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Recommended: Literary Analysis
Literary elements on numerous occasions play a massive role in the meaning of a story. Two distinct cases being in the short stories “Happy Endings” and “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge.” In these particular cases the literary element that depicts meaning is internal conflict. In “Happy Endings” the conflict lies within the character Mary who is in love with John, but he is not in love with her. A similar circumstance is in the story “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge”, where the main character Farquhar wrestles with the idea of evading him imminent death. In the extent of the short stories “Happy Endings” and “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” the literary element of person versus self- conflict with some of the main characters creates theme.
In “Happy Endings”, Mary’s interior conflict fabricates meaning. An example of this in the text is when Atwood narrates, “Mary falls in love with John, but John doesn’t love Mary” (Atwood 1). This excerpt is an explanation of her conflict with John. Being that she is deeply in love with John, although John contains little to no feelings for her. A significant part of this sentence from the story is when Atwood writes, “John doesn’t love Mary” (1). This phrase indicates what produces Mary’s inner conflict. Following the idea of the first quotation, another key point in the story is, “Inside John, she thinks, is another John, who is much nicer” (1). A word in the above sentence that stands out is the word, “Inside” (1). This depicts that what Mary is conflicted with is inside, thus making it her inner conflict. The over all noteworthiness of these quotations from the novel is that they convey Mary’s person versus self-conflict.
Equally worthy of attention is another excerpt from “Happy...
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...ge”, in this particular situation the main character Farquhar possesses person versus self-conflict. The explanation for his struggles is because he is being killed for his crimes during the civil war, he longs to escape his execution, run off into the woods and return to his family. In the end Farquhar is hanged and fantasizes his escape, even though he has been hanged. Hence, how the element of person versus self-conflict is a large role in producing meaning in the duration of the plot.
Although, many literary elements play a key role in the short stories “Happy Endings” and “An Occurrence At Owl Creek”, the element of person versus self-conflict delineates meaning in the span of the story. The authors writing and description of the main characters inner conflict in the story, in different quotations and descriptions of the character, represent this.
In every short story there is always a deeper meaning to the literature work, any author wants to communicate a multi-layered idea, to their readers, they wants their readers to connect to the short story that they are telling. The authors of these types of literature writings are able to take their readers on a journey within their writings. When a person reads these literary works, they begin to unravel and interpret the symbolic nature of the character’s journey throughout the short story. Also, the journey is
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
During the period of Realism in the late 19th century, writers attempted to bring their readers into a story that they or someone they knew might experience. It was very popular as it was relatable but also brought up themes that were not commonly explored. As best said by Harriet Kramer Linkin of the Journal of Narrative Technique "Bierce plays a cat and mouse game with his readers in the tale" (Linkin 2). This is shown especially well in Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". In this short story, Bierce tests his readers by blurring the fine line between fiction and reality.
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
Another interesting aspect the reader might recognize in these stories is the theme of acceptance and integration to something either known or unknown to them. Most of these stories deal with having to change who they are or what they would become like Nilsa, the boy, and others, they have all had to choose what they wanted for there life and accept the fact that if they did not take serious measures they would not be integrated into society prosperously.
Conflict is the hurdle between characters of a story which create worries for the readers about the next plot of that story and which will be resolved in the next plot. Children’s literature can only engage the reader and make the story successful on the basis of conflict. Conflict produces the drama and which makes their readers more involved in that story. In literary elements, there are three common of conflict in a story: 1. Character vs Character 2. Character vs the world 3. Character vs him/herself. (module 2). Hana’s suitcase story has conflict of character versus the world and The Paper Bag Princess’s story has conflict of character versus society. There are the two different conflicts in the two stories. In Hana’s suitcase, Hana is
There are many different types of characters in stories, and each has been described differently leaving different impression to readers. Reading some stories gives the readers the feeling of empathy for characters. Speaking about characteristic, it is great to know how a character feels in order to understand the story. Through this essay, I would like to show how stories make the readers feel empathy to other’s concerns, feelings, and troubles.
Readers are often baffled by the openness of some stories where the ending can go either way they are put into situation where they must imagine or assume how the story does end. Open-ended stories can be found in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, where few stories of open-endings have an immense impact on the reader by creating a hunger to know what happens next.
At the outset, Atwood gives the reader an exceedingly basic outline of a story with characters John and Mary in plotline A. As we move along to the subsequent plots she adds more detail and depth to the characters and their stories, although she refers back with “If you want a happy ending, try A” (p.327), while alluding that other endings may not be as happy, although possibly not as dull and foreseeable as they were in plot A. Each successive plot is a new telling of the same basic story line; labeled alphabetically A-F; the different plots describe how the character’s lives are lived with all stories ending as they did in A. The stories tell of love gained or of love lost; love given but not reciprocated. The characters experience heartache, suicide, sadness, humiliation, crimes of passion, even happiness; ultimately all ending in death regardless of “the stretch in between”. (p.329)
The setting of the story is in a small area of Northern Alabama, but the setting has multiple locations within the different scenes of the story. In the first section of the story, Farquhar is in preparation to be hung at Owl Creek Bridge. Before Farquhar’s dreadful hanging, Bierce takes the audience back to the past where Farquhar seems to be the owner of a plantation. In this scene, Farquhar is consulting with a spy from the union who has effectively disguised himself as a thirsty confederate soldier. The
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
Effectively using these elements in a piece of literature enhances the reader’s curiosity. One prime example of such usage of these elements is seen in Kate Chopin's writing. Her use of foreshadowing and use of emotional conflicts put into few words in the short piece "The Storm" adds an element that is alluring, holding the reader's interest. In this short piece of literature, a father and son, Bobinot and Bibi, are forced to remain in a store where they were shopping before the storm, waiting for the storm to pass over them. In the meantime, the wife and mother, Calixta, whom is still at home, receives an unexpected visit from a former lover named Alicee. The two have an affair and the story starts to come together. The story shows us how we tend to want what we beli...
Death is inevitable; if you want happiness in life, try A. Margaret Atwood, the author of “Happy Endings,” uses six separate short stories to depict outcomes with different scenarios. The author practices the use of flash fiction, which adds to the entirety of each version. Though this short story has portions of unusual context, the content can teach a reflection on life. As the reader analyzes all six versions, the gender roles are evident as the story progresses. Atwood starts the short story by introducing the two main characters, John and Mary, and then proceeds to tell a variety of options as to who they are and what happens to them.
Several different elements are necessary to create a story. Of all the elements, the conflict is most essential. The conflict connects all pieces of the plot, defines the characters, and drives the story forward. Once a story reaches its climax, the reader should have an emotional connection to the both story and its characters. Not only should emotions be evoked, but a reader should genuinely care about what happens next and the about the end result for the characters. Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is the perfect example of how a story’s conflict evolved the disposition of its characters.