Study Like a Boss
Comedy, Courtly Love, Drama, Novel, Poetry, Protagonist, Short Story, Tragedy, 1984, A Raisin in The Sun, Animal Farm, Beowulf, Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, George Orwell, Hamlet, Into The Wild, Lord of The Flies, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, A Modest Proposal, All Quiet on The Western Front, Allegory, Antigone, Between The World and Me.
The Egg, by Andy Weir takes place in second and first person pronouns – it is a dialogue between “I” and “You”, with the reader being “you” in this short anecdote. It starts off with the “I” speaker, of the story, talking to us – the reader, that we have died in a car accident. … Read more
Reflections That Show the Hidden Truth The use of reflections is common in pieces of literature so that authors can incorporate hidden meaning behind simple actions in their works. For example the eyes are commonly known as the windows to the soul making the simple action of looking into another’s eyes much more complicated in … Read more
In the section I selected from ‘Us and Them,’ the author, David Sedaris, uses a plethora of literary devices to comedically depict a mundane conversation and a boy’s mother’s reaction to it. The conversation depicted in the passage, and its following few lines, are perfect representations of the flow of feelings produced by uncomfortable conversation. … Read more
Flannery O’Connor is a brilliant writer who constructs stories that most readers can easily relate to. O’Connor is known mostly for the religious views used throughout her short stories, but she routinely uses an abundance of other themes to convey messages and lessons to readers. Although her short stories consist of diverse characters who have … Read more
In writing, descriptive language is used in order to engage the reader in the story. Most authors practice this is their writing, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. When authors include descriptive language, it helps tell the story that the reader is trying to communicate in a vivid manner. Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon, … Read more
Chains, a work of historical fiction by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a young slave girl named Isabel living at the time of the American Revolution. She and her younger sister, Ruth are living a happy life in Rhode Island with their kind master, Miss Mary Finch, until she dies and they are turned over … Read more
Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried” is set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and describes a soldier’s burden by listing what they carried and portraying scenes in a war. Critics have debated over the classification of O’Brien’s story. The major dispute is over whether “The Things They Carried” is appropriately classified as … Read more
Authors shape their texts using a range of narrative techniques and conventions designed to influence readers into engaging with the characters and action of their stories, and encourage readers to welcome their ideas, values and attitudes. In the novel Hatchet, author Gary Paulsen demonstrates three heavy themes to readers; the initiation into manhood; man and … Read more
“Distinctively visual texts use figurative language and other language devices to engage the responder and invite him/her to explore different places and experiences. ” Discuss the construction of images in relation to two of the short stories, which you have studied, and one related text. Distinctively visual texts are often used by composers to evoke … Read more
When reading any work of fiction, it is highly important to consider what the themes of that particular story might be. The theme expresses the main purpose of the fictional work to the audience and essentially has some type of meaning. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Flannery O’Conner both demonstrate in their works, “A Very Old … Read more
The mood and tone to any well written story is essential, and without both devices, a story would not be as engaging as it could be. Often in stories, mood and tone are developed by diction, or the word choice that the author uses to help the readers define the feelings and emotions of the … Read more
When a reader reads a short story they need to pay attention because even the smallest of details are important. This proves to be true due to analysis of the surroundings of the characters and how they react to them. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” the main conflict is a man … Read more
Earnest Hemmingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants is one that is unique for its time. In 1927, when it was first published it wasn’t very well understood. The story takes place at a bar within a Spanish railway station. Unlike the norm for most stories of the time, Hemmingway was very vague when describing … Read more
Stephen King holds the position that reading a bad novel can be just as useful for a writer as a “good writing school. ” Being able to recognize “bad” writing in itself has many merits. He believes this because reading poor quality literature can teach someone what not to do in their own writing. This … Read more
In most traditional works of literature, the existence of narration is both a crucial and mandatory element in order to fulfill the writer’s purpose. Such works of literature include short stories and novels. The importance of the narrator goes beyond the act of simply telling a story that happens in a specific place at one … Read more
“Because there’d been this other person, a person who would have never joined a club or chased a girl who didn’t want to get caught. Who never would have let herself get made a fool of. ” (McCreight, 318). This excerpt captures the feelings of Amelia, the protagonist, as she struggles to find her identity … Read more
For this book report, I read The Maze Runner. This book was written by James Dashner and published on October 6, 2009. The genre of this story is Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, and takes place in a mysterious setting. This book report includes four main literary elements. The setting, characters, theme, and symbolism in the story gives … Read more
Timeline Paragraphs Event #1, titled: ‘Deciding to Escape’, is the most important event in the story. This event introduces the conflict and starts off the story. In ‘Deciding to Escape’, we learn that Connor knows he is going to be unwound. Connor decides to run away with Ariana, but Ariana refuses the offer. Without the … Read more
