In The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, the respective authors address contrasting themes. The Perfecting Storm, a book of nonfiction, explores what happened in 1991 to a sword fishing boat, the Andrea Gail, during what is now known as “the perfect storm.” On the other hand, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a realistic fiction novel, is about a mute boy who investigates the suspicious death of his father, with his uncle as the main suspect. Accordingly, Wroblewski uses the literary devices of allusion, foreshadowing and point of view to illustrate the themes of revenge and justice; in contrast, Junger employs both fiction and nonfiction literary features, such as dialogue, interviews, …show more content…
As a mute boy, Edgar is faced with the difficulty of losing his father and searching for the answers of his mysterious death. Wroblewski’s novel is an extended allusion to Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. Many of the names used by Wroblewski are similar to those used by Shakespeare. For example, Gertrude and Trudy; both the mothers of the protagonist. Also, Hamlet I and Hamlet II are the same as Gar (short for Edgar) and Edgar. In both the play and the novel, the protagonist searches for the murderer of one of their parents, which we find out is someone close in relation. In Hamlet, Claudius, Hamlet II’s younger brother, is the murderer of his mother, the queen and in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Claude, Edgar’s uncle is the killer of is Edgar’s father. Once again, the names are very similar. However, Wroblewski has his own twists; he incorporates dogs. The dogs are Edgar’s closest companions, specifically his house dog Almondine. Almondie stays by Edgar until he runs away from home after he accidently kills Dr. Papineau, the local doctor of the small Wisconsin town. However, when Edgar returns, Almondine is dead, and can no longer be a loyal companion to Edgar. After Edgar returns, he
In the book An Invisible Thread, the author often provides examples of parents that have a poor quality of parenting. First there is Laura’s father Nunziato Carino, who’s a bartender. After he is done with his shift, he would often come home drunk and yell at his son, Frank who is Five. Frank will quickly hide under his bed sheet as his father dammed his name again and again. This happened frequently and every one would hide in their rooms as unfortunate Frank takes his father’s heavy word beating each night.
In Dead Poets Society, A Death of a Salesman, and Unbroken, the theme of "battle against conformity" is expressed through the main character's reactions to overwhelming societal pressures, the reasons behind conformity, and the consequences of characters willingness to forsake their individuality. (Thesis) In various literary works, a character's reaction towards conformity and societal pressures often leads them to forsake their individuality effectively taking away the unique aspects which wanes their distinctiveness. Essentially, conformity causes one's eccentricity to be molded into universal concepts or ideas shared by the masses. This level of thought is proven true in Death of a Salesman through the ongoing conflict between the
“Blows Us All Away” and It’s Quiet Uptown have many aspects the fit into the narrative pattern of tragedy. For instance, we see our hero, Philip Hamilton, has excessive pride in regard to his father, which in turn cause him to confront George Eacker for defaming his father. This confrontation leads to a duel and ultimately Philip’s demise or encounter with a larger power, death. Philip’s death is also the destruction of the young innocent; this is apparent in “It’s Quiet Uptown” when he is referred to as a child. Lastly, “It’s Quiet Uptown” is a tragedy because we observe the harmony of nature being disturbed.
Evelyn How Mr. Catrette Lit/Writ 7 September 2015 In Two Kinds, a short story by Amy Tan, it is about a mom who pushes her daughter and strives for her to be some type of prodigy. The mom came from a tough background, moving to San Francisco after losing her parents, her family home, her first husband, and two twin baby girls. She “believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America”, so she didn’t regret her decision.
One Day, One letter, One number. In “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, Tim is forced to make a huge life changing choice. Tim has a good life as a small town Minnesota boy who has a full ride through Harvard and knows what he wants in life. But when Tim goes to the mailbox on June 17th 1968, there’s a letter waiting for him. A draft letter and his body goes numb.
