How successful was the author in creating a good piece of literature? Use examples from the story to explain your thinking.
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The author, Kristin Hunter Lattany, wrote the short story, " Hero's Return." This is an example of excellent literature. This is because Lattany has all the elements that are needed to create a piece of good literature. One good element found in her short story is her writing style. This is because she really brought the writing to life by using good vocabulary and placing in spots that really helped illustrate a point. For example this can be seen, " Way above the funky scuffling people we were cruising by on Madison." The words that really brought the sentence and the entire paragraph alive were funky and scuffling. These two words really brought alive what Lattany meant and what she was trying to explain. Another good element found in the short story was her way of explaining setting. She subtly put in clues of what time period they were living in. For example she stated " And there over the door was a big cardboard sign Mom had lettered in crayon : WELCOME HOME SON." This shows that period of time had to between 1960's to 1970's. Also other big clue of setting were the sentences " And then King pulled that big old wad out of his pocket and plucked off crisp new five and handed it to me . My eyes popped." This shows that the time period had to be when five dollar bills where a big deal and meant a lot more then today. This element helped explain why the characters would act the way that they would. These were the biggest indicators of her making a good piece of literature.
I believe Kristin Hunter Lattany was successful at writing “Hero’s Return”. Firstly, she used an extensive amount of figurative language. This is where you can picture exactly what is going on in the story. For instance, Lattany writes, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long… He looked as cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” In my head, I can just picture a large Cadillac containing a man with wavy hair and diamonds on his fingers. The simile ‘as cool as an ice cube’ tells me that he’s not just cool, he’s very cool.
In addition, “Hero’s Return” has a strong moral. Just about every story has a moral, such as “Elmer” by David Mckee. In this story, Elmer tries to change himself to be like the others, but in the end, they say they like him better as himself. The moral of “Hero’s Return” is a bit different. Jody lives in a bad society where jailbirds are considered ‘heroes’. This causes, Jody to look up to his brother, Junior, who was in jail for 18 months. Junior, being the father figure of the family, teaches Jody that going to jail isn’t heroic and to stay in school and do something with his life. The overall moral is, don’t sell yourself short, you have many things you can do with your life than go to jail. The short story, “Hero’s Return” is a very effective piece of literature.
I think the author of "Hero's Return" displayed excellent literature in this short story. One thing that she displays really well is setting, which she shows by subtle, but leading hints as to what time and place this story takes place. One example is when the big hustler, King, pull up to the curb: “He flicked a little button in the Hog, and the window slid down easy as greased silk.” The main character refers to King’s car as a ‘Hog’ which is scarcely said anymore. The quote also displays figurative language, when the main character describes how smoothly the window went down. Another well-displayed literary quality is interesting and relatable conflict. The author displays this quality by creating a conflict between siblings, which many people can relate to. I can easily connect to this conflict, because my sister and I fight all the time. She thinks positively of some things I do, whereas I think either nothing or negatively of, and that causes conflict between us.
I believe that the author was very successful in creating a work of fine literature. The setting is something entirely familiar to me. It created a picture in my mind, that picture being of what I had already known and what knowledge I had gained from the story itself. It reminded me of an era long since gone. “The Cadillac was about half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King. He looked as cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” That quote was very descriptive and reminded me of films containing “Cool Cats” cruising in their “Groovy” vehicles on their way to watch “2001:A Space Odyssey” in their local movie theater. The story, truth be told, was very interesting and at some points captivating. I read it and was not at all bored with it at any point, and that is a good feature in any tale, no matter being placed on it’s length or duration. Here is a quote: “Junior came in while I was lying on my stomach with the book open on the floor in front of me. For a scary moment I though he was going to take it away. But he just looked at me. And he smiled.” In this quote, Junior has recently decided to set loose upon the world his younger brother Jody after four days of imprisonment. In his stay at his room, Jody had become fascinated with history by reading one of his books. It took quite a while for him to find it, though. At first he contented himself with reminiscing about his gang’s former doings for two whole days, but that soon disinterested him and he took to reading. His brother is pleased with this and allows Jody to leave the confines of his room. When I am bored, I tend to think about things that have happened in my past. I can imagine thinking about the doings of a gang for two days straight would bore one. I know that I would.
