In the story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, the author, Karen Russell, uses feral diction to establish that although people strive for perfectionism in their lives, people cannot become someone or something that they are not, thus causing a loss of identity. Russell uses feral diction in “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” to prove that people cannot change who the are. For example, Kyle tried to talk to Claudette, but just succeeded in annoying her instead. Claudette immediately reacted and, according to the story, “I narrowed my eyes at Kyle and flattened my ears, something I hadn’t done for months” (249).
Everyone experiences different events in their lives, and often they suffer from the pain of past. Yet, the most essential part of life is how some changes can help one to escape their past and begin a new journey. In E. Annie Proulx’s novel, The Shipping News, she presents a character who is a failure in life, and his cowardly action brings him to suffer in pain. But, the change that he risks to make, changes his life, and moves him forward. By displaying characters’ pasts and focusing on their change, E. Annie Proulx shows that it is possible to escape one’s past, and necessary change should be embraced.
One will eventually come across the day where they are able to figure out who they truly are as a person. A discovery like this will lead to new chapters of life and start new beginnings. Although finding one 's identity can be difficult to understand and accept, it is crucial in life to discover oneself. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a teenage girl, who had to overcome and deal with an awful tragedy, takes readers on the long journey she walked before finding meaning and value in who she is as a person.
In “A New Man,” by Edward Jones, the way Woodrow and Rita handle their daughter’s disappearance works as a repeating pattern throughout the story. Whether it is an emotional or physical change, the couple progress and regress throughout the story. Edward Jones does an excellent job at comparing the way two people can experience and interpret a tragic event. The couple’s weight change can easily be seen when reading the story.
Can mere mortals with hold magical abilities? In the Lake of The Woods, a mystery war novel written by Tim O’Brien, whose major theme is that not every problem has a solution, but may present a different outlook on the problem and aspects surrounding it. The main character, John Wade, uses magic to hide his manipulation and deception in order to put on a smiling face on a daily basis. As a result of wanting to carry on his deceit, he ventures into the political world, while putting his wife,Kathy Wade, through misery. Kathy hated the political life style and gatherings, in this degree she was secretly relieved when he was unable to become a U.S. Senator.
Throughout literature the constant theme of identity has been explored, with Northrop Frye even suggesting “the story of the loss and regaining of identity is, I think, the framework for all literature.” For characters, true identity isn’t always apparent, it needs to be searched for. Sometimes the inner struggle for identity stems from ones need for belonging. Whether one finds their sense of identity within friends, family, or in a physical “home”. It’s not always a place that defines identity.
“Identity cannot be found or fabricated, but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go”- by Doug Cooper. Circumstances, experiences and society are factors in an individual’s life which contribute to the formation of their identity. Identity is not found, instead, it’s made by conflicts, hurdles, societal pressures and obstacles in one’s life which come together in harmony to create one’s identity in its purest form. How individuals act and respond to challenging circumstances determines their values, goals and beliefs, thus, forms them as a whole. In the text name “The Shining Houses” by Alice Munro, a character named Mary experiences stresses in her life which attribute to not only her individuality but to her development as a character as the story progresses.
The Book Thief Narrative Tension Markus Zusak uses all three forms of narrative tension in his story, The Book Thief, but it is clear that anticipation is the most used out of all of them. An early example of this is when Zusak uses anticipation at the beginning of the section, The Eclipse, to gain the reader's attention. Zusak foreshadows the future by using colors associated with certain events. Zusak starts The Eclipse by saying, “Next is the signature black, to show the poles of my versatility, if you like. It was the darkest moment before dawn.”
Vain and naïve, Connie often escapes the negative relationship that she has with her parents by going out several nights a week to the local diner and the local shopping plaza. Connie soon realizes that this is only the beginning of her fate. In this essay, I will describe how Joyce Carol Oates used the literary elements to describe the plot of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” (1938). Oates’ begins the suspense of Connie’s fate by describing the emotional state of feelings towards her mother.
Music, as well as art, had influenced her emotional/ personal awakening to the fact that, drawing allows Edna to find love, peace within herself, and is the only thing she actually has control over. Her imaginative dream of being alone open the doors for her departure from Leonce's house which is a form of individuality in which seeks to build her own autonomy, she finds a new house that she named Pigeon illustrating the ideals of not being able escape society even after she moves, representing the fact that she is like a bird in which, the bird can’t escape the cage he’s in, as for Edna she can’t escape the role of woman in society.(Pg31) “ Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul.” after haven slept alone in the hammock,she's
Teenagers in the 1960’s were facing a time of change with the civil rights movement and the development of hip culture. The lives of teenagers contrast the lives of their family because they are both adopting different personalities with different interests in music and activities. In the story Where are you going, Where have you been, Joyce Carol Oates 's depicts a specific example of the changing 1960’s middle class America by describing the story of a teenage girl named Connie who undergoes her own tribulation with a older man who attempts to take advantage of her body. Family relationships are one of the main cores of a character in characters as they act differentlly depending their situation, and most of the time teenagers are rebellious.
Instances of Displacement In Neil Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds” “In every way that counted, I was dead,” begins the narrator-protagonist of Neil Gaiman’s “Bitter Grounds”, hinting at the theme of a profound shift in identity that will soon be explained. Indeed the reader will soon be introduced to a subtle slip from one reality into another through the eyes of a man faced with loss, love and his own identity. The elements of fantasy heighten the sense of displacement that accompanies the narrator from his initial purposelessness and self-exile, through the shaping of a new identity and search for a new purpose to his final act of abandon in the end. The idea of displacement, as evidenced by the very volume that features the story discussed
The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and
In her short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", Joyce Carol Oates utilizes a variety of literary devices to strengthen the story in its entirety. This short story is essentially about a 16-year-old girl named Connie and the conflict between her desire to be mature and her desire to remain an adolescent. Throughout the story, the audience sees this conflict through her words in addition to through her behavior. The audience is also introduced to Arnold Friend, a rather peculiar man, who essentially kidnaps her. This short story by Joyce Carol Oates functions and is additionally meaningful because of her usage of literary devices.
In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.