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Literary analysis of everyday use
A worn path
An essay on a worn path
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The Three Elements of Short Stories
To grab a reader’s attention and to have them yearn to read a work of literature, many literary elements have to be used to make up the story. A short story is short work of literature aim to be less elaborate than more literary work. It is often judge by its ability to capture the reader’s attention in its short matter. To achieve this urgency for readers to want to be more engaged in the work, it requires elements that cause the reader to depict the story and walk away with a lesson. The story chosen, are true examples of the elements that captures the audience with its brief, focal fiction style of writing. The differences and similarities of the literary elements of theme, characterization and plot are revealed to the reader through three unique short stories that include “Everyday Use,” “Two Kinds,” and “A Worn Path”; however, “A Worn Path” encompasses all three elements on an expert level to create a much remembered story.
All three short stories demonstrate the process for sequence of events for plot. In “Everyday Use” the sequences for the plot included Ms. Johnson and Maggie’s anticipating the return of her daughter Dee. They are both restless and concern with the appearance of the yard and themselves while waiting for Dee’s return. Once she arrives other sequences unfold, from pictures being taken, the dinner, and the request for the quilt. In “AWorn Path” the entire story was about Phoenix sequence of events while she travel to town. Phoenix lets the reader know what was occurring every step of the way and what was going to happen. Lastly, in “Two Kinds” the plot was also based on the events. The difference with this story is that this plot was demonstrated through a lifetime, rat...
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...t all readers can forever remember the story because of its level of representation of the three elements.
In conclusion, the three short stories, “Everyday Use,” “Two Kinds,” and “A Worn Path” have similarities and differences that utilizes the literary elements of plot, theme, and characterization, however “A Worn Path” delivers an approach that makes its story more memorable from a more proficient level. Each story has its own way of utilizing the literary elements, which is needed to help readers appreciate, interpret and analyze a literary work. Writers cannot create a desired work without including literary elements. Once the reader notices the elements, it can allow the readers compare works from one writer to the next to determine its worth. It also allows readers to be motivated to use their imagination and visualize the characters and scene more vividly.
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
In traditional writing styles, the main element to give the story meaning is the narrative itself. However, with more modern and distinct styles such as the short stories written where the narrative is no longer the primary stylistic device, but the use of metaphors and distinctive different narrators applies meaning to the stories. Though it is easy to judge what is different from tradition as inferior, this change is no different than the rise of cubism in the art world. Even though initially many would comment on the art not being “real,” or in this case, the stories being poorly written, this style has even more of an effect. After
The setting of a story lays the foundation for how a story is constructed. It gives a sense of direction to where the climax is headed. The setting also gives the visual feedback that the readers need to picture themselves into the story and comprehend it better. Determining the setting can be a major element towards drawing in the reader and how they relate to a story. A minor change in the plot can drastically alter to perception, interpretation, and direction of the message that is delivered. These descriptive elements can be found within these short stories: “the Cask of Amontillado”, “The Storm”, “The Things They Carried”, “Everyday Use”, and “The Story of an Hour”.
Authors of great stories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development.
In order to entice readers and enhance their experience while reading a piece of literature, authors use literary devices. Literary devices present the potential to illustrate moments for the reader through vivid descriptions and comparisons. In David Levithan’s Every Day, figurative language significantly adds to the story, as it provides the reader with a lucid understanding of the meaning below the text’s surface, while sometimes connecting other literature and forms of art. Levithan diffuses modern musical lyrics into his text to connect with the reader on a personal level and to express his broader picture of the novel’s true meaning.
Every detail within the story has some sort of meaning and is there for a
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Robert DiYanni, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Some of the characteristics of Modernism are: a desire to break conventions and established traditions, reject history, experiment, remove relativity, remove any literal meaning, and create an identity that is fluid. The rejection of history sought to provide a narrative that could be completely up for interpretation. Any literal meaning no longer existed nor was it easily given; essence became synonymous. Narrative was transformed. Epic stories, like “Hills Like White Elephants”, could occur in the sequence of a day. Stories became pushed by a flow of thoughts. The narrative became skeptical of linear plots, preferring to function in fragments. These fragments often led to open unresolved inconclusive endings. This echoes in the short story’s format. The short story functions in fragmented dialogue. Focusing on subjectivity rather than objectivity. Creating characters with unfixed, mixed views to challenge readers.
Welty, Eudora. ?The Worn Path.? Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PH, 2001. 150-155.
Chimamanda Adichie, in one of her eye-opening speeches, The Danger of a Single Story, provides the audience with a new insight into the negative impacts that can occur as a result of viewing a story from a single perspective and not putting in an effort to know it from all available viewpoints. Adichie in her simple, yet well-grounded speech, filled with anecdotes of her personal experiences effectively puts across her argument against believing in stereotypes and limiting oneself to just a single story using a remarkable opening, the elements of logos, pathos and ethos, repetitions, as well as maintaining a good flow of thoughts throughout the speech.
Short stories are a common literary form that allows the author to convey much in a condensed manner. Short stories can vary greatly in their purpose and structure. In a comparison of the stories "The Swimmer" and "The Drunkard," it is clear that the former is the superior literary work, as it utilizes literary elements more thoroughly in order to convey more significant themes.
In 2009 Chimamanda Adichie gave a TED talk about the ‘danger of a single story’. A single story meaning, one thought or one example of a person becoming what we think about all people that fit that description, a stereotype if you will. In today’s America, I believe that we have all felt the wave of stereotypical views at some point or another. Adichie gives many relatable examples throughout her life of how she has been affected by the single story. Her story brings about an issue that all humans, from every inch of the earth, have come to understand on some level. A young child reading only foreign books, a domestic helper that she only perceived as poor. Her college roommates single story about Africans and her own formation of a single
Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Sixth edition. Eds. X.J. Dennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
In the modern short story, the author leaves the empty space to the major event. For instance, in “Hills Like White Elephants,” the operation which the two characters were talking about is much more important than the drinks that these two characters would drink. However, the drinks were paid more attention. The types of drinks, such as Anis del Toro, beer and others, were introduced. Also, the size of drinks and whether the drinks were with water or not, were mentioned. Whereas, the operation that the girl would have was not described in detail, and only one word “operation” was