In -40 degree weather with 15 mph wind the average man can survive 10 minutes before frostbite sets in and chances for survival dwindle; however, many men in Alaska and Canada searching for gold in the late 1800’s had to endure much colder temperatures for a much longer period of time. One such man was Jack London who failed at finding gold but found fame and fortune in the stories he wrote and sold about his experiences. London’s past shaped the way he uses imagery, long, descriptive sentences, short emotional sentences, and repetition to present these adventures as short stories with deterministic themes that really show his poetic writing style. “Love of Life” by Jack London, is a short story that describes the life and death …show more content…
By using words like midst, milky, vastness, pressing, overwhelming, brutally crushing, and complacent awfulness London description flows and sounds poetical. In "To Build a Fire" London uses imagery to poetically describe the dull day and sets a bland tone. He writes, "Yet the sun was too far south on its winter journey to clear the horizon. The bulge of the earth intervened between it and the Henderson Creek, where the man walked under a clear sky at noon and cast no shadow." In both stories London uses imagery to describe thoughts, feeling, and the setting and show his poetic style. Long, descriptive sentences in London 's work also show his writing style as poetic. Throughout "Love of Life" London uses long, descriptive sentences that show his style many times. A few examples are, in the beginning when he writes, "He would cross this divide to the first trickle of another stream, flowing to the west, which he would follow until it emptied into the river Dease, and here he would find a cache under an upturned canoe and piled over with many rocks." Which also gives you a deliberate sense, that he knows exactly where he is going. Towards the middle, "There were four newly hatched chicks, a day old—little specks of pulsating life no more than a mouthful; and he ate them ravenously, thrusting them alive into his mouth
In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s story “The Love of My Life,” it centers around the teenage relationship of Jeremy and China who claim to be in love with one another and nothing else matters to them. Their relationship; however, is centered around what a relationship is like in movies and based of the physical attraction to each other as well as being naive to what real love is as this is their first real relationship with a significant other. The relationship between the two is great until they encounter their first real obstacle in the relationship when China becomes pregnant. The egocentric nature of both characters takes over and there begins to be cracks within the relationship. Now they face the reality of becoming parents and they blame
Ernest Miller Hemingway is known for his unique style and theories of writing, especially the iceberg theory. In the Death of the Afternoon, Hemingway says that “The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.” (92) Simple words, vivid images, rich emotions and deep thoughts are the four basic elements of the iceberg theory. Talk about how these stories illustrate four elements of theory. In both short stories, Hemingway describes scenery and characters with simple words directly to give readers a vivid image. Under this sketch, readers can know characters’ emotion and get the theme through their imagination and analysis.
“Jack London is King” this was carved in to a block of wood found at the bus where Chris McCandless’s body was found. Chris McCandless admired Jack London as a man and a writer. Chris went into the wild’s of Alaska to prove that he could live off the land, with no modern conveniences, and no human contact. Jack London wrote stories about men and animals experiences against the environment, and survival against hardships, which were written from his own life. His works included individualism and the study of the laws of nature. Chris wanted to explore his own individualism, who he was, and how he was to live the rest of his life.
John Foulcher conveys the meaning of his poem For the fire by the use of literal techniques, especially imagery. In the poem for the fire there is a variety of natural imagery, sound imagery and violent vocabulary as this places the setting, time and specific event spoken of in the poem: “outside gathering kindling”. In the first and second stanzas of For The Fire the setting is placed in the forest with a male character isolating himself. This is shown by natural and sound imagery for example in the first stanza sound imagery is placed : “It’s singular, human thud” in this quote John Foulcher also uses onomatopoeia for a heightened sensory imagery effect. In contrast the second stanza uses natural imagery: “Wind through sparse leaves like clockwork” is a great example as it tells the audience about the isolation as a setting whilst using a literary device which is simile.
In 1897 London and his brother-in-law, Captain James Shepard joined the Klondike Gold Rush. He used this experience to describe the settings of some of his first successful writings. His time spent in the Klondike was very harmful to his health. Like many other men working in the harsh conditions, London was malnourished in the goldfields, and he developed scurvy. He lost four of his front teeth and he was plagued by constant pain in his hips and legs. His face was scared by the rigid work he endured, and these hard ships inspired London to write his short story, “To Build a Fire”. London’s exceptional use of foreshadowing in the title and within the first couple of lines of his story tells the reader that the character of the story will come into hardship, his use of foreshadowing is expressed within the first sentence of his story, “There was no sun or promise of sun, although there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day. However, there seemed to be an indescribable darkness over the face of things.” (London) of not traveling alone.
