Analysis Of George Saunders's 'Victory Lap'

Soon after we were given the task of creating a project that featured a topic in history, we knew we wanted to showcase an event that activated equal rights for a minority group in which few people were familiar with. After extensive internet searching and multiple futile topic attempts, Madison remembered her mom, a former collegiate runner, mentioning various elite runners faced with social obstacles. Billy Mills’ groundbreaking Olympic performance seemed an ideal topic choice for our common interest in Native cultures as well as equal rights activists.

In Tim O’brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, O’brien connects with the reader’s emotion. which allows one to feel the same feelings as the characters in the novel. The Things They Carried, not only pulls on the reader’s emotion by context, but also through rhetorical strategies. O’Brien’s novel discusses the tragedies of the war in a way so differently than most other works of fiction. O’brien employs vivid imagery, strong anaphora, and thought provoking metaphors to develop an emotional connection with the reader, but to also cause the audience to feel the emotions of the characters throughout O’brien’s novel.

Madeline Whittier is a sick seventeen year old girl. She has been sick since she was a baby. She is not able to be outside for she will die. Her mom is trying to protect her from the outside world. She is stuck in her house all day long in her white room, with her white bed, with her white clothing.

“The Book Thief” presented a story filled with various themes that comprised a powerful plot line. Although there were many themes in the story, there was one that stood out to me more than others. In the process of reading the book, the theme of suffering affected me the most. The definition of the word suffer is to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant. Different characters within the story are subjected to dreadful feelings and are therefore suffering. Through my analyzation, I observed the three different types of suffering that the characters experienced: guilt, feelings of emptiness, and anxiety. The characters of “The Book Thief” experience these three types of suffering in different ways.

Danielle Evans’ short story, “Someone Ought to Tell Her There’s Nowhere to Go”, is a well-crafted narrative that is primarily based off a character named Georgie, who suffers from PTSD and faces many hardships in his personal life as he tries to build a relationship with his former girlfriend Lanae, and her daughter Esther. Evans successfully uses literary elements such as symbolism and foreshadowing in order to effectively appeal to the reader and explain how Georgie is struggling in his new lifestyle. These aspects further help to magnify Evans ethical and emotional appeal to her audience.

After reading this book, the reader feels as if they took something from the story

And, furthermore, I feel why this novel became bestselling one and won numerous award. This arouses ‘moved by story’s reversal’ to

Imagine living in a world where controlling happiness with the turn of a switch is possible, imagine always living in a state of oblivion, what a lovely dream. Well, dreams do not always come true, individuals are constantly reminded of the harsh realities of everyday life, they are constantly trying to escape. Through simile and repetition, Vonnegut illuminates how individuals are constantly looking for escapes from the reality of life in an attempt to find happiness.

One of her most worrisome issues, the rotaries, was obliterated in a good, but also at an unfortunate time, “I looked back at the road, easing myself closer to the rotary traffic,” and that was it she was starting to accomplish her goal, successfully navigating the rotary, “I turned the wheel, leaning into the first turn,”(15) she did it, she finally did it, even though it wasn’t a completely joyus accomplishment. This event had just followed the breakup of the persona and Anthony, she had done this after exciting the ferris wheel abruptly , she drove off and “felt [herself] fall into the rhythm of the cars around [her]”(15). Another person that caused the narrator to fulfill her goals of going through the rotary was the young girl with her father at the carnival. When the girl solidly says, “I want to [ride the ferris wheel],”(12) that drastically changes the narrator for the better, to try and get around the large circle of traffic. The girl’s persistence was a moment of realization for the narrator, she became conscious of the fact that if the little girl could succeed in going on the ferris wheel then she, herself could succeed in the rotary. She even used the young child as mental motivation until the end of the story. On the other hand, the persona of the story didn’t overcome all of her troubles. The most major issue left dangling like the last leaf on a tree at the end of fall was her relationship problems with Anthony. When she ignored the issue and flighted from the situation, that only made it worse. She had “pushed him away, [she] hadn’t known exactly why” she just knew that “it hadn’t felt right”(13). This choice was now a good one for the girl, instead of breaking up with Anthony sooner and just ripping the band-aid off, she left it alone until they had both had it and ended the relationship with no if, ands, or buts. Although

Sara Zarr's novel Story of a Girl is a journey through the mind of a young un-loved girl as she attempts to get through life daily. Thirteen year old Deanna Lambert was caught by her father in the back of Tommy Webber's Buick , parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o'clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was a seventeen year old friend of her brother, Darren. In a moment, Deanna Lambert's teenage life chaged complely forever. She was struggling to overcome the role of being the "school slut," Deanna tries to escape a life defined by her past.

An individual’s identity is an ever changing composition of a person’s aspirations, beliefs and morality. Identity change is often influenced by many aspects of an individual’s life, but individuals must always return to their roots in order to stay true to their morality. This internal struggle over one’s identity is successfully illustrated in the characters of Three Day Road. In the novel, Joseph Boyden vividly recounts the journey of two Native Canadian soldiers, Xavier and Elijah, who struggle with identity loss from the adversity of the Great War. Through their harrowing experiences from the battlefield, they experience a dissipation of morals which is only recovered in Xavier, the sole survivor, through Niska’s stories of her past, his own past, and of the

In the book Bodega Dreams, the author Ernesto Quiñonez talks about a scenario in East Harlem that is filled with controversy and dilemma. Narrator and main character Chino, is forced to perform endless tasks for William Bodega, a character who hopes for the better of the community while also trying to chase love. At the same time though, he is trying to make the best out of his relationship, preparing to be a father, and attempting to do well in school. In the end, Chino realizes that he is being manipulated by a different person trying to gain the love Bodega wanted, costing Bodega’s life and accomplishments, while also costing Chino his time and marriage. Bodega Dreams is ultimately a story of tragedy, as demonstrated with the betrayal and murder of Willie Bodega, by his trusted colleague and best friend, Edwin Nazario.

The story starts with Gabriella rushing towards Jasper hospital on a cold winter day. At the hospital, she is asked to sit down and wait for a while. While sitting on a couch she thinks of the incident that happened three weeks ago.

It seems sometimes like the market for young adult literature is written down to the readers, almost in a condescending manner. That is why a book like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is so refreshing in this sea of cookie cutter romances and fantasies. While classified as a young adult novel, it deals with very serious themes. The book’s cover comes printed with this label: “It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.” It is a dark allusion to what is to come. But Zusak makes this story more accessible to the audience he is writing to and does this by creating identifiable characters, by bringing humor into

About a boy, written in 1998 by Nick Hornby explores the themes of mental health, 1990's culture and family through the friendship of two characters; Will, a thirty-six-year-old bachelor and Marcus, A 12-year-old outcast. In about a boy, the author has used a range of aesthetic devices that shape character representation. An Aesthetic device is an element that authors intentionally use to create intellectual/emotional responses in their novel. This analytical essay will explore how Nick Hornby has used irony, point of view and stream of consciousness to shape character representation.