The book After, written by Amy Efaw, is an addictive, action-packed book. The fiction story is about a girl named Devon Sky Davenport who was pregnant, but in denial. She wakes up one morning, sick, and stays home from school that day. That night, she gives birth at home by herself, and throws the baby in the trash after putting it in a garbage bag. Devon goes to jail where she makes friends and has to cooperate with her lawyer. Devon can’t remember anything from the night when she gave birth but as things start clicking into place, Devon realizes what she has done, and starts having suicidal thoughts. Devon must tell her lawyer the details, although it is hard, so she can be tried in a juvenile court and only get 5 years, but if she doesn’t …show more content…
The author uses a great deal of detail when describing characters. For example, the author wrote, “Yellow…yellow. The color of Devon’s mom’s hair. The color of a sun breaking through the flat gray clouds. Of a lemon drop. Devon allows her eyes to droop closed for a moment.” I can distinctly imagine the appearance of the characters because the author uses the detail that he does. The plot of this book moves quickly because she starts to remember things from That Night from flashbacks that happen often. The text reads, “She steps slightly closer to him, lets her shoulder brush his arm as they walk hand in hand. Lets her hip bump into his. Once. Then. Twice….” The author uses plenty of imagery when describing places and people. For example, the author wrote, “Devon’s eyes skim over the room’s three rectangular tables and finds that vacant seat indicated. It’s beside the pale girl with the breads. The girl scoots her chair back to make room for Devon, presenting the seat with an open hand, her crooked smile creeping back over her face.” The author’s tone in this book is stressful, and outraged. An example from the story includes, “No! Get out of here! Devon’s mom lunges at the man, grabbing his shoulders from behind, her long nails digging into his jacket. Get the hell out of here! Are you hearing me? The other man, the one in the uniform, appears suddenly, pulling Devon’s mom off of the first man.” The theme of this story is displacement. Devon is a girl who gets good grades, is involved in sports, and gets her work done on time. She is not someone you would expect to be in jail, and she is so much different from her peers in jail. I can apply this lesson in my life because if I am ever in a place where I feel uncomfortable and out of place, I know that it will end soon. This lesson will make a change in my future
The book the I am reading is called Dead And Gone, By Norah McClintock. Furthermore the book is about an 14 year old boy named Mike who's parents have died and know has to live with his foster parent John Riel. In the book Mike has to serve community service for stealing CD's. Working at the community center Mike meets a girl who's mother got murdered, And Riel knows something about the murder because he was an ex police officer. During this time, the police had found a body that mite of been Emily's mother. The main theme of the book is crime, murder, drama, adventure, and thriller.
The book I read this summer and one of my all-time favorite novels is November Blues. The book is the second part of the Jericho series. It was written by a phenomenal author Sharon M. Draper. November Blues follows two characters. November Nelson is a 16 year old girl who finds out she is pregnant by her late boyfriend who recently passed away in a hazing accident. Jericho Prescott, a 16 year old boy, who is depressed because he just lost his cousin who was like a brother to him in the same hazing prank he was in. I adore this book because it deals with real life adolescent problems; like relationships, bullying, school, and pregnancy.
I read Stella as a bit of an enabler for both her sister and her husband. I read Stanley as being overly indulgent and self-righteous in his actions. Although the sister in law was annoying she did little to harm him. The book read more pure and I was able to understand the characters from my own perspective and experience. But, I’m mainly going to focus on two themes, masculinity and fantasy vs reality.
Vivid images can be found abundantly throughout the novel and helps to portray scenes to the point where the audience can actually imagine, smell, touch, and hear everything that is going on. “No matter how they scrubbed their hands, the residue of Red Hot Mama had a way of sticking round, as pesty and persistent as a chaperone at a high school dance.” (158). In some instances the audience can acquire a sense, based on the description whether the characters are self absorbed, considerate, or overly concerned about their appearance. “I ought to be shot for looking like this” she’d tell the mirror in the front hall before going out the door. “I look like I’ve been drug through hell backwards,” she would say on and ordinary day. “Like death warmed over. Like something the cat puked up.” (103). The emergence of the images presented in the novel can help present a better understanding and in some cases, a connection to one of the
In the opening paragraphs, the author's description of the characters creates an easy, inevitable story for the ready to understand. For example, Jackson describes how at first the young boy is entering the house like any other child would do before his imagination goes grim, saying: “He came running home the same way, the front door slamming open, his cap on the floor, and the voice suddenly become raucous shouting…” By describing how Laurie comes home, Jackson gives the readers a clear understanding of how Laurie is actually going to act. Furthermore, Laurie acts as if Charles is indeed another kid instead of admitting to all his wrongdoings saying, “Charles yelled so in school they sent a boy in from first grade to tell the teacher she had to make Charles keep quiet, and so Charles had to stay after school. And so all the children stayed to watch him.” Jackson uses Charles to hid the fact it is Laurie doing all these things and that is why Laurie was late for lunch that day. When the innocent boy becomes an alternate character, Jackson simultaneously shows the innocent and the evil in the grim reality of human nature, marrying the normal with the abnormal and joining the usual with the unusual to describe how Laurie was trying to get out of trouble. Indeed, Jackson manipulates characters to more forcefully promote the underlying message of inherent evil through lying which exists in all
There are a lot of characters, but i’m going to only name three, Guy Montag, his job is a firefighter who burns books but mentally likes books, he is a protagonist, and a person who changes society. Clarrise, she was spotted by Montag at night. Clarisse likes to talk, and is always in a good mood. She was always considered “ the crazy girl “. Clarisse enjoyed nature, but one night she was hit by a car and died. The third character is Faber, Faber is an old college professor. Faber acts different and knows a lot about books that are banned. Faber has been asked about certain books and paragraphs. Faber was always thought as an old man
