In the short stories "The Social Triangle" and "A Retrieved Reformation", O. Henry uses the literary devices of symbolism, plot twists, and characterization.
The time period in which O. Henry's finest works created, occurred in the late 1800's to the early 1900's where he dazzled readers with his unorthodox, romantic style. A short story titled "A Retrieved Reformation" written by O. Henry, who sold it to George Tyler who later turned the work into a Broadway show. "Alias Jimmy Valentine"as it came to be called dazzled America, England, France, and Spain for over a decade. In the short stories "The Social Triangle" and "A Retrieved Reformation", O. Henry uses the literary devices of symbolism, plot twists, and characterization.
"The Social Triangle" one of the great works by O. Henry, uses symbolism, plot twists, and characterization. The triangle includes a poor hard-working, lower-class man named Ikey Snigglefritz who uses his whole weeks pay to setup drinks for a middle-class man named Billy McMahon. Ikey's wife and her three sisters become outraged at his actions. Despite their animosity toward him, he gladly gave up his pay to spend it on someone whom he admires and the way he spent his wages is a symbol of achievement. "Ikey threw is week's wages in a crumbled roll upon the bar." With only slight hesitation, Ikey made a friendly gesture to a man of a higher class who will probably never know how hard it he worked to get that money. Both Ikey and Billy got their jollies by shaking the hand of someone from a social class above them.
Van Duyskink got his jollies by shaking the hand of the impoverish Ikey Snigglefritz which happens to classify as a plot twist. "To solve the improbable triangle, Van Duyskink...impulsively leaves his car to grasp the hand of Ikey Snigglefritz. The plot appears to be twisted because nobody expects Van Duyskink to be happy to shake the hand of a poor man due to the fact that he is a millionaire. O. Henry developed Ikey and Billy through the story by using characterization. Henry describes Billy McMahon as "...the greatest man, the most wonderful man...flushed and triumphant and mighty. Henry goes on to represent just how important and wonderful this man is. Ikey is described by Henry when he says that Ikey is, ".
Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
Tim O’Brien employs the elements Symbolism, Theme, and Author’s Style in his book The Things They Carried.
Back in 1990, a man named Gary Soto decided to write an autobiography about himself, titled A Summer Life. One of the more interesting portions of the book was when Mr. Soto described a summer day back when he was six years old. On that day, young Gary found out what it felt like to be a true sinner, as he stole an apple pie from the local bakery. Some readers found this as one of the more interesting parts, not because of the plot, but because of the literary devices used, such as detail, imagery, and pacing. The three aforementioned literary devices are almost a backbone to the story, because without those three, the story would be shortened and fairly bland. The following three paragraphs will each describe a literary devices used by Mr. Soto to enhance the quality of his story.
Symbolism has been seen as a very important role in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good country people”. Flannery O’Conner has written several short stories portraying herself as a Catholic writer who attacks religious views being opposed, though uses the fundamentals of nihilism portrayed through Hulga (Joy), the main character of her story. She uses multiple frank descriptions and the usage of different types of symbolism to get the audience to understand her main points. The use of names and an artificial leg give a vivid description of the main character and her views towards nihilism. O’Conner’s symbolistic usage of names, name change and an artificial leg all link the main character’s nihilistic philosophy of life which leads to her
O'Brien's writing style is so vivid, the reader frequently finds himself accepting the events and details of this novel as absolute fact. To contrast truth and fiction, the author inserts reminders that the stories are not fact, but are mere representations of human emotion incommunicable as fact.
...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.
26Carter W. Martin, The True Country: Themes in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor, p. 105.
O. Henry is a very inspirational person, in “The Gift of the Magi,” he makes the story go a lot deeper than the words on the page, with a little something called symbolism. One thing he really specializes in is symbolism, certainly with adolescence, worriness, and timelessness in this story. Symbolism plays a huge role in the narrative, a role so big that without it, the story would be quite dull. Without symbolism, this story would not have half the meaning it does now, when you dig into the story, you discover how much Della and Jim really love one
The very definition of Renaissance is rebirth and that is exactly what happened to Europe during the Renaissance. It began in the urban society of Italy in primarily the city-state of Florence. The Black Death left the population of Europe very low and because of that combined with the decline of the church power, people began to emphasize individual achievements and show more interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture.
Brewer, Nadine. "Christ, Satan, and Southern Protestantism in O'Connor's Fiction." Flannery O'Connor Bulletin 14 (1985): 103-111. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 132. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Nov. 2013
Callahan, John. "Review of Love and Trouble." Short Story Criticism Vol. 5. (Essay date 1974).
At the start of the sixteenth century, the Reformation had put an ungracious end to the dependent unification that had prevailed under the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing sense of corruption in the church, the reformation began. Many people began opposing views of how Christian practices were expressed, which led to the formation and spread of Protestantism. While the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority. (1.)
The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.