My Two Blankets Analysis

Eugenia Collier, the author of the short story Marigolds makes great use of literary devices such as imagery, diction, flashback, and juxtaposition in a way that creates a voice for the narrator that conveys both the regret over, and possibly the longing for her childhood. The diction, that is, the vocabulary choice is expertly combined with imagery, or the unique descriptions and sensory details, in order to allow the reader to formulate the experiences and the surroundings of the narrator's childhood in their imaginations. Flashback is used to allow the narrator to not only explain how she viewed the events of her past as a child, but to compare these views with her adult feelings of the same events. Juxtaposition aids in further explaining the connection between the setting and emotions of the main character, creating a better picture of the narrator’s life. These elements all combine to construct a narrative that effectively conveys the coming of age theme.

In the novel “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanha Lai, the universal refugee experience is expressed through the title, and Ha’s individual experience of fleeing and finding home. This essay will show the hardships of turning inside out and how hard it is coming back again. In “Inside Out and Back Again” an independent, determined girl named Ha flees her home in Vietnam because of war and poverty. Ha and her family flee to Alabama to start a better life. In Alabama, Ha faces challenges such as bullying, and racism that make her stronger to come back again.

The composer continues to describe the Winter, again using descriptive language to create a cold harsh environment, and allow the reader to sympathise for the duckling. With the life-threatening act of being ‘frozen fast in the ice’, comes the only act of real kindness that is present in the story as a farmer rescues

Using figurative language helps create imagery and enhances the imagination of the readers. The use of personification allows the author to give human like characteristics to non-living things. An example within the story that displayed intense emotion was included this quote,“This set formula, spoken in a kind of lilt, would awaken loud echoes in Tzili’s soul, and their reverberations spread throughout her body” (Appelfeld, p. 275). By adding in this literary device the readers can foreshadow Tzili’s growth throughout the story and how she realizes who she is as an individual and matures into a strong and independent

When she is at Tinker Creek, she uses words like “lost, sunk” which shows the lack of understanding as she looks towards Tinker Mountain. All of a sudden, she sees what looks “like a Martian spaceship”. She uses a simile to describe what she sees as otherworldly or magical because a Martian spaceship is not from this world. She describes that “it flashed borrowed light like a propeller”. As the object is coming down, it brings with it “light” or a revelation. She goes on to portray it as “pirouetting and twirling”, words which are often associated with ballet and are viewed by most people as beautiful. Her experience with this beautiful, otherworldly object is a door that allows her to see this as part of the beauty in the world.

The famous philosopher Plato once said, “You can discover more about a person with an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” But dialogue and figurative language can help the reader understand people, and their surroundings. An hour of play can’t share their deepest secrets and their emotions to bring your fate's together. In The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, the dialogue of her characters and the descriptive language she uses helps show the mood and helps inference more about the book.

Figurative language is a main component in showcasing the emotions the characters reveal. An example being when the author writes “ The children huddled up to her and breathed like little calves waiting at the bars in the twilight.” This portrays the children's emotions with more emphasis and really shows how they watched everything Granny Weatherall did with precision. This type of writing really helps the reader understand what is going on within the characters and their actions. The author also displays figurative language in the way she describes how John would be in the situation of them still being together. She describes him as being more of a child, rather than taking a parent role.

Le uses descriptive imagery of objects in order to show the internal nature of the characters. The narrator holds a butterfly paperweight next to her ear and “[hears] a soft rustling, like wings brushing against a windowpane. The rustling was a whispered song. It was the butterfly’s way of speaking, and [she] thought [she] understood it” (Le 25) Le captures the narrator’s young, wild imagination by showing an impossible interaction between the narrator and the butterfly paperweight. She evokes an image of wings brushing against a windowpane to prompt readers to imagine the butterfly’s swift fluttering in the paperweight. She compares the paperweight to her “Ba’s heavy head pressed down on the pillow at night, full of thoughts that dragged him into nightmares when all he wanted was a dream as sweet

