William Somerset Maugham was considered to be the popular English fiction writer of the 20th century. He wrote many novels, plays and short stories, many of those were admired as master pieces. It drew attention of the critics and readers due to its multi-dimensional aspects, which offered entertainment including the serious issues of human life, for that matter it resulted in being popular fiction of the time.
His popularity urged many critics to analyze his work from different dimensions. The critics discussed his works with the advantage to explore the qualities of writer as well as to point out the flaws of his work. The critics discovered many themes along with stylistic features of his novels in plays and short stories. Maugham has produced a large number of fictional works and it seems impossible to bring in all the reviews of his works. The literature review is generally based on critic’s opinion on his writing style and themes; it particularly talks about those critiques
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The simplicity as a common trait in all of his works, had influence on his readers and critics. Swinnerton admires him as a true story teller due to his plain and modest writing style. Maugham wrote for the writing’s sake, he neither interfered in political matters nor he struggled to be the guardian of society (19). Jack Collins examined similar characteristic in Maugham’s style. He justifies popularity of Maugham as a writer by providing two reasons: firstly, he has the capability to create a plot which is direct, it goes on with “linear clarity” that no one can find obscurity in the plot. Secondly, his quality to develop the “dramatic intensity” has remarkable effects on the story that it turns the characters into “demonic forces” (16). This intensity in his works attracts the readers to pay honest attention while reading. His works are the satisfaction of those people who like to “get on with the story” (Brander
By choosing strong and well-thought out words, it allows the readers to better pay attention to detail and recollect more material. Influential diction causes the readers to become reeled in and intrigued in the novel. The narrator writes, “You’d fine the high school phenoms running circles around the overweight has-beens, guys who’d effortlessly played above-the-rim years ago now trying to catch their breath and salvage what was left of their once-stylish games” (Moore 44). Using words like ‘phenoms’ and ‘has-beens’ causes the author and the reader to relate. The narrator creates a connection between himself and his audience by using words his readers can understand and empathize with. Wes says, “You’d find the drug dealers there...smelling like a fresh haircut and with gear on that was too fine for sweating in” (Moore 44). Moore uses imagery and tugs at our senses to allow his audience to better picture the situation he is explaining and describing. Imagery, along with strong diction, generates a more engaging novel. The storyteller’s sentence structure varies from short to long. This allows the reader to stay interested and keeps the author’s sentences flowing easily. Wes Moore, the narrator, is guilty of inspiring and influential diction and
Literature work always has some lesson for the people that could even leave a thought-provoking effect on their lives and compel them to understand the reality of the world. However, there are some people, who just read literature as a source of entertainment, but the real meaning, of the reading or encountering any literature work, is realized when a reader understands a message. Which writer intends to give to a reader. It is because the literature work has a connection, in addition, influence on the character building process.
The criticism that I will be using is a rhetorical analysis which simply means analyzing texts on how they make the audience feel using symbols, the type of genre, aesthetics and more while also looking at why that happens. I decided to use a rhetorical
the plot in the story, the minimalistic style, and theme, the author better develops and conveys
A typical novel, flooded with the complexities of the author’s creative mind, conveys the plot amidst vivid descriptions of the setting and
His diction let’s you sense the carelessness and monotony of the characters lives. This style of writing shows the reader that the worth and value of the individual is not
In his collection of short shorties, O’Brien writes in a style that is very vivid and often times causes the audience to find themselves accepting the events and details of these stories as the truth. O’Brien contrasts the truth to fiction by reminding the audience that within these short stories, the details are not the truth and are there to demonstrate the human emotions that can not be communicated as absolute facts.
Many authors of the short story like to focus on the idea of death and or darkness. These traits carry big messages that don’t often require a lot of page space to explain. This is overwhelming important in the genre of short stories when authors have very little page space to work with. At least one of these traits can be seen in the works of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe with The Fall of the House of Usher’s, Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Birthmark, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman in The Yellow Wallpaper.
Primarily, their narratives are extremely technical, descriptive and yet deceptive- the sheer emotion, art and poetry in Atwood’s and Kent’s styles are enough to demand unconditional engagement from all audiences. Aside from the great literary standard of their stories, audience sympathy is also demanded as readers and secondary
aims his focal point at imagery to provide vivid and rich details. Literary devices play a crucial
Recent trends in literature heavily rely on crossover between genres. Science fiction is becoming more integrated with young adult novels, and even murder mysteries are starting to incorporate romance. This crossover insures authors that they will be able to reach a broader audience, with the hopes that more people will read their books. Short stories have blended countless genres together for a long time, so it’s not surprising to see a short mystery, or a short romance. Poet James Joyce has recently become just as recognized for his prose, especially when that prose is in the form of a short story. His collection, Dubliners, includes a handful of well-recognized stories that have similar themes run throughout. One of the most famous, Araby, quickly melds between a mystery and a love story, famously ending on a cliffhanger that leads readers to interpret the finale for themselves. Throughout the brief entirety of Araby, James Joyce continues to create an aura of mystery and confusion, even going as far as to end the novel in a cliffhanger. This ambiguity allows for the reader to input their own experiences and ideas into the characters, which leads to the extensive feeling of relatability that most readers have with the little boy.
Nathaniel Hawthorne employed numerous writing styles in his short stories, “Rappacini’s Daughter” and “The Ambitious Guest”. The message in “Rappacini’s Daughter” is about a man named Giovanni who meets an innocent young woman, Beatrice who is poisonous to the touch because she was an experiment to her father. While the story in “The Ambitious Guest” is about an ambitious young man who tells a family about how he wants to be remembered and leave a mark on the world. An author must have a writing style in order to get their message across and entertain his or her audience. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories both have similarities but they also have their differences.
Plath’s difficulties with narrative prose contrasts between her novelistic dreams and her character. Plath’s passion for classic novelists and her own talent made her realize the fitting narrative prose were densely
Winterson’s “Passion” undoubtedly is a complex text to read. She has made use of literary terms such as narration and authors as a weapon to leave her readers in ambiguous situations. She has made use of Miller’s view of fiction being a playground for writers to create and recreate situations that may not be suitable in the real world. Winterson has used this idea to intermingle her life in a fictional/fantastical scenario in her story. Then she piggybacked Miller’s idea of repetition to add another element of complication through the usage of questionable phrases that forces the readers to wonder about the accuracy of the information that they have been presented. And lastly, Winterson has used Pease’s idea about of writers to further confuse the readers by constantly playing a game of ping pong with the role of auctore and author. Using these terms and concept to switch back and forth makes this reading complicated for the readers to dissect that is the reason why this book is pleasurable to read.
The paper will analyze the literary skills in the novel. The literary styles will be analyzed in the context of their significance in influencing the plot and characters. The literary analysis will include review of the major literature styles the author uses and the characteristics of characters in regards to adapting the requirements of the specific literature styles. Additionally, the review will also include a perspective of the importance of style used by the author.