In Tomson Highway’s novel Kiss of the Fur Queen the opening passage transports the reader to the harsh, cold, and intense struggle of the caribou hunter, Abraham Okimasis during a championship husky sled race. Any race often proves to be physically and mentally exhausting for a person. Highway utilizes a fantastic variety of literary devices to dramatize Okimasis’ physical and emotional experience through his last leg of the race by creating a powerfully intense atmosphere through the effective use of descriptive imagery, passionate diction, repetition of words, and a tone of desperation. To begin with, the author utilizes descriptive vivid imagery to awaken the reader’s sensory perception, and it helps the reader to realistically envision …show more content…
The author makes the desperation obvious by saying, “the desperation in his voice, like a man about to sob.” This not only depicts how desperate Okimasis is, but how emotionally draining the race is and that he will try to pull out a win, sobbing or not. In addition, Highway tries to get the reader to see what’s really going through Okimasis’ mind through his strong use of diction. The author includes the lines, “he was not leading. What mattered was that he was not going to win the race.” Including the phrase, “what mattered” demonstrates that winning is the main reason in Okimasis’ mind and that it doesn’t matter who is behind or in front, but that all he wants to do is win. Another interesting way in which Highway brings out Okimasis’ desperation is through his communication with the dogs. For example, Highway includes how Okimasis consistently yells “mush” during the race . This demonstrates how aggressive and desperate he is to win. Not only howmany times Okimasis yells “mush,” but it’s how he Highway says that he says it. ‘ “Mush! he cried, “mush,” ‘ clearly illustrates a tone to show that Okimasis virtually just desires to win the race. He even refers to the word “mush,” as the “sole word left that could feed them,” which means that Okimasis was lacking ways to keep himself and the dogs motivated to continue pushing forward. …show more content…
These devices hook the reader and allow them to use their senses to experience the adventure within the passage. The physical and emotional experience of Okimasis becomes vivid to the reader and captivates their attention to the end of the finish
Visual imagery is often the first step to subconsciously sending the reader into a parallel state of mind as the protagonist, and letting them experience what the characters experienced throughout the story. The visuals used in the beginning of this story convince readers that they have been placed in a safe, secure environment, therefore having a positive effect on readers when they
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway portrays the individualized experiences of a dog sledder named Abraham Okimasis. Throughout the course of this passage Okimasis is running a race that he is determined to win for the sake of his marriage. Once the end of the race draws near however, we see him become desperate and hopeless when he realizes that he is not going to win. These emotion and ultimately the experience in general are heavily expressed through specific literary devices: diction, metaphor, and repetition.
Jewett makes great use of imagery to help the audience imagine the setting in its complete
Imagery is used flawlessly in this short story. O’Connor uses descriptive adjectives fairly often to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and to add spice to her
Queen, by Audrey Flack is a very captivating piece of artwork. It was painted in 1976, originally Audrey Flack took a picture and then used it as the basis for this painting. Queen is a painting of box that is full of special mementos. It has features such as a quarter of an open orange, a rose, a pocket watch, a queen playing card, a locket of an older and a younger woman, lip balm, perfume, a chess piece, blush, and a chain necklace with the letter “F” on it. The painting almost looks like a vanity drawer or a keepsake drawer. However, realizing the fruits and flower in the painting I understood it to be a collection of the artist's memories as opposed to a drawer. Audrey Flack was demonstrating the many things that were significant to her while aging. Queen signifies the fight against time. It shows that no matter what possessions you retain it will not keep you young. No one can win the battle against time.
Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the
The author uses imagery to interest the reader in her story that may seem mundane without the imagery. An example of this happening is when Jeannette is going to her new school in Welch it was her first day and the teacher picks on her because she did not have to give the school her records to her not having them as that is happening a tall girl stabs her out of nowhere“I felt something sharp and painful between my shoulder blades and turned around. The tall black girl with the almond eyes was sitting at the desk behind me.
In Kiss of the Fur Queen, the story begins with forty-three year old Cree hunter Abraham Okimasis winning the "1951 Millington Cup World Championship Dog Derby." (6) The victory is seen to have a significant effect on the Cree hunter's Native identity, as he becomes the first-ever Indian to succeed in the Derby. As time goes by, Abraham becomes the father of two sons, Jeremiah and Gabriel. When the Cree brothers leave their small northern Manitoba village and enter the hostile environment of a residential school, their lives take a turn for the worse. Estranged from their Native culture, Jeremiah and Gabriel are forced to assimilate into the predominately white Canadian society. During their stay at the residential school, the brothers
Thomson Highway’s The Kiss of the Fur Queen has a core theme of art. In this novel, art is integrated into the lives of the characters. The modernist movement would indicate that art has the ability to plainly exist “art of arts sake”. Peter Lamarque notes “To value a work for its own sake is to value it for what it is in itself, not for the realization of some ulterior ends.” (par. 19) This commonly accepted view, that art is valued because it is great art, not for the role or function that it has in society, restricts arts impact. This perspective limits and does not allow for the surfacing of profound effects that art creates. In the Kiss of the Fur Queen, art has power it does not simply exist but has function. The observable function
the emotions of the readers. He successfully gives a vivid image in which the audience can begin
Highway writes statements such as, “And the finish line mere yards ahead” and “Half a mile to the finish line—he could see the banner now…” in order to establish a sense of desperation. By adding these increments to the finish line, Highway develops a mental image of how close Okimasis is to winning while also increasing the uncertainty of the situation. In the last sentence of the passage, Highway declares, “Mushers numbers 32 and 17, so close, so far.” This contradictory statement of his competitors being “so close” yet “so far” advances Okimasis’ fear of being beaten and adds to his
Momaday uses a colorful description to explain what he sees while he’s visiting Rainy Mountain. These descriptions paint a bright image in the readers mind.
Have you ever wondered why the iditarod is so important well then you should read this. One reason is that it’s full of alaskan history.It also pits man and animal to the extremes. The third reason is that it shows how athletic all of the dogs are.
Maurice Sendak’s use of visual elements helped make this story set a realistic setting of the real and imaginative world Max believed in. His use of line, rough texture and color throughout
The Kiss is a short story written by Kate Chopin. The Kiss is a short story about a woman called Nathalie (Nattie) scheming to marry a wealthy man which is Brantain. However, she is having an affair with Mr. Harvy. Kate Chopin uses different themes such as Money over love, Exploitation, and Acceptance. These themes are represented to show that you can’t always have two things at once. Kate Chopin uses these themes to show that certain situations can make a person accept that they cannot always have two relationships at once. Kate Chopin uses a variety of techniques throughout the story to highlight the idea of the three themes. The techniques Chopin used were imagery, irony and simile.