"And of Clay we are created" was composed by Isabel Allende and published on the 10th of November 1989. The story is based on the true events of the earthquake in Columbia and the little girl who was trapped in the mud. The protagonist, Rolf, experiences a transition that changes him from a man who was able to put his career before everything to a broken man who is unable to work without being flooded with grief and regret. Rolf's transition is confronting, as he has to witness Azucena's death in front of him. When Rolf returned to Australia his girlfriend, Eva, was able to tell that this experience had changed him. "You are back with me, but you are not the same man". Through the use of a paradox, the reader can understand how witnessing Azucena’s death transformed Rolf. …show more content…
The first significant moment would be when Rolf discovers Azucena and tries to help rescue her. "She was also held by the bodies of her brothers and sisters clinging to her legs”. Allende uses emotive language to highlight the horror of the situation Rolf is exposed to. This technique enhances the reader's understanding of transition as they as able to understand that this moment is the catalyst for Rolf's journey, which will ultimately lead to his transition into a new phase of life as well as social context.
The second significant moment in the novel would be the death of Azucena. "He leaned down to kiss her poor forehead, consumed by a sweet, sad emotion" Allende uses a mixture of emotive language and imagery in order to convey to the audience the climax of the novel. "She sank slowly, like a flower in the mud". Allende uses a metaphor to express the emotions felt by Rolf as he realises Azucena has succumbed to the harsh
Upon the dancer’s departure, “the dancer, who though older was still languid and full of grace, reached out and tapped me with two fingers on the cheek, turned, and walked away” (185). Krauss uses this odd gesture by the dancer helps reinforce the strange quirks of the dancer and the author’s thought of the gesture containing “something condescending in it, even meant to humiliate” (185). The use of the words, “languid and full of grace” continues to strengthen the narrator’s fascination in the dancers beauty but also how the narrator feels uncomfortable with her interactions with the dancer. After the narrator’s encounter with the dancer, she walks by a crowded park “until a cry rang out, pained and terrified, an agonizing child’s cry that tore into[her] as if it were an appeal to [her] alone” (186). The author’s use of the painful and terrifying cry reintroduces the theme of a screaming child from the first passage which reinforces the author’s incapability to manager her guilt. The use of the word “agonizing” in this context suggests the overwhelming amount of guilt the author contains but in form as a youthful shrilling scream. Towards the end of the short story, the agonizing
This idea is systematically integrated into Faulks’ writing from the outset, initially through Bérard’s singing when, “he fixed his eyes on Madame Azaire, who was opposite… She blushed and squirmed under his unblinking stare”. Faulks purposefully transforms this minor event into a symbolic metaphorical battle, using Bérard’s overpowering demeanour as a physical manifestation of Isabelle’s oppression. Faulks places the two characters “opposite” each other, creating two distinct sides of conflict whilst also implying an equality which is utterly disregarded, showing her lack of freedom. The combative tone is enhanced through the assonance of “unblinking” eyes that are “fixed” on Isabelle, creating an almost bestial quality to Bérard that is reminiscent of a creature circling its prey. The erotic connotations of Bérard’s physical and mental bullying create a grotesque image of Isabelle’s violation, reinforcing her oppression. Similarly, Bérard’s singing is, perversely, a serenade for Isabelle, subverting a romantic gesture into a verbal assault, which illuminates Azaire’s later physical beating of his wife in their bedroom, the setting of both Azaire’s impotence and Isabelle’s sensual power. Faulks’ violent, hyperbolical lexical focus shows how even a minor loss of freedom can cause untold suffering. He distills this suffering into a moment of physical and mental degradation when Isabelle is violated by Azaire, exemplifying the pattern of escalating suffering that Faulks applies throughout the
After establishing this sad and bitter tone, Danticat moves to a more rejoiceful tone when she reminisces about the times when her grandmother would tell her stories: “My grandmother was an old country woman who always felt displaced in the City of Port-au-Prince—where we lived—and had nothing but her patched-up quilts and her stories to console her. She was the one who told me about Anacaona” (137). Danticat then shifts to a more neutral tone when she recalls her grandmother’s peaceful death with her eyes open. She took her grandmother’s death calmly because death was so frequent in Haiti. She further explains, “I have such a strong feeling that death is not the end, that the people we bury are going off to live somewhere else” (138).
