Writing Styles In Both Texts Flashcards
Wildes writing style
the story Wilde is trying to tell is an allegory. Why write an allegory when a simple, straightforward story would do? In keeping with the aesthetic movement, Wilde structures the story as an allegory in order to celebrate this style. Dorian’s story is the story of an innocent young man who falls from grace as the result of the corruptive influence of evil in the form of Lord Henry. Dorian essentially sells his soul to keep his youth. In using the portrait as part of the allegory, Oscar Wilde challenges the reader to discover that art cannot be life, and that beauty for its own sake also has its flaws.
Wildes writing style
Wilde’s use of ornate prose throughout the novel is another great example of the aesthetic style. Wilde could use simpler words, and he could construct his sentences differently. He does not do this because, after all, part of his purpose is to write beautifully for the sake of writing beautifully. “I wonder can you realize all that that means? Unconsciously he defines for me the lines of a fresh school, a school that is to have in it all the passion of the romantic spirit, all the perfection of the spirit that is Greek. The harmony of soul and body—how much that is!” (Chapter 1). The way Wilde expresses himself is part of the point he is trying to make about beauty for its own sake.
Wildes writing style
Wilde uses aphorisms to draw his reader into the story. In his Preface, for example, he says, “The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.” In the very first line of the novel, Wilde tells us that art, the creation of beauty, is what is most important. This applies not only to the way he writes, but also to what he writes about. He says, “Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated,” challenging the reader to find those beautiful meanings. He also challenges the reader to go beneath the surface of his narrative when he says, “All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.” Telling the reader not to search for meaning beneath the surface only makes the reader inclined to do just that.
Morrisons writing style
The juxtaposition of past with present serves to reinforce the idea that the past is alive in the present, and by giving us fragments to work with Morrison melds the entire story into one unseparable piece to be gazed at. In forcing the reader to put back the pieces, Morrison forces him also to think about them and consider the worth of each. From a stylistic perspective, Morrison’s artistry in this regard is nothing short of breathtaking.
Morrisons writing style
The structure of the work is compounded with an ever-switching point of view. Every character, even the dead ones and half-alive ones, tell parts of the tale. At one point, Paul D and Sethe exchange flashbacks that finally meld into one whole (chapter 2). At another, the point of view switches off between four white people, who unreservedly show the biased point of view of some men who view slaves as tamed animals. The diversity of the point of view creates a tapestry of people who interact-individuals joined by past or present into a community.
Morrisons writing style
Morrison’s use of both verse and stream of consciousness writing where necessary is unsurpassed and not often matched in literature. Strict narrative, she realizes, is not enough to capture the feelings of a people, and she manages to capture them in some of the most well-known passages of modern literature.
Morrisons writing style
Finally, her use of objective correlativism should be noted. The use of Biblical allusions and much ambiguous symbolism creates an atmosphere riddled with force and drama. Beloved is meant to be more then a story-it is a history, and it is a life.
