When addressing the style of each author, you may choose to analyze the diction, or word choice, of each. (Is the word choice formal or informal? Does the author write in a way that is imagistic and poetic or rather terse and straightforward?)
Other ideas to consider: Does the author use dialect? Long or short sentences? Lots of dialogue or not so much? Is there anything else that stands out about the author's style? What sort of atmosphere, tone, or mood is each writer able to create? How are the writers similar and different in these areas? Also, what impact or effect does the author's style have on the novel? Does the style help the readers to understand the time period or culture? Does the style tend to alienate readers or draw them in to the story? Does the narrator seem to have a particular bias or philosophy that spills onto the page?
*These are questions to think about for the essay topic. For this post, feel free to stick to Hurston's/Angelou's style and we'll save O'Brien for later. (Unless you've already read both novels...in which case I now appoint you Most Impressive Person of June/early July. Anyone?)
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses a distinct writing style to get the reader to become more immersed in the conversations that the characters are having. The author chose to write all the dialogue phonetically to capture the deep southern accent that all the characters have. An example of this is when the characters refer to themselves as "Ah" instead of "I." She also chooses to show the lack of education that the characters in the town have by using incorrect grammar and some mispronounced words. An example of this is when the ladies of the town are sitting on a stoop gossiping about Janie: "What she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can’t she find no dress to put on (p.3)?"
ReplyDeleteHurston also chooses to tell most of the story through dialogue. This is a good way to narrate a story like Their Eyes Were Watching God because it makes the characters seem more real. The reader does not have to sit through pages of boring description, but instead they can draw their own conclusions based on what the characters say and do. What words a character chooses to say shows where their true motives are.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston's diction and writing style make a huge impact on the way characters from this small Southern town are portrayed. Hurston uses a very strong form of Southern black dialect. She uses language such as Ah for I, 'yo for your, and dis for this. It becomes obvious from the very beginning that the people of Eatonville are not well educated and love to gossip. For example, on page 22, Nanny asks, "Well, if he do all dat whut you come in heah wid uh face long as mah arm for?" This quote occurred when Janie came into the house looking upset and Nanny asked if Logan had beaten her. Because the majority of this novel is told through the words of the characters who use a strong Southern dialect, it is sometimes hard to understand, but the word choice of the characters tells a lot about them as a person.
ReplyDeleteTheir Eyes Were Watching God
ReplyDeleteBoth Melanie and Mackenzie raise good points about the style of the book. Hurston’s style shows that the characters are uneducated and are from the Deep South.
Something that hasn’t been addressed yet is the atmosphere. Hurston is able to create many atmospheres. Hurston can create something warm and loving, like Janie and Tea Cake’s home. Hurston can create something cold and misunderstood, like Janie and Joe in the store. Hurston can also create something dark and dangerous, like the hurricane.
Reading through the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", it is clear to me that the people living in the tight-knit town loves to spread gossip, and they even go to church to hear more if there is some bit of rumor they haven't heard yet. The way Hurston gives life to these characters is obscure. She uses words in a way that is looser than that of someone who has more of a formal education except when the people are not engaged in dialect. One example found in the novel resides on page 78, "'You gettin' too moufy, Janie,' Starks told her. 'Go fetch me de checker-board and de checkers. Sam Watson, you'se mah fish.'" I've noticed there is indeed a distinct amount of dialect in the beginning of the book. As the novel progresses there is more sentences added that are not immersed in conversation between the characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Hurston uses less and less conversation as the novel progresses. I believe Hurston does manily to Janie to show how Janie is evolving. In the Begining of the book Janie speaks alot always has something to say, but as she gets older and is restricted by her husbands the reader sees that Janie speaks less. This does not mean that at the end Janie will not speak at all but simply that through her strugles she learns to keep to her self and not speak due to her fear of what Killicks or Sparks might do to her. In reading I found that when Janie marries Tea Cake Janie, as far as the reader can see, is speaking more and I think this is because Tea Cake is such a loving and positive figure in her life Janie feels comfortable speaking and no longer fears punishment that she recived from her former husbands.
