A "hook" in literature is a compelling start to a story. Reread the first sentence of the book and discuss how these words were used to seize and then hold the reader's attention. Do you feel that it made you want to read more? Could the author have done a better job? Is there another book that did a good job with their "hook" at the beginning of the story?
The first line of a novel needs to capture the reader. In the novel Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls the author tries to hook the reader with an interesting first sentence: “When I left my office that beautiful spring day, I had no idea what was in store for me.” (pg. 1). I feel that this sentence does bring the reader in and created a sense of curiosity of what would
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happen next. I do think that the author could have done a better job of hooking the reader if he had created a bit more imagery. He could have shown the day instead of telling us that it was beautiful. Plus, he could have made the second part of the sentence a little more detailed to give the reader a better idea of the kind of story that he was going to tell. Another author who started with an interesting hook is J.K. Rowlings in her Harry Potter Series. In the beginning of this series she starts with: “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” (pg. 1). Rowlings does something similar with her hook by creating a sense of curiosity as the reader is left to wonder what “perfectly normal” really means. However, beyond just grabbing the reader’s attention with this sentence, she is able to set the quirky, humorous tone for the entire novel series in this simple sentence. Point of View The first chapter provides us with insight into the character of the man telling the story. How would you describe his character? What qualities did he seem to possess? How does the narrator give this story an informal, conversational tone? (paragraph 1) The first chapter of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows provides us with some insight into the character of the narrator.
In the first chapter of the novel, the author gives the narrator’s story an informal, conversational tone by using “I” frequently, short, simple sentences, basic vocabulary and conversational phrases like “you know what I mean.” (pg. 8) The narrator seems like a nice old man: happy, brave, and compassionate. The narrator is an older, grown man working in an “office” and walking in a small town neighborhood. (pg. 8). He seems generally happy and is “walking along whistling” (pg. 8) as he walks. He does not get flustered easily because he doesn’t run away when a pack of dogs is coming at time but just “moves over the the edge of the sidewalk” (pg. 9) to let them pass. He was not too sentimental at first as he was worried about the “sanitation department [having to] pick up a dead dog” (pg. 9) instead of worrying about the poor animal and his suffering. However, when the dog reminds him of a time “when an old hound like that had given his life so that [he] might live” (pg. 10), the narrator gets emotional. His “fighting blood was boiling” (pg. 11) and he decides to intervene. It is clear that he is brave because he steps into the middle of a dog fight to save the old hound dog (pg. 11). Next, the narrator is kind and compassionate toward the dog when he “almost cried” (pg. 12) at the state of the old dog, and then baths and feeds him (pg.
13). Simile The dog's paws were worn down as slick as the rind of an apple. What is being compared? What is another way of describing the dog's paws? (small paragraph 2) In the novel Where the Red Fern Grows the author Wilson Rawls uses a simile when he writes “The dog’s paws were worn down as slick as the rind of an apple.” (pg. 13) He is comparing the dog’s paws to an apple rind because it is so smooth. Another way of describing this would be to say that the dog’s paw was smooth as a river rock because it had been worn down from miles of walking. I think that the author’s use of simile is a good way to create an image and help the reader to understand what he is trying to describe.
Is your heart still in the right place? Has a story ever run with it and broken it, with tears running down your face? If you have read Where the Red Fern Grows, it has definitely happened, making your heart buoyant with happiness and and break with tragedy. The strong-willed Billy, with his faithful redbone hounds, the brawny Old Dan and the brainy runt Little Ann, toy with your emotions as you follow them through their adventures and their tragic losses. Even though the movie based off the book is meant to be similar, and is, there are still differences between them.
In Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, the color red symbolize race. Indians are reduced to the color red, as African Americans are black. Charlie's hatred towards the red rental car is obvious towards the beginning of the story. However, towards the end he seems almost indifferent as the car is destroyed.
When reading a book, is really hard to get the attention of the reader. Who is interested with hearing once upon a time? For me, I would eater the novel start off with something relatable then ease me into the plot. Life doesn’t always start off as a fairytale so I prefer that my novels don’t either. So while reading this novel, I was evaluating not only the author but the content and if it would live up to the hype.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls takes the reader on an adventure through the Cherokee country. The setting takes place in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri or Oklahoma during the 1920’s. Most of the story is set in the wild outdoors and in the country home of Billy Coleman. The story has an inspiring but sad tone. Wilson Rawls tells a story of a boy, his hounds, and true love.
