This is a peer review on a particular story. Peer Review Checklist Fill in each

This is a peer review on a particular story.
Peer Review Checklist
Fill in each section substantially (that means more than on sentence per box). Use proper grammar, spelling, and capitalization in this assignment.
What is the main point of this essay? Explain in a summary form.
What is the thesis statement? Does it capture the heart of the paper?
Does the introduction grab your interest and make you want to read on? Explain your answer either way.
Does the writing include sensory detail (taste, smell, sound, texture, and color)? Or description that paints an image in your mind?
Where should the author add more details or examples? Explain your answer.
Is the point of view (tone) appropriate for this type of essay? Third person point of view for all essays with the exception of the narrative essay.
What is your favorite part of this piece of writing?
Did the author label the sections Introduction, Thesis Statement, Body, and Conclusion?
Point of view is critical to essay writing. For all the essays (except the narrative), you must use the third person point of view (he, she, his, her, him, them, they, herself, himself, themselves).
If you know that the thesis statement should include the element of literature being used for the paper, you MUST let the classmate know if you do not see it.
Please review story below.
A Symbol is a Vessel
Introduction
In Janus, by Anne Beattie, the main protagonist, Andrea, develops a strong, emotional relationship with a commonplace object – a ceramic bowl purchased years ago. At first, the bowl is presented as a mere prop; Andrea, a real estate agent, stages it in the homes she shows to prospective buyers. As the story unfolds, the origin of the bowl is explained, revealing its symbolic meaning to the main character. Through the use of symbolism, Ann Beattie is able to effectively communicate the depth of Andrea’s experience without using too many words. Additionally, as symbolism is often subjective, Beattie leaves room for the reader to form their own interpretation of the story. In Janus, the symbolism of Andrea’s empty bowl begs to be interpreted.
Body
One interpretation for Andrea’s emotional attachment to the bowl is that it symbolizes her relationship with her ex-lover, with whom she has lost contact: “She had first seen the bowl several years earlier, at a crafts fair she had visited half in secret, with her lover…But in time she became more attached to the bowl than to any of his other presents” (Beattie, 1986). When it is revealed that the bowl was purchased with him, it becomes obvious that the bowl is more to Andrea than a treasured ornament and a gimmick that helps her sell houses. Her lover is out of her life forever, and all the remains is the bowl – a beloved symbol of person and feeling she yearns for. Furthermore, Andrea begins to keep her obsession with the bowl a secret from her husband, in much the same way she kept her affair a secret:
In the past, she had sometimes talked to her husband about a new property she was about to buy or sell- confiding some clever strategy she had devised to persuade owners who seemed ready to sell. Now she stopped doing that, for all her strategies involved the bowl.(Beattie, 1986)
This insight into Andrea’s secretive behavior further illustrates that the bowl symbolizes her ex-lover and the intense connection she continues to feel for him.
Another reading of the symbolic importance of the object is straightforward: the empty bowl symbolizes the emptiness Andrea feels inside, like “the world cut in half, deep and smoothly empty” (Beattie, 1986). Indeed, throughout the story, the bowl seems to be the only thing that fills Andrea with excitement or happiness. Although she is married to a successful man with whom she shares some compatible traits, it is evident that their marriage is not filled with passion. In the absence of her lover to fill that void, the bowl becomes a surrogate – a symbolic vessel into which she pours her love, devotion, and desire.
While symbolism can be open to interpretation, Beattie’s choice of title points the reader in the direction of her intended meaning. In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of doors, gates and transitions and represented beginnings and endings (Whelen, 2022). It is suggested that Andrea’s ex-lover bought her the bowl at the end of their relationship. With the title of the story in mind, the bowl becomes a symbol of the door closing on her relationship with her lover. Perhaps, it is also a symbol of the door closing on a happy time in her life. Moreover, Janus was depicted as two-faced, with one of the faces pointing forward and one of the faces pointing backward. When Andrea would not leave her husband, her ex-lover asked, “Why be two-faced…What made her think she could have it both ways” (Beattie, 1986). Thus, the two-faced god Janus referenced in the title comes to symbolize the two-faced qualities of the main character.
Conclusion
In Janus, Ann Beattie uses symbolism to enhance and strengthen the reader’s understanding of the main character, Andrea. The intense relationship Andrea has with the bowl is not about the bowl at all, but rather about a man she loved, her own feelings of emptiness after losing this man, and how unfulfilling she finds her life. Interestingly, the bowl is both a literal vessel and a symbolic one. Andrea pours all of her emotions into this object, as she has nowhere else to put them. These are just some interpretations, of course. When an author relies on symbolism to tell a story, it understood that every reader might attach different significance to the symbols presented. Much like the bowl in this story, a symbol could be thought of as a vessel for meaning.
References
Beattie, A. (1986). “Janus.” Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/36497625/Ann_Beattie_Janus
(Links to an external site.)
Whelan. (2022, January 5). Janus – Roman god of time and Transitions. Classical Wisdom Weekly. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from

Janus – Roman God of Time and Transitions


Edited by Trish Hopkins on Jun 9 at 5:01pm
Literary Esssay_A Symbol is a Vessel_Hein (1).docx

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