In my opinion, I think that the author was very successful in creating such a good piece of literature. The story, “Hero’s Return,” was written really well. It caused suspense for the readers as they read about the interesting and relatable conflicts/characters throughout the story. It also has figurative language that made readers visualize. For instance, in the story, I had a descriptive sentence, which was: it was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk that morning. I could actually picture the water start to bubble as it boiled and heat waves to describe how hot it was. There was another descriptive detail when Jody said: “He locked all the locks, the bolt and chain lock and the police lock that goes right down into the floor.” This made me visualize how bad of a neighborhood they lived in and all of their locks. The suspense in the story was when Junior came home and Jody questioned him based on how it was like in prison. In the story, Junior asked Jody, “So, you want to go to jail, huh? All right, I’ll show you what jail is like.” Junior showed Jody what it was like in prison by beating him with a belt, giving him only the little food of bread and water, and took out the mattress so Jody slept on the springs of the bed. Also, Junior locked Jody in the room. Junior did this to Jody for a week, being the guard. What Junior had done to Jody had caused the interesting and relatable conflicts/characters in the story. It might have made the readers connect and feel what the characters were going through. So, the author did a really good job with the story because they had suspense, interesting and relatable conflicts/characters, and figurative language to keep me, the reader, interested in the story.
The story “Hero’s Return” by Kristin Hunter Lattany is a very good piece of literature for many reasons. The story has a good amount of figurative language and relatable character. The figurative in the story includes similes and great excerpts of detail. For example, “We used to get ice cream… we don’t hardly get none unless somebody’s mom gives them a dime.” This displays such figurative language that you can get a sense for when the story is taking place. An example of a simile which is great figurative language is “And there over the door was…Welcome Home Son. Just like they do for the heroes that come back from Vietnam.” Besides figurative language the story has great relatable characters like Junior and Jody. When Jody goes through the peer pressure of King, you feel like you too have felt peer pressure like that. The pressure that comes from someone who is older trying to get you to do something so you can be more mature. Almost everyone goes through that feeling weather it is from an older sibling or friends. Another relatable character is Junior. Junior is the person that gets their life back on track once they come back from a horrible experience. Junior does this when he decides to teach Jody that prison isn’t somewhere you want to be after he returns from solitary confinement. You really feel like you can look up to Junior and the way he wants to teach his younger sibling not to mess up your life. All in all “Hero’s Return” was a great piece of literature that teaches you about great values and morals through a stunning display of figurative language and relatable character.
Kristin Hunter Lattany, the author of “Hero’s Return,” was successful in creating a good piece of literature. For instance, there were many subtle ways the setting was revealed through details in the text. On page 37, Jody recalls: “With all the slick people and crooks and hustlers, it looked like a place I didn’t want to stay very long.” Through this passage you can tell infer that the story takes place in a bad neighborhood that has many dangerous people loitering in it. Also, the time or era that the story takes place during was revealed on page 33 when Jody recollects: “…we don’t hardly ever get none (ice cream) unless somebody’s Mom gives them a dime.” You can assume that the time frame is in the 1960’s or 1970’s because nowadays ice cream costs a lot more than ten cents, and before those two decades that price would seem outrageous for ice cream. The setting helps the reader notice that this story isn’t set in a safe neighborhood or on terrific money standards.
