The Emotional Journey of Nicholas Sparks
New York Times Bestselling author and author of 21 bestseller novels, Nicholas Sparks, has a way of capturing his readers as they embark on a journey with the characters on an emotional roller coaster. His stories are told in a way that makes it effortless for the reader to connect to the characters right from the start. Each story has a very personal meaning behind them, once a reader discovers this, it only deepens the connection they have to the characters. Nicholas Sparks uses his own life as an inspiration for his stories.
Nicholas Sparks received a full ride track scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. During his freshman year he broke the school record for the 800 meter relay, which
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still stands today. However, during the end of his freshman year he tore his achilles tendon (Nicholas Sparks Biography). This was a difficult time for Sparks as he had been extremely successful in his sport and was suddenly unable to compete in a sport where he was confident. “While recovering from an injury the following year, Sparks was encouraged by his mother to write a book to pass the time”(Encyclopedia of American Popular Fiction). This was the beginning of his love of writing. Although he did not complete his first novel, he was encouraged by his mother, Jill, to continue to write and not give up. Sparks’s mother and father were both avid horseback riders, on one of their rides, she fell off the saddle, the horse and hit her head on a rock and died from a cerebral hemorrhage (Inspiration for A Message in a Bottle). Her death occurred only a few weeks after Nicholas and his wife, Catherine, got married. The passing came to a shock to everyone as she died at the age of 47. His mother’s death lead to the writing of “A Message in a Bottle”, which he later wrote about his father’s reaction to the tragedy. Not only was Sparks’s mother an influence, but his sister was as well.
“A Walk to Remember”, one of his most famous novels which eventually became a feature film, was inspired by Sparks’s sister, Danielle. A few days after Nicholas and Catherine had their first child, they were told the devastating news, that Danielle was diagnosed with cancer and only had a few months to live. During this time his family life took a toll, as Nicholas spent all of his time traveling back and forth between California and North Carolina to be with both his sister, and his wife and new baby (An Interview with Nicholas Sparks). Sadly, after a long, brave battle, Danielle passed away. She was 33 years old. Danielle was the inspiration for two of Sparks’s novels, “A Walk to Remember” and “A Bend in the Road”. In “A Walk to Remember”, Jamie Sullivan, a young girl suffering from cancer, was inspired by Danielle. Nicholas Sparks stated that, “In many ways, Jamie Sullivan was my younger sister. Like Jamie, my sister was sweet. Like Jamie, my sister had tremendously strong faith. Like Jamie, my sister loved church. Like Jamie, my sister wasn’t popular at school. Like Jamie, my sister was always cheerful. Like Jamie, all my sister wanted in life was to get married”(An Interview with Nicholas Sparks). Sparks did a fantastic job at capturing his sister’s personality and infectious spirit, he made it easy for his readers to fall in love with her. Another book that was inspired from …show more content…
Danielle’s passing was, “A Bend in the Road”. Danielle’s husband was left with a child to raise on his own. Even though the death of his wife was devastating he had to stay strong for his son. While writing “A Bend in the Road”, Nicholas says, “My brother-in-law was on my mind, the first character became a young widower who had to raise a child on his own” (An Interview with Nicholas Sparks). Nicholas’s life continues to intrigue his readers as he writes very personal stories. The inspiration does not stop there, Nicholas Sparks was inspired by his father, Patrick Sparks to write “A Message in a Bottle”. “The novel is about a man who writes letters to his deceased wife and sends them out to sea in bottles ” (Nicholas Sparks Biography). After the death of Jill, Patrick’s wife of 27 years, he was absolutely devastated. Nicholas stated that after her passing, Patrick wore black for the next 4 years. He became very isolated and he rarely went out, and was so distant that his children began to worry. After grieving for many years, Patrick met a woman, Nicholas and siblings were very happy to see that their dad was happy again. Patrick called Nicholas to tell him the news of his engagement. Sadly, two days after Nicholas received the phone call from his enthusiastic father, he received a call from his father’s fiancee, this time he was informed that his father was driving home late and fell asleep at the wheel and was killed in a car accident (Inspiration for A Message in a Bottle). After the death of his dad, Nicholas then wrote, “A Message in a Bottle”. The inspiration came from his father's reaction to Jill’s death and their relationship (Nicholas Sparks Biography). In, “A Message in a Bottle” the readers are able to feel the love that he had for his wife and the sorrow that he felt. The struggles in his life continues when Sparks’s second son, Ryan was misdiagnosed with Autism.
