Diction In Marigolds

The author of Marigolds is, Eugenia Collier. Her short story uses many literary devices such as, diction, imagery, flashbacks, juxtaposition and foreshadowing. Collier’s short story is about a young girl called “Lizabeth” and a short memory of her childhood that flashes back to her. An example of diction that Collier used is, “he sobbed, loudly and painfully, and cried helplessly and hopelessly” (21) ,the author was using diction in here to show how upset Lizabeth’s father was.
Another example in Collier’s story which she uses a form of writing is imagery. For example, she writes, “a gray, rotting thing with no porch, no shutters, no steps, set on a cramped lot with no grass, not even any weeds” (19) Collier was explaining how Miss Lottie’s house looked. In the short story it explains why the children hates Miss Lottie’s house because it was so ugly, but had beautiful marigolds, and the marigolds ruined the ugliness of the house. Also, she says, “Her smooth skin was a dark reddish brown, and her face had Indian-like features and the stern stoicism that one associates with Indian faces.” (19) She was explaining how Miss …show more content…
For instance she wrote, “a brilliant splash of sunny yellow against the dust” (16) Collier was describing Miss Lottie’s marigolds, and how they were so beautiful but, it’s beautifulness interfered with the perfect ugliness of Miss Lottie’s house. An additional example of juxtaposition being used in this story was, “ adrid, sterile dust”(16) Collier was comparing the adrid, which means little to no rain, combined with the sterile dust, to Miss Lottie’s marigolds. Collier also used an example of juxtaposition to show how Lizabeth changed through her childhood, and adulthood. She wrote, “ This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have both compassion, and innocence.”(62) She was explaining Lizabeth was no longer innocent, because she became