Does adventure await at the cubical? In a drive-thru queue? In a dumpster? Most will insist no, that’s ridiculous. In reality, though, a plethora of exciting unknowns abound even the most common of situations. Adventure does not need to be found; it begs for acceptance all around us, but most people seldom embrace it, and if they do, its success is dependent on avoiding those uncomfortable situations (you know the ones). Sedaris, author of “In the Waiting Room,” instead adopts a different perspective. He thrives on adventure every instant he can in Paris, despite not knowing French, by simply saying okay, d’accord. But even when faced with uncomfortable situations (you know, those ones), Sedaris flips them back to the positive and continues …show more content…
At the start of his article, a succession of sentences begin with him replying with ‘d’accord,’ followed by an immediate effect of this response: “‘D’accord,’ I told the concierge, and the next thing I knew I was sewing the eye onto a stuffed animal belonging to her granddaughter…‘D’accord,’ I said to the dentist, and she sent me to a periodontist, who took some X-rays and called me into his conference room for a little talk…‘D’accord,’ I said [to the dentist], and a week later...he...scraped great deposits of plaque from the roots of my teeth” (Sedaris). The consistent ‘d’accord,’ then “I said”/”I told,” continued with a second clause that starts with ‘and,’ followed by a consequence of saying ‘d’accord’ exemplifies adventure’s cause-and-effect nature. Sedaris defines initiating an adventure (which, given his language deficiency, means saying ‘d’accord’), and actually having an adventure (though each unique, always introduced by ‘and’ as elaboration of what ensued from saying ‘d’accord’), as one cohesive bundle; ‘d’accord’ is the only way to initiate these vastly different outcomes. The mere agreement to be receptive to an experience is the only way for new adventures to actually happen, and this word’s repetition forces it as both a prerequisite for and a guarantee of unlocking new opportunities, as these adventures only, yet always, follow Sedaris saying ‘d’accord’ to …show more content…
For Sedaris, after another dedicated ‘d’accord,’ he finds himself in a pantless situation in a hospital. After first sitting down in the waiting room, he realizes the nurse likely instructed him to put on one of the robes. Maybe, just maybe, he missed that though because it was in French. Yet still, he does not want to imply his mistake to the other patients; he explains: “They’d think I was stupid, so to prove them wrong I decided to remain where I was and pretend that everything was normal. La la la” (Sedaris). Simply writing la la la, written exactly how the sound is made in his mind, eliminates an explanation or even an interpretation of the sound; Sedaris gives only an objective description of the noise. In doing so, the strategy implicitly hints Sedaris’s success at relaxing (i.e. “pretend[ing] that everything was normal,” the goal he indicates before the onomatopoeia). Sedaris achieved a fully relaxed state by not acknowledging the sound’s utility in helping him to relax--that in itself would be fixating on his embarrassment. Rather, he makes an infantile sound, la la la, and foregoes any analysis of what he did, because he was solely relaxing (or, more precisely, la la laing). Despite, albeit sarcastically, contemplating suicide further down into his time in the waiting room, he again calms
where the author wants to become proficient in speaking French. He studies language instructions only to end up being embarrassed by the teacher. This results to him being more culturally confused. David Sedaris finds humor in situations that are humiliating.
In the novel, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris has used various literary terms which followed the use of a clear tone. This is clearly depicted with the author’s choice of words, as well as, figurative language. This demonstrates the author’s talent for casually laying out the absurdities of his daily experiences. In the novel, Sedaris has used a depressed tone. He explains how he is depressed by the French instructor. He explains that he is not alone to be belittled, but others also experience a similar attitude from the teacher, during the time they spent in class (Sedaris 13). He explains that the instructor wanted to put everyone down. For instance, he understood only half of what the teacher said, and that the first day that she was in class was very depressing (11). Sedaris also narrates that when the teacher asked that ‘has every one apzkiubjxow, it was very startling because he had not been asked the question for a while and realized that she did not understand the alphabet (11). The author states that the teacher always asked that ‘were you always this palicmkresis (15). It is clear that Sedaris employs nonsense letter arrangements, in order to replace the words that he could not understand (Sedaris 15). Through this, he relates his feelings with what the teacher said and this created pity for him and a mutual understanding (Sedaris 15). This demonstrates a depressed tone.
