Gary Paulsen is most famously known for his young adult adventure novels. Throughout Paulsen’s childhood he was bounced around between family member’s households. As a child he was neglected by alcoholic parents. He coped by fishing and playing with his childhood friend, a dog. Paulsen lived in the Philippines while his father served for his country, this gave him the experience and the imagination it took to write young adult novels that appealed to his adolescent audience. Being an adventurous adolescent himself, he embellishes on his imagination and creates a plot that is both vividly detailed and unheard of. Gary Paulsen flawlessly incorporates the topics of survival tactics, man versus nature, family imperfections and self alterations in his writing, while using vivid descriptions of the character’s situation, which holds the young adult’s attention and allows them to experience the conflict along with the character. Gary Paulsen uses his adventurous personality and embellishes on it to create a setting that his audience can fall in love with. Edith Fine supports his style of writing in Gary paulsen: Author and Wilderness Adventurer by stating, “Gary draws deeply on his own experiences, layering them with intriguing plots. He becomes his characters, knows their feelings and secrets, senses their problems. With enticing simplicity and rhythm, Paulsen’s words reach out from the page like a hand to grab readers and pull them into his tales” (10). His audiences sense his authentic style of writing. His desire for writing developed in his 20’s, however, his inspiration came from his childhood. Paulsen writes with a purpose to entertain young adults while informing them about nature, survival and historical events at the same... ... middle of paper ... ...his he gains the respect and attention of his audience. Paulsen has flawlessly conquered the connection between reality and fictional writing, his young adult adventurous audience demand an amusing plot that holds their attention, sparks their imagination and teaches a lifelong lesson. Works Cited Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on Hatchet". TheBestNotes.com. 4 March 2014. 11 May 2008 Fine, Edith Hope. Gary Paulsen: Author and Wilderness Adventurer. Berkley Heights: NJ: Enslow Publisher, Inc., 2000. Print Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. New York: Scholastic, 1987. Print. Sommers, Joseph Michael. "Gary Paulsen." Magill’S Survey Of American Literature, Revised Edition (2006): 1-5. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. Stowell, Theresa L. "Gary Paulsen." Critical Survey Of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Devin Friedman is a creative storyteller who incorporates observant details in his writings, which makes the readers feel like as if they are part of the adventure. Devin attended the University of Michigan, and he was awarded as the winner of the Hopwood Contest. This contest was hosted by the university committee who appoints experienced judges and the Ann Arbor community to select winners in different writing divisions. In his recent years, Devin wrote for numerous publications such as The Best American Crime Writing, The Best American Travel Writing, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, People's Stories, and GQ. Out of the many articles Friedman has written in the past, “The Best Night $500,000 Can Buy,” “Famous People: James Franco,” and “The Unbearable Awkwardness of Being” are the ones I have chosen to read because of the interesting subject matters and the different writing styles.
"Everyone is influenced by their childhood. The things I write about and illustrate come from a vast range of inputs, from the earliest impressions of a little child, others from things I saw yesterday and still others from completely out of the blue, though no doubt they owe their arrival to some stimulus, albeit unconscious. I have a great love of wildlife, inherited from my parents, which show through in my subject matter, though always with a view to the humorous—not as a reflective device but as a reflection of my own fairly happy nature.
Gary Paulsen’s experiences from living alone in the Minnesota woods to racing dogs in the Iditarod race have been exposed and reflected in the majority of his writings. Gary Paulsen was born May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Pendergast) was the third child of Oscar Paulsen who was an army officer and Eunice Paulsen (Pendergast). Paulsen would live nine years before he met his father for the first time as his father was in the army and spent a lot of time away from home during World War II (Pendergast). His father was an alcoholic and he got into many heated arguments with his father during his childhood but no child abuse has been reflected in his literature (Trelease).
Imagine a teenage boy who is isolated on a faraway island, without food or water. The hot and sticky weather is intolerable, but the rampaging storms are worse. He quickly develops malaria and diarrhea, and on top of that, blood-sucking insects and menacing reptiles lurch beneath his feet. He has no idea what is coming, but he needs to survive. This is the story of a young boy who has to travel to the other side of the world to realize that everything can’t go his way.
