On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft By Stephen King

Throughout section three, one can frequently see King’s use of figurative language to reiterate his points. Metaphors more

King’s writing was both fair and accurate. He seemed to have done lots of research, and written only the facts that had been proven. When he did write anything that seemed a little exaggerated, he would always source the statement making sure the reader knew that he was only stating what someone else said, not the complete truth. King also shows both sides of the story. He gives all characters an equal chance to prove themselves. As seen best with Lorenzo, King praises him first with Lorenzo’s doors, but then he expresses Lorenzo’s incompetence towards the wooden

In the short essay, “Becoming a Writer,” penned by Russell Baker, he spoke of a memory from his past that later changed his perception of writing. After reading his piece, I reviewed the response questions listed below the essay to further my understanding of the piece. Almost like looking through a list of prompts as Russell did.

In Becoming A Writer, author Junot Diaz reveals a theme: Hard work pays off. The story is about a writer who has been working for so long and is very tired, exhausted, and hard working showing how long it took him to become a writer and what he went through to persevere and become a writer. The story takes place at the author’s desk at 7 A.M. The main character, Junot, has a conflict when he can’t concentrate and focus on writing a novel and becoming a writer. The author writes, “There was no sudden miracles. It took two more years of heartbreak, of being utterly dismayingly lost before the novel I have dreamed about for all those years finally started revealing itself. And another three years after that before I could look up from my desk and say the word I’d wanted to say for more than a decade done.” Junot says this after he completes all of his writing and has all his hard work on paper so he can say the word “done” proudly. This reveals perseverance through frustration because Junot is trying desperately to finish this writing with all the frustration in his head he perseveres through it. This suggests that if you work hard enough in life it will pay off eventually. But, during this frustration of writing Junot is pushing through it and getting his novel done by thinking of all his hard work leading up to this novel being finished. Further, it illustrates how Junot became the writer he is today and what he did to get there. Junot stayed up all night to finish this novel

King incorporates a myriad of stylistic devices that shape and develop the theme of the passage in the book. Through the periodic use of rhetorical questions such as,

The essay “Writing is Easy”, by Steve Martin, is a hysterical essay that is comical in a way that I don’t think the author intended. I think the essay is funny mainly because there is a part that is ironic for me that I can relate to. Although there is other parts in the essay that could be humorous as well, I couldn’t get over one certain section of it. The funniest segment of the story is, “Go to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down in your manuscript. Usually, that sentence will lead you to another sentence, and pretty soon your own ideas will start to flow. If they don't, copy down the next sentence in the novel. You can safely use up to three sentences of someone else's work - unless you're

Throughout his article “Reading to Write” Stephen King uses his own distinct use of diction to create a comfortable and natural rhythm. King uses diction to his advantage in multiple instances. When describing his own

Authors use literary elements and techniques as tools to convey meaning. These devices are the means by which authors bring richness and clarity to a text. They express moods or feelings that allow the reader to connect with the writing. In On Writing, the author, Stephen King makes use of literary elements to tell his story. The techniques King uses are effective in portraying vivid images and feelings in the reader’s mind.

The Importance of Writing Badly was written by Bruce Ballenger. His intended audience are students who are victims of strict English teachers as well as the strict English teachers, themselves. In his essay, Ballenger portrays that students are more focused on being grammatically correct than the message in their essays. This is because of teachers who grade strictly on grammar errors and punctuation. Ballenger says, “A colleague of mine, an Ivy League graduate, is among the self-appointed grammar police, complaining often about the dumb mistakes his students make in their papers. I don’t remember him ever talking about what his students are trying to say in those papers.” (Page 74). Bruce Ballenger has effectively argued and persuaded his intended audience with his use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

When King gets up there to speak, he knows that he is fighting and uphill battle and the only way to persevere is with the power of numbers. King does what not many can do through the power of speech, he makes a nation realize that there is know true constraint holding them back from making change for the better of their great nation. King uses multiple metaphors in his speech to connect with the audience and create and emotional bond, one that they can relate to, a bond that unifies the masses to feel and understand what King is

To set the mood in this piece, King describes where he is writing his work and calls it his “far-seeing place,”(103). He says that he is writing this chapter at his desk down in his well lit basement in the winter, and this place is his sanctum away from the stresses of life. By writing about his current setting in his sanctuary, King showed that he was just like any one of us. King reads books as a release from life’s frustrations.

a range of bizzare similes in both passages that make these stories stay true to the past and

In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he imitates the use of metaphors to further appeal to the audience through

A blue house, red shutters, and a white picket fence with a border collie. Three kids are running around in the front lawn up on a hilltop. That is what the American dream is right? The American dream is truly in the eye of the beholder. One might think that the American dream is an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, but others might want the smell of fresh cut grass in a small suburb. It’s whatever the person who is working for it wants it to be. As we can see in the play, all of the main characters might be striving for an American dream, but none of them are striving for their same American dream.

Many times throughout the speech, King applied the use of anaphora. King purposefully added anaphora to make his speech more memorable. His most famous lines of “I have a dream”(King) is anaphora. The repetition of that phrase in the beginning of sentences towards the conclusion of his speech, gives his audience the last encouragement they need. What it encourages is for them to keep fighting, though they want to give up. As well as giving King’s audience a sense of hope and optimism. Toward the beginning of King’s speech, he applies anaphora by stating the phrase “One hundred years later”(King). The utilization of that phrase is to say that things have not changed and they need to. One hundred years prior to King’s speech race was an issue;