This extract emphasises the lonely, outworld feeling that would have been felt living in such settings. This puts into perspective the feeling that will be felt during the coarse of the plot development.
In his 1984 novel Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins presents a narrative that rivals the often fantastical tales told in myth. Using classical mythology as a foundation, and, in particular, providing a loose adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer, Robbins updates and modifies characters and concepts in an effort to reinforce the importance of the journey of life and the discovery of self. Like the ancient myth-makers, Robbins commands the reader’s attention with outrageous situations and events while at the same time providing characters that the reader can relate to and learn from.
Cooper, Bernard. “Labyrinthine.” Occasions for Writing . Ed. Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy II. Boston: Thomson, 2007. 345- 47. Print.
“The Hero’s Journey.” Ariane Publications, 1997. Course handout. AS English I. Dept. of English, Woodside High School. 26 October 2013.
Introduction: The novel Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan follows the hapless journey of twelve Bay Area tourists destined for Burma, accompanied by the ghost of their dear friend Bibi Chen, who died under “mysterious circumstances” just before the departure. The journey continues in a downward spiral until eleven of the tourists go out on a misty lake one morning and disappear. Miss Chen, the omniscient voice of the book, is caught between two worlds and is along for this journey. It isn’t until the end of the book that readers realize many events that occur are actually a metaphor for human relations; and the central theme is that the line between reality and fantasy can be tricky to discern, and things can be vastly different from
Many people are prevented from traveling worldwide by finances or principalities. In Tales of a Female Nomad, children's author Rita Golden Gelman abandons her comfortable, even luxurious lifestyle, at the age of forty-eight to become a nomad. This author's soulfulness stretches from the page to the readers, enveloping them in a vivid experience that few could otherwise imagine.
L’Engle, L'Engle. “Focus On The Story, Not Readers…” Writer Apr 2010: p. 24-25. MAS Ultra-School Edition. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Stepping out of my first plane ride, I experience an epiphany of new culture, which seems to me as a whole new world. Buzzing around my ears are conversations in an unfamiliar language that intrigues me. It then struck me that after twenty hours of a seemingly perpetual plane ride that I finally arrived in The United States of America, a country full of new opportunities. It was this moment that I realized how diverse and big this world is. This is the story of my new life in America.
In His short story "A White Horse", author Thom Jones introduces his main characters, Ad Magic's, hunger for mad adventure. This peripatetic-"American Dream" looking character who appears in a few of Thom Jone's short stories seems like the perfect traveling companion. After "abandoning his seizure meds" in Los Angeles, he suddenly finds himself lost in Bombay,-trying to remember who, where and how?- on a bus loaded with tourists,where he almost died during the car accident,but ironical not from the impact of a matter, but of suffocation. This spontaneous, out-of-control odyssey leads Ad to a filthy beach where he comes to the aid of a diseased and dying horse. A good man with a kind heart--not to mention the best name ever created for someone who works in advertising.
A physical journey occurs as a direct result of travelling from one place to another over land, sea or even space. The physical journey can occur individually or collectively, but always involves more than mere movement. Instead physical journeys are accompanied by inner growth and development, catalysed by the experiences and the decisions that impact the outcome of the journey. These journey concepts and the interrelationship between physical and emotional journeys is exemplified in the text; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, the children’s book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and the film Stand By Me directed by Rob Reiner.
When authors set out to impact the lives of readers, a diverse utilization of literary aspects is often required. It is easy to come across many differences and similarities between literary aspects when one delves into a plethora of works. In the book Life of Pi author Yann Martel harnesses the use of a varied first person point of view in order to accurately portray the sense of panic and urgency in given situations; adversely, in the short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, a detached third person point of view is taken into account in order to drag the reader along on the drawn-out, suspenseful journey that the families involved had to endure. Despite the difference in narrators amongst Life of Pi and “The Lottery,” the points of view of both of these works are exercised in order to drive the plot of two very effective literary gems.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
I feel “Poetics” provides a sound blueprint for constructing a story that will immerse an audience into an adventure. By providing, a real...