Setting: The setting in this book is extremely important. The backdrop of World War II is reflected on the lives of the boys at Devon. At the beginning of the book Devon is portrayed as paradise according to the main character Gene. The author really paints a picture in your mind when he is describing Devon. Like for instance the trees, the animals, and the rivers. “Devon is sometimes considered the most beautiful school in New England, and even on this dismal afternoon its power was asserted. It is the beauty of small areas of order ” (Knowles 12). The story would be different with a different setting because Devon is away from all the world’s troubles in a way. It has the appeal
By giving the reader a visual representation to go along with the written text, Chast allows the reader to better understand what she is feeling in that exact moment. On page 137, Chast draws herself completely different in each panel. On this page she is describing her dinner experience with her parents one night in the dining room of “The Place”. Elizabeth (her mother) is asking George (her father) how many olives he wants, and this page depicts the back and forth argument that ensues about how many he should eat. In the first panel, Chast draws herself and her parents sitting at the table having a calm conversation. In the second panel, she draws the beginning of the argument, showing her mother’s amazement through her bulging eyes and large speech bubble that covers most of the panel. In a later panel, after making a suggestion that she thought would solve all the confusion, Chast draws herself in a cap and gown outfit alongside a Nobel Peace Prize trophy. This depiction emphasizes how she felt her suggestion would be appreciated by her parents, and also gives the reader the ability to understand her parent’s tendency to create large problems out of small disagreements. In the last panel, Chast’s parents violently scream at her for her suggestion, shown by the the large speech bubble outlined by a jagged edge. Chast was able to express five different emotions in just eight panels without using words to describe her feelings. By doing this, she is tapping into the reader's emotions; not only are the readers reading her story about this moment but they are also in the story with her. By giving the reader visuals that are easily related to, Chast makes the reader they feel the frustration just as she does. On top of showing her exact feelings towards her parents on this page, she also shows her parents’ personalities and how situations just like this one
The story is composed mostly by short sentences and the vocabulary used is simple. These are employed to make the girl’s narration more verisimil, given she is still a young child. It is intriguing that throughout the text there are a few longer, more complex sentences among simple ones. This could be an indication of how the narrator is forced to grow up because of the situation she is in. Although she is still young, she now has the responsibilities of an adult. Even if she does not talk or think about it openly, this shows through the text as the story develops.
“A book is a device to ignite the imagination”(Alan Bennett). Some authors are able to ignite millions of imaginations with their thought-provoking writing styles. One way they do this is with imagery. Vivid descriptions can make a book enjoyable to read even if the plot is dark and depressing. As well as making the text sound interesting, imagery can provide a better understanding of the themes or characters in the story.
The main character of this story is Emily Grierson. The author does a good job of introducing her to the story noting in the first sentence, “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral…” (Bohner 404). From the beginning the reader gets a sense of interest in Emily and that she was played an important role in her town. Emily’s character as described by the narrator is very consistent. She was raised as a person of wealth who was sheltered from the outside world. Emily seems to have a lack of finesse when dealing with other people finesse, a person of wealth and class should have. Emily’s character was strong yet weak at the same time and the narrator notes this in her altercation with the druggist. “She carried her head high enough-even
Explain how the author uses details of sights and sounds to help you picture the setting in your mind as you read.
Equally important in the story is the use of characterization to show the reader exactly who the protagonist in the story is and what kind of life she is living, we first read of her sisters and how they act in contrast to the protagonist: “I [the narrator] wasn't even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn't do the girl things they could
The chapter really showed me just how powerful the book was going to be. Reading the first chapter really shocked me because there was a lot of racism and sexual abuse. The thing that made keep reading the book was to see if Celie was ever going to stick up for herself. The impact that The Color Purple had on me was very emotional since it related to a lot of the problems we are dealing with today in our society. It really made me more aware of these world-wide problems and how they really need to be stopped. The author really made an effect on the reader with a shocking opening line “You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy,” (Walker,1). I think Walker really wanted to have the first line really have an impact on the reader and make them want to continue reading. Walker also made an effect on the reader by using poor grammar to get to know the character. The book was the opposite you would expect to see in a normal book. Walker tested the rules of literature by using colloquial language and awful spelling to ale the book stand out. I believe that the book is realistic fiction because it’s a lot alike how things were back in the day. The main character was Celie she was the protagonist and the narrator of the story. Shug Avery was Celie’s lover and without her would probably not be able to stand up for herself. The character Squeak is mixed black and white ethnicity,
Going through high school everyone is constantly trying to find out how to become liked by many. Today's teens are turning to false fronts to achieve this. The thought of being authentic is completely foreign to many. In my personal life going through high school I have experience with all types of people from those who are just trying to do what they believe to be genuine, along with those who only do what will please others. Finding ourselves is difficult, it's hard to be ourselves when we don't know ourselves. Some may say I have a bias, but since I've experienced the varying levels of authenticity, my argument is impartial. Finding an exact definition for authenticity is difficult, but the most fitting for today is to be genuine to oneself as well as others.