Sunday, March 15, 2009
Literary Elements Blog 3
There are a lot of literary elements in this book. Lala doesn't use the actual name of the characters, but a nick-name that usually describes them. There's the Awful Grandmother who Lala doesn't like, Aunty Light-Skin who has light skin, Uncle Fat-Face, and Uncle Baby. There is also a lot of similes and metaphors. These definitely help the descriptions, and make it seem like you're right there with Lala every step of the way. Through the use of similes and metaphors, the characters are all well developed, considering that there are so many of them. All of these help the reader understand that the story is being told by a little child. There's also the allusion to the Mexican flag that Sidney pointed out to me when we first started reading the book. The cars that Father, Uncle Fat-Face, and Uncle Baby drive have the colors red, white, and green; the same as the Mexican flag. This adds to the pride they have in their Mexican heritage.
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I didn't notice that the cars were the colors of the Mexican flag, but that is an interesting detail. The nicknames are sometimes good descriptions, but sometimes seem to be misleading. For example, the Awful Grandmother seems pretty accurate, but Lala says that some of the nicknames are from childhood and aren't accurate anymore, since adults have changed.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Uncle Fat-Face doesn't have a fat face anymore, does he? But I think the nicknames help me keep all of the characters straight. With all of the cousins having "normal" names, and they are all two syllables, I always get them confused. Except for Antonieta Araceli.
ReplyDeleteThe nicknames do help keep track of the characters, but at the same time I feel like I'm picturing them in the wrong way. On the subject of epithets, it is odd to read the second section of the book. The grandmother is called Soledad and isn't awful. She seems like a totally different character.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about the similies and metaphors in the character descriptions. The family members are a huge part of the novel, so it is only right that so much time is spent on their... character. Like Linnea said, a lot of the nicknames aren't very accurate anymore, but I agree that changing the nicknames would make the story more comlicated. Not that she would refer to herself with an epithet, but what nickname would you give Lala?
ReplyDeleteMaybe "Little Tattle". She's the youngest out of her siblings (I think. She's at least one of the youngest). And everyone always complains that she can't keep her mouth shut, like when they sneak into the grandparents' room, and when Lala and her mom go out to lunch.
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