His face was yellow with an earthy tint in it, his cheeks were hollow, his back long and narrow, and the hand on which his shaggy head was propped was so thin and delicate that it was dreadful to look at it. His hair was already streaked with silver, and seeing his emaciated,14 aged-looking face, no one would have believed that he was only forty.
Gives us a glimpse of the laywer's appearance.
The rusty lock gave a grating sound and the door creaked.
Imagery
. Then he groped his way into a little passage and lighted a match.
Imagery
rustling of the chilled trees.
Imagery using sensory details.
eating and drinking and lying on his bed, frequently yawning and angrily talking to himself.
imagery to show the lawyer's depression and frustration.
“What was the object of that bet? What is the good of that man’s losing fifteen years of his life and my throwing away two million? Can it prove that the death penalty is better or worse than imprisonment for life? No, no. It was all nonsensical and meaningless. On my part it was the caprice8 of a pampered man, and on his part simple greed for money…”
The banker's resentment for ruining someone's life and losing a lot of his money.
To me two million is a trifle, but you are losing three or four of the best years of your life. I say three or four, because you won’t stay longer.
Irony because the lawyer ended up staying almost the whole time, and the banker didn't have enough money fifteen years later.
wild, senseless bet
characterizes the Banker and his impulsive nature.
“It’s not true! I’ll bet you two million you wouldn’t stay in solitary confinement for five years.”“If you mean that in earnest,” said the young man, “I’ll take the bet, but I would stay not five but fifteen years.”
The bet takes place here.
“The death sentence and the life sentence are equally immoral,5 but if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life, I would certainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at all.”
this quote was what provoked the banker to create this impulsive bet.
It was a dark autumn night.
Imagery to create a setting.
Plastering on a smile, he welcomes the students to Intro to Creative Writing and orders them to take out a pencil and notebook.
The verb "plastering" indicates his lack of enthusiasm about the class and shows us something about his character. And in my opinion, I find it almost ironic that he is not "plastering a smile" for a class that is meant to be enjoyable and creative, which shows us his negative attitude towards the subject. Also the verb "orders" has a negative connotation and further supports the idea that this class has become boring for him to teach and that he would rather do something else.
“Any plans to one day have your cremated ashes shot from a canon?” “Huh. Uh, hadn’t really thought about it. That’d be pretty sweet though.” The kid in the Twins hat smiles and nods at Bobby approvingly. “What else is on your list Bobby?”
This part of the passage is meant to represent the Professor's curiosity and inquiry about Bobby and his lifestyle. And Bobby continues to answer the professor's questions and go along with it. Also the verb used to describe the kid in the Twins hat's acceptance, which is "nods" which shows how he feels about the the professor's suggestion and indicates his attitude towards Bobby. These different imagery examples in this part of the passage show the interaction between classmates and shows the professor's interest in other things going on other than his class.
The girl in the back looks up from her journal. Bobby furrows his eyebrows. The kid in the Twins hat quickly writes down the assignment, CORN, at the top of his single sheet of paper. Dana’s hand shoots up.
This part of the passage creates an image of the students being puzzled about what they have been asked to write about. And it shows that kid in the Twins hat is trying to be focused especially considering he fell asleep earlier in the class and is trying to stay awake and show his good attitude to the professor. And the way Dana's hand shoots up shows her enthusiasm and her desire to be the teacher's pet.
Stevens scowls and shakes his head, stuffs his hands in his pockets, and mutters something under his breath about the “catastrophe of modernism” before turning toward the chalkboard. He digs a piece of yellow chalk from his bag and scrawls on the board:
The vivid verbs such as "scowls" and "mutters" show the Professor's attitude towards her Dana's overachieving nature. I feel as though it annoys him because he is not nearly as passionate about his own work as she is. Even after, as he "scrawls" on the board, it almost indicates that he is just trying to write something random instead of actually putting thought and passion into it, as a teacher should be.
Dumbfounded but hardly surprised, Stevens shuffles back to the table in front of the room, noisily pulls the chair out, and plops down into it.
This sentence contains vivid verbs such as "plops", "shuffles, and "pulls", as well as adverbs to carefully describe the way that Professor Stevens' attitude is towards Bobby's writing. The imagery indicates his lack of interest and frustration with Bobby's choices of writing and teaching in general, as we saw in the beginning of the story.