Atmosphere In Katherine Brush's The Birthday Party

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In Katherine Brush's short story, The Birthday Party, she writes about a special occasion planned by a wife dedicated for the husband that turned into a soured night through the use of atmosphere, antecedent, and diction to achieve her purpose of a great night going wrong.

Brush uses atmosphere to achieve her purpose of setting a typical, emotional nod at the beginning, but slowly transitioning to a sour mood that could be felt. Brush describes, "...nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable...when it suddenly became obvious...an Occasion...violin-and-piano orchestra played "Happy...the wife beamed with shy pride..." Katherine Brush set the mood to begin with a low-profiled mood then slowly transition to a festive mood …show more content…

Brush writes, "...birthday cake, with one pink candle burning in the center. The headwaiter brought it in and placed it before the husband...and the wife beamed with shy pride over her little surprise..." Through the use of antecedent, Brush creates a "safe-space" or "comfort zone" so the readers can enjoy and pay attention to the actual reading.

On the other hand, Brush uses diction to incorporate her own feelings to the readers of the situation. Brush dictates, "...couple in their late thirties, and they looked mistakably married...The man had a round, self-satisfied face, with glasses on it..." Brush's particular word choice contributes to the lack of education or limited education woman had during these times. In the end, even though Brush's diction is simple it still captures the attention of readers of a made-up event or an actual event that occurred to a woman.

Brush uses atmosphere, antecedent, and diction throughout the short story, The Birthday Party, to get across to the viewers the events that could happen a certain way everybody hopes, but then have something completely unexpected

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