The Cinematic Narrative Style In Nights Below Station Street

724 words - 3 pages

David Adams Richards' award-winning novel Nights Below Station Street employs a highly unusual narrative style that strikes the reader as being more indicative of film than traditional fiction. In other words, Richards' story reads more like a screenplay for a movie rather than a traditional novel. The reader takes the role of the camera, seeing the action from a detached point of view. This detached viewpoint emphasizes the overall tone of the work, which is one of alienation, resignation and struggle.The novel begins with a description of the Walsh family on Christmas in 1972. Richards chooses a few details to "set the stage," stating the time in which the action takes place, that there is a "spruce tree" against the "pine-board wall" of the living room, and that the house was "below Station Street" (Richards 7). Rather than showing the reader the Walsh family interacting on Christmas day, Richards tells the reader about Adele's assertion that she never gets anything for Christmas and how she argued with her father, rather than showing and describing the argument in detail. It is as if the writer is offering a description of what he "sees" as the elements that should be contained within the visual action of a film (Coyle 1165).As this suggests, the narrative does not take the viewpoint of any one particular character. Rather, like a camera, the viewpoint is omniscient, first telling the reader the reactions of one character, and then another. For example, the writer tells the reader about Rita's fear that she will do or say something that willcause Joe, her husband, to start drinking again, but then, in the next paragraph, there is a description of Adele's boredom and depression (Coyle 1166).Adele is the oldest of the Walsh daughters and the beginning of the novel describes her extreme alienation. One can surmise that Adele is reacting to her father's alcoholism, but, Richards does not state this overtly. Rather, he allows his detached, highly visual perspective to allow his readers to act as a "fly on the wall" and reach their own conclusions regarding the family dynamics. This form of narration immediately establishes an interesting relationship between...

The Cinematic Features Displayed in Pleasantville and The Truman Show

2712 words - 11 pages The Cinematic Features Displayed in Pleasantville and The Truman Show The following essay, which I have composed, is based on two important films of the last decade. Their titles are "Pleasantville" and "The Truman Show". Starting with the "Pleasantville", the general overview of the film's plot gets more complicated the further you get into it. It brings up several issues all of which I have commented on in this essay

Station to Station: The Learning Processes of Wild Children in "Pride and Prejudice" and "Frankenstein"

1911 words - 8 pages During the late 18th Century, Dr. Francois Itard wrote about his experiences of teaching awild child abandoned in the woods, later named Victor, in a classic text which was adapted into a film L'Enfant Sauvage by Francois Truffaut in 1970. Despite the slow, documentary style of the film, the subject matter is captivating--the growth and development of an almost animal-like child into a rational human being. Though not a literary pioneer in the

the best villain in cinematic history - English 10 - persuasive essay

632 words - 3 pages The best villain Darth Vader is the most infamous and widely recognized villain, arguable the best villain in cinematic history because of three main reasons. His physical characteristics and charisma, his shocking and surprising plot twists, and finally the iconic weaponry this villain has created and even holds with in him. From the moment the black-caped and armored character marched onto the screen, surrounded in starkly contrasting white

Narrative Style and Character in James Joyce's Clay

833 words - 3 pages Narrative Style and Character in James Joyce's Clay For many readers, one of the most appealing factors within literature is often the dynamic representation of character. The idiosyncrasies and appearance of characters are often depicted in great depth and presented with a particular bias in mind. The brief format of the short story does not allow for great lengths of detail to be included

Narrative Style of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

673 words - 3 pages In Cold Blood - Narrative Style Capote's structure in In Cold Blood is a subject that deserves discussion. The book is told from two alternating perspectives, that of the Clutter family who are the victims, and that of the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The different perspectives allow the reader to relive both sides of the story; Capote presents them without bias. Capote masterfully utilizes the third person omniscient point

Style Analysis - "The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass"

654 words - 3 pages In the excerpt from "The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass," (1-5) undiscerning and heart-rending tones reflect Douglass' lack of understanding and his fear of the terrible spectacles of slavery in general. Douglass often wishes to deem more understanding about his life and relationship with his parents, but meanwhile his first witnesses violent exhibitions of slavery make unable to acquire these intimations from his white

