Character Development In The Short Story 'Dancer' By Vickie Sears

The development of characters transpire as a result of significant events in their lives. Events such as learning a new skill have the ability to transform a character’s life. Estrella in Helena Maria Viramontes’ novel Under the Feet of Jesus flourishes into an individual who once got upset over skills she did not have and was upset at the process of learning, but now understands how vital education is. Estrella was infuriated by her lack of understanding about the Perfecto’s tools and the letters on the chalkboard. She was especially agitated when the educators would not give her the answer right away The selection of detail shows the connection between two things she overcame. The tone and figurative language shows more detail about Estrella’s transformation.

However, as the plot progress, she becomes a dynamic character resulting through character development. For example, this quote states, “She just seemed like she was full up with anger and scardness like lots of kids who come to me”(Sears 18). To elaborate, this displays the characterization of Clarissa, as it is an early description of herself in the beginning of the story. In contrast, this quote states, “The angry part of her slowed down, she wasn’t hitting the animals or chopping on herself with sticks like when she was doing when she first come”(Sears 20). To further explain, this quote shows the character development of Clarissa, as the story progresses, it causes her to become a dynamic character. Furthermore, it explains how she changes into a more content, and well-balanced individual in contrast with her early characterization. To conclude, the use of characterization allowed Clarissa to become dynamic, as it made the story more interesting, and therefore improves the effectiveness of the story.

In the short story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, the author uses literary techniques to characterize Rachel. Sandra uses literary techniques; imagery, point-of-view, and repetition to characterize Rachel. Imagery was used to describe how Rachel feels in the text. The author explained how she felt in a way that people could imagine it. For example, when Rachel says “my whole head hurts like when you drink milk too fast.”

The poem "The Harlem Dancer" is specifically about a women who dances. This is evident from the first two lines "applauding youth laughed with young prostitutes and watched her perfect, half clothed body sway." Despite the fact that the woman is a dancer the speaker finds beauty in her. He compares her voice to "blended flutes" given her an elegant qualities that seems to contradict the environment she is in. The speaker notices the way in which she carries herself on stage, with grace and calm. Even though she's a dancer she carries her self with pride, and in a way this shines more of her beauty. In line 10 reality finally sets in for the speaker when he acknowledges the "tossed coins in praise". He had been so mesmerized by the woman's elegance

Short stories have fully developed themes but appear significantly shorter and less elaborate than novels. A similar theme found in short stories “Winter Dreams” written by Scott F. Fitzgerald and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner included the social and environmental influences that encouraged and controlled the character’s life and decisions. In “Winter Dreams”, the main protagonist-- Dexter-- fell into a fixation over a young, whimsical blueblood, Judy Jones. His obsession led him to believe that Judy Jones reciprocated his feelings for her, leaving him bare and mortal-- despite prior beliefs. Following her father’s death, Miss Emily fell into a dark obscurity due to the pressure and compulsion of having to carry on the honorable family name. While using a unique point of view (first person peripheral), “A Rose for Emily” followed a mysterious and desirable woman named Miss Emily as her hometown tried to understand her peculiar ways and began to find her disgraceful. By comparing and contrasting these two literary pieces, a similar organization-- including the writers’ purpose and themes-- should become clear. By using literary devices-- such as point of view, dramatic irony, detail, and figurative language-- Scott F. Fitzgerald and William Faulkner conducted two short stories similar in aim and reasoning, probable for contrasting and comparing elements within the parallel writings.

It is in these actions that the character’s traits are established. It is in this that we, the readers, get to “see” what kind of character thee people are: friendly, sad, nosey, love-struck, adventurous, etc. When we discuss characters in literature, poetry, and even film, we often describe them in terms of their character traits, descriptive adjectives that define the specific qualities of the character. The author/ poet/ director may present this directly, but often times, they show us this in action. Our job as readers/ viewers is to draw conclusions about the character’s traits (infer them). Below is a list of ways we can determine the traits of the character we are studying:

Recently the class and I read a short story called Blue Against White, which focuses on the importance of memories during childhood and how it affects one's life. Jeannette C. Armstrong the author, uses writing techniques like symbolism through common motifs to aid the reader to have a better understanding of the the hidden morals within the story.  Literary elements that were applied in the story includes plot and character which also had immense connections towards the author itself. This can be shown through the word choice and the placement of the setting, which displayed a large significance in assisting the reader through imagery. The fact that Jeannette C. Armstrong developed such a self-discovery story helps bring attention

This literary analysis will show how how Laura’s skills in writing a beautiful theme, developing characters throughout the book, describing the importance of setting and use of author's craft.

One artistic aspect of the book is that Stockett chose to tell the story from three different women’s perspectives. Using this stylistic technique helps keep the reader more engaged in the book. Each woman, whether it be Aibileen, Minny, or Skeeter, uses a

The effect of Sally on Clarissa's life runs deep, as she is a close friend as well as a physical attraction. In fact, in

The story that this research paper is being written over is “A&P” by John Updike. This story is filled with good grammar and has a well written plot and good transition. A person reading the story “A&P” could see it as an interesting story filled with good symbolism. The main character, Sammy, uses a great deal of symbolism when describing the three girls in bathing suits who walked into the store he works in. the three girls in bathing suits that walked into the store where the center of the whole story. Whether it was the fat girl, the chubby-faced girl or the girl identified as the “queenie”, Sammy still went into great detail about the girls that came into the A&P store especially the one he named the queen. Through using the bathing suits, the main character Sammy established several points of symbolism in the story such as what the suits meant about each of the girls status and personality.

“Geraldine Moore the Poet”, by Toni Cade Bambara, is a story told in third person that centers on a girl who has lost her home. There are two major settings in the story. The first is at her building. This is an important setting because that is where she finds out that she has lost her house. It is where she sees her items in boxes and has to eat tomato soup for dinner instead of chicken and dumplings. This is also an important setting because it fuels Geraldine’s pessimistic feelings and the way she acts in the second major setting. The second setting is in Mrs. Scott’s classroom when Geraldine is asked to write a poem. This setting is important because it builds up to the final theme. Furthermore on the setting, the story takes place during recessed times in the city. It is most likely in the city because on the way home, Geraldine passes by a hot dog man, which is common in the city but uncommon elsewhere. It is in recessed times because the hot dog man’s business does not seem to be faring well, and neither does Geraldine’s. This is because they are living in recessed times when the economy is not doing well. The major moods in the story are sympathy and hope. It is sympathy because all of these unfortunate things are happening to Geraldine and she seems currently to have a

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

Josie's perspective of her grandmother changes from viewing her as nagging old women to having a loving, caring, respectful relationship with her. The narrative, which is written in first person, enables the reader to see the stages in which her perspective changes as she gains knowledge about her grandmother and also how it is her own actions that

The short story is a concise form of narrative prose that is usually simpler and more direct compared to longer works of fiction such as novels. Therefore, because of their short length, short stories rely on many forms of literary devices to convey the idea of a uniform theme seen throughout the script. This theme is illustrated by using characteristics that are developed throughout the story such as, plot, setting and characters. The three main components are developed throughout the story in order to guide the reader to the underlying theme, which is necessary as a short story lacking a theme also lacks meaning or purpose.