A Literary Lens

Reading and writing should be seen as interactive subjects rather than just reading or writing words on paper in ink. John Beans suggests that individuals should look at both reading and writing as conversations. In his article “Reading and Writing as Conversations” Bean states by envisioning yourself having a conversation with the author, referenced individuals, and characters, readers are more likely to better understand the text. Texts are seen as different conversations each text has a connection to another text. Such as if you were referencing a particular article,book,or quote in your text. Many people have a reason for reading different types of text. Some reasons could simply be because the individual wants to, needs to, discover new

Markus Zusak’s intricate novel, The Messenger tells a story of a teenager living in a low socio-economic area of Sydney. Throughout the text Zusak employs a variety of literary devices to assist in the readers connection with Ed’s journey of self-discovery as well as questioning their own. Ed Kennedy narrates the book as the protagonist, following his ‘epitome of ordinariness’ life. Ed is faced with a number of challenges, which contributes, in his journey of self-discovery. Each literary device used in the book compliments the challenge during the text.

Life isn’t fair. This common phrase rings true for the characters in A Separate Peace, a novel from 1959. The story takes place in the time of World War Two. Gene and Finny are the best of friends, but the entire book revolves around an accident where Gene causes Finny, or Phineas, to fall off a tree and shatter his leg, changing his life forever. Finny denies anything he finds negative or harmful, including the war, his injury, and Gene’s part in the accident, choosing to remain young and ignorant of since he knows he’ll be happier that way. However, Finny does eventually recognizes the facts of his life. John Knowles uses characterization to shed light on the dangers of naivete through the character Finny. Innocence causes Phineas to become ignorant of what’s happening all around him, which makes it dangerous. This becomes a problem because nobody can run away from the truth forever, and whenever all the facts of war and the accident catch up with him they will hit hard.

Power and control plays a big role in the lives many. When power is used as a form of control, it leads to depression and misery in the relationship. This is proven through the themes and symbolism used in the stories Lesson before Dying, The fun they had, The strangers that came to town, and Dolls house through the median of three major unsuccessful relationship: racial tension between the African Americans and the caucasians in the novel Lesson before Dying, Doll’s House demonstrates a controlling relationship can be detrimental for both individuals and The Stranger That Came To Town along with The Fun They Had show that when an individual is suppressed by majority they become despondent.

In the book Everything I Never Told You, there are many different elements and techniques used within the book. The technique that I want to go into more depth on is the use of symbolism. I specifically want to focus on the symbolism in regards to Lydia, Hannah, and Nath’s love of astronauts and space.

The holocaust was a tragic time which involved the killing of Jews to create a ‘pure race’ in Germany. Jacob Boas analyzes the stories of five young Jewish children through the book “We Are Witnesses,” who were forced through the hardships of war. Through the perspectives of David Rubinowicz, Yitzhak Rudashevski, Moshe Flinker, Éva Heyman, and Anne Frank, the struggles of the five children are clear as they try to hold on to their ideals while still fighting for their lives. “We Are Witnesses,” by Jacob Boas adopts repetition and diction through the eyes of David Rubinowicz, imagery using Yitzhak Rudashevski, repetition and imagery via Moshe Flinker, repetition with Éva Heyman, and repetition and syntax by Anne Frank to brandish how Jewish

In past years, as well as, in the twenty-first century, African Americans are being oppressed and judged based on the color of their skin. In, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, this is the primary conflict that plagues Jefferson’s as well as Grant’s everyday life. By pleading guilty to a murder that he did not commit, Jefferson has to choose to die just as he is, a hog in the white’s eyes, or die a man. On the other hand, Grant, who is his teacher, is faced with being looked down upon by his community all because of his race and status. He is graced with the challenge of turning Jefferson into a man before his execution date. It is only a matter of time before they both realize that they cannot change the past and they have

Throughout my educational career, I was taught to be critical, but not analytical to a great extend. In high school, I was never taught to think about why an author writes the way he or she intended. Rather, I was only to focus on the analysis of the novel, itself. However, this course has extended my knowledge in that it allows me to think how and why a novel is written the way it is. I also learned that every author has their own ways of communicating to the intended audience. They do so by manipulating pathos, ethos, and logos, which is the Rhetorical Triangle.

You know, I thought I had a firm grasp on the guilt that I have felt over the last three years, but it turns out there is more to it. In my last essay, I confronted my guilt in a more spiritual sense I think, but this time around I feel like there is an even more tangible lesson to learn and it can ultimately affect how I am as a person in the future. I remember reading stories like Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia as they were – just stories of wizards with the ability to make things float or disappear and with worlds that are simply just a wardrobe away. However, I never imagined that under all that magic it could be interpreted to be so much more – that this young wizard and his world or the journey that the Pevensie’s go on

Throughout the semester I worked on a project journal. Using a blog to respond to 25 books, I was exposed to new literature, genres, and authors. Going back and coding my journals, I noticed a specific pattern. Personal and artistic are two different response-roles/lenses I found myself while writing about my thoughts and feelings for each book; a lens I noticed myself hardly using was intertextural.

What would life be like if we had all been equal at the beginning and there was never any wars? Would there be more people on earth? Would be not be as technologically advanced as we are? . Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings emphasizes the hard, unacceptable life of being Negroes in a time when they weren’t superior to the rich whites. Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried, accentuates the chaotic and misunderstood lives of the soldiers who fight for what they believe in. In theses novels. The authors uses the physical and emotional burdens or the characters to really present the themes of the novels to the reader.

In the novel, Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, the author uses many literary

In “The Left Hand of Darkness,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, Ai is an alien to the planet of Gethen, trying to get the Gethanians to join the Ekumen’s league of planets. Throughout the book, Ai encounters many different people and bad situations that he is foreign to. Estraven, a former politician and Ai’s only true friend, and Ai travel on a long journey to freedom through the ice land just to be shot down. The novel is told by a couple different characters and the style of writing changes as well. Symbolism and Imagery also take a big role in the novel with explaining the setting and mood.

Photography over the last few years has developed and changed drastically. Cameras today take pictures that cameras the year before were not capable of capturing due to their ability for larger pixels and higher frame rates. With the ever increasing and technological advancement of the camera itself, the lenses have also undergone major redesign in order to more effectively capture the photographer’s subject. Two lenses today that are very popular are the twelve and forty millimeter lenses; the only difference is how much of a subject each lense can hold when viewed through the viewfinder. The forty millimeter lense is very focused and sets clear boundaries on what the subject of the photograph can be. For example, if shooting a horizon, the photographer will have to focus on a certain specific part when using the forty millimeter lense compared to using the twelve millimeter that has the potential to capture the whole horizon. Our minds are much like cameras in that we capture and record everything we want to, and specifically during high school, it is the ideas we choose to embrace that we capture. It is the works of literature that serve as the lenses for our minds. The student has a choice to view the horizon or the world as narrowly as they please or to view the whole picture. It is power of literature that opens the mind to the whole horizon. Much like how music stirs the emotions and makes the listener feel a certain way, literature takes an

Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.