What double meaning can you read into the title of this story?
Natalie #26
9/16/2011 08:20:05 am

THe odubke meaning from the title the Lady or the Tiger is:
1. either the hero is going to marry the lady or get mauled by the tiger
2. either the hero will marry the princess or get mauled by the tiger.

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Marisa #2
9/16/2011 11:38:59 am

The literal meaning behind the title "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is whether or not the semibarbaric princess directed the "criminal" towards the door with the tiger or the beautiful lady. I think the hidden, or figurative meaning was that the princess was conflicted and had to choose if she would sacrifice the criminal and be in agony seeing him being married to another woman showing her loving, compassionate side ( good decision = lady ), or she could give his life to the tiger showing her fierce, jealous side ( bad decision = tiger)

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Marisa #2
9/16/2011 11:41:13 am

Natalie, I think you did a really good job of summing up the whole conflict of the princess and her decision. You showed the literal mening and explained her two choices.

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Sky#13
9/16/2011 11:59:37 am

I believe the evident meaning of the title would be the choice of a lady or a tiger. But the not so obvious meaning would be self-conflict. The princess has to go through the decision of having to let her love go, but the real question is, "who should have him?” What if we were to ask our self this question? It doesn’t necessarily have to be the topic of a lady or tiger. If we were faced with a choice we would be forced to imagine our options. The title requires us to predict what’s going to happen, it requires us to have our own self-conflict (much like the princess).

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Terence #31
9/16/2011 12:15:47 pm

Their is two meaning very opposite of each other that relates to the title of the story. One meaning is that at one point in the story, a character will have to make a decision, the lady or the tiger. Another meaning to this is that you can have two options, the good or the bad. Life or death. Freedom or slavery. You can interpret the two meanings in many differnet ways. However, you will always have two choices to choose from.

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Terence #31
9/16/2011 12:19:17 pm

I think Marisa did a great job by using adjectives and words from the book to describe the question. Marisa inferred the meanings of the book to a great extent to find well thought out answers. This was a smart answer to this questioin.

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Caroline #4
9/16/2011 12:58:13 pm

The literal meaning of the lady or the tiger is the criminals choose what door to open and either a lady or a tiger comes out. I think the other meaning is that the princess faces conflict and must decide what door to tell the criminal to open, the door with the lady behind it or the tiger. She doesn't want the lady because it is a lady she hates and has seen him flirting with. At the same time she doesn't want the tiger because it would mean his death. We are all faced with situations like this all the time, and we must make hard decisions.

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Caroline #4
9/16/2011 01:04:04 pm

I agree with Sky's response because the story does teach us that we all are faced with decision like the princess' all the time and we all face self conflict. We should all put ourselves in the princess' position so we can be better prepared for the future.

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Madison #11
9/16/2011 01:50:27 pm

There are two meanings behind the title "The Lady or the Tiger", a literal, and a figurative. The literal meaning is pretty obvious, the accused person would be put in an arena and would pick between two doors, one with a lady, (who they would marry) and one with a tiger (which would kill them).
The figurative meaning is the princess's conflict with herself, trying to decide where to lead her lover. This passage from the story is an example of her struggles with her own thoughts. "Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation." Here it states that she spent a long time just thinking of her choices, the lady, or the tiger.

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Brianna G.
9/16/2011 02:33:51 pm

The literal meaning of "The Lady or the Tiger?" is behind those doors the peasant will have a dream of marrying this lady or having to be killed by the tiger. The figurative meaning is that the princess is so frustrated and conflicted with herself on who her love should go to. If he goes with the lady they'll have a life together but if he goes to the tiger her lover will be gone. There are always hard decisions and accommodations, but we must face them.

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Brianna G.
9/16/2011 02:40:59 pm

I agree with Madison, you put a lot of important details onto the story and that we all have to struggle with our own personal thoughts and that choices do take time to think about.