Another quality “Hero’s Return” had that made the reader believe it was well written was the main character, Jody. Jody is a character that almost anybody can relate to. His disposition is that of a young boy who looks up to someone older than him: his brother Junior. We all have that one person, that one role model that we idolize. In most fiction cases, the role model isn’t as perfect as we make them up to be. In this case, Junior seems to be cool and fearless, but in reality he has problems with himself and his way of life. Jody admires him for being in jail. On page 32, Jody recalls: “Junior spent eighteen months in the House….My corner boys were real impressed when I told them.” Towards the end of the story, however, Junior and Jody wise up. They realize that being in jail and being a bad person isn’t cool. On page 37, Junior explains to Jody that “since we didn’t have a father anymore, he had to be the man of the house.” That meant he had to stay out of trouble, and keep Jody out of trouble. Therefore, “Hero’s Return” is a well written piece of literature.
This author was very successful at creating a good piece of literature. I think this because the story uses figurative language, like on page 33, when Jody says,"I seen him take a role of money think as my fist out of his pocket plenty of times." Another quality that makes this good literature is interesting characters. Junior got sent to jail for trying to rob and ice cream store with his friends, but you aren't really told much about him until after his sentence is over. Junior went into jail as a fun-loving teenager still with some baby fat, he emerged as a very skinny, serious, and tough man. Jody is a young boy who was getting involved with the wrong crowd after Junior, his brother, went to jail. He idolized Junior and thought of him as a hero because he didn't know jail was such a bad thing. He was also getting involved with hustlers like "King" and about to become a drug dealer, until Junior came home from jail. Junior showed Jody what jail was really like if you did things that got you in trouble with the law. One more key detail that played a part in making this story good literature was interesting and important setting. The characters in the story lived during the time of the Vietnam War in a ghetto. Back then things were much cheaper and harder. This is displayed throughout the story, but especially when Jody said, "We only used to get ice cream when we found enough soda bottles to return to the store...we don't hardly get none unless somebody's Mom give him a dime." and when he said, "In the morning I heard her[Jody and Junior's mother]going off to work. They would fire her if she took off two days in a row..." All in all, there were so many elements that made this story a good piece of literature, including these and more.
Kristin Hunter Lattany, the author of the short story, “Hero’s Return,” did a great job in creating a good piece of literature. Kristin used a lot of figurative language. Figurative language is good literature because it makes the reader, in this case me, think of the situation more clearly. On page thirty-three, she said, “ It was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk that morning.” This makes me realize how hot it is and predict that it might be summer. Another way that she used good literature is she used a lot of imagery. On page thirty-four I visualized Jody seeing his big brother Junior for the first time in 18 months, running out of King’s car, and hugging him. I was able to picture that whole scene because Kristin described everything very clearly with a lot of description. I also pictured the part in the story where Junior is explaining to Jody what his life was like in jail. Junior says, “ You think I’m a hero, don’t you?” Jody replies by saying, “Sure Junior. You was only seventeen then. Now you’re a man.” I can visualize Jody looking up a Junior like he is God, because he thinks because of what Junior did he is a hero. Another reason why this story was a good piece of literature is because it is a very relatable story to characters and conflict. My cousin (we will call him Bob) wasn’t very good throughout middle school to high school. He went to jail a couple of times. Finally, when he got out of high school he got out of his bad time in his life. He thought he would be so cool if he was bad, and did bad things. but that was the opposite. My other cousin (we will call him Tim), his little brother, was relatable to Jody. Bob had to teach Tim not to go through life the way he did. Bob always tells me that it was very difficult to do that because Tim looked up to him. Tim didn’t realize everything Bob did was wrong. Not only does it relate to my two cousins, it relates to many people throughout this region and area, Bethany, Woodbridge, and Orange. It also relates to People in New Haven and all around the world.
