Analysis Of T. S Spivet By Reif Larsen

In the excerpts by Reif Larsen, J.J Abrams, Doug Dorst and Mark Z. Danielewski they use “marginality” and footnotes to enhance the understanding of the author’s main purpose. In Reif Larsen’s excerpt he purposely leaves space between paragraphs to indicate a change in time of the story. In J.J Abrams and Doug Dorst he underlines words and annotates in the margins to help the reader understand what is going on in the story. Danielewski purposely leaves large spaces in between words to show significance.

In the story “T.S Spivet” by Reif Larsen he uses marginality throughout the entire story. He Purposely leaves space between paragraphs and includes an arrow. The arrow points to clarifying information that may have not been inferred by the reader. There are also images that make the information very clear to many visual learners. For example, on page 6 in the excerpt the speaker is talking about the borders of the United States and how and where water flows. With the information written out on the page, the author also includes a picture. The picture is a map of the United States. On the map it shows a visual representation of different directions on how the water may flow (Continental Divide as Fractal from Notebook B58.)

The most important reason is it helps you comprehend what you are reading. For example, on page 5 in the excerpt one of the notes in the margins say, “your notes are really helping me.” This shows the importance of marking up the reading. In addition, marking up the text helps you find literary devices, allusions, repetition, rhyme schemes and to find the bigger theme of the story. Without underlining important details and marking up the story it would be more challenging. The author in the excerpt does a clear job of annotation in the margins to enhance the understanding of the author’s main