Literary Devices In The First Day By Edward P. Jones

There are some literary devices or methods that can be applied in analyzing a given story that can either be short or long. Other aspects include literary devices, contrast, repetition, and anomalies (Wallek and Warren, 1956). In this task, I will use the short story, The First Day, which is written by Edward P. Jones. I will provide a summary of the story and later analyze it by identifying the devices used and how they have been applied to bring out the meaning of the story. The story is about a little girl seeing her mother as a flawed woman. The first day of school or the young girl, she found out her mother is not perfect. It’s not easy when you grew up expecting something, but after a while you find out the opposite is completely right.

In the first case, she says, (Her shoes make loud sounds on the hall. She passes through the door, and I can still hear the loud sounds of her shoes.) This was after her admission into the school. In the second case, the talks about the sound of her mother’s shoes long after she becomes educated. She says, (“...I can still hear my mother’s footsteps…”) This case of repetition in this story had been used to emphasize what the girl felt like when her mother left her alone in the world she had never been before. It has also been used to emphasize the fact that the footsteps were very loud not to be easily

In The First Day, exposition has been applied in various sections. For instance, the story explains that the little girl is taken to the first school preferred by her mother where they are rejected, forcing them to look for another school. This device is used to give a deeper explanation about how determined the mother is taking her daughter to school and how much she wants her daughter to have a better life. This provides the audience with the reasons as to why the mother had to look for another school (Edward, 1950). Exposition is also expressed where the mother collects all documents that she thinks were required even though she could not read. This also indicates that the mother wants to ensure that nothing will prevent her daughter’s