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Pictures Of Hollis Woods Literary Devices

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This essay is going to explain how the author Patricia Reilly Giff uses literary elements in the book Pictures of Hollis Woods copyright 2002. To support the theme of the book which is when a person hears the same negative things said about them eventually they will start to believe it. The setting of the book is New York, specifically Branches and Long Island. Hollis is the protagonist in this book. Hollis is a foster kid who can't seem to find the right home and when she finally does she thinks she messed everything up and she runs away. The main conflict in this book is man vs man and man vs self. Hollis struggles with her self-worth and all the foster homes she goes to and runs away from don’t help her find it. The three main literary elements that the author uses in this book are metaphor, imagery, and allusion and I am going to explain how they are used to show the theme in the book Pictures of Hollis Woods The first literary device that Patricia Reilly Giff uses is metaphor. The evidence that proves this is this quote from the book Pictures of Hollis Woods ``She's a mountain of trouble, that Hollis Woods' '(13). This quote was said by one of her past foster parents, the stucco woman.This quote shows how people think of her; they just think of Hollis as a bad kid even though she never gets the chance to prove herself because she doesn't believe …show more content…

This quote “she was the one who marked in the X, spoiling my picture. She pointed “This is a picture of a family, Hollis. A mother, M, a father, F…..I don't see one W word here. ”I opened my mouth to say what about W for wish, or W for want…….But Mrs. Evans was at the next table by that time, shushing me over her shoulder.” (1). This quote shows that nobody quite understands Hollis or gives her a chance and doesn't value her thoughts. So how would she learn to value her thoughts if none has ever taught her

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