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In Christina Baker Kline’s book Orphan Train, she uses a variety of different writing styles and techniques to impact the reader’s experience. What makes this book special is how Kline uses point of view in her stories. She writes from two different points of views and switches back and forth between the two. In this story, there are two main characters. There is Vivian, who is in her early 90s and then Molly, who is a teenager. Vivian and Molly are orphans which allows them to connect on another level. Throughout the story, Molly agrees to help Vivian clean out her closet and the more they clean it out, the more Vivian remembers from her childhood and the deeper she travels back into her past. Kline’s unique use of the point of view in the story is very important to the experience of the reader because this allows them to encounter more than one character’s emotions and journey.

The first person point of view, which is written from a character in the story’s perspective using “I”, can be identified in the story when Vivian would talk about her childhood from the past. As she talks about her childhood and trials which she overcame, the reader is able to live through her experiences and know how it feels to lose her family at such a young age, jump from home to home, and have her dignity taken away from her as she got older and older. Although the reader might have not experienced the exact same issues, the point of view allows the reader to feel the character’s feelings because you are reading from their perspective. Having a story written in first person puts the reader in the shoes of the character who is speaking, which is the reason it affects the reader’s emotions so greatly.

The third person point of view, which is written from the outside looking in and when the narrator sees and knows the actions, thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, can be identified in the story when the time period shifts back to the present tense and is more focused on Molly’s feelings and actions. When the story is being told in third person, the reader has the ability to go through a journey with more than one character. Although the third person storytelling is more focused on Molly, the story isn’t based around the feelings of Molly individually. Both Molly and Vivian’s actions and feelings are both expressed in the present day storytelling. The reader is able to experience what the characters are experiencing, which allows the story to be more effective because multiple experiences of the same event are conveyed.

In the story, as Vivian is on the Orphan Train talking to her new friend Dutchy, he says to her “We are headed toward the unknown, and have no choice but to sit quietly in our hard seats and let ourselves be taken there.” Dutchy saying this has an influence on the reader because it makes them feel as if he is talking directly to them. He says “we are headed toward the unknown…”, which instantly places the reader in the shoes of the character from which the point of view is being told from. If Dutchy were to have said “they were headed toward the unknown”, this would have not been as emotional and involving because the reader would not have felt included in the story. Incorporating the reader in the story enables the chance for the reader to relate and connect to the characters.

Julie P, a fan of Kline’s, has read the Orphan Train and fell in love. She says “ I was very impressed with her storytelling abilities, especially how she went back and forth between the present day and the past,  still being able to link together Vivian and Molly's characters.” Julie’s experience while reading the story was also impacted due to the different uses of point of views. Although there was a change in the point of view, Kline still found a way to connect the character’s back to one another. If Kline did not connect Molly and Vivian back to each other, this could have caused confusion for the reader, thus the connections of the character’s was very important.

Another reason Vivian and Molly have such a strong connection is they share many of the same experiences in life. As the story is being told in the present tense and written from third person point of view, it states “When Vivian describes how it felt to be at the mercy of strangers, Molly nods. You’re grateful for the slightest hint of kindness, and then, as you get older, suspicious. Why would anyone do anything for you without expecting something in return?” As Vivian is talking to Molly about her past, Molly is able to understand how she feels. She knows how it feels to constantly be taken advantage of, but was oblivious to it because she was so young and naive, and as they both grew older they began seeing how greedy and evil people can really be. This connects back to Vivian’s past and because the story is written from her point of view, the reader is able to go through her life experience with her. So, because the reader knows how Vivian feels, they are also able to understand how Molly felt since they both have the same experiences.

In conclusion, Kline’s book was definitely unique and stood out to many of the readers of it. Without the point of view being written the way it was written, the reader may have only been able to relate to one of the characters. Also, having the point of views switched back and forth from the past to the present keeps the reader engaged and interested to what will happen next. The reader is able to be in one character’s shoes and seeing their views on life, while also viewing other’s point of views and still being able to relate to the other characters. Kline did an amazing job keeping the story entertaining and leaving the reader at the edge of their seat, all while still connecting the character’s to one another made the story effective.

Amanda Bolli

1/15/15

Gold Animal Farm

George Orwell’s book Animal Farm has two different point of views. There is the pigs side and the rest of the animals. It may be hard to understand what certain characters are doing, but there are characters in the book that are easy to understand, and you can follow what they are doing. One example is the horse’s. Boxer has a strong build and can carry a lot but that’s not always a good thing. Boxer doesn’t know he’s a slave. He does know that the pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer are running the farm. You as a reader should see it in all perspectives or the majority of the characters points.

It all started with Old Major's speech. Old major was a prize winning pig. He was wise and thought of the rebellion. That was all in his dream. Well on page 25 the beginning of the 2nd paragraph it says “ During the next three months there was much secret activity.” This is the starting point of planning the rebellion. Every animal had a role to play in it. No one knows when it will happen. It could happen in 40 years or the next day. Point of view is important for this because this is the starting point of where the sides come in. The pigs or the other animals.

The rebellion started and all the animals worked together. They successfully ran out the humans. Now that the farmer is gone, the animals can live a life that they want. So they think. The pigs start to control the work the other animals do. Harder work and longer days.The very first sentence on page 63 it says “ All that year the animals worked like slaves.” The animals are being worked to hard not only are the horses but everyone else except for the pigs. The pigs pretty much rule the farm.

Boxer is being worked way too much. He has a strong build and is very broad. He works way too much and it’s because the pigs know he is strong enough to carry a lot. Everyone warns him but he doesn’t listen.  On page 104 it says,“ A horse’s lungs do not last forever.” Clover is trying to get Boxer to see that he is becoming a slave to the pigs. Also she is trying to get him to see that he is being overworked and that it’s not good for him. Boxer won’t listen to what she has to say.

On http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmAnimalFarm22.asp, it says “This point of view allows Orwell to see into the minds of the characters and understand their motivations. As a result, Orwell lets his readers know what the animals do not, for the animals do not understand anything more than they see or hear.” This quote effects the reader by giving them a little bit of a sense of what Orwell wants you to understand in the book. He shows this through the point of view. The point of view of “Animal Farm” is in the third person. Orwell uses a lot of symbolism too. That helps the reader  to understand the plot of the story. Also because it helps with understanding point of view.

On the same website Orwell says "was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into the whole."  He wants the reader to realize that everything in the book are represented by historical events. Orwell uses allegorical parallels with history. Some examples are; Animal Farm- History of russia,animalism- communism, and many more.   

The third person point of view helps the reader to see the difference between what is going through Orwell’s mind and through the characters of the book. The reader will realize that Boxer is meant to work all the time and when he is not need or use less he is to be killed. Now Orwell wants the reader to realize what Boxer feels about himself and what the pigs actually think about him.Orwell uses third person omniscient to help him to get the reader so see feel and focus on what he is writing. It’s a very good skill to have when writing a book.

The most important part of the story is the plot and it’s structure since it’s the very thing that gives the story purpose. It give the reader a reason to continue with the story in the first place. The plot also shows the reader what type of book they are going to be reading. Like a revenge plot for example. Average revenge plot structures create a storyline that has the main character betrayed or in some other way harmed by one or more individuals. After that, the main character then seeks justice on the the people that had wronged him or her. They succeed and they live a happy life in the end. However, with books like the Count of Monte Cristo, the author makes the plot a little more complicated. With the book, Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas, the plot structure was so cleverly written, that it creates this storyline that shows how every character is related to one another,or brought because of the important parts they play in the protagonist's, Edmund dantes, quest for revenge, and how they are realistically affected by it .Thus, making the story very unique and the reader doesn’t know what to expect.

For instance, in the book, there is the character Andrea who the count of Monte Cristo , Edmond, had provided for financially, and there is no given reason as to why he would do this, especially when he knows that Andrea is an escaped convict that is just lying to him to get rich. However, he is finally caught and stands before the court, he makes a shocking revelation, that the count told him in disguise, to the court about who  his father is. He says to the judge  “ Yes and since you've asked me for his name I’ll tell it to you: his name is Villefort” (476). To the reader, he or she knows that the count wants revenge on Villefort because of the injustice that he had inflicted upon him. Throughout the the story, the reader find outs that Villefort had child with Madame Danglars, who was the wife of Danglars who also had wronged the count. Now that the purpose of Andrea is revealed, Villefort is now ruined because of his relation to his illegitimate son.

Another example would be Maximilian. In the book, Maximilian is the son of Morrel who was a dear friend to the Count of Monte Cristo and had tried to help the count when his enemies destroyed his life by framing him for something he did not do. The count loves Maximilian like he was his own son, and would never hurt him. However, when he is enacting his revenge on Villefort and his household, and Valentine is dying. Maximilian then runs to the count for help, and tells him “ I love Valentine de Villefort, who’s being murdered at this very moment, do you hear me? And I am asking you and God to tell me how I can save her!”(402). Villefort had put the Count in Prison for many years and now he is enacting his revenge. Now that he realizes that Maximilian has a connection with the Villefort family, he can’t hurt all of them without hurting one of people that he has grown to care for deeply. In the end, the reader sees that the main character is struggling on the journey of  getting justice and vengeance. The reader sees that  the storyline has gotten even more complex because of the Characters connections to one another. In a way both the reader and the protagonist slowly start to realize that revenge storyline is not meant to be simple especially when people who had nothing to do with a few characters past are involved and ultimately effective. Either negatively or positively.   

Lastly, the Nortier is an example because of his past. His granddaughter, Valentine, asks her grand father for help in getting out an arranged marriage her father, Villefort, had had with Franz and his son because she was in love with Maximilian. Her grandfather decides to help them both. On the day that the wedding is supposed to be finalized, Valentine’s grandfather tells Franz about his father and what past he and the Nortier had together. Now, the reader already knows that Franz’s father was mysteriously murdered. When the Nortier has Franz read a story, Franz then says to the Nortier   “You! cried Franz. You, Monsieur Noirtier! Was it you who killed my father?” Yes, said Nortier's eyes” (310). With this revelation, the author’s plot again shows and surprises the reader on how another group of characters are connected, but, this time, in such a tragic way. It  leaves the reader not knowing what to expect now.“A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is - full of surprises.” was what Isaac Bashevis Singer once said and Alexandre does such a wonderful job doing this, which is why it makes this such an interesting  revenge story.

In conclusion, a plot, especially one that has to do a lot with revenge, has to to be something that has to be created in such an interesting way,  in order for the reader to even take any interest, let alone pick up and read the book. And Alexandre Dumas does this throughout his book by using connection between unlikely characters . He does this by using death, Bringing Franz and the Nortier together. Love,bringing Valentine, Maximilian, and even the count together since he is the one who is seeking revenge on Valentine’s Family. And finally, family, bringing characters like Andrea and Villefort together. This is why the plot structure is so important. The plot structure for this book has details that are added, that brings a connection with every character on one level or another in such a creative way. It makes it more than just a revenge book and without it, it would just be a basic story about revenge. It still might keep the reader attention, but not like before.            

Susan Collins novel “The Hunger Games”  is written in a way that expresses symbolism. These symbols represent both good and bad things throughout the story. It makes the reader feel different types of emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, and many others because of the different symbols that are used and the way they used it. It influences the readers by giving them something they can look forward into seeing throughout this book and how it affects them.

The mockingjay pin which shows Katniss representing her district. In the book it states “ “Your pin?” I say. Wearing a token from my district is about the last thing on my mind. Here I’ll pin it on your dress, all right? She leans and fixes the bird to my dress. “Promise you’ll wear it into the arena, Katniss she asks. Promise? “Yes” I say. Page 38.” This is shown on page 38. The reader realizes that this symbol appears a lot in the book because in a way that the mockingjay pin does not only represent her district as in good but it also represents a rebellion to the capital because of the experiment with the jabberjays. Which causes the reader to feel power because it brings a dramatic sense of representation to the district.

Another symbol is the three finger salute which shows respect for when people die and tells them that god is in our favor. In the book it states “Every member in the crowd touches three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. Page 24.” Which the reader can tell that it is used throughout the book right after it is first shown when Katniss first volunteers to be in the games and people stop when the games are over. It makes the reader feel  more comforted that the people in her district care about her and the symbol meaning god is in your favor.

