... of storytelling that gained popularity in the early 1980s. Writers of minimalist fiction are generally said to have written about commonplace people and events using a plain writing style, simple diction or word choice, and a literal, straightforward, easy-to-understand tone. Cathedral is a famous example. The first sentence of the story, ... "this blind man, an old friend of my wife's, he was on his way to spend the night," is an excellent example of this writing style. It does not contain flowery or poetic language, nor does it contain difficult-to-understand words and phrases. In fac...

• Word Count: 11148
• Approx Pages: 45
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the "Iceberg Theory" to convey only the information that he feels is pertinent, and leaves the rest to the reader to determine. Franz Kafka uses a style of writing that has a similar effect, and has been compared to a literary Rorschach test, which causes the reader to determine "hidden" meanings in his works, depending on what they wish ... . Both Kafka's and Hemingway's literary works are intentionally ambiguous. In "Hills Like White Elephants" the clearly intentional ambiguity derives from Hemingway's use of the iceberg principle and vague writing style. Kafka's novella, "The Metamor...

• Word Count: 3072
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the end of his life, which ended permanently after the struggle with lung cancer. He died in August 2, 1988 at the age of fifty (Kennedy, X. J. and Gioia, Dana, 2005). Writing Style Carver's writing style is said to be very much like Ernest Hemingway's, and that it's an example of minimalism (Hemingway being a master of minimalism). The idea behind minimalism is that by giving the ... reader a bare minimum of information, he or she will be able to figure out what's underneath (Shmoop Editorial Team). Early critics of Carver's work argue that his minimalist style and simple ... sentence...

• Word Count: 3978
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the statement: 'This book is hard to classify.' Then why bother? Many more assert vehemently that it is not a novel. Myself, I prefer to call it a narrative" (On Writing 12). Cather's preference anticipated an important reformulation of the criticism of fiction: the body of literary theory, called "narratology," articulated in the 1960s by French structuralist writers. Narratology's purpose, ... their lives; it is as though all human experiences, measured against one supreme experience, were of about the same importance" (On Writing 9). Thus, Cather's interpreters have usually seen this n...

• Word Count: 7335
• Approx Pages: 29
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . He achieved the rank of Sergeant and received a New Guinea Campaign Star. Lafferty did not have what people call to day a normal life style. He was of Irish descendant. He was a devoted Roman Catholic. At the age of ten, he did something very abnormal for ten year olds ... stories and over twenty full-length novels. Lafferty quit his job with Clark Electrical Supply in 1971 to devote all his time to his writing. Raphael stopped writing in 1980 because of health problems. He suffered a major stroke in 1994 that left him incapacitated. R.A. Lafferty passed away on March ... one of the mo...

• Word Count: 2850
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... choices. The theme of perseverance is strengthened and established through a comparative analysis of these two pieces. Analyzing the similarities and differences in form and style through the use of various literary techniques, including: detail in creating character development, plot content, symbolism and point of view, illuminates the theme presented ... this character, she displays the example of what that passion and perseverance looks like walked out in life. These works mirror each other in that Frost's writing "is simple enough for a child to read, but the meaning is complex enoug...

• Word Count: 2554
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... effort. Wealth - or the promise of wealth - turns Anthony into a failure. He believes nothing is worth doing and refuses to work. He dabbles with writing a medieval essay, and rejects his grandfathers' offer to make him a war correspondent. Anthony falls apart in wild and repulsive parties during which "people broke things ... and begin their slide down, they catch glimpses of Bloeckman on his escalator going up . Year by year he grows in dignity, manners, and style. Year by year he grows in stature, rank and respect and he, who began as a fool, is the only one who ends up with ... Carame...

• Word Count: 2828
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... and imagination of the writer/poet, the Realists wanted to de-emphasize the contribution of the writer and thought writers should "objectively" see contemporary life as the material for their writing. They attempted to keep themselves as writers from coming between the reader and the life they presented in their art. Also, the age of the Romantics valued the details of ... meant "having existed from the first" came to mean "underived, independent, first-hand" and by time the word was used a term of praise meaning "novel or fresh in character or style". It cannot be claimed that the use ...

• Word Count: 3498
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

... food, or starve! And we have stolen upon Miss Hepzibah Pyncheon, too irreverently, at the instant of time when the patrician lady is to be transformed into the plebeian woman." (39) Her financial tribulations can't be accounted solely to the fact that she has no money; rather, one must also note that at one point, she had large sums of money ... ...

• Word Count: 2986
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... desires; she went after what she wanted and she said what she thought, even when it was scandalous. Kate does not restrict herself to a certain way of acting, living, or writing, as is seen in the content of her stories and novels. In a time that it was not acceptable for women to speak out about sexuality and independence, Kate screams it ... in her writing. Her stories brought on many controversies and was not widely appreciated or accepted until many years after Kate's death. Kate Chopin leaves a legacy behind, though. Along with many very popular ... masterpieces. Chopin wrote of a...

• Word Count: 2584
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... , that a piece of language was estranging doesn't guarantee that it is always and everywhere so; it is estranging only against a certain normative linguistic background and if this alters then the writing might cease to be perceptible as literature. As to literariness, Eagleton says that it is a function of the differential relations between one sort of discourse and another; it is not ... patterns. In this way of looking at narratives, the author is canceled out, since the text is a function of a system, not of an individual. Structuralism argues that any piece of writing, or any signif...

• Word Count: 3510
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... for historical omissions. This provides an opportunity for the once marginalised persons to stand up and be heard. The Post-Colonial context gives one a strengthened understanding of Ondaatje's purpose in writing this novel- to narrate the forgotten stories of those who contributed to the building of the city of Toronto. Through this narration, readers are given an alternative, if not more ... ) at the strong recommendation of a friend. I am happy to report that I enjoyed reading this novel very much. It too is complex but I was carried along with the author's near-poetic writing and his...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... in discussion of variants of development of a plot, the aleatorica of the novel is unwrapped, supported by author's references on Alan Rob-Grije, Rolan Bart and other theorists of the "writing". Existential sights of the author find the expression in basic of the concept of the novel "there is only one good definition of the God: freedom which supposes existence of ... ...

• Word Count: 2592
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and sudden awareness. I Want To Know Why' is told from a first person point of view where the sensitive narrator is trying to comprehend the meaning of the epiphany that's what I'm writing this story about. I'm puzzled. I'm getting to be a man and want to think straight and be O.K. Comprehending and trying to understand can similarly be seen in The Grave', where Miranda, like ... ...

• Word Count: 2806
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate