Literary Essay -­
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Conference Notes: -­
Need opening sentences that establish that the theory applies to that book. In the book Maze Runner, by -­
1/30 follow the pattern . 1-­ fix openings so they don’t repeat and follow pattern. -­both opening and closing are good. my only suggestion is tyring to say simile in another way. Maybe just refer to it a second time as a description technique,,,,??? __________________________________________________________________________
__ Authors use similes to describe a person, place, or thing so the reader has a better understanding of the characters, scenes and events. When writing high packed action stories, authors are known to describe, in detail, the scenes that are really complex and when everything is going on at once. To do that authors will use similes to describe a person, place, or thing so the reader has a better understanding of the characters, scenes and events. One book that the author does this is, The Maze Runner , by James Dashner, where the author is always using similes so the reader has a better understanding of the book. Another book, like the Maze Runner , that uses description techniques so the reader can relate is The War of the Worlds, By H. G. Wells. The main character, the narrator, is put in highly-­packed action scene where there is a lot going on. The author, does a great job of using similes to describe in detail the scenes where chaos is in every direction. Even though both authors used similes to describe different things, they used it for the same purpose of helping the reader understand what is going on. In the book, The Maze Runner , the author James Dashner used similes to describe a person in order to really help the reader understand Thomas. For example, when he wrote the scene when Thomas was humiliated and scared because Alby , the leader of the Gladers, was getting mad at Thomas for his mistake of going upstairs when he wasn't supposed to, so Alby threatened him which made Thomas feel smaller than he actually was (scared). The book states, “Get your runtcheeks down those stairs, right now,” Alby ordered. “Chuck’ll help you. If I see you again before tomorrow morning, you ain’t reachin’ another one alive. I’ll throw you off the Cliff myself, you get me?” Thomas felt like he’d shrunk to the size of a small rat." One can see that, instead of saying what Thomas felt like, the author used a simile so reader understood exactly or could relate to how he felt because he was humiliated and scared. Even though the reader isn't Thomas, they could relate because everyone's been nervous or scared before. Another scene in this book where Dasher uses a simile is to describe an important place. It was when Dashner wrote the scene about the pit, he purposely described how bad the pit and Thomas smelled. The pit , where the people who come every month come out from, is a nasty hole. Dashner has the characters Chuck and Alby describe Thomas as, “Looks like a klunk in a T-­shirt.” “You’re the klunk, shuck-­face.” He also has the pit described as, “Dude, it smells like feet down there!” “Hope you enjoyed the one-­way trip, Greenie.” As can be seen above, the author didn't just say it smelled bad, he used a simile to describe how bad it smelled, so the reader can understand and relate how it smelled. Since feet can be really stinky, and most people know how smelly they can be, it allows them to connect with the book and relate to it, helping readers understand the book better. Like the Maze Runner, The book, The War Of The Worlds by H. G. Wells, uses similes in the text so the reader has a better understanding of the events. One example is when Wells wrote the scene when hordes of people on boats slammed themselves into the river for cover from the Martians storming in , firing there unfriendly unknown weapons killing innocents, so the people lucky enough to be by the river and dove in because it was there only hoping of surviving the wave of Martians. The text states, "The terrible Heat-­Ray was in my mind. In the book, it says, "To get under water! That was it! "Get under water!" I shouted, unheeded. -­ The splashes of the people in the boats leaping into the river sounded like thunderclaps in my ears." As read above, instead of the author saying the people dove into the water, he showed that they slammed into the water because it sounded like a thunderclap. He did this to help the reader understand how much stress the people were under and how scared they were of the martians. Even though the reader wasn't actually there, they could still feel like they were there, hearing the loud drumming in the water. Another scene in the book where Wells uses a simile was to describe an event that took place. Wells wrote the scene when a martian was finally hurt or wounded, but it did not collapse or die. It lost its balance and its head as it staggered toward Shepperton , like someone who was finding a light bulb in dark room, or someone who was intoxicated. The scene from the book quotes, ""Hit!" shouted I, with something between a scream and a cheer. -­ The decapitated colossus reeled like a drunken giant;; but it did not fall over. It recovered its balance by a miracle, and, no longer heeding its steps and with the camera that fired the Heat-­Ray now rigidly upheld, it reeled swiftly upon Shepperton." As seen in the text, the author didn't just say there was a big Martian that almost died. Instead, he used a simile to show that the Martians were the size of fairy tale Giants, and since the humans took its head off, It had no direction and no eyes making it seem like it reeled and wobbled because it was drunk/intoxicated. That helped the reader understand what the martians looked like from the point of view of the people in Shepperton. Overall, helping the reader understand the book better. Just like in real life, describing things could mean comparing it to something similar. Also in books too, authors use similes to describe a person, place, or thing so the reader can almost paint a picture in their mind, and understand what is happening. Both authors, Dashner and Wells, used description techniques on their writing so the reader understood the scenes better. Even though the book were written in completely different time periods, and not at all alike, book authors decided to use similes in their writing. In all, a book is only as good to the reader as it is understandable to the reader.