Eleemosynary Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

Eleemosynary Summary and Analysis

Preview of Eleemosynary Summary:

Scenes 1 and 2

In the first scene of Eleemosynary, sixteen-year-old Echo spells the word “eleemosynary,” explaining that it is her favorite word and that she once won a spelling bee by spelling it correctly. She defines it as “of or pertaining to alms; charitable.” She introduces her seventy-five-year-old grandmother, Dorothea, to the audience and explains that Dorothea has suffered a stroke. Echo says that her grandmother cannot speak, but she claims that she can hear the elderly woman, as can the audience.

The first of several flashbacks begins, as Artie, Echo's mother, appears, wearing a pair of homemade wings and looking miserable. Echo explains that her grandmother believed that one could fly with the proper wings and once filmed her mother's failed attempt to do so. Dorothea says that she would like to be flying herself. During the flashback, Echo continues to speak to the audience, explaining her love of words.