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the role of a narrator
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The Success of the Opening to The Empty House in Engaging the Reader in the Story
English Coursework
An author can engage the reader in their stories by describing
different aspects of the text in an interesting way. The narrator of a
story is one way that can interest a reader by the knowledge and
background they have or by the way they tell a story. The larger than
life characters used in the text can be good ways to grab the reader's
attention by being thoroughly believable, allowing the reader to
become attached to them or even, in the case of Sherlock Holmes,
compete with them. Holmes, Watson and the characters within the
stories are examples of these entertaining and realistic individuals.
The settings and social context are important features for the appeal
of a story to a reader. The vocabulary used is an important way in
which the author can engage the reader, as the words need to be
interesting and vivid for the person reading to be intrigued. Dull
words that bore and do not create an interest for the reader are not
useful in engaging the attention of the reader. The six short stories
that I shall study during this essay are 'The Empty House', 'The Final
Problem', 'The Speckled Band', 'The Man With The Twisted Lip',
'Shoscombe Old Place' and 'The Red Headed League'. I shall analyse the
opening paragraphs to discover the methods that Conan Doyle uses to
engage the reader's attention. During the analysis I will explore
ideas such as vocabulary, plot and narrator of the stories.
The narrator in all six of these detective stories is the character of
Dr. James Watson. Watson makes an excellent choice as the narrator as
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...t being around. This suggests the
knowledge of Holmes is far more superior than the police's,
encouraging those reading to want to know more about such an
incredible man.
To conclude, I think that the opening to 'The Empty House' is the most
successful in engaging the reader in the story. Watson regards his
experiences highly as he says that he has had an "interesting and
adventurous life" yet this crime managed to shock him and gave him a
"sudden flood of joy, amazement and incredulity". The "close intimacy"
shared between Holmes and Watson leads those reading to feel involved
in such a relationship too and be taken in by the story. The detail
that ten years had passed before Watson could reveal the story
suggests that the story is going to be of interest otherwise there
would have been no reason to ait so long.
Ray Bradbury uses juxtaposition by contrasting this imaginary world that is set in the twenty-first century to very ordinary actions. Although the house is automated and again, empty, the kitchen is making the ideal breakfast for a family of four, and singing basic nursery rhymes such as “Rain, rain, go away...”. These humanlike events do not compare to the unoccupied house. The description of the house becomes more animalistic and almost oxymoronic when the, “rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal.” The almost constant cleaning of the tiny robot mice suggest that the previous household was very orderly and precise. Through Bradbury’s description of the outside of the house and its surroundings he indirectly tells the reader about the events that may have occurred. A burnt “silhouette” of the family imprinted on the west wall of the house is the only thing left of them. In the image each person is doing something picking flowers, moving the lawn, playing with a ball. This was a family having a good time, but little did they know the catastrophe they were about to experience would end their
In regards to the unpainted house: At the end of the book, only a corner of the house needs painting to be complete. It would have been very easy for our author to have completely finished in painting the house. However, that’s not what the premise nor the promise of the book contains. There is a big difference in completing a challenge, and being successful. Although life’s problems and challenges are never ending, the success in dealing with a challenge has more to do with the way it is done than in its completion. ‘The joy is certainly in the journey’ when reading the novel, ‘A Painted House’.
Green uses various literary elements, a few symbolic scenes, constant visual action along with the clever use of “action-reaction” format to let the text flow hence creating potential tension to make sure that the story isn’t dead at any point. The action is mentioned and the protagonist’s immediate reaction keeps the reader involved and complements each other heavily. Green drags the reader right into the text from the very beginning, and very skilfully keeps the reader engaged to the end of the introduction. With varied techniques to convey his message, Green is able to summarize the novel and grab attention in the few opening pages itself.
A person’s home is a good representation of himself or herself. The way one takes care of their home can tell a story about the owner of the home and its residence. The members of the home may also affect the situations that take place, creating good or bad circumstances. In a story, a character's home does just that. The more or less elaborate it is explained, the more detail is presented about how the character is or will be. In “The House of Usher” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the elaborate descriptions of the characters and their homes set the story and can predict the outcome. A writer’s home and view of life may have a profound impact on their idea of home and therefore their writing that is produced.
2. The author creates tone, which changes from peaceful and calm to horror. Words in the story like humorlessly and awkwardly help the reader feel the tension in the town. In the story, “She held her breath while her husband went forward” proved that the characters was dealing with ...
When reading a story, the audience must rely on the author’s use of different devices. These devices are used to spark the reader’s imagination so he or she can envision where and what is happening. The setting, the theme and the tone quite literally set the scene of a story. A setting, such as a cemetery, can give an audience the feeling of fear or sadness, depending on the theme and tone, whereas the setting of a hospital can give an audience the feeling of sadness or happiness depending on the theme and tone. The respected horror writer, Edgar Allan Poe, knew how to use these tools to pull a reader in and leave him or her on the edge of his or her seat. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” the eerie setting, the dark, yet humorous, tone and the sadistic theme guide the audience to the sinister outcome.
