Blog Assignment #5

Khaled Hosseini uses many literary devices throughout his novel. The use of imagery as well as foreshadowing are two devices the author uses effectively in order to achieve his purpose. In the beginning of the novel Mariam's mother states"What rich lies! Rich man telling rich lies. He never took you to any tree, he betrayed us your beloved father. He cast us out"(pg.5). This piece of evidence proves the effective use of foreshadowing the statement gives Hosseini's audience a small hint of what ends up happening later on in the story. Mariam's heart break caused by her beloved father when he doesn't accept her into his lavish home but instead marries her off to Rasheed. Imagery is another literary device Hosseini incorporates into his novel in order to achieve his purpose, "Sprightly she walked..."gazing at her impassively behind pyramids of cherries and mounds of grapes."(pg.29). The use of imagery helps the reader better comprehend the mixed feelings Marriam was enduring while making the journey to her father's home. The detailed images described in the book help the audience construct an accurate image in their head in order to be able to relate to the character in the story.

Blog assignment #4

In "A Thousand Splendid Suns" Mariam is referred to as a "harami"(a bastard child) a few times throughout the book. "You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything that I've endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami"(pg.4). How do you think the environment Mariam grew up in affected her in the long run? Was it a positive effect or a negative one? Do you think that Mariam was able to grow stronger from the fact that her father wasn't really in her life or did she make herslef the victim from the adversity she was forced to endure?

Literary Criticism E.Alvarado Pd.3

 "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood is a novel that is filled with suspense, romance, sadness, and most importantly insight. The author successfully used the point of view of the narrator to describe the tragic situation that "Offred" along with all the other handmaid's were forced to surpass. Atwood's use of imagery and irony help her audience better understand as well as visualize the exact situation these women were forced to live in on a day to day basis. "There must have been a chandelier once but they took down anything you could tie a rope to". Although to many a chandelier is admired for its intricacy and beauty, to the handmaid's the chandelier is an escape from the hell that they are currently living in. This is one of the many examples of the way Atwood uses imagery in order to successfully convey her message. Through out the entire novel Atwood applies many examples of irony such as when she states "I am a reproach to her as well as a necessity." Using the situation between the commander's wife and Offred Atwood is able to illustrate an image of the irony that is implicated within the handmaid's lives. Even though the commander's wife treats Offred with nothing but hostility, deep down she knows that she greatly depends on her not only to keep her home running successfully but also because Offred is the person who will make Serene Joy a mother one day.   The use of imagery and irony is one of the many great tools Margaret Atwood applies to her novel in order to convey her deeper message. Her way of laying out her details is what causes her audience to better capture the true meaning of this novel.

AP English 4 TEAR Paragraph E.Alvarado Pd.3

Topic One: Analyze a character from your novel whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences.



       In Margaret Atwood's somber novel "The Handmaid's Tale", the narrator of the story finds herself desperately desiring things that are frowned upon within her society.These wants and desires are what put the narrator in many sticky situations that could eventually lead to a drastic consequence. Before being forced to become a handmaid, Offred lived a very normal life. She had a successful marriage, a daughter, and money of her own. Offred always had a very independent mentality and she loved knowing that she could go out and earn her own money, she makes this very clear when her "bank account becomes frozen my husband Luke now has full control of my money". This lets the audience know how important independence is to Offred, to her nothing matters if she cant go out and provide for her family in order to be an equal with her spouse. Her pride and mentality cause her to suffer when her independence is slowly taken away. Once becoming a handmaid attention is something the narrator desperately craves. This becomes evident when the commander Offred works for begins to take an interest in her "he sits and watches me read to him this is some kind of sexual act". Although it is forbidden for a handmaid and a superior to have any type of relationship, offred continuously goes into the commander's office and interacts with him. The narrator appreciates the attention the commander grants her because its one of the many things that was abruptly snatched away from her life. This is why she would rather follow her desire by playing with temptation and risk being caught, just to receive a feeling of admiration and attention. Having any kind of relationship with men is forbidden for all the "maids" unless they are allowed to do so with an "assigned" partner. For this reason Offred begins to slowly give in to her sexual attraction to Nick but then realizes the small token of pleasure isn't worth risking her life. "We're shaking how I'd like to...I can almost taste his skin and it makes me hungry". Knowing that at any moment someone could walk in and catch Offred and Nick, makes Offred think twice about having sex with Nick. Her desperate want of sexual pleasure and her desire to reminisce her sexual relationship with her husband Luke almost becomes the reason for Offred's death. Once processing the situation in their minds both Nick and Offred realize that giving into their desire would only bring them trouble, and that risking their lives for pleasure wouldn't be worth the sacrifice in the end.      

A bit about this blog ;)

Hello world!
Well this blog has been created in order for me and my clasmates to have a place where we can complete ap english assignments and not have to waste tons of paper(yay to being green!) Im excited to start using this blog because its going to be way easier to keep up with all of my work, LOVE YOU Mrs.Gonzales :). This blog is only to be used for academic purposes and any work that I post is just to improve my grade so that I can go to college lol. Im thankful to have a teacher who is thoughtful enough to give us the opportunity to post our work and make our assignments fun as opposed to plain boring typed papers!