Similes are exploited throughout Richard Connell’s twisted and page turning story. “ Then, as he stepped forward, his foot sank into the ooze. He tried to wrench it back , but the muck sucked viciously at his foot as if it were a giant leech.” Connell’s purpose for this simile is to build a pathway into your imagination. He wanted his writing to compare to your own life. He accomplished all of this through using different people, animals, and putting the character in rare situations. He compares the quicksand to the…
On Tuesday, April 20, 1999 two students ( Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) of Columbine High School in Columbine, an incorporated part of Jefferson County, Colorado, killed 12 students and one teacher, and injured 21 other students. After the massacre the pair committed suicide.…
Bradbury’s, “There Will Come Soft Rains,” is very negative when it comes to technology. In his story he states “ out of warrens in the wall tiny robot mice dated.” This sentence makes him sound very disgusted and incredulous. He calls the robots mice, which are disgusting vermin that nobody wants in their homes. “ Then, Like mysterious invaders, they popped into their burrows.”…
Annie Dillard's essay "Living Like Weasels" offers its readers a unique comparison between the life of weasels and the life of human beings. It seems that one of Dillard's principal objectives is to appeal to all types of people so that all can enjoy her writing. Therefore, Dillard uses stylistic choice to make her story more universally understandable. This essay examines four different realms of discourse in detail. In the first two paragraphs all types are demonstrated including the children's story, objective or naturalistic, scientific and poetic approaches. These realms of discourse are established in the beginning and can be seen again throughout the essay.…
‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ features a sophisticated automated house designed to help the owner’s lives easier. However, the house lost it’s owners. Not only does the human absence is the story set an eerie tone, it also makes the house’s tasks seem futile. The house is the embodiment of the human means to achieve goals. Anything the house does in the story is worthless. The house’s purpose of it’s existance died with it’s owners. Despite the house’s complexities and versatility,…
In the excerpt from the novel “Moon Tiger” by Penelope Lively, a brother and a sister are searching for fossils while their mother waits nearby. The speaker uses an array of literary devices such as imagery and dialogue to dramatize the complex relationship among the three characters in the except. Lively illustrates to the readers that situations are translated differently to different people. The author introduces siblings as they are outside looking for fossils. The conflict is initially presented through Claudia’s point of view.…
The texts, “Undaunted Courage” and “The Way To Rainy Mountain” depict the land as a spiritual entity that’s worth being worshipped and respected as shown by man’s praise of it. The way man, rather than exploit it for profit, respects the land through animism shows their gratitude for it. From the detailed descriptions that give the reader an illustration of what man has seen, it is clear to say that man had this religious relationship again, but was also in tune with the lay of the land.…
Chapter 56 is a short passage of only three paragraphs but sends a very powerful message about fear.The use of the devices of similes, personifications, and repetition is present throughout the whole chapter of how fear takes over the human.…
In the story “ Rainy River” the author goes through a lot of discomfort, confusion, and anxiety. He intentionally chooses words and phrases to evoke those emotions in his readers. “In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated.” The author didn’t want to fight in the war. He believed that it was wrong. He goes on to explain these feelings by giving reasons why he shouldn’t have to fight in the war. The author also states “ I was wired and jittery. My skin felt too tight. After supper one evening I vomited and went back to my cabin and lay down for a few moments and then vomited again;” The author showed his emotions in this statement a lot because it shows how anxious he was. He is confused…
The author uses diction in the passages to signify the effect of the author¡¯s meaning in story and often sway readers to interpret ideas in one way or another. The man in the story arrives to a ¡°[dry] desert¡± where he accosts an animal with ¡°long-range attack¡± and ¡°powerful fangs.¡± The author creates a perilous scene between the human and animal in order to show that satisfaction does not come from taking lives. With instincts of silence and distrust, both of them freeze in stillness like ¡°live wire.¡± In addition, the man is brought to the point where animal¡¯s ¡°tail twitched,¡± and ¡°the little tocsin sounded¡± and also he hears the ¡°little song of death.¡± With violence ready to occur, the man tries to protect himself and others with a hoe, for his and their safety from the Rattler. The author criticizes how humans should be ¡°obliged not to kill¡±, at least himself, as a human. The author portrays the story with diction and other important techniques, such as imagery, in order to influence the readers with his significant lesson.…
In “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London, there are many foreshadowing events throughout the story. The protagonist, or “the man”, shows self-confidence but at the same time a great deal of ignorance. The man is not cut out for survival like his dog, who relies strictly on his instincts for survival. The protagonist ignores the foreshadowing warnings from the old-timer and from nature.…
In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” the author uses rhythm and repetition to shape her theme of survival and empowerment by simulating labored and conscious footsteps, rhythmic pounding of sledge hammers along a chain gang, and the loud beats of an anxious and overworked heart. This rhythm and repetition builds tension as Delia, the protagonist, finds within herself the strength necessary to survive and overcome the abuse with which she lives, and eventually conquering her abusive husband, Sykes, by allowing a snake’s venom to take over his blood stream, killing him. The rhythm and repetition found in the short story “Sweat” simulate the echoes of someone repeating to herself the motivational words necessary to her survival. It is the author’s use of rhythm and repetition that create detailed characters, plausible events, and the comprehensive and complex detail of banal activities of everyday life representative of realism in literature.…
Ignorance and materialism negatively affects humans some way or another, and society only increases these lifestyles. Whether or not we believe it, ignorance and materialism is a daily part in our lives today; thus, we cannot live without it. We try to ease our problems by blindingly accepting society’s norms and trends. Because we cannot formulate our own ideals and ways of life, we live in a false sense of justice and peace. In Tony Hoagland’s “Hard Rain,” the speaker witnesses these faults in our behavior at a shopping mall; however, he, similarly, is not able to escape that reality. The larger meaning of this poem, that we have no sense of individualism and morality, is specified by the author’s usage of diction and the disappointing, humorous, and controversial tone he uses to prove it.…
In W.W. Jacobs, “The Monkey’s Paw,” he uses foreshadowing to form tension throughout the story, serving to alert the reader that misfortune may lay ahead. For instance, the setting introduced a house at the end of the street and a cold, windy, rainy weather; creating a scary and apprehensive feeling towards the reader. Jacobs uses subtle hints to implement situational irony and foreshadowing to heighten the suspense of the story, and make the reader at the edge of their seat.…
Imagine going back to time in a time machine to hunt one of the biggest creatures of all time, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. You would think that a person is out of his mind. Ray Bradbury’s plot makes us wonder in our minds which leads us to hints and makes us foreshadow that something bad is going to happen next. The short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury uses imagery, and tone to create the mood of hair-raising, nightmare, and seriousness.…