Extra Credit 1- Tolstoy Cool

Assignment:
Look at Characteristics of "Schwartz", a "cool" character in the story and identify what matches him with properties of "cool".

Schwartz to me is a man of mystery, someone who can't be "read' by another single person. Just by the way he carries himself shows that he fits the description most people look at as being cool. "His colleague Schwartz was just coming downstairs, but on seeing Peter Ivanovich enter he stopped and winked at him, as if to say: "Ivan Ilych has made a mess of things -- not like you and me"." This shows that it only takes Schwartz a blink of one eye to let someone know what he is thinking. It also kind of shows that he is too good to talk to someone, like he is above it.

"The ladies went upstairs to the widow's room, and Schwartz with seriously compressed lips but a playful looking his eyes, indicated by a twist of his eyebrows the room to the right where the body lay". Even in a serious situation, the "cool and suave" Schwartz manages to keep his composure and stay calm and collected. this shows self control and discipline, which is a high, cool characteristic. it's funny how this really intertwines to what society thinks as "cool" today. it's like, Cool is thought of as a "good" thing, but Schwartz' ways are making him seem like a badass of sorts. So based on this, Scwartz can be looked at as an example of what "Cool" is, which is when an individual has the ability to be good and bad at the same time.

This story signifies yet another example of a perception of the meaning of "cool". You have this guy, mysterious, but yet readable, ONLY when HE wants to be read. His characteristics really fly off him, as a way to signify who he is in society. Is this what "cool" brings, or is it "cool" when someone makes it obvious to others who that person is ( or may want to be)?