The author uses imagery in the poem to enable the reader to see what the speaker sees. For example, in lines 4-11 the speaker describes to us the
In the romantic era, British authors and poets focused on nature and its influence. Two of those poets, Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth, wrote many pieces on the beauty of nature and their personal experiences with the beaches of England. In “Far on the sands” and “It is a beauteous evening,” Smith and Wordsworth describe their respective experiences on the shore at sunset. Both authors use structure, theme, allusions, and imagery to effectively convey their perceptions of nature. While the sonnets share a setting and the topics of nature and tranquility, Smith’s has a focus on introspection and Wordsworth’s is centered around religion. These have different focuses which achieve different effects on the reader.
During his journey, the man gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of a hot spring. Because of the severity of the cold, the man’s life depends upon his ability to adapt to his surroundings. After one, half-successful fire-starting endeavor, and several other pitiful attempts, the hopelessness of the man’s lone struggle
In the romantic era, British authors and poets focused on nature and its influence. Two of those poets, Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth, wrote many pieces on the beauty of nature and their personal experiences with the beaches of England. In “Far on the sands” and “It is a beauteous evening,” Smith and Wordsworth describe their respective experiences on the shore at sunset. Smith uses tone and theme to convey her feelings of despair and isolation. Wordsworth utilizes various religious images to communicate his awe in the face of the natural world. While the sonnets share a setting and the topics of nature and tranquility, Smith and Wordsworth have different focuses which achieve different effects on the reader.
Houston’s “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky” explores and exhibits the idea of psycho-physical experience of being in the natural world to heal one’s psychological and emotional ailments through its invigorating contact. The narrative, by drawing on the theme of depression, relates how the narrator, seeing “everything in [her] life…uncertain” (Houston 185), goes winter-camping alone in the high country; undergoes a chilling near-death experience; and gleefully returns reinvigorated with the memory of “joy”, and “hopefulness” (188). Though highly personalized in the narrative, the narrator’s experience of depression is a common phenomenon and, Houston, in this sense, seems to
Imagery is another important element which London uses to illustrate and emphasize his theme. In “To Build a Fire” Earl Labor sees the “mood and atmosphere, which is conveyed through repetitive imagery of cold and gloom and whiteness,” as being “the key to the story’s impact” (63). London does rely heavily on imagery to set the mood of the story, and in this way he draws a picture of the harsh environment that his character must endure. London uses imagery with such skill that the reader can almost feel the deadly cold of the environment and can almost hear the “sharp, explosive crackle” when the man’s spit would freeze in mid-air (119). Through the use of such vivid imagery, London guides the reader toward the realization of the story’s theme; the reader can visualize the man “losing in his battle with the frost” and therefor can picture man in his conflict with a cruel and uncaring universe (128). Symbolism is also an important element in “To Build a Fire”. David Mike Hamilton’s criticism, he says “the fire symbolizes life as does the white snow that falls at the beginning of the story.” He also views “the dark point in the midst of the stamped snow, foretelling the end of the fire, and thus of life” (2). I strongly agree with Hamilton’s criticism; “the dark point in the midst of the stamped snow” because it not only foretells the end of the fire but of the end of life itself.
Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe
Do you think you could survive the Yukon trail, a mile wide and three feet of ice, and just as many feet of snow, in weather colder than fifty below? The story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, is about a man who tried to take the Yukon trail and get to his friends with just a dog to guide him. He was told that no one has ever made the journey alone, yet he chose to take on the journey. Through the story the man faces many conflicts not only through himself in having too much pride, but also with the physical ones such as the cold which lead to his death. The main theme in the book is the man’s perseverance to try and survive. The man on the Yukon Trail has to show perseverance through the story even with the harsh weather and signs of bad events coming upon him. In his story “To Build a Fire,” Jack London discusses the theme of perseverance through two literary elements, conflict and foreshadowing.
The speaker furthermore conveys the idea that nature is a grandeur that should be recognized by including the element of imagery. The poet utilizes imagery as a technique to appeal to reader’s sense of sight . It is “the darkest evening of the year” (line 8) and a traveller and his horse stop “between the woods and frozen lake” (line 7). By writing with details such as these, readers are capable of effortlessly envisioning the peaceful scenery that lies before the speaker. The persona then draws on reader’s sense of sound. “The only other sound’s the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake.” The illustration allows readers to not only see,