Narrative Report Essay

The purpose of this paper is to examine Walter Besant’s lecture “The Art of Fiction” in light of Henry James’ published response of the same title. I will argue that James’ is correct and warranted to critique Besant’s approach, but that James’ concerns are ultimately overstated. Besant’s lecture “The Art of Fiction” aims to defend fiction and elevate the novel among the “higher” arts. Historically, critics wouldn’t dare speak of fiction in the same breath they praise the fine arts – to even…

Narrative and literary techniques are used within various forms of literature to help portray the author’s intentions and thoughts to the reader, specifically to give artistic and emotional effects to the story. These techniques such as style involve the use of metaphors, imagery, alliteration, symbolism and several more. Common techniques applicable to the plot of a story consist of various elements including flashbacks, flashforwards, and foreshadowing specific events. Literary techniques can…

From time to time, one comes into contact with literary texts that evoke similar themes even when written by different writers as well as different themes. These themes are not usually similar per se, but they seem to share some contextual similarities and differences as well. A case in point is the non-fiction works of Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” and Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild.” These two books capture the moment of two young people taking a journey into the wild and as much similarities appear…

This quotation utilizes the literary device of rhetorical question. The rhetorical question in this quote is “have you ever wondered what a human life is worth?” This question is posed to the reader, who obviously can’t actually respond to Lina. Instead of being answerable, the question serves to get the reader to consider how much value is actually placed on the lives of the Lithuanian deportees in the novel. The blunt statement of Jonas’s worth being equal to that of a pocket watch sets the…

Symbolism is used in literature to show not only the importance but also to signify the ideas the writer is presenting to the reader. The symbolic meaning sometimes differs from original form of the meaning. It is an object that is explaining/ showing another similar object in a completely different way that is much more meaningful and has a bigger impact. In The Story Of The Hour written by Kate Chopin is a heartfelt and an emotionally drawn story. The first theme that first caught my attention…

Adhering to the common film phrase “show do not tell” Glazers (2013) ‘Under the Skin’ and Hitchcocks (1960) ‘Psycho’ masterfully convey ideas about character identity while creating an atmosphere of dread and horror. Although both ‘Under the Skin’ (Glazer, 2013) and ‘Psycho’ (Hitchock,1960) are vastly different films, (as one is a fantastical science fiction film while the other is thriller horror). Hitchcock and Glazer manipulate elements of the mise-en-scene such as setting, framing, sound…

In the short story, Once Upon Of Time by Nadine Gordimer we can see the author uses the six main principles of a theme. We can see how this story starts with a one main idea and then keeps going with another story stating the same idea of the first one. This short story has many important points we can see as a the main idea of the story. I believe the theme of this story is fear, danger, and over protection. First of all, I believe this short story theme is about fear because we can…

“Conrad Jarrett the anxious failure dress this guy in blue and grey”. (Guest 2). Is one of the very first lines that tells you more about Conrad and how he feels about himself. Throughout the book Ordinary People by Judith Guest, we learn more about Conrad and how things affect him such as the colors blue and grey, which represent anxiety and failure. At first anxiety and failure rule over his life but throughout his journey of life something changes. We learn how death and sex impact how he…

Symbols are images and quotes that have a deeper meaning for another object or another action. In the book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak there are many times when symbols are used there are three symbols that are most prevalent in the book. These three symbols are the book, Hans Huberman’s accordion, and the bread. The books gave Liesel Meminger a newfound power through reading and, also represented hope in the worst times. The symbol of the accordion represented Hans Huberman’s gratefulness…

Dynamic characters play an important role in relaying a story: they are a relatable vehicle for delivering a message to an audience. Two modern films by Asian directors explore the path a dynamic character takes when exposed to a community with antithetical values to their own. Daming, protagonist of Shower directed by Zhang Yang, struggles to find his way as he is suddenly caught between the fast past modern world and the more traditional bath house life his sickly father and mentally retarded…