Weigl utilizes the sense of touching or feeling to convey to the reader the somber mood of the poem, “Shivering on the chrome table” (5); “she passed the needle to the doctor” (16); “only the weight of her in my arms” (28). When the reader reads these lines in the poem, they can feel what the characters feel. They can imagine May laying on the cold, chrome table shivering. They can imagine the nurse passing the needle to the doctor that ends May’s suffering. They can imagine May’s limp body in the arms of her owner once all the pain has left her
Appealing to the reader’s emotions through stories is a commonly used technique, and Scelfo uses it beautifully. She starts the article out by introducing the reader to a young girl named Kathryn Dewitt. Whether they mean to or not, the reader develops some kind of emotional connection to this young girl. They feel as if they are a part of the story, for when
...ow much information he discloses to his audience without overburdening them, by including an underlying message that is hidden within the metaphors and facts; comparing the size of the different hearts with familiar objects and therefore making them perceivable; and using his distinct poetic style and tone to evoke emotion from his audience. By emphasizing the factual and emotional evocative nature of his rhetoric strategy, and presenting it in a personal and eloquent manner, he seems to be able to successfully connect with his audience. Ultimately, the overall tone of the essay entices his readers to think and feel deeply along with the text, adding to its many noteworthy qualities.
...it up to each reader to draw their own conclusions and search their own feelings. At the false climax, the reader was surprised to learn that the quite, well-liked, polite, little convent girl was colored. Now the reader had to evaluate how the forces within their society might have driven such an innocent to commit suicide.
Allende effectively used the literary devices of imagery, similes, and diction, to help the reader understand the admiration others have for Clarisa while conveying the deeper meaning of the text without compromising the flow and comprehension. Each literary device provides an easy, enjoyable, and profound way to view this story, and learn about the sacrifices
end. This essay will further show how both stories shared similar endings, while at the same time
Mood is the feeling the reader gets from reading a piece of literature. If it is properly made it can be felt through the main character or the text. Many literary devices can aid the development of mood in a passage. In “Denn Die Todten Reiten Schnell,” Stroker uses techniques of diction, types of imagery, and elements of narrative stance to create a dominant impression of fear.
The entire basis of this book deals with communicating from both character to character, and narrator to reader, on a very high cerebral level. Because of this analytic quality of the book, the most important events also take place on such a high level. In fact, the major theme of the novel, that of the narrator searching for his past self, as well as the cognitive change between the "...
Effectively using these elements in a piece of literature enhances the reader’s curiosity. One prime example of such usage of these elements is seen in Kate Chopin's writing. Her use of foreshadowing and use of emotional conflicts put into few words in the short piece "The Storm" adds an element that is alluring, holding the reader's interest. In this short piece of literature, a father and son, Bobinot and Bibi, are forced to remain in a store where they were shopping before the storm, waiting for the storm to pass over them. In the meantime, the wife and mother, Calixta, whom is still at home, receives an unexpected visit from a former lover named Alicee. The two have an affair and the story starts to come together. The story shows us how we tend to want what we beli...
The play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare tells the story of two very young lovers who die. It just appears that fate controlled the outcome of the story. But if you really study and interpret the story you will realize it is a series of a few simple coincidences, which made the outcome so tragic.
Overall, “Love” is about death and the students love for their teacher, even though it is not what it is played out to be. Maxwell demonstrates this through his tone, point of view, word choice, and sentence structure, in which coordinates with the overall theme of death. He uses his sentence structure to show the perspective of a fifth grade student. In addition, he also uses short descriptive sentences to show how a fifth grade student would tell a story. Maxwell also uses specific word choice that adds detail to his short sentences, in order to foreshadow Miss. Vera Brown’s Death. Each of these formal features helps shape his essay around the theme death, in which involves close attention in order to understand
Azucena’s pain reminded Rolf about the same pain his little sister dealt with as well as brought back memories about his ignorant parents. The struggles that Rolf is not able to deal with himself are forced onto him in front of the cameras where everyone is watching. Eventually, the realization of his pain allowed him and the narrator to recognize that he was more than just a reporter. “... finally he was vulnerable. The girl had touched a part of him that he himself had no access to, a part he had never shared with me” (Allende