Monday, September 5, 2016

Literature Analysis #1: The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

1. The Best of Me is a story about two teenagers, Dawson and Amanda, who fall in love with each other in high school, but aren't able to be together. The story takes place in a town in Oriental, North Carolina. They are deeply in love with each other, but it seems to be impossible since their families are very different & won't "approve" their relationship. Amanda's parents try to get her away from Dawson because they want her to be with someone, suppose ably, better . . they are very rich & , unlike them, most of Dawson's family are even criminals. So after high school, Amanda goes off to college and each basically go their own ways. Many years later, though, they both return to the town for a funeral & see each other again . . . both of their lives are very changed after all that time, but their love still appears as strong as it was in the beginning! Later one day, Amanda's son has an accident which leaves him very injured & with the need of a heart transplant. Unfortunately, around those days, Dawson also gets shot and killed, but , as a result, he is the one who ends up saving his lover's son. Through Amanda's son, she keeps remembering & hearing Dawson's heartbeat.
2. The major theme of the novel is about love not giving up. I think it has a lot do to about your first love, your soul mate, the destiny, and how everything happens for a reason, but at the end everything that is meant to be will...
3. Nicholas Sparks is all about romance & always uses an inspiring, loving, and relaxed tone. I picture him as a morning person who drinks a tea while writing all of  his amazing novels outside his house. Just staring into nature, being very calm and concentrated. He seems like a person that enjoys just going for walks or a jog to exercise and to get all of his ideas. I think some of his own feelings and actions are described as if he was the characters in the books. Some of the following quotes below make me imagine the type of person he might be.
- "Outside, the morning was already bright. A thin layer of haze on the river hovered like a low-level cloud, but the sky above was a brilliant blue and clear in every direction. The air was already warm, foretelling hotter weather to come. He rolled his shoulders a few times and was jogging before he hit the road." (82).
-"... but on weekends she used to wander out to the bridge, where she sometimes sat for hours, watching the sun gradually dissipate the mist." (101).
- " I want to wake up with you beside me in the mornings. I want to spend my evenings looking at you across the dinner table."
4. Literary Techniques:
1. "The words seemed to hang in the air..." (135).
2. Personification & Imagery: "He stopped, hearing the starlings chirp, a hundred of them calling from the trees. Thousands maybe... by the swarmlike way they would break from the trees when he clapped, as though they were tethered together. They were calling now, calling for something." (146).
3. Personification: "... the racing of his heart." (146).
4. Simile: " His throat was like sandpaper." (147).
 - Tenor: his throat
 - Vehicle: sandpaper
 - His throat was very dry. harsh? been sick or maybe doing too much
5. Simile: "... thinking his brother looked like crap." (158).
6. Imagery: " The storm had wrung the humidity from the air, leaving blue skies and a sweet floral aroma behind. The occasional drop of water still fell from the roof, landing on ferns and ivy, making them shimmer in the clear golden light." (212).

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