Literary criticism

Authors throughout history have utilized our senses to connect the reader to the characters in the novel in a symbiotic relationship. Without our connection and relatability, the impact of the struggles a character faces would not be the same on the reader. This is held true for Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Chopin employs auditory allusions to foreshadow the fate of the protagonist Edna Pontellier. These small breadcrumbs of allusions placed throughout the novel lead us down the path of…

Crimson Peak by Guillermo Del Toro is a visually stunning and technical masterpiece. It has taken me a while to perceive it as that. As a viewer who has been exposed to the trailer before watching the movie, I left the theater disappointed and wanting more out of this horror movie. It wasn’t till plenty of research that I found that Crimson Peak is in fact not a horror movie. Correct, but is it any surprise that the director of Hellboy, Pan’s Labrynth, and the Devil’s Backbone, was able to…

Compare and Contrast The two stories A Secret Sorrow by Karen Van der Zee and A Sorrowful Woman by Gail Godwin can be seen to have contrasting qualities. Primarily, A Secret Sorrow conveys a cliché love story of a woman, Faye; who can’t have kids and is scared of being a disappointment to her soon to be husband, Kai. However, they work out their issues, adopt kids, and live happily ever, “in the low white ranch house under the blue skies of Texas…” (Zee 37). Second, A Sorrowful Woman is…

There are many literary devices writers throughout history have utilized. One of the most powerful, yet complicated literary device is irony. Irony occurs when what a reader expects to happen is the complete opposite of the actual outcome. Irony helps illustrate humor especially in the works “Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain and “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor. “Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is a framed narrative that tells the tale of Jim Smiley…

detached. It is as if it is the only way the narrator can deal with the tragedy is to become distant from what is happening. Frost uses many literary devices to make this poem striking. Immediately, allusion can be found in the title of the poem itself. Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea. Allusion is often taken from literary…

Is the use of a hand worth the loss of a life? In the poem “Out, Out--” by Robert Frost the speaker tells of a boy who uses a saw to cut stove length sticks of wood for a living. The boy ran his hand into a saw and instead of taking precautions to save his life he demanded that his hand be saved. As a result of these demands the boy not only loses his hand but also dies. Frost uses key imagery, foreshadowing, diction, and irony, to show that in certain circumstances holding onto something can…

In “Amigo Brothers” many literary terms are included. Literary terms are included in stories so they can catch readers in ways like informing them, or making them feel some type of emotion. Some types of literary terms are mood,tone,point of view, and author's intent. Mood is how the author wants the reader to feel while reading the text. In “Amigo Brothers” the mood changes. The mood starts off suspenseful because two really good friend and going to fight and no one knows who’ll win. An…

Spotlights In almost every piece of literature you find certain words or descriptive objects that point towards a meaning that the author is trying to convey. Although sometimes one can look right over them and not notice them at all. These symbols play a key role in helping to move along a piece, as well as to help expose any meaning the author is hoping to expose. One such meaning is from “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer, which takes place and was written during the middle ages.…

In literature, a literary device known as symbolism is used to convey an idea about a subject, person, or place. In the works of Amy Tan and Julia Alvarez, symbolism is influential throughout their stories. The story of ¡Yo! is a great example of how well Alvarez converts the symbol of a haunting folklore to a real-life terror. Although the story of ¡Yo! takes place in the United States, it tells the story of a family that escapes from The Dominican Republic during the time of a terrifying wave…

Questions (1) Provide an explanaion of the literary style ‘magic(al) realism’. Then, demonstrate (using various examples from the novel), how Esquivel uses this style in the novel. Conclude with your evaluation of this style ( opinion - did you like it or not, why?). Magic realism or magical realism is a genre where magical elements are a natural part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment. In the book “Like Water For Chocolate”, there are many magical factors you can find by…