The idioms of everyday American speech in a middle-class domestic situation are used in showing the events and relationships of the Berlin family. In contrast to the conversations of Becca and Stan, usually presented as straight dialogue, the discussions among the three sisters are conventionally presented, often with “she said” and other interpolations to give explicitly the emotional level of the sister’s disagreements. Madga, the Polish student who acts as Becca’s guide to the death camp site speaks fluent English but at times awkward English “Oh, they are much in appreciation” she says when given a pair of jeans. Contrast between the formal, traditional language of the fairy tale and childish, informal chatter is shown when the children comment or question as Gemma proceeds with her Briar Rose fairy tale story telling. Her contrast revisiting of just this one fairy tale shows the reader that while her conscious memory has buries the details of her past horrors, she cannot help returning to the fairy tale allegory. Contrast is also shown between the warm, happy imagery of life in the Berlin house and the bleak, harsh details of the holocaust.

A unique relationship forms between the author and the reader through McCourt’s effective ‘show and tell’ narrative method. This gives the reader more involvement and greater emotional attachment. During the first part of this book, he ‘shows’ the reader, through innocent misunderstandings, that interpretation is needed in order to fully understand the context: “Sometimes he [Mr. Leibowitz] speaks to Mrs. Leibowitz and I don’t understand because strange sounds come from his mouth. Freddie understands…smiles back and makes the strange sounds” (38). Here the reader knows that the ‘strange sounds’ are the Leibowitz’s speaking another language. Frank does not understand that there are different languages that people speak other than just English, but the mature reader is informed.

Migrant Hostel by Peter Skrzynecki explores the conditions of migrant hostels in the 20th century. Through vivid descriptions, metaphors and similes, Skrzynecki describes the emotions of the migrants living in the migrant hostels. The simile 'like a homing pigeon' suggests that the people in the migrant hostels were insistent on looking for belonging through an almost instinctive process of being drawn to people of the same or similar background. The metaphor 'partitioned off at night by memories of hunger and hate' implies that the people were vulnerable and were separated from the others by their past and their different history. The simile 'loved like birds of passage - always sensing a change in weather' conveys that the migrants were alert

Another metaphor, “making it a screen between herself and the surrounding snow and silence” is displayed to show how Ann used work to create a wall between her and the silence inside as well as the dangerous weather outside. The snow symbolizes her feelings of isolation as Ann is without her husband due to the weather. The silence is a constant reminder that she is alone while her husband is out in the blizzard. Ultimately, Ann will do anything in her power to escape this reality.

Many people from all around the world travel to somewhere new in their life. All from a range of reasons either because they were forced to or maybe that person and their family just wanted a new life. The two short stories “Response to Executive Order 9066 by Dwight okita and “Mericans” by sandra cisneros both show the perspective of two girls who are in completely different places and situations come against challenges in their life just because of who they are or where they came from which they have no control over

The author utilizes juxtaposition to compare the girl's memory with reality. After describing the daughter’s game in the van, the author describes the winter scene. She focuses the

He idealizes Mangan’s sister, and portrays her as his only source of light in his bleak world. The boy describes his street as having “dark muddy lanes behind the houses…dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits” and the rooms of his house “musty from having been enclosed too long”. These depictions demonstrate how repressed he feels regarding his lifeless surroundings. Meanwhile, illustrations of Mangan’s sister are associated with light and ease, “her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door” or “the light from the lamp…lit up her hair”. The boy clings on to the image of the girl and intoxicates himself with emotions of delight and exhilaration. This drives him to embark on the journey to the bazaar, along with high expectations of exotic surroundings. However, he is met with heavy disappointment - a train that drops him at an “improvised wooden platform” and a “silence like that which pervades a church after a service”. He comes to an epiphany – Mangan’s sister was only an arrogant wish for change and she would only fail his expectations as well, his infatuation was as misleading as his fantasies about the