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Hunter #12
9/17/2011 01:19:16 am

"The Lady or the Tiger" has a literal and figurative meaning. The literal meaning is for the hero to die from a tiger, or to be married and live happily with a beautiful lady. It would be decided by chance, but in this case, the princess decides.
The figurative meaning mainly focuses on the princesses conflict, because she has the decision to either kill her lover, or let him be married to a woman she strongly dislikes. It took her days and nights to make a decision, but in an instant, she had one. So, if she leads him to the tiger, it shows her semi barbaric side. But, if she leads him to the lady, then it shows her love and more peaceful side that took over her cruelness.

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Hunter #12
9/17/2011 01:21:25 am

I agree with Madison because the literal meaning is self explanatory and the figurative meaning is the lady's conflict with herself. She chose a good passage from the story that describes the princesses decision of whether to send the commoner to the lady or the tiger.

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Marcella #9
9/17/2011 04:12:22 am

"the Lady, or the tiger" has both a literal and figurative meaning. The literal meaing is that the "criminal" has 2 choices fof the 2 doors. One that has a beast that is there to kill the "criminal". The other door has a beautiful lady that is waiting to be wedded if the "criminal" picks the right one.

The figurative meaning is focused on the princess conflict, because she has the decision to kill her lover or to set him free and to live and marry the woman she hates very much. It takes days and nights for her to make her decision. If she leads him to the woman she will feel pain and a will have a broken heart but she will see that he will be alive and not dead, if she leads him to the tiger it will show that she is semibarbaric like her father.

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Marcella #9
9/17/2011 04:18:26 am

I agree with Hunter because for the literal meaning it is the criminals choice to live or not and to believe that the princess is leading him to freedom. If the princess chooses the door with the tiger is will show her cruelness and semibarbaric side. If she leads him to the woman it will show her love to him and it will show that is has a peaceful side.

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Noelle #32
9/17/2011 05:32:59 am

I think the double meaning of the title, 'The Lady, or the Tiger' is that there is a literal and figurative meaning. The literal meaning is the door that the criminal was going to open, the one with the tiger behind it or the lady. The figurative meaning of the title would be the conflict of the princess. She could either let her love bring her to the choice of giving the criminal a life with a fair maiden or to his death by a tiger. I think that her decisions could be represented by the lady or the tiger.

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Gabi #24
9/17/2011 06:31:07 am

In the title, The Lady or the Tiger, it has two meanings. The first one is very obvious, which is the literal meaning. When the accused man walks into the arena and picks one of the doors either a lady or a tiger comes out, in other words you either live or die. The figurative meaning is the conflict of the princess and whether if she will send the man to the lady or to the tiger. I believe that it also has another meaning that if the princess sends him to either one she will die inside because if she sends him to the lady, he will be married to someone she hates and whom she’s jealous of and if she sends him to the tiger they will never be together until she dies.

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Nora 5
9/17/2011 06:40:30 am

The literal explanation for "The Lady or the Tiger" would obviously be which door will the criminal open at the end. The Lady or the Tiger? This is the literal meaning because it is the first thing that pops into my head when I try to think of what it means. Most of the story revolves around which door the peasant would open.
I think the figurative explanation for "The Lady or the Tiger" is the conflict going on inside the princess's head. For a good chunk of the story she is torn between sending her lover to his death, or into the arms of the girl she hated.

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Nora 5
9/17/2011 06:45:12 am

Madison, I like how you brought proof to the fact that she spent a good amount of time thinking about her decision. I also like that you mentioned she struggled with her own thoughts and it was all up to her to determine the "criminal's" fate.

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Gabi #24
9/17/2011 06:46:57 am

I have to agree with Nora because when I think of the literal meaning that’s what I imagine automatically. I also concur with Nora’s answer for the figurative meaning because it’s true and for most of the story we are discussing what the princess will do, but we can never know what the princess chose.

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Madelyn #14
9/17/2011 11:41:42 am

I think the literal meaning of The Lady or the Tiger is which one the hero picked. Was it the tiger that came out of the door or was it the lady. I think the figurative meaning is the conflict the princess haves over which door to lead the hero to. The princess ponders whether to send her lover to the tiger or to the lady, whom she knows and hates. This occurs throughout the story.

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Madelyn #14
9/17/2011 11:45:53 am

I agree with Gabi. The literal meaning is quite obvious: will he pick the lady or the tiger. I also completely agree that the figurative meaing is the decision she has to make about sending her lover to his death or into the arms of the one she hates.

