Stephen King a very popular story writer is most famous for his horror fiction stories. He has written many books that have inspired other writers to write and other people to read more. He has made many accomplishments that a lot of writers have never achieved. According to his biography, King has sold fifty bestsellers, and has acted in a few movies that are based on his books. The use of Suspense as a literary element is constant in books written by Stephen King. This will examine Stephen King’s life and the literary criticism of his short story, “The Two Dead Girls” The Green Mile. In his works he blends elements of the traditional gothic, depressing and threatening tales with those of the modern psychological suspenseful fiction stories. Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947. It stated, at the age of 7 was when he began writing. While he was still very young, King’s father left him and his mother. His mother and him were very unsettled and were always moving from place to place until they finally settled in Durham, Maine, when King was eleven (King pg. 4). When he was only twelve, he began submitting stories to professional magazines, and he started his first novel in high school. He made his first fiction book sale when he was 20 years old, after graduating high school. Stephen attended the University of Maine to major in English, which he graduated from college in 1970. Life was tough for King in 1970, although he married Tabitha Spruce and had three children. He worked in a Laundromat, was a high school teacher, and continued to write on the side to support his family. During that time, he sold short stories to Cavalier magazine. His first great and successful novel, though, was Carrie. Since ... ... middle of paper ... ... 1 Mar. 2011. J. Madison Davis. “International Crime and Mystery.” World Literature Today May-June 2007: pg 16(4). “King, Stephen.” The Green Mile. 1997. “King Stephen.” Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction. 2008 ed. Literature Resources from Gale. 2000. Patricia L. Daniel. February 2009. . Maryles, Daisy. "Behind the bestsellers." Publishers Weekly 28 Apr. 1997: 18. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. Quinn, Judy. "Ballantine launches $1.99-$2.99 PB series." Publishers Weekly 13 Jan. 1997: 22. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. "The Green Mile." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Jan. 1997: 4+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web 1 March 2011. "Stephen King." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resources from Web 1 Mar. 2011.
Beetz, Kirk H., ed. Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction. Vol. 5. Osprey: n.p., 1996. 5 vols.
In John Irving's novel titled, A Prayer for Owen Meany, suspenseful events are of abundance, and there are multiple ways the author creates this suspense. Among these methods of creating suspense, four that stand out are the use of setting, the pace of the story, the involvement of mysteries to be solved, and the ability of the reader to easily identify and sympathize with the protagonist. By placing a character in a gloomy or solitary place, uncomfortable feelings are created, which append to the suspense. Pace and structure of the story also play into the foundation of suspense, as shorter sentences and stronger, more cutting verbs and adjectives are often used to keep the reader highly interested and reading at a rapid speed. Of course, suspense could not be considered what it is if there were no mystery involved. The element of not knowing what is in store for the future and having the urge to find out is the essence of suspense. Also, if the reader cannot easily relate to and sympathize with the character in the suspenseful situation, a loss of interest can arise, and therefore spoil the spirit of the tension. Uncomfortable settings, pace and structure, use of mysteries, and capability to relate to the main character are four techniques that John Irving uses to create suspense.
In “Reading to Write,” Stephen King addresses the importance of reading to a writer. King
Stephen King, a distinguished author of blood-curdling horror, writes novels and short stories based on his personal fears of everyday life (Kehoe). In the year of 1977, King created the pseudonym, Richard Bachman to publish additional books (Biography Today). The masquerading secret was so well-kept, no one knew until eight years later, when readers noticed the same writing style as King (Kehoe, Biography Today). Bachman’s first book, The Rage, was published in 1977 (Biography Today). Succeeding The Rage, Bachman published The Boogeyman in 1978 (Biography Today). In The Boogeyman, Lester Billings is a hard-working young man with three deceased children, a defenseless wife, and a guilty conscious.
Beacham, W. (Ed.). (1986). Beacham’s Popular Fiction In America, Volume 3. Washington DC: Beacham Publishing.
Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His real name was Michael King Jr., but legally changed it to Martin Luther King Jr. When he was older, he graduated from Boston University and later attended Morehouse College
surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would
Stephen king was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. By the age of two, his father had left him and causing his mother to raise him and his brother David by herself. Because of the people that he met and the environment he put himself in, King became the writer he is today. In King’s life, he was given many opportunities that would either further his writing career or influence him into new ideas or styles of writing.
Stephen King is known by many as a successful author, but every author is only as good as his or her works. King has produced various types of works such as short stories, novels, novellas, screenplays, and comics. His work has been the “most important bridge between the horror genre and literary respectability from the late 1960s and 1970s up to the present time” (Hoppenstand 3). Stephen Edwin King was born September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. He is the second son of Donald Edwin and Nellie Ruth King. When King was two years old, his father, a captain in the merchant marines, went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never returned. Nellie, King’s mother, raised King and his adopted older brother David. The family under the care of Nellie experienced many hardships and moved often as she looked for work. The family lived in Maine, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. When King was six years old, the family finally settled in Stratford, Connecticut (Hoppenstand 8; Stephen King).
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.
Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey. He was the son of a Methodist minister, named Reverend Townley Crane. As a boy Crane was often ill and this sense of helplessness is believed to have led to his realistic, cold, hard style of writing he became famous four. As far as his education went, Crane went through a lengthy course of schooling over the years. During his academic career he attended Pennington Seminar...
Suspense is a common element in popular media which is used to keep TV shows or plots of books or movies from being too predictable and boring. A key example of suspense in a movie is a scene from JAWS in which the shark is slowly approaching the boat and in the background a piano plays an ominous two key tone to send chills down the audience’s spines.In Shirley Jackson’s short stories, ¨The Possibility of Evil¨ and ¨The Lottery,¨ Jackson uses multiple literary devices to upgrade her stories and to create much needed suspense. Since Jackson is known for writing suspenseful stories with even more surprising plot twists, she relies on literary devices to ensure that her stories live up to their dramatic expectations. Though Jackson’s two short
b. Thesis Statement: Stephen King uses many different elements in order to scare his readers. The elements include supernatural elements, real life scenarios, and fear of the unknown.
King owes his success to his ability to take what he says are “real fears” (The Stephen King Story, 47) and turn them into a horror story. When he says “real fears” they are things we have all thought of such as a monster under the bed or even a child kidnapping and he is making them a reality in his story. King looks at “horror fiction...as a metaphor” (46) for everything that goes wrong in our lives. His mind and writing seems to dwell in the depths of the American people’s fears and nightmares and this is what causes his writing to reach so many people and cause the terror he writes about to be instilled in his reader.
This is where I put my first idea or reason. For example,it is important to be yourself for the following reasons. Your ideas in the future will be original,if you copy someone else it'll be another version of their idea.You will have more confidence in your own choices.