Read the excerpt from "Lost on Dress Parade."
To the society bud comes but one début; it stands alone sweet in her memory when her hair has
whitened; but to Chandler each ten weeks brought a joy as keen, as thrilling, as new as the first
had been. To sit among bon vivants under palms in the swirl of concealed music, to look upon
the habitués of such a paradise and to be looked upon by them-what is a girl's first dance and
short-sleeved tulle compared with this?
How does the figurative language create meaning in the story?
Lost on Dress Parade
The use of foreign words helps the reader to understand Chandler's discomfort in an
unfamiliar feeling.
When the author contrasts Chandler's youth with an elderly woman's experience, he seems
to be emphasizing that no one escapes the passing of time.