Plot twist occurs near or at the conclusion of a story. It is an unexpected conclusion to a work of fiction that causes to reevaluate the whole plot and characters. When a plot twist happens it changes one's view of the preceding events, it is also known as a surprise ending or twist ending. It provides ideas for unexpected turns in the course of narrative. O.Henry has profoundly used this technique in almost all his stories. There are many mechanics by which twisted endings are created. There are many mechanics and techniques through which twist endings could be created. Anagnorisis or discovery is the protagonist's sudden recognition of their own. It also includes other character's true identity or nature. By this technique, previously unforeseen information is revealed. Flashback is a sudden, vivid reversion to a past event. Its prime function is to surprise the reader with …show more content…
Deus ex machina and Unreliable narrator. Deus ex machina is used when Della sells her beautiful long hair to purchase a unique gift for her husband Jim. In the beginning of the story of the readers were told that Jim was very proud of the Della’s hair. Here they are made to think that due to poverty it is only Della who is making the sacrifice and also she has succeeded to purchase a Christmas gift on the cost of her beautiful hair. Unreliable narrator is the common technique which O.Henry has used in almost all his stories. In The Gift of Magi the readers are made to idealize the story only on the perspective of Della. But in the end Jim is shocked to see Della without her hair because he also wanted to get a nice Christmas present for Della. Jim had bought a set of attractive combs for her hair. She had seen them before in a shop, but they were very expensive. Suddenly, she remembers Jim's gift. She gives him the gold chain and asks him to put it on his watch, Jim surprises her. He sold the watch to buy her those nice
An unreliable narrator is a character who is telling a story, but is not completely accurate or credible due to problems with the character 's mental state or maturity. The unreliable narrator holds a distorted view of the events taking place. This distortion gives readers a chance to offer their own interpretations to the story being told. Unreliable narration is valuable to the reader and satisfying to the author because the audience must look beyond what the narrator is portraying and view all the elements of the read to understand the author 's message. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are great examples of unreliable narration.
In Notes From a Midnight Driver there was a huge plot twist. At the end of Sols song the judge said to him “Dad [and] Sol had the strangest expression on his face. ‘Judy.” Sol said. (225 Notes From a Midnight Driver ) This event was a surprise for the reader, Alex, and even Sol. The plot twist connected many pieces and changed the whole novel. In Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie the technique of cliffhangers was used. The chapter ‘Fear,Gum, and Candy’ ended with “ I figured out how to save some money and Annette fell down the stairs.”( 185 Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie) After this chapter it left the reader wondering what that meant and wanting to know more. Both techniques Jordan Sonnenblick used kept the reader
An unreliable narrator is a narrator that necessarily cannot be trusted by the way they talk, and or the way they describe the way certain events occurred. You cannot believe everything an unreliable narrator says. Edgar Allan Poe’s narrators in “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are unreliable because they are both mentally ill or have a serious problem with drinking. When reading a story you want to know all the details correctly and an unreliable narrator can change your understanding of the story, which both of the narrators do in the two short stories. The narrator's show a lot of evidence that they are both unreliable because of their sicknesses.
In literature, many authors love for throw an unexpected twist as the end. Shirley Jackson is no exception. In the short stories “The Lottery” and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson both take twist that the reader doesn’t expect. In “The Lottery” a small town gathers to draw a winner; however Tessie Hutchinson is not delighted to be the winner. Also in “The Possibility of Evil” another small town has an unexpected villain who resides on Pleasant St. Shirley Jackson uses literary devices to depict twist at the end of her short stories because she used literary devices such as syntax, irony and mood.
The plot in a fiction text is important in keeping the reader's attention. The majority of the story builds towards a climax. This climax is where the peak of action, suspense or thrill takes place, which then leads to the resolution of the story. As in "Lord of the Flies" the author continued to increase conflict between the boys until a full-scale war takes place, which is the climax. The building
This leads to her idea of selling her most prized possession: her hair, to get Jim his present. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his most prized possession which was a pocket-watch that was passed down from his grandfather to his father and then to him. He sells that watch and buys Della a set of beautiful tortoise shell combs for her hair. Thus leading to the use of situational irony in which they both receive gifts for something they gave up in order to give the other a gift.
Sigmund Freud coined this term when trying to explain something strangely familiar yet unfamiliar. It speaks to seeing or experiencing new but also takes us back to our own psychological past or something within the material world. It is suddenly recognizing something that seems unfamiliar and in fact, has an identity
“Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story” – This story starts out in 2nd person POV, “for I must tell you that Sarah was very homely” (1). The POV switches between 3rd person and 2nd person, depending on if the reader is following the action through the characters or listening to the narrator talk directly to the reader. “No, that’s not exactly true…” (7) he says, and we realize that the narrator may not exactly know what is going on or doesn’t want to tell us the truth. He says, “I’m likely to tell it falsely” (7). We can recognize him as an unreliable narrator.
capture the reader and create a twist ending. The rising action of the story occurs after
First, let’s talk about the narrator in the story. The narrator is the “I,” the main watcher who has
Every plot point and storyline shift is a puzzle piece the author puts down in front of the reader to bring him in on their secret.
The comparison O. Henry makes between the story of Jim and Della and that of the Magi is rather relevant as the Magi were the ones who are credited with being the origins of the “giving nature” of the Christmas season. In this story, we see a man and a woman so blinded by love that they are willing to make ultimate sacrifices for the happiness of the other. Similar to the Magi, Della and Tim put each other before themselves and through their generosity and considerable lengths they both went to achieve that generosity is something more admirable than any materialistic gift they could ever offer each other, thus making the uselessness of their gifts irrelevant.
When writing, authors need to think of their audience and involve an element of surprise. Authors use plot twists in their writing to help them accomplish surprising the audience, allowing them to keep their audience’s interest. Not only do plot twists help keep the audience’s attention, they also make the audience question their beliefs about what they think of the story. Authors can use this tool to advance their themes. Yann Martel uses a crazy plot twist in his book, the Life of Pi, to suggest to readers that truth is relative.
There were many examples of literary terms used in this novel, but the main one was flashback. Jim, the whole time he’s writing the story, is
FLASHBACKS are are often used, not only in psychological thriller but in many movies, but really contribute to the story line of a psychological film. A flashback is a time disorientation of a character's past. This gives the audience a chance to understand why the character has chosen to be who they are now. This can also confuse the audience and question who the character really is, which triggers thoughts of interest. A example of the convention, is Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO.