The book Paper Towns, written by John Green, was about the adventures a girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman and a boy named Quentin Jacobsen go on. The book, which is fiction, focused on Margo who runs away to go on an adventure. She leaves clues for Quentin, also known as Q. However, when Q goes to find Margo, he realizes that he does not know who the real Margo is at all. The three topics addressed in the compelling novel are tone, foreshadowing, and symbol.
First, John Green’s usage of tone really pulls the whole story together. “He is holding his fists in the air, triumphant, and he is shouting, ‘Not a drop on the seat! I am Ben Starling. First clarinet, WPHS Marching Band. Keg Stand Record Holder. Pee-in-the-car champion’” (250). This
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is essential because it is more of a happier tone. The purpose of this tone was to make people smile and laugh. “And for the first time, I had to picture it: Margo Roth Spiegelman, slumped against the tree, her eyes silent, the black blood pouring out of her mouth, everything bloated and distorted because I had taken so long to find her” (156). This is also essential because it renders a dark and more concerning tone. Because of this change in tone, it allows the reader to get into the correct mindset to interpret the scenario. The tones in the book range from happy to mysterious. Next, multiple instances of foreshadowing arise helping the reader predict what might happen next.
“I have to do eleven things tonight” (26). This is important because this foreshadows that Margo will push Q out of his comfort zone. It also foreshadows that Q will help her with the eleven things just to prove that he can be spontaneous. “She smiled, and held out her own blue finger, and they touched, and her blue finger was pushing against mine softly and my pulse failed to slow” (52). This is also important because it gives the reader a small clue that Q and Margo will have a relationship. Even if Margo and Q do not have a relationship they will at least try one. Foreshadowing can be interpreted many ways so that the reader can anticipate what will happen …show more content…
next. Finally, symbol, the most important literary element in the book, is used.
“It became a weekend of reading, of trying to see her in the fragments of the poem she’d left for me” (117). By realizing what the poem is symbolizing (life, fear, pain) Q was able to to really understand Margo, which made it easier for Q to find her. “‘Maybe all the strings inside him broke’” (8). Later on, Margo explains to Q that she lost all her strings and that is the reason she is going on this revenge adventure. The strings symbolize friends. Since Margo thought that all her friends betrayed her, she also thought that all her strings broke. Paper Towns would not be the same book if there was not any symbolism included because it all ties in to how Q was able to find
Margo. The three topics give a complete idea of the book by adding to the way the reader understands it. Without tone, foreshadowing, and symbol the book would not have had the same mysterious yet laid back feel to it. The strengths of the novel are that it is beautifully written, the author actually makes each individual reader think while reading with his usage of symbolism, and the way Green describes each character's emotion is very clear. The weakness of the novel is that the ending did not match the quality of the rest of the book. It did not live up to the reader’s expectations. Tone, foreshadowing, and symbol, the three literary elements, are what make Paper Towns such an amazing book.
Foreshadowing or sign-posting is a way telling the reader that something is going to happen, and that this person or event matters (Harvey Chapman). In the first chapter Misskaella is said to be an old-witch so; the reader knows that she will become old, but they don’t know what makes her into this witch. Hence the reader knows something happened for her to become the
In the story The Monkey's Paw the foreshadowing creates tension and suspense because during the story there was so many things going on and you didn't know what was going to happen next. I say this because in the Monkey's Paw the author writes He raised his hand. "I wish my son alive again." This quote explains foreshadowing by suspense because when he wishes for his son to be alive again it gives the audience suspense if he is going to actually be alive again or if it's not going to come true and they are going to be disappointed.
Foreshadowing hints at what might happen next in the story. Elie used foreshadowing to show loss of faith when one of the Jews from his town was captured. “Without passion or haste, they shot the prisoners who were forced to approach the trench and offer their necks” (6). After this happened the other Jews in town never believed the captured Jew. After no one had believed the Jew he lost faith because the other Jews had no idea what was going to happen to them later on in the story which is an example of foreshadowing. There is a lady in night in the camp with Elie. She is abandoned by her family and separated in the camp. “The separation had totally shattered her”(24). This foreshadows what might happen to Elie later on in the story when his father dies. That would cause him to lose
It gives clues to the readers of what might happen next in the story or what the story can result in. In the "Sorry, Wrong Number" the narrator is foreshadowing when he dramatically says, "She overhears two men division a secret plan.” Foreshadowing is clearly introduced here when the narrator of this story gives hints to the reader that something is about to happen next. When there are two men plotting together making a secret plan, the readers know that they will find it out. This creates more suspense and intimidation within the reader. The wife in the story is fearful. She doesn’t know what the plan is, but she has an idea that it has to do with her husband. The foreshadowing builds suspense before she finds out what the plan really
For example, Dumas makes use of foreshadowing to hint the reader toward the Count’s evil vengeance plan which folds out throughout the novel. In this case, While talking with Albert de Morcerf, the Count speaks horrible words on how he would inflict revenge on his enemies. He tells Albert that it would
Throughout the movie there are many instances of foreshadowing which enrichs the literary value of the movie. In one example Corporal
Foreshadowing is a useful literary device that writers use to provide clues about future events in a story. Lois Lowry frequently uses foreshadowing in “The Giver” to give subtle hints about subsequent developments in the novel. The reader can interpret these indications to develop assumptions about what will occur next. Also, they can provide explanations once the event has occurred and the reader can look back and find new meaning in certain passages. The pain and challenges that Jonas will face during his training are frequently suggested when he first begins his training with The Giver.
