Stolen Party Essay

329 Words2 Pages
Keilani Spahn Mrs. Moretti English 3H 1A 20 August 2012 Descriptive Language In the short story “The Stolen Party,” Liliana Heker uses lots of descriptive language to describe Rosaura’s experience at a birthday party. For example, when Rosaura is passing around cake to the other kids, she remembers a story, “in which there was a queen who had the power of life or death over her subjects. She had always loved that, having the power of life or death.” Furthermore, this illustrates how the main character is relating past occurrences to the present event taking place. She feels as if the cake represents a sense of control over the other kids. Ultimately, this makes her whole experience at the party get better and better, putting her in favor of the other children. The expressive language helps explain her feelings about passing out the cake. Another instance where colorful terms have been used to describe a scene occurs as Rosaura and her mother are waiting to leave and Senora Ines starts to hand her money instead of a party favor, “Rosaura felt her arms stiffen, stick close to her body, and then she noticed her mother’s hand on her shoulder. Rosaura’s eyes had a cold clear look that fixed itself on Senora Ines’s face.” Additionally this explains how her whole body reacted in a negative way to Senora Ines’s actions. She had not expected to get paid by Senora Ines, because she thought she was going to a party as a “friend” of Luciana’s. The reader sees Rosaura’s reaction to Senora Ines through all the descriptive language used by the author. It uses descriptive details in such a way to describe how Rosaura feels; cold and devoid of emotion. By using all of this vivid language Heker enables the reader to understand Rosaura’s experience at the party. Work Cited Heker, Liliana. “The Stolen Party.” Other Fires: Short Fiction by Latin American Women. New York: Crown
Open Document