A Bus called Heaven by Bob Graham (2011) is about a bus that appears outside Stella’s house. The town comes alive as everybody rallies to keep the bus from being destroyed, whilst making good use of it to come together as a neighbourhood again. The bus is alive with activity. The use of the right words assists the reader to paint a picture in their mind. Descriptive words set the scene and introduce us to the characters in the town, and what the town was like before the bus appeared. An example of the right words are “abandoned”, “change” (Graham, Bob.pp.1-4) – the bus appears abandoned, and it slowly brings change to the town. Precise vocabulary is shown when describing the bus when it first arrives. Dad uses the word “regulation” to describe the rules …show more content…
p.16), “tow truck” (Graham, Bob. p.21), “obstruction” (Graham, Bob. p.22) and “boneyard” (Graham, Bob. p.27). The use of figurative language is evident as the author describes Stella standing in the bus for the first time; ‘the colour of moonlight’, ‘she was so pale you could almost see through her” (Graham, Bob. pp.6,7) – pale in contrast to the dark, grey, rubbish-filled bus. When cleaning the bus the words “make it sparkle” (Graham, Bob. p.14) are used. The bus is gloomy and dirty, and it will look shiny and new when the people finish cleaning it. Dialogue is used throughout the book to convey the characters feelings, excitement and personalities (Tunnell, Michael O, 2008). “Go where?” (Graham, Bob. p.24) show the people’s shock as the bus is towed away. Bold text is used to get the message across. “GOAL” portrays the crowd’s excitement and victory when they win the bus back (Graham, Bob. p.31). The book flows in sequence from the abandoned bus with no home, to it finding a home; creating ‘music’ (Tunnell, Michael O 2008 p.24). The use of varied sentence lengths (Tunnell, Michael O, 2008) add balance as they ebb and flow throughout the
The title of the short story, “Four Directions” is symbolic for Waverly’s inner misconceptions. As she goes about her life, she is pulled in different ways by her past and her present. She is torn between her Chinese heritage and her American life. She never thought that instead of being pulled in four directions, she could take all of her differences and combine them. In the end she realizes this with the help of her mother. “The three of us, leaving our differences behind...moving West to reach East” (184), thought Waverly. Her whole life she misconceived her mother’s intentions. Lindo never wanted Waverly to solely focus on her Chinese heritage, but rather combine it with her new American ways. The idea of being pulled in four
The use of these strategies helps provide readers an astonishing image of the Chicago World's fair portraying the dreamlike qualities of the city. Larson depicts the beautiful qualities of Chicago through his choice of strategies. Using imagery, Larson helps the reader imagine what the location of the fair looks like before the fair becomes, its beauty and elegance of the horizon. He creates an optimistic tone to show the happiness the readers will have by the beautiful day that is brought along with the progression of the fair. With the use of figurative language, he personifies that the city is a lady and how much that “lady” has grown, from being nasty to being a beautiful masterpiece. All of these strategies combined make the reader imagine and want to see all of the amazing qualities Chicago has. Larson’s use of these writing strategies creates an image of the fair and the small but extravagant parts to make it the dreamlike qualities in The Devil in the White
In Dave Barry's story, Lost in the Kitchen, he's shows a humorous story about two men's ineptness at helping to prepare for their Thanksgiving dinner. However, as you look closer at the essay you find that the actual message the author is trying to convey is one of stereotypes, and how they appear everyday in our lives, even during the preparations for a simple Thanksgiving dinner. In order to convey this message he uses several strategies and techniques to draw our attention to the use of stereotypes in our lives and to help us better understand the point that he is trying to get across.
Displaying one's emotions in public is often not planned nor wanted especially when it comes to crying due to humiliation and shame. In the short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros, literary terms such as simile, diction, and repetition are utilized in characterizing emotional “eleven” year old Rachel. The figurative language used, support the images that were intended for the reader to perceive. Diction and repetition help guide the audience with a certain point of view towards the characters. Not only does Cisneros exploit these literary terms to explain and characterize Rachel's feelings but to exhibit how one may not always have the courage, personal strength, or maturity to handle certain situations.
