Many stories people read are written for the express purpose of entertainment and sometimes even to

Leaning against a car fender in the front yard of an ordinary home, nervously sits a six year old, pondering his drowning innocence as he stares at an empty pie tin. Gary Soto, in his excerpt from A Summer Life, vividly recalls just how he felt that day after stealing a pie from the German Market. At this time in his life, Soto acted to please God, had faith filled morals, and described himself as being “holy in almost every bone,” but boredom got the best of him on that brisk summer day. In this narrative, Soto utilizes imagery, diction, and biblical allusion to recreate his experience for the readers. Gary Soto, the author, uses precise diction to convey the thoughts and feelings that ran through his head before, during, and after he had stolen the piece of pie.

Religion symbolism appears often in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”; the first appearances of religious symbolism are presented with the speech of the grandmother. In her

In the book, the Truth About Stories, Thomas King sheds light on the power of stories. King explicitly enforces that one must take caution in the way he or she tells a story, since it will shape one’s thoughts, decision-making and future (2). Through the use of literature, King weaves his way through native history, anecdote by anecdote, informing his readers about the importance of storytelling. “Stories are wondrous things,” the author writes. “And they are dangerous.” (9). To prove this, King mentions two creation stories; the differences in these stories is the way in which they are told. The first is a famous native story called, “the woman who fell from the sky”; this story is told in a complex, persuasive way (10-20). This story discusses a society emphasizing the value of cooperation as the animals work together to create a better world (21-22). The second story, a Judeo-Christian biblical story, describes a Western Capitalist society. It is told in a historical, punitive and direct fashion, underlining a society of boundaries and punishment. King highlights that storytelling is not just simply telling a story, rather it is how the stories are told. King uses these particular stories to show how different stories shape people’s perspectives, which impacts their ideas, thoughts and decision making. Therefore he addresses how sensitive storytelling may be, for once a story is told, it can never be taken back (10). This is true in all realms of life, cautioning

In the autobiographical narrative “The Pie” by Gary Soto, the author recreates the experience of his guilty six-year-old self as he describes his first experience with stealing. He effectively portrays his worst sin through his use of contrast, repetition, and imagery. While contrast describes the existence of both the Holy ways and temptation of human desires that Soto faces, repetition emphasizes the guilt that he is feeling, and imagery aids the reader in imagining the guilt and satisfaction that Soto is feeling through the eyes of a six-year-old.

The minister they had once sought for comfort and solace has become a seductive, mysterious stranger with whom nobody can identify. The congregation feels as though Hooper can reach into their souls and see all the inadequacy and sin hidden within. As expressed in the story, "Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of most hardened breast felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought." Because of his vow, the minister is forced into a life of solitude, forever lacking satisfaction and comfort.

In Thomas Scarseth’s excerpt titled “A Teachable Good Book: Of Mice and Men”, he emphasizes that OMAM is a Tragedy, and that it is good literature to read and teach about. Through explaining events from the novel Of Mice and Men, Scarseth demonstrates to his readers the reasons why OMAM is a powerful Tragedy that is easy to learn from. In his excerpt, Scarseth states that a tragic ending is important in literature, that OMAM is great to learn from because it has a strong structure, and that although OMAM uses inappropriate language and demonstrates inappropriate events, it does not present these elements indecently. Overall, Scarseth is trying to prove that OMAM is a Tragedy that is good to learn from.

Novels are produced for a cause or purpose for the readers. The author either talks about their own experience or stories that they have learnt in life, and then they transform it into a text that we can all understand. In the text ‘Dougy’ by James Moloney, he states real life problems, inviting the readers to learn from the themes and problems that occur. James Moloney tells us that children are not born racist. There will always be critics in life and rules are there for a reason.

Let’s talk about the world about 2,000 years ago. It was a world where the mass of people were illiterate, taxes were extremely high, and the leaders would cheat and kill to feed their ever growing need for power. We all can relate to having a good storyteller in our lives, most were read to at night by their parents or are parents themselves that read to their children. What is the purpose of storytelling? It’s simple, comfort. A good story can ease your psychological unrest as well as offer a moral purpose. Sometimes you can even relate a story to your own life and offer an explanation to something you may be experiencing. This is exactly what the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were. They told their stories of Jesus to offer comfort to their people in a time when people could not pick up a story and read it themselves. It is part of human nature to have the desire for a good story. This paper will describe several events that were written by great storytellers in the bible.

The play illustrated by Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt (2011), “Everyman” written by an anonymous writer late in the fifteenth-century (p. 265-287), interconnects religious allegories with worldly moral lessons on several main reasons that good deeds and works are required and needed, but they do not save humanity from spiritual death. The play conveys a story about Everyman’s (representing human individuals) natural life journey to death. The morality of the play helps the audience appreciate the history of Christianity. The focal point throughout the play is about humanities, life plan and a journey that requires every man to construct an unworldly firm foundation built up strong to help overcome any uprooting storm within a lifetime. Its personification comes in the form of the characters Everyman, Goods, and Goods Deeds, who embodied the concept of teaching lessons to humanity of the significance of living a Christ-centered life and learning to allow the heart restored and guided by God to help aid good judgement (Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt, 2011). Thomas F. Van Laan (1963) describes Everyman’s play, “The human action and its allegorical significance together form a distinct structural pattern which not only imposes discipline but also contributes its own intrinsic meaning”. From the start of the first phase 5-6, the first point of view of the play engages, “…That of our lives and ending* shows / How transitory we be all day.*…” (Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt, 2011). The play displays how

Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is vividly real to its readers, its issues continually relevant to society, but through its structure and moral lessons, it is intended to be read as a 'fairy tale'.

This story relates to the romantic period with many different examples. This story is connected with gothic literature in several different ways. The inevitability of fate, mystery and suspense, limitations of human nature, nostalgia and inner conflicts, sadness, and the disconnect between man and his nature, all of these are elements of gothic literature. In the Romanticism style, the death of a protagonist is exaggerated or stretched. Similarly, Mr Hooper's death was a very exaggerated

This essay was meant to show you that there are certain things that are in stories that you may need to think twice about.These things might help you understand the story better, or maybe even determine what could happen next in the story. All in all, this essay was to bring up some ideas that you may not have caught while reading these stories, and hopefully even helped you understand some things that just didn’t make sense before, make sense

One key component to making a story thought provoking and leave a lasting impression on the reader is efficient use of rhetorical devices. Flannery O’Connor implements symbolism, irony, metaphors, and strong imagery to supplement her plots with a message that isn’t found on the surface but requires the reader to divulge and explore all the possibilities of representation in her text. Whether illustrating a stormy backdrop as a metaphor for turmoil or three bullet shots as a final offering of atonement, O’Connor depicts a road to salvation through the unlikeliest of representations. This trend becomes apparent as one can identify the path to penance made by the protagonist in such stories as “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “The Life You Save

The theme of this book is determination and victory. I learned that life is valuable, and something worth fighting for. It amazes me that all the doctors and nurses were so dedicated to helping a boy they did not know, a boy who’s condition was only getting worse. This book proved that anything is possible when God is in control; all we need to do is fully rely on Him.

The Gospel of Luke thoroughly illustrates the themes of mercy and compassion in his use of literary devices such as symbols, stories and parables. Luke urges how significant it is to feel and deliver the ready willingness to help anyone in need in our society. The Gospel offers a model to live out these virtues through Jesus’ actions and his parables.