soliloquy

 The hero's journey framework is often used in coming-of-age novels. The idea of a protagonist overcoming hurdles to beat an ultimate challenge applies naturally to the universal struggle of kids trying to find their place in the world. A key aspect of this hero's journey is the mentor, usually an older, wiser figure that guides the hero on their way. But Black Swan Green uses a much more complicated interpretation of this mentor figure. Rather than being absolutely morally pure facilitators, the book's mentors are flawed, offering a much more realistic take on how other people influence the coming-of-age process. The first major "mentor" figure, Hugo Lamb, reflects Jason Taylor's ideals in the exposition of the novel. He vehemently obsesses on how he fits into hierarchies, both with his classmates and in his household. Hugo seems to have a much easier time navigating through the world, so Jason naturally looks up to him. But later in the chapter, he comes to...

by Linden Fun home is a unique memoir in that it uses a wide variety of outside texts to connect with the story. I found a whole list here : It's a diverse selection of texts each having their own relevant connection to themes throughout her coming-of-age battle with grief and sexuality. But these texts do more than flex her literary knowledge. Bechdel writes "I employ these allusions to James and Fitzgerald not only as descriptive devices, but because my parents are most real to me in fictional terms. And perhaps my cool aesthetic distance itself does more to convey the Arctic climate of our family than any particular literary comparison." (67). Unfortunately, I am not well read enough to speak on all of these texts, but I do remember reading many  Greek mythology stories during my childhood obsession after reading Percy Jackson .  First, the text employs an allusion to  The Odyssey,  Homer's classic epic poem about the long journey home of a clever king Odysseus. ...

  Surrealism in The Bell Jar by Linden Peters           When I was reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, it's safe to say I sometimes felt confused. I wasn't sure if it was something in text or mid-February brain fog, but some passages felt hypnotic and unreal. After further analysis, I realized that implementing surrealist elements was likely an intentional decision made to put the reader closer to Esther's mental state. Merriam webster defines surrealism as "the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations". In the case of The Bell Jar,  these techniques are often used to show alienation with the world and make the reader understand how mental disorder affects reasoning.            Chapter 9 is the perfect example of this trippy style, where one scene fades into another ...

In Defense of Holden Caufield Linden Peters           In  The Catcher in the Rye, the narrator is polarizing among readers. It is easy to see that Holden Caufield has many complaints about the world. Many of these complaints seem surface-level, petty, and overly harsh, which may lead us to question the narrator's judgement. However, these are just the judgements he is comfortable sharing. The real problem lies far deeper, etched into his subconscious through traumatic events.            We can use the case study of page 13 where he says: "One of the big reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all . They were coming through the goddamn window. For instance, they had this headmaster Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I never met in my life. Ten times worse than old Thurmer. On Sundays, for instance, old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to...