Another symbol is killing for survival which shows that if they are in the games they are representing to win for their district. In this book Katniss is entered in the game and by her winning does not only mean she survives but it also means that her district survives as well. In the book it states “ All year the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation. Page 19.“ This causes the reader to feel anger and hope. Anger because the reader is mad how they are letting kids in this game to fight for their own survival which could cause them to die. Hope because it is the only thing the reader can think of as the game is going on. They are hoping for their favorite character wins. Also the reader has hope because they give the winning district great gifts.

The last major symbol in the hunger games is the poisonous berries which katniss and peeta were going to eat the poisonous berries to kill them both to create a rebellion against the Capitol to show them that they do not need one victor. Hungergames4b3.wordpress states “These symbolise power. They offer the power to kill and the power to persuade the game maker to let the two of them live. Poisonous berries- Night lock. (Represents deception, harsh, rebellion)” When They are about to eat the berries the readers feel mixed emotions because it is a good and bad thing that Katniss and Peeta are doing. It is good because they are going against the Capitol which they think would put an end to the Hunger games and showing them how powerful Katniss and Peeta care for eachother that they would die for each other. The bad thing is if they died then they would have been gone and that would have been the end of the books series and the readers would have gone crazy if they both died and no new book was created.  

Symbolism is shown in many different places without people even noticing them but their are others that are very clear of what and how they represent a certain thing. For example in the movie the Master of disguise it shows a triangle with an eye and designs in it that is a symbol of Pistachio being the master of disguise and it keeps reminding him that he is one even when he doesn’t think he is one throughout the movie. Every movie or book has its own symbol which gives you a great idea of the main idea of the movie or book. Symbolism can represent anything whether its a person or even an object that lets you understand the greater meaning of it.

          This structure is really important because to the readers these symbols represent different aspects of the book like how the mockingjay pin represents a token of the district and its rebellion.  Also The three finger salute which represents respect and means god is in our favor and the Killing for survival which they represent their district . Without the mockingjay their will be nothing showing what her district or the rebellion so the reader would feel as if they don’t have something to look forward to and it gives them the wrong impression of the district showing that what is their to represent when district12 is poor anyway so who cares, without the hand sign it would show that no one cares so the reader would have a outlook on people which would make the people of the districts look bad and look like cruel people, and without the killing for survival it would show how they don’t want to represent their district and stay alive when the reader would start expressing sad and angry emotions because the ones they wanted to win did not appear.  All three of these are shown throughout the entire book because they are what make the story unique.

A man wakes up in the morning with the nagging feeling that something is wrong. That very day, Earth is destroyed by an interstellar conspiracy. The man only barely escapes with the help of an alien living undercover among and studying humanity. Once they flee aboard a stolen state-of-the-art spaceship, they find themselves at the center of a massive scheme spanning aeons.

That sounds like a short summary of an action-heavy, generic piece of genre fiction. Although perhaps an interesting read if the mechanics of its universe were good, there’s nothing particularly innovative about that plot summary. But yet, the book being described, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is one of the most beloved science fiction stories ever written.

The reason why is pretty simple: the style. Douglas Adams, the book’s writer, wrote the books with a distinctive flourish that includes throwaway jokes that are then followed up on as plot points (or maybe not), abrupt changes in direction in mood and tone, and an overall air of self-indulgent absurdity. Adams’s prose knows that it doesn’t need to make sense, and seems to revel in that fact, producing such wonders as white mice doing experiments on human beings and a spaceship that runs on improbability. The choice Adams made to play science fiction against comedy gives him the ability to write a more surprising, dynamic, and engaging story by ignoring many of the conventions of conservation of detail and plot structure.

One of the things Adams does that could be considered rather unusual for genre fiction is make very heavy use of humorous asides. The tangents Adams goes on throughout the story are very powerful world building tools, and they allow The Hitchhiker’s Guide to give its readers background exposition in ways that would never be acceptable in a work with a more serious tone. For example, one of the most well-known is a set of paragraphs near the beginning explaining exactly why “A towel, [the namesake Hitchhiker’s Guide] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”

The entire tangent, which takes up about a page, is one of the parts of the book that is the most culturally entrenched. The hitchhiking slang is often the go-to reference people make when the book comes up in popular conversation. The fact that the main cultural sticking-point of the book (or at least the one people allude to most often) is not even from a section relevant to the plot suggests that the asides resonate very well with readers of the book in a way that demonstrates that those asides are engaging.

Another trademark technique of The Hitchhiker’s Guide’s style of writing is non sequitur. Adams often uses the fact that his story is set in a science-fiction universe to explain plot points in a manner previously completely unalluded to. Of course, Adams uses sensical explanations as well, and often takes both types of explanation to their logical conclusion. As an example, take the sequence describing the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. After about four chapters of buildup, the computer solving the problem finally gives an answer: 

”All right,” said Deep Thought. ”The Answer to the Great Question . . . ”

”Yes . . . !”

”Of Life, the Universe and Everything . . . ” said Deep Thought.

”Yes . . . !”

”Is . . . ” said Deep Thought, and paused.

”Yes . . . !”

”Is . . . ”

”Yes . . . !!!. . . ?”

”Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

This quote shows an example of how exactly Adams uses non sequiturs: He uses them to intentionally demonstrate the absurdity of the universe. Of course, the fact that they give him more options and let him carry on the story longer can’t be discounted either. The juxtaposition of serious and absurd reveals makes it difficult for the audience to tell which type each individual detail is going to be, leading to an overall more surprising story.  

Adams also brings one central piece of many comedy routines to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: the straight man. Arthur Dent, the main character, fits a dictionary definition of a the straight man as it’s used in comedy: he’s a foil to the absurdity of the galactic world, and he serves to show how a normal person like the reader might react in his situation. Even after leaving earth, he’s still in shock over the loss of Earth, as shown by this quote.

“England no longer existed. He’d got that – somehow he’d got it. He tried

again. America, he thought, has gone. He couldn’t grasp it. He decided to start smaller again. New York has gone. No reaction. He’d never seriously believed it existed anyway. The dollar, he thought, had sunk for ever. Slight tremor there. Every Bogart movie has been wiped, he said to himself, and that gave him a nasty knock. McDonalds, he thought. There is no longer any such thing as a McDonald’s hamburger. He passed out. When he came round a second later he found he was sobbing for his mother.”

The fact that The Hitchhiker’s Guide is so drenched in comedy tropes shows the foundation of the book in, well, comedy. The very fact that the book doesn’t portray itself as serious allows it headway into things that serious genre fiction doesn’t get to do. This added flexibility as opposed to serious science fiction stories makes for a more dynamic experience.

Of course, there’s no way Adams could get away with writing comedy science fiction if he wasn’t very experienced with both genres. Adams had previously written for Doctor Who during that show’s Tom Baker era, just when it was starting to become marketed in the US. He also contributed to the fourth series of notable British comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” one of very few people not members of that show’s troupe to do so. John Scalzi, himself a very good sci-fi-comedy writer, makes a point about how difficult traditional British farce humor is in his writing about Adams.

“The reason more people aren’t doing the same [type of comedy] is not because they don’t know what it is but because is because it is so amazingly hard to do. Any sort of comedy or humor is difficult to write, mind you; it just looks easy (or at the very least is supposed to look easy). But to do a very specific type of humor — in this case British farce — is even harder to do, especially if one is not already a practitioner of the form. Douglas Adams was.”

Scalzi paints Adams as a practitioner of a comedic style that few others can imitate, and his readers are inclined to agree. Adam’s own specific style was one shared by a narrow band of people; and he was the only one to use it in connection with science fiction. This explains both how he was able to combine science fiction and comedy, and why he wanted to.

Adams was altogether a skilled writer who contributed to popular culture in the contexts of science fiction and comedy. The story for which he became famous, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, makes good use of traditional comedy tropes. It also makes use of traditional science fiction ideas. However, what truly make The Hitchhiker’s Guide a dynamic and engaging story that has stood the test of time are the flourishes unique to Adams. The aversion of many science fiction tropes and plot pieces, as well as general fiction sacred cows, is what makes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the classic that it is.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

Scalzi, John. "Who Will Be the Next Douglas Adams? Hopefully, Nobody". Whatever. Wordpress, March 11, 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

Michelle Hodkins third installment on her Mara Dyer series, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, is a roller coaster of non linear literature. Michelle uses flashbacks which creates a story with many twists and turns. Michelle’s use of flashbacks is to intensify the reader’s understanding of the book by giving them comprehension of a character’s past while also making it non linear. This keeps the reader wondering throughout the book. This style of writing affects the content of the book because it constantly switches back and forth from past and present.

In The Retribution Of Mara Dyer, Michelle Hodkin has flashback chapters that are separated from the regular chapters. These flashback chapters are titled ‘Before’ and appear randomly throughout the book. In the story, readers begin to realize that the flashbacks are being slowly released. Readers think that this is a way to not overwhelm the readers with a huge chapter filled with just one giant flashback. So far in the flashback chapters, readers have read about a young girl who have traveled from India to London to live with her benefactor’s wife. In chapter 20, one of the many ‘before’ chapters, readers see the young girl having a conversation with her benefactors wife, whom the young girl called ‘Aunt’. There’s not much insight on who these people are which keeps the readers curious. One passage from the story that shows this is, “There is power in a name” Sister had said. I did not want to give out the one I’d shared only with her and Uncle, so I’d given anyone else who had asked a different one instead. The name I had given to my doll, before I’d known what it meant/ I decided to give Aunt Sarah the same one. “Mara,” I told her…” - Page 151.  This flashback leaves readers with shock and leaves them engrossed in the book. They are shocked to find out that this girl in the flashbacks is the main character, Mara, but they also want to know how her past correlates with her future. They also want to keep reading. Sure, the author could have released this information in the beginning, and it still would have contained the same information, but it would have taken away from the non linear trend as well as the nagging curiosity it leaves on the readers.

Flashback chapters are not only a way to keep a reader on a non linear roller coaster, but they are also a way to give the reader insight on a character’s past. Little by little, the reader gains more and more insight on who Mara is. Not only do they learn more about her, but with context clues the readers slowly begin to realize that these flashbacks seem to not happen in Mara’s time period. In chapter 43 (before), we read about how Mara has to leave the town she lives in with her professor due to some unexpected occurrences.

“It had been over a century since I fled London with the professor, and yet he still treated me like a child.” - Page 290. Flashbacks like these make the reader realize that maybe the main character has had past lives, or that she might be older than she seems. There could be endless possibilities, but without spoiling it, the two listed above are just a few things that could be possible in this book.

Since the book constantly switches from past and present, readers are always trying to make connections between the two; the readers feel a need to always put two and two together since the book is filled with many mysteries. The readers also begin to realize that all the flashback chapters create their own story within the book seeing as how they pick up where the other flashback is left off.  In chapter 24 (before), we read about Mara’s ‘Aunt’ setting her up with someone so that they could marry.

“But I was presented at court anyway, and engaged six months later. My fiance was sweet and shy, and he loved me. Our engagement lasted three months. He died on our wedding night, just before dawn.” - Page 179. With these flashbacks, readers will constantly try to find out how her past relates with her present. In the present, readers know that Mara has a long term boyfriend named Noah, who she loves very much; but when these chapters appear, readers try to figure out how any of this leads to Mara’s present. Readers also slowly realize that the flashbacks are their own story within the story which adds on to the non linear feel of this book.

In the end, readers acknowledge just how important these flashbacks are. They add onto the story as well as filling in detail. Other readers have noticed the importance of the flashbacks as well; a review from Vilma’s Book Blog shows that. “We see past (“before”) and present finally converge, as answers start to peek through the subtext of the story, making connections we never could’ve imagined. Mara’s quest for answers… for a solution… gets bloodier and more gruesome by the day as we inch towards the climactic end.” With flashbacks, readers can slowly find out how the main character became who they are. They can also find out more about other characters as well through flashbacks. Readers also stay hooked on the book through the flashbacks because of their random occurrences and the shock factor that they hold. Those random appearances keep the readers on their toes and they keep them wanting more. The flashbacks also cause the book to have an unusual feel due to it being non linear. Lastly, this writing style is a unique way to give readers insight without just simply stating it. The constant switch from past and present takes its toll on the reader the deeper they read into it.

