Objects In Inkspell By Cornelia Funke

Viramontes uses figurative language like similes and metaphors to show Estrella’s frustration with her lack of understanding of the world around her her teachers and her understanding of the tools. The author says, “…all that a jumbled steel inside the box… seemed as confusing and foreign as the alphabet she could not decipher.” (line 5-8). As Estrella looked inside the tool chest she was not able to identify what the tools were, which caused her to feel anger. Moreover, the author compares Estrella’s confusion of the tools in the tool chest to her understanding of the alphabet that confused her. This was significant since it showed that just like the secrets she thought were inside the tool chest, Estrella also felt her teachers were keeping secrets from her. The author says, “Estrella hated when things were kept from her. The teachers in the school did the same, never giving her the information she wanted. Estrella would ask over and over. So what is this, and point to the diagonal lines written in chalk on the

“I would not be a pressed flower in a book after all” (Kidd 103). Sue Monk Kidd unveils the harsh abuse the slaves encountered and the resilience of both Handful and Sarah in her novel, The Invention of Wings. Handful’s witty attitude and intelligence aided her escape from slavery. Red thread and a spirit tree symbolized Handful’s hope that one day she will be free. Sarah’s compassion and strong-willed heart aided her into becoming an abolitionist. Sarah’s silver button symbolizes her a voice to speak against the cruelty of the world. Both girls resilience and determination developed the themes of strong friendships can change the world and the bitter abuses of the past can spark knowledge and equality.

Throughout the novel, the author Edward Bloor uses literary devices such as similes to make the readers visualize the descriptive situations in the story. These similes describe to the reader how different occurrences relate to other actions, objects, or living things.

Charlotte rejects her mother’s ideology from a young age, and has the perspective to see past the illusions of perfection her mother creates, and Miss. Hancock gives her the weapons to fight her mother. In seventh grade, Miss. Hancock teaches Charlotte about the metaphor, sparking the creativity within Charlotte her mother shunned. The metaphor becomes a symbol throughout the short story, but it also develops into something deeper. The metaphor becomes an allegory of Charlotte 's rebellion against her mother’s influence, and her future. Writing is an outlet, an opportunity for Charlotte to express and understand herself. The form of expression was a gift from Miss. Hancock, who arms her with the power of creativity. “‘My home,’ I said aloud, ‘is a box It is cool and quiet and empty and uninteresting. Nobody lives in the box,” Charlotte says in seventh grade. She has a complex understanding of herself, and is able to articulate her frustrations through metaphors. After graduating out of Miss. Hancock’s seventh grade class, the story picks up introducing the reader to Charlotte as a

Objects can prove to be the cause of some of the most impactful features or events in someone’s life. “Once he finished work on the Prospector and we struck it rich, he’d start work on our Glass Castle.” (Walls 25). The Prospector was a symbol of aspiration, she wanted to have a more exciting and fulfilling life. Although it also represents lies and distrustfulness because her father never actually worked on the Prospector. Instead, he went out and got drunk. The Glass Castle is quite impactful in Jeannette’s life, it gave her hope for a better life. However it’s not just that, it’s confidence in her father. That he will provide for her and create a good life for her, despite the drinking and other horrible habits he has developed. Jeannette

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” This quote perfectly encapsulates the theme of Isabelle Allende’s short story, “And of Clay Are We Created.” Allende’s story is about self-discovery through love and is centered upon the reporter, Rolf Carlé. Although Azucena and the narrator are both monumental in this story, it is through their characters that Carlé is impacted. The devastating avalanche has taken thousands of lives and the earth is changing, but Carlé becomes focused on one girl. In Carlé’s effort to save Azucena, he is actually saving himself and awakening to his fears that he has repressed for so many years.

