Compare And Contrast The Writing Style Of Mice And Men

Inspirations for writing style

My writing style for this short piece was inspired by two incredibly different novel sources; Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and Filth by Irvin Welsh. Whilst both are examples of contemporary fiction, they could hardly be more contrasting in terms of character and setting. Of mice and men is a tale of two ranch workers following their American dream in the California ranch setting during the great depression in the United States. The descriptions are vivid and create scenes of beauty. The same could certainly not be said of Filth; the story of a corrupt police officer set in grimy Scottish streets and sordid bars with it’s even more sordid, misanthropic main character. By using such different sources of inspiration, I have included both well flowing and attractive sounding language as well as the starkly contrasting descriptions of an unpleasant setting.

Evidence of inspiration

Of mice and men

I have drawn inspiration from the use of language techniques for the snippet of my own story. One way is through my use of sibilance. Sibilance is the repetition of strongly stressed consonants, such as the letter‘s’. This creates an almost hissing sound when spoken, softening the delivery of the words and sentences. In Of Mice and Men, the soft sounding sibilance is used to give a soothing and calm feel to the beautiful setting so as to lull the reader into a false sense sanctuary and implied safety for the main characters. In my snippet I have used this technique to capture the slurred mental speech of the drunken character, as it makes the phrases seemingly flow together. The sibilant letters have been highlighted in the following