ALICE MUNRO’S THE ALBANIAN VIRGIN IN OPEN SECRETS EXEMPLIES HER CHARACTERISTIC APPROACH
To try to trace Alice Munro’s narrative techniques to any particular development in the short story The Albanian Virgin would be difficult. This could be because it is simply written from careful observations as are many of her other short stories. In her short stories, it is as though she tries to transform a common, ordinary world into something that is unsettling and mysterious as was seen in Vandals. Most of her stories found in Open Secrets, are set or focused on Munro’s native Canada, Huron County, and particularly in the small fictional Ontario town of Carstairs, although the setting in The Albanian Virgin is in British Columbia. The story, The Albanian Virgin, found in Open Secrets, exemplifies Munro’s characteristic approach to short story writing as it explores central character’s lives that are revealed from a combination of first person narrative and third person narrative. By using both narratives, Munro adds realism, some autobiographical information about her own life in the short stories, as the stories are also based on fiction as can it be found in earlier written short stories.
Since many of her stories are based on the region in which she was born, the characters and narrators are often thought of as being about her life and how she grew up; and making her stories appear from a feminist approach. This could also indicate why the central characters in the short stories in Open Secrets, are all women: a young woman kidnapped by Albanian tribesmen in the 1920’s in The Albanian Virgin, and a young born-again Christian whose unresolved feelings of love and anger cause her to vandalize a house in Vandals.
Her theme has often been the dilemmas of the adolescent girl coming to terms with family and a small town. Her more recent work has addressed the problems of middle age, of women alone, and of the elderly. The characteristic of her style is the search for some revelatory gesture by which an event is illuminated and given personal significance. (The Canadian Encyclopedia Plus 1995)
Munro’s later work can probably be seen as that of her later or more recent memories, as she ages so does the characters of her short stories.
The short story, An Albanian Virgin, begins...
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...sp; The use of narratives, both first person and third person brings about the unique style of Alice Munro. Not many writers could write in such a way that makes the reader feel like they are the narrator in a way. Most of her stories have often been compared to be more near autobiography than to fiction by some critics. It is true that much of her stories in some way or another do relate to her life, being that of her childhood or that of her later years. The point of the matter is that although the reader can distinguish some similarities in the stories, they are for the most part fictitious with an add of some realism to them.
REFERENCES
Blodgett, E.D. "Alice Munro." The Canadian Encyclopedia Plus. 1995.
Bloom, Amy. "From Strength to Strength." The Boston Book Review. January/February 1995, Electric Newstand.
MacKendrick, Louis, K. Alice Munro’s Narrative Acts. Downsview, ECW Press, 1983.
Munro, Alice. Open Secrets. Toronto: McClelland & Steward Inc., 1994.
Turbide, Diane. "The Incomparable Storyteller." Maclean’s. October 17, 1994, 46-49.
Workers feeling, which includes competitive compensation and reward strategies, professional growth and development, career paths and succession plans and the organizations leadership and culture are contributing factors of employee engagement
Dreams and Letters are often seen in Alice Munro's stories as a way to further enhance the plot. Dreams are seen in "Runaway", while letters are seen in "Hateship, Friendship", as well as "Runaway". Dreams and letters in Alice Munro's stories add a sense of suspense and allows the audience to seem closer with the characters since most oppressed people would be able to write freely about how they feel. Alice Munro uses this to learn more about the characters and to be able to go through the characters' inner feelings. However, other people are able to mask their current situation through the letters they send to others. While dreams allow the plot to seem more mysterious
As soon as they picked me up, we headed right to Hershey. On the way, we talked about the rides and what we were going to do. We were arguing about what was going to be our first ride that day. It took about half an hour, but we made
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
My heart was set on Samford University. I wanted to go there so bad that I was willing to be red shirted and sit on the bench probably until my junior year. I really thought God wanted me to go there. It made since for me to go to Samford. My big brother was there, my dream of playing division one soccer in college would have come true. My comfort, fimilarness, and family were all at Samford.
There were many people throughout my childhood that help me to read, and write. However, my teachers, mom, and dad were all responsible for teaching me “how” to read and write. For example, in pre-kindergarten, I learned my alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers, and to follow instructions. Once I learned the above items, I returned home with homework. My mom and dad would help me with my homework, and structure activities around my learning. My mom and dad would encourage me to read because they believed it was very important. In addition, my mom would often read to me before I go to bed reinforce my learning. The readings before I go to be very instrumental in my learning.
