Skeleton And October Mountain

In ‘The Graveyard Book’, the author, Neil Gaiman conforms to the conventions of fantasy genre, by making the novel have a deep and much hidden meaning, which the reader may not identify at first glance. However, Neil Gaiman also subverts from the conventions of fantasy genre, because of the reversal in roles of traditional characters, in typical fantastical stories. ‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman, is a children’s fantasy novel. This book is about a boy, named Nobody (Bod) Owens, who is taken in, raised and educated by supernatural inhabitants of a graveyard, after his family was murdered by ‘the man Jack’. How and why Neil Gaiman chooses to conform to and subvert from the fantasy genre, will be

Ray Bradbury had a lot of amazing creativity that helped him to explore multiple genres, giving readers

Ray Bradbury proves his brilliancy in writing in his famous short-story, The Fog Horn. He uses profound imagery and details in his description leaving every reader breathless in suspense. Additionally, Bradbury includes his own worldview of the nature of man in this story. Through Bradbury’s The Fog Horn, readers understand the brokenness of man.

W.H. Auden once said, “Poetry is the clear expression of mixed feelings.” When comparing “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Eating Poetry” by Mark Strand their works incorporate horrid elements within their works, which creates apprehension in the reader. The writing styles of these authors provoke this apprehension. The similar characteristics of “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Eating Poetry”, including captivating introductions that present an eerie setting, use of theatrical imagery, and descriptive enticing language, are crucial components to developing one’s mood while reading.

Narrative texts can be interpreted in a variety of different ways and Crew’s techniques are unique and compelling. They grasp the reader’s attention by beginning the novel with a first person narration and talking directly to the audience outside of the novel’s context. The novel is historical fiction set in the 19th century with references from other novels that emerged in the 20th century. While reading the story there is a blurred line between fact and fiction of historical events through the use of fictocriticism. Gary crew contrived brilliantly for the young narrator to connect and relate to secondary school students. The allusions in Voicing the dead are obvious with the literately and genre techniques of Fictocriticism.

In his short story, “The Last Night of the World”, Ray Bradbury explores the rhetorical question by asking, “What would you do if you knew that this was the last night of the world?” (Bradbury 1). Wondering why or how it could possibly be the last night of the world, the wife presumes to ask if it is due to a war, a hydrogen, an atomic bomb or because of the germ warfare. Nevertheless, it was simply due to the fact that, that night was “the closing of a book” (Bradbury 1). Through the characters thoughts and actions Bradbury is able to express the ability of acceptance in things that cannot be changed and accepting and overcoming the thought and feeling of fear. Bradbury presents endless thoughts yet understandings within the characters.

Through powerful metaphors and lilting language, Stiefvater bewitches her readers. She has a “matchless style” full of “unusual metaphors… and a deft ability to mesh the eerie and fanciful into one seamless description”

Neil Gaiman has a unique style of writing that is unlike any other writer of today. He is able to create fantastical, eerie stories seems painfully real and largely humorous. However, the most interesting quality about Gaiman and his writings is not his uniqueness, but his ability to use whatever medium of print to its fullest. Whether it be the novel with The Graveyard Book, the children’s book with The Wolves in the Walls, or the graphic novel with The Sandman: Dream Country, Neil Gaiman expertly uses the pages and text to be something quite meaningful to the readers. The works themselves are distinctively Gaiman in tone and style, containing elements that continue to make him a popular modern writer.

One of the most well-known modern writers, Stephen King has become a master of weaving minute details together to form intricate plots and settings. To the average reader Stephen Kings works of horror are the epitome of greatness and fear as far as books and writing is concerned. However to a literary critic the unorganized story lines and the overwritten plots become a hassle to read. Many critics are stunned to see how successful King has become based off his simple prose and messy writing. Kings success is directly related to his ability to paint pictures in the readers head. King is very descriptive in his scenarios and settings which draw the reader in.