It started when Ryan was 5 and he was at the doctors with his family before his older brother was going to get his tonsils removed. The doctor thought that it was odd that after saying Hi to Ryan, he did not respond. The doctor was curious and asked if he could take a look at Ryan (Inspiration for The Rescue). The family was a little concerned that the doctor wanted to look at their child. He came back to the family with his suggestion that Ryan was autistic. Catherine and Nicholas were both very concerned for their son and they took him to get tested. Over the next year, doctors diagnosed many different types of disorders and disabilities (Inspiration for The Rescue). They they started to worry and became very discouraged in the doctors with the little information found about their son’s condition and it starting to take a toll on their life. They finally discovered that, “he has what’s called Central Auditory Processing Disorder(CAPD) which is something akin to “dyslexia of sound””(Inspiration for The Rescue). After the long and grueling process was over, Sparks was inspired to write another book and this time it was about a young woman who had a son that was diagnosed with severe learning disabilities and a couple whose relationship is made stronger in the search for her missing son. Once again, Nicholas shows us the love that people have for one another and a
little piece of his life. Nicholas Sparks’s deep connection to the characters comes from the events that have occurred in his life pertaining to his family. The author is able to capture his story in a way that sets him apart from other authors as he is deeply connected to the stories. His deep connection to his characters allows him to tell their experiences in a way that breaks our hearts, so that we cannot wait for the next book to be released.
The diverse alternation of point of views also provides the story an effective way to reach out to readers and be felt. The characterisation is effectively done and applied as Sam, Grace, and the other supporting characters play individual, crucial roles in the course of the story. All the elements of a typical young adult novel, consisting of a gap-filled relationship between children and parents, emotion-driven teenagers, and a unique conflict that makes the book distinct from fellow novels, combined with the dangerous consequences of the challenges the couple encounter, make the book different from all other of the same genre. The plot unfolds slowly giving readers enough time to adjust and anticipate the heavy conflict when it arises. It has gotten us so hooked but the only thing we could possibly dislike about it was the slow pace of plot. The anticipation was too much to handle and we were practically buzzing and bouncing to know how the story turns out as we read. It builds the anticipation, excitement, thrill, sadness, grief, loss, and longing in such an effective way to entice and hook readers further into the world of Sam and
Books: a group of blank white pages where authors record memories, reveal what they imagined, and take us along on a ride through their minds. These past few weeks, I had been reading two popular novels that did in fact take me on that journey: The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton, and Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson. In no uncertain terms, I did notice that these two books could be compared to one another. Although these are two separate books, written by two different authors with separate journeys, they actually have great similarities and differences in the characters and plot.
“Fiction is the truth inside the lie” (Stephen King). Figment of imagination helps improve brain connectivity and responsibilities which enables the brain to escape to a world of illusion. In a world of imagination students explore conflicts within the book. Anecdotes play a significant role in building the strategies used to deal with real world events. Ink and Ashes by Valynne E. Maetani, discusses how mistakes from the past has an impact on your life and may alter your future. Books intended to be read so that we as people can have a different mindset and perspective on things rather than just our own.
