Page 1 of 2 ZOOM “Cherry Bomb” by Maxime Clair is a narrative written by a young girl recounting her memories of her fifth grade summer. The author characterizes her memories as valuable and memorable, despite them being primarily unhappy experiences. Clair does so through the use of symbolism, imagery, and her point of view while writing. The most prevalent technique Clair uses is inarguably the narrative’s perspective. Clair writes in a first person viewpoint to directly place the reader in her fifth grade summer through the use of figurative language such as imagery, personification, and elaborate detail. She begins, using imagery to describe the sweltering heat wave that summer brought and “...that-old-thing of an ice truck...” that still came around. She writes, “Evening sighed it’s own relief in a locust hum that swelled from the cattails next the cemetery...” Here, Clair continues, using personification to …show more content…
The most significant instance of imagery, however, is that surrounding her secret hiding place. She goes into immense detail describing her specific memories of that summer, such as entering her hiding space, giving the reader the sensation of actually being there. She writes, “...if you closed your eyes, held your hands up over your head...walked until the tips of your fingers touched the smooth cool of plaster all the way down to where you had to slue your feet and walk squat-legged...then you would hit the strong-smelling cigar box. My box of private things.” This box she refers to, however, represents a lot more than simply her private collection of items from that summer.Clair also uses the symbolism of the cigar box to illustrate the importance of the memories surrounding her fifth grade summer. The cigar box represents much more than simply her meaningful hidden items, it represents her well-kept secrets of that summer. The narrator is portrayed as a fairly private person, keeping the details of
“A book may be compared to the life of your neighbor. If it be good, it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.” - Henry Brooke. This quote mimics Mark Aiello’s poem, comparing the first chapter of a book to someone’s childhood, or first chapter of life. Also like the quote, his poem explains how the first chapter of a book is very pleasurable, but it does not last long until the disturbing plot comes into play. Mark Aiello’s poem, “Chapter One”, is very literally about the first chapter of a novel. Furthermore, Aiello’s use of figurative language allows the reader to interpret the poem in numerous ways beyond the main idea. While analyzing the poem, the reader is permitted to compare the first chapter of a book to
Setting expatiates the theme of loss of innocence. For example, the four major characters in this story are sixteen and seventeen years old, which is the age when teenagers prepare to end their childhood and become adults. Also, the Devon school, where the story takes place, is a place where boys make the transition to full adulthood, and so this setting shows more clearly the boys' own growth. Finally, World War II, which in 1942 is raging in Europe, forces these teenage boys to grow up fast; during their seventeenth year they must evaluate everything that the war means to them and decide whether to take an active ...
Tatiana de Rosnay used different literary tools to assist her writing in order to deepen the story, including figurative language, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing. The use of figurative language helps to clarify a description in order to place an image in the mind of the reader. Similes are the main type of figurative language used throughout Sarah’s Key, allowing the reader to see what is happening. Many images conjured up make comparisons as a child would make them, as much of the story concerns the innocence of a child, such as “[t]he oversized radiators were black with dirt, as scaly as a reptile” (Rosnay 10) and “[t]he bathtub has claws” (Rosnay 11). Other descriptions compare Sarah, and Zoe, to a puppy, a symbol of innocence, as children are known to be
In The Pink Box, there are three major sections, each of which most likely represents a specific time in her life. The first section, “The Wilderness,” you find many intricate poems about what it was like growing up in a very diverse world, with her family upbringing, and even the use of drugs in her home. We see a big example of this in her poem “Needles,” a harsh poem about what some she had to live with growing up. The last line of this specific poem “The way my father grunted with pleasure as the dangled against his arm like a dancer with tiny shoes
Memories of the past hold a high level of importance in shaping who we are as people. Whether it be the memories of your first time trying to swim or learning how to read, certain memories stick with us for life. The poem “The Heroes You Had as a Girl", by Bronwen Wallace, has the speaker recalling a fond memory that presents itself again later in life when a significant figure from her youth reappears. The short story “Snow", by Ann Beattie, features the writer reminiscing upon a specific memory of a winter with her past lover, despite her memory being different from her lovers. These texts both contribute to the idea that an individual's memories are significant in shaping one’s perspective because memories serve as a way to reflect on the
Most of the time there is a moment in life where one realizes they have lost all innocence and gained some compassion. “Marigolds” shows how one young girl transferred from a child to young adult through her life experiences. Throughout this story another young, but at the same time old in her prime, lady’s experiences are revealed: the author’s. In this short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier’s subconscious is unmasked through symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s actions.