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Noelle #32
9/17/2011 12:50:10 pm

I agree with Gabi's thoughts on the way the title is figurative. I like how she thought of two ideas. One idea is how it is the conflict in the princess. The other is how she dies either way, whether she gives him to the maiden or the tiger.

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Josh #1
9/17/2011 01:10:00 pm

To me the literal meaning of the title "The Lady, or The Tiger" means which door the subject had opened. I think it means that because it is the question that will haunt the reader until the answer would become clear. The main conflict is which door the princess sent him to. So then when anyone reads this story, the question will be left with no solution.

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Justin 17
9/17/2011 02:17:58 pm

I think that the title of "The Lady and the Tiger?" means literally is which door the "criminal" choose. At first I did not get the title but after I read the story i got the title but it haunted me trying to figure it out. It would probably question or affect other readers because they would wonder what it means. The main conflict is which door he chooses, so the question at the end what did he choose "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is a great title for the book and I think that is why he chose the title like that.

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Justin 17
9/17/2011 02:20:55 pm

I agree with gabi because she really described the the figurative and literal meaning of the story.

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Cole 23
9/17/2011 05:25:49 pm

The literal and figurative meaning of "The Lady, or the Tiger" are very closely connected. As the title suggests, there are two possibilities: a lady, and a tiger.
The figurative meaning is simply this: the lady represents life, and the tiger represents death. Each outcome will bring a swift conclusion and leave someone wallowing in freakish misery.

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Cole 23
9/17/2011 05:28:30 pm

Anora brings up a good point. The two doors not only represent the choice the hero will ultimately make, they also represents the choice the princess will have to make. And while the princess will directly be choosing a door, like the hero, she is also making a choice about whether the hero lives, and is married, or dies and is unmarried.

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Isabel #22
9/17/2011 06:09:24 pm

The literal idea of the title' "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is the descion the "criminal" has to make while being in an arena with only two doors to choose from. He can either choose to be with a beautiful girl, or having to face a ferocious tiger. But that all depends on fate.

The figurtive idea of the story is the choices the princess has to make for the man she loves. And because she already knows whats going to come out of either door she gets to choose whether she wants to live with the pain and suffering of seeing her man with another women or remembering that he was eaten by a tiger... all because of her descion.

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Isabel #22
9/17/2011 06:15:14 pm

I agree with Justin K because at first I didnt understand the title of the story and what descions each character would have to make. He also makes a good point about the title and that it fits the story perfectly.

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Madison #11
9/18/2011 04:40:34 am

I think that Terence brings up an interesting point about the figurative meaning of the title. His thought on the title states that there are two choices, the lady or the tiger, good or bad, ect. I wouldn't have thought of the title in this way. A very different concept.

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Justin #35
9/18/2011 05:54:12 am

I think the literal meaning of "The Lady or the Tiger" means that the man will open the door with either the lady or the tiger.

I think the figurative meaning of this resembles decisions made by others. Some decisions can either benefit the person or destroy the person. A small decision can make a big impact on others and thats what I think the other meaning of this title is.

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Justin #35
9/18/2011 05:58:21 am

I agree with Isabel #22. Isabel has a good point emphasizing how the decision has a big impact, and because its the princess' decision she has to deal with either the man marrying her enemy or the man being ripped to shreds. Both a decision that will bring her sadness.

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Kien #6
9/18/2011 07:38:04 am

The literal meaning of "The Lady, or The Tiger" is that the "criminal," the princess' true love, either gets mauled by a tiger or gets married to another beautiful lady who the princess despises. The princess directs her love, the so called criminal, to the door on the right; there are two ways this can go down, either the "criminal" gets married to a beautiful lady or he gets mauled by a tiger, as said in the title. I think that the figurative meaning of "The Lady, or The Tiger" is if the princess chooses to let her anger and hatred for the other woman get the best of her and send the "criminal" to the tiger, or if she truly loves him and sends him to the beautiful woman to marry, even though she might never be with him ever again. So, to narrow this down, the princess sends him to his death because of her hatred towards the other woman, or lets him marry her because of her own love for him.

