The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by Stephen King that is based on events at the Overlook Hotel where the Torrance family is snowed in for the winter which leads to some unfortunate events. Maus I: a Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History is a 1986 graphic novel by Art Spiegelman about the story of his father during the Holocaust. Both of these novels are good stories that are filled with episodes and events that are demonstrated differently. Although the plots of The Shining and Maus 1 bear some minor similarities, the difference between them are more clear, which includes whether the plot is linear and sequential, and the use of stream of consciousness, foreshadowing, and flashbacks. The novel Maus I is story within a story so it goes back and forth from the present and the past, which means the plot is not completely linear and sequential. In the other hand, the novel The Shining is more linear and sequential than Maus I. Both of the novels contains flashbacks and has foreshadowing but The Shining has more foreshadowing than Maus I but less flashbacks. The Shining clearly includes stream of consciousness while in Maus I it is not.
In The Shining, the plot is sequential and linear. The plot is a typical pyramid structure with a steeper falling action. The novel starts with the exposition which states who the novel is about, which in this case is the Torrance family, their background, their characteristics, the setting of the story, and what the problem might be. This goes on until they start to settle in the Overlook Hotel. Then it goes on to the rising actions, which are the supernatural events that happened like the shining with Danny and Holloran, room 217, the hedges, and the elevator incident. Then it reaches the cli...
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...th from the past and present it gives the reader a better understanding of how not only it has effected him but also his son Artie and Anja. A stream of consciousness was not very much used in Maus I because everything was told as a story.
Maus I and The Shining are completely different types of novels, one graphic and the other horror. The differences between the plots of both are more pronounced. One of them has the typical pyramid structure plot while the other has more of a half pyramid and being continued in Maus II. The Shining is sequential and linear and Maus I is not sequential and non-linear. Flashbacks are more essential to Maus I and foreshadow is more to The Shining.
Works Cited
King, Stephen. The Shining. New York: Doubleday, 1977. Print.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus I: a Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Print.
In "Killings"by Andre Dubus and In the Bedroom, directed by Todd Field, the author and director decided to go different directions with the beginning of the story, keeping the plot of the story almost identical. However, beginning the story differently impacted both works in completely different aspects. Dubus begins the story at the funeral of Frank which leads the reader to draw conclusions about what happened before Frank's funeral, while Field’s gives more background to viewer which allows the reader to make more connections. Dubus begins the story at Frank’s funeral which leads the reader to become confused throughout the story. As the reader reads through the story, they have to be able to connect the dots to understand what is happening. While in the movie, Field’s begins with the backstory leading up to Frank’s death which makes it easier for the viewer to understand what is happening. The difference between the two stories impacts how the reader and viewer are able to interpret the story.
The comparisons and contrasts between The Hiding Place and Night. Both books were written with struggles, tenderness, agony, and fear in mind. Of these two books only one comes out and realizes that what they have gone through was not a cruse but some what a blessing from God, Himself. The struggles both face is more than just man against man but it is also a struggle within to find who they truly are and whom they truly believe in. Both main characters, Eli and Corrie, faced something they never knew they could face but only one comes out stronger than the other.
Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64)." The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other forms of fictitious entertainment (Meyer,65). This simple, yet effective plot makes the story easier to follow and easier to understand. The plot in The Killings also includes usage of flashback as a tool for the audience to fully understand the backgrounds of the characters. This type of organization serves as a basis for the entire story and has the most significance in "The Killings". .
The graphic novels Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman possess the power to make the reader understand the pain and suffering that takes place during the Holocaust. Spiegelman uses animals instead of humans in his graphic novels to represent the different races of people. The use of visual mediums in Art Spiegelman’s Maus enhances the reading of the narrative. The graphics throughout the novel help the reader fully understand everything that is happening.
Narrative structure is traditionally made up of two parts the story and the plot. Story describes the events as they are told to or seen by the audience. Plot is what happened in chronological order within the story world (see figure). The distinction between story and plot is further defined by No Film School’s Justin
Jane Yolen once said: “Fiction cannot recite the numbing numbers, but it can be that witness, that memory.” Preserving the memories of the horrifying incidents of the Holocaust is the best way to ensure nothing like it ever occurs again. Authors use their novels to try and pass these memories down through generations. Examples of this are the novels Night by Elie Wiesel, and MAUS by Art Spiegelman. The main discussion in these novels revolves around the Holocaust and the violence against Jews. Both have captivating stories and are worthy of recognition, but MAUS is a better novel for educating students. This is because unlike Night it discusses the familial guilt faced by the families of Holocaust survivors. In addition, MAUS gives a visual
What is horror? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as "a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." It stands to reason then that "horror fiction" is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader. An example of a horror film is "The Shining", directed by Stanley Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick was a well-known director, producer, writer and cinematographer. His films comprised of unique, qualitative scenes that are still memorable but one iconic film in his collection of work is The Shining. Many would disagree and say that The Shining was not his best work and he could have done better yet, there are still those who would say otherwise. This film was not meant to be a “scary pop-up” terror film but instead, it turned into a spectacular psychological, horor film in which Kubrick deeply thought about each scene and every line.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. New York City:
When reading a traditional book, it is up to the reader to imagine the faces and landscapes that are described within. A well written story will describe the images clearly so that you can easily picture the details. In Art Spiegelman’s The Complete Maus, the use of the animals in place of the humans offers a rather comical view in its simplistic relation to the subject and at the same time develops a cryptic mood within the story. His drawings of living conditions in Auschwitz; expressions on the faces of people enduring torture, starvation, and despair; his experience with the mental institution and his mother’s suicide; and occasional snapshots of certain individuals, create a new dynamic between book and reader. By using the form of the graphic novel, Art Spiegelman created a narrative accompanied by pictures instead of needing to use immense worded detail.
Art Spiegelman's Maus II is a book that tells more than the story of one family's struggle to live thought the Holocaust. It gives us a look into the psyche of a survivor's child and how the Holocaust affected him and many other generations of people who were never there at all. Maus II gives the reader a peek into the psyche of Art Spiegelman and the affects of having two parents that survived the Holocaust had on him. Spiegelman demonstrates the affects of being a survivor's child in many ways throughout the book. Examining some of these will give us a better understanding of what it was like to be a part of the Holocaust.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: a Survivor’s Tale : And Here my Troubles Began. New York:
The comic book form is very useful in telling a story as complex as Maus. Usually, comics are associated with fun and lightheartedness, but Maus is almost the complete opposite. It is a serious story of one’s recollection of the holocaust. Not exactly light reading.
Trauma—both in its initial occurrence and later retelling—has persistently provided the foundation from which several graphic novels have stemmed. Take, for example, two separate works by Art Spiegelman and Ari Folman. Whereas Spiegelman’s Maus recounts a survivor’s story of the Holocaust, Folman’s Waltz with Bashir instead retraces a soldier’s connection to the Sabra and Shatila massacre after decades of repression. Though stylistically distinguishable in content and presentation, both texts nevertheless approach their material through the same visual medium, juxtaposing historical instances of trauma through graphic representations. In doing so, Spiegelman and Folman have purposefully illustrated their respective narratives through a comic filter, allowing readers to digest the depiction of atrocities with relative ease. The resulting spectatorial distance, however, does not remain untouched by either; rather, it is used to produce a much more profound effect upon readers when they are suddenly forced to look past
For my technical essay I am going to talk about the movie "The Shining". I will explore in
Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus: Maus I -- A Survivor's Tale; Maus II -- And Here My Troubles Began. New York: Pantheon, 1997. 86-139. Print.