You’re reading this novel after writing your own short story. Are there things you have learned as a writer from reading this book?
The main thing that can be learned from the Novel as a writer is that you can do a lot with a little. For example, in chapter 28, even though Harper Lee including Cecil Jacobs scaring them on their way to the play seems like a simple halloween prank, it has a much deeper effect on the novel because on their way back from the play, when they hear a noise, they think its Cecil again and they scream for him to not try to scare them. If they had not screamed, then Arthur "Boo" Radley would not have come out to save them and in turn they would have been killed by Bob Ewell. But if Cecil had not scared them in the beginning they would not have screamed and would not have been killed.
This concept of using a little to do a lot is very powerful because of its more hidden meaning. For example, if Harper Lee had just said that Bob Ewell attacked the kids and Boo Radley saw and saved them it would be much less exciting than her describing the little details and letting the reader figure out the big ones. This also adds effect to the story because it forces the reader to actually think hard about the book and concentrate on it more than if she had just flat-out revealed everything.
It also would help the effect if you used it in a short story because it would help the reader to, even in the short amount of time that they are reading it for, to really focus on the story and immerse themselves inside of it. You can use it in your writing by writing the entire scene, then adding smaller details, and then taking out any of the big details that are now unnecessary.
Questions: What is another example of a time in the novel when little things have more effects than big ones?
How could you have used this in stories that you have already written?
What kind of effect would the novel have had if she had not written it with the little details?
Harper Lee did a great job of putting little details in the novel that have great meaning and often times symbolize something. For example, at one point in the book, Jem was sitting on the porch sobbing. Him sitting on the porch was not put there by accident. It meant that Jem is in between childhood and adulthood because he was between indoors and outdoors. Little things like that, we read over, but once we stop to think about what it really means, and what Harper Lee is trying to tell the reader, you are amazed at how that tiny detail in the book, meant so much.
ReplyDeleteAs a writer, this novel shows how important careful planning is. Each tiny detail that Harper Lee put in the book had a purpose. From the geraniums in the Ewell yard to Scout forgetting her shoes on the night of the attack, every sentence and detail included further pushes the main themes. Harper Lee does an excellent job of showing consistent themes throughout the book, and always relating them back to the central coming-of-age plot line.
ReplyDeleteDo you think she left any open-ended questions at the end of the book? Was everything resolved?