In his article, “What Secrets Tell”, writer Luc Sante, Columbia University graduate accredited with multiple awards in writing and literature, discusses the unique types of secrets in the world along with reasoning people need to know, conceal, and reveal secrets. During the time of the publication of “What Secrets Tell” in the year 2000, America experienced low unemployment, the economy was strong, and America was not at war. Besides these positives at the time, America’s society had still not experienced the frightening and unforgettable event commonly known as 9/11. Sante develops this discussion by describing secrets through figurative language along with implementing historical and cultural allusions relating to United States lifestyle
The books Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, and The Last Book in The Universe, written by Rodman Philbrick, are similar in plot and theme. Both books highlight the negative effect of technology in futuristic dystopian worlds. The ideas of censorship play a big role in the two stories. While the ideas of both books may be similar, the way they have been written are very differently. Fahrenheit 451 has a unique style, full of symbolism, figurative language, and rich vocabulary which is Bradbury’s trademark. On the other hand, The Last Book in The Universe has a more informal style, that would be a target novel for young readers. Symbols still plays a big part in Philbrick’s book, but it is more overt. Philbrick’s use of dialogue is less
AJ Niedermeyer Niedermeyer Pg. Ltd. 1 Mrs. Viola English 1 Honors Reuben's Use of Figurative Language 3/2/14. Reuben's use of figurative language in the novel Peace Like a River reveals fundamental elements of both his character and his manner of speaking. It both allows the reader to better follow the action and creates a vivid picture of the scene at hand, and simultaneously gives some insight as to his personality and the way he observes things. This use of figurative language serves to make the story an even more enjoyable read, as it makes each scene worth reading in and of itself, not to mention the story as a whole.
"[M]ortgages, foreclosures, directions, letters, poems, telegrams, newspapers, appraisals, songs, even moons (Kolin 1)." What do these all have to do with each other? Paper and A Streetcar Named Desire. Philip C. Kolin points out this metaphor in his article " 'It's only a paper moon': The Paper Ontology' in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.'" Kolin has found that Williams has used paper as a metaphor to describe Blanche's and Stanley's faults and desires. Kolin finds this to be a common thread in Williams' work but mainly focuses on Streetcar.
In the short story,’’Checkouts,’’ the author uses figurative language such as similes, imagery, and hyperboles. In structure, using figurative language allows the reader to understand the story better and make it more creative, along with it becoming interesting. For example, on (page 47), it states, ”Like a Tibetan monk in solitary medication, she calmed to a point of deep,deep happiness.” Next, there is also imagery in the short story. An example of imagery in the story is how the narrator describes when the girl and the bag boy meet for the first time. “She interested him because her hair was red and thick, and in it she had placed a huge orange bow, nearly the size of a small hat” (47). For example, there is also some hyperboles in the
In “Queens, 1963”, the speaker narrates to her audience her observations that she has collected from living in her neighborhood located in Queens, New York in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The narrator is a thirteen-year-old female immigrant who moved from the Dominican Republic to America with her family. As she reflects on her past year of living in America, she reveals a superb understanding of the reasons why the people in her neighborhood act the way they do towards other neighbors. In “Queens, 1963” by Julia Alvarez, the poet utilizes diction, figurative language, and irony to effectively display to the readers that segregation is a strong part of the American melting pot.
Salt to The Sea is a book by Ruta sepetys about 4 people trying to escape the grasps of the russians and in the case of Florian the nazis. They cross the countryside and land at a port. On the way there they lost people and possessions. When they get to the boat they get hit by a torpedo and 2 of them die, Alfred and Emilia.
Mooney, Jonathan. The Short Bus : A Journey Beyond Normal. New York Godalming: Henry Holt Melia distributor, 2008. Print.
Mooney, Jonathan. The Short Bus: A Journey beyond Normal. New York: H. Holt, 2007. Print.
The symbolism example is the litmus lozenge candies from one of the supporting characters; the librarian names Miss Franny Block. She used the sweet as symbol for sad experience with life. The terminology melancholy was used to improve the reader’s vocabulary. Winn-Dixie’s fear of storms is used as symbol for his trauma experience and struggles in life. The text length is appropriate for third grade but the plot and vocabulary are challenging for them. The students will understand approximately seventy-five percent of the text but will work to make sense of the remaining of it. The figurative language/idiomatic language/dialects are used frequently throughout the fiction novel by the supporting characters. The simile example is when the father explains his wife’s absence in their lives as he says: “…like a bug under a microscope” (DiCamillo, 2000; p.28). The metaphor example used by Opal describing her busy father as she say: “…he reminded me of a turtle hiding in its shell (DiCamillo, 2000; p.16). The idiom example is used by Opal as she saw a rare moment of her father paying attention to her as she say: “…head out of his shell” (DiCamillo, 2000;
Love stories usually have two characters who love each other and can meet each other up close and can see each other without a problem, but in “The Highwayman,” the two characters in love can never meet freely up close and when “the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, the highwayman man came riding” (ll. 91-94). “The Highwayman,” by Alfred Noyes, is a story full of intense love, sacrifice, and dark secrets. The poem talks about a fierce love story on a spooky winter night when Just like any other poem or story, this poem has a theme. “The Highwayman” has a very distinctive universal theme and the author can express the theme with many different types of