Looking For Alaska is a beautifully romantic, yet dark, depressing novel by famous author John Green. It starts with introducing the main character, Miles, a dreary teenager who is obsessed with famous last words, and the reader takes on his point of view. But the unique thing about it is that the headline of the first chapter says “one hundred and thirty-six days before.” This immediately makes the reader think, one hundred and thirty-six days before what? That was John Green’s goal of writing the book in this structure, a countdown, to lure the reader in and to prepare them for whatever it is that is coming.

Countdowns can stir a range of emotions, it depends on the person. If you are impatient, you probably won’t like it. If you love anticipation and surprises, you will love it. That’s exactly whatever it is that’s coming, a surprise. Miles, the main character, wants to get away from his life and family in Florida and signs up for a boarding school in Alabama, and he explains his deeper reasoning: “So this guy, Francois Rabelais. He was this poet. And his last words were ‘I go to seek a Great Perhaps.’ That is why I’m going. So I don’t have to wait until I die to start seeking a Great Perhaps.”

As the countdown has already started, one hundred and thirty-six days, the reader probably already assumes that that is the countdown to when Miles finds his “Great Perhaps.” The reader might be questioning, why is he thinking he’ll find it at a boarding school? He gets to the boarding school, and meets his roommate named ‘the Colonel.’ They become friends and Miles’ new nickname becomes Pudge.

The Colonel introduces Pudge to his friend Alaska. Now, the reader might be assuming that the countdown relates to Alaska, because the book is called “Looking for Alaska.” He instantly falls in love with her and throughout the book he never tells her and never feels as if he’s good enough for her. They share knowledge with each other, and as time ticks on they become closer and closer. The reader may already be assuming that whatever this countdown is leading to, it may be a tragedy, which is a turn, because in the beginning you think of the “Great Perhaps” as a happy thing.

As the amount of days get lower, the reader is probably getting more and more anxious, and just wants to skip those pages all together. It locks them into the book, which was smart of the author, because who would want to leave a book and never find out what happens? Sure, you can skip pages to the part, but what's the fun in that? The structure definitely doesn’t take an instant, or as Pudge says, an instant doesn’t even exist. “What the hell is instant? Nothing is instant. Instant rice takes five minute, instant pudding an hour. I doubt that an instant of blinding pain feels particularly instantaneous.”

Reviewers weighed in on the how they feel on the structure, ¨With a structure like this, we learn the before and the after of the main event, which is something you don't see in a lot of books. Too often we're just thrown into the middle of a story with no explanation as to how the characters got there or how they know each other. However, here we start at the beginning and meet Alaska and the Colonel at exactly the same time the protagonist, Miles 'Pudge' Halter, does.¨

Without the countdown, this book would have no path. Sure, the story would stay the same, but the event could happen at any given time without any sort of preparation. The reader is there throughout Pudge’s adventure. They see him meet the Colonel and Alaska and watch his life change from boring into amazing. Although the book gives barely any details about Pudge’s past, the reader can conclude that it wasn’t anything like it was at that boarding school. Pudge is introduced to alcohol, cigarettes, pranks, actually having friends, and of course, love.

One day before. Pudge, the Colonel, and Alaska pull pranks on the Eagle, the head of the school, by setting off fireworks in the woods to annoy him, because they don’t particularly like him. They get into trouble with the Eagle a lot throughout the book, and plenty of times they were almost banned. They all go back to the room and get drunk. Things go forward with Pudge and Alaska, they kiss. But then all of a sudden Alaska starts freaking out, drunk out of her mind, saying that she has to drive to go see her boyfriend since it was their 8 month anniversary. She leaves, and the reader can already assume what will happen.

The after section of the book starts immediately in the center of the book. The reader might assume the after section already starts with Pudge knowing what happens, but it doesn’t. Pudge wakes up, still feeling alive from the night before with the love of his life, nothing feeling out of the ordinary. He and the Colonel go to the gym, because the Eagle had an announcement to make. The book is all coming together for the reader now, the answer to their everlong question, “what’s going to happen?”, is right in front of them.

Alaska died in a car accident that night. The reader is probably flooding with emotions along with Pudge. Nothing is the same for Pudge, the light was drained from his life as he reflected on the things he did with Alaska and the words he never said to her, which was that he loved her. The reader thinks it couldn’t get worse than that, until they find out the full story of Alaska’s death, and that the fireworks they were setting off in the woods was a contributing factor of the accident. Heartbroken, guilty, miserable. They are all major understatements to describe how Pudge felt.

Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones, is a story about a young girl named Susie Salmon. Susie was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Mr.Harvey at the age of 14. Her family and friends were made surprised and distraught by the event. Susie narrates the story from heaven, looking down on the little town she used to live in. Sebold uses flashbacks throughout the story to add details and information about the past that really shape the story into what it is. Flashbacks give the story more depth and dimension.

In the beginning of the story, you don’t know much about the characters in the story, not even the main character. Each chapter, a new emotion, action, or previous experience is unlocked and you start to know a little more about the characters. In the story, Susie talks about her younger brother, Buckley. Buckley is four when Susie dies. Buckley originally didn’t understand what his parents meant when they said Susie was dead but eventually he starts saying that Susie’s ghost is communicating with him and he is able to see her. This is important to the story but without background information on Buckley, these events aren't as impactful. A year before Susie’s death, Buckley and his friend Nate were playing in the backyard. Buckley saw a tiny stick so he put it in his mouth and acted like it was a cigarette. Buckley accidentally swallowed the stick. “Buckley was choking, his body bucking, and I carried him with Nate trailing into the garage, where my father’s precious Mustang sat. I had watched my parents drive, and my mother had shown me how a car went from park to reverse. I put Buckley in the back and grabbed the keys from the unused terra-cotta pots where my father hid them. I sped all the way to the hospital.” This quote is giving more detail to why him seeing Susie is so important. His near death experience makes him seeing Susie more realistic. Susie also validates him seeing her by asking, “Had my brother really seen me somehow?”

As stated before, the characters are revealed slowly in each chapter. Susie’s mother, Abigail, doesn’t take Susie’s death well. She has an affair with the main detective on Susie’s case, leaves her family, and makes you question if she really was ever ready to be a mother or is she loved the life she was living. Her eventually leaving her family would not make sense without flashbacks detailing her past life. A loving mother wouldn’t just leave her family after her daughter is murdered. Thankfully, the story gives some information on Abigail. From what we are told, Abigail and her mother, Grandma Lynn, don’t have the best relationship. The book refers to their relationship as “awkward.” Grandma Lynn came to the Salmon household for Susie’s funeral and while she was there, she sensed something wrong with her daughter, Abigail. Grandma Lynn decided to take a walk with her daughter around the block. While they were walking, Sebold explains their “awkward” experience from Susie’s point of view. “Now, never having tried before, having always let her daughter run as fast as she could in whatever direction she wished, . . . My mother could count on her fingertips how many times her tall father had leaned down and kissed her as a child. . . There had been no one else in the house with her but her mother and father, and then her father had gone.” All of these quotes kind of explain what Abigail did what she did. From the beginning, she hadn’t experienced much love at home. Her mother letting her “run as fast as she could in whatever direction she wished,” shows that leadership and guidance was absent. Her father not kissing her and the eventually leaving her shows that there was a lack of love and care for her and her mother. Abigail’s childhood validates her actions as an adult. That is why she left her family to be with Len. Len was showing her love and affection for the moment and her husband wasn’t at the time, even though the book tells us that Jack, her husband, loves her very much. Jack was depressed and sad that his daughter was murdered and because he wasn’t giving Abigail attention or saying “I love you”, she had an affair. All of this information from flashbacks helps us understand her actions.

The biggest person that everyone wanted to know information about was Mr. Harvey. The story starts off by telling you he killed Susie, but past information on him isn’t there. As you go further into the story, you start to learn about Mr. Harvey’s past. Jack has a strong feeling that Mr. Harvey killed Susie, but no one else believes him, except Lindsey. Lindsey wants to help her father and prove Mr. Harvey guilty so she sneaks into his house when he isn’t there. Lindsey breaks through the window. “Jackie Meyer. Delaware, 1967. Thirteen. . . Flora Hernandez. Delaware, 1963. Eight. . . Leah Fox. Delaware 1969. Tweleve. . . Sophie Cichetti, Pennsylvania, 1960. Forty-nine. . . Leidia Johnson. 1960. Six. . . Wendy Richter. Connecticut, 1971. Thirteen.” All of these names reveal a lot. This quote shows that Mr. Harvey has killed many more people than just Susie. This also shows that he is good at what he does and it will be hard to find him guilty. This also helps you understand that the women he tells people were his wives were his victims names. This quote changes your perspective on Mr. Harvey.

As stated before, the story uses flashback. A review from teenink.com says,”The Lovely Bones is written in chronological order with flashbacks in between. Yet the flashbacks do not give the reader headaches like most novels do. These trips back in time are insightful, necessary, and valuable to the reader. They help to keep Sebold’s organization in check. Ray Singh did not wake up one day and fall in love with the then alive Susie; a flashback explains it took months for his feelings to strengthen and for him to work up the courage to kiss her. Abigail did not have an affair with Detective Len Fenerman because she felt like it. A flashback shows that Jack and Abigail had once been in a thriving marriage. Flashbacks give information that would otherwise be lost and enable the reader to understand plot elements in the present.” The author of this review explains that flashbacks give information and “insight” that is necessary to the story. Flashbacks help validate why the characters do what they do.

The Lovely Bones is a mysterious and heart-warming story about fourteen year old Susie Salmon. The story is placed in chronological order but flashbacks are added to give depth to the characters and to the story. Without flashbacks, characters past lives wouldn’t be expressed and there would be a major disconnect with the entire story. Flashbacks give the story more depth and dimension.

"The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold." The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/137221/The-Lovely-Bones-by-Alice-Sebold/

Miller, Laura. "“The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold." Saloncom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

http://www.salon.com/2002/08/01/sebold_2/

Analytical Essay:

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a story about The Manor Farm, a farm where all of the livestock are tortured and their goods are taken by humans. At this farm one animal named Old Major, a boar, suggests to the animals on Manor Farm to take up his philosophy of Animalism (humans are bad, treat all animals as you would yourself, and don’t engage in human activities eg. drinking alcohol, trading etc.). He wanted to stage a revolution against farm owner Mr. Jones to achieve a state of equality amongst all animals. Old Major passes away and the farm is taken over by a power-hungry pig named Napoleon. Napoleon is a formidable dictator who rules the animals of “Animal Farm” by oppressing and controlling them along with his right hand man (pig) Squealer, and a pack of ferocious hounds used to protect Napoleon and strike fear into other animals.

The events in the story are narrated in third person by an unnamed omniscient being. Narration of the third person is very important in general to the reader because it allows us to see all of the crucial moments going on at animal farm.  In first person narration, readers sometimes only see events when the characters (narrators) witness an events. Orwell’s use of narration in the third person from an omniscient being allows us as readers to be put in the place of uninformed (unintelligent or naive) animal and figure out on our own what the Pigs’ motives or ideas are.  As readers of this voice we have to make up our own minds about what is happening, what it means and how we feel about it all.

At the beginning of the story, the narrator presents as any typical unnamed and omniscient being would, by narrating descriptions of the setting and characters as well as the thoughts and feelings of several (sometimes all) different characters. As time goes on, the narrator tends to speak about events in a very naive way, almost as if the narrator has become one of the less intelligent animals in the book who are unaware of their oppression and who disregard Napoleon’s evil doing. Jason Black is a developmental editor for novels and is the author of an online article titled, How Your Novel's Point of View Affects Your Characters. In this article Black says that “[Third person narration] is ideal if your goal is to allow the reader to watch everything unfold even though the characters aren’t aware of all that’s going on.” This is exactly what what Orwell does by writing in third person narrative in Animal Farm.