DeleteIn "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" Maya Angelou uses lots of dialog and short sentences to give the book a feeling that it is coming from a child's point of view. While she uses a mix of metaphors and allusions to give insight to the events in her childhood and her understanding of them, she does it in a way that makes the reader view each situation from an ignorant child's point of view. While the book is written in this style to achieve that point of view, there is still a lot of deeper meaning connected to each major event in the book and Angelou does a fantastic job of stressing the importance of these events. She reminds the reader that while the book is in a child's perspective the meaning and lesson learned from each event can be understood by anybody.
ReplyDeleteIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses a rather informal word choice for a formal audience throughout the entire novel. Her use to a thick, southern dialect and heavy use of dialogue helps connect the readers to the characters in an unique way. It helps give the readers a feel of where the characters are coming from and their background (the South). Hurston's way of doing this doesn't make the novel a handful to understand but makes it a rather fun and interesting experience to read. The dialogue Hurston engages in this novel shows the lack of education the characters have. This helps the readers understand the culture and background of the area the characters come from. Hurston's daring writing style makes this novel different from the rest and makes the book feel more real.
ReplyDeleteMaya Angelou’s style of writing consisted of using literature elements in her autobiography to put the reader right there with her. Using dialog and dialect in her book, Maya draws the reader in because of the reader’s curiosity of how the times were. Using Southern black dialect and direct phrases adds to the novel’s truth because they show how the people of that time really spoke. In all, Maya’s use of dialog and word choice was able to set a mood at any point in time. It is easy to tell if the situation is cheerful, comical, or depressing based on what the people stay and the words they use.
ReplyDeleteIn I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou's style of writing shows both the child and woman persona of herself. Adding to what Adam said, Angelou used a large amount of dialog and short sentences to show her child persona of her in the story. While writing her autobiography as a woman, she uses vocabulary that is challenging, yet easy to understand. She uses a myriad amount of detail and description with a southern accent to describe her life in Stamps, Arkansas. This gives the reader a perfect view of the life of an African-American during the 1930's and 1940's in the South.
ReplyDeleteFor some odd reason the page for the "Reader's Choice" post wouldn't pull up and I wasn't able to add my reply to Madalyn Spohler's post she had made.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Madalyn 100% on how the title of the book is symbolized throughout the story. I feel that if Mrs. Flowers had never spoke to Maya alone, what would Maya's life had been like? Had things been totally different or would she had finally been able to "break free" of her silence and follow the same steps without Mrs. Flowers help? I think that with Mrs. Flowers not only paying attention to Maya, but also giving her advice, it helped her see the world in a different perspective and was able to overcome her past. It helped Maya become the person that she is today and also helped her have the courage to finally stand up for herself and take charge of her life.
This post pertains to the book, "I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing".
ReplyDeleteMaya Angelou is not very formal about her writing style in this book; I feel that it leans more towards the informal style due to how her book flows. She writes more straightforward and in the perspective of a child. I noticed that throughout the book she kinda hopped around a lot. I had to take some notes on the side and put things in the order that they belonged. But back to the dialect and dialogue that Maya chose to use. She used short sentences to explain most of her story (I saw very few long sentences throughout her book). Maya did have a lot of dialogue, but not too much. She explained a lot of the situations in her story and added dialogue when it was needed. I honestly think that she could probably form any kind of mood besides love (I went into depth on how Maya describes "love" in the post "What is Love?"). Maya goes into great depth of different emotions and how she feels. For example, on page 187 Maya describes the feeling of being grateful for what God has done for her, "In my robe and barefoot in the backyard, under cover and going to see about my new beans, I gave myself up to the gentle warmth and thanked God that no matter what evil I had done in my life He had allowed me to live to see this day." She is not very vivid on what's going on around her, but you can almost feel the sunlight on your skin while reading that quote.
