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Elements of good writing style
The use of symbolism in the novel
Elements of good writing style
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Stemming from World War II, a period full of death and uncertainty, post-modernist literature sought to deviate from the past and create something new. David Foster Wallace exemplified these ideas through his unique style. His writing contained jumbled ideas with copious footnotes and acronyms that he invented. The use of dark irony in his work parallels his psychological troubles, which are also echoed in this image. A dark eerie background surrounds Wallace with his only company being the singular light source to his left. Looking away from the viewer, he appears in a solitary state and disconnected from the rest of the world. By creating this mysterious façade, Wallace personifies his writing style, being unusual and different. His audience …show more content…
The dark color of the chair fades into the background, making the focus solely on him. His white shirt contrasts the dimly lit room, pulling the viewers eye right to him. The blue rectangle spread across his chest highlights his heart down to his abdomen, arguably the most sensitive parts of the body. It is flanked by the two other primary colors, red and yellow quilts that lay under his arms. These two colors make their final appearance on a tied wrapped around the lamp. With the base of the lamp blending into the background, the light bulb has the illusion of floating. This tie not only grounds the lamp, but speaks to Wallace’s style as a writer, being focused on irony and deviating from society. Also, the bulb leans slightly to the viewer’s left, being the same direction as his gaze. While a more polished image would have the bulb be parallel with the side of the image, Wallace’s work dove into the truth behind the human mind, thus promoting individuality. Having this perplexing perspective of the bulb emphasizes the genuineness of Wallace as a writer. The odd symbols on his bandana also symbolizes individuality, leaving the audience confused and questioning its meaning. It draws the attention to Wallace’s mind and his gaze, as he appears to be drifting off into another world. Due to the scene’s lack of color and other objects to hide
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
In On Writing’s section titled “On Writing,” Stephen King iterates multiple times, his true feelings for writing by telling his story. The central point that he uses to say that writing is his passion and what he truly feels joy in is how he writes. King at one point says, “When I am writing, it is all the playground…”(King 149), this is the best example of how he translates his feelings. He uses the playground as a metaphor to intensify the joy he gets from writing, as a playground or park is something we can all relate to. It is not just that one quote, but it is also his tone as a whole, rather than being some distanced writer not showing emotion, he creates a tone of a proud father, pushing a child to love what he does, and not to take it for granted. King accomplishes this tone by giving small tips and tricks that he has used over the years, almost as a mentor to give the sense as it is not just a book, but a guide to becoming a better
In the short story Good People by David Foster Wallace, Lane Dean and his girlfriend Sheri Fisher are two Christians with a troubling choice ahead of them, and finds himself questioning his own ethics as a Christian. The question on whether or not they should abort their baby is making the main character question everything he has ever known and believed in. While his girlfriend is described as a model Christian and a good hard-working woman, he is described as a man who would be stuck outside of the Dante’s Inferno chased by hornets for all time. He has not the conviction to stand and speak on what he thinks is right or even to decide on what he believes is right in the first place. He is ruled by fear and never stops questioning his own convictions. Not once in the story does the character make a concrete decision and leaves his girlfriend alone in a time of uncertainty. If only for this reason alone his actions are unethical to the standards of what a man in our society should act like. Any action taken out of fear is hardly ever an ethical one. As the narrator explains his
Stephen King’s “On Writing,” is a memoir of the author’s experiences as a writer and serves as a guidebook for those who choose to enter the craft of writing. Stephen King writes about his childhood and young adulthood, relating stories that made him the writer he has become. Stephen King then moves into the mechanics of writing, offering advice and insight into a successful career that has worked so well for him but remains distant for thousands of others.
The thought of good people brings warmth and joy to my heart. On a daily basis I would like to think that most, if not all, of the people we surround ourselves with strive to be good people. My initial thought that came to mind before I began to read David Foster Wallace’s “Good People” was that this would be a story about all the people around each other doing good for one another bringing happiness to me as a reader. The story took a huge turn as it did not talk about the good of the people, but the expectations and judgments we hold for others to be good people. My eyes and my heart opened up, as Wallace’s story unfolded, in which he used a controversial issue to make a point by tugging at the emotions of the reader. I now know that this story was not to make a statement about a very controversial issue, but to make us realize that being a good person doesn’t always mean we have to follow by the expectations or rules that have been set for us, but by being who we truly are and having an understanding for one another.
Satire in American literature has evolved in response to the development of the American mind, its increasing use of free will, and the context that surrounds this notion. Satire is the biting wit that authors (labeled satirists) bring to their literature to expose and mock the follies of society. Satirists can be divided, however, into two groups with very different purposes. One type mocks simply for the enjoyment of mocking. These satirists are found almost everywhere in the world, on every street corner, household, and television sitcom. It is the second type of satirist who is a strong force in the world of literature. The satirical author will mock to heighten the reader's awareness of the problems that threaten to destroy the world that they believe has so much potential. They do this with the hope that their satire will encourage others to better society. "I have often hoped that the arts could be wonderfully useful in times of trouble" (32) says the writer who is perhaps the king of this second type of American satire, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Vonnegut uses his literature to help guide a disillusioned America, in which free will has been fundamental since the writing of the Constitution. As a humanist, Vonnegut uses the idea of free will as a constant motif in his writing. He believes that every soul has the freedom to do anything, but that the problem with society is that people lack direction. Free will, used as a theme in Timequake, is an enormous responsibility. Acknowledging the free will that one has also involves accepting the responsibility that is necessary to use this privilege in a way that will benefit humanity. In several essay...
