"'Fine,' said Mr. Johnson. 'But you do look tired. Want to change over tomorrow?'" Shirley Jackson’s short story “An Ordinary Day, With Peanuts” represents like a dream how diminutive creative writing stories exemplify numerous literacy elements. Jackson entails three elements in her story: surprise-ending, plot and dialogue. With these three fundamentals in mind, she creates a memorable and funny story that never ceases to put smiles on people’s faces. For instance, in the Jackson’s work used the literacy element “surprise ending” transpires to develop her plot. As recently stated, "’Fine,’" said Mr. Johnson. "’But you do look tired. Want to change over tomorrow?’" During the whole story, it just looks like Mr. Johnson is just a very wholesome …show more content…
man with very honorable intensions, passing out blessings and peanuts by the handful. Then when we reach the end, it turns out it was all just a slipshod game he and his wife play, so it was very unanticipated to the reader. After Mr Johnson said this to his wife, she replies by saying “’I would like to,’ she said. ‘I could do with a change.’” This further sanctions the twist ending Jackson created, and makes for a very memorable story. Next, Jackson puts “foreshadowing” into action to cultivate her story.
One instance was” Mr. John Philip Johnson shut his front door behind him and went down his front steps into the bright morning with a feeling that all was well with the world on this best of all days, and wasn’t the sun warm and good, and didn’t his shoes feel comfortable after the resoling, and he knew that he had undoubtedly chosen the very precise tie that belonged with the day and the sun and his comfortable feet, and, after all, wasn’t the world just a wonderful place?” This prefigures that Mr. Johnson was going to have a splendid day, from all of the bubbly and pleasurable adjectives and the new found comfort in Mr. Johnson’s shoes that she used. Another example of this is “Mr. Johnson radiated a feeling of well-being as he went down the steps and onto the dirty sidewalk, and he smiled at people who passed him, and some of them even smiled back. He stopped at the newsstand on the corner and bought his paper, saying, ‘Good morning’ with real conviction to the man who sold him the paper and the two or three other people who were lucky enough to be buying papers when Mr. Johnson skipped up. He remembered to fill his pockets with candy and peanuts, and then he set out to get himself uptown.” This furthermore demonstrates the foreshadowing of Mr. Johnson having a good day, because of all the cheerfulness Mr. Johnson shows and the blissful events taking
place. Lastly, Jackson uses dialogue to develop her charming story. One specimen is “They sat on the steps cracking peanuts in a comradely fashion, and Mr. Johnson said, ‘So you're moving?’ ‘Yep,’ said the boy. ‘Where you going?’ ‘Vermont.’ ‘Nice place. Plenty of snow there. Maple sugar, too; you like maple sugar?’ ‘Sure.’ ‘Plenty of maple sugar in Vermont. You going to live on a farm?’ ‘Going to live with Grandpa.’ ‘Grandpa like peanuts?’ ‘Sure.’ ‘Ought to take him some,’ said Mr. Johnson, reaching into his pocket.” Jackson demonstrates her use of dialogue to advance her story and give a new medium of interpretation to the reader as shown. Another example is “’Late for work,’ she said between her teeth. ‘Late for my employment. I have a job, and if I am late I lose exactly so much an hour and I cannot really afford what your pleasant conversation is costing me, be it ever so pleasant.’ ‘I'll pay for it,’ said Mr. Johnson.” As you can see, Jackson uses dialogue to develop her charming story, and make it as remarkable as we know it to be. In final analysis, Jackson ” embodies flawlessly how short stories demonstrate abundant literacy elements. In her story she exhibits three elements in her story: surprise-ending, plot and dialogue. With these three rudiments, she crafts a notable and humorous piece that on no occasion could you forget.
Rather than simply explaining the facts of the novel, authors use literary elements to make the reader think about what he is trying to get across and to make the text more memorable. From an allegory to the tone of writing, these elements will affect the plot and characters that associate with them. These elements can be used in many ways but for Hesse, they were used to help Siddhartha on his journey for enlightenment- introducing him to settings, characters and objects that would eventually help him discover himself.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Green drags the reader right into the text from the very beginning, and very skilfully keeps the reader engaged to the end of the introduction. With varied techniques to convey his message, Green is able to summarize the novel and grab attention in the few opening pages.
In Charles, Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing to keep the readers intrigued and to enhance the story’s message. This story is about
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002.
" Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Stories. 4th ed. of the book. ed.
Wallace, Carey. “Critical Essay on ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish.’” Short Stories for Students. Ed. David A. Galens. Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
One example of author’s craft in Treasure Island is suspense. One way suspense is used is leaving cliffhangers at the ends of many of the chapters, making the reader want to continue. One such cliffhanger is at the end of chapter 10, when Jim climbs into the apple barrel. The chapter ends with, “I found out that the lives of all the honest hands on board depended on me, and me alone.” Another example of suspense in Treasure Island is when the pirates and the honest hands are fighting and you do not know what the outcome will be. On page 171, the captain says “...before the hour’s out, as he said, we shall be boarded.” Suspense is used in Treasure Island multiple times to keep the plot moving.
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
Because there exists an audience, there exists someone to persuade or influence. Thus, an author, like Morrison, builds a textual relationship between the characters in her story and that of the reader digesting her story. Morrison, like all authors, understands that the reader searches for an emotional direction in which to follow in the interpretation of characters.... ... middle of paper ... ...
"The Story of an Hour." Literature for Composition. 3rd ed. Ed Sylvan Barnet et al. New York: Harper, 1992. 12 - 14.
...do this and how to do it well by not only putting the reader’s feet in the story, but putting the reader’s heart in it.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002. 987-1042.
Kerschen, Lois. “Critical Essay on ‘Life’.” Exploring Short Stories for Students 13 (2001): Web Luis Literature Resource Center Coleman library, 14 April 2004.
Jackson successfully accomplishes her goal of entertaining and enlightening the readers with her choice of theme, setting, and characterization.