In "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", Angelou takes to a poetic and imaginative style of writing. While the poetic lines most likely come naturally from her career as a poet, she takes great care to describe things as a kid would describe them. This creates a sense of innocence for the reader, pulling them into Angelou's world. Angelou also takes great care in word choice, which helps to not only set the scene of the book but also displays some of the prominent issues in the novel such as racism. Her writing let's us relate to Angelou in thoughts, feelings, and perception, allowing the reader to feel more deeply connected and involved with the novel. These stylistic attributes allow Angelou to accurately paint her life as a child for us and makes the novel an immersive and refreshing read.
ReplyDeleteIn I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou displays a variety of different elements to demonstrate a distinct style in this novel, including dialect, allusion, symbol, hyperbole, similes, and metaphors. Angelou uses the variety to make the reader feel as though they are in the novel with the narrator. One of the main devices she uses is dialect to inform readers on how the people of the time period and region spoke. In addition to the different elements of writing, Angelou wrote shorter, choppier sentences. Details like this reinforce the fact that the novel was about a young girl. Angelou being a poet used her background and incorporated both poetic and imaginative styles. The result was a novel that displayed her childhood that opened your eyes on how life really was a struggle.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses southern dialect to paint a picture of southern culture. She slurs words together in an informal manner so the reader can understand the way they talk in the novel. She uses a lot of dialogue in the story to help develop the characters. This allows you to feel more apart of the story. The style of how they're saying the words adds depth to the characters and may help you make more connections to them. It makes the book harder to read sometimes. Some of the words are very strong while some are very basic. The characters mostly use simple words when they are talking. The word choice creates different feelings towards characters throughout the story. It may make them seem more or less intelligent. This keeps the story interesting and more relatable.
ReplyDeleteIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses dialect to enhance the Southern, African American feel to the novel. As I began the book, not knowing much about it, I quickly realized the setting, as well as some major points about the characters. The dialect used in the book showed which characters were uneducated, due to their poor grammar and short, choppy sentences, while it also showed which individuals were educated due to their use of proper grammar and diction. I think that that Hurston's use of straightforward, non-poetic verse shows that this book was based in a time where things were rough. These uses of diction and dialect do a great job in expressing the setting and characters in the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses a lot of southern slang throughout the book. This kind of writing helps tell if a character is well educated or not. Also in the book Hurston uses many sayings that really don't make much sense when you read them the first time and really take some thought to analyze them. The way she wrote the book was very informal with her word selections which made it difficult to read in some parts. The dialect in the book describes the time period as the early 1900's. Also dialogue is used pretty frequently and brief sentences are common throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteIn “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston uses diction and informal word choice to create a southern atmosphere. Like Abigail said, Hurston can easily create different atmospheres. With the help of the different atmospheres, the audience is lead to different moods throughout the novel. The novel is not written straight forward, making it challenging for the audience to read. Though the novel is challenging, the authors writing style helps the audience understand and feel a part of southern culture. Hurston uses lots of dialog throughout the novel. The southern dialog pulls the audience into the story. The dialect also helps set the scene for the novel. Hurston uses dialect to help build characters. Most the characters are uneducated and the audience can infer through their dialog. As for sentence structure, the author mainly uses short, brief sentences to move the story along.
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ReplyDeleteIn, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses a southern accent to tell the reader that the story is taking place in the south. Hurston uses heavy southern dialect during the dialogue when the characters are speaking to each other. From how the characters are speaking, the reader can infer that the characters are African Americans. Hurston also uses names not socially acceptable to call African Americans today. With this type of name, the reader can also infer that the book is taking place in the 1930s or 1940s. When the characters are speaking to each other, the reader can also tell that the characters are not highly educated by the way they speak. An example is when Janie is talking to killicks on page 26, "Ah'm just as stiff as you is stout. If you can stand not to chop and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner." Janie is using double negatives which are not allowed in the English language, but African Americans are using it. She also refers to herself as Ah, and not I. This also helps tell the reader where the characters are from and what type of people they are.