Upon entering the dimly lit space you are immediately met with a wall of damp air that captures your attention and heightens your senses. This overwhelming feeling of mystery and intrigue takes over. Moving further into the room your eyes are drawn to a white screen. As you grow nearer, movement of shadowed figures appears, but when rounding the corner, on the other side, eerily there is no figure, just the lonely furniture
The mind is a complicated thing. Not many stories are able to portray this in such an interesting manner as in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". The haunting story of a man and his sister, living in the old family mansion. But as all should know, much symbolism can be found in most of Poe's works. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is no exception.
In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allen Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him. Poe tries to evoke suspence in the reader's mind by using several diffenent scenes. These elements include setting, characters, plot, and theme. Poe uses setting primarily in this work to create atmosphere. The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder, strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. The use of character provides action and suspense in the story through the characters' dialogue and actions. Roderick, who is hypochondriac, is very depressed. He has a fearful apperance and his senses are acute. This adds curiosity and anxiety. The narrator was fairly normal until he began to imagine things and become afraid himself. Because of this, the audience gets a sense that evil is lurking. Madeline is in a cataleptic state. She appears to be very weak and pail. Finally, when she dies, she is buried in a vault inside of the mansion. In this story, the plot consists of rising events, conflict, climax, and resolution. The rising events include the parts in the story when the narrator first arrives at the house, meets Roderick, and hears about Roderick's and Madeline's problems. Madeline's death and burial are part of the conflict. At this point, Roderick and the narrator begin to hear sounds throughout the house. The sounds are an omen that an evil action is about to occur. The climax is reached when Madeline comes back from the dead and she and her twin brother both die. Finally, the resolution comes when the narrator escapes from the house and turns around to watch it fall to the ground. The theme that Edgar Allen Poe is trying to convey is do not let fear take over your life because it could eventually destory you.
The short story, “The Landlady” By Roald Dahl, uses specific diction cleverly which significantly affects the suspenseful tone throughout the story. Roald Dahl writes with a positive flow, but incorporates suspenseful and negative twists to keep that tone.The story flows with an emphasis to details of a negative tone and foreshadows clues which forboded a tragic ending .
The mansion is a superb example and symbol of clairvoyance; it allows for great insight and perspective, furthermore, it is the one constant in the book. This allows it to greatly alter the story, even though it is an inanimate object that has no feelings, no thoughts, and cannot talk, but still says the most about everyone’s personality. It is an object that conveys true human nature, it does not care who everyone is, as they are all the same to it, and all it provides is a place to see and step back from reality to reflect on people’s actions.
In order to create this atmosphere and draw the audience in, the interior of an apartment building will be visible. The apartment appears as if it may have once been a beautiful home, but inside the room has a rather dark and eeriness to it. There is a bar top with chipped paint, resting on top is an empty glass and a bottle of alcohol. The bar top separates the audience from an area which is adorned with all the essentials of a kitchen, the appliances look worn and battered with use. Next to the kitchen there is a shelf which what could only be an empty fish tank rests atop, adjacent to this shelf is a closed door. Across from the fish tank rests an old couch and several other chairs to fill in the empty space representing a living room.
After the kitchen the visitor moves to the dining room and then he seemed to get even more emotional because the story tells us “ the stranger appeared to be even more deeply moved moved.” Maybe the author chose to make the visitor go through the house in a certain order because he would feel more and more emotional the more he moved throughout the house. Then they move to the living room, and the visitor talks about how different it all looked. But then, he notices the window seat and that brought back even more memories of what the visitor and his mother did. Then they move upstairs to the son’s room and when the stranger makes on to his last request he breaks down in tears because he seems emotionally unstable about leaving the house “ Now the visit was truly over; the stranger, at last, was leaving, having wiped away the tears and made a stoical effort to compose himself”. The author made the visitor become more and more emotional throughout the different places of the house because each one had a desired affect on the stranger’s
Architecture by far, plays the greatest role in the book. The house itself causes the events in the book to unfold. Supposedly built in 1720, it has housed approximately 0.37 owners a year, most of who were traumatized in some way. William (Navy) and Karen Navidson, the current owners of the house, are included in this select group. Though they move into the house as an attempt to repair their marriage, it is what that ultimately drives them apart. The first sign of trouble is the appearance of a long, cold, dark hallway. The house, larger on the inside than it is on the outside, causes Navidson to investigate the house and serves as the catalyst for the destruction that follows.
Similarly, the furniture in the house is as sullen as the house itself. What little furniture is in the house is beaten-up; this is a symbol of the dark setting. The oak bed is the most important p...