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Language in literature
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In “With a Little Help from My Friends”, Firoozeh Dumas uses figurative language to demonstrate what her life was like in America. At one point in the chapter, she says “My life became one long running Oprah show”. In saying this, I think that she meant that she was asked a lot of questions about what country she came from, her ability to speak two languages, and her ability to translate between the two languages. On Oprah’s show, she interviews a lot of celebrities, so Firoozeh compared herself to the celebrity on the show.
The House on Mango Street is a novel by Sandra Cisneros. It is set in a poor, Latino neighborhood around 1960. The main character, Esperanza, is expected to get married in order to support herself. However, Esperanza strives for independence, and seeks to end the cycle of abusive patriarchy that holds Mango Street in thrall. Through the use of syntax and figurative language, Cisneros establishes that a sense of not belonging can fuel an individual’s desire for a better future.
The title of the short story, “Four Directions” is symbolic for Waverly’s inner misconceptions. As she goes about her life, she is pulled in different ways by her past and her present. She is torn between her Chinese heritage and her American life. She never thought that instead of being pulled in four directions, she could take all of her differences and combine them. In the end she realizes this with the help of her mother. “The three of us, leaving our differences behind...moving West to reach East” (184), thought Waverly. Her whole life she misconceived her mother’s intentions. Lindo never wanted Waverly to solely focus on her Chinese heritage, but rather combine it with her new American ways. The idea of being pulled in four
Jimmy S.Baca use of metaphors, similes, imagery, diction, tone and mood are used in a very effective way in his essay Coming into Language. His use of metaphors and similes really give the reader a visual, helping develop imagery. Baca’s use of imagery paints pictures in the reader’s head but also develops a type of emotion by the use of diction. The word choice used provides the reader with an understanding of where the author is coming from leading us into tone and mood. The author’s tone starts off very low but by the end of the essay you will feel very satisfied.
A Pulitzer Prize is an award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music. Paul Gigot, chairman of the Pulitzer Prize board, described the award as a “proud and robust tradition”. How does one carry on this robust tradition? By mastery of skilled writing technique, one can be considered for the awarding of this prize. Since its creation in 1917, 13 have been awarded annually, one of which, in 1939, was given to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for her novel, The Yearling. Rawlings is an American author from Florida known for writing rural themed novels. Consequently, The Yearling is about a boy living on a farm who adopts an orphaned fawn. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings procured a prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her effectual use of figurative language, sensory details, and syntax.
Chicago, one of the most popular cities in America. Visits from families all around the country, what makes this place so great? Is it the skyscrapers that protrude the sky? Or is it the weather people loved? Does Chicago being the second most favored city in America show that this town has some greatness? In the nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses imagery, tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of Chicago and the beauty that lies within this city.
Dumas keeps the reader enticed in her work by including many metaphors along with similes. Her main metaphor throughout the entire piece is the talk of a spice cabinet. In paragraph three of her work she expresses her opinion that America is a better country if people are willing to learn new pronunciations and expand their outlook on different cultures. Her last sentence in paragraph three states, “It’s like adding a few new spices to the kitchen pantry. Move over, cinnamon and nutmeg, make way for cardamom and sumac.” and it perfectly captures the simplicity of many American minds. Dumas simply wants to be accepted for who she is. Another well-written simile in her work is in paragraph ten when she talks about her last name and how it is, as she claims, even worse than her first name. Many people already have a hard time talking to her with an Iranian first name. The last name makes it even worse. She states directly, “My first and last name together generally served the same purpose as a high brick wall.” Dumas felt that her name blocked her from the world. People made themselves unable to befriend her due to their inability of pronouncing or even accepting her full name. Racism, even though it happens everyday, is not a light topic to talk about. Dumas, however, speaks of her life and the racism in full stride. When Dumas was in high school the Iranian Revolution came into focus
