Literary, Lily

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Global Literature

Hey guys! This week’s theme is all about what we have been studying and reading from all semester: G L O B A L L I T E R A T U R E What is global literature? Global literature is writing that people of any language and culture can relate to and have a meaning evoked from inside them. A great example of global literature is Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. It is relatable to any girl, anywhere. It is about a mom telling her daughter how to behave in front of \society and people so that she can achieve real women status and not be considered as promiscuous. The piece as a whole speaks of what a girl should do, say, act, etc. The rules itself are based on the tradition and culture in that time. You can see this in the references to Sunday school, planting her garden, and the activities she does. If the daughter does not follow the rules, she is labeled a bad person and someone that doesn’t belong. This all represent

First-Person and What it Entails

Hi guys! This week we are focusing on first-person narrative and the effect it has on writing from the reader’s perspective. What does first person narrative achieve? - Creates a personal connection to the reader - Contributes to the story’s ambiguity - Limits what the reader can perceive Tadeusz Borowski displays an excellent example on the use of first-person narrative and how it can evoke reader’s emotions within the text. In the story, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen,” you are put into the shoes of the narrator and are fully amerced into World War II as a Nazi, watching as Jews are led into the gas chamber. “ I go back inside the train; I carry out dead infants; I unload luggage. I touch corpses, but I cannot overcome the mounting, uncontrollable terror. I try to escape from the corpses, but they are everywhere: lined up on the gravel, on the cement edge of the ramp, inside the cattle cars. Babies,

Magical Realism and the Details

Hey guys! This week’s theme is all about magical realism! What is Magical Realism? Magical Realism is a literary style that combines realistic, everyday details with pieces of magic and fictional events, subsequently confusing the reader’s usual distinctions between reality and fiction. However, despite the similarities to works of the imaginations (I.E. Fairy tales or folk legends), the art of magic realism has no distinguished morals. They hold an image of a bright and clear world where anything is possible and the dimensions of the world we know are bent. Pablo Neruda uses magical realism often in his poem, “I’m Explaining a Few Things”, where he talks about the bombing of Madrid. You can see it being exercised in this sentence: “Frederico, do you remember from under the ground my balconies on which the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth?” It’s quite obvious to the reader that flowers weren’t being stuffed in anyone’s mouth, but the metaphor was use

Nicely Done Narration

Hi guys! This week we took a look at Night in Sine and To New York, by Senghor. The theme that is most emphasized would be the style and technique that the story is written in. Senghor takes advantage of the narration and tells a flawless story with it. He directly addresses the subject of the story and paints a vivid picture throughout the story. This allows the readers to quickly analyze the story without having to overcomplicate the research. The emotion in each piece can be felt by the reader as they read further into the personification of the subjects. To New York New York! At first I was bewildered by your beauty, Those huge, long-legged, golden girls. So shy, at first, before your blue metallic eyes and icy smile, So shy. And full of despair at the end of skyscraper streets. (Photo from @Thereallilycooper via Instagram) Here, you can see how Senghor addresses the subject of his poem (New York) and uses it to draw the reader near and have

First-Person Narrative: What Does it Achieve?

Hi guys! This week we took a look at Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko The theme that is most emphasized would be the style and technique that the story is written in. Silko takes advantage of the first-person narration and tells a flawless story with it. Silko emphasizes the importance of oral tradition and how the stories can morph with each teller in a new context. In doing so, it connects who we used to be to who we are now and allows us to see that growth and change. What does first person narrative achieve? - Creates a personal connection to the reader - Contributes to the story’s ambiguity - Limits what the reader can perceive Silko limits what we, as the reader can see and know by writing the story in first-person. We only see what the narrator sees and feels and everything is filtered through said-person. For example, the narrator has a difficult time figuring out if she is in real time or spiritual time. This puts the reader in

Pretty Personification

Hey guys! This week we read a story called Sealed Off by Zhang Ailing. The theme that is most emphasized would be the personification given to the city, Shanghai, in the story. Sealed Off takes a look at many different perspectives of people on a tramcar, waiting to go home. Their loud thoughts and worries contrast with the stillness of the city that is given human characteristics to further relate the reader to the story. An example of creating a character of the city would be this sentence used in the first paragraph of the story: “The huge, shambling city sat dozing in the sun, its head resting heavily on people’s shoulders, its spittle slowly dripping down their shirts, an inconceivably enormous weight pressing down on everyone.” – Sealed Off Through the use of this literary device, the reader can be transported to the time and place and feel the aura of this city. It demonstrates the struggles and the affect the city has on the people and they heavy burdens of l