Maxine Clair’s fifth-grade summer world started off with an exploding cherry bomb and a one-eyed friend. The explosion of the cherry bomb would end up leading to the author's first gift on a day other than Christmas, and the authors greatest memory during her fifth-grade summer. As she recalls her summer, now decades later, she not only utilizes the true essence of a fifth grader's language, but also the diction used in her childhood days combined with immense imagery and simile to bring her summer to life. Starting off with a picture of how days were when she experienced her fifth-grade summer, the author adds in details that seem so minuscule, and unimportant to set the setting. The information about the cost of riding a trolley and the ice truck driving around on a hot day with blocks of ice provides the readers with the background of her story. In addition, by using diction that the author used as a child, such as “that-old-thing” and “help-him-out,” she brings the story to life as if it were still the 1900s. Every tiny detail that the author remembers about her childhood shown in this passage proves to the readers how important her fifth-grade summer was to her. …show more content…
When Clair began describing the location of the cherry bomb, she brings back memories that she had regarding the closet. Her memories, described with anecdotes such as the tale of the Hairy Man who comes out at night gives a sneak peak of her childhood. By using stories, it would either engage the reader and allow them to learn about a myth back in the author’s days, or bring back nostalgic memories about their own childhoods. As everyone has had their own Hairy Man tales growing up, the readers would get the same feelings as the author did during her fifth-grade summer and as she was writing this paragraph of the
The friends of the narrator, however, do not hide in the imaginary world of childhood and are maturing into adolescents. Sally, “ screamed if she got her stockings muddy,” felt they were too old to “ the games” (paragraph 9). Sally stayed by the curb and talked to the boys (paragraph 10).
Prose EssayIn, “Cherry Bomb”, Maxine Clair uses dialogue through indirect characterization, point of view through indirect characterization, as well as the flashback structure to help the reader. Through the use of these literary techniques, the reader can better understand why these memories in particular stand outher in head. Through the use of dialogue, Maxine's interactions with her childhood friends help show the relationships she had with the people mentioned in this excerpt. “...and Mr. Calhoun still came around with that-old-thing of an ice truck. Our mother still bought a help-him-out block of ice to leave in the backyard for us to lick or sit on.” This quote from lines 9-12 illustrate for the reader that Mr. Calhoun was a friendly man trying to make ends meet by selling blocks of ice. We can also look at lines 19-25 for another prime example of how the author uses dialogue to help convey to the reader her relationships with various people during her childhood. “I kept a cherry bomb and a locked diary in the closet under the back steps where Bea, restrained by my suggestion that the Hairy Man hid there, wouldn’t try to find them. It was an established, Daddy-said-so fact that at night the Hairy Man went anywhere he wanted to go but in the daytime he stayed inside the yellow house on Sherman Avenue near our school.”, shows the reader Clair's younger cousin Bea was someone she couldn't share her cherry bomb with. It can be inferred that
The fresh faces of the 2016-2017 sophomore AP English class looked up at Mrs. Belles, some expectantly, some apprehensively. Among those faces is Francine Lamasko, a girl of 15 years of age, newly refreshed from summer and carrying her completed summer work. Decidedly, she thinks to herself, this will be a meaningful year of learning, of growth, and of fun. She is ready.
As a child daydreaming and imagining was essential to survive the extensive abominable days of summer, or the weekends. Likewise, in the texts “Red Cranes” by Jacey Choy and “The Firefly Hunt” by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki two children who still express their imagination and creativity, have to realize the harsh realities that everyone must incorporate. In the texts “Red Cranes” and “The Firefly Hunt” they express the ambition and creativity of a child’s mind. However, the development of the two characters dealing with the realities in their adolescent years, varies tremendously between the two stories.
