Figurative Language In Popular Mechanics By Raymond Carver

Carver presents symbolism throughout his story to represent a darker side of the human heart when it is wounded. “Don’t, she said. You’re hurting the baby, she said. I’m not hurting the baby, he said.” The baby represents the relationship of the man and woman. There is not an actual baby that is being hurt, but their relationship together. Once the “issue was decided” towards the end, it represents how the man and woman’s relationship was no more. In addition, snow is brought up in the beginning to start the mood of the relationship. “...The snow was melting into dirty water.” The snow represents the pure white relationship they had in the beginning. Once the snow melted into dirty water, that shows that their relationship is tainted, fading away, and can never be the same. This also leads into the light that is set towards the house. “The kitchen window gave no light.” The window showing both the darkness of the outside and the inside of the house, represents how darkness is taking over the relationship, and how there is no more light to shine on their love for each other. All three of these symbols connect back to how the man and woman have a codependent relationship.

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Carver uses foreshadowing as a prominent element in this story. There are many examples of foreshadowing throughout the story. The first time the reader gets to see obvious foreshadowing is when the woman picks up the picture of the baby off the bed where the man is packing his belongings. “Then she noticed the baby’s picture on the bed and picked it up. He looked at her and she wiped her eyes and stared at him before turning and going back to the living room” (277). This small detail foreshadows that physical altercation that the couple will go through with the baby. The last big foreshadow that the reader gets is when the couple knocks over the flower pot. “The baby was red-faced and screaming. In the scuffle they knocked own a flowerpot that hung behind the stove” (277). This is very brief and only mentioned in this sentence. But this is the foreshadowing of the relationship that is broken, or even worse the baby being broken along with the relationship. While there are details at the beginning on the story, there are smaller things that can easily be looked over but are very important. The characters in this story, since it is minimalist fiction, are not ever given names. The characters are always just referred to as; the man, the woman, and the baby. The audience never finds out why the couple is breaking

The story begins with a seemingly ordinary couple performing a seemingly ordinary task: watching television. What is out of the ordinary, however, is Vonnegut’s deliberate avoidance of all descriptive details regarding the house. He makes it a point not to mention décor of any kind or any of those personal touches that make a house a home. Nor does he bother mentioning anything inside of their house aside from the television. This bland simplicity is crucial in helping the readers grasp the uniformity that citizens of this society have been

As sentimental tone becomes evident frequently through the story, the author uses determination to display the struggles and growth that the author experiences. One of the major quotes that shows determination through a sentimental tone can be displayed as the hotel burning down where the Walls currently lived. Walls stated, “I wonder if the fire had been out to get me. I wonder if all fire was related . . . I didn’t have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived that at any moment could erupt . . . It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes” (Walls 34). This excerpt explains that the author and her family struggle through life to find a decent home--that they can afford. Jeannette spills her emotions through this quote; her struggles become strengths, as she narrates her childhood. The author displays the theme of struggle and the sentimental tone when “. . . the whole family stretched out on the benches and the floor of the depot and read, with the dictionary in the middle of the room so [the] kids could look up words [they] didn't know. . .” (Walls 56). This quote really tears at the reader’s heart strings, as the family copes with their living situations. Jeannette exceeds with describing the story; adding imagery to the situation creates the sentimental tone. The idea of struggle and growth portrays the main point of the overall

Instead of having people tell readers the story through spoken words, the objects abandoned in the house do. Through lines such as, “Bible with a broken back” (5), and “rags in the window frames”(15), they allow the readers to visualize the torn apart house. The lonely rundown nature of the house mirrors how the man feels running from the house. Through the choice of imagery, the poet implies that feelings of pain and hurt are still left behind. Although the man runs from his problems, he cannot escape his feelings, just as how the house is forever scarred with the items left behind. Through imagery such as “toys strewn in the yard” (21), and “...branches after a storm” (22), the readers get to visualize the aftermath of the man’s rage. These choices of imagery tell a story long after they’ve happened. Although the house is abandoned, the emotions of pain and despair are forever embedded into

Raymond Carver chose to make the narrator a dynamic character to successfully illustrate how many people, at some point in their life, will realize a certain, unsettling conflict they have within themselves and learn from it. The narrator being a dynamic character, symbolizes those members in today’s society. In the story, the narrator realizes his internal conflict when despite the image of a cathedral being on the TV right in front of him, he cannot verbally explain what it is. This creates an unsettling feeling within the narrator. This then helps him to later realize his own shallow nature and, in a sense, how he himself is “blind”. Many people experience this unsettledness within themselves at some point throughout their life. Once they see these issues within themselves, and overcome their conflict, they grow as a person, just as the narrator demonstrates throughout the story.

Though this work is like many of Carver’s other works with dialog, average hippi, working class people only this one illustrates his own new forsight in how to write. Yet this work still leaves you hanging in the moment as with all his literature

The poem “Juggler” describes how the tricks the juggler acts out for the crowd amaze and intrigue them. In the poem “Juggler” by Richard Wilbur, the author uses imagery, figurative language and tone to describe the juggler as someone who brings happiness and fun to others.

In the short story, Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, Dee sees the household items as objects that hold memories of their grandparents and of her heritage, while Maggie sees them as just quilts. One of the reasons as to why Maggie believes that the quilt is not that important to keep to herself is because she believes that she can remember her grandparents without it, unlike Dee. Dee gets worked up over the fact that the Narrator decided to give the quilts to Maggie as a wedding present and not to her. This is inferred through the quote, “But they’re priceless!..Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they would be rags”(477). She believes that if the Narrator gives it to Maggie that they will just be rags that are put to “everyday

Compared to Carver’s short story, readers find themselves struggling to determine how the story was finalized having to interpret the ending in their own way. While

     As with many short stories, Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” only has a few pages to develop his main character and create a scenario he or she must learn from or achieve something from or change because of. In such a short amount of space, word choice is integral in constructing a solid impression of the characters and their personalities in the reader’s mind. Carver’s simple use of language and sentence structure combined with his choice for point of view creates an intriguing tone and believable character interaction.

Carver begins with the story?s conflict, a relationship between a man and woman that has already gone extremely wrong. He does not need to tell the reader why or how this relationship came to this point. Carver relies on the reader to know the usual reasons that cause people to split up. Therefore, this gives readers the opportunity to attach their own explanation. As the title, ?Popular Mechanics? implies, it is the common workings of relationships that can be applied throughout this story.

As the camera travels throughout the house other characters are introduced such as Susy’s parents. The mom and dad sits in a separate room and are not seen bonding as a married couple would. The portrayal of both characters convey a disunion and separation between both individuals and the other members of the house. The young boys eat together, the dad reads a newspaper, and mother files her nails all while Susy observes through her binoculars. The actions of these individuals tells viewers that the family lacks a connection.

This bitterness and sarcasm is revealed as strong characteristics of the narrator. Throughout the majority of the story, the narrator continues shows his distaste for any "happy" situation. Much like the hyphenated asides, Carver implements fragmented sentences behind description, to show the narrator pausing for a moment of color commentary.