Mother Teresa, a cherished humanitarian who sacrificed her life for the poor once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples” (qtd. in World Quotes n. page.) To many the world is a dark and unforgiving place where hope and the possibility of social change has all but disappeared, however rays of light, like ripples, can provide wide reaching potential for equality as well as inspire others to stand up as well, forever changing the surface of the world. Rays of light can help brighten the darkness of the human condition and promote progress in a stagnant society. Rays of light bring joy and progress to the human condition.
In the memoir The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, her parent’s values are different from hers and her siblings. Specifically, Walls remembers a time where her and her brother found a ring and their mother took it from them: “She was keeping it… to replace the wedding ring her mother had given her, the one Dad had pawned shortly after they got married. “But Mom,” I said, “that ring could get us a lot of food.” “That’s true,” Mom said, “but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food.””
Southern Gothic literature often expresses common family values of people living in the South. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, and “The Flowers”, the authors use characters, setting, and the dialogue in an attempt to emphasize the family values of people living in the Southern region of the United States. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the Finches living in Maycomb County represent basic family values in the South. Atticus says to Scout, “Try fighting with your head for a change… it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning” (Lee 101).
PLOT SUMMARY AND THEME OF THE NOVEL: Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan is the story of how Magnus Chase, a son of the Norse God Frey, meets his untimely demise at the hands of the fire giant Surt after learning of his heritage. After being revived in the Norse afterlife, Valhalla, Magnus is taken back to the world of the living to fulfil his destiny as being the harbinger of the Wolf. Along the way Magnus meets many mythical creatures including: a talking goat, a deaf elf, and a tall dwarf. In the end Magnus and his new found friends rebind the Wolf Fenris and defeat the fire giant Surt. The Theme of Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer is that when things are at their worst it can always get better.
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward,” says Steve Maraboli, a motivational speaker. This is a common theme in many of award-winning author, Neal Shusterman’s novels, such as Full Tilt and Everlost. The novel Full Tilt is about an anxious teenaged boy named Blake who has to go through seven rides, all relating to his fears and past experiences, so that he can survive a paranormal amusement park. Everlost is about two teens, Nick and Allie, who die in a car crash and are sent to a place in-between the afterlife and real life, called Everlost. Though very different in subject, Shusterman uses the same literary techniques to show that it is his writing, and to move the plot forward and express the themes he wants to showcase.
The Rebellious Daughter: Analyzing the Theme of Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” The story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan explores the deep familial emotions between a mother and her daughter. Jing-Mei’s mother had left China to come to America after losing her family, and had been raising Jing-Mei in America with her second husband. Despite her mother’s grand hopes for Jing-Mei to become successful in America by becoming a child prodigy, Jing-Mei did not share the same opinions.
Janet: Oblivious to the Obvious Due to Mental Manipulation Janet, the main character in McKnight Malmar’s short story “The Storm,” is not only married to a murderer, but also a victim of mental and emotional manipulation. Janet is gullible to Ben’s suspicious actions and does not question him at all, despite obvious red flags. The fact that Janet believes that the storm is making her see things that are not real, instead of putting together the evidence that her husband has displayed, is proof that Janet is used to questioning the validity of her own perception regularly. Ben takes advantage of Janet’s naivety and codependency to the point where she does not question him about anything, but instead, questions her own sanity. It is evident from the very beginning of the story that Janet relies on Ben for comfort.
In Slaughterhouse 5, the often use of literary elements show how much of a insane and twisted novel it really is. For example, Vonnegut would use satire when talking about war. Satire uses irony and humor to ridicule social conversations. Primarily, this allows the reader to show how destructive of a war is going on meanwhile laughing at some the aspects it contains.
This is a literary analysis on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a more recent classic dystopian novel. Written in 1949, it's based in the future year of what is presumed to be 1984. It focuses on the life of Winston Smith, a member of the newly established Party that rules over a territory called Oceania and that is led by a man called Big Brother. This novel provides a rather frightening insight into a dystopian socialist environment.
Literary Analysis Suspense. It's what makes us sit on the edge of our seats at movies, or has us biting our nails as we read. It’s the backbone behind any classic horror film where the babysitter keeps getting unknown phone calls about checking the children and she asks the police to trace the call only to get a call back saying it's coming from upstairs.