The Great Gatsby - Chapter Nine

• 'Look here old sport...' Nick is hearing Gatsby's voice, shows the connection that the two of them had.
• 'And it rested there' personification, gives the case a whole new meaning to Nick and the reader.
• The story is told through telephone conversations which fill in the gaps, also shows Nick's loneliness  now that Gatsby is gone.  
• 'Trembling hand' Links back to when Gatsby catches the clock, link between father and son.  Gives Gatsby's father a character without having to describe him in too much detail. 
• 'He was so hard up he had to keep on wearing his uniform because he couldn't buy some regular clothes' Death brings out the truth, Gatsby never really honest with Nick about everything?  Narration has shifted, Meyer W now the narrator.
• 'Nobody came' everyone very superficial, only friends with Gatsby for the alcohol and the parties.  All very fake.
• 'One of my most vivid memories' completely unrelated, shows how the narration is just a stream of Nick's thoughts.
• 'ceaselessly into the past' relationships returning to the state they were in before the summer. Nick was lonely before he met Gatsby, stood on the outside and observed, returning to that.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Eight

This chapter is broken down into eight different phases:

PHASE ONE
Phase one tells us how Nick couldn't sleep, so when he heard Gatsby arrive in a taxi he went out to see him.  Nick suggests that Gatsby should go away for a while, but he refuses. He then sees Daisy two days afterwards.  This phase shows a lot of change in pace, such as when Nick enters Gatsby's house, time seems to move quicker, 'tumbled with a sort of splash upon the keys of a ghostly piano'. Not very detailed description in comparison to Fitzgerald's usual style, this shows how they're rushing and on edge, which sets the mood for the rest of the chapter.  Later on, we see long descriptions about Gatsby's feelings for Daisy, which, considering Nick is out narrator, Gatsby must have told him. This shows how Gatsby and Nick's relationship is developing, and shows how close they are.

PHASE TWO 
In phase two, Gatsby explains to Nick how he can't help loving Daisy, and gives details of the night they spent together before he went away to war. Once again time jumps (which is a recurring theme in Fitzgerald's style), but this time it jumps backwards to their last night, rather than forwards. In Gatsby's speech in this phase, there are a lot of pauses, for example 'I key different things from her....well there I was.' This shows how it's a stream of thoughts, giving Gatsby a sense of humanism that we have rarely seen from him.

PHASE THREE
Here we are given an insight into what Gatsby and Daisy were doing away from each other.  Gatsby was doing well in the war, and Daisy was partying, and looking for love, trying to replace Gatsby. Daisy was in an 'artificial world', just as her and a lot of the people in the book seem to be, nothing has really changed, it is all material.  'The force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan' shows Tom's personality, he demands attention and is a a very overpowering character. 

PHASE FOUR
In Phase Four, Gatsby and Nick are sat in Gatsby's house, where Gatsby questions Daisy's love for Tom. Time then jumps  back (similarly to the phase before) to when Gatsby came back from the war, and Tom and Daisy were on their honeymoon; Gatsby traveled to Louisville to relive the moments he spent with Daisy.  Time then returns to the present, where one of Gatsby's servants wants to drain the pool, Gatsby asks him not too, foreshadowing. Gatsby and Nick part ways.  Very vivid description of Gatsby's time in Louisville: 'He stretched out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him' shows how Gatsby remembers every detail, really sticks out to him.  'We were always thanking him for that - I and the others' Nick wondering if he really sticks out to Gatsby? Or whether he is just another one of Gatsby's party people.

PHASE FIVE
Nick receives a phone call from Jordan, he then tries to phone Gatsby but the line is busy with a phone call from Detroit. This is a very short phase, which is very different from the phase before. In phase four, there is a lot of vivid description, whereas in this phase there are very short sentences such as 'Very Well.' and 'It was just noon'. Nick is developing as a narrator.

PHASE SIX
This phase contains Nick's trip on the train where he passes the place that Myrtle's accident was.  Time jumps back to the just after the accident.  'Now I want to back a little and tell what happened at the garage after we left the night before.'  Almost as if he is remembering suddenly, and Nick is directly addressing the reader here, which breaks the fourth wall.  This is a technique used in drama to distance the audience from the story and the characters, Fitzgerald trying to stop the reader empathizing with the characters?