To kill a mockingbird generates a unique sense of reading. Harper Lee’s style of writing brings a different and an unideal way of reading, the context in which to kill a mocking is written with the two narrators (Jean Louise and Scout) brings fourth many perceptions of the book. This unusual style of reading can become complex, struggling to telling which narrator at that point in the book is telling the story as each have different emotions, inputs and influences. As Scout is a very bright and intelligent person for her age is was tough at times to understand who the telling the story at that time, scout or the older version of scout Jean Louise for her language was far beyond her age.
The writing expertise of Hemingway and Faulkner, commonly referred to as Hemingwayesque and Faulknerian, are both styles that seem to parallel off of one another. One of the best ways to understand Hemingway is to read Faulkner, and vice versa. The obscurantism of Faulkner and the attentiveness of Hemingway foster their syntax and diction, as well as their similarities and differences. Faulkner displays Gothic remnants in Absalom, Absalom!, while Hemingway creates a more minimalist prose. Hemingway and Faulkner, as seen in The Sun Also Rises and Absalom Absalom! both possess uniquely different writing styles, while being able to hold the ability to parallel off of eachother's themes and diction.
The Modernist Fiction period took place during the 1920’s and revolutionized the American way of life in literature, economically, and socially. There was a national vision of upward mobility during this time that represented the American Dream. The upward mobility was seen through the consumerism and materialism that dominated this decade economically. Popular novels of this time reflected the mass consumerism in the lives of those wrote them. During the American Modernist Fiction period, Americans became increasingly materialistic throughout the roaring twenties; therefore, the American Dream was to obtain upper class status through the possession of material goods, which was reflected in many of this period’s works.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American short story writer, a poet, a novelist, an essayist, an editor, and a critic. He left a big impression on American and international literature, he left behind a legacy. Many people think Poe began the genre of science fiction (Binns, 114). In his works, he has shown that he has an original imagination, as well as a brilliant command of language and techniques. While most of his works were not much-admired during his lifetime, Poe had come to be viewed as one of the most important American authors in the Gothic tradition (Streissguth, 104).
Edgar Allan Poe has a unique writing style that uses several different elements of literary structure. He uses intrigue vocabulary, repetition, and imagery to better capture the reader’s attention and place them in the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s style is dark, and his is mysterious style of writing appeals to emotion and drama. What might be Poe’s greatest fictitious stories are gothic tend to have the same recurring theme of either death, lost love, or both. His choice of word draws the reader in to engage them to understand the author’s message more clearly. Authors who have a vague short lexicon tend to not engage the reader as much.
One attribute of Modernist writing is Experimentation. This called for using new techniques and disregarding the old. Previous writing was often even considered "stereotyped and inadequate" (Holcombe and Torres). Modern writers thrived on originality and honesty to themselves and their tenets. They wrote of things that had never been advanced before and their subjects were far from those of the past eras. It could be observed that the Modernist writing completely contradicted its predecessors. The past was rejected with vigor and...
In the 1950s, authors tended to follow common themes, these themes were summed up in an art called postmodernism. Postmodernism took place after the Cold War, themes changed drastically, and boundaries were broken down. Postmodern authors defined themselves by “avoiding traditional closure of themes or situations” (Postmodernism). Postmodernism tends to play with the mind, and give a new meaning to things, “Postmodern art often makes it a point of demonstrating in an obvious way the instability of meaning (Clayton)”. What makes postmodernism most unique is its unpredictable nature and “think o...
Nicholas Sparks is considered to be one of the greatest American authors of today. He provides love, romance, passion, drama, tragedy, comedy, triumph, and mystery in all of his novels. His stories are heartwarming and inspiring. Nicholas Sparks does not have a specific writing style. His writing style is flexible and liberal, and can be described as romantic, imaginative and engaging, and varies depending on the theme of the novel. The theme of the novel is the main thing that affects his writing style. Even though the themes of each novel mostly deal with love, each novel takes on different perspectives of love. His novels can be described as romantic, compassionate beach reads with real, relatable characters.
It is significantly connected to Blanche’s personal image compared to the other characters. Light captures the theme of truth and reality through the book. Blanche hates being in the light because she is afraid it’s going to show her true age and she’s ashamed of her past. She uses the paper lantern to cover the bulb in her room. She never lets Mitch see her in the light in the beginning of the book by only agreeing to go out at night and only to poorly lit areas. Mitch expresses to her “I don’t think I ever seen you in the light… you never want to go out till after six and then it’s always some place that’s not lighted much” (Williams 143). Light also symbolizes love, both Stanley and Stella’s and Blanche’s also. Blanche uses light to describe important events in her life especially when she found out the truth about her spouse and then when she lost him to suicide. His death was the turning point of Blanche’s problem with light. She says to Mitch “And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off” (Williams 115). Bright lights represent the reality and full desires of the characters while dim ones represent fantasies and attempts to stay in the past. Stanley is also connected to the symbol which represents his reality and wishes. It shows when he mentions to Stella “I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them colored lights going!” (Williams 136). Stanley wants their love life can be reignited and his usage of light signifies his honest attitude. He lacks the fantastical attitude of Blanche but rather lives in reality. Stanley can also be symbolized by the naked bulb in their apartment. With the arrival Blanche, she tried to diminish his effect on Stella by metaphorically covering the bulb with a Chinese lantern. However, as the book went on and Blanche