The two types of literature are escapist or interpretive. Escapist fiction by definition provides a psychological escape from the thoughts of everyday life, immersing the reader into exotic situations or activities. This type of fiction is made to allure the reader away from their personal life, in order to give a pleasurable and relaxing experience. Interpretive fiction however, is intended to take the reader deeper into the real world provoking thought. In “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, Alexie uses these different literary methods to portray the story.
Jackson Jackson is the main character in Alexie’s story. Jackson is both a round and flat character. Jackson is held by certain traits, but still holds the ability to
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He shows internal conflict when he can not afford to give Jackson the regalia, but rightfully believes it belongs to Jackson’s family. He does not show signs of being stereotypical because pawnbrokers are out for themselves, caring only about profitable customers. The pawnbroker goes against this showing generosity and selflessness to Jackson. The pawnbroker exhibits complexity when he offers Jackson a business deal where he would only loose one dollar in the deal. This was clearly later looked past when he gives Jackson the regalia. He does not show signs of change since he has been nice to Jackson about the regalia since the beginning giving him twenty dollars, and the twenty-four-hour deal in the first place. “’Take it,’ he said, and held it out to me. ‘I don’t have the money.’ ‘I don’t want your money.’ ‘But I wanted to win it.’ ‘You did win it. Now take it before I change my mind’” (Alexie 28). The two external conflicts linked to the pawnbroker is a man vs. man as well as man vs. society. The pawnbroker shows a man vs. man conflict with Junior who is apart of Jackson’s posse. Junior told the pawn broker the regalia was rightfully Jackson’s, causing the conflict. The pawn broker buys and sells items unaware of their previous owners, for instance Jackson seeing the regalia from the shop window and it had originally been stolen. This is a man vs. society conflict because like the pawn broker admits, pawn shops are full of liars. This concludes that the pawn broker is both round and
For a Literary Analysis, I have done the story “What You Pawn, You Will Redeem” by Alexie Sherman. The story talks about this Indian man, known as Jackson Jackson, goes on this quest to redeem his grandmother’s regalia back from this pawn shop employee who would give it to him for $999. This Indian man has had a troubling past, along with saying he has a habit breaking other people’s hearts, but he has good friends and even knows a couple of store employees who let him use their store’s bathroom. As the story goes on, it goes through a series of events, or a timeline, where the main character tells the story of what had happened during that time period on his quest for the regalia. In “What You Pawn, You Will Redeem”, I have found three literary
“What you pawn I will redeem” is a story written by Sherman Alexie. The story takes place in Seattle, Washington and follows the homeless native american named Jackson Jackson on his journey to obtain his grandmothers regalia that was stolen 50 years ago. He finds the regalia in a pawnshop and spends the rest of the story doing many different things in attempt to make enough money so that he can purchase it back. Throughout the story the author uses Jacksons humor and like-ability to do impressive job of tricking the reader into feeling compassion for Jackson. But when you take a deeper you look into the story, it reveals that in the end Jackson is just a tricky homeless alcoholic.
Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton is a novella that follows the trouble life of a man, Ethan Frome. He is stuck in Starkfield, MA with his sickly wife Zeena, longing for a different life with Mattie Silver, the hired girl at his home. Throughout the book the reader sees his struggle to try to break free of his miserable life. At the end of the book, the reader learns that he has failed to change anything, for Ethan is still in his home with Zeena and a now paralyzed Mattie. This story can be very controversial on the issue of whether or not it is a valuable reading experience. The value of the reading experience from Ethan Frome proves that is should be a source for a high school English class, and can be understood through the creative writing techniques used, the quality of the writing, the effectiveness of the piece, and the validity of the ideas presented.
I think that the good novelist tries to provide his reader with vivid depictions of certain crucial and abiding patterns of human existence. This he attempts to do by reducing the chaos of human experience to artistic form. And when successful he provides the reader with a fresh vision of reality. For then through the symbolic action of his characters and plot he enables the reader to share forms of experience not immediately his own. And thus the reader is able to recognize the meaning and value of the presented experience as a whole. (Kostelanetz 10)
In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, Jackson wanders from person to person and seems to have an unusual connection with those that are Native Americans. All of his ‘friends’ may fail him, but he never disowns them. Some may argue that he is simply afraid of people he can’t relate with, but it is evident that he merely feels a familiar bond with those he can relate with. This is also apparent in the poem “Capital Punishment,” when the cook feels sympathy for the Indian killer. Therefore, the story simply exemplifies the family bond Native Americans feel toward each other due to the prejudice that they feel from peoples of other races, and not a fear of people from other races.
