Andalusian in Jerusalem is a work of fiction written by Mois Benarroch, which begins with the narrator’s complicated relationship with the word Jew. Exploring what that word meant personally and to others around him, the narrator’s tale is filled with runaway tangents and colorful embellishments. This book is more about appreciating the language used and not the conclusion to the overarching plot, as the author knows it’s all about the journey. The narrator’s voice as he regaled his audience with his tale is rich and nuanced, filled with idiosyncrasies and catchphrases. This strong narration works with the (almost) seamless stream of consciousness style of writing, to faithfully recreate the singular effect of listening to a rambling elder
In the novel “Holy Land” and the essay “An Ordinary Place”, both written by the same author, D.J. Waldie, have the same description about the suburb area during his childhood, but has different meaning and style of the writing. In the novel “Holy Land”, he talks about the 1940s when the suburb area was build. He said white men worked hard every day and built over five hundreds house a week. In “An Ordinary Place”, he talks about how the suburbs are like in the present, also more diversity with different ethnicity lives there now. Both novel and essay is written by the same author but they also share some similarities and differences about his experiences in the suburbs and author writing style.
The writer has used a combination of narrative and descriptive styles of writing. He has used the descriptive style to give a step by step illustration on what a man should do, how he should behave and lastly what he should say from the beginning to the end of the story (Meyer 45). The narrative style comes into play as he adds in his characters, the conflicts they will face or words they will use and the settings and or challenges they will encounter throughout the short story. This
The narrative begins in the unassuming, yet ardent voice that carries the reader throughout his life story. He makes his plan...
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
In order to convince, one must fist charm the inner feelings of the audience. In Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he appeals to the interest of the reader through his first hand accounts of slavery, his use of irony in these descriptions, and his balance between evasiveness and frankness.
The long-awaited death in 4 BCE of Herod, the ruthless architect of an oppressive Judean police state, sparked a series of spontaneous revolts by the Jewish peasantry. Once these rebellions were subdued, the Jews continued to chafe under a series of tyrannical Roman governors until the massive revolt of 66-70. This period was marked by "widespread discontent and periodic turbulence." Direct Roman rule, along with the burdensome tribute that accompanied it, was highly offensive to the Jews, who considered themselves subjects only to God. Many, in fact, considered their conditions tantamount to slavery (Horsley and Hanson 34-5).
He relates how Irish storytellers would turn their backs to the audience, or speak from another room in order that the listeners would rely on their imaginations. These types of storytellers would not rely on gestures, or voice inflections, but instead chose to paint a mental picture for their audiences who created vivid imagery in their own minds. The story was paramount to the teller. Lindahl laments that current storytellers have become enamored with their own performances and become as important to the tale as the tale itself. The “quiet, shyer world of the lone, quiet voice figures too rarely in folkloric performance studies.” Lindahl compares the true märchen tellers to the quilters who are more intrigued in the stitches of their work, and not the beautiful patterns or to the skilled basket weavers who focus on the intended use of the basket and not the aesthetic beauty of the weaving patterns (McCarthy xix-xx). In today’s society, the figure of a great storyteller evokes an image of gestures, voice inflections, voice impersonations provided by a colorful character. Perhaps our sensory overload from high definition televisions, streaming video, IMAX theaters have dulled our appreciation for the story itself, which is created in our own imaginations by a teller with skilled
James Joyce's use of religious imagery and religious symbols in "Araby" is compelling. That the story is concerned somehow with religion is obvious, but the particulars are vague, and its message becomes all the more interesting when Joyce begins to mingle romantic attraction with divine love. "Araby" is a story about both wordly love and religious devotion, and its weird mix of symbols and images details the relationship--sometimes peaceful, sometimes tumultuos--between the two. In this essay, I will examine a few key moments in the story and argue that Joyce's narrator is ultimately unable to resolve the differences between them.
In ‘unreliable narration’ the narrator’s account is at odds with the implied reader's surmises about the story’s real intentions. The story und...
Some of the characteristics of Modernism are: a desire to break conventions and established traditions, reject history, experiment, remove relativity, remove any literal meaning, and create an identity that is fluid. The rejection of history sought to provide a narrative that could be completely up for interpretation. Any literal meaning no longer existed nor was it easily given; essence became synonymous. Narrative was transformed. Epic stories, like “Hills Like White Elephants”, could occur in the sequence of a day. Stories became pushed by a flow of thoughts. The narrative became skeptical of linear plots, preferring to function in fragments. These fragments often led to open unresolved inconclusive endings. This echoes in the short story’s format. The short story functions in fragmented dialogue. Focusing on subjectivity rather than objectivity. Creating characters with unfixed, mixed views to challenge readers.
Normally, we welcome quirky narrators to share our autumn evenings; but this poor soul is on a slippery slope to life in an institution. An early nod to this is found here, “…and I d...
Kathy’s narration gives the impression of the narrative term orality by using words such as “say”, “anyway” and “[o]kay” and relaxed language such as “daft” and “to go bankers" Kathy often addresses her speaking directly to the reader. She remembers things as she tells the story and it gives the impression of her narration to be very spontaneous and conversational – just as a ‘regularnormal human’ would talk and think. This spontaneous impact on the structure forms an idea of her narration as her own memories of her past self that she finds important in the formation of her present self.
Edgar Allen Poe shows what really happens when someone experiences anxiety and terror that drives his or her mentally ill when given the obstacles inside his mind. The obstacles described inside Tell-Tale Heart bring the narrator to an ironic end. These hindrances slowly build up to a chilling end for the narrator. This end is drawn out with the beating of a heart that doesn’t go away and reminds the narrator that the old man is still haunting him. The narrator has an idea in his head that he is not crazy and in fact is too calm to be mad and has an ironic story behind it.
The story is gripping, with uplifting moments. But the narration, which almost feels like another character drags you back down. It doesn’t pull punches, or let you escape from the responsibility of the past. You get a timeli...
Eileen Baldeshwiler’s “The Lyric Short Story” discusses the two different branches of short story—the “epical” and the “lyrical” (231). Baldeshwiler highlights the separate functions of the forms by focusing on their stylistic differences. The epical short story, according to Baldeshwiler, relies heavily on “external action” that is “fabricated mainly to forward plot, culminating in a decisive ending that sometimes affords a universal insight” (231). Further, the plot and characters are “expressed in the serviceably inconspicuous language of prose realism” (Baldeshwiler 231). In other words, the characters, plot, and overall tone of the piece adhere to reality. In opposition to this style, Baldeshwiler explains that the lyrical short story “concentrates o...