Monosyllabic Grunts, End Games & Epilogues Of what import are brief, nameless lives … to Galactus?? Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, (Fantastic Four Vol. I, No. 49, April 1966). A devoted husband and loving father of two, he lived a mind-numbingly mundane, pedestrian life: my zebra-stripe crisscrossing, doggedly dependable, decidedly deliberate, dutifully dull dad. Like the well thumbed and dog-eared Answer Book of a hoary and hackneyed English Lit professor, his preferred method of instruction incorporated the copious use of confusing quotes, parables, poetry, and as always, arduous amounts of alluring alliteration! So similar to a coordinating conjunction, we were joined together to toss, tumble, and turn through the tiny tributaries of his perilously pedantic punctuation, all the while serving scoured salmon seed caviar to corpses drifting down bumpy baptismal stream beds, before the final funeral feast. During our tight-lipped bumper-to-bumper marathon migrations to and from parochial school, he’d periodically, the way a rooster clears its throat, uncork a well rehearsed soliloquy for my constipated consumption (usually in iambic pentameter) to which I’d stoically cluck: “Uh-huh.” It’s best for the chicken hearted not to wave one’s wattles or ruffle too many feathers, when walking on eggshells; …show more content…
Calmly, studying my reflection in the mirror, I see his laugh lines, wrinkled worried brow, elegant elephantine ears, chicken lips, and crow’s feet squinting back at me through the looking glass. Have I finally achieved inner peace? According to the legendary and awesome dragon warrior panda, my hero: Wounds heal and scars fade, with time.
Throughout the whole essay, Mailer interspersed various stylistic devices ranging from diction to syntax in order to give the reader an overall melancholy mood to reflect how he felt that day when he witnessed Paret die. Since he had utilized these stylistic devices, he had engendered potency for his passage as a whole and he had reinforced the mood throughout the passage with efficacy. More importantly, from this passage, Mailer wanted the reader to remember the significance of Benny Paret and the fact that surprises lurk in every corner of life.
With an evident attempt at objectivity, the syntax of Passage 1 relies almost entirely on sentences of medium length, uses a few long sentences for balance, and concludes with a strong telegraphic sentence. The varying sentence length helps keep the readers engaged, while also ensuring that the writing remains succinct and informative. Like the varying sentence length, the sentence structures vary as complex sentences are offset by a few scattered simple sentences. The complex sentences provide the necessary description, and the simple sentences keep the writing easy to follow. Conversely, Passage 2 contains mostly long, flowing sentences, broken up by a single eight word sentence in the middle. This short sentence, juxtaposed against the length of the preceding and following sentences, provides a needed break in the text, but also bridges the ideas of the two sentences it falls between. The author employs the long sentences to develop his ideas and descriptions to the fullest extent, filling the sentences with literary elements and images. Coupled...
"Daniel Orozco-Department of English-University of Idaho." Daniel Orozco-Department of English-University of Idaho. N.p., n.d. Web. . .
“His life was not confining and the delight he took in this observation could not be explained.” (Cheever 216) He had a perfect family, high social status and very few problems in his life, or so he thought. His life is so wonderful that anything objectionable is repressed. Not until he takes the “journey” into realization, where he learns through others that his life has fallen apart.
I frankly confess that I have, as a general thing, but little enjoyment of it, and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form. . . . But it is apt to spoil two good things – a story and a moral, a meaning and a form; and the taste for it is responsible for a large part of the forcible-feeding writing that has been inflicted upon the world. The only cases in whi...
In contrast, syntax provides a new perspective to the narrator s behavior as sentence structure draws attention to her erratic behavior. By her last entry, the narrator s sentences have become short and simple. Paragraphs 227 through 238 contain few adjectives resulting in limited descriptions yet her short sentences emphasize her actions providing plenty of imagery. The syntax quickly pulls the reader through the end as the narrator reaches an end to her madness.
Murphy, B. & Shirley J. The Literary Encyclopedia. [nl], August 31, 2004. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2326. Access on: 22 Aug 2010.
12. What form of figurative language does the author use in lines 8 & 9 of page 216 to make his writing more
To conclude, in the poem “Changes” by D. Ginette Clarke, the use of repetition, word choice, and punctuation revealed the persona in a well-thought out and respectable manner. Clarke was very clever in the way that she had used these elements to not only reveal the persona, but also to make the poem as amazing as it is. The persona started off as a curious man, then came off as serious, only to turn out to be a demanding and vehement person; but in the end, the persona’s special characteristics were clear. Therefore, the use of repetition, word choice, and punctuation revealed and represented the persona and his curious, eager, and desperate personality.
Abrams, M. H. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, & Co. 1993. 200-254.
This paper seeks to address the literacy and stylistic issues presented in two texts. Specifically, an extract from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Wilfred Owens’s Dulce ET Est. Decorum. Initially, the paper will outline the prevailing social and historical contexts associated with the two texts. The principal purpose of this work is to address the themes common to both texts. For this to be achieved, an initial investigation and critique of both authors use of language will also need to be looked at.
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Lukes, K. B.A. (Hons.) (Alberta), M.A. (Brit. Col.), English. English 424 Section:3 Term 93/3 Class Lectures Sept. 1993
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.
Kelly, John. ENGLISH 2308E: American Literature Notes. London, ON: University of Western. Fall 2014. Lecture Notes.