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
“I now walk into the wild” (3). It was April 1992 a young man from a rather wealthy family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness. His name was Christopher McCandless. He gave all of his savings to a charity, abandoned his car in the desert, left all his possessions, burned his money and wallet, and invented an alter ego all to shun society. Four months after his adventure, his decomposing body was found in bus 142 by a moose hunter. Into the Wild is a riveting novel about one man’s journey to find himself and live as an individual. Although, Chris McCandless may come as an ill-prepared idiot, his reasons for leaving society are rational. He wanted to leave the conformist society and blossom into his own person, he wanted to create his own story not have his story written for him, and he wanted to be happy not the world’s form of happiness.
After hearing a brief description of the story you might think that there aren’t many good things about they story. However, this is false, there are many good things in this book that makes it a good read. First being that it is a very intriguing book. This is good for teenage readers because often times they don’t willingly want to read, and this story will force the teenage or any reader to continue the book and continue reading the series. Secondly, this is a “good” book because it has a good balance of violence. This is a good thing because it provides readers with an exciting read. We hear and even see violence in our everyday life and I believe that it is something teenagers should be exposed to. This book gives children an insig...
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
In three dynamic pieces of literature, the desperate yet hopeful characters gallantly endure the struggles of achieving their dreams as they experience the pain of desolation and the life-fulfilling happiness of a friendly companion. Through hostile resentment, the intense repulsion created by generations of territorial disputes tears apart two vengeful foes, Ulrich and Georg, in Saki’s captivating tale. Whereas in Remarque’s gory war novel, the pure terror of battle brutally slaughters the once innocent minds of soldiers as they undergo changes in their heart and soul within themselves. Although impervious to the influence of the reclusive residents tied to the ranch, as they quest for their shared aspirations, George and Lennie forge an invincible friendship in Steinbeck’s calamitous novelette.
Gary Leon Ridgway, born February 18th in 1949, is the world’s most prolific serial killer. What makes him the world’s most prolific serial killer? Among being a murderer he was also a necrophiliac. The sheer number is a prime example of the psychotic things this man was capable of doing. He was convicted of forty-eight murders, but later confessed to as many as twice that number. It is also astonishing that this horror lasted more than a decade between the 1980s and 1990s.
David Howarth's writing style is unique. He allows the story to develop on its own. The story flows and the events do not seem forced. The story reads like a historical novel and is easy to follow. Howarth presents his information fully and does not leave anything for the reader to question. The reader does not become confused or lost because of the way that the author reveals his information in the book.
and Other Greats : Lessons from the All-star Writer's Workshop. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.
Right out of the gate, Bradbury explains arguably the most important characteristic any writer can possess: love for one’s work. Instead of droning on about boring fundamentals, Bradbury leaps right into the fun stuff. Instead of espousing trite clichés about his craft, Bradbury embraces the passion and enjoyment that writing fosters. Bradbury immediately gains the reader’s interest by rejecting the conventional methods of discussing writing and instead focusing on why people love to write.
Famous for being an influential, key author in American literature, Jack London’s literary works resemble an accurate depiction of the rigid setting and reality of nature that reflects his own adventures in the Yukon. Because of his naturalistic ideals, the audience is able to examine the beliefs of Darwin and how it plays an important role in survival. Thus, London takes another step into the genre of adventure stories that drive him toward his ultimate success.
Bill Bryson the author of the short story ‘A Walk in the Woods’ constructs the story in a certain way to try to get the reader to accept his attitudes and values about how dangerous and death defying Earl V. Shaffer and other’s are in attempting to travel the trail. He uses the techniques of emotive language, unusual language and use of first hand accounts in the short story ‘A Walk in the Woods‘ . The use of descriptive and humorous language, combined with conversational text has allowed Bryson to express his feelings and opinions on his and others experiences on the Appalachian Trail to the audience.