PHASE SEVEN
In this phase, the story carries on with what happened at the garage the night before.  This is the only phase where the story carries on from the previous one, shows a difference in this phase to the others, sticks out more to the reader.

PHASE EIGHT
This is the final phase of the chapter, in which Gatsby goes out to his pool and somebody shoots him.  Nick goes to his house after getting home from the station, they take Gatsby's body into the house and notice that Wilson is dead as well.  The past few phases have contained numbers and times, e.g. 'At two o'clock' almost like a countdown, reader beginning to expect something. 'I have an idea' narration changes from report like, authorial style, to speculation and doubt. Nick developing as a narrator.  Very descriptive 'faint, barely perceptible movement of the water' different to other major events which have no description at all and are very blunt.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Seven

• Chapter seven is the longest chapter in the book, and stands out not only due to it's length but due to the dramatic events that this chapter holds.
• Also in the chapter, the weather gives us clues as to how the characters are feeling, meaning we can empathize with them more.  'The weather was broiling' shows how uncomfortable the characters are due to the heat. This also gives us a clue about what is yet to happen in the chapter, as if we are expecting something.
• Chapter 7 shows Tom's character more as well, when Tom first sees that a car crash has taken place, he says his speech 'excitedly', as if he is looking forward to the sight of someone being hurt, this shows how arrogant he is, and once again makes the reader form a strong opinion of him.
• Unlike the other chapters, time is not a key factor here, as time doesn't jump around.  All of the events seem to take place chronologically.  Where Nick has before been an unreliable narrator because of his sometimes vague memory of things, here he seems to remember ever last detail, showing how important the events were to the characters.
• When Myrtle is hit by the car, there is very little description of the event (similar to when Tom hits Myrtle, and the last car crash outside the party), except for Nick describing the car itself as 'the death car'.  This is unusual, as descriptive passages are normally a key feature of Fitzgerald's writing style.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Six

Key themes of this chapter:

• Love
• Power
• Lies
• Superficiality

Love

• Love triangles: Gatsby and Tom both love Daisy, Daisy loves them both but is choosing Tom.
• We never see a single scene of Gatsby and Daisy's relationship, as Nick is our narrator and respects their privacy. Leaves the reader to imagine what they want to happen, Fitzgerald keeps a certain amount of mystery in it.

Power

• Social class is explored in the chapter, with relation to Gatsby (e.g. he is embarrassed by the fact that he had to work as a janitor during University.
• Gatsby has changed his name - Shows how he wants to reinvent himself as a rich man, wants to leave his lower class days behind him.
• Tom seems to have a lot of power over Gatsby, makes him feel uncomfortable without even knowing very much about him.

Lies

• Gatsby kept so much a secret about his past, changed his name etc. Almost as if he's lying to himself about who he truly is.
• Gatsby lies to Tom, deceives him about who he really is, only says he knows Daisy, gives no information about how close they actually are or his feelings for her.

Superficiality

• Tom and the Sloane's invite Gatsby out to dinner and are disappointed when he accepts, invite was fake, Gatsby doesn't realize this, is very superficial

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Five

• First sentence, sets tension for the first half of the chapter: 'When I came home to West Egg that night I was afraid for a moment that my house was on fire'
• Gatsby's dialogue is quite inconsistent, constantly changes subject.
• Emotive language to describe Gatsby's movements, first time he's been seen as a vulnerable character: 'Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes'
• Daisy and Gatsby's dialogue is all one liners, very blunt, shows they have a past and shows their current relationship.
• Chapter almost in two halves, the weather represents this. Begins sunny and warm, changes to cold and rainy.
• Daisy chases money? Only wants Gatsby now that he's rich, cries into his shirts, only interested in what he has.
• Knocks over the clock and 'catches it with trembling hands', sense of stopping time, once again time is a key feature of Fitzgerald's writing.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Four

Narrative Elements:

• Halfway through the chapter the narration switches to Jordan's point of view, may be to show a different side to things, and to show how like minded Nick and Jordan are.
• Cars once again mentioned frequently, Gatsby's car is eccentric and expensive to show his character.  Cars are a key theme in the novel, they give a sense of movement.
• Racism from Tom in earlier chapters, but in this chapter Nick defines someone by the fact that they're Jewish. His narration changes in each chapter, which may show him developing as a character.  May also show how he is conforming to the type of person he is expected to be by the society.