The Thousand and One Nights in the Works of Twain

1328 words - 5 pages not above using the Arabian Nights to make a point, though he tends to get his details wrong. In chapter 23 of Huckleberry Finn, he tells Jim that King Henry VIII "used to marry a new wife every day, and chop off her head the next morning". Twain was very cleaver in alluding to The Thousand and One Nights(Sexton). One of Twain’s best allusions was to a cave near Hannibal Missouri. The narrative of Tom Sawyer climaxes when Tom and Becky

Cinematic Styles in Sholay, women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown, and Amores Perros

1399 words - 6 pages Sholay, Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Amores Perros have very different cinematic styles; yet, are equally able to convey their messages effectively to their audience. These films span four decades (from the 1970s to 2000s), take place in very different countries; however, are all connected in that all three films are masterful works of cinematic genus and that globalization greatly affected each film. Sholay, a 1975

The Violation of Cinematic Expectations and Conventions in "Cradle Will Rock"

1219 words - 5 pages In the 1999 film Cradle Will Rock, writer/director Tim Robbins uses familiar cinematic conventions and popular character actors to build a specific expectation in the minds of the audience. Doing this, he makes the plot itself (which defies most or all such expectations) seem more profound.Robbins' use of music--always juxtaposing it, as Marc Blitzstein did in his musical The Cradle Will Rock (the creation of which is the story of the Robbins

The Integration Of Calypso In Miguel Street

1705 words - 7 pages setting in his novel Miguel Street. The novel consists of a collection of amusing yet sad vignettes about colourful, poor Trinidadians full of bold scheme talk in rhythmic and lively ungrammatical English. This content and setting, ideal for the presence of a Trinidadian form of expression called calypso, is orchestrated into the novel. Calypso is a style of music in West Indies, more specifically in Trinidad, marked by lively duple meter, where the

leadership in the movie Wall street

1875 words - 8 pages .(Barrick, Day, Lord & Alexander, 1991; Day, 2000; Joyce,Nohria, & Robertson, 2003). Wall Street (1987) movie was directed by Oliver stone, which mainly revolves around two main characters namely Gordon Gekko and Bud Fox. This report analyses the leadership of Gordon Gekko in the movie. Gekko (leader) is an amazing antagonist who displays power and charisma. He is a rich corporate raider who believes in making profits at the expense of others

The Relationship Between Children And Parents From The 2 Essays: Nights Below Station Street And Joy Luck Club

1329 words - 5 pages concern they show. David Adams Richards illustrates this matter regarding family relationships in his novel, Nights Below Station Street. The family lives of the characters from Nights Below Station Street and Joy Luck Club demonstrate that children's behavior is directly affected by the misunderstanding of their parents' love for them.To begin with, the novel shows that children are always their parents' primary concern. Adele's father, Joe, loves her

The Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Station In Russia

2154 words - 9 pages Introduction: Sayano – Shushenskaya Hydroelectric power station is located on the Yenisei River, near Saynogorsk in Khakassia. It was the largest hydroelectric power station in Russia and the sixth- largest hydroelectric power station in the world before. Construction started in 1968 taking 10 years for it to be built and opening in 1978. The plant was designed by the Leningrad. After the fall of the Soviet Union the Station was privatized with

Gender And Power In The Arabian Nights

1572 words - 6 pages Gender and Power in The Arabian Nights Works Cited Not Included Contemplating the relationship between gender and power, one undoubtedly notices that tradition regards men as the holders of official office and power. Historically, men have also always been the leaders of their families, and turned to in times of trouble or need. Making generalizations is normally a weak approach to any task; in this case however, it is necessary to do so in

Cinematic Techniques In Nabokov's Laughter In The Dark

2427 words - 10 pages Cinematic Techniques in Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark takes the movies for its style as well as its subject matter. In recounting the farcical tragedy of director Albinus and starlet Margot, Nabokov imports a wide variety of techniques and imagery from the cinema into the novel. But Nabokov's "cinematic" style is not analagous to that of a screenplay: the polished prose is always tinged with