Seeds

    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 not just go from being selfish to selfless over the course of a plot. Instead, a multitude of qualities change in magnitude over time, and their composition is the generic attribute we give to the person.  

    Even the Screencast on power paragraphs explores this technique without directly saying so. The topic sentence is raw: the seed. The middle sentences are full of a variety of evidence: the growth. The conclusion is some beautiful application of the original idea: just how a plant is the wonderous application of a seed.