The author, Kristin Hunter Lattany, of Heroes Return was very successful in creating a good piece of literature. She was successful because she was able to show time and place without actually saying it. Examples of this are, “Just like they do for the heroes that come back from Vietnam.” This shows that is either the late 60’s or early 70’s. A quote that shows place is “With all the slick people and crooks and hustlers it looked like a place where I didn’t want to stay very long.” This shows that this is a neighborhood with a lot of crime and a poor area. Another thing that shows time is “We don’t hardly get none (ice cream) unless somebody’s Mom gives him a dime.” This shows that ice cream was cheap and it was like that in the 60’s. Another reason why she wrote a good piece of literature is because she picked a good setting. This is a setting where these events can and do happen. If this were a different setting the story might not have been as successful. She also wrote a good story because there was good imagery. You could picture King’s Cadillac going down the street. You can see this when Jody, the main character, said, “The Cadillac was about half a block long.” All of these characteristics lead to a good book or story. This is why Kristin Hunter Lattany was successful in creating a good piece of literature.
The author of the story “Hero's Return” was very successful in creating a good piece of literature. One way the author created a good piece of literature was by using figurative language. By using figurative language, the author was able to “paint a picture” in the readers mind. This makes it easier to visualize the setting, the characters, and what is happening in the story. For example, “The Cadillac was about half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King. He looked cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” In this passage the author uses a lot of descriptive words to help you picture the seen. The author also uses words like fox to describe the girl. That helps you to figure out what time period it is, and that it isn’t resent because no one has used the word fox in a really long time. Another way how the author created good literature is she had a great hook. “I tell you, I was about to explode, I was so excited when I heard my big brother Junior was coming home.” When I read that first sentence it made me want to keep reading. It also got me asking myself questions. One question was where was he coming home from? Also, how long was his big brother way for? That made that story good because right away I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens. A third way how the author made this story a good piece of literature is she had interesting and relatable characters. Although people from Orange, Woodbridge, and Bethany may not be able to relate to the fact that Jody and Junior lived in a bad area, however, we can relate to some of the things that happened to both Jody and Junior. For example, Jody almost got mixed up in selling pot. Also Junior was sent to jail because of a bad decision that he had made. I’m sure that sometime or other we all have made not great decisions and can relate to Jody and Junior. That makes this a good piece of literature because the readers can connect to the characters. In conclusion, the author of the story “Hero’s Return” was very successful in creating a good piece of literature.
The author of the story “Hero’s Return” was very successful with creating a good piece of literature. She was very successful because she used figurative language. She used this when she wrote, “ He brought me bread and water for supper and took out the mattresses so he could sleep on them in the front room. I would sleep on springs and get a taste of what a prison bed was like” When the author writes this you could picture in your mind what it would be like to be in jail. The author also is successful in creating good literature because the story has interesting or relatable characters. For example, when Junior gets out of prison he makes a realization that he has to turn his life around and help out the people that mean the most to him, in this case it is his brother. Many people know someone who has had an experience and makes a realization about something and changes for the better. A final way the author is successful in creating good literature is that she used suspense when writing this story. One part of the story that had a lot of suspense was when “The King” chose Juniors brother to be his next drug dealer. This part was suspenseful because Junior’s brother was in the car with The King and you did not know what was in the plastic bag or what was in the cigarette. Those are three examples of how the author created a good piece of literature.
In my oponioun the arthor of “Hero’s Return” was very successful in creating a good piece of literature. First, this story had a really great use of suspense. From the beginning of the story the author keeps you on edge about junior coming home. The first sentence of the story gets you wondering about Junior. “I tell you, I was about to explode, I was so excited when I heard my big brother Junior was coming home.” Towards the end of the story Junior finally comes home, but there is a twist. All the anticipation was that he would pull another job and be a bad role model for Jody. When you first get a description of him you don’t see anything they were talking about. This added another layer of suspense. Secondly, This story uses a lot of figurative language so I can visualize every moment of the story. The author makes a great use of similes and metaphors for added description. “He looked as cool as an ice cube in there.” This is one example when Jody is describing King as he drives up. Lastly, this story has an amazing plot. Every page you read there is something new and interesting going on. In the beginning of the story you are thinking about juniors return and then King shows up. When Jody gets in you are not sure what is going to happen until he tells you about selling the pot. Again there is another change when Junior shows up and Jody gets out, but instead of a welcome Junior is changed and beats his younger brother. Nowhere in this story is the plot the same. The author of this short story wrote a good piece of literature because of the suspense, figurative language, and the changing plot.
