Carter Filipiak Mrs. Convery World Literature 28 September 2015 Vivid Language Used in “The Stones” “I love to go out on summer nights and watch the stones grow”, says Richard Shelton, Author of the short story “The Stones”. This is just one example of the vivid language he uses to put an image in the readers head. “The Stones”, is a story about young stones, old stones, and stones with all different types of personalities. The author uses various types of figurative language in the story, such as personification and Metaphors. The author also uses strong diction to give the story more meaning. This Story shows that childhood is precious, and you should cherish it, because it doesn’t last forever. Personification is definitely the most …show more content…
At the beginning of the third paragraph, Shelton uses the phrase, “family ties are very strong among stones”. Shelton doesn’t mean to say that there are actual physical ties holding families together. He merely means that the relationship between the stones is very close. This gives the reader the idea of a family, maybe their own, with strong relationships. Later in Later in that same sentence it reads “they carry scars to prove to their children that they once went on a journey”. This sentence is a very important part of the story, and exemplifies the theme that the author is trying to get across to reader very well. When Shelton says scars, which represents the past troubles that a person had to go through to get to how they are now. In this case, the older stones need to show the young ones that they too went through adventures, trials, and struggles to become who they are. Although they went through lots of bad times, it is important to go through them young, because it builds your …show more content…
“As they grow older, they cease to brag about such clandestine adventures”. Clandestine, is the key word in that sentence, what would happen to the mood of the sentence if Shelton decided to use the word private instead? Clandestine gives the adventures a more deceptive denotation. It shows that young ones like to go off on their own little adventures, but as they age, they have less want to do this. There is also the use of helter-skelter, earlier in the story. Richard Shelton could have used a simpler word, such as crazy, but helter-skelter gives the best image possible to the reader. It really shows how their journey was not perfect, but it got them where they
Throughout the book when the stone motif comes into play it has a strong connection to something a character experienced. This is first shown when Papa cries when he is playing the
All three of these works show the authors’ speakers’ experiences leading to their childhood innocence being stripped from them or otherwise crushed beneath the weight of reality. Cullen plays with the lightness of childhood innocence in the first quatrain. This is highlighted in line two “...heart-filled, head-filled with glee,” (Fader/Rabinowitz pg.
Within the first lines of the passage, the reader can identify a clear metaphor that compares idleness to a rock. A rock just sits there; it poses no benefits to anyone. Which in turn is the gentlefolk’s obstacle? It is used by the speaker to show how having an idle attitude will not lead to anything
Walcott also uses metaphors to express the importance of the elderly storyteller. “She was the lamplight in the stare of two mesmerized boys”. This quote allows the reader to realize that the lady was able to guide them in a way much similar to the lamp which led them to her. This leads the reader to infer that the experience was meaningful and made such an impact that it will last with them throughout adulthood. In the quote, “There’s childhood and there’s childhood’s aftermath”, Walcott expresses the importance of learning from experiences in our childhood that grant us understanding and
Through this mysterious act, one has to wonder why the boys are doing this, deliberately? It only shows that the stones will play a role in the imminent future.
Jackson describes flowers blossoming and warm summer days, but the details also include foreshadowing of the story’s conclusion, as the children are collecting stones and three boys guard their pile against the
?Most have become completely desensitized to the murderous rituals. In paragraph two, the children are so desensitized that they are actually enjoying themselves while they are collecting rocks as a sadistic prize for the lottery?s winner. Although they are very young they remember some aspects of the ritual. Bobby Martin stuffs his pockets full of stones as if it were money and not a murder weapon. Three of the villager?s children eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against raids of the other boys. The children know that they are
Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.
Scars are undoubtably an incredible means of storytelling in Beloved. No matter how a person changes or what happens to them, these marks are another bit of tangible history, following each of them wherever they may go. These physical characteristics are what one can believe in, more than what is said or written. When written and oral language can many times not be trusted, physical characteristics provide another more certain form of communication--one that cannot be biased or altered.
Often times readers desire for works that they can relate to on a personal level. With that in mind Billy Collins wrote a poem entitled, “On Turning Ten” discusses the hardships experienced from growing up. The poem is written from the perspective of a child who has turned ten years old and is looking back at their great life as a very young kid. The child sees the world in a different way and feels sad that he has grown up. Collins, through his poem, displays the emotional hardship of growing older and causes the reader to relate to the child as they remember their own experiences growing up.
A child holds innocence from a young age and does not understand the importance of having compassion. As a child's innocence gradually fades away due to maturity, he or she transforms into a compassionate person. In a coming of age short story called, “Marigolds,” the author Eugenia Collier writes about a series of events about a young girl, named Lizabeth, develops into a compassionate person. Lizabeth narrates these events in a flashback that involves the marigolds of her neighbor, Miss Lottie. Miss Lottie's marigolds represented the essence of hope in the midst of the town, filled with dust and dirt. Despite the dirt and dusty roads that were accompanied by the house, Miss Lottie decided to plant her marigolds. The effect of economic struggles the townspeople go through causes Lizabeth to destroy Miss Lottie's marigolds. Throughout the short story,
(Quotes: “Bobbie Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones and the other boys soon followed his example selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” [pg147] “The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, she held her hands up desperately as the villagers moved in on her, ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the
However, in the following stanzas, Carter changes his tone and tense to show how he felt growing up with his father. He states, “I despised the discipline / he used to shape what I should be” (7-8). This shows Carter, even though he disliked the means of reprimand his father implemented, understands his father’s ways were to help him become the man he “should be.” Through this insight, Carter says, “not owning up that he might feel / his own when he punished me” (9-10). This is possibly saying not only did he bear the chastisement, but his father sensed the “pain” as well. Yet again, maybe Carter has a deeper message and is saying fathers and their children share the same troubles and triumphs. In addition, Carter remembers how he “didn’t show [his] need to him, / since his response to an appeal / would not have meant as much” (11-13). Furthermore, he states “his response,” (12) “would not have… / …been as real” (14). Telling such a harsh reality, Carter contrasts his statement and relays to the reader through “those rare [hard] times,” (15) “…the pure joy / survive[d]” (16-17).
Adolescence is a bumpy and unknown section of the road known as life. Both the short story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier and the poem “Hard on the Gas,” by Janet S. Wong relate to the theme that “the road to growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth”. “Marigolds is the story of an adolescent who is growing up in the Great Depression. Through hard experiences and tumultuous emotions, the narrator learns that growing up is full of ups and downs. “Hard on the Gas” is a poem about a grandchild driving with his or her grandfather. The grandchild realizes that the road isn’t always perfect and that there will be bumps along the way. The theme “the road growing up and maturing isn’t always smooth” is conveyed in both of these selection.
An analysis of poems discussing the different ideas of infancy and what infancy and childhood means to different people. The ideas of infancy vary across the poems from being a curse to the family to being a blessing from the heavens or even a key to break out of the boundaries set by reality. The poets use various literary devices such as metaphors, similes and different poem structure to convey the message that they carry. Each poem has its own viewpoint on infancy. On the whole four of the poems, “Infant Joy” –William Blake, “You’re” – Sylvia Plath, “Once upon a time” – Gabriel Okara and “Piano” by D.H. Lawrence all have a more positive view towards infancy whereas, “ Infant Sorrow” – William Blake and “Prayer before birth” – Louis MacNeice show a more pessimistic side towards infancy. Despite the fact that each poem has its own different point of view on the subject of infancy, they all seem to share one thought which is the fact that infancy represents innocence and in some cases a fresh start.