Foreshadowing has been used throughout the ages of literature revealing horroriffic endings and scheming love, helping the reader from being to overly surprised by the outcomes. Many writers use this technique of writing utilizing its ability to add so much more meaning to a novel. As in the age of Elizabethans, directors and actors caged this skill exploiting it when ever thought necessary. In the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare utilizes foreshadowing to keep the audience from becoming to upset by the tragic outcome. He also uses it to display Romeo's and Juliet's enduring love for one another.
Paper Towns is about a boy named Quentin Jacobsen and his childhood friend Margo Roth Spiegelman. When they were kids, they spent a lot of time together, but as they grew up, they also grew apart. Then, one day, Margo shows up at Quentin’s window, asking him to help her. They then spend the night seeking revenge on Margo’s high school friends who she says have wronged her. The next day, Margo disappears, which isn’t uncommon for Margo. But this time, Quentin gets involved in the mystery until, eventually, he’s the only one still looking. Quentin believes Margo wants to be found and has left a trail of clues for him. After searching for a while, Quentin finds the clue that leads him to Agloe, New York, where Margo is. Quentin and his friends take a road trip there, to find out that Margo isn’t what Quentin expected at all.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” its 1775 and poverty bestrews the streets of France. Dickens illustrates how conflict and turmoil among the penniless common people eventually leads to the harrowing French Revolution. In "A Tale of Two Cities" by, Charles Dickens the author uses foreshadowing to reveal many future events in the novel as well as revealing the revenge of the poor people against the aristocracy. Dickens continually uses foreshadowing i to warn upcoming events. The use of foreshadowing leads suspense and curiosity, which urge the reader to continue reading and go on to solve the mystery.
Another example of foreshadowing is the clues to the death of the Marquis St. Evremonde. The people that want a revolution hate the Marquis. “That I believe our name to be more detested then any name in France” from Charles Darnay to the Marquis (113). The Marquis hears this and reply’s “’A compliment’, said the Marquis, ‘to the grandeur of the family’”(showing that he is completely oblivious to what is going on in France)(113). This is foreshadowing that the people will probably punish the Marquis. The final event is when the Marquis’s coach ran over a child and he replied “’It is extraordinary to me, said he ‘ that you people cannot take care of yourselves and you children’”(102). Then Defarge throws his coin back into the carriage, showing his anger. This event angers the people, and is a key part in the foreshadowing of the Marquis’s death.
Charles Dickens is a very well known English write who lived from 1812 to 1870. One of Dickens’ most famous novels is titled A Tale of Two Cities. This novel takes place during the period of the French Revolution which plays a huge part in Dicken’s foreshadowing. Foreshowing is a very important aspect in writing because it is a literary device in which the writer can explain to the reader significant plot development details that may be introduced later in the novel. In this specific novel, Charles Dickens illustrates the idea of foreshadowing with diligence and also specific, concrete information. Sidney Carton’s conversation with Lucie Manette, knitting, and the wine cask scene all exemplify and emphasize the idea of foreshadowing in A Tale of Two Cities.
In conclusion, if you read this story carefully you will pick up the small hints and know the outcome of the story. This also shows that foreshadowing can be direct statements or simple statements of fact.
LiteraryDevice.net defines foreshadowing to be “in which a writer gives an advanced hint of what is to come later in the story.” This article further states that foreshadowing can allow for the author to set the tone of the story, through the use of character dialogue, the setting, or other minor factors in the story. In fact, Chopin cleverly begins the story with foreshadowing. In the first line of the story, Chopin writes, “Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble.” Already, this leads way for Louise to suffer an untimely death as a result of her heart issues. Furthermore, in a subtler manner, the author reveals the ultimate return of the husband through hinting at Louise’s doubt. Chopin writes, “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.” At this line, the author could have been hinting that Louise had doubts in the death of her husband and subconsciously knew he would return. The author uses foreshadowing to tease the reader’s by revealing the ending of the story as she begins the
As he follows her bread crumb trail of clues, he realizes that Margo is not the girl that he always imagined her to be. Quentin, the protagonist of Paper Towns by John Green and I are alike in many ways. We both share the same views of the world, are viewed by the world in similar ways and I would respond in a comparable way to the central conflict of the novel.