The short story, “Hero's Return” was an overall very good piece of literature. The author really used two great literary qualities that supremely enhanced this story, to make it more realistic and interesting to the reader. The two qualities were an interesting and relatable character and conflict, and the other was the great use of suspense and foreshadowing. When added up, it made an all together compelling story.
The first quality that the auther used was an interesting and relatable character and conflict. The character might not deal with the exact problems that we have to deal with, but they are brought about in the same way. When we, as people, see someone doing something that we think is cool, we are tempted to follow what they do, no matter if we know it is the right thing to do or not and if it will get us into trouble. Well, that is the same way Jody's problems and Junior's problems were brought about. “Josh acted as if it were nothing. 'Eight-teen months? That's it?'” That statement clearly shows that they thought doing bad things was something to look up to. They think that it is cool to do those kinds of things, the same way as other people might when they see something cool being done.
The last quality that the author used to creat a great piece of literature was suspense and foreshadowing. I think the strongest example of this quality was when King gave Jody the bag of pot and Jody brought it back home where is older brother, Junior, was. “'I got to get out now, King. That's my brother down there.'” It is clear from that part of the story that Jody doesn't think that Junior will have any problem with him being a drug dealer. But, the way that the story was written and all the details that it gave, it made me think that something big was going to happen. In the end, my suspicions were confirmed, and Jody had to flush the pot down the toilet and Junoir beat him up. I think that Jody learned a lot from just the small mistake of thinking that is brother was o.k. With him selling drugs.
I think that the story “Hero’s Return” is an effective piece of literature because of many reasons. The first reason is because of the amount of figurative language the author uses in this story. She uses phrases like “It was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk.” She also uses a lot of detail for example, in the scene where king pulls up on the street, the reader can picture everything in his or her mind; “The Cadillac was about half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King. He looked cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” There was even a simile in that quote. The author also described the characters very well, in detail and in the way they talked. In the story, one of the antagonists is King, a drug dealer and hustler. “King’s the biggest man in town. Everybody wants to know him.” That sentence really summed up what kind of person he was. When King talked, you could see why he was the biggest hustler, “Listen, kid. The cops don’t exactly dig this action, you understand?” It shows that King does bad things, and is telling Jody to do bad things too. Also, she tells her story like it is being told by Jody. There are some grammar mistakes, and a lot of slang in the narration. It made me feel like Jody was telling the story. The characters are also really relatable to. There’s always the little brother that looks up to the older brother, who is wiser and has had more life experience than the younger brother. I can connect this to Ponyboy and Darrel from The Outsiders, who are very similar. Darrel and Junior have to take care of their family when the father (or both parents) dies. They both end up teaching their little brothers right from wrong. Overall, I really enjoyed this short story, from the characters, to the plot, and the figurative language itself. I hope to read more of these kinds of stories.
In my opinion, the author was successful in creating a good piece of literature by using figurative language. “It was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk that morning…” gives me an idea of what the temperature was like outside. The simile “he looked cool as an ice cube…” is another use of figurative language in the story, as well as “…the window slid down easy as greased silk.” This descriptive language gives me a clearer picture in my head of what is going on in the story. Also, the author wrote about an interesting conflict that many kids my age can relate to. In the story, Jody thought it was cool to commit crimes and do drugs. He was even planning on becoming a drug dealer, even though he got a “funny feeling” in his stomach when he thought about it. Although this story is set in an earlier time period, teenagers are still dealing with the same problems. Today, many teens think that they will seem cool if they smoke or do drugs. Their gut feeling might tell them it’s a bad idea, but they are willing to go for it if they think it might boost their image.