Deepak Chopra once said, “The masculine energy was about survival. The male was the hunter who risked his life and had to be in the fight-flight mode. ” When pertaining to survival, the main character in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London failed to follow three main steps in Laurence Gonzales’ nonfiction trade book, … Read more
Life is full of incredulous and horrendous surprises. Mistakes are natural in human nature; humans can better themselves by facing and accepting their mistakes. In the short story “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, Ned Merrill swims through his neighbors’ pools to get home. This short story has a variety of symbolism that connects to the … Read more
Cecelia Everhart was a raven haired beauty who was quite dull and vain. Seated next to her was her husband, Charles, a rather tiny fellow. Weak and unintimidating, he gave off the feeling of a rather poor man; however he was rather malapert and therefore quite rude. Their daughter was an exact replica of her … Read more
For my realistic fiction book talk, I read “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han. I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend, and by the summary presented in the novel, it seemed very interesting to me. The realistic setting in this story takes place in the contemporary time … Read more
Mexican author, Silvia Molina, writes the novel, Gray Skies Tomorrow, a narrative of a young Mexican girl who travels to London to attend Oxford University and her life there within a two-year span. Although not exactly an autobiography, the author writes first-person and describes events in her life as well as fictional events as she … Read more
Flowers For Algernon Essay Picture this, you have just read the best book ever, and you see they have a movie of it. You watch the movie, and intently hate it. Don’t you hate it when that happens? The movie, Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is not true to the short story, either. There … Read more
However, behind all the glitz and glam of a world revolving around fine food, attractive women and fast cars, there seems to be nothing more than a bottomless pit of mediocre writing, shallow ideologies and immoral perspectives. So here I am feeling rather shaken and stirred that Bond has quite literally made the double 0, … Read more
Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake follows the life of Jimmy/Snowman in a grim world of the not-so-distant future. The novel is a speculative look at the path Atwood believes our society is headed down. It features issues such as genetic engineering, global warming, food insecurity, and even child trafficking. A common element amongst these … Read more
I’m particularly impressed with your pacing, which is the most important aspect of creating suspense in a script. You have the innate ability to utilize the ‘slow reveal in your writing, which is a trait that is hard to teach and difficult to master. Instead of giving your audience all the facts from the outset, … Read more
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is part one of a three part trilogy called the Millennium Trilogy. The novel was written in Sweden in 2005, by Stieg Larsson. The book sold millions across the world and has been translated into several different languages, including English in 2008. It also has two films, one filmed … Read more
Imagine for a minute that you are walking into a tunnel. The entire tunnel is comprised of rainbows, you can barely see. You feel as though you must walk down it, its imperative that you do, no matter what it takes. You know it might hurt you as you hear the sounds coming from ahead, … Read more
Raymond Carver, Jr. was an American short story author and poet. He was born in 1938 and died in 1988. He was married twice, struggled with drugs and alcoholism, and was an unsuccessful writer early on in his career. It was not until his publication of “Cathedral” that he gained success. Carver even believed that … Read more
Max Lerner once said “The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt. ” Doris Lessing illustrates this point in her short story, “Through the Tunnel. ” In the short story, Jerry, a young, English boy, finds himself by overcoming the … Read more
“The goal, I suppose, any fiction writer has, no matter what your subject, is to hit the human heart and the tear ducts and the nape of the neck and to make a person feel something about the characters are going through and to experience the moral paradoxes and struggles of being human”(Tim O’Brien). This … Read more
How Do Stories Shape Humanity? “Novels and stories are renderings of life; they can not only keep us company, but admonish us, point us in new directions, or give us courage to stay a given course. ” (Robert Coles). We as humans, all love a good story; whether we are watching a movie, listening to … Read more
Nabokov’s Lolita is a book that deals with obsessive lust and bloody violence, the real horrors of which are often masked by the beautiful, clever language of the novel. Indeed, Humbert’s early job as a perfume salesman mimics and evokes this masking and sweetening aspect of language. Sudden, horrible death occurs frequently in Lolita, but … Read more
Truman Capote wrote the novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s without a rhyme or a reason. He used real life characters possessing different names. It is stated that the narrator just might have been Truman himself during his early years in New York. It is clear that Mr. Capote does not believe in traditional values. He himself … Read more
Cormac McCarthy’s setting in Blood Meridian is a landscape of endless and diverse beauty. McCarthy highlights the surprising beauty of combinations of scrubby plants, jagged rock, and the fused auburn and crimson colors of the fiery wasteland that frame this nightmarish novel. Various descriptions, from the desolate to the scenic, feature McCarthy’s highly wrought, lyrical … Read more
Since the very rudiment of mankind humans have dreamed… Dreamed of understanding nature’s phenomena, dreamed of finding out the secrets of the infinite universe and dreamed of perception of their own place in its vast continuity. These dreams, passed orally through the lips of generations eventually took form of what we now call a myth. … Read more
Almost sixty-five years have lapsed sinee Virginia Woolf spoke at Newnham and Girton colleges on the subject of women and fiction. Her remarkable words are preserved for future generations of women in A Room of One’s Own. This essay is the “first manifesto of the modern feminist movement” (Samuelson), and has been called “a notable … Read more