Ideology

• Nick's confidence seems to be growing with the people at the party, he is succumbing to the people at the party's nature.  He is helping to spread rumour, and is showing more of his superficial side.
• 'His voice was solemn' Gatsby beginning to be shown as a deeper character, more emotion.
• He is pursuing Jordan in this chapter, rather than observing her, shows a change in his character.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Three

In this chapter there are a few main themes that are shown throughout, these are:

• Imagery
• Voice
• Time
• Dialogue and characterisation

Imagery: The main image that sticks in my head from that chapter is the 'high gothic library' where Nick runs into Owl Eyes, the drunk gentleman using the library as a place to sober up.  The ideas of 'carved english oak' and 'transported complete from some ruin overseas' not only creates a vivid image of Nick's surroundings, but also gives us an idea of Gatsby as a person, showing how eccentric he is, and how he enjoys the material things in life.  We also get colours and sounds implied throughout the chapter, for example, I get the idea of deep purple/blue colours, and the sound of the Charleston covered my muffled voices and the clink of glasses.

Voice: Nick observes every little detail, and everything that is included in the narration seems to be of importance to the novel.  For example, meeting Owl Eyes in the library, this may not seem to be of any benefit to the story, however he's involved in the car crash when leaving the party, and cars seem to be a key element of the book.  The fact that Nick observes everything also shows his alienation, and how he doesn't seem to fit in with the people at the party.  The quote 'I am one of the few honest people I've ever met' shows how he feels like he can't trust anybody.

Time: Due to Nick being very drunk at the party, the time jumps around a lot, hours just seem to disappear, and before we know it half of the party has passed by.  This may be because Nick sees everyone and everything at the party as the same (showing how fake he feels they are), so only pays attention to the events that stick out to him as strange.

Dialogue and characterisation: The dialogue between characters is very materialistic, and mainly based on rumours about the party's host - Gatsby, who is nowhere to be seen for the majority of the chapter.  This dialogue shows how fake, yet eccentric the people who go to these parties are.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Two

Once again this chapter sees the use of a lot of creative description and metaphorical language, such as the references to ashes in the first paragraph, and the mentions of 'T J Eckleberg', who is compared to Tom later on in the novel.  Moreover, Sundays seem to be a key day in the novel, and the majority of this chapter seems to happen on a 'Summer Sunday afternoon'.  Sunday is generally seen as a religious day, or a day to rest, so the fact that the people of New York use this day to party (and in Tom's case see his mistress) shows how they have no concept of religious days, and are very care free.

Once again there is a lot of emphasis on Tom's personality, and this chapter highlights how rude he is when Myrtle wants to buy the dog.  Tom continually interrupts the salesman, often undermining what he has just said.  The fact that none of this goes unnoticed by Nick also shows how observant he is, and how everything that is included, down to the small details, are important in the novel.  

Nick sometimes seems to lose his grip on reality, and in this chapter it is made clear in the way that time keeps jumping backwards and forwards, and that only particular moments stand out to him, such as when Tom breaks Mrs Wilson's nose.  This is written in a very blunt way: 'Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand', which is a significantly different style that Fitzgerald's usual descriptive sections.  This may show how quickly the narrator feels it happened, and how blunt Tom was when doing it.

Finally, there is a lot of mention of 'Ashes' and how people were in a 'daze'.  This may show how the people of New York are very insular, and their lives revolve around being social and going to parties, almost as if they are in limbo.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter One

In the first chapter of 'The Great Gatsby', we get a great sense of where you come from affecting who you are and how you're seen, for example the mid-westerners seen a lot more calm and serene than those who have grown up in the east.  We are also given an insight into Nick's character, when he says: 'I'm inclined to reserve all judgements' as if he's been brought up in a particular way, and since moving to a 'looser' place he is slightly alienated and out of his comfort zone.  

He spends a large majority of his time observing, particularly observing wild behaviour. 'Accused of being a politician' shows how he may try to please everyone, and get on their good side.  It also presents the idea that he is old for his years, possibly having been matured by war.

