Betty Lenora states, “It’s not what’s going on but how we are looking at what is going on that matters”. In Brenda Miller’s essay, “The Date” she vividly depicts a single woman battling her conscious as she prepares for a date. Miller does this by featuring a self argument every paragraph. The arguments begin with her questioning herself and then furthering into dismembering each thought one by one. Miller also utilizes devices such as repetition, anecdotes, strong diction, and personification. In this essay, Miller exceedingly describes her process of getting ready for a dinner date with a man she likes. She speaks about the pictures on her refrigerator and how they originally served as a reminder to herself but how it truly exists for …show more content…
Around this part she manipulates the use of dialogue to show the strong influence her friend has on her emotions and her need for certainty of the date with the man she likes. We stop hearing anecdotes from the friend and comments when she calls her for more advice near the middle of story and she states to her what the reader was most likely thinking, “ Why are you asking me this I never made it past the third date!” This comment allows a sense of humour into the story. The usage of personification also flows throughout the essay evidently evoking more emotion and heightened sense in the reader. For example she states things such as, tulips “nudging”; or sheets “dancing” to call attention to these objects and ho they play a big purpose within the story. Towards the end Miller’s character anxiety begins to kick in on full effect and so does the reader it is as if we are feeling everything she is feeling. She uses this emotion to repeat her use of repetition of the saying “ A man I like is coming to dinner” I believe thi not only serves the purpose of the essay and emotion but also as a reminder to reader after all your reading its all for sole purpose that “ a man she likes is coming to
For example, in the middle of the story, when Antonia is talking to Mrs. Bartoli about Jazz, she says, “I know, it’s hard to get past her looks, but deep down, she’s a really good person.”(169). This sentence shows that Antonia has gotten to know Jazz, and has realized that her outside might be different, but on the inside, she is a good person. Antonia did not judge a book by it's cover. Also, in the end of the book, Antonia thinks, “Expression meant everything to Jazz, and Jazz's music was the way she expressed the person she was inside, passionate, strong, joyful. Whenever I was with her, she made me feel that way.
She describes a part of her life in the introduction of her article to grab the reader 's attention. For example, Freitas notes, “When I was an undergraduate at Georgetown University in the early 1990s, my roommate and I dressed up like prostitutes for Halloween. We bought fishnets, wore our tightest, sexiest clothes and sauntered out like we were the hottest girls alive.¨ The imagery used in this passage hooks the reader into the argument making it very persuasive. In sum, Freitas uses the narrative strategy to pull the readers into her
Throughout the entire novel, the author’s use of literary devices is very clear. These literary devices, specifically similes and personification, help the reader get a better idea of the exact sounds and feelings which will allow them to know what it feels like to be there in that moment. “ I stood there, trying to think of a comeback, when suddenly, I heard a whooshing sound, like the sound you get when you open a vacuum-sealed can of peanuts. Then the brown water that had puddled up all over the field began to move. It began to run toward the back portables, like someone pulled the plug out of a giant bathtub.
Her use of imagery paints a picture for the readers which ultimately helps to make learning the writing process easier. For example, when she says “the critics would be sitting on my shoulders, commenting like cartoon characters”, this creates a humorous and memorable image of shoulder sized critics (Lamott 469). This step in the process is unusual from what other authors say, yet it’s interesting which engages the reader. Lamott also uses similes and metaphors throughout the essay to explain what it is like for most struggling writers. She states “we all often feel like we are pulling teeth” when it comes to constructing and composing a piece of work (Lamott 468).
The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a brilliant piece of fictional literature. The tale involves a mentally ill woman who is kept in a hideous, yellow room under the orders of her husband, John, who is a physician. The ill woman is conflicted due to the fact that the horrifying yellow wallpaper in the room is trapping a woman who she must help escape, but the sick woman is aware that she must get better in order to leave the terrifying, yellow room. The setting and personification applied in the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, allows readers to develop an understanding of the sickness of the main character faces.
such as her use of detailed imagery when describing how she resembled a wriggling beetle to put a comical image in the reader's mind. Her use of positive diction to make light of her serious situation, and her different uses of tone, help educate her readers about the difficulties of living with a
She continues to connect with the reader on a personal level showing them that there is a moral choice hoping the reader will walk away with that in their head. She states “A country song I once heard said it all for me. “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything”” (Ericsson 129). By highlighting this country song lyric, she justifies and helps persuade the reader that there is a dark side to lying. Ericsson quotes George Bernard Shaw by saying “The liar’s punishment (…) is that he cannot believe anyone else” (Ericsson 128).
The author makes a point of incorporating inclusive diction in her piece as well which also helps strengthen the bond the reader feels with the author. It is much closer and intimate of an exchange that maters specifically to us and here’s why. This style is very effective and draws in a wider
and although the time period was in the 1700s she is still capable of using these strategies to enhance her literary work. All of the uses of figurative language help piece together what the mother wants for her son and helps convey the mood and tone of the
Kelley’s diction adds a tone to the piece and allows her to get her message across with helping the reader understand more deeply . Kelley’s use of imagery, appeal to logic,
In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Changeling”, the hardships of gender stereotypes are exposed. The contrast between a young girl’s imagination and the reality of her gender role is clear by her attempt to appease her parents. She is neither manly enough to gain the attention of her father nor womanly enough to attain the respect of her mother. Her dilemma of not being able to fit in is emphasized by Cofer’s use of imagery and repetition.
In detailing the events that led up to her change in perspective, she made note of the honeysuckle that covered the walls of the well-house, the warm sunshine that accompanied going outdoors, and the cool stream of water that she felt as she placed her hand under the spout. These details kept the reader with her in the moment as she felt something less simple, but still universal; the returning of a, “ misty consciousness as of something forgotten.” In using rich diction, she maintained a sense of intimacy with the reader which allowed her to call on personal details from her own life and theirs. Later in the passage, she described how, once the reality of language was opened to her, and she returned to the house, “every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.” She had gone through a complete shift of perspective, one that, to her, was felt entirely through senses other than sight or sound.
He uses description and feelings/emotions to describe Mattie. The first author’s craft the author uses is description. Anderson writes, “I untied my apron and filled it with timothy grass to form a soft pillow for Grandfather’s head” (84). This tells me how Mattie is becoming more mature by stepping up and taking charge when Grandfather is sick. This illustrates how Mattie is changing and becoming different, just because she stepped up during tough times.
She strongly supports her point by using a personal anecdote, allusion to what happened at the bus, and parallelism throughout her eulogy. Winfrey starts her speech with her personal story - a story that when she
Perhaps it also creates a mental picture of him for the audience. However, the “peculiar screeching of strings” and the “fiddling with emotion” causes the reader to see the confusion his mind is struggling with in order to decipher his surroundings (21-22). This all leads to the image of his significant other standing in the doorway as he has to decide “who this woman is, this old, white-haired woman” (27). Trying hard to recall this person, he presses on determined to make sense of his new world.