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Isabella #21
9/18/2011 07:40:00 am

The literal meaning of 'The lady, or the tiger' is the choice the criminal has to make. He has to choose a door and behind one door is a lady and behind the other is a tiger.

The figurative meaning of this title is the choice that the reader makes at the end of the story. Whether we believe that the princess lead the man to the door with the lady, where she would see the man she loved live, or to the tiger, where she would see the man she loved die.

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Isabella #21
9/18/2011 07:47:53 am

i agree with Kien. He explained that the figurative meaning was all up to the princess and how her feelings and emotions played a very big part in the fate of the criminal.

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Kien #6
9/18/2011 07:49:11 am

I agree with Marcella #9 because I feel the same way about both, the figurative and literal meaning. The princess has a choice of being like her semi-barbaric father and killing the "criminal," or she can send the "criminal" to marry the woman she despises and give him his freedom, even if it breaks her heart. All in all, she can be a jealous semi-barbaric woman that kills her love (semi-barbaric like her father), or be her own person and have a good forgiving heart.

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James #27
9/18/2011 10:54:06 am

The literal meaning of "The Lady or the Tiger" is that the criminal or the princess's lover will either be eaten by a tiger and be killed or married to a lady and live happily. The princess directs him the the right door. The lady or the tiger is in this door. She knew what door they were both in, but it was her choice whether she watched him die or get married.

The figurative meaning of "The Lady or the Tiger" is that in life, we have choices. We can take a good, easy path, or a bad path. You can have a easy life, or a hard life. That is for us to decide.

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James #27
9/18/2011 10:56:48 am

I agree with Terence. He explained that we have two choices in life, the good or bad. Those are our options.

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Michael Tellez #34
9/18/2011 11:47:50 am


The literal meaning behind "the lady and the tiger" is shown quite obviously when the book explains that the accused Protagonist of the story who is in love with the princess and who the princess loves(Protagonist meaning leading or main character)Is found to be in a dire situation where he must choose one of two doors either containg a lady whom he will marry and be found innocent or be found guilty by choosing the other door with a vicious tiger which will then proceed to maul him.

The figurative meaning is the self conflict that the princess must face with herself. It is explained in the story that she bribed the exicusioner to tell her which door had which door had The lady and which the tiger. The key concept behind her character is best summed as seimbarbaric. In the story she tells her lover that she will signal what door he should choose this choice is never said throughout the story but we can guess she either acted as The Lady who would rather see her lover with another women (who she had hated) than be killed or that she had acted as the tiger showing her seimi barbaric heritage and rather see him dead over being alive due to jealousy, control, and hatred over love.

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Michael Tellez #34
9/18/2011 11:54:15 am

I agree with Gabi's explaination. She stated very well that the Princess was also killing herself either by giving up her love to a tiger or by seeing him with another woman

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Trevor #29
9/18/2011 12:36:45 pm

The literal meaning of the "the lady or the tiger" is that the criminal or known as the princess's lover was caught by the semibarbaric king or the princess's father. This is a crime because the criminal is of a lower-class than the princess. The king's way of punishment is that the criminal will be put into a giant arena where there is two doors in front of the prisoner. It is his choice to pick which door. One door will have a tiger in it and the other door will have a lady in it. If u lick the one with the tiger, you are guilty of your crime. If you choose the door with the lady in it, you are innocent of your crime and you will marry the lady. In this story the criminal made the princess choose which door, but you don't know which one has what.

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Trevor #29
9/18/2011 12:38:36 pm

I agree with James. You have two choices in life, the good life or the bad life. We all have two paths in life.

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Becca #28
9/18/2011 01:00:36 pm

The literal meaning of the lady or the tiger is wheather or not the semibarbaric princess led her love to the door with the tiger behind it, or the door with the lady behind it. The figurative meaning is that the princess had to think for many days and sleepless nights about her descision. She was very conflicted because if she sent her love to the tiger, she would see him get eaten alive. But if she sent him to the lady, her very jealous side would come out.

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Becca #28
9/18/2011 01:04:48 pm

I agree with Caroline and i think she really expressed how hard it was for the princess to make that decision.