In the first line of “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Sherman Alexie writes “one day you have a home and the next you don’t” (1558). That sentence is the main idea of the whole story. Native Americans are struggling to be accepted in today’s society because the majority of them are affected by poverty. In “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Alexie writes about a homeless Spokane Indian who is trying to earn money to buy back his grandmother’s regalia from a pawn shop. The story of this homeless Spokane Indian, Jackson Jackson, correlates to a painting by D Rogale, named Homeless in Seattle. This painting shows the Seattle skyline in the background, while in the foreground it shows a person’s feet with torn and dirty socks on them. The short story by
The illusion of freedom and self-determination is so strong because the dealer’s accomplices disguise themselves as regular people, when they are actually part of the trick. As Lincoln told Booth when he first started teaching him the game, “Everybody out there is part of the crowd. His crew is part of the crowd, he himself is part of the crowd” (Parks 73). The dealer, or the top-dog, and his crew is part of the target’s environment. They might be random strangers, but also people one would interact with every day. They could be a neighbor, a friend, and even a person’s own family, and within this book, one’s own brother. People who are not in on the game are helpless victims that fall trap in the system. Lincoln is the topdog in his little card game, and he plays his brother like how the system plays him. Although Lincoln plays the underdog as a black man in the work force, within the realm of the card game, he represents the
named after him. As readers we begin to learn the type of man that Jackson indeed
Jackson went through many hardships through his life due to emotions towards other characteristics that resulted in a conflict or emotions that there were unable to share with one another creating misunderstanding within the relationship. William Henry confronted his son and they vented their negative emotions out and made room for positive starting’s, and Jack was able to express his emotions rather than hiding them and not be as open about them towards her. Due to the changes in Jackson he is able to create a better identity of himself and take the appropriate actions.
Escape literature is the complete opposite of interpretive literature. Escape literature is written purely for entertainment. Escape literature takes it's reader out of the real world and into a fantasy world where everything works and happens just like we want it to. This is a world where the ending always has closure. Escapist authors hardly ever end on a bad note. They want the reader to leave the pages of their story satisfied, and having a sense of contentment. Perrine's example of escape literature is Cinderella. Cinderella's life goes from rags to riches in one night. She marries a prince and lives happily ever after. According to Perrine the most common expectations of escape literature readers are the sympathetic heroes or heroines, the suspenseful plot which one exciting event proceeds another, the resolved happy outcome, and the theme. Escape literature themes confirm the reader's previous opinions of the world. Readers of escape literature read for pleasure not to gather knowledge on how to survive in the real world.
Generally speaking, the two most frequently used genres in literature are fictional and non-fictional. Having said this, fictional and non-fictional literature are distinct regarding their purpose as well the literary devices they use. Literary devices are specific language methods which writers use to form text that is clear, interesting, and unforgettable. Fictional literature, for instance, is something that is made up; however, non-fictional is factual. Furthermore, non-fictional works of literature such as literary essays usually convey a message using literary devices that differ than those used in fictional literature such as short stories, which are meant to amuse its readers. Literary essays uses literary devices such as description,
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
During the entire story, the readers are sympathetic towards Jackson. Alexie’s familiar syntax and direct approach makes to readers feel some connected and understanding towards Jackson and his circumstance. Jackson redeems his grandmother’s regalia. He was the “hero.” The story does not state if this adventure cause Jackson to find himself but it did provide the readers with a sense of hope through kind gestures and perseverance.
In the book, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, the elements of literature are used to make the book complex and intriguing. The elements of literature include: plot, point of view, characterization, conflict, irony, tone, theme, mood, imagery, and symbolism. Irony is the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is; examples of irony are: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Markus Zusak used irony throughout the book to make the reader really think about what is happening; as a result the reader becomes more interested in the plot and wants to read more.
...ing, not literary genres, which belong to the broader mode of fictional writing. In the same way, meta-metafiction belongs to the broader mode of metafictional writing. These modes of writing are not mutually exclusive to each other, but indicate different degrees of self-reflexivity that can be simultaneously present within the same text. In order to shift from one degree of self-reflexivity to another, the text alternately exposes and conceals the frames of reference—the literary structures—that organise the reader’s experience and interpretation of fictional texts. These frames can range from literary conventions such as the “happily ever after” ending in a fairy tale, to narrative techniques such as stream of consciousness narration in modernist novels like Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927), to the framing device of stories within stories in metafiction.