How McEwan Hooks The Reader
"Beginnings matter. They always have. Middle's have no limits- they
can scrunch up or they can sprawl. Endings may be left open,
ambiguous, and incomplete. Never has a novel not begun. And if it
doesn't begin right, the suspicion is that the rest of it won't be
right either".
"In an age of multiple choice and short attention spans, beginnings
are more crucial than ever. To prevent readers drifting off, an author
has to hook them quickly".
A prime example of a great beginning is the first chapter of 'Enduring
Love by Ian McEwan. Many regard this as the best introduction written
for a modern novel. "Enduring Love" opens with a chapter so
masterfully written, that the rest of the novel must inevitably
disappoint. The standard of the opening is so high that in theory no
other chapter will be able to compete with such brilliance resulting
in an anticlimax, this must follow some kind of thermodynamic law of
literature. McEwan achieves this greatly deserved acknowledgement by
the way he hooks the reader almost immediately. His use of various
techniques allows him to place the reader in a situation created by
him. By doing this he has you, the reader, in the position he wishes
thus creating an opening chapter so good it would be impossible to put
it down.
McEwan uses many different techniques to hook the reader and to try
and create suspense. From the first line of the chapter, "the
beginning is simple to mark", he gives a clear explanation to the
reader of the situation and that it isn't very complicated. It
suggests that something important is going to happen, encouraging the
reader to continue ...
... middle of paper ...
... the opening they are used a lot. If they were not used the opening may
not have been as good as it is and therefore lack the ability to hook
the reader. He uses delaying techniques to project the future of the
plot, which give the reader questions to think about and to continue
reading to find the answers. Another key feature of hooking the reader
is the way he can present sentences, which can be interoperated in 2
different ways, for example the reader in foresight interoperates
"fuel for long writers obsession" whilst for the narrator it is
hindsight. This keeps the reader on their toes therefore making them
concentrate and therefore become fully involved with the book. All of
these techniques are used to create a great balance in the opening;
together they ensure McEwan is able to keep the attention of the
reader.
In the passage, “The Jacket” by Gary Soto, Gary writes about a boy with an awful jacket that he despises. The passage uses literary elements to give the passage an interesting twist.
In a country like the United States of America, with a history of every individual having an equal opportunity to reach their dreams, it becomes harder and harder to grasp the reality that equal opportunity is diminishing as the years go on. The book Our Kids by Robert Putnam illustrates this reality and compares life during the 1950’s and today’s society and how it has gradually gotten to a point of inequality. In particular, he goes into two touching stories, one that shows the changes in the communities we live in and another that illustrates the change of family structure. In the end he shows how both stories contribute to the American dream slipping away from our hands.
Gradus, Jamie L. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Epidemiology of PTSD -. N.p., 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
It could be said that tragedies serve as Humanity’s catalysts of thought. When we line up literary eras with wars, the shifts in eras are always marked by some war- especially in America. The Romantic period was broken by the dawn of the civil war, and took a little magic from the world of writing. Writing shifted to realism, which was the polar opposite of romantic thought. When the First World War broke out, the modernist movement overshadowed realism. Similarly, the Second World War produced postmodernism. Should there be another horrible tragedy, the view will shift similarly. Whatever the implications may be, tragedies seem to change how us humans think and act. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he tells the story of a group of schoolboys
Living during the early nineteen hundreds was not easy for African American women. Women gained power through marriage, but they still were looked down upon and treated like slaves. In the story “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston uses diction, symbolism, and foreshadowing to reveal how Janie sought to discover her own identity marrying three different men who helped her discover her independence leading to the fact that women were poorly treated during this time period and deserved more respect than they received.
In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is deals with one of the largest obstacles one would ever face in one’s lifetime. He must deal with the concept of development and the idea that he’s growing up, that he’s no longer a child and must accept maturity. This internal struggle is evident in multiple aspects of this novel, particularly highlighted when Holden visits the museum and the carousel at the conclusion of the novel.
The Kite Runner is an exceptionally intriguing book. It is an extremely irritating book with the majority of the realistic points of interest. You know when you 're viewing a motion picture and somebody is getting tormented severely and there is blood all over the place and it is a truly realistic scene? Be that as it may, despite everything you observe despite the fact that it 's gross since you need to see what is going to happen to the individual? That is the manner by which Kite Runner is for me. Despite the fact that the book is exceptionally aggravating in numerous parts I can 't put it down in light of the fact that I need to continue pursuing to see what happens to the individual after the realistic and irritating scenes. Are the assault
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
To be inconsistent with traditional communities beliefs it is hard for many to accomplish. Nevertheless, writer Kate Chopin fights that conflict to deliver the readers a few of the greatest thought vexing literature that a human can get their hands on. Applying to her improvement reflections of narrative stories, such as plot control, irony, and character development, Kate is capable to take the reader towards a world of feelings that humanity would despise. Chopin shows her unbelievable literary ability in “The Story of an Hour” by joining character development and plot, with her use of thought-provoking vocabulary and narrative irony.
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
There are always pieces of literature that we will not forget in our life times. We are told that we should not have to rely on the arts to tell us what to do. If there is one memorable reading from academic career, it would be “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger.The role of the unreliable narrator who would lead and guide readers throughout the story was a major theme and you were not always sure what their truth was and what really happened. A lot of times these same ideas can be applied in a world such as ours, where there is not even proof of the future, only the past exists. Even if it is tainted with misunderstandings and delusions, if the people themselves believe in it, the past is the truth to them. Then there is this idea of what is good and bad and it is not that simple because no one can live in the world honestly. In all aspects we make our own truth.
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Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
introduced all have large holes in them. Many do not take into account all of
As boys grow into men they go through a series of changes, leaving them doubting both themselves and their beliefs. One specific author who explores this is Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe. In this publication, Defoe writes about a man who emerges from a series of catastrophes as a symbol of man’s ability to survive the tests of nature. Because of the many hardships that Defoe encountered throughout his life, writing about a man whose thoughts and internal struggles mirrored his own helps to give the publication a sense of realism. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a fictional narrative that introduces prose fiction and proposes multiple themes that dabbles on various serious topics, such as religion.