Non-Standard English Syntax In Toni Morrison
One example of figurative language in Laurie Hale Anderson’s book “Speak” is when Melinda decides to rid her garden of all weeds, and does some spring cleaning after it finally stops raining during May. Around the same time, Melinda is realizing that she wants to make some new changes in her life and in this figurative language example, Melinda’s life is her garden. She decides first to rake the leaves “suffocating the bushes” ; Melinda is ridding the demons from herself on the first layer of her skin. She says that she has to “fight the bushes (her problems)” and the bushes don’t like getting cleaned out but it is something one has to do if one makes
Helen Keller once said "...although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." This quotation means that in life, you come to find yourself in many struggles, but there is always a sense of accomplishment over such problems. The reason I agree with this quote is because such triumph can only be accomplished after the fact of the occurrence of a struggle. The realistic fiction book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a perfect example of my interpretation of the quote. The author uses conflict, figurative language and characterization to show that this quote is true.
When writing a novel authors must think not only about what they are about to write, but why they are going to write it. They have to select diction that will convey their inner thoughts and emotions. There is a need of imagery to pull the reader into the story so they will not lose their drive to read. Tone must constantly shift in order to keep the reader so engaged that they are determined to read until it all makes sense. From the longest to the shortest sentence, there is a reason -- called syntax-- why that sentence is there.
It is very difficult to be able to write a piece so beautifully by giving it life using the dialect so preciously giving the reader the sense of living in that time period. The story contains grammar and sentence structure we use as we speak to one another. The way it’s written and read is very obvious, no one can deny that, but looking closely at the words as they come to life by giving them a persona of their own is completely hidden from the text. For example, when Joe and Missie were playing with each other in the kitchen and as Missie searches his pockets Joe says, “Missie May, take yo’ hand out mah pocket!” looking at that sentence right there we can tell there is a lot of spelling errors
Names have always held power in literature; whether it is the defeated giant Polyphemus cursing Odysseus due to him pridefully announcing his name or how the true name of the Hebrew god was considered so potent that the word was forbidden. In fact, names were given power in tales dating all the way back to the 24th century B.C.E. when the goddess Isis became as strong as the sun god Ra after tricking him into revealing his true name. And in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, names have a much stronger cultural significance; and in the case of the character known as “Beloved”, her name is essentially her whole existence. Morrison shows the true power a name holds in African American literature through the character known as “Beloved”, as her role in the story becomes defined by the name she is given and changes in the final moments of the chapter.
Carefully chosen syntax can affect many aspects of a piece of writing. The Kite Runner has many examples of specifically chosen syntax to create a sense of tension, excitement or drama. A perfect example of how an author can set the audience up to feel a certain way is displayed in this quote: Mostly, I remember this: his brass knuckles flashing blows in the afternoon light; how cold they felt with the first few blows and how quickly they warmed with my blood. Getting thrown against the wall, a nail where a framed picture may have hung once jabbing at my back.
Anne Lamott 's essay, “Shitty First Drafts” explains to its readers that all writers, even the best, can have “shitty first drafts.” The essay presents the proper writing process from the first draft to the final piece of work. Her essay is intended to encourage writers who are in need of direction when it comes to writing and to teach inexperienced writers ways to become more successful in writing. Anne Lamott uses her personal experiences to build credibility, figurative language to engage the reader and provides the reader with logical steps for the writing process. To build credibility on her processes success, Lamott uses her own personal experiences.
The author uses a limited amount of diction throughout the book, because she wanted to keep the main focus on the character. “A particularly repugnant guard was known as sh*thead,”(210). This example of diction describes how everyone felt about the guard. She uses the diction to give the reader a better thought about what was going on throughout the book. “For the umpteenth time, Louie cursed whoever had stocked the raft,” (164).
The entire short-story is made up of only nine sentences, some reaching over 250 words. This is important because it reflects chaos and shows the panic of the baby’s parents. They don’t have time to pause in these circumstances, so the author doesn't pause in his writing. Each sentences is a long stream of consciousness which embodies the thoughts of the characters. David Foster Wallace is purposeful in every feature of this short-story.
He heard the hounds (23)”. These examples of short sentences in “The Most Dangerous Game” keep the reader in the action, and help make it more immediate which creates suspense. The first example of short sentences is in Rainsford’s mind, they are his thoughts. The use of short sentences here shows how terrified Rainsford is, he can’t think in anything more than 3 word sentences. Allowing you into his mind at this point in the story also builds suspense.
The usage of short sentences gets the point across faster and keeps the reader engaged with the story. It also creates a feeling of realism that the reader is involved in the scene and gives them a feeling that something negative is going to happen. uThe setting also gives an atmosphere of suspense when they are walking down the streets, past the wax dummies shop “Do you suppose if we screamed they’d do anything?” The characters
This explanation the speaker gave of Joe telling his father about breaking their tradition gave us a an ideal illustration of the lack of punctuation that is demonstrated throughout the entire novel. The author chose to not use any quotation marks, or much punctuation so he could create a better image for the reader of the casual and child like conversations amidst the father and son in the novel. Nevertheless the syntax used in the novel also spoke for the honest, loving, and respectful relationship that was shared among Joe and his
This is a key point in understanding the narrator’s character and the overall meaning of the
Slaves faced extreme brutality and Morrison focuses on rape and sexual assault as the most terrifying form of abuse. It is because of this abuse that Morrison’s characters are trapped in their pasts, unable to move on from the psychological damages that they have endured. “Morrison revises the conventional slave narrative by insisting on the primacy of sexual assault over other experiences of brutality” (Barnett 420). For telling Mrs. Garner what they had done, she was badly beaten by them, leaving a “chokecherry tree” (16) on her back. But that was not the overriding issue.
The characters in Beloved, especially Sethe and Paul D are both dehumanized during the slavery experiences by the inhumanity of the white people, their responses to the experience differ due to their different role. Sethe were trapped in the past because the ghost of the dead baby in the house was the representation of Sethe’s past life that she couldnot forget. She accepted the ghost as she accepted the past. But Sethe began to see the future after she confronted her through the appearance of her dead baby as a woman who came to her house. For Sethe, the future existed only after she could explain why she killed her own daughter.
More about Non-Standard English Syntax In Toni Morrison
Figurative Language In Laurie Hale Anderson's Book Speak
120 Words | 1 PagesUse Of Figurative Language In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak
644 Words | 3 PagesThe Flags Of Our Fathers Literary Devices
1106 Words | 5 PagesAnalysis Of The Gilded Six-Bits By Zora Neale Hurston
565 Words | 3 PagesThe Importance Of Names In Toni Morrison's Beloved
1233 Words | 5 PagesExamples Of Syntax In The Kite Runner
249 Words | 1 PagesFigurative Language In Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts
765 Words | 4 PagesUnbroken Rhetorical Analysis Essay
892 Words | 4 PagesIncarnation Of Burned Children Literary Analysis
506 Words | 3 PagesForeshadowing Examples In The Most Dangerous Game Analysis
339 Words | 2 PagesThe Whole Town's Sleeping Setting Analysis
626 Words | 3 PagesJohnny Got His Gun Literary Analysis
587 Words | 3 PagesIndirect Characterization In The Tell Tale Heart
559 Words | 3 PagesThe Effects Of Rape And Sexual Assault In Beloved By Toni Morrison
1970 Words | 8 PagesThe Role Of Feminism In Toni Morrison's Beloved
2515 Words | 11 Pages