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Comparative essay short stories
Literary analysis
How to compare and contrast two short stories
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Good stories don’t have to be writing in the same period of time or in the same place to be compared. A great example of short stories that can be compared ann were not written in the same year are: A Rose for Emily” by William Fulkner and “The Pura Principle” by Junot Diaz. This stories were have a lot similarities and differences. For example they were both a first person narrative, both revolve around characters who are ill and at some point in the story they both had the same elements of tone.
"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. This story is a first person narrative or peripheral narrator which means that is a first-person narrator who's not the main character. We can say this narration is called “first people” instead of “first person because the narrator usually referred itself as “we” For example “We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that.” Similarly to the story "The Pura Principle"by Junot Diaz, which was also a first person narrative, however here the narrators make frequent use of the pronoun "I," talking about himself, and what's going on around him . For example “My mother was checked out in her own way. She wore herself down—between my brother and the factory and taking care of the household (I didn’t lift a fucking finger in our apartment, male privilege, baby).”
The narrative language and the way Diaz story is told is definitely different from Faulkner's. “The Pura Principle” was told in a fast pace, jumping from one scene to another. Diaz uses slang words and writes in Spanglish through out the story, as shown in the following quote “Rafa estaba jodido. By then it was only me and Mami taking care of him and we didn’t know what the fuck to do, wh...
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...that “the few times my boys at school tried to bring it up, I flipped. Told them to mind their own fucking business. To get out of my face.” This shows that it bothered him every time people asked him about the situation his family was going through with his brother Rafa.
Overall the stories “ A Rose for Emily” and “The Pura Principle” were two of many good impressive stories that were not written in the same period of time but we are able to find the differences and similarities between this two stories. When stories are written in different period of times and by different authors, we just have to read the stories carefully. Take note of the different tones use in the stories, the setting, the conflict,the language the narrator uses, and how the narrator is involved in the story. After we have this from both stories the only thing left to do is to compared them.
Both of the short stories are told from a 3rd person perspective—an outsider or townsperson looking into the lives of the protagonists. Rather than allowing the reader to experience the character’s thoughts and feelings, the authors let the stories unfold solely based on their plot development. This allows the reader to be a “fly on the wall,” and join the community in their gossip. Despite what an outsider may see externally, often times if one looks more closely, they will discover the truth. In A Rose for Emily, the townspeople thought that Miss Emily was hiding from society, but after looking more closely, they discover she was hiding the secret death of
The comparison and contrast between these two stories is evident. They both developed as characters in similar settings but have different situations and outcomes. They differed in their goals and how they would achieve their goals and their mental health status sets them apart. These stories have contrast and similarities, over all the differences outweigh the comparisons.
Throughout cultural changes and extreme events such as the Great Depression and World War I, “A Rose for Emily” turned out to be a twisted version of the normal cheerful stories that are read. The real-world events that occurred greatly influenced topics of the time. Faulkner was able to produce a demented story that lies on the roots of the Great Depression and World War I.
In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner tells the story in A third-person pov from the perspective of A narrator who is a long-time citizen of the town. The town, described as a wealthy area inhabited by chivalrous/Aristocratic men and ...
William Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily” in the first person, but this first person narration greatly differs from Updike’s Sammy. The narrator in “A Rose for Emily is unknown throughout the story, but he or she speaks on behalf of the whole town; in a way it creates a cumulative voice. In using a people of the town’s perspective, Updike creates a mysterious, suspenseful tone. When Emily buys rat poison the town’ people can only speculate the reason. “So the next day we all said, 'She will kill herself '; and we said it would be the best thing.” Updike utilizes by Emily Telling the story from this viewpoint limits
Faulkner guides us through his short story “A Rose for Miss Emily”, with his own unique form of third person limited narration. This narration allows the audience to follow the opinions of the narrator and develop the mindset the author desires his audience to have. Specifically, William’s choice to begin the story with the description of Emily’s funeral gives the reader a sort of inherent sympathy for Miss Emily, which we, the readers, naturally carry through the story as we build our opinion of Emily.