In the story, "Cherry Bomb" by Maxine Clair the author uses many literary devices to characterize the adult narrator’s memories of her fifth-grade summer world. One of the literary devices used constantly in the passage was imagery. Imagery is used to give readers insight of how summer felt to the fifth-grader of the story and helps understand the tone of the adult. “Life was measured in summers then, and the expression “I am in this world, but not of it” appealed to me. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but it had just the right ring for a lofty statement I should adopt” (Line 4-7). This quote from the passage best represents how the adult memories are reflected to the summer of her fifth-grade self. This passage gives imagery to the readers of a naïve character who believes everything that is said to her. The quote also let us know that
A breathtaking saga of a young girl’s tragic memories of her childhood. As with Ellen, Gibbons’ parents both died before she was twelve-years-old, forming the family. basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and actions of Ellen. The simplistic and humble attitude that both Gibbons and Ellen epitomizes in the novel is portrayed through diction and dialogue.
Children have a way with words as writers have a way with ink. Maxine Clair’s “Cherry Bomb” uses literary devices to characterize memories from the narrator’s lively fifth grade summer. Clair uses figurative language like imagery, childlike diction, and hyperboles to captivate her memories from an enchanting summer.
The excerpt from “Cherry Bomb” by Maxine Clair is about an adult narrator’s memory of her fifth-grade summer. The narrator describes several events from the summer, specifically an incident in which her cousin loses his eye. The author uses syntax, imagery, and diction to characterize the adult narrator’s thoughts about her childhood.
In “Queens, 1963”, the speaker narrates to her audience her observations that she has collected from living in her neighborhood located in Queens, New York in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The narrator is a thirteen-year-old female immigrant who moved from the Dominican Republic to America with her family. As she reflects on her past year of living in America, she reveals a superb understanding of the reasons why the people in her neighborhood act the way they do towards other neighbors. In “Queens, 1963” by Julia Alvarez, the poet utilizes diction, figurative language, and irony to effectively display to the readers that segregation is a strong part of the American melting pot.
Lastly, Marie Howe language and use of figurative language was excellent throughout the book. In “Practicing”, Howe’s syntax and phrasing describes naïve children and they were preteens at the time. She uses the terms “girls” and “parent’s house” which shows that they are still not old enough to own their own property. The line “did on the floor in the basement of somebody’s parents’ house” also indicates their age because they are in a secluded place to do something that is not age appropriate in the eyes of the parents. Howe uses a simile to compare one of the girls’ basement to a “boat with booths and portholes”. The booths represent kissing stands so there was a lot of making out. Boats are on the water and the portholes are implying that
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne’s language builds characterization of the character Roger Chillingworth throughout the novel by his choice of figurative language, syntax, diction/tone, and the use of contrasting images. Hawthorne uses these literary techniques to help characterize Roger Chillingworth and how he developed throughout the novel.
The mansion is a superb example and symbol of clairvoyance; it allows for great insight and perspective, furthermore, it is the one constant in the book. This allows it to greatly alter the story, even though it is an inanimate object that has no feelings, no thoughts, and cannot talk, but still says the most about everyone’s personality. It is an object that conveys true human nature, it does not care who everyone is, as they are all the same to it, and all it provides is a place to see and step back from reality to reflect on people’s actions.
The Cherry Orchard (Вишнëвый сад) is the last play written by Russian Playwright Anton Chekhov when he was already suffering from tuberculosis, in the years 1903-4. Premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre in January 1904, the play initially written as a comedy, was also portrayed as a tragedy. The play depicts a story of a Russian aristocratic woman, by the name of Mrs. Lyuba Ranevsky, who returns with her family to her estate, which includes a large and well known cherry orchard, just before it is sold to pay off her debts. As the play advances the orchard acts as the central plot device in the play. The orchard is the massive, over-shadowing presence at the play's center of gravity; For some, the cherry orchard symbolizes the past both good and bad, and in turn, the individual memories that each character associated with it; for others it represents Russia, and and for characters such as Lopakhin, it presents an opportunity to make money and become wealthy by dividing it into plots of land. In this essay I am going to discuss how the title ‘The Cherry Orchard’ acts as a symbol for the aspirations and dreams of the main characters, as symbol of the past, in particular of a lost paradise, and also as a symbol for the social, political and economic change in Russia at the end of the twentieth century.