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

Reading literature allows people to imagine, create, and believe certain things that reality or other written works are not capable of. The same way writers create their literature is the same way readers interpret it. Both readers and writers use imagination to do so. Literature opens a world where every thought/thing is brought to life. In literature, any person, place, or thing could possibly mean more than its’ literal meaning. When writers do so, he or she uses a literacy device called symbolism. Symbolism is when the author uses objects to represent a certain idea, an idea that is beyond its’ actual meaning. In Robert Olen Butler’s “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot” and “The Paring Knife” by Michael Oppenheimer, the authors

In David Almond’s magic realist novel Skellig, the story follows the protagonist Michael, a young boy who is facing many difficulties and challenges in his young life, the author uses a number of language devices to tell his story, including puns, metaphors and similes. However one of the most powerful devices are symbols. The author strongly uses symbols to reinforce character traits and to show the connections between characters throughout the novel. The author constantly refers to the symbols of evolution, death, birds and wings.

In “Lullabies for Little Criminals,” there are many small objects that are relevant to Baby’s life. Objects can have remarkably profound effects on a person’s life, whether they are of sentimental value or another form of personal meaning, they have an impact on us. An object can mean many things to different people. An abandoned doll in a trash bin could be seen as old and ugly to an average person, but to the person who originally owned the doll; it could have been particularly special. In the novel, Heather O’Neil illustrates the effects of such objects on Baby and their symbolic meaning. In “Lullabies for Little Criminals,” there are three objects that

In the novel Evidence of Things Unseen, Marianne Wiggins tells the story of Fos, a World War I vet who is fascinated with radiance and all things that give off light , especially his very own X-ray machine. He falls in love with a girl named Opal and they get married. In a series of events, Fos and Opal adopt a child and name him Lightfoot. Throughout the novel, Fos expresses his love of science and his belief that it can solve any problem. Towards the end, Fos and Opal, with their son, go to work for a government facility where Fos takes pictures and Opal helps with the bookkeeping. Unknown to them, though, the facility was erected for the sole purpose of perfecting the atomic bomb. While staying at this place, Opal and Fos find out that they are both suffering from radiation sickness, Opal succumbing to the effects more rapidly than Fos. He believes that this is due to the X-ray machine, since Opal was X-rayed more often than Fos. Finally, the atomic bombs are dropped on Japan, and Fos puts two and two together: he had contributed to the making of the atomic bomb. This, coupled with Opal’s failing health, causes Fos to feel betrayed by science. An article titled “Out of the nuclear shadow: Scientists and the struggle against the Bomb” by Zia Mian, shows the perspective of some of the scientists behind the making of the atomic bomb; Mian also urges the audience to stop the building of nuclear weapons. Both these texts work to convince the audience not to take science at

Danticat uses a considerable amount of symbols within her writing to dictate the suffering within. One example of such symbolism is Danticat’s implementation of butterflies. Danticat uses such symbolism to suggest the understanding of harsh realities. An example of this understanding is the female narrator and her theory behind butterflies. She believes they are able to send messages, both good and bad. An example of such is seen in the application of the black butterfly at the end of ‘Children of the Sea’. “…and then there it was, the black butterfly floating around us. I began to run and run so it wouldn’t land on me, but it had already carried its news.” (Danticat, 1996). Upon seeing the black butterfly and having it land on the female narrator, she comes to the realisation that the male narrator has died. Another application of symbolism in ‘Children of the Sea’ is the constant references to water within the story. Danticat uses the imagery of water to suggest the limitations of the characters’ worlds. Such allegory relates to

he learned that not everyone had the same. Analyze how symbolism, through one symbol, illuminates a theme in Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. Teach the reader how one object in milkweed helps a reader realize one theme. object, emotion,need/value,

My artifact is brown and black with almost 2 decades’ worth of memories; this object is my stuffed Rottweiler named Max. This artifact, although motionless with four legs, has walked to the moon and back with me as a child full of imagination. This artifact stores the most precious memories and has been with me at every step in my life. Max is very meaningful to me because we have shared many memories, from birth until now. My stuffed animal has been with me through every ups and downs in life, every change that has ever occurred to me, has been a part my past and present; and represents my future.

Having read many pieces of literature through short stories, it is evident that each story has its own unique use of symbolism. Diverse characters in each work of literature are used to demonstrate these forms of symbolism. The boss and his inner conflict illustrate a great deal of symbolism in “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield. The boss’s perception of the actions of the fly creates an interesting view of the comparison of his father-son, father-fly relationship. Katherine Mansfield, a famous realist, who uses concrete images, appeals to many readers because she incorporates her life into the stories she writes.