Previously, the narrator has intimated, “She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves. They had never taken the form of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own.” Her thoughts and emotions engulf her, but she does not “struggle” with them. They “belonged to her and were her own.” She does not have to share them with anyone; conversely, she must share her life and her money with her husband and children and with the many social organizations and functions her role demands.
Alice Walker, one of the best-known and most highly respected writers in the US, was born in Eatonton , Georgia, the eighth and last child of Willie Lee and Minnie Lou Grant Walker. Her parents were sharecroppers, and money was not always available as needed. At the tender age of eight, Walker lost sight of one eye when one of her older brothers shot her with a BB gun by accident. This left her in somewhat a depression, and she secluded herself from the other children. Walker felt like she was no longer a little girl because of the traumatic experience she had undergone, and she was filled with shame because she thought she was unpleasant to look at. During this seclusion from other kids her age, Walker began to write poems. Hence, her career as a writer began.
In her story, Boys and Girls, Alice Munro depicts the hardships and successes of the rite of passage into adulthood through her portrayal of a young narrator and her brother. Through the narrator, the subject of the profound unfairness of sex-role stereotyping, and the effect this has on the rites of passage into adulthood is presented. The protagonist in Munro's story, unidentified by a name, goes through an extreme and radical initiation into adulthood, similar to that of her younger brother. Munro proposes that gender stereotyping, relationships, and a loss of innocence play an extreme, and often-controversial role in the growing and passing into adulthood for many young children. Initiation, or the rite of passage into adulthood, is, according to the theme of Munro’s story, both a mandatory and necessary experience.
It has been said of Anton Chekhov, the renown Russian short-story writer, that in all of his “work, there is never exactly a point. Rather we see into someone’s hear – in just a few pages, the curtain concealing these lives has been drawn back, revealing them in all their helplessness and rage and rancor.” Alice Munro, too, falls into this category. Many of her short-stories, such as “Royal Beatings” focus more on character revelation rather than plot.
The persuasive attempts in both literary works produce different results. The effectiveness of the mother’s guidance to her daughter is questioned since the girl cannot recognize the essence of her mother’s lesson. Despite that, the mother’s beneficial instruction serves as a standard for the daughter to reflect her future behaviors in order to live up to the community’s expectations. On the other hand, Anne’s value of candid expression and lasting relationship dissuades her from obliging to her family’s meaningless duty to place her love and interest above to experience fulfillment in life.
However, Britain did have several disadvantages since they were the invading army, there was poor communication regarding supplies and between military leaders as well as a lack of familiarity of American territory. The British also outnumbered the American soldiers. The Americans had many disadvantages, and defeating the British seemed impossible. Americans were constantly experiencing shortages of supplies. Additionally, Americans had very few ships and did not have well experienced soldiers of military leaders. However, Americans were passionate and driven by their cause. Additionally, militias used methods of fighting such as surprise attacks or camouflage. The American soldiers were also familiar with their territory. Overall, Americans had many disadvantages, but with the leadership of Washington, they were able to push out the British and achieve
Virginia Woolf begins her memoir Moments of Being with a conscious attempt to write for her readers. While writing her life story, however, she begins to turn inwards and she becomes enmeshed in her writing. By focusing on her thoughts surrounding the incidents in her life instead of the incidents themselves, she unconsciously loses sight of her outward perspective and writes for herself. Her memoir becomes a loose series of declarations of her beliefs connected only by her wandering train of thought. Although Moments of Being deals largely with her conjectures, she is not trying to convince the reader of these beliefs' validity since she is so absorbed in the act of writing. What begins as an outwardly focused memoir evolves into Virginia Woolf's exploration of her thoughts and feelings.
Here are some figures that display how Employee engagement practices have bolstered up the efficiency and productivity of the employees and in return have augmented the profits of the companies. According to a new meta-analysis that was conducted by the Gallup organisation amongst 1.4 million employees, the organisations that focus on employee engagement practices to a large extent have reported 22% increase in productivity. These practices even impr...
Since my offers for football were all limited to Junior Colleges that can only offer books and tuition, I kept my search to that level. I then picked my top three of these and began to list the things I liked about each school and the things that I didn’t like. My final decision was to attend Hutchinson Community College. I choose this school because I liked the campus, the coaches and I liked their facilities. Hutchinson is quite a drive from Topeka being two and a half hours away but not so far that family and friends can not attend games and come to visit