A River Runs Through It, A Perfect Storm, Urban Legend and Party of Five

A River Runs Through It, A Perfect Storm, Urban Legend and Party of Five

Authors and writers of novels and screenplays are often faced with a very difficult task. They must produce a work which will capture a person’s attention and hold it throughout the work. Norman Maclean and Paul Junger do this in their novels A River Runs Through It and A Perfect Storm, respectively. As do the writers and producers of Urban Legend and Party of Five. There are countless ways to keep a person’s interest. But there are two that are prevalent in these four works. These writers use dramatic irony, constant action, and a hint of mystery to captivate a reader or viewers attention.

The thriller Urban Legend is the story of a murderer on a college campus who kills people using various methods in accordance with urban myths. For example, one "urban legend" is a gang initiation ritual. It is said that a gang member will drive without their lights on until somebody flashes them. The person who flashes their lights must now be killed in order to gain acceptance into the gang. While this is not necessarily true, it is a story that many have heard, and the movie is based upon these tales similar to these. Urban Legend is action packed and filled with mystery (never letting on as to who the killer is until the final seconds). By keeping this high level drama throughout the movie, the producers have in effect, kept a viewers attention and let them focus more deeply on the story.

Junger’s A Perfect Storm is also filled with drama and action. This is used as a technique to gain the readers interest. The "perfect storm" that is referred to is a collaboration of a hurricane, cold front, and warm from that all collided together in the Atlantic causing massive destruction. The suspense is kept throughout the book with phrases like "Whatever it is, one thing is for sure. Around midnight on Oct. 28th-when the storm is at its height off Sable Island--something catastrophic happens aboard the Andrea Gail" (Junger 171). A Perfect Storm keeps the reader flipping pages as they wait to see who will survive the awful conditions these men and women were placed under.

Both these works have a hint of mystery to them. Whether it be who the killer is or who will live through the storm, the audience is kept intrigued.