The story, “Hero’s Return” was an example of good literature because it had a few aspects of good writing included. One that I really liked was setting. Hunter used description and dialogue to show both the time and place of the story. When she wrote, “We used to get ice cream…get none unless somebody’s mom gives them a dime,” I could tell that the story was set far back in the past because of the very inexpensive price of ice cream. Also, the story mentions “the people we were cruising by on Madison,” which told me that the story probably took place in New York City. Another aspect of good literature that Hunter used in the story was figurative language. There were many examples of this, and it helped me to really picture what was happening in the story. The details she used covered more than one sense, as well. For example, when she wrote that it was “hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk,” I could practically feel the scorching sun. Another example of figurative language is when she writes “He looked as cool as an ice cube in there…” This simile helped me get a feel for how the character felt about the man he was describing. Hunter’s good use of setting and figurative language helped make an already good story into an example of very good literature.
Kristin Hunter Lattany, the author of “Hero’s Return” was very successful in creating an effective piece of literature. Every sentence of the enticing story is filled with elements that contribute to its success. For example, Lattany does an amazing job with setting the mood through her style of broken, dialectical English. “My corner boys were real impressed when I told them,” she writes in ‘imperfect’ English. “Course they acted like it wasn’t nothing.” From reading passages like this, it is obvious that the narrator, Jody, comes from an uneducated, inner-city neighborhood. It’s unquestionable that the more ‘proper’ English doesn’t set the same mood. For instance, compare the revised passage to the former: “The boys in my corner were really impressed when I told them. Of course they acted like it wasn’t anything.” Another element of good literature that Lattany incorporates in this short story is figurative and descriptive language. For example, consider the passage, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King. He looked cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” In this short passage alone, there contains a hyperbole, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long,” a simile, “He looked cool as an ice cube,” and some sensory language, “his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.”
Kristin Hunter Lattany, the author of “Hero’s Return” was very successful in creating an effective piece of literature. Every sentence of the enticing story is filled with elements that contribute to its success. For example, Lattany does an amazing job with setting the mood through her style of broken, dialectical English. “My corner boys were real impressed when I told them,” she writes in ‘imperfect’ English. “Course they acted like it wasn’t nothing.” From reading passages like this, it is obvious that the narrator, Jody, comes from an uneducated, inner-city neighborhood. It’s unquestionable that the more ‘proper’ English doesn’t set the same mood. For instance, compare the revised passage to the former: “The boys in my corner were really impressed when I told them. Of course they acted like it wasn’t anything.” Another element of good literature that Lattany incorporates in this short story is figurative and descriptive language. For example, consider the passage, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King. He looked cool as an ice cube in there, his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.” In this short passage alone, there contains a hyperbole, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long,” a simile, “He looked cool as an ice cube,” and some sensory language, “his wavy hair shining and diamonds flashing on his hands.”
Furthermore, Lattany masterfully creates an interesting plot with suspense that engages the reader. For instance, when King handed Jody the bag of pot, the reader begins asking himself, “will he put himself in danger to look cool? Will he chicken out?” Just as the reader is seemingly unbearably anxious, the text says, “My eyes popped. But I didn’t lose my cool. Just sat back and inhaled that pink cigarette like a man.” The combination of Kristin Hunter Lattany’s intricate plot and her use of descriptive language make the story “Hero’s Return” a very successful and enjoyable piece of literature.