Alexie divulges that he looks up to his father by saying, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (Alexie 12). Sherman Alexie, a young boy who loves his father, successfully utilizes apples to logos, pathos, and ethos. Since his father is his idol, he is a credible and reliable man in Alexie’s life, whom he loved, which logically explains that Alexie chose to love books. Because he loves his father, Alexie’s emotions of love and admiration drove him to follow in his father’s footsteps. His relationship with his father delves out necessary information for readers to tie his entire paper together by connecting the dots as to why Sherman Alexie is so entranced with literature, which corresponds with his love of
Laurie Halse Anderson has written for all ages, but her most popular books are those written for young adults. These books include Speak, Catalyst, Prom, and Wintergirls. A common trait found in all of these books is her spectacular use of characterization. Some reviewers have criticized Catalyst and Fever 1793 for weaknesses in characterization and plotting but all of Laurie Halse Anderson's books remain highly popular with young readers, who identify with Anderson's honest portrayal of adolescence. Susan Butterworth said, “The first-person narrative voice, keen observation, and details of time and place distinguish Anderson's young adult novels” (Gale). Laurie Halse Anderson’s amazing ability to write in a very realistic first person allows readers to easily relate to the main character. There are several reasons as to why she writes like this and what makes it successful. These reasons include Anderson’s life, her weaving of comedy with tragedy, and the extreme differences between each book. Each of these reasons for this ability is wonderful because they are what make her books more likeable.
As a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
The first of his most well-known series, Rick Riordan puts to use his extensive knowledge of Greek mythology along with his vivid imagination. The plot never loses it’s pace and unexpected surprises shoot from every corner. The Lightning Thief is an incredible read that pulls you into a deep orifice. Literally from the first pages I knew I was gonna finish this book. The movie based off this book replays the story in an interesting cinematic view.
The main idea of the book was a girl learning to cope with her past and and trying to grow from it. Charlie starts of in a mental institution for self-harm. She is then taken out of the place because of her mother’s lack of money. She goes to Arizona to be helped out by her friend Mikey, which is gone most of the time. Charlie gets a job at a weird coffee place and meets a guy named Riley, where they instantly get a connection. The rest of the book is Charlie trying to learn how to deal with all of her past hardships and find a better way to deal with the memories and pain. The only two coping methods she seemed
During one summer Rose worked with other kids selling strawberries to different neighborhoods. “I started telling the other kids about my books, and soon it was my job to fill up that time with stories” (21). His actions were being expressed by what he enjoyed. “I developed the stories as I went along, relying on a flexible plot line and a repository of heroic events” (21). Rose did not tell the exact stories he read. He changed them up and made them more interesting to create a more glorious attraction from the people he told the stories to. That shows how much he wanted to achieve more from the things he did. He sketched out trajectories and each stories climax with his finger on his boss’ dusty truck bed (21-22). He envisioned these different story scenarios in his head because he was passionate about the books
They write about the unspoken mysteries of the life of their protagonists. Each of them has produced extraordinary works which make the reader observe the world in new eyes.
Some people write for entertainment and some people write for fortune, but other people write to tell the world their story and enlighten us to life’s lessons. Literary fiction is created to do more than just merely entertain. It is created to tell a story, to take the reader from one mindset to another and bring about the reader’s understanding of the purpose. Literary fiction explores innate conflicts of the human condition through cosmic writing. Richard Wright chooses to use this kind of writing to reach the world. Wright grew up in a time where he was denied many privileges because of his color and he really made a point to express his feelings to us through his writing. His life, works and short story “A Man Who Was Almost a Man contribute directly to his literary style.
The theme of a novel can change the complete meaning of the story for each individual reader. If one person reads a book and he/she thinks that the book's main them...
His stories are filled with love, loss, life lessons, and situations that bring people together and/or tear them apart. He writes about love and tragedy as love is something that everyone has experienced at least once in their lifetime, and life does not always have a happy ending or go as planned. He writing style is inspiring, encouraging, supporting, and teaches, all while keeping it real. Nicholas Sparks states, “The one thing I’ve learned about writing is there is no correct way to do it.” He recommends the three hallmark habits of all great writers: read, research, and write.
In my opinion, this novel was a very romantic, and happy love story and overall an wonderful novel. I loved all the plot twists throughout the story. I believe Sparks did an amazing job writing this story. He managed to make the reader laugh, cry, and smile all in a matter of a few pages. The story line is intriguing and very relatable to the dreams of young girls. It allows the reader to imagine the love connection between Allie and Noah and makes them enjoy hearing about their journey together as a