Lastly, the imagery present in this essay is loftier than the other literary devices evident in her story. Clair tells of many shades and complexion she remembers as a child suck as "the yellow house," "windows painted light blue," and "the putrid colored jacket." She does this to paint the crystal clear images through picturesque that she recalls from her adolescence. More importantly, Clair vividly describes the cherry bomb all through her work. She not only illustrates her "box of private things" but describes even the "strong-smelling" essence that lingers along side the images of her childhood
The setting and time period of this story supports the adventurous innocence of its youthful characters, as well as enriching the story’s momentous and climactic confrontation between the forward-looking Mona, and her more traditional mother, Helen.
Kate DiCamillo’s Newbury Award winner children’s novel Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (2013) is a laugh-out-loud story filled with unconventional, endearing, multi-layered characters, also features an interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, in black and white by artist K. G. Campbell. After getting sucked up by a Ulysses 2000x vacuum cleaner, a 10-year old loner Flora Belle Buckman rescues the squirrel. Flora is a comic book lover, a self-proclaimed cynic who is struggling to accept her parent’s divorce. She names the squirrel Ulysses after the vacuum cleaner and soon discovers that the squirrel has been reborn as a superhero. This once regular squirrel can suddenly fly like a superhero, understand Flora, and even write poetry. A friendship is born between them and together they embark on an adventure. Throughout the book, Flora learns to cope with her parents' divorce and work on her relationship with her mother, makes friends, and begins to exchange cynicism for hope. This paper will analyze this book, which is a Fantasy and Realistic Fiction story that is set
Boy's Life has a child that cannot wait for school to be over and for summer to start. The theme of having freedom brings joy is represented in this story on paragraphs 5 and 31. On paragraph 5, the passage states that, "The world was out there, waiting beyond the square metal-rimmed windows." On paragraph 31, the passage says that, "I ran out along the corridor, my arms unencumbered by books, my mind unencumbered by facts and figures, quotations and dates. I ran out into the golden sunlight,
The first chapter of Billy Sunday gives us an insight of the early childhood of Billy Sunday. Billy and Ed Sunday departed on a train from Ames, Iowa to go to the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home’ at Glenwood, because Ms. Sunday, who lost her husband in the war, could not afford to keep her kids at home and take care of them. Ed Sunday was the brother of Billy. On the way to the orphan home, the train stopped in Council Bluffs and they had to take a freight train to rest of the way to the orphan home. In the end, the brakeman showed compassion to the boys by giving them the train ride for free.
Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.
reader's mind about what life was like in the 1930's showing the reader that the world was
This story begins to drive the sense of emotion with the very surroundings in which it takes place. The author starts the story by setting the scene with describing an apartment as poor, urban, and gloomy. With that description alone, readers can begin to feel pity for the family’s misfortune. After the apartments sad portrayal is displayed, the author intrigues the reader even further by explaining the family’s living arrangements. For example, the author states “It was their third apartment since the start of the war; they had
We hear of her moving to New York to escape her life as a child bride after being orphaned at a young age. This story allows the audience to gain a sense of sympathy for Holly, and enhances the pathos of the story. This pathos puts the audience into the shoes of Holly and enables them to understand the reasoning behind her escape. The use of language features like pathos and literary allusion allow the authors of both texts to convey the theme of escapism.
Throughout the essay, the use of vernacular speech can be observed when looking at the dialogue between characters. For example, “Good day, Mrs. Henderson. Momma responded with “How you, Sister Flowers?”. In the dialogue between Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Flowers, it can be seen that Flowers speaks respectively with sophistication while Mrs. Henderson speaks carelessly using an older southern tone. This results in a clear comparison between the characters in the essay which represent the importance of education and vocabulary. The constant use of the wrong verb by “Momma” bothers the author, giving us a better idea of language’s role in her life. In addition, the author foreshadows part of the lifeline, so we gain a better understanding of the story when the lifeline is presented later on.
The last day I saw my family was a day I’ll never forget. There I was a stout 12-year-old boy sitting on the back porch on a cool October evening. The wind blew my brown messy hair across my forehead as the birds sang. Fall was always my favorite time of year as a kid not too hot not too cold; you could spend the whole evening playing outside. As I watched the autumn leaves sway on the trees completely distracting my young mind to what was coming. Little did I know that would be a day forever haunting my memories.