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Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means

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An author’s choice of diction is crucial to the understanding and effectiveness of a book. Diction creates a chain affect: in the end it creates mood which then leads to the formation of the author’s overall tone. In the book Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider, the author decides to use advanced level vocabulary mixed with regular everyday language in an attempt to imitate two very advanced level teenagers. Diction will always create emotion within the book. The quote “At Latham House, we were asked to believe in unlikely miracles. In second chances. We woke up each morning hoping that the odds had somehow swung in our favor. But that’s the thing about odds. Roll a die twice, and you expect two different results. Except it doesn’t work …show more content…

Tone is the general feeling of a piece of text, art, or music which is possible with the help of the author’s word choice. Overall, Extraordinary Means is a dark and somber, yet exciting and romantic at the same time. One of the best examples of this twisted, multi-emotional tone is after Sadie’s death and Lane mournfully said, “In AP Bio, I learned that the cells in our body are replaced every seven years, which means that one day, I 'll have a body full of cells that were never sick. But it also means that parts of me that knew and loved Sadie will disappear. I 'll still remember loving her, but it 'll be a different me who loved her. And maybe this is how we move on. We grow new cells to replace the grieving ones, diluting our pain until it loses potency. The percentage of my skin that touched hers will lessen until one day my lips won 't be the same lips that kissed hers, and all I 'll have are the memories. Memories of cottages in the woods, arranged in a half-moon. Of the tall metal tray return in the dining hall. Of the study tables in the library. The rock where we kissed. The sunken boat in Latham 's lake, Sadie, snapping a photograph, laughing the lunch line, lying next to me at the movie night in her green dress, her voice on the phone, and her apple-flavored lips on mine. And it 's so unfair. All of it,” (Schneider, pg. 317). This periscope shows the extreme passion these two TB infected teenagers had for each other, while also conveying his numbed sadness for the loss of this amazing person that had changed him forever. There is also a hidden tone in the work, though: pessimistic views and hopeful views. Of the two, Lane is the hopeful half who made remarks such as, “There’s a difference between missing someone and mourning them. And I hold out hope that one day I will no longer mourn Sadie, that I will simply remember her, and smile sadly, and then I’ll keep

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