Tess Dorsey 2-3 pg. Essay The Great Gatsby What is it to be a great writer? Is it to simply have a great story…or is there more? To be a truly effective writer or even just a simple story teller; you need substance. A sense of being that will draw the reader or listener in, as if they themselves were in the story, helping them to feel the surroundings of the character within the pages of the book.
When reading the short story, From a Secret Sorrow by Karen Van Der Zee, Faye experiences a sense of love and dissatisfaction. The intensity of the emotions in this story is commonly relatable and predictable, making this story not only powerful but a form of formula fiction as well. The events that occur to Faye, quickly leads the reader to the themes of love, dissatisfaction, and the happy ending that is easily predicted. Although Faye’s conflict is resolved very fast, and typical of a happy modern day romance story, it allows the reader to feel a sense of comfort, Bad things happen to good people, but if you have love there is hope. Faye is a fragile woman who is recovering from a traumatic accident.
“The critic asks “is this believable?” The novelist, “how can I get them to believe this”? In short she argues that a good novelist always has some sort of conflict to tell and it must be suspenseful. “Something other than breakfast”. She uses witty humour to loosen the audience up. Atwood discusses the several genres of fiction that are available in this time and explains how this is not only a time of gender crossover but of genre crossover.
A successful story should be something that makes you think and wonder how you can relate to it in your life. In ‘Looking for Alibrandi, I think, many people who read it can relate too some of the feelings felt by Josie. Some of the common relations to the book people have are, John Barton’s suicide and how Josie grieved or to the hilarious situation of ‘the Hot Pants magazine quiz’ at the beginning of the book and how Josie attempted to get out of being caught, as everyone would try to do in her situation. ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ I think was successful of achieving the expectations that a reader expects in a novel. One of the expectations of a successful novel is ‘Entertainment’ this is needed to keep a reader amused and not bored with the book.
It means that the writer should work his or her information from general to specific; and it is true for this essay, because as we can see the general idea, being how people enjoy “mystery stories”, is brought up right in the beginning and then the writer makes his way to the specific, being why he believes Agatha Christie appeals the most by listing his reasons, “strong characters, her interesting settings, and her strong morality.” The body of the essay is well-written. He explores his points in the same order that came in the thesis statement. First, he explains Agatha Christie’s characters in the body paragraph 1; in the second body paragraph, he gives examples of her interesting settings and in the last body paragraph, he gives his opinion on Agatha Christie’s morality. Also, the writer has put enough detail and examples to support each of his points. Lastly the conclusion is well-done.
A book that rings true attracts readers because it is able to allow the reader to imagine the scenario, a book that did this to me was Tangerine by Edward Bloor. In Tangerine, the author uses realistic situations to build up the plot of the story. Early use of realism strengthens the connection between the reader and the protagonist while allowing the end to be fictional and having the reader feels as if part of the story. Literary tools that are used to help support the connection are age, hobbies, setting, and character emotions and actions. In the novel Tangerine, the age of the protagonist, 12, is the age of the targeted audience are very similar.
Ambrose Bierce illustrates effectively how to hold the reader’s attention through suspenseful narration in the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. Not only is it a very powerful and suspense filled story, but the fine characterization of the ill-fated protagonist, as well as the stylishly crafted approach of the narrative, flows together to create the irony that so often illustrates Bierce’s writing; and forces us to marvel at its composition. Through descriptive adjectives, detail of events, the structure of the story and inviting the reader into the personal thoughts and life of Peyton Farquhar, Bierce draws out one of the most suspenseful narratives in short story history. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” begins by capturing the reader’s attention with the shocking revelation that a man is to be hanged on Owl Creek Bridge. The reader does not know why or who the convicted man is, but immediately curiosity is peeked by such a brutal occurrence.
Despite this difference, they are equally influenced by their mothers' philosophies, each sharing a desire to break away from their routine lives. Unfortunately, Hulga and Rose do not realize that what gives birth to this craving is also what makes them ill-equipped to handle the situations that set them on their individual courses of transformation. 2) The characterization of our protagonist Connie is vital to an understanding of her ripeness for seduction in Joyce Carol Oates' short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Connie's youth and vanity, coupled with her antagonistic relationship with the members of her family, effectively set the stage for her seduction by the older Arnold Friend. 3) In Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People," the cynical, rude, and world-weary Hulga believes herself to be on such a high philosophical and intellectual plane that she is without illusion.
The symbolism of the holocaust is engaging as fairy-tales are always considered to have a happy ending but using such a dark topical matter which seems to have no happy outcomes is able to surprise the audience and to keep them reading as the audience is waiting to see the “Happily ever after” (pg. 239). Yolen has used topical/subject matter and intertextuality to great effect to produce a novel which is engaging and intriguing to the
To access the thoughts and feelings of the main actors in the novel is to vicariously experience their passions and so their narratives stand out against the more objective narratives of Lockwood and Nelly as well as offering more potential for discussion with other readers who may feel more sympathy for some characters than others. Lockwood is the main narrator who introduces us to the characters of Wuthering Heights - his entrance to the house is the point at which the reader also crosses the threshold and it is his thoughts we read at the very end. This narrative ‘framing’ effect neatly encapsulates the story and provides an element of objectivity in contrast to the testimonies of the more passionate main characters. Even when it is apparent his welcome is not as warm as he had expected, he continually demonstrates good manners and his educated language is notable and in stark contrast with the nearly incomprehensible local dialect of Joseph upon whom he comments; ‘I charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid to digest his dinner’ (Bronte, 1847, p.4) When considered