The author of “Hero’s Dream”, Kristin Hunter Lattany, was successful in writing a good piece of literature. The reason she was successful is because she included many of the essential things that make a piece of literature good. First, she used figurative language. That helped me visualize and even understand how the character was feeling. One example of this was when Jody was in the car with King and he was taking a smoke. He said, “I felt ten feet tall, higher than high.” Another element that the author included was interesting and relatable characters. The character that was easy to relate to was Junior. The reason is because after going to jail he realized that he needed to try harder in life and not get into trouble because it wouldn’t get him anywhere. A movie that also has a character like this is Step Up. The reason is because after a family member dies, one of the characters realizes that he needs to stop goofing off. He decides that he needs to start taking life seriously and trying his best to make a good life. The character that was interesting was Jody. He was interesting because he really changed his opinion about Junior being a “hero” and he changed his outlook on life after his brother put him through “jail”. Junior was a big influence on him which showed a lot here. Another reason this story was a good piece of literature is because it had an interesting and relatable conflict. The conflict was easy to connect to because many times people have changed due to an event that happened in their life. This change is usually a good one and shows how mature the person became. There are also many movies where this same situation takes place. For example in Remember the Titans a character is motivated to become a better person after an event that has occurred. In this movie a team captain on a football team was selfish and rude. The team became interracial, and he realized he needed to work with people even if he didn’t like the color of their skin. That event really changed him and made him a better person. All these components are what makes a piece of literature good.
The author of “Hero’s Dream”, Kristin Hunter Lattany, was successful in writing a good piece of literature. The reason she was successful is because she included many of the essential things that make a piece of literature good. First, she used figurative language. That helped me visualize and even understand how the character was feeling. One example of this was when Jody was in the car with King and he was taking a smoke. He said, “I felt ten feet tall, higher than high.” Another element that the author included was interesting and relatable characters. The character that was easy to relate to was Junior. The reason is because after going to jail he realized that he needed to try harder in life and not get into trouble because it wouldn’t get him anywhere. A movie that also has a character like this is Step Up. The reason is because after a family member dies, one of the characters realizes that he needs to stop goofing off. He decides that he needs to start taking life seriously and trying his best to make a good life. The character that was interesting was Jody. He was interesting because he really changed his opinion about Junior being a “hero” and he changed his outlook on life after his brother put him through “jail”. Junior was a big influence on him which showed a lot here. Another reason this story was a good piece of literature is because it had an interesting and relatable conflict. The conflict was easy to connect to because many times people have changed due to an event that happened in their life. This change is usually a good one and shows how mature the person became. There are also many movies where this same situation takes place. For example in Remember the Titans a character is motivated to become a better person after an event that has occurred. In this movie a team captain on a football team was selfish and rude. The team became interracial, and he realized he needed to work with people even if he didn’t like the color of their skin. That event really changed him and made him a better person. All these components are what make a piece of literature good.
Hero’s Return, by Kristen Hunter Lattany, is an excellent example of a good piece of literature. One way the author was successful in writing this story is how she transports us into a different time period and makes us feel like we are really in the 1960’s or 1970’s. She does this by saying things like, “We don’t hardly ever get none (ice cream) unless somebody’s Mom gives him a dime.” Ice cream certainly costs more than a dime now. Also, she says “Just like they do for the heroes that come back from Vietnam.” The war in Vietnam lasted from 1959-1975, so the story clearly takes place some time in between there.
Another way the author is successful in creating a good piece of literature is the language she uses. Not only does she use figurative language, “It was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk,” but she also uses the slang that kids from there actually use. She says ”Me glad to share it with him again” and “Man, I ain’t studying no ice cream.” Though this is not grammatically correct, it makes us feel like we are really there, in the ghetto with Jody.
One final way that the author was triumphant in creating a great piece of literature is that the characters she created are interesting and relatable. Though I do not live in the ghetto like Jody, I can relate to him in how he looks up to his brother. My friend Sarah has an older brother, and she looks up to him just like Jody. Hero’s return is a great story, and also a great piece of literature.