Tatiana de Rosnay used different literary tools to assist her writing in order to deepen the story, including figurative language, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing. The use of figurative language helps to clarify a description in order to place an image in the mind of the reader. Similes are the main type of figurative language used throughout Sarah’s Key, allowing the reader to see what is happening. Many images conjured up make comparisons as a child would make them, as much of the story concerns the innocence of a child, such as “[t]he oversized radiators were black with dirt, as scaly as a reptile” (Rosnay 10) and “[t]he bathtub has claws” (Rosnay 11). Other descriptions compare Sarah, and Zoe, to a puppy, a symbol of innocence, as children are known to be
Rather than reflection, Dumas shares her story by taking a more humorous approach with sarcasm. She says, “They want to know about more important things such as camels.” In this quote Firoozeh explains how people cared less about the geographical parts of Iran and wanted to know about miniscule things such as camels, and uses sarcasm to get this point across. She also uses humor in the text to share her purpose which is to entertain the reader with her actions and reactions to her peers around her after moving from a distant country to America. Dumas says, “Often kids tried to be funny by chanting, ‘I ran to Iran, I ran to Iran.’ The correct pronunciation, I always informed them, is ‘Ee-rahn.’ ‘I ran’ is a sentence, I told them, as in ‘I ran away from my geography lesson’”. The author shows her purpose in this statement because she is insinuating that they are unintelligent, therefore entertain the reader with a story about her youth. As well as sharing her purpose with the reader she also shared her perspective that Americans knew very little of Iran because of the many questions that people asked her but that the people of America were kind and just wanted to know a little more about her origins. I know this because it says, “But almost every person who asked us questions asked with
Poetry conveys emotions and ideas through words and lines. Long Way Down gives the story about a boy named Will, who wants to avenge his brother. He believes that a guy named Riggs killed his brother. He takes his brother’s gun and leaves his family’s apartment on the eighth floor. On the way down the elevator, he is stopped at each floor and a ghost from his past gets on.
The Masque of the Red Death was very serious from the beginning to end. The story never pulled away from the sense of a looming threat. Poe did not waste anytime, he cut straight to the point and set the tone right away. The tone relates to people language and the specific words that he uses to create illusion and imagery. Poe uses different times of words to define his language which is called Old English today. Poe sentences are also short and they are practically identical in the simple structure. Poe is a very different writer than most writers today, he has a unique way about his language.
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
Connie Fife is a Saskatchewan, Cree poet who writes using her unique perspective, telling of her personal experiences and upbringing. This perspective is revealed to her audience through the poems “This is not a Metaphor”, “I Have Become so Many Mountains”, and “She Who Remembers” all of which present a direct relationship to her traditional background and culture (Rosen-Garten, Goldrick-Jones 1010). To show the relationship of her experiences through her poetry, Fife uses the form of dramatic monologue, as well as modern language and literal writing to display themes about racism presenting her traditional viewpoint to her audience.
Symbol: A Symbol is defined as something that represents something else. An example of this can be seen in things that represent us as people. For instance, names is a good example and represents who you are. Also, it should be noted that symbols are arbitrary, since symbols have no necessary connection to what they represent.
As the bubonic plague looms through Eyam, the isolation and restraint of a highly religious society and the towns ignorance and acceptance of knowledge, become a second pestilence troubling the village through their time of segregation. Sam’s mineshaft, the “dark, damp maze of rakes and scrins thirty feet under the ground”, the place where he worked and died could also be a metaphor for the entrapment felt in the rigid and religious society of Eyam. Similarly, it could also be a metaphor for the sacrifice the town made by isolating themselves during the plague- which ultimately led to their death also. Eyam’s isolation left them stranded and stripped of familiarity of a land further than their home- “Like most in this village, I had no occasion
It’s weird to think that restoring art is an art form in itself. But spending hours analyzing the flaws in a painting and devoting countless more to mending minor details can hardly be considered anything else. It takes a steady hand and a meticulous focus to repair the damages and reinstate a sense of respect towards something degraded by time. Much like a painting conservator reviving a masterpiece, Firoozeh Dumas, an Iranian author and social commentator, peels back layers of accumulated stereotypes in order to critique the ways culturally ignorant American citizens respond to unfamiliar names. In “The F Word,” an excerpt from her memoir, she shares her immigration experience and stresses the value of diversity and respect for cultural heritage.