Beast Fable “Mowgli’s Brothers,” as well as the other short stories in Kipling’s collection, is a beast fable, a story in which the characters are animals with human faculties. Kipling’s fable teaches lessons. The fable is effective in “Mowgli’s Brothers” because it creates a world beyond human civilization, the jungle, which is governed by a…
Tag: Literary Devices
Islands by Aleksandar Hemon – Literary Devices
Short Scenes The fact that “Islands” is made up of thirty-three short scenes is crucial to its storytelling format. Although they combine to form a chronological narrative, these scenes are like brief glimpses into specific moments of the narrator’s childhood, or individual islands of memory that can seem somewhat distinct. In fact, some of the…
Greatness Strikes Where It Pleases – Literary Devices
Point of View The story is told in the third person by a narrator who has insight into how the retarded boy and later man experiences the world. The narrator is a mature and sophisticated adult; when he needs to he uses complex sentence structures (one sentence contains 132 words), and the last six paragraphs…
The Good Shopkeeper – Literary Devices
Limited Third-Person Point of View Upadhyay uses limited third-person point of view. The narrator tells the story with apparent objectivity, observing the protagonist and his actions. The narrator is privy to only the protagonist’s thoughts. Cues are given regarding what the other characters think, but mostly these characters are depicted according to how Pramod thinks….
Fleur by Louise Erdrich – Literary Devices
Magic Realism Pioneered by post–World War II Latin American writers such as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, magic realism is a literary technique in which supernatural elements appear within an otherwise realistic narrative. Magic, spiritual powers, and inexplicable paranormal events all may be elements in a story employing this technique, which tends to…
An End to Dreams – Literary Devices
Foreshadowing Benét uses foreshadowing to good effect in the story as he drops hints that Rimington is not what he appears to be. When he looks in the mirror as he is lying on the hospital bed, he admits that his face “seemed like the face of an utter stranger.” He is in a “shaken…
The End of Old Horse – Literary Devices
Conflict One aspect that is particularly notable about “The End of Old Horse” is the story’s lack of a general conflict. There are times when tension is raised, as when the narrator accuses Tony of being negligent and Tony shoves him or when Gilly curses at the family supper table and readers expect trouble to…
A Day in the Dark – Story – Literary Devices
Point of View In his review of A Day in the Dark , Edwin Morgan writes, “in this rich selection of her short stories the communication is often an ambiguity or a mystery which the imagination of the reader must try to unravel or complete.” One way Bowen accomplishes this is by relating the plot…
Aftermath by Mary Yukari Waters – Literary Devices
Setting The short story takes place in Kyoto, Japan, shortly after the end of World War II. When the story opens, Toshi is playing dodge-ball in a city park called Imamiya, and other scenes in the story take place in Makiko and Toshi’s home and on the grounds of the Tanabata Day festival in the…
The Thrill of the Grass – Literary Devices
Magical Realism Magical realism is a term used to describe those fictions in which the fantastic becomes part of a story in which events are otherwise narrated using the objective tone that characterizes realistic fiction in general. It is often associated with Latin American writers like Jorge Luis Borges or Gabriel Garcı´a Ma´ rquez, although…