When I read the first page of "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, it captured my attention right away. The first chapter takes place when the narrator has been out of school for 15 years, and is revisiting Devon School; the private boarding school that he attended. This flashback made me want to find out what his high school experience was like, and what brought him back to see it again. The second and third chapters weren't as exciting... they were just background information to let the reader know what exactly was going on. But I managed to get past these somewhat boring details, and into the meat of the book. I can't say that this book is the best I've ever read, but it is fairly good, and I am enjoying it.
The main literary element at this point in the book is either imagery or tone. It is hard to decide between them, since they both are pretty prominent. Imagery is a huge part of the story because the author is constantly providing images to enhance the events taking place. The story is written through several seasons, so imagery is very important to let the reader know the current setting. However, tone is also a key part of "A Separate Peace" because a main part of the story is the somberness of the situations and plot. It is necessary that the author uses these literary techniques so that the reader can begin to see what the theme is, and what we can learn from the story.
The tone of this novel is somber and emotional. Gene, the main character, has feelings and thoughts constantly running through his head, and a lot of the plot is based on emotions. For the most part, the tone is dreary and solemn. In a few chapters, mostly towards the beginning of the book, the tone is bright and cheery, but as the characters mature, the tone becomes much more serious, and you can begin to grasp the meaning of the story.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Reading
Reading is a powerful thing. I can still remember the feeling of extreme achievement I had when I first learned how to read. I felt like I had become part of a special club, that my parents and relatives had been part of for as long as I could remember . Reading is one of those things like riding a bike. Once you learn how to read, you never have to learn again, its always there. Forever! Its a pretty amazing thing.
When I first open the cover of a book, I take a deep breath and begin to read. I always pay special attention to the first page of a book because most of the time it lets you know whats going on, where the book is taking place, and you can start to get a grip on what the author's tone is. Often, the first page of a book doesn't really grasp my attention, and I have to keep reminding myself that "this book was recommended, it must be good," or "it will get better soon." But sometimes books just don't get more interesting. When that happens I have to force myself to read and suffer through it until the bitter end. After reading an extremely boring or difficult book though, I always reward myself by reading an easy fun book, and everything turns out fine.
Sometimes I am forced to read in loud, crazy environments, and I have to adapt. Usually I try to block out the distractions and get totally into the story, but sometimes this method fails. But what always works for me is to blast classical music on my ipod (yes I know, classical music is lame but it works!) so loud that I can't hear any of the other noises. Classical music is the only type that works because it completely drowns out everything without being distracting itself. Try it sometime, you'd be suprised at the results.
After I begin to understand what is going on in the book, I become fully absorbed in the fictional world the author has created, and I can read the book anytime, anywhere. That is why I read. So that I can get that feeling of comfort and excitement that you get when you become completely wrapped up in a good book.
When I first open the cover of a book, I take a deep breath and begin to read. I always pay special attention to the first page of a book because most of the time it lets you know whats going on, where the book is taking place, and you can start to get a grip on what the author's tone is. Often, the first page of a book doesn't really grasp my attention, and I have to keep reminding myself that "this book was recommended, it must be good," or "it will get better soon." But sometimes books just don't get more interesting. When that happens I have to force myself to read and suffer through it until the bitter end. After reading an extremely boring or difficult book though, I always reward myself by reading an easy fun book, and everything turns out fine.
Sometimes I am forced to read in loud, crazy environments, and I have to adapt. Usually I try to block out the distractions and get totally into the story, but sometimes this method fails. But what always works for me is to blast classical music on my ipod (yes I know, classical music is lame but it works!) so loud that I can't hear any of the other noises. Classical music is the only type that works because it completely drowns out everything without being distracting itself. Try it sometime, you'd be suprised at the results.
After I begin to understand what is going on in the book, I become fully absorbed in the fictional world the author has created, and I can read the book anytime, anywhere. That is why I read. So that I can get that feeling of comfort and excitement that you get when you become completely wrapped up in a good book.
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