Later on in the chapter, we meet Daisy, Jordan, and Tom, and straight away are given a sense of how wealthy they are from the line: 'They had spent a year in France for no particular reason'. Throughout Nick's visit to their house, it made obvious how arrogant Tom is. For example when he says 'I've got a nice place here', normally this is a phrase given to someone else as a compliment, however Tom is saying it about himself. Also, he later says that 'he'd be a damned fool to live anywhere else', not only showing off about where he lives, but also trying to make Nick look inferior for living somewhere else. When Tom talks about how he has read a book claiming that 'the white race will be - will be utterly submerged', we are shown that not only is Tom arrogant and self centred, but he is racist as well. Finally, Tom takes a phone call from his mistress in the middle of dinner, not only being rude by missing dinner, but not being even slightly subtle in the presence of Daisy.

A feature of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing that is shown clearly at the end of the chapter, is his use of vivid detail to create interesting images for the reader.  He often uses phrases such as 'pools of light' and 'loud, bright night' in his work, and oxymoronic language such as 'paternal contempt'. 

Much Ado About Nothing - Act Five

In the final act of Much Ado, Claudio spends a large amount of time mourning, not only for the death of Hero and the woman he thought she was, but for the shame and humiliation that he feels toward the situation.

Scene Two brings the story back to Benedick and Beatrice, and shows how they feel about what happened at the wedding. Beatrice is clearly very upset about the whole situation, claiming that both she and Hero are 'Very ill'. In Scene 3, Claudio goes to Hero's grave and sings to her, accompanied by Balthasar, after Hero's father asked him to. In return, her father will set him up with Hero's 'sister', who is actually Hero, but masked. 

They marry, and after the marriage we once again see Benedick and Beatrice's relationship develop. They confess their love for each other, and their story ends happily as well. However at the very end of the play, a slight loose end is given. A messenger brings word that Don John is bringing an army back to Messina, meaning that the drama is not yet over.

Much Ado About Nothing - Act Four

Act Four, Scene One is probably the most important scene in the play with regards to the plot, and it seems as though the entire play has lead up to this moment.  It shows the true nature of Claudio's character, through the fact that he decides to publicly humiliate Hero, rather than talk to her privately.  This also shows how he treats her like a possession.

This scene is also an indicator of Hero's personality, and it shows how she will not defend herself.  Throughout the scene when all the accusations are being thrown at her, she remains very quiet, as if she is hoping it will sort itself out if she does. When she finally does speak up for herself, saying:

'I talked with no man at that hour m'lord'

It is said so gently that the men probably wouldn't believe her anyway.  Maybe because she knows that if she sticks up for herself it will make no difference, that the damage has already been done to her reputation. 

KEY WORDS:

• Shames
• Humiliation
• Confrontation
• Dramatic
• Misconstrued
• Slander
• Deceit
• Power
• Jilted
• Tension
• Betrayal
• Love
• Guilt

All the above words also have a sense of dualism, and mean different things depending on who they are referring to. For example 'Humiliation', to Hero, this means that Claudio has publicly humiliated and upset her, however to Claudio it refers to his reputation being damaged, which to him would be very humiliating. 

Much Ado About Nothing - Act Three

The first part of Act Three sees Hero conspiring to trick Beatrice, in the same way that the men tricked Benedick in Act Two.  As this is a comical part of the play, a large amount of the dialogue is written in verse, for example:

'Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour.There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice'

In Scene Two, once again Don John enters and the mood changes. He and Don Pedro begin causing trouble in Claudio and Hero's relationship. This serious tone is a large contrast to Scene Three, which is full of comical aspects. Scene Three contains the watch (e.g. Dogberry, Verges etc.) who create a lot of confusion, and generally get things wrong.

Scene 4 brings the story back to Benedick and Beatrice, typical of a romantic comedy in both Shakespeare's day, and the modern day. In most rom coms, a main plot and a sub plot take place at the same time, and if the story drifts to the sub plot, it is quickly returned to the main plot.  

Finally, Scene 5 again reverts back to the humorous aspects of the plot.  Dogberry, who is easily confused, is meant to tell Leonato of the plot to break up Hero and Claudio's marriage, but gets confused and doesn't.  Once again, the story has not taken the road the audience expect it too, and a more comical route has been taken instead.

Much Ado About Nothing - Act Two

Act Two gives us more information, and a better insight into how the characters feel about the idea of love, for example Beatrice says:

'Just, if he send me no husband; for the which blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and evening. Lord, I could not endure a husband'

Showing how she clearly despises the idea of being married.  Act Two also contains a lot of confusion between the characters, mostly caused by Don John during the masquerade ball, for example he sends Don Pedro over to Hero, so that he'll pretend to be Claudio and trick her. Once again as soon as Don John is on the stage, the mood shifts to a more serious, less humorous tone, showing how he is clearly the stereotypical 'baddie' of the play.