The narrator starts to fall for Napoleon’s propaganda early in the book. One example of this naive point of view is in Chapter Six; pages 26-27 where the character Clover is skeptical of Napoleon and the other pigs for sleeping in beds when she remembers one of the Seven Commandments stating that “no animal shall sleep in a bed.” “Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, [Clover] fetched Muriel. ‘Muriel,’ she said, ‘read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?’ With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out. ‘It says, ’No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,’ she announced finally. Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so.” If the reader falls for the ruse of an unbiased third person character, this moment could either have the reader go along with what the narrator is thinking (“if the commandments say it, it must be right”) while a more skeptical reader could have gone back to check the Seven Commandments when they were first made. This decision on whether or not to believe the statement of the narrator affects their trust of both Napoleon, the narrator and even Clover.

The third person narration style is slowly revealed in Chapter Eight, page 41. The reader doesn’t immediately know what caused the sound, the narrator describes a scene occurring one quiet night when a loud crash came from the large barn and was heard by all of the animals. “At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paintbrush, and an overturned pot of white paint. The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.” In this paragraph, Orwell has had the narrator give very important clues to help readers figure out what the loud noise was. The narrator does not ever say specifically what happened that caused the noise.  The reader has to figure out on their own what happened.

Orwell also uses the third person to paint a picture of the farm’s condition as well as it’s residents. In Chapter Nine; pages 43-44 he writes;  “Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.”  This particular statement sounds like it could have been said by either a pig or a non-pig animal, which either way brings the reliability of this statement into question. Since the narrator and Squealer both agree that “in those days they had been slaves and now they were free” anyone who trusts the narrator may also start to believe the things Squealer preaches.

If Orwell were to choose another form like first person narration from the view of a character like Boxer, the strong but foolish stallion, the story would not include the events not witnessed by Boxer. Due to Boxer’s thick-headedness, the narration of the book, if it were told from Boxer’s perspective, would include bias on what the animals think about Napoleon and crucial moments would not have been explained in full detail. In Black’s article he refers to the to third person narration as if it is “jumping into and out of different character’s heads, giving the reader a much more difficult job in forming any close emotional ties with the characters.” In this case, having Boxer narrate the story in first person has the potential of the reader connecting with Boxer. A reader seeing Boxer as the trustworthy protagonist would believe what he says about Animal Farm and would have a very skewed idea of the plot.

York Notes, an online study guide program for English literature, says the third person narration in Animal Farm provides “the animals’ interpretation of events” and the narrator is  “detached.” The York Notes also point out, “Orwell is careful to use phrases that leave us in no doubt about what is happening. . . the animals might not be aware of what is going on but it is obvious to [the reader].” It is this usage of bread crumb trails that allows the reader to figure out on their own what they personally feel about the story, the animals actions, Napoleon and what everything means.

There are many young orphans who have lost their mother and their father are no longer in the picture. Those young orphans always hope that their father will return, but they don’t have the power to go look for them. Bud not buddy is an inspiring and humorous book about a young boy who has had enough of bouncing from house to house. He lost his mother but he still has the hope of his father through a small briefcase that he carries with him. Christopher Curtis use little aspects to build his characters even if they are only mentioned in the book.

Bud has been adopted to live with Amoses, they have a son who is two years older than Bud. Todd isn’t very happy that there is a new boy in his house so he bullies Bud. Todd and Bud start fighting and got caught by Mrs. Amoses, his suitcase was taken and he was thrown into the shed. Bud soon escapes from the shed in search for his belongings. He find them but “I could tell right away that someone had been fumbling through my things. First off, whenever I put the blanket in, I always fold it so that it stops all the other things from banging up against each other” Bud is very particular of where things are placed in his briefcase. It mentions that  “I could tell right away that someone had been fumbling through my things.” This shows he is observant and delicate with the things he care about. In his mind everything has it’s place and he know when it’s not the way he wants or had it. For someone to know exactly how everything is means that they care a great deal about it. Bud obviously treasures the things in the briefcase because he has an exact order the things are suppose to be in, “first..whenever I put the blanket in, I always fold it so it stops...things from banging.” This show the expert care Bud takes of the suitcase. He does want anything banging against each other and getting damage because it’s important to him.

Bud comes off as a very respectful child, but he is really looking for a way to get himself out of a bad situation. He makes up so many rules for the lies he creates he calls them Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things to Have a Funner Life and Make a Better Liar of Yourself. He has been beaten up by Todd and when Mrs. Amoses comes in Todd tells his mother lies to get him out of trouble. Bud is surprised when it seem that Todd know his rules to getting out of trouble. “It seemed like he knew some of the  same things I know, the things I think of all the time and try to remember so I don't make the same mistake more than seven or eight times” This shows that Bud is smart and is a learner, he takes in knowledge on how to please to other people. He only needs something to happen “seven or eight times” and then from that experience he determines if he has to lie or not. Bud even calls himself the best liars in the world. To be the best at something you have to learn when to use it. To learn when to use it Bud had to practice, showing that Bud can also be selfish and deceitful. So it surprises him when other people know how to do the same thing.

Bud has left the Amoses house and is on the lame as he puts it. Before he can do anything else he looks in his suitcase. In his suitcase is a picture of his mom as a young girl. While looking at this picture he has a flashback to a conversation he and his mom would always have. She say “Bud is your name and don't you ever let anyone call you anything outside of that either...Especially don't you ever let anyone call you Buddy, I may have some problems but being stupid isn't one of them, I would've added that dy onto the end of your name if I intended for it to be there.” Bud’s mothers name is Angela Janet Caldwell. Even though she isn’t alive in the book you get to know her characters through Bud’s  flashback. For example the sentence “I may have some problems but being stupid isn’t one of them, I would’ve added that dy onto the end of your name if I intended for it to be there” informs you that Bud’s mom may have had some schooling so she was smart. You also see how sassy she was through the sentence “Bud is your name and don't you ever let anyone call you anything outside of that either...I would’ve added the dy onto the end of your name if I intended for it to be there.” If she wanted something to happen or be there then she would have put it there, if she didn’t put it there don’t say it. You can also see how obedient Bud is because throughout the whole book he tells people “My name is Bud, not Buddy.” He especially isn’t letting anyone call him Buddy because that’s not what his mother wanted.

There are very few who seem to realize Bud being as polite as he tries to be. One of those people are Herman C. Calloway. Bud has been through a long journey to find a man who he thinks is his father. He keeps a flier of Mr. Calloway in his suitcase and knows where he may be. Bud has been with Mr. Calloway for a few days and has gotten on his last nerve. He says “You throw a lot of ‘sirs’ around but you’ve still got a real strong, real smart-mouthed, disrespectful streak in you boy.” Mr. Calloways sees that Bud has “disrespectful streak” in him that no one else sees. This proves Mr. Calloways character of being a grouchy older man but also shows he doesn’t take any nonsense from others. It also show that he isn’t a very patient man because Bud has only been with him a few days. On the other hand you see some who sees Bud as being disrespectful and smart mouthed. Which Bud is he just hides that side of himself.

Through out the whole book you see a young determined orphan who is just trying to find his father but he has also gone through a lot to get there. One review from a parent  on the Barnes and Nobles website says “Bud he’s an adventurous boy. He's brave. He's strong. He's determined to do anything. He's determined to find his father. Read this book and you'll find out how he goes from adventure to adventure. From foster home to foster home. Feel as if you're Bud as you read the book. And enjoy it.” This review breaks down Bud’s character perfectly because he is brave, he went on a search for his father not knowing what he would face. He is strong because even when he was separated from his friend he found his own way to make things work. He is determine because nothing stopped him from getting to his destination.

I recommend this book to everyone, it’s a must read because Christopher Curtis uses multiple aspects to improve his book. Aspects like symbolism, flashbacks, but most importantly character development. He makes you feel the emotions that Bud feels, the boy who is obedient but also disrespectful in his own way. Not only does Christopher Curtis give you a view of the characters living in the book but also the one who isn’t, Bud’s mother, Angela Caldwell or  Calloway. If the characters wouldn’t have been developed right then the book wouldn’t have enough emotion and adventure in it to leave the lasting impression that you can do what you put your mind to.

   This book is called Unruly, and it’s written by Ja Rule. This story also uses uses an incredibly unique structure in this book. Ja Rule does not use the regular order of things. He sometimes places later events before earlier events. Even though he does this, he keeps the story interesting and readable. He doesn’t feel the need to follow the rules. He feels that he should do what he thinks makes his life sound good and honest. Because of his originality, his book became an original masterpiece in literature in my opinion. He is not afraid to put certain events before other events. He is also not afraid to have prison letters in between his chapters. This style seems to be unnoticed by a lot of people, which also lets me know that he did a good job. It shows that the style has not interfered with the main story for the worse.

    This technique makes it so that the reader feels how he supposed to feel. He/she feels excited about what will happen next, so they are sucked in. The prison letters in between also gives the reader a really good time to reflect on Ja Rule’s views, as well as to feel sympathy for him. This style helps prove that he is a human, and that success is not everything. He is not afraid to admit that at all. So because of this, the use of prison letters is very unique and interesting. There is so much to this man, and this style presents that. That is the cool thing about this style. Most people would never use this style in their autobiographies or their TV shows. So he took a dare when he wrote his book like that, and it paid off.

    This style is not used often. People usually keep the entire story in order without making such changes. So, this is not really a normal technique at all. This is what makes him so original. You usually don’t see tv shows styling their episodes this way. They usually keep things in the order of 1rst to last events. Family Guy sort of uses this style. Similar to how Ja Rule has prison letters in between his chapters, Family Guy has cutaway gags. Prodigy, a rapper who also wrote a book, had prison letters in between his chaptes, and he also kept the letters in order. So, he has also sort have incorperated this style into his book. He just uses this style in a way that makes the story cool and interesting. The style is really contributing because it puts the events in a good place. That, and the unorderly style in general, do this because as you read it, you feel like it’s the right time to learn about this. Especially since Ja Rule also talks about so many different themes and situations that have appeared in his life.

   There are no quotes in the book about Ja Rule’s style. Ja Rule does not reference it, but there were a lot of qotes I can use to present the order that he used in the book. One quote is,¨The beef between me and 50 was all over the news.¨ This quote talks about a rap rivalry that was very damaging, but it also shows the type of order he uses at times. This quote was about 2003, but the next quote is about events that took place in 1999, and in 2000. ¨I was in Los Angeles recording my second album, Rule 3:36¨, was that quote. And these two quotes are in the exact order. They are because those chapters were right next to each other. The one about beef was before the one about Los Angeles. ¨Ḧis body moved slowly, and he was no longer in good shape¨, is the final quote I will use. That took place in 2002, and that is in the very next chapter after the previous one. This proves that Ja Rule does not use chronological order when writing. The effect it has is making you fell excited to hear more about the past. More things that have not been discussed earlier. This style does contribute to the story this man has to tell in such a great way. That might be one of the reasons I love this book

  On Goodreads.com, there was a good quote about Ja Rule’s writing style, which was written by Andrew Hicks. ¨The book moves chronologically, but between each chapter is an italicized “present-tense” interlude written from prison, as Ja serves 26 months for a weapons charge and tax evasion¨ He is right about the prison letters. They are in between each chapter. That makes the story different from other biographies. This is an original form of writing which I like about it. That is why it is so good. But he also places some later events before earlier events. That is also what Andrew Hicks should touched on as well. But he was correct about the prison letters. Those letters are in order, but the storyline is not. And that is one of the interesting things about this book. Also, there is a beginning, middle, and end to this book. Although structured differently, you clearly know where the end and beginning is. When CG Blake said ¨The non-linear narrative is a challenge.¨, he was right. But, that was clearly a challenge that Ja Rule could handle. He used it properly, and that’s what makes the book so good.

 The prison letters carry on for 2 years, which is how long Ja Rule was in jail. These letters really show who he is as a person. You get to see his intellect, and you get to know how he is thinking after knowing he won’t be in the same house as his family for 2 years. He talks about how terribly he misses his son and daughter, and how his wife and mother were emotionally destroyed by this. Ja Rule lets you see the pain in his heart, and you can see how much regret he has for a lot of the decisions he made. Because of this, it was important he included them in this autobiography. But, it might be better that he kept those in order. Things could get confusing if he just placing them in random places because they are supposed to show his journey in prison. So, things would not quite be right if they were placed in random order. There is something about them each being in order that I really like. I think it helps see how he has matured throughout these two years. I would not see that if these letters were out of order, and put in random order.

