“St. Thomas,” he said. “Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas.” He added, “’Tis a Virgin Islan’.”

“Then you are an American,” I said. I remembered from school that we had bought the Virgins from Denmark.

He laughed. “I suppose, young bahss. I nevar gave it much thought. I sail all d’isaln’s, as well as Venezuela, Colombo, Panama….I jus’ nevar gave it much thought I was American.”

I said, “Your parents were African, Timothy?”

He laughed, low and soft. “Young bahss, you want me to say I true come from Afre-ca?”

“You say what you want.” It was just that Timothy looked very much like the men I’d seen in jungle pictures. Flat nose and heavy lips.

Explanation and Analysis:

As night falls on their first day as castaways, Phillip decides he wants to get to know more about Timothy, so he asks the old man about his life history. Phillip’s thoughts, knowledge, and assumptions in this moment point towards not just his ...

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Original

Romeo

(aside) She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Modern

Romeo

(to himself) She speaks. Speak again, bright angel! For tonight you are as glorious, there up above me, as a winged messenger of heaven who makes mortals fall onto their backs to gaze up with awestruck eyes as he strides across the lazy clouds and sails through the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and give up your name. Or, if you won’t change your name, just swear your love to me and I’ll give up being a Capulet.

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