ReplyDeleteIn "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Maya does an excellent job of using a barrage of literary elements to create a very well developed picture for the reader. Her use of both short and long dialect does a great job of showing the reader just how much differently people in the South talked in the 1930s and 1940s. With this in mind she does an excellent job of portraying the Southern society as a whole with her lengthy descriptions of how her life was. She also does a great job of describing her feelings in certain situations which is quite captivating as a reader. Her use of large yet understandable words in some cases makes her style unique and all in all quite enjoyable. She also does an excellent job of changing moods based on the many highs and lows of her life. As a reader, it is impossible not to feel her pain throughout the story of her life.
ReplyDeleteIn "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Hurston uses dialect to give the characters life. She doesn't describe much, but let's her characters do the describing for her. From the dialect, we can clearly see that Janie has grown up in a place with little education, as seen in the way the characters speak. They also tell the setting through heavy accents rather than stating initially where the story stakes place. Hurston's writing is very informal to bring the readers to the level of her characters. We can appreciate what they say because the text is written as spoken. She writes to make a connection with each character, and to get to know and understand them and their society more.
ReplyDeleteAs I read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" I noticed that Maya Angelou was very descriptive. When she described things and feelings you can really picture what she is experiencing because of the detail she uses. She is very effective in describing how things look and feel. She also uses a good amount of dialogue between the people in her book. She does this to help show how the other people think and react to certain things. Without the dialogue the only person you would have any idea about would be Maya. It would then be hard to understand why she makes certain choices and how she selects the people she trusts. I enjoyed reading this book because it really got your imagination involved. The whole time I could picture what was going on and it made it a much easier read. It also helped me remember that the events in this book take place in the 1940's and the different 'stereotypes' that society held at that time.
ReplyDeleteIn "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Hurston uses dialect throughout the entire book to allow the reader to recognize how the characters talk. Dialogue is used throughout the entire book and often as well. Rather than a narrator the characters are the ones that mostly tell the story. Hurston creates an atmosphere that tells us a lot about the characters by using the dialect she does. By using the dialect she does she seems to show that these characters are almost uneducated by talking the way they do. This use of dialect brings the book together and makes it much less boring as you are left figuring out what the characters are even trying to say sometimes. The author is trying to show the African American dialect of the time and Hurston seems to have a firsthand account as an African American that lived during that time period.
ReplyDeleteThe Things They Carried
ReplyDeleteO’Brien has an informal style. It’s apparent that it’s informal because of the cussing and how O’Brien talks directly to the reader. O’Brien jumps from story to story. Because of this, I can imagine O’Brien sitting down at a computer or typewriter when a new chapter starts. He also combines stories or even makes things up. I think he does this because it’s easier to believe and imagine.
Throughout the novel, O’Brien creates many different atmospheres. O’Brien creates a dangerous atmosphere, like when they fight. He creates a tranquil atmosphere, like when the character O’Brien stays in Canada. In this way, O’Brien’s style is similar to Hurston’s. But in every other way, they are vastly different.
Tim O'Brien gives the readers a unique experience in The Things They Carried because of his use of changing narrators. The characters that we see perspective from: Jimmy Cross, Rat Kiley, Norman Bowker, and O'Brien himself all have a different style of storytelling, even though they are written by the same man. Jimmy Cross is very introspective. Rat Kiley changes pace and mood frequently in his story. Norman Bowker relates objects outside of the war to his previous experiences. O'Brien states that his tendency as a writer is to observe everything before processing it, so he includes a lot of description. Even though many of the stories delve into the experiences of the war, we can understand the most about the characters by the way they tell us their story. It makes it seem that The Things They Carried is written by multiple people, but O'Brien is the one who is pulling all the strings. He creates a depth to the novel that would not be accomplished without this patchwork style.
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