       This book contains a very rare style of writing. My conclusion is that it can really make a book that much more interesting if done properly. The prison letters can help you think about Ja Rule’s life and choices, and the order of the events can make them seem as if they were in order. I know because Ja Rule did that, and now his book is a classic piece of American literature in my opinion.

Sources In MLA Format

Rule, Ja. Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Becoming a Man. Hardcover ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2014. 1 to 242. Print.

Hicks, Andrew. "A Review of Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Becoming a Man." Goodreads.com. Goodreads Inc, 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. <http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1058310816?book_show_action=true&page=1>.

Blake, CG. "Linear vs. Non-linear Narrative." A New Fiction Writers Forum. A New Fiction Writers Forum, 5 Dec. 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <https://cgblake.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/linear-vs-non-linear-narrative/>.

Ella Donesky

English

A - Band

1/19/15

The imagery in Breakfast of Champions doesn’t appear as drawings, exclusively. The first example is in the title of the book itself. “Breakfast of Champions” is a trademark slogan, not meant to reference General Mills, however, the expression is it’s own sort of trademark stamp, an image. Most Americans can recognize the trademark. Furthermore, on some book covers, and certainly in every copy, on the page following the publisher’s page, the slogan appears on a t-shirt. It’s a very familiar phrase, almost invisible. Perhaps Vonnegut’s use of it is meant to defamiliarize and lend it an ironic meaning. He recontextualizes it, and in this way, the title becomes a device, a symbol which provides a deeper understanding of the characters and the ironic tone. Hoover and Trout are regular people, they aren’t champions. The recontextualized imagery contrasts between the branding typical of American culture, and the lives that are actually lived.

The first image of the book appears in the preface, not in the actual story. It is Vonnegut’s depiction of an asshole, the image above. Earlier in the preface, he dedicates the book to a woman, Phoebe Hurty. He writes, “She would talk bawdily to me and her sons...She was funny. She was liberating. She taught us to be impolite in conversation not only about sexual matters, but about American history and famous heros, about the distribution of wealth, about school, about everything.” Upon reading this statement, it is very clear what Vonnegut’s intentions are through writing and drawing. It communicates the purpose of the images. The image of the asshole, specifically, alludes to his earlier sentiment of maturity and humor, in his friend, Phoebe. Furthermore, it is important to mention that the image wasn’t included in the story itself, but in the preface, where Vonnegut’s explains his purpose in writing the book. The images seem deliberately crude, in contrast to the aspirations of most illustrators, who want to their work to appear of higher skills and sophistication. This almost expands his job as the narrator, because he isn’t simply having access to the character’s thoughts, he is the author, a character in himself. In this way, the imagery is used not to enhance the plotline, but to deepen our understanding of the story, as the reader, because we are more connected to the author.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, an editor and critic (among other things), gave a commentary on Kurt Vonnegut’s use of drawings in Breakfast of Champions. This is what he said, “Even those dumb, lovable drawings began to pall after a time. I think I understand what he is getting at--that fictional art simply won't serve an more as he approaches middle age and a deeper insight to his own motives for writing...that the persona who is creating ‘Breakfast of Champions’ is trying to get a last desperate grip on the most simple rudiments of storytelling. But there is a certain coyness in this desperation, especially since it is surrounded by so much polish and inventiveness.” As mentioned earlier, Vonnegut’s style of writing by many is considered to be polished. However, it’s deceptively so. It doesn’t seem flowery or ornate, in most cases, it just reads plainly and straightforwardly. This is also represented in his illustrations. If at first glance, it appears as if his illustrations and stories are crude and simple, but both are actually polished. It’s so plainly written, you don’t notice it, and it’s the characters and the storytelling which become more clear.

Kurt Vonnegut’s use of simple and crude images in Breakfast of Champions, provides the reader with a new interpretation of the author’s purpose and the nature of the characters. Furthermore, it improves our understanding of the book, shifts the tone, and changes the traditional use of images in stories.

Egan, Robert, and Kurt Vonnegut. Breakfast of Champions. New York (45 W. 25th St., New York 10010): S. French, 1984. Print.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Is Kurt Vonnegut Kidding Us?" The New York Times. N.p., 2 May 1973. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fbooks%2F97%2F09%2F28%2Flifetimes%2Fvonnegut-breakfast.html>.

The structure of the Lord of the Rings is chronological with flashbacks;  this adds suspense, understanding and provides a purpose to an imaginative yet dark tale. The reader moves from event to event but we do not know the outcome. The chronology, nevertheless, increases understanding; the reader can return to earlier chapters to make an educated guess about what might happen.  While the book is not entirely chronological, such as when  Sméagol kills his friend, the structure helps the reader foresee the dangers of power. The flashbacks let the reader know how events occurred and how characters developed.

We all have flashbacks, joyful ones and even nightmares. They remind of what was and may inform us about where we are today. In the Lord of The Rings, flashbacks are used for background on characters and to develop the ongoing story. Flashbacks are included in many events ultimately shaped the outcome of the book. The flashbacks show us there where and why of the present; they bring depth to a story. Tolkien used flashbacks as a reminder of what occurred and to provide insight into why it occurred. Tolkien used his flashbacks early on because “If the flashback occurs later in the story, it can bog down the story and quickly become something that an editor or someone who is critiquing the text to abhor.” Tolkien decided to use flashbacks early on because otherwise we’d ask  “why does this ring even matter and why is it here if Sauron supposedly died?” Flashbacks started the story, but the adventure of Frodo ended it.

You know the saying “Don’t even kill a fly because it could alter the past.” You could say that about flashbacks;  they happened a certain way. Flashbacks also add suspense.  For example, when Isildur chose not to throw the ring, as Elrond said “For Isildur would not surrender it to Elrond or Cirdan who stood by. They Counselled him to cast it into the fire…” This choice in the past made by Isildur saved the rings life and led to the road Frodo takes now.  At this point, the reader did not know who would rise in power.  To “kill a fly” would have been to cast it into the fire which would have ended Sauron’s reign. When Tolkien portrayed this flashback, he provided the “why”  for a fuller journalistic summary of the events.  Tolkien helped us  understand why the fellowship aimed to reach Mordor.

Flashbacks also provide the reader with the characters’ attitudes toward life in general and insights into their life experiences that lead to the present day.   For example, the reader gains insights into Gandalf, a major character,  and Gollum, a minor character, through flashbacks. Gollum’s first flashback occurs while he and his friend fight over the ring.  To obtain the ring of power, Gollum kills his friend.  Gollum then lived half a millenia loving the “precious” ring. What Gollum lost was himself the moment he and his friend found a ring below the lake.   Another example of a flashback is when Gandalf talks about Gollum.  Gandalf said: “ Pity? It was pity that stayed in hand. Pity and mercy, not to strike without need.”  Tolkien used to compare Gollum’s era with the ring and Bilbo’s. The difference is nobody died when Bilbo obtained and left the ring. This flashback tells me how and why Gollum’s life had been miserable. The ring is dangerous;  it is what ultimately led to Gollum’s demise.

In addition, Tolkien used personification in this book series.  For example, Tolkien described a tree that could move and talk as any man. Tolkien’s use of personification was also disguised.  The ring had a “desire” and a “mind” of its own. The ring was capable of seducing and swindling a man for itself rather than riches or power. The feeling of holding it was too much for someone to refuse. The ring I could compare to a disease where the only goal is to survive. Gandalf also mentions what may be interpreted as personification when he says “The Ring has awoken, it’s heard its masters call.” The ring has “awoken” is an act of a living thing. A golden ring can’t be awoken. Personification is essential to the elevation of the ring.

The ring is relevant to  flashbacks for a few reasons. One, it was involved in all other major flashbacks that molded Frodo’s quest. Two, the ring of power is a character in itself.  In all major flashbacks in the book, there were not false memories; the ring was the real culprit.  Everything occurs because of the ring. Isildur’s mind was swindled by a ring that his people swore to destroy. As with Gollum, the ring only took life. While Gollum teetered between loving and hating the ring, he could never let the ring go. In the flashbacks with Gollum, he is smitten when he sees this ring. Gollum’s eyes glowed with a  passion for the ring;  the ring convinced Gollum that he was meant to carry the ring. This shows the choice Gollum made; this choice impacted present day Middle Earth. The ring of power was proven to be its own being;  it entirely controlled people. It deceives the minds of all, and carries part of the dark lord Sauron beneath its golden inside. The ring isn’t just the flashback;  it’s the synopsis and summary of the story. All the answers to the chronological pattern in this book lie within a ring!

Tolkien took an typical non-fiction pattern, chronological, and combined it with flashbacks to add understanding, suspense and a purpose to a piece of fictional, fantasy literature.  Personification illuminates the fantasy while providing more insights into the human and humanoid characters. While the reader experiences a retelling of a story, we do not know the outcome. The flashbacks add suspense even though they are often expected or logical within the context of the story.  At the same time, the chronology, provides understanding. The earlier chapters provides a road map for the reader while the content encourages the reader to conjecture about what will happen.   For example, the chronological pattern assist the reader in understanding the power - and danger - of the ring. The combination of a chronological pattern with flashbacks and personification enable the reader to stay with a complicated, fanciful, dark story.

MLA CITATIONS

"A Word About Flashbacks." Writing Is Hard Work. Writing Is Hard Work, 06 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings. Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print.

S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders is a book about a boy named Ponyboy who is apart of a gang called the Greasers. Through symbolism, the main character in the book sees his true potential and how he should never lose who he is. But, in an environment where crime runs rampant, and discrimination between gangs is the norm it turns out to be harder to stay the person he wants to be most in life.

During one scene in the book (Pg 77) Ponyboy recites a poem to Johnny. Neither of them get what it means, until Johnny says ”Stay gold, ponyboy, stay gold…” on his death bed to Ponyboy (Pg 148). At first Ponyboy has know idea what he was talking about, until he receives an old letter from Johnny in his Gone with the Wind book. Johnny wrote it before he died. It explains what he thinks the poem meant, and what he meant by “stay gold”. One interpretation  behind this quote was to stay who you are no matter what pushes you not to be. Johnny believed in Ponyboy, that he could always be himself, that he would never be changed by all these outside forces. Every moment of our lives are precious, and we shouldn't waste them being someone else because of the unsatisfying circumstances we may live in.

After finding out Cherry has become a “spy” for the greasers, Ponyboy is in shock wondering why Cherry would do such a thing. “No, it wasn’t cherry the soc who was helping, it was Cherry the dreamer who watched sunsets, and couldn’t stand fights. It was hard to believe a soc would help us, even a Soc who dug sunsets. “ This quote really got to me because it brought up a recurring topic in the story; sunsets. Throughout the book certain characters, especially ponyboy talk about sunsets, particularly how they like to watch them. He also uses it on other characters, like Cherry. It seems to be used as a good, redeeming quality. It shows how lighthearted both characters are, even one from a rival gang. It is also used it johnny’s explanation for “staying gold”. Watching sunsets is one of Ponyboy’s many qualities to keep Johnny in believing in him. Watching sunsets is a way to show a person’s softer side, a way to give the characters dreams and aspirations, not to just live in the moment, but for the new ones too.

This isn’t a quote, but an object in the book that is surrounded by multiple quotes. It is the book Gone with the Wind. It particularly has to do with the character johnny. On pages 75 to 76 It talks about how he loves the book and he can truly understand and relate to it. The book also shows ponyboy how deep of a person johnny is when analyzing it. Then on pages 178 to 179 you see the letter Johnny left for Ponyboy before he died. It was in between one of the pages of the book Gone with the wind. He left it in the book that represented him the most when it came to who he was on the inside. He may have seemed like just some “dumb greaser” to most people, and even to some of his friends he wasn’t any better than that. But, within that book he is so much more. He’s kind, thoughtful, and deep person, and the only other person who knew that was Ponyboy, the person who the letter in Gone with the Wind is directed too. He also mentions Dally, one of the other characters he was also close to, who may have understood him more than people thought. Overall this book represented a different side to Johnny, and even a different side we have in all of us.

There are other people who share my ideas with symbolism and the meaning of the book and well as have conflict with them. Michael J. Twinsburg from Teen Ink said “The book has a strong message of staying young and innocent. It teaches us not to create a shell to block emotions and the importance of friendship.” The book did have a message of staying young and innocent, but I also thought it was saying it is possible to stay true to yourself for the rest of your life. But, it does teach us the importance of friendship, seeing how much of a strong bond the whole gang has, especially Ponyboy, and johnny.

Symbolism is important to the book because without it there are no central ideas you get from it. Sure you could state it through text, but it’s so much more realistic and interesting to figure out what it means. I think this story does a great job at using symbolism, at taking small details and making some of them the main theme of the book. We see a main focus of identity, people acting one way for some people, and another way to other. The main character is unsure who he is, who he wants to be, or he will inevitably become. Without symbolism I don’t think I could ever get the real effect from this theme. From just sunsets, gone with the wind, and a letter I see no matter who you are, or what situation you are in you should always be the best version of yourself, which for Ponyboy is who he is right now.

Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

1. Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Viking, 1967. Print.

2. Twinsburg, Michael J. "The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton." The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Teen Ink, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.

Analytical Essay:

In David Sedaris’s When You Are Engulfed In Flames, he shows himself to be an unusually skilled writer. The book is a collection of twenty-two essays from over many years of his life, covering a range of topics. The author has a unique voice which uses elaborate metaphors, fringe content, and unusual description. David Sedaris breaks the normal rules of fiction through structure, writing style, and content. This is what makes the writing appealing and keeps the reader interested.

The selection below comes from an essay in the book called “Town and Country,” a short section where the author describes his companions on a plane ride. He thought that they were sophisticated, but they sat next to him and cursed like sailors. In this quote he is making his final reflections on them.

“I wished I could spend a week or two invisibly following behind them and seeing the world through their eyes. ‘Thanksgiving dinner my ass,’ I imagined them saying.

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at LaGuardia.” (p. 168)

This is an example of the unique storyline. It would require the whole chapter to truly illustrate the vastness of the irregular storyline; but in this selection one sees how the author moves off the topic of the couple and starts a different part. The space between the sentences is how it is read. One story drops off and the other starts. This new part is a completely separate story about a cab driver that lectured Sedaris on sex. The cab driver brags about his sex life, this and that story climaxes with him yelling at the cab driver. Then the essay goes on and talks about his humorous discussion on sex with his sister. The last two are woven together in the end. He talks about how he was very negative to the taxi driver who told him to have a drink and watch porn, yet he was at his sister’s house laughing at an animal porn magazine. This larger essay has several examples of the writer’s unique style. Firstly, the storyline is not at all linear. The events are in chronological order, but not related. You have the entire storyline of the old couple and then the driver, then him at his sister’s house. Only the taxi story has a climax. The scene at his sister’s ends with a reflection on the parallels between the taxi driver’s suggestion and his situation. The first scene has some reflection, but mostly is just stating the story. A main characteristic of David Sedaris’s writing is he doesn’t connect it to larger ideas or talk about any larger concept of life or morals. Most writers (when recounting a story like this) consider the “resolution” part of the story line a solution. A greater idea is conveyed, the readers come away with something learned. David Sedaris just leaves the story sitting, without themes. In a way, he is saying, I will write for the sake of using words to tell just a scene.

The following section was taken from an essay titled “The Understudy.” Sedaris is recalling an experience with a baby sitter. She was not the regular one, and in this story he shows how she was a remarkably bad one. This section is where he is describing how he and his sibling wrote down their observations and theories about the baby sitter in a notebook. “There were pages of them, all written in desperate scrawl, with lots of exclamation points and underlined words. It was the sort of writing you might do when the ship is going down, the sort that would give your surviving loved ones an actual chill” (pg. 22). He uses strong language--“desperate scrawl” for example. This is also an extensive metaphor. It requires the reader to keep up with what is happening. While this isn’t unheard of it is more uncommon. This shows the flourishes that David Sedaris uses in his writing. It would have meant the same thing if he had said it was written sloppily, but the way he wrote it was much more interesting. The reader is intrigued by the way things are written, and how the author uses such uncommon descriptions.

This section is the very start of an essay titled “What I learned.” In it, David Sedaris talks about his experience of his college and post-college years. This is the very start of the essay. “as when I went to Princeton things were completely different. This chapel, for instance—I remember when it was just a clearing, cordoned off with sharp sticks. … this was before Jesus Christ. We worshipped a God named Sashatiba, who had five eyes, including one right here, on the Adam’s apple. None of us ever met him, but word had it that he might appear at any moment, so we were always at the ready. Whatever you do, don’t look at his neck, I used to tell myself.” This shows the kind of crazy metaphors that are used. This entire passage has little to do with what the writer is actually trying to communicate. It is an  elaborate metaphor., but also it is described in such depth. It is almost as if it were a truth. This style of using a metaphor for a very long time, or going into a strange description is used through out the book. Many readers will find this section  amusing purely because the absurdity of it. “We worshipped a God named Sashatiba” (made up) and “don’t look at his neck” are completely random details.  Any teacher would tell their pupils to take this out as it was confusing to the reader and had no real purpose. These elaborate metaphors keep the reader interested because they require one’s  attention. As a reader you might skim over this and be confused or lost, as stated the absurdity is funny. These seemingly random long descriptions provide humor, require thinking, and interest the reader. This is a large part of David Sedaris's writing and a reason why he is a good writer.

This is a book review of When You Are Engulfed In Flames published through the Independent, a mainstream UK news website. “David Sedaris is like being tickled on the ribs by someone you love: you laugh hysterically, feel a mixture of excitement and irritation, and instinctively wriggle away as exhaustion sets in. Sedaris writes about his everyday life, the co-stars being his family, partner Hugh, friends and neighbours.” The way Sedaris writes is what causes the “excitement” and humor. His way of writing is so different and counter to standard methods it creates these feelings. The quote says “a mixture of excitement and irritation.” The “irritation” comes from not being able to understand the interlaying and random paths of the story. It’s not  the way our brains are wired or taught to read in. It provides a break from the norm and excitement because of that. Although Sedaris writes about his “everyday life,” the book is very interesting. The way he uses metaphors and throws in seemingly random thoughts is fresh, unexpected, and exciting.

The way the book was written has a drastic impact on the reader. The peculiar writing style of David Sedaris brings out a level of interest that is deeper than the specific interest in  events of the story. These stories could not be standard on a  usual story-structure map. The stories go in too many directions and don’t have enough action to be centralized in a climax. In many cases, multiple separate stories are told in one section. Unique flourishes of language and complex  metaphors engage the reader. The way David Sedaris writes using metaphors, storyline (or lack there of), and description is the key to his success as a writer.

Bibliography

Sedaris, David. When You Are Engulfed in Flames. New York: Little, Brown, 2008. 323. Print.

"When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/when-you-are-engulfed-in-flames-by-david-sedaris-856803.html>.

A story sometimes begins with an ending. You see the result before knowing the cause. In ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’, this a technique used to introduce the reader to the main character, Janie. Starting with the end leads into a flashback on Janie’s life. Flashbacks provide the cause for the effect.

Flashbacks are used to give a first person point of view on an event that has already happened to a character. An example of a flashback is the ballad, ‘A Cruel Mother. In this the mother looks back on her child’s birth, life, and death. The different about the flashback in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is that the flashbacks are in third person point of view. By having it this way, you don’t get to see one specific character’s point of view. This allows for an overview of the overall event.

For some people the beginning of the ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ might be a bit confusing. As George Stevens of The Saturday Review of Literature had stated, ‘....it begins awkwardly with a confusing and unnecessary preview of the end…..’. Some people might find it a bit confusing but it gives the reader a lead to the flashback. It is also a way to show what people thought of Janie’s decisions and the flashback gives the explanation.

Events form people’s opinion around a certain thing. When the neighbors see Janie walking back to her house in the first chapter, they start to criticize her because of her choices. Those choices are pulled out of context until we are given a look back into Janie’s life, “Naw, ‘tain’t nothin’ lak you might think. So ‘tain’t no use in me telling you somethin’ unless Ah give you de understandin’ to go ‘long wid it.” Janie’s choices and motivation are unknown to the reader when you first start to read. Flashback allows the motivation to slowly be shown and allows us to see what decisions Janie made in her life.

In ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ not even some of the characters knew the entire story. They just knew Janie off of the decisions she made while she was around them, but those decisions were influenced by events further in her past. “Ah know exactly what Ah git to tell yuh, but it’s hard to know where to start at.” When Janie tries to explain herself, she is not sure where to start for people  to be able to understand her basis for all decisions. She knew people didn’t understand and that they were judge  her for that and in order to explain there was a point in her life when she learned a lesson and used that lesson throughout her life.

Coming home, the only person who seems to want to understand Janie is her friend Pheoby. The other women in the town gossip about what she had down, running away with a younger man. On the other hand Pheoby knows that there are probably reasons and just because Janie isn’t telling anymore it doesn’t mean there aren’t any. “It’s hard for me to understand what you mean, de way you tell it. And then again Ah’m hard of understanding’ at times.” When Janie gives an explanation of why she is gone so long, it doesn’t make as much sense until Janie goes further back into her past.

Flashbacks give imagery to a book. Without them, we can only see the effects instead of the reasons. Sometimes a flashback not only helps the reader but the character as well. ‘Thier Eyes Were Watching God’ is a perfect example of that. We are shown characters in the first chapter who only saw the effects of Janie’s decisions and never the intentions. In order for them to fully see Janie and understand her, Janie has to go further in her life to give those intentions that they are missing from the overall full story. In explaining to the characters, she is also explaining through the reader. Thus the characters are discovering a new side to Janie at the same time that the reader is.

Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill A Mockingbird is simply iconic. It is known for its ability to portray innocence interpreting the depths of racism. It is also known for its theme of appearance vs. reality. With a 9 year old narrator living in the 1930’s in a small southern town, readers would think this would be a fairly easy read. However, the amount of symbolism and imagery in this story makes the reader take a second look into the life of the small town. The symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird helps the reader understand the naivety of the narrator, and also helps them realize that they must look from a different perspective to fully grasp the idea of symbols. This is important to the experience of the reader because it shows them how to see multiple outlooks of various characters in the story.

Symbolism is used everyday in all media.  It is the use of a relatable or popular topic, comparing it to what a story is trying to portray, and letting a subject or audience interpret it. It appears on almost every page in To Kill A Mockingbird, because the narrator, Scout, is 9 years old and cannot comprehend some of the racist attitudes going around in her town. The reader becomes immersed in her mind because they see through her eyes. Atticus, her father, is the main source of symbolism for her in the story. He explains much of what she does not understand to her and gives her many life lessons she can use throughout the book. One lesson he gives her is, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” When she did not understand this she asked her neighbor what it meant. Her neighbor explained, “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Anyone would interpret this as do not kill a certain type of bird with a slingshot, but it is a key example of symbolism in the book. As the reader begins to see certain racially biased events unfold in the town, they understand that innocent people are being harmed and wronged. They slowly make the realization, with the help of Scout, that these innocent people are “mockingbirds” and that to be a mockingbird means that someone does no harm to anyone but it punished anyway. In order to grasp this ideal, they must look from a different perspective.

The naivety of Scout helps the reader to step outside of their own minds, and jump into a younger one. However it can hinder their ability to decipher what some symbolic effects really stand for. Thomas DiPiero, an English professor at the University of Rochester stated, “The challenge in reading this great American novel is not to be beguiled by its form. Remember that it’s precisely when you think you’ve understood others’ perspectives that you must recall you are not in their skin.” DiPiero is expressing that once the reader thinks they understand something in the story, they need to take a step back and look at it from another character's point of view. They must think, “Is this really what I think it is, or am I just not seeing the big picture?” The “big picture” includes all of the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird. Many readers find themselves just looking at Scout’s small corner. They must take a step back, analyze the situation, and look from every character’s experience and perspective in it.

