Empathy In My Major Works

The versatile nature of short fiction allows composers to incorporate personal aspects into storytelling, with varying degrees of private and public commentary and condemnation of historical and social-political contexts, events and ideas. My Major Work is structured in the form of a second-person, short fiction epistolary to investigate the fracturing of the transcendent motive of denouncing our foils as sins. By communicating in a narrative form, especially with the use of a second-person perspective, authors can manipulate language to expose the reader to the nature of humanity. This further compels the audience to reconsider their thoughts and actions, exhibiting the strengths of composing in such a form. Readers' empathy towards characters

On the other hand, fiction writers often experience an illusion of independent agency with their characters, enhancing their empathy skills. This connection between fiction writing and empathy suggests that authors may naturally possess greater empathy or develop it through their craft. Keen asserts that “When we respond empathetically to a novel, we do not have the luxury of questioning the character: we cannot ask, Is that how you really felt?” She exemplifies the significance of considering the audience’s emotional response when it comes to composing a narrative, as they have minimal autonomy to make decisions themselves. Keen’s research has aided me in recognising that by placing the target audience at the centre of my major project, I can manipulate the reader’s emotions better. I took this idea of character authenticity and individuality and sought to replicate that in 2nd person narration, blurring the lines between reader and character. Because the infamous ‘you’ is used, the reader is placed inside the events of the story, allowing the audience to respond more empathetically to the

Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus (2011) uses a second person point of view in short vignettes throughout the novel, blurring the line between the book itself and the reader. The story starts with “You are amongst them, of course.You stand in the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets.” The very first pages are addressed directly to the reader, utilising second person perspective to obscure the lines between the book itself and the reader, drawing them into the story. Similarly, the last pages have the same effect, utilising imagery to build a mental image for the reader: “You think, as you walk away from Le Cirque des Rêves and into the creeping dawn, that you felt more awake within the confines of the circus. You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.” The description exemplifies the lingering, almost dreamlike quality that the circus has on the people who attend