Literary criticism

O. Henry 's three stories, “A Retrieved Reformation,” “The Gift of the Magi,” and “The Last Leaf” demonstrates the talent of this writer. In all three of these stories, unique literary techniques are used to create plot twists and unexpected turns. A common literary technique used in O. Henry 's three stories is irony, which is used to create a humorous and surprising effect. In addition, O. Henry uses foreshadowing in all three stories in order to build suspense as the reader anticipates the…

This scene illustrates to us just how safe he feels at home and that he requires exceptional bravado, wiliness and courage to overcome his greatest fears. Silvey has used the literary devices symbolism, diction, metaphor and awed tone. The quote that shows Charlies character development is pg. 2 “"Something invisible tugs at my legs. This is the first time I 've ever dared to sneak away from home". This quote is the first part…

thought of a forest into a whole new idea of peace and softness. Her main idea is to show how men view women in their full integrity through the correspondence of a dark forest and a woman. The speaker is portrayed as a male figure and uses multiple literary devices to reach the point of clarity that women are assumed to be scary and mysterious but overall very gentle and comforting. With the use of metonymy throughout the poem, Oliver gives multiple metaphors of the speaker, comparing the…

Mark Twain, O. Henry, and John Steinbeck all have very unique writing styles. Mark Twain uses regional dialect which is a language that represents the character and where they are from, like how they use grammar and pronunciation. O. Henry uses plot twist. Plot twists are when something just pops up out of nowhere. John Steinbeck uses social commentary. Social commentary is problems in society. All of these elements of style helped them write all of their amazing stories. Whitewashing the…

Guilt is an emotion associated with feelings of shame, regret, or responsibility for something a person has done. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the two protagonists, Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth, both suffer feelings of guilt for a heinous crime, the murder of their king. Guilt manifests itself differently in these two characters, as it does in every guilty person. Shakespeare uses blood imagery to develop the theme of guilt, as both characters struggle with and grow accustomed to the presence…

Shawn Khan Mrs. Mikowski Hamlit 11 1 Feb 2012 Literary Periods Text Analysis In the song “The Dog Days Are Over” by Florence+ The Machine, the text gives rise to the idea of Realism. Realism is generalized with having an objective narrator, and leaves the reader to interpret the story in his or her own way. This occurred after the Civil War when Post War writers focused on creating works that did not idealize people or like transcendentalism. Basically, writers wrote truthfully…

William Shakespeare, George Orwell, and Joseph Conrad compare and contrast different ideas to help bring together his or her thoughts. Light versus dark, Denmark and Norway, Memory and the Past, are examples how an author may compare and contrast situations that may be important to the meaning and understanding of their novels. Besides those meanings, corruption is also a very important theme within these novels too. It shows and explains that a certain act can happen in real life. The three…

Like White Elephants” A typical well-written short story incorporates various literary elements into building up an underlying message from the author. Specifically, an author would strive to deftly utilize the essential structural elements of a story such as a well-developed plot, detailed characterization, and concrete settings in creating a compelling narrative. Or, an author may put emphasis on one particular literary element to convey the theme. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a story that…

Throughout writing, authors occasionally use contrasting characters to make their story more interesting or dramatic, and this strategy is often utilized by many great authors in many classic books. They create characters with opposing views to add dimension to the novel. One of the authors that took advantage of this plan is Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451. During his work, he writes about his main characters, Beatty and Montag, and uses contrasting views to add interest and depth to…

Dialogue is a writing style that present the conversations between two or more characters on certain topics. Writers often use dialogues in literary works as a narrating technique. Dialogues can bring readers into the setting of the story and make them feel personally involved. The use of conversations also can reflect the major theme of the story through narrators’ exchange of ideas. Dialogues are also prevalent in African and Caribbean poems and stories, as seen from “Girl”, “Miguel Street”,…