This essay will argue that the commercial success and use of genre in popular fiction alone is not sufficient grounds to condemn it as inferior to so called ‘serious literature’. Arguably, a successful work of genre fiction can be high quality if the right literary techniques are used and if the writing is high quality. This will be shown by examining what elements distinguish literature from popular fiction and offering counter augments to these claims; as well as refuting that the terms ‘formulaic’, ‘commercial’ and ‘escapist’ should be used in a negative context. Additionally, this essay will take two examples of popular fiction; The Black Dahlia by James Elroy and The Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice to demonstrate that popular fiction can have literary qualities.

What makes a book great? Is it the book’s ability to relate to your past, to impress you with its dynamic characters, or another reason that may be only understood by the reader? There are many things that factor into the greatness of a novel. The characteristics which define a novel as being “great” can differ depending on the person, organization, or other collective which has chosen to read that selected literature. In 2015, the Vermont College of Fine Arts devised a competition that would pit various pieces of literature against each other. In order to qualify for the Vermont Book Award, the novel had to have strong ties to Vermont either through its story line or through the background of the author. Titles such as Belzhar, Like Water on Stone, and If Only You People Could Follow Directions were all considered by the judges selected by the College of Fine Arts. In order to rank the books that were included in this competition, a judge must find what, in their mind, separates an excellent book from the greatest book.

Horror fiction, also known as horror literature or horror fantasy, is a genre that has the main intension of frightening or startling its readers or viewers. The main component that a horror-fiction must have is the success in stimulating that feelings of horror, which is defined as "a painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, or revolting". This feeling can be propelled in an audience through sub-genres of horror such as serial killers, monsters, paranormal and of course, zombies. Horror fiction has evolved since the late eighties, which is a period know as 'horror's boom time', losing its morals to the modern theme of blood and gore. This essay will discuss the similarities and differences of the messages included in the horror texts of The Others and The Hole and how these messages are conveyed to the audience.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King is a large collection of short stories, with genres varying from horror to adventure to romance. Stories such as “The Moving Finger” or “You Know They’ve Got a Hell of a Band” may frighten a reader into submission, while tales such as “Head Down” or “The Doctor’s Case” may intrigue or puzzle a reader as King takes them on this literary journey. In these perhaps frightening or eloquent collection of stories, Stephen King uses literary elements such as symbolism, deus ex machina, and negative capability to improve his stories into the mind-blowing works of art they currently are. First, many of the characters and settings found in stories such as “Dolan’s Cadillac” and “You Know They’ve got a Hell of

Weird fiction is a hot topic of debate in the world of genres. Some people feel like weird fiction could be easily classified as a sub genre to horror or supernatural fiction; while others argue that the conventions of weird fiction are so unique, that it’s substantial enough to be classified as a genre of its own. What 's unique about stories in weird fiction, according to the VanderMeers (editors of The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories) is “Because The Weird is as much a sensation as it is a mode of writing, the most keenly attuned amongst us will say ‘I know it when I see it,’ by which they mean ‘I know it when I feel it…” In regard to this, weird fiction is supposed to make its audience question if the seemingly fixed laws of our universe are truly fixed. As a result, a key point in weird fiction is to explore these unfixed laws, to go beyond what is ordinary to us, to understand what is unknown. That 's where the chilling and uneasy aspect of weird fiction comes in. In exploring this unknown realm, there are things that we may not want to understand—wish we didn’t understand. However, as audiences of these weird stories, we have complete freedom as to whether or not we want to accept this unforsaken fate or turn a blind eye and carry on in our normal world. In order to further push along weird fiction in its quest to becoming its own genre, as authors, my group members and I wrote a story that we feel falls into this genre of

Authors that write in the horror genre use many strategies to lure the reader in and terrify them into thinking something is there when in reality there is nothing, they do this by having an creepy setting, plot resolution and the increasing of suspense. The easiest and possibly the most common is the factor of setting and the creepiness it adds to the story and suspense given to the reader. Secondly authors use the technique of insufficient plot resolution, or an cliffhanger in an story. A final technique that authors use to captivate an reader into an horror story is the act of suspense that an author creates. These strategies have been used in many horror stories to captivate readers and bring out their worst fears and keep the reader reading in fear.