Sunday, March 15, 2009
Post 3: Literary Elements
Literary elements seem to be the basis of this book as it is completely made up of random anecdotes from Lala’s childhood. There is an immense amount of imagery and many descriptions of the settings and characters. This makes the book seem more real, more complete. There are also some traces of symbolism, as Karen pointed out, with the cars that are red, white, and green – the colors of the Mexican flag. In places like these, as well as other anecdotes, you can sort of see where the author took her creative license to enhance the book. In the very beginning of the book, there is a disclaimer that many parts of the story are often exaggerated, that it is just bits and pieces sewn together. I think this confession of Lala’s allows the author to write more freely and play more with the literary elements that she includes in the novel. It doesn’t have to sound entirely realistic, and the author has more freedom in leading Lala around through the novel. However, I still think that the representations of culture and family are still authentic. Literary elements like imagery, epithets, and other creative touches (like the scattered Spanish) add to the story overall.
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I agree that there are lots of little touches like the Spanish and epithets. I disagree that you can tell which parts of the book are fictional. I feel like it blends very well, and the author easily incorporates fictional details.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Spanish adds to the story. But none of the descriptions really describe the setting. That's what bugs me about the book.
ReplyDeleteLinnea, and I quote: "you can SORT OF see where the author took her creative license". I agree with you that the writing is blended well, and that for the most part, it is hard to pull apart the fiction from the fact. I just thought that Mexican flag colors sounded more intentional rather than coincidential. But I do see your point!
ReplyDeleteKaren: I agree that the author could have added more flavor to the setting. It's actually kind of boring. I think that this might have been intentional since the author puts so much time and effort into characters and dialogue that the setting just gets left behind. But since there is a lot of imagery, maybe describing the setting on top of everything else would have been too much? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteYes, it probably would have been to much. And you do get the idea of where things are taking place, and then a lot of the gaps get filled in by the characters' personalities. But I think even a little bit of description would not have been too much. But if it were as in-depth as the characters' descriptions, it would have been too much.
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