Turtle Of A Fence Post Literary Analysis

Imagine losing the people who are closest to you and then being sent to live with a family you barely know; to top it all of, a petulant old man (whose sole purpose in life seems to be complaining) also joins the family. June Rae Wood’s dramatic, fictional novel, “Turtle of a Fence Post”, captures the sorrow and pain of a girl in this situation, as Delrita (the protagonist) still manages to stay strong throughout all the losses in her life. This story makes people think and view situations through different viewpoints. June Rae Wood develops the story and makes it stronger through literary devices such as imagery, foreshadowing, and figurative language.

To begin with, the use of imagery in this story helps draw the reader into the story and feel like a part of it. For instance, when Delrita was visiting Mr. Roebuck in the hospital, she “[R]ode the elevator to the third floor, and walked through a vast elevator to the third floor, and walked through a vast endless hallway, . . . footsteps clicking against the tile and . . . [her] pulse pounding in . . . [her] ears. The smell of medicines and disinfectant. White uniforms everywhere” (257). This illustrates the perfect use

of imagery and helps make this story better because it appeals to one’s sense of hearing, smell, and sight; thus, it stimulates the imagination. Additionally, it helps the reader feel like they are part of the story and it gives the story life by showing Delrita’s feelings (pulse pounding). Overall, the use of imagery in this story makes it easier to imagine the scenes, makes the story more relatable, and makes it easier to formulate inferences.
Second of all, Wood’s use of foreshadowing enhances the story and keeps the readers eager to know more. For example, Delrita was visiting Mr. Shackleford (who’s been to jail several times before), when a cop came and (very hesitantly) stated his reason for being in there by saying, “It’s about the burglaries in Tangle Nook” (146). This shows that problems will arise for Mr. Shackleford (since he’s been in jail several times and is a likely suspect), making the reader interested and wanting to know what happens next. Another way that this makes the novel stronger is that is adds mystery and drama to the book, therefore appealing to a larger crowd. Briefly, foreshadowing in this story makes readers want to continue reading and see if their hunch was correct.
Finally, figurative language in this story makes sure the story remains enticing and prevents readers from feeling as if the story keeps dragging on with no variety in the writing style.

As proof, Delrita thought, “I was the turtle he set off the fence post” (261). This metaphor demonstrates the author’s use of figurative language and strengthens Wood’s novel because it conveys a simple point, makes the point more fascinating, and changes the writing style. Moreover, this simple sentence helps keep the reader interested since they are forced to imagine the scenario and infer the meaning rather than simply reading what the author meant. Given these points, it is apparent that figurative language keeps readers absorbed in the story and prevents them from walking away from the book without finishing

it.
In the spectacular novel, Turtle on a Fence Post, June Rae Wood uses multiple writing techniques such as imagery foreshadowing, and figurative language - all which help increase the quality of the story. These three literary devices make the story complete, and this novel wouldn’t be as magnificent without them. Imagery paints pictures of certain scenes in the reader’s mind and helps them connect to the story; foreshadowing keeps readers on the edge of their seat wanting to know what is going to happen; figurative language keeps the reader interested and makes the think. At any rate, this book has many strength, including how the story prods emotional response from the reader; however, this story also has several weaknesses, such as the overuse of coincidences. Overall, this is an amazing novel made better by the various literary devices used by June Rae Wood.