William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” is considered a great story not only for its dark, almost morbid plotline, but also for its unique and interesting point of view. Faulkner’s distinct use of the first person point of view, through the eyes of one narrator illustrating generations of townspeople’s thoughts, provides an insight into Emily’s life that can not be replicated by any other perspective. The story spans three generations and includes the opinions and outlooks of both male and female townspeople, as well as people young and old, making Faulkner’s successful use of a single narrator to express the collective beliefs of all of the townspeople impressive. Had Faulkner set up the story around any other narration, the character composed of the conglomerated thoughts of all the townspeople wouldn’t exist and the confessional tone created through the narrator’s gossip would not be portrayed. The narrator conveys the eternal view of Emily’s life by what her acquaintances see and think, providing a stance that is necessary to the central idea that it is a part of human nature to assume the worst about someone who lives a withdrawn life.
A Rose for Emily is a southern gothic short story about an elderly woman stuck in her ways. When we are first introduced to Emily it is at her funeral where the entire town has come to falsely pay their respects. The men only went to Emily’s funeral because they viewed her as a fallen monument and the women only went out of curiosity to peer inside Emily’s house, which had been closed up to the world and shrouded in mystery for decades. Throughout the story, the narrator gradually describes Emily’s descent into madness and her unwillingness to accept the change happening around her. The central theme of A Rose for Emily focuses on the never-ending battle between tradition and change, which is expertly portrayed by William Faulkner’s use of
In “A Rose for Emily”, the point-of-view is in third-person, but the narrator of the story is not given. Throughout the story, the narrator use “They”, but sometimes the narrator tend to change to first-person and use “We” instead of “They”. When the narrator manage to use the word “We”, they refers it to the townspeople. By using the word “We”, the narrator changes his or her thoughts to the townspeople that make his ideas into a belief in the society. The point of the narrator talk about this story is to tell us the reason of Emily’s death. Just like the protagonist, the narrator is also a mysterious person that doesn’t want to reveal his or her identity. According to the story, the narrator seems understand and care about Emily. The narrator called her as “Miss Emily” whenever s/he states her. In “Why I live at the PO”, the point-of-view is in first person and the sister as the narrator. Throughout the story, the narrator always writes the story with “I” instead of “he” or “you”. The main reason of the narrator to talk about the story is to tell us how there is a conflict in the family. The narrator feels that she is shunned by her family, although she is the breadwinner in her family. Sister can be called as an unreliable narrator as she wants to have revenge on her own sister, Stella-Rondo, who makes her alienated from the family. She is jealous with Stella-Rondo as she becomes the dearest child. Moreover, the narrator is a coward as she doesn’t want to face the truth that she snatched Stella-Rondo’s
William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily tells a story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily’s father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Like her father Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, and she refused to change. While having this attitude about life Emily practically secluded herself from society for the remainder of her life. She was alone for the very first time and her reaction to this situation was solitude.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995.
William Faulkner (25/9/1887-6/7/1962) is a special phenomenon of American literature twentieth century. He has never ranked higher than his real stature in the realm of literature, but Faulkner is an American giant. A famous writer from the Mississippi, William Faulkner is the world regarded as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. Amazing! A man, who never graduated from high school, has never earned a college degree, has lived in a small province, in a state of America's poorest country, and in a poor family has written a series of successful work brilliant. In his life, he has written a lot of famous stories, one of them is “A rose For Emily”, it was the story I studied in high school, I have read and read it over and over again in high school to understand its meaning .It is not kind of story that we read once and know clearly about it. There are many things to discuss about “A rose For Emily” but I’m interested in writing about three things that have been impressed me in this story since high school : Anaerobic or space conscious waiver by Emily, Art of time , the horror elements and the size of the legendary character of Emily .
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
His novel “A Rose for Emily,” frequently varied and analyzed, is probably Faulkner’s best-known story. Due to its elements of mystery, suspense, and macabre, it has enjoyed a popular appeal. This was William
In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.