...ll he can do is suppress his urge to cry. The protagonist?s realization of his own maturity is ironic. Once so eager to appear ?bad,? but lacking the true essence of this word, the narrator has achieved this status at the price of his naivete, and wishes that he could return.
This book had first started out by introducing the readers to what this book is going to sound like, which was the Introduction.
Imagery returns once more, allowing the reader to sense the nerves that were beginning to affect the narrator; preparing them for a suspenseful turning point. The turning point that follows had been the revelation of the narrator’s thoughts about stealing the book- which may have been why she must’ve lost her doubts prior. The narrator could not bring herself to steal the book, but was not ready to forget her special moment; looking to the book for an
Green drags the reader right into the text from the very beginning, and very skilfully keeps the reader engaged to the end of the introduction. With varied techniques to convey his message, Green is able to summarize the novel and grab attention in the few opening pages.
The story line of Red Harvest is riddled with double-crossing characters, bootleggers and crooked authority figures that obviously challenge universal moral codes of conduct. More importantly, some characters remain more morally ambivalent then others. Although, this is a troupe of hardboiled detective novels from the time, and the Film Noir genre where nothing is as it seems, there are particular characters and events that stand out. The language and situations are so double sided that the reader is forced to question the weave of their own moral fabric. Dashiell Hammett through his writing style is able to reflect on the concerns many had at the time regarding rise in crime and deterioration of Victorian age morals, coincided with the rise of the detective Anti-hero, guilty woman (femme fatal) and vigilantism.
First, the narrator sets the mood of the text. He is a character, an agent in the action of the story. He fits it completely. He's a real "cool" guy, Marlowe. I picture him just sitting back in a thick green leather chair in a poorly lit, dingy little room, slowly drawing on a cigarette (watching the ash grow), swirling a drink in the other hand and spilling out the story in the concise, natural rhythm of his speech &emdash; street speech. He is super-casual. He upholds his law; he's not bad -- he's not good either. He's laid back. He's street smart &emdash; he knows people. He doesn't always follow the law, but he fights the scofflaws. He's Sherlock underground American style. He's a lady's man. He's in control. He's a one on the Richter Scale. He's suave enough to spill out awesome figurative language with seamless ease.
In the beginning of the novel, it becomes known that the narrator is a black boy living in the south. He is discriminated against by everybody around him. He is seen as nothing. The narrator is chosen to take part in the Battle Royal, which is a fight between ten black boys used to entertain the white men of the town. The narrator describes this experience by saying “But now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror. I was unused to darkness. It was as though I had suddenly found myself in a dark room filled with poisonous cottonmouths. I could hear the bleary voices yelling insistently for the battle royal to begin” (21). This quote explains that the narrator is being put in a position that he does not want to be in. He is being treated like he is less than all of the men gathered to watch the fight. Once the fight begins, the narrator also explains “Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man” (22). This quote states that the narrator feels humiliated. He is being treated like he is nothing. The fight is discouraging and humiliating for the narrator to ha...
The characters in the book often speak with puns and odd diction, usually confusing the person to whom the...
This change in tone echoes the emotions and mental state of the narrator. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator starts somewhat nervous. However, at the end, he is left insane and delusional. When he hears a knocking at the door, he logically pieces that it is most likely a visitor at the door.
With this being said Heaney uses similes and denotations throughout his poem to put in a sense of tone in the poem to help the readers get a better understanding of what the people were going through when they would see soldiers walking about. According to Dictionary.com (“Simile”, 2016). “A simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.” This is being used in line 18 where it says “standing there like youngsters” (Heaney, n.d.). This interprets how men working would pause and observe what was going on and the soldiers marching by just like kids would do when they see something remarkable. Heaney also uses Denotation. Which according to Dictionary.com, “Denotation is the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it.” This is being showed in the poem throughout various lines. It’s being showed when he writes, “They would have heard the screaming, / Then heard it stop and had a view of us / In our gloves and aprons / coming down the hill” (lines 6-9), this evokes an image showing that what is being told and said is what is truly happening. That the soldiers were so close to them that they could hear the slightest scream of a pig being
The next character introduced is the narrator. He is both complex and interesting. He thinks he is not crazy. As he goes out of his way to prove that his is not insane, he does the exact opposite. His relationship with the old man is unknown. However, he does say he loves the old man. “I loved the old man.” (Poe 1).