All About Suicide By Luisa Valenzuela

796 Words2 Pages

Luisa Valenzuela’s intentions in “All about Suicide”
Why would an author want to trick a reader? What are some specific ways that Luisa tricks readers into reading the story the “wrong way”? What is motivating the author? Themes are never explicit, but authors allude to their response to an issue through images and characterization. Sometimes themes are so explicit that an author actually makes you see the story in a “wrong way” when you first read it. In “All about Suicide”, Luisa tricks the reader in several ways. In the end, authors mislead the readers so that they can be enticed and intrigued in finding the real meaning.
An author may be motivated to trick a reader for several reasons, one being that he or she may want the readers to dig deeper in their reading. Some authors live for the idea of readers exploring their work. In “All about Suicide”, …show more content…

Just by reading the title, “All about Suicide” you would expect the short story to be all about suicide. Authors also lead readers to wrong conclusions by their choice of words. In the beginning of Luisa’s story, she talks about Ismael while continuously using the adjective “his”. Since the adjective is so often repeated, the reader believes that Ismael is actually “gently rubbing” the gun across his own face. Not only does Luisa make the reader see the events in a “wrong way” through the title or word usage, but she also begins the story with action. When the readers read “All about Suicide”, he or she isn’t given background information in the beginning of the story. The reader is forced to imagine the action taking place and connect the pieces together. Since Luisa doesn’t clarify the situation until later, the readers tend to understand the story the “wrong

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