Alankar's Blogs

     The technique of planting a seed and allowing it to grow throughout the progression of a work is simple to understand, but rarely recognized when practiced. A great example of such was noted in the analysis of The Great Gatsby that we read. The final paragraphs of the novel are some of the most famous in all of English literature, yet we often extract them from their place for further analysis without regard to the entire context: as if Fitzgerald wrote these words before the remainder of the novel and just randomly inserted them at the end. Each idea presented on the last couple pages was originally presented in the first chapter. The seeds were planted and naturally grew alongside the plot: each being intertwined with Gatsby’s fate.      The most common example of seeds is characters as we always analyze character development. However, we must also realize this development is rarely linear and immensely complicated – just as humans are. One does n...

Something I learned this week was how to effectively develop a character in literary work without writing a stereotypical narrative. Instead of having a chronological order, I can dissect the person – metaphorically – into events and perspectives that are crucial to portray. This was explained in great detail in The Atlantic’s article on storytelling. Even my choice novel, The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, utilized this technique by having each, seemingly unrelated, chapter represent a different trait of the main character. When an author decides to write a narrative where all the events are chronological and not independently and uniquely representative, the main purpose gets heavily distorted. In other words, the characters get watered down. This advice is especially helpful for college application essays: as I have to tell a story about myself, I need to do such efficiently without ignoring any vital elements. Furthermore, this method of storytelling connects to the...