Analyzing Peeta's Short Stories

We all have those stories we have read that have captured our attention. They reel us into the story and stand out on a shelf. Take recent stories like The Hunger Games and Divergent for instance. Millions of readers have fallen head over heel in love with these. They stand out to the average eye, but why? What makes them so different and intriguing? I believe what makes stories like these excellent are their attention to detail, different perspectives and risky protagonist(s). For example, in The Hunger Games, the element of risk in the protagonist would be Katniss volunteering in for her helpless sister in the dangerous 75th Hunger Games. A different perspective would be when you read about Peeta’s inner thoughts of past events throughout

An example from the short story How to Tell Renata would be where it states “If she doesn’t believe me, she’ll hate me, thinking I’m lying about the guy she loves. Or maybe she will believe me, and hate me even more” This story gives readers the point of view of a young girl being sexually molested by her mother’s boyfriend and the struggles she goes through alone to tell her mother. Readers can see in depth what Renata goes through in her inner thoughts and how she feels. Readers can find this an interesting point of view as you don’t usually get to hear about a situation like this from the victim. Another example is from the short story The Blue Bead, where it states “From the day, perhaps a 100 years ago, when the sun had hatched him in a sandbank, and he had broken his shell, and got his head out and looked around, ready to snap at anything before he was even fully hatched- from the that day, when he had at once made for the water, ready to fend for himself immediately, he had lived his brainless craft and ferocity.” This story takes a very interesting point of view; a crocodile. You hear the story through the crocodile’s eyes and its inner thoughts. You read everything from it swimming in the water to its death by pitchfork. My final example is in the short story Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady, where it states “Grant me the quest that

An example would be in How to Tell Renata, where it states “It’s rained the entire summer, and the air is heavy with the smell of an old basement.” This phrase refers to Renata talking about her summer. Her attention to detail in the way she speaks gives readers a great visualization of the scene. Readers can clearly set the scene (s) and situations in their minds using all 5 senses. Another example is in The Blue Bead, where it states “He came to rest in the glassy shallows, among logs, and balanced there on tiptoe on the rippled sand, with only his raised eyes out of the water, and raised nostrils breathing the clean sunny air.” This is at the beginning scene in the swamp. The attention to detail allows the reader to visualize the crocodile in the swamp very accurately. Finally, an example in Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady is where it states “Her nose was a pig’s snout; from a misshapen mouth stuck out two yellowing rows of horse teeth; her cheeks were covered in sores; she had only one eye; rheumy and red-rimmed; and from a naked scalp hung a few lank strands of hair.” This quote was used to describe the Loathly Lady. The amount of descriptive adjectives used to describe the Loathly Lady’s appearance creates a stunningly accurate portrayal of the woman’s appearance. In conclusion, these three short stories give readers clear visuals in their minds through words of scenarios, settings and