Examples Of Literary Devices In A White Heron
A child’s curiosity is a beautiful and marvelous spectacle which can be seen in the short passage from the text A White Heron, by Sarah Orne Jewett. In this short passage the author details the story of a young girl whose curiosity leads her to climbing a tree in order to see miles and miles into the distance. In order to accomplish this, the author explores several literary devices such as diction, imagery and point of view to develop a scene which readers can picture and connect to. Whether it be through similes, metaphors or descriptive language, it is clear that the author wanted imagery to be a main focus for this text. There are a plentitude of examples showing such language, one of them being the quote “More than all the hawks, and
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The author repeats the pattern of long, well thought out and developed sentences describing Sylvia’s surroundings and situations which will be followed by a short sentence describing Sylvia’s action. This can be seen in the example, “First she must mount the white oak tree that grew alongside, where she was almost lost among the dark branches and the green leaves heavy and wet with dew; a bird fluttered off its nest, and a red squirrel ran to and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker. Sylvia felt her way easily” (23-28). The author purposefully describes the scene in great detail, drawing readers in and reinforcing the dramatic narrative. Once she has sufficiently described the setting, she follows it up with a short sentence describing what Sylvia is doing to release the stress of the scene. The author continues this pattern throughout the passage, such as in the example, “Where it was left for a boundary mark, or for what reason, no one could say; the woodchoppers who had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago, and a whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks and maples, had grown again. But the stately head of this old pine towered above them all and made a landmark for sea and shore miles and miles away. Sylvia knew it well” (3-10). This example is nearly identical to the original example given, where the author gives a lengthy description followed by a short, stately sentence of Sylvia’s action. They both achieve the purpose of building up and then releasing stress, but the repetition of this pace is important to note when discussing the structure of this
The author repeats the pattern of long, well thought out and developed sentences describing Sylvia’s surroundings and situations which will be followed by a short sentence describing Sylvia’s action. This can be seen in the example, “First she must mount the white oak tree that grew alongside, where she was almost lost among the dark branches and the green leaves heavy and wet with dew; a bird fluttered off its nest, and a red squirrel ran to and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker. Sylvia felt her way easily” (23-28). The author purposefully describes the scene in great detail, drawing readers in and reinforcing the dramatic narrative. Once she has sufficiently described the setting, she follows it up with a short sentence describing what Sylvia is doing to release the stress of the scene. The author continues this pattern throughout the passage, such as in the example, “Where it was left for a boundary mark, or for what reason, no one could say; the woodchoppers who had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago, and a whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks and maples, had grown again. But the stately head of this old pine towered above them all and made a landmark for sea and shore miles and miles away. Sylvia knew it well” (3-10). This example is nearly identical to the original example given, where the author gives a lengthy description followed by a short, stately sentence of Sylvia’s action. They both achieve the purpose of building up and then releasing stress, but the repetition of this pace is important to note when discussing the structure of this