Kristin Hunter Lattany was very successful in creating a good piece of literature. In specific she used three characteristics of good literature very well: figurative language, relatable conflict and relatable characters. She uses figurative language many times in her story. A few examples are “King glides up to the curb in his white air-conditioned Hog,” or, “It was hot enough to boil water on the sidewalk.” In both of these the author really paints a distinct image in your mind. Little decorations such as these make the difference in if reading a story is a bland and dull experience or a colorful interesting one. She also uses relatable conflict and characters very well. The character Junior and the conflict involved with him are particularly relatable. He is involved in robbing an ice-cream store and ends up taking the entire fall for it and gets sent to jail for 18 months. Everyone can at least relate to that knowing some who has been to jail, or taking the fall for a friend. Things like this that the reader can relate to make the difference of a story being completely foreign, having only the language it is written in in common, or it being one that evokes emotion and gives you pleasure to read. This piece of literature is overall well written and was a pleasure to read.
I believe that “Hero’s Return” had great success in creating an effective literary novel. One supporting factor was its use of figurative language and wording that successfully brought out the mood and feeling of the current setting. For example, the author uses the sentence, “The Cadillac was about half a block long, and a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King.” The words, “sharp fox” are rarely heard in modern times, but frequently used back in the 70’s. Another example of this is when the author uses the phrase, “I’m hip.” There is an abundance of these quotes in the story. Another example would be when the author describes King as looking “cool as an ice cube.” Both the statements and phrases contribute to the interesting setting of the story.
Another contributing feature was its interesting character. Jodi is a mislead adolescent who believes that the ideal life is the life of crime and scandal. Such a character reflects the character of Anthony Kiedis from Scar Tissue, whose father inspired him to do drugs and get involved with crime. In the end, both realized their past mistakes and, in essence, “reincarnated” and became a new person. Jodi was taught by his brother that he was above crime and if he thought otherwise, he would be punished. Anthony learned from the death of his ex-band member due to overdose. He also learned from Kurt Cobain, a famous rock star who also did many drugs, and his band members. In general, both started a new chapter in their lives.
I think the author succeeded in creating a good piece of literature. The short story, “Hero’s Return,” has several qualities which agree with this statement. One aspect is the figurative language. “I was about to explode,” and ”It looked different, like a place I hadn’t seen in years and years,” are two of many examples of figurative language. Another thing I liked about the story was the overall steady theme of the language; the material was consistent in its imagery and dialogue.
The portrayal of events and characters in the story is interesting; the language intrigues me because of the differences it has to modern English. Phrases such as “King’s Hog,” and “funky scuffling people,” would certainly not be used today, and provide a refreshing change of style from the modern books we read now.
Also, the story is overflowing with descriptions. If I had to compare this to somebody else’s work, I would say the short story, “Two kinds,” is very similar to this one. They both begin with the protagonist as a young child, doing something that disappoints or would disappoint his or her elders. Aside from similarities in the protagonists, both stories have similar descriptive language. Also, the morals of the two stories are practically the same. In short, I would say that the author did a fine job in creating an interesting, light read.
This author was successful in making a good piece of literature in many ways. One way she was successful was because she used a lot of imagery in the story. She used many words that showed where the setting took place. Words like “Hog,” “Funky,” or “hip” shows us when the story takes place; Most likely in the late 60’s or early 70’s. Also, she makes her characters realistic and makes them sound like a kid that is actually from the ghetto in the 60’s. For example, “…a sharp fox in a blonde wig was sitting beside King.” This quote shows the time of the story. Not really anybody says “Fox” anymore and was normally said in the 60’s and 70’s. Another reason she made a good piece of literature is that the author uses lots of figure of speech. One thing she says is, “The Cadillac was about a half a block long”. This is a hyperbole that the author uses. The car is not really a half a block long, but she uses this to show just how big the car seems to be and to make the story more interesting. Another figure of speech she uses is, “the window slid down easy as greased silk.” She uses this simile to explain the classiness of the car and how luxurious it is. A final reason that this is a good piece of literature is that there is a relatable conflict. This kind of situation could have happened in real life. In the ghetto parts of cities, drug dealers can give young kids drugs to sell to their friends. Also, a teenager could get arrested for robbing a store and go to jail. This is why I think that “Hero’s Return” was a good piece of literatrure.
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