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Alex #25
9/18/2011 01:21:53 pm

the lady or the tigers literal meaning is if the hero either picks the door with the lady that the hero will marry, or the door with a tier in which he will be torn to shreds. the main conflict is that the hero puts all of his trust into the semibarbaric pricess but the princess didnt know what she wanted to do.

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Alex #25
9/18/2011 01:24:56 pm

I agree with Kienand that the princess would either express her soft side or her mean streak.

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Daniel#30
9/18/2011 01:32:20 pm

The literal meaning of the lady or the tiger is whether or not the semibarbaric princess led her lover to the door with the tiger or the door with the lady that the semibarbaric princess hates the most. The figurative meaning is that the princess had to think for many days and sleepless nights about her decision in whether or not to kill her lover by tiger or by giving him to the person that she hates the most. She led her lover to the door on the right. Only she knows if she had just killed him or sent him with another woman, a woman the semibarbaric princess dispises the most.

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Daniel #30
9/18/2011 01:35:58 pm

I agree whith Becca in that if she leads her lover to the lady she will become very jealous.

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Madeline #8
9/18/2011 01:49:59 pm

I think that the lteral meaning of the lady or the tiger is weather or not the princesses lover was lead by the semibarbaric princess to the lady which he would wedd or the tiger that would rip him to shreads. The figurative is that the semibarbaric princess spent many days/nights thinking of the event.

The only thing that the author stated about what do she lead him to is the right door we dont know if it was the lady or the tiger.

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madeline #8
9/18/2011 01:52:58 pm

I agree with Madelyn you really summed up the story did she lead him to the lady or the tiger.

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Sky #13
9/18/2011 01:55:13 pm

I agree with Caroline because the second meaning of the title is mainly based on conflict. Just like the princess we are all faced with decisions that aren't always easy.

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Madelaine #3
9/18/2011 01:59:03 pm

The literal meaning of "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is whether or not she actually chose to lead her lover to the lady or the tiger. But the figurative meaning is whether or not the princess had a heart, and had him live. If she led him to the tiger, he would have died and the princess would rather have him die than with another woman. But if she led him to the suitable woman, he would have lived and married, which would have been a very difficult choice, but her heart would have been pure.

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Madelaine #3
9/18/2011 02:03:53 pm

I agree with Madison because she focused on the main topic of the story and explained what is was in a very detailed way.

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Michael #36
9/18/2011 02:13:12 pm

The literal meaning of this story is primarily if the princess chose the door with the tiger in it, which she obviously knew would result in death, or simply the door with the lady in it. The figurative analysis of the short story lays in the princesses thoughts in whether she would kill the man out of her own hatred and jealousy or do the right thing.

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Michael #36
9/18/2011 02:18:17 pm

I agree with Madelines interpretation of the story because she focused on the princesses thoughts and behavior that would trigger the climax of the whole story.

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Evan19
9/18/2011 02:19:44 pm

The literal meaning of the Lady or the Tiger is getting rewarded for your innocence by being married or getting punished for your crime by being eaten by a tiger. I think the double meaning is if the princess will stoop to her father's level and kill him by leading him to the tiger or will she give him to the girl she hates because she loves him so much she can't have him die.

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Clare 20
9/18/2011 02:25:48 pm

I agree with Gabi because she said that the figurative meaning of The Lady or the Tiger had to do with conflict. Her responce pretty much summed up the whole story.

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Evan19
9/18/2011 02:28:36 pm

I agree with Kien in the way that the princess will either let her hatred of the other girl get the better of her or will she give him up because she truly loves him.

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Josh #1
9/18/2011 02:48:08 pm

I agree with Gabi because she had included the conflict that not only had to do with the man opening the correct door, but also the princess choosing the door for him.

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Esteban #33
9/18/2011 03:12:18 pm

The literal meaning of the Lady or the Tiger is getting punish by a crime that you didn't do or going to a new life. The princess had to choose for the man but she doesn't know that he should die or married another woman.

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Esteban #33
9/18/2011 03:18:21 pm

i agreed with gabi because she gave us the conflict. Also she said that the woman told the man to go to right door and she also told the main stuff about the story.

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