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Bloodline collection of five short stories, Bloodline depicts the struggles of day-to-day African-American life in the South. With unique literary devices and keen emotional insight, Author Ernest J. Gaines uses the first person perspective in each tale to make the narratives exceptionally poignant and to bring the characters alive. In fact, two of the tales are told from the perspective of young boys, Gaines captures their innocence and their unwitting exposure to racism deftly in "A Long Day in November," and "The Sky is Gray," "Three Men" depicts the black experience of the American criminal justice system, revealing its faults through symbolism and powerful imagery of life on the inside. "Bloodline" illustrates how Southern blacks fared after the demise of plantation culture in the post-Civil War south. Finally, "Just like a Tree" switches points-of-view, as Gaines portrays blacks as they are viewed in the eyes of the white man. These five narratives offer a glimpse into a world more often than not neglected from the history books,...
Gaines' characters emerge as beacons of hope and resiliency amid these obstacles; they walk "the way soldiers walk," (217).
Both tales told by children, "A Long Day in November," and "The Sky is Gray," are told in the present tense, an unusual literary device. This serves accurately portrays children's perception of the world, and is therefore entirely appropriate, even necessary. Eddie and James, the protagonists in these two tales, respectively, perceive the world as it happens right now, in all its vividness. The stories these boys tell encapsulate the greater themes of the short story collection. Their innocence is shattered by the pervasiveness of racism in their daily lives: they are poor, they are taught to accept their inferior lot in life, and their family life is tough because of it. For example, James'…
Lottery" by Shirley Jackson The meaning of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' "It isn't fair, it isn't right." These are the last words expressed by the victim in Shirley Jackson's short story 'The Lottery', which provides a unique but shocking perspective of the innate evil that is part of human nature. The story starts off by describing a town scene that could not be more commonplace or predictable. The descriptions provided by
What is Science Fiction? Nightfall (Asimov, 1941) Q1. What is different about the world of the story from the “normal” world? What elements make the world of the story seem strange and different from our own? There are a number of elements in Nightfall that establish the planet’s difference from the normal world on earth. First, it is set on another planet, in a fictional universe. This universe is lighted by several, rather
female body -- the sum of its parts? In short story, novel, and poetic depictions of Gillman, Brooks, and Piercy despised flower, called a yellow weed by most observers. A trapped and voiceless bodily entity, like a ghost, perhaps behind a surface of peeling yellow wallpaper. A plastic doll with yellow hair with pneumatic dimensions and candied cherry lips. These three contrasting images all have been used to characterize
Achates McNeil The use of first person narration in T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "Achates McNeil" is profoundly important in the effectiveness of the story, and critical to the story's ultimate success. First person narration allows the reader to sympathize with the narrator's anguish, and to see the events of the story clearly through Ake's eyes. In the story, Achates, or Ake (as he calls himself) gives the reader direct access his
Friendship (short Story): Wrestling with myself Sierra was one of those girls everyone hated and everyone secretly wanted to be except me. I just hated her. Even the teachers gave her a wide berth and never challenged her. She'd walk through the school, a cold expression on her face, wearing the latest and most fashionable clothes. She seemed to have a sixth sense about when something suddenly was no longer trendy and had
Gimpel the Fool In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Gimpel the Fool," the character of the title has been given the nickname of fool by the people in his village because of his naivety. When someone tells him a lie, he believes them and does not doubt that what they say is the very truth, no matter how many times he has been deceived in the past. In general, the majority