Novels

To me, Caucasia by Dannzy Senna, is a great novel, which weaves through difficult topics into a sensitive, absorbing read. In essence, Caucasia is a well-crafted “coming of age story” that highlights the strict confines of race. The novel mainly shares the journey of Birdie Lee, a young bi-racial girl who was growing up in Boston in the mid 1970’s. We learn Bridie’s father is black and her mother is white; and Bridie’s older sister Cole has dark skin, while Bridie is more light skinned.…

Charlotte Bronte’s novel uses literary techniques to characterize the phases of life her protagonist is leaving and entering. She starts off her novel with her character, Caroline Helstone who is eighteen years old. Charlotte says that at eighteen, she still doesn’t know the meaning of life. This stuck with me because if she is eighteen and still doesn’t know the meaning of her life then what phase is she in? This passage referred to the life before eighteen years old as a tale, a marvelous…

Pancake’s novel brings a new light to the horrors of mountaintop removal through her unique characters’ lives. All of which face numerous challenges with strong spirits against the destruction of their home, their lives, and their family. Strange as this Weather Has Been is a descriptive novel explaining not only the physical dangers of mountaintop removal, but also the mental damages it has to the people living on the land. Generations of the character’s family have survived off the hollow,…

Watt’s theory of the novel contested. Many of us have read at least one novel in our lives; however, few of us may have asked ourselves the question when the first 18th century novel was written and how the novel differentiates itself from earlier literary forms. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of Ian Watt’s theoretical framework that explains the rise of the novel together with a critique of the same. An attempt will be made to explain how someone’s personal experiences and…

The novel “Passing” by Nella Larsen is a story of passing. Passing from one race to another, passing as something one is not, or passing into death. In this novel the character Clare Kendry dies, some say she was pushed and some say she committed suicide. It is obvious Clare Kendry committed suicide. There is multiple pieces of evidence that supports the fact that Clare Kendry commits suicide at the end of the novel. The title of the novel itself can be a foreshadowing of this event taking…

Most people believe that a nonfiction novel is just a true story that includes real people and real events, but what most people do not know is that a nonfiction novel is supposed to be written so it can withstand the test of time. Truman Capote once said in an interview that a nonfiction novel needs to have “a timeless quality about the cause and events.” The novel Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand is a New York Times bestseller that tells an inspiring story of a young soldier in World War…

In the novel, Victory by Susan Cooper main character Molly faces obstacles along the way like having to move from London to Connecticut and at the end, these obstacles made her stronger than she thought she was. I chose theme ¨home Is where the heart is. ¨ This means home is happy place or a place you feel the most comfortable. ¨ Molly stares at her, A miracle has exploded into her life like a meteor.¨ this quote tells me when she heard the good news her life went from a 3 to 1 million. I…

The characters, especially the protagonists in both of these stories, have provided interesting and relatable characteristics that many audiences can see themselves in. As aforementioned, Monkey begins the novel as a small, but powerful ruler of a nation behind a waterfall. Early on in the novel certain characteristics of Monkey’s personality make an appearance. He is a very talented and determined character throughout the story. For example, he is the first to lead the monkeys through the…

Carole Wilkinson’s fantasy novel ‘Dragonkeeper’ is set in Ancient China and follows a slave girl and her dragon companion as they protect a dragon egg while traveling towards the ocean. ‘The journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.” (82) The factors of a fantasy novel are clearly evident in the book ‘Dragonkeeper’ because the story has a possible structure with its limits, ‘Dragonkeeper’ is set in a present era but with a fantasy twist and the characters grow to become better people.…

Although the revolution does attempt to create a nation-family, it cannot do so without scarring the survivors. Those who survive have to face the complex negotiation of remembering and forgetting, to create a history that they can live with. This struggle of bearing the burden of memories is exemplified in the second oldest sister Dedé who is the only Mirabal sister to survive. She is the keeper of memories, the guardian of the legacy of the Mirabal sisters and Alvarez’s sensitive writing…