One example of symbolism within the story is explained in this small passage, “Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.” This example shows one perspective from a character explaining another’s death. Mr. Underwood likened the murder of a cripple to the killing of a mockingbird. Again, the reader must look from his perspective, as well as others. They must ask themselves why was the cripple was murdered? Did they do something wrong? And even if they did they were defenseless and could not protect themselves. They need to measure the situation not just from Underwood’s description, but from their own as well.

One example of perceptiveness is how Scout interprets this passage. Scout was listening to her brother describe someone he had never seen before. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” The reader can interpret this in two different ways. Jem is being completely serious, or he is messing with his sister. This is also an example of symbolism as Jem has never met Boo. Jem is judging Boo when he could just be another innocent mockingbird. However many people make assumptions based on the fact that Boo is never seen outside. This is another situation where the reader must think about the entire setting and where certain characters stand in it.

Overall To Kill A Mockingbird is all about perspective. The perspective of the reader, narrator, and all characters in the story. When the reader is interpreting a passage that involves symbolism they must look at the entirety to decipher it. The symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird helps the reader realize that they must look from a different perspective to fully grasp the idea of symbols.

In Lee Martin’s “The Bright Forever”, Martin uses point of view to communicate to the readers in an unique way. He intertwines each of the characters’ stories in order to give a single, well-rounded one. The characters all seem to have a single purpose though, to figure out who murdered little Katie Mackey. This makes it an interesting tale to the reader because the multiple perspectives allow for the reader’s own judgement and assumptions to be challenged. The multiple points of view in the book are the most important aspect of it and without it, the way the reader understands the book would be completely different.

A single, first person point of view gives the reader a chance to experience the life of that one person. Compared to one point of view, the multiple points of view in “The Bright Forever” gives the reader a glimpse into the lives of nearly all of the characters. Each character has a different life and therefore, has a different story to tell on it. Gilley Mackey, Katie’s older brother, is one of the narrators of the book. He gives a deep, personal recollection of what he remembers and how he and his family experiences the events of the story. On the other hand, Katie’s tutor, Mr. Dees has a story that is not as intimately told. This is because he is not exposed to the things that take place in the Mackey household for he is not a part of the family. For example, Gilley says, “We were eating supper. That’s what I remember, the four of us sitting at the table: Mom and Dad and me and Katie.” Only the members of the family were there at that time, so nobody else can tell that part of the story. The events of the household can only be told by a member of the family. If the author were to have Mr. Dees narrate the entire book, the reader would miss out on parts like this.

A person can only put trust in what they hear from others if they were not there to witness an event themselves. Even though this may not be true, there is nothing more that person can do because of the fact they were not there also. This makes the person that tells the story the only point of view, and by default, the correct variation of the story. Since this is often the case, multiple points of view are very useful when telling a story. The multiple points of view let the reader give their own opinion on the story. The acclaimed murderer, Raymond R. doesn’t think that he hurt Katie. He says this, “And I still can’t see anything that involves me in any way in this thing other than the fact that I was a neighbor to Henry Dees.” If Raymond R was the lone narrator, the reader may take this as true because this is the only point of view they encounter. Although, since there are various points of view throughout the book, the reader can use the other points of view to make their opinion more solid. With numerous points of view, the reader has more sources to call on when making an opinion.

The multiple points of view are used in the story to the reader’s advantage. There is never just one side to any story. This is the case in “The Bright Forever” as well. A popular and anonymous quote says, “There are always three sides to a story. Your side, the other person’s side, and the truth.” The perspective for each person is different and is almost always biased too. A person in the wrong can strongly believe that what they are saying is correct. The same goes for the opposing side of the story. If they both claim that they are correct, you can never be sure of who actually is. You can only base your opinion off of both sides because you can never be certain which one is correct. This is the case with “The Bright Forever.” The acclaimed murdered has the mentality that he did not hurt the child, even if everyone else is saying that he did. He believes this and you cannot change his mind because he thinks that he is telling the truth. On the other hand, the victim’s family believes that he is the person who killed her. With all the evidence in the world, or even if they were making false accusations, you cannot change their minds either. The truth is that neither one of the stories may be fully accurate, both being biased to fit their own beliefs.

The point of view in any story can make the whole thing different. When telling a story, people have the option to tell the truth or to tell a lie. Most people tell lies when they are put in a situation that they are trying to get out of. Mr. Dees lies to Gilley so he doesn’t have to answer to Gilley’s parents after sneaking into their house. Mr. Dees says to the reader, “I knew immediately that I could tell him any lie, and he would believe me.” Mr. Dees had the option to tell Gilley the truth and have further questions asked, or tell him a lie to avoid these questions. He chose to do the latter. If Mr. Dees were to tell the truth about his presence in the Mackey house, the whole story would be different. The book may have had a different series of events instead of what actually occurred. To Mr. Dees, the best option was to tell a lie. By telling this lie, he helped himself more than anyone else. To him, he believed that this was the best option. This is how he viewed the situation. To the reader, the decision may have been stupid but to Mr. Dees, he was doing right. His point of view at that time was that he would be in trouble if he didn’t lie, so he lied. If another person was to make a different decision, the whole story would have changed. 

The point of view in the story is what makes the reader experience the book in an effective way. The point of view structures the book so that the reader can not only dive into the lives of multiple characters, but use the points of view to create a better opinion on the events that take place in the story. If the book had been written from a singular point of view, the reader would be left without the feelings of some characters. If the story had been written from a complete third person narration, the reader would be left without knowing what goes on in the characters’ minds. The reader has more room for judgement of the events and people in the story because there are various points of view.

Steve Lopez’s book The Soloist is about the true story on when the author met a Juilliard student turned homeless and mentally-ill musician, Nathaniel Ayers.  The story begins when Steve, a writer for the L.A Times, first noticed Nathan playing violin in Pershing Square in the downtown section of the city.  He was interested in him just for a story for the newspaper, but after his story gained popularity and people came out and wanted to help Nathan out, it soon turned into something more.  They become friends and the book is set up in chronological order but includes flashbacks.  This allows reader can get a image in their head of the events in the book, the two characters’ friendship grow and see Nathan deal with his schizophrenia.

When Steve first noticed Nathan playing his instrument in Pershing Square, he decides to come back later.  He comes back  but he isn’t there.  Steve Lopez writes “But when I come back to look for the violinist in Pershing Square I come up empty.  His disappearance only makes the mystery more provocative.  Who was he? Where did he go? What is his story?”.  Steve and Nathan finally meet three weeks later. This is when the story begins.  They get to know each other better and become friends. They talk, go to concerts and other things.

As the story progresses you can see that both of the main characters grow, even if it sometimes rocky because of Nathan’s schizophrenia.  At the beginning, Nathan did not want any help from the Lamp Foundation, an agency that helps the homeless in the Los Angeles area.  But as time goes on he lets not just from the Lamp Foundation but others.  As the story goes on, Steve grows as well.  Even with the ups and downs he goes through with Nathan he helps him.  He learns how to deal with Nathan when he is having problems. He finds out that he has a soft spot for him and likes to help those with mental illness including Nathan.

The story is told by Steve Lopez, so the story is told in his point of view of the events.  “The way Steve (Lopez) writes the story, he also uses a timeline, but in a unusual way” says a writer on teenink.com.  “He finds a way to incorporate flashbacks about Nathaniel in the story.  Steve also incorporates events that were happening to himself at the time”.  An example of a flashback about Nathan from the book.   “The Juilliard pressure was gone, the spirit was light, the mood was festive.  And when the pianist finished his piece, Russo turned to Nathanael (and said) “Boy, doesn’t that sound beautiful”.”  Nathan demanded “What do you mean by saying “boy” are you racist?”  Steve added this to the story as a flashback because it shows the beginning of Nathan dealing with his mental-illness.  Nathan accused his best friend of being something he wasn’t. Turning a happy holiday party into a very awkward situation for not just him and his friend, Russo, but everyone else there too.  During this time, Steve was on the other side of the country.  “ While Nathaniel was at Juillard, the rare black student in the elite world of conservatory, I was at a junior college in the San Francisco Bay Area, where white suburban kids who couldn’t crack four-year schools were killing time while avoiding the draft.”  The author adds this because they were both in the same situation.  They were different.  Nathan was one of the only black kids in all white school studying a type of music only played by white people.  Steve was in college where kids more privilaged than and less smart did nothing while he worked hard.  They were both in similar situations at the same time.

Many stories are told in chronological order.  A great example of this is the Harry Potter series.  There are seven books in the series.  Harry goes to The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for seven years to graduate.  Each book represents a year and tells the story of Harry and his friends. If the Harry Potter story wasn’t told in chronological order, readers would get confused when reading.  Same can be said for this book.  John Friedlander of Southwest Tennessee Community College said “It naturally fits in narration, because when we tell a story, we usually follow the order in which events occur. Chronological order applies to process in the same way, because when we describe or explain how something happens or works, we usually follow the order in which the events occur”.  This is true.  Telling a story in the order of which the events happened is the most natural way to tell a story and also the most effective.  If you went from one point in the story then in the next paragraph something completely different is going on, the reader is going to be confused and not want to read.  When you tell a story it is more interesting when you can use the most detail you can.  The Soloist does a great job in telling the story it wants to tell.

The Soloist by Steve Lopez is a fantastic story on a really unlikely friendship between the author himself and former Juilliard student, Nathaniel Ayers.  From the start to the end it will make you want to read more and more.  The chronological order, which allows the reader to understand the events of the book more.  Flashbacks are also key to the story because it allows readers to understand the characters and their actions.  The chronological order also allows the reader to watch the two main characters go from total strangers to really good friends.

Sources

Lopez, Steve. The Soloist. New York: Berkley, 2008. Print.

Friedland, John. "Principles of Organization." Principles of Organization. Southwest Tennessee Community College, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/organization.stm>

The Soloist by Steve Lopez." Teenink.com. Teenink, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.

<http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/387346/The-Soloist-by-Steve-Lopez/>

Benjamin Simon

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace is a biography that captures the story of a young man from the rough, crime ridden neighborhood of East Orange, New Jersey. Robert Peace later defies all odds and goes on to Yale, but is later shot after he had slipt into the drug trade back in his hometown, at the age of thirty. The point of view of author Jeff Hobbs allows the reader to understand Robert Peace’s adaption to new cultures. The technique of point of view is often used to tell a story through a person’s eyes. The first person perspective of Jeff Hobbs creates a fantastic view on Robert Peace’s life. Their relationship started in college, when they became roommates at Yale, and later best friends. Hobbs is from the suburbs of Pennsylvania, a small private school, and a family of Yale graduates. With Robert’s mother working endless hour shifts and his father in jail for manslaughter, no one expected him to shine. But instead, he ventured off to one of the most prestigious universities in the country. The contrast between the two allows the reader to better understand how hard it was for Robert Peace to adapt to Yale and other cultures.

During the first weeks at Yale, while author Jeff Hobbs got to know Rob (the name he was most commonly referred to as), he noticed many differences between him and the other students at Yale. Hobbs describes this in many scenes throughout the book. “I didn’t know him well but I appreciated the quietude that surrounded him. Any other table in the dining hall carried the threat of having to perform for new acquaintances, to prove how clever or worldly or socially connected you were in the context of conversations about social policy. With Rob, there was no judging” (p.135) This quote shows the distance between the cultures Rob and Hobbs grew up in. Hobbs appreciates the ability to step out of the world he has known for his whole life and speak with someone who doesn’t hold him to such standards. In addition, the quote demonstrates the contrast between him and regular “Yalies” and is not adapting to the common attitude of these students. He holds the same demeanor he had in East Orange. The perspective of Hobbs helps the reader to understand how different it is for him to be around Rob, along with how detached Rob is from other Yale students.

In the first months at Yale, Rob had a girlfriend. This girl was annoying and frustrating to Rob. It always perplexed him why he went out with her. “I asked him once, with carefully premeditated phrasing, ‘What do you and Zina do for fun?’... He said, ‘She’s a real woman, not like these other Yalie b*tches’” (p. 137) This shows how Hobbs thinks that Rob sees this girl as someone he wants to spend his whole life with. He thinks this is a real girlfriend to Rob. In light of this, Hobbs doesn’t understand why they go out, because Zina is such a pest. However, Rob’s response shows how Zina, a black woman, is an outlet for him. A way for Rob to not forget his roots and avoid assimilating into the Yale community. Hobbs’s perspective gives the reader a better understanding into how Rob is reacting to a new culture, while it isn’t that different for Jeff.

