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The Scarlet Ibis Short Story Essay

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What defines a story as great? Is it the setting, the plot, or even the characters? A famous author name Mary Rival once said, “In order to deem a story great, it must engage the reader, use language purposefully, and encourage the reader to learn something about themselves or their world in the process.” Each of these three ideas are shown and developed in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst; However, what makes this story truly great is the use of irony, descriptive character personalities, and how readers can relate with the characters. This story follows the early life of the narrator, Brother, as he reflects on the time that he shared with his younger brother Doodle, readers can see the impact these brothers made on each other and their lives as a whole. Making a great and impactful story can be done in many ways, in the case of “The Scarlet Ibis,” the irony, the personalities, and the relatability are used to push the limits of a “great story,” to creative a truly astounding narrative. Irony is one of the key ways of making “The Scarlet Ibis” a great story. It keeps readers involved by having them question the outcomes of different situations and wondering about their view. One of the most prominent uses of irony is when Brother says, “...but having a brother who was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow”(Hurst 158). Readers then find out that he did not actually kill his brother.This

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