There have been many reviews surrounding The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.  Multiple mentioned the perspective of Hobbs as influential on the readers understanding, but Kirkus Reviews perfectly summarized this. “Hobbs contrasts his personal relationship with Robert with a cutting critique of university life, for the privileged and less so, capturing the absurd remove that ‘model minority’ and working-class students experience.” This shows how Jeff Hobbs was able to step back, use his personal experiences, and paint a perspective of Rob’s life as a student at Yale. It demonstrates how Hobbs was able to accurately compate Rob’s life to the “common privileged” student at Yale. In addition, he noted how hard it is for minorities to fit in at schools this. It also touches on Hobbs’s critique of Rob’s transition, by comparing the privileged and the less off.

After Yale, Rob and Hobbs grew apart. Rob found the drug trade back in East Orange and Hobbs struggled to write and sell new books. This quote shows how Hobbs viewed their changing and struggling lives. “The distance between us and the maleness of our friendship precluded revealing anything that truly matter, and at the time I was too naive to know that if you were friends with someone - truly friends - then you told them what was going on... Instead I thought that by concisely presenting the most easygoing and put-together version of myself, I was being ‘all good’. Really, I was fronting. And Rob was going the same.” (p. 295-296) This quote shows how both of their new cultures has separated them from each other. The perspective of Hobbs accurately displays how he views why they have changed and how they have struggled to adapt to new worlds. Hobb’s opinion conveys how they have moved on, and have new lives to attend to. It demonstrates how they are embarrassed that they have not done more with their life.

Later, Rob ventures off to Brazil. Hobbs use his own opinion, along with an objective one to describe Rob’s comfort level there. “He didn’t stand out for being black and wearing a skully, as he had at Yale.” (p.222) This quote shows how Hobbs saw Rob at Yale. Unfortunately, he stood out and didn’t fit in. As an outsider to Rob’s world, and an insider to the normal Yale student, Hobbs’s perspective here helps the reader to better understand how Rob fit in at Yale. It also conveys how he can step back and write from an objective point of view to describe an atmosphere. Despite not being in Brazil at the time, through conducted research he is able to properly inform the reader about the experience of a black man in Brazil.  

This structure sets up a perfect illustration of many atmospheres through the book. The perspective of Jeff Hobbs helps to convey how transitioning to a new culture is so difficult for people that have never seen or witnessed it. Without this message, the reader wouldn’t understand how different of a change it was for the privileged students at Yale and the small number of students from poor backgrounds. The point of view of Hobbs also demonstrates how people tend to lean on the culture and community they know best. Hobbs notices this first hand and tackles the idea, through his perspective and an objective one. Coming from two different backgrounds, the journey and background of Hobbs helps the reader better understand Robert Peace’s struggle to transition into new environments.

Bibliography

"Kirkus Review." Kirkus Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <https://www.kirkusreviews.com/tv/video/kirkus-tv-jeff-hobbs/>.

Hobbs, Jeff. The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League. N.p.: Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print.

In Patricia McCormick’s, Never Fall Down, this story is written from the perspective of a little kid that lives in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, led by Pol Pot, was a bloody and shameful genocide to its own people. Historians estimated 2.2 million deaths during the era of this horrible war against its own citizens. Arn Chorn Pond was one of the lucky survivors of this war. This story is told in his perspective. One of the very unique things about this book is, it has the trait of survival. The main character suffers through so many things to live another day, and that is what makes this story so suspenseful. Because of that death can occur in any second, and just by a simple cause. The imagery of death that comes up often in the text, influence the reader to wonder and relate back to the purpose of this written story.

In the beginning of the story, the author talks more about the condition that the main character, Arn, is in, and how death is closely related to his environment and his actions. This story is clearly written to tell the reader that living is not a easy thing to do at the time of the Khmer Rouge era, and that it should be very well appreciated that a person can wake up to see another day. Arn was still a little child when he witnessed death. He might be scared at the time of this event occurring, but as the story goes on, he slowly challenge his fears, and slowly become more of a hero around his community of people. As Arn arrived at the camp with lots of people dead behind him along the way there, this is what he observed, “World is upside down. Being rich now is no good. Being poor, this can save your life. The list in the black book, that’s how they decide who live, who die.” This quote was written in the beginning of the book, still introducing the environment that Arn is living in. This tells the reader that this biography came from a person that didn’t live in a very wealthy condition. He had to make uses of everything he have. He is here today because sacrifices are important to remember and appreciate. He could have been killed in his early years, but because of his friends, he was able to survive through the Khmer Rouge struggle. Of course, like everyone else, the main character in this story does not like the action of death, but in his conditions, he learns to embrace. He might not have a clear understanding on the situation he is in as a kid, but as he grew up, he never learned to be afraid of death, but to challenge it because there are people around him that is like him, that might not see another day.

In this biography, Arn was luckily chosen to learn a special talent that may have given him an advantage into surviving the Khmer Rouge. Arn was required to learn the Cambodian Flute for the Khmer Rouge band as entertainment. Because entertainment was really important to the Khmer Rouge, Arn was “famously” known around the group of Khmer Rouge soldiers guarding his station of people. In the story, as Arn ran out one night to grab some resources for his friend that is close to death, he encountered this, “‘Traitor,’ he says. ‘Come out and show your face.’ This is death. To be out alone at night is death. To run, that’s also death.” Arn slowly turned around after hearing the soldier’s voice. The soldier ended up letting him go because he recognized him as the “Flute Boy” that played in the band. If it is not for that, Arn would simply be killed in the scene trying to bring back resources for his friend. The purpose of all biographies are to learn about ones life and to think deeply about yours, and what you can do to keep on improving. Never in my life, have I read a biography so intense like this one. Maybe because death can easily be a punishment to a character, but the purpose of book was to tell people about his life, so that they can learn from his dangerous and heroic experiences. Arn sacrificed his life to gather resources for his friend, so that he is able to see another day.

Like I mentioned before, this story shows a lot of reflecting and appreciation. Arn made lots of friends in the camp, that he now calls family. They might not have been friends for a long time, but they all wake up with the same goal everyday, and that is to survive. They are about to walk into war because the Vietnam are slowly attacking. “He says only march, and he keep his shark eyes on me so I don’t look back. Like brother to me, Siv and Kha, And not even a chance to say good-bye.” Because of the family that he made in the camp, he have come across lots of sacrifices for them, but now he might not be able to thank them because they are stepping into a battlefield which can cause them their lives. Maybe kids his age have their mom cooking for you everyday, dressing you, and getting you ready for school, the main character in this story lost his real family members, and only have his friends that help him live through each day, not knowing if they will survive another.

As some of the reader read through the story, they use the violence to help them understand the book better. For example, like what Paul Hankins suggested, “Look for descriptions and depictions of violence and torture.” Not all parts of this book are sprinkled with violence, but what the character do in those situations really determines their personality.

Imagery is a really important structure about this book because it make the reader envision the scene, so that they can understand it better, especially for the book being a biography. This book is written through the eyes of a survivor, making it so much more intense and suspenseful for the reader to simply imagine his experiences. If this book contain no imagery or if any biography contain no imagery, I wouldn’t think anyone would want to read it. You picked up a biography because you want to learn about another person’s lives, and in order for you to do that, you must experience it with them through imagery. I can guarantee this book will leave the reader the urge to meet this character in person because, believe it or not, he is still alive today.

Calamity Rose Jung-Allen

January 15, 2015

English 2: Silver Stream, A Band

Literary Structure Essay

In her novella Echo, author Francesca Lia Block spins a stunning realistic tale centered around the modern misadventures of a young girl whose name correlates to the book’s title. Our naieve protagonist ages throughout this piece from a child to a teenager to an adult, and her experiences are organized into multiple short stories that are weaved together expertly in a mix of magic and metaphor. Block uses a technique that employs quick transitions between subject and setting, fantasy and reality, and uncommon sensory reactions to invoke complex immersion in the reader.

The exposition of Echo explains the relationship that she and her mother share between the both of them. The latter is filling their home with rejuvenating crystals, plants, and her own natural brand of enchantment to create a spellbound atmosphere for her and her family. “The house was a mess of rainbows. Rainbows poured across the walls. The crystals reminded me of tiny cities with cathedrals and towers … Delicate watery music spilled through the house. The rooms smelled of lavender and aloe and eucalyptus.” (17) In this particular portion of the story, Block uses sensory reactions as her boldest point to create this ethereal mood. A tactic that is used extremely often in this author’s work is to describe objects, people, settings or feeling with adjectives that are not necessarily used to describe them in everyday life. This includes choosing to elaborate on something’s texture when it is almost always never touched, or a sound by its look. For example, music is not tangible and therefore has no consistency. It is very rarely used in the same sentence as a description that could be interchangeable with an object, but here it is labelled as watery. This adduces a clear feeling of uneasiness with the audience, in that they cannot possibly predict the next sentence or event. Consequently, they are further immersed in the story and its descriptions.

In this moment, Echo is observing her surroundings, making special note of the playing children, the tunes in the air and the colors that envelop her emotions in that second.  “In the smoggy violet of summer evenings they sat on the dilapidated porch playing guitar and singing. The children from the neighborhood came and hid behind the posts, peering out with dark eyes eyes, peering at the whiteness -- the flash of what looked like diamonds at Wendy’s and Suze’s throats and wrists and in Smoke’s ear, at their bleached hair.” (93) This chosen passages uses the quick transitions as its focal point, specializing in the bridge between fantasy and reality and making the tone both confusing and fascinating to the point of, again, immersion. One of the most obvious transitions it makes it between describing the actual setting of the children running around to the comparison to the white color describing Wendy and Suze’s throats and wrists and bleached hair. This quick switch creates a similar sense of unease that is surprisingly realistic when pertaining to one’s thoughts.

Here, Block illustrates a character’s appearance while utilizing this approach, giving us another insight into a different aspect of her descriptive style and the elements involved. When Echo meets a new man she may be interested in, her feelings and his appearance are described in minute, intertwining detail. “The veins in his arms had a thorny blue glow. He led her to the bar and grabbed a bottle of gin, pouring it, straight, into a paper cup. It flared electric in her head and he was watching her. His eyes were like full-blown poppies, like sleep.” (120) In this scene, Block is describing a person and not a setting, so, again, we receive a more in depth view into what she may see in a character’s vibes and total look, and how thought association may occur in that respect. She employs a similar tactic to the first example, where she uses uncommon and unusual adjectives and matches them with uncommon and unusual subjects. For instance, here we see that color does not have a shape nor texture, but she describes the hue of blue as thorny, which insinuates an unpredictable feeling to her writing.

In a published conversation with Interview Magazine, Francesca Lia Block commented on her use of metaphors to show magic in her writing. She said, “Metaphors are an interesting example of creating magic in prose. You can use a simile to say, "It felt like the house was on fire," or you can actually set the house on fire in the story. You can say, "He made me feel like roses were growing out of my heart," or you can actually have roses grow out of the character's heart. As writers we have the opportunity to make magic happen every day.” These quick transitions between reality and fantasy creates the atmosphere of magic she describes here. This further proves and explains her technique of skipping the formalities of similes and jumping straight into metaphors. It explains the unusual matches between adjectives and subjects, because she realizes that both of these techniques work together as a unit, and aid each other in producing the overall effect of her work.

The tone that contributes to the overall mood and atmosphere is so important because without it the story wouldn’t hold the same gravity or attitude. It is what makes the writing so interesting, and without it, a story may be dull. Often, a transition can occur unexplained when association occurs, but it is never explained. We never feel the need to explain ourselves. In that way, Block is such a captivating author, because she embodies the role of thoughts unable and unwilling to make sense of themselves. Or in other words, everyone’s minds. It plays to our deepest and more instinct drives as avid readers, and lets us be a part of the story instead of in the audience.

Works Cited:

1. "Francesca Lia Block's Elements of Style." Interview Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.

2. Block, Francesca Lia. Echo. New York: Joanna Cotler /HarperCollins, 2001. Print.