In Scene Three, when Don Pedro, Balthasar, Leonato and Claudio trick Benedick into thinking Beatrice is in love with him, we once again get a sense of comedy.  This is mainly caused by the confusion created, and the fact that Benedick has fallen for it completely. Moreover, this creates foreshadowing for what is to come in their relationship.

Much Ado About Nothing - Act One

Within the first few lines of the play, we are given an idea of the story leading up to this point as if it is written 'In Media Res'.  We are told about how the men are returning from war, giving a happy, uplifted mood. At this point we are also given a strong indication of Benedick and Beatrice's ever growing conflicts through the things that Beatrice is saying behind his back.  For example, she implies that he isn't at all brave by saying 'But how many hath he killed? For I promised to eat all of his killing', she has promised to eat anyone he has killed, assuming that he won't kill anyone.

The first part of Act One also contains some other humorous elements, for example half way through scene one, when Benedick and Beatrice argue, some of the insults they they use are quite comical.  'You are a rare parrot teacher' (Benedick is accusing Beatrice of copying everything he is saying) is a good example of this.

However in Scene 3, the mood begins to turn sour due to the entrance of Don John. He and his companion (Conrad) begin to talk about the fact that Don John is a bastard child, and phrases like 'Therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage' give the impression that Don John is resigning to this fact.  Once Borachio has entered with news of Hero and Claudio's marriage, we see that Don John is planning to cause trouble before their wedding, and that he has enlisted Conrad and Borachio to help him.  This is a large difference to the cheerful, comical mood of earlier in the act.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by Robert Browning tells the classic story of The Pied Piper, but through verse.  With a clear rhyme scheme, the poem has a definite feel of a cautionary tale meant for the eyes of young children.  Another feature that gives this feel is the introduction, straight away the scene is set, almost in a 'Once upon a time...' kind of style:

'Hamelin Town's in Brunswick, 
By famous Hanover city;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side' 

Straight away a location and theme is given to the poem, with a clear feel of a children's story being given from rhymes such as 'trap!' and 'hap', 'sat' and 'fat'. 

Browning also uses lots of imagery throughout, mainly linked with music such as 'in fifty different sharps and flats.'. This not only links to the pied piper's pipe, but also plants the idea of a children's nursery rhyme, in keeping with the style of the poem.

Although this may not be recognized by younger readers of the poem, Browning uses a lot of metaphors, the main one being that the rats signify the government.  Throughout the poem, the government are shown to be greedy and lazy, so when this is said about the rats:

'And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,'

you begin to question whether the it was the rats at all, and not the government stealing things from the people.  This is reaffirmed later in the poem when the government refuse to give the Pied Piper his money, it just goes to show how greedy the government characters in this poem are.

One of the main things that struck me about this poem in particular though, is how different it is to the rest of Browning's poems.  A large majority of his poems are dramatic monologues (for example Porphyria's Lover, My Last Duchess) however this one is written as if talking to someone named 'Willy'.  Moreover, it is very child friendly and is written as a cautionary tale, which none of his other poems are due to the slightly morbid story-lines of them.  It definitely sticks out from his other works as a very original poem.

The Curtain Call.

Hazy walls box me in, I'm stuck,
trapped in this endless cycle.
Hurt, regret, loneliness swirl around my head
I'm sinking, drowning in them.
Sorrow is my only friend now,
I can trust her, she'll never change
how she is, how she feels.
She remains constant, unfaltering. 

The corridors are full of people
but I don't acknowledge them
I want to remain invisible, 
wandering in my own mind.
My destination is unknown to them
They don't care where I'm going
I'm glad. The feeling is mutual.
I don't need them anyway.

I climb the stairs, edging closer
to the conclusion I have yet to reach.
I walk through uncertainty, 
eventually I'll reach clarity.
I've arrived now, at my final curtain call.
This, right here is my stage, 
my feet hang over the edge,
and I fall to greet my audience... 

My Last Duchess

Just like the majority of Browning's other poems, 'My Last Duchess' is written as a dramatic monologue; it is from the point of view of a man who has paid someone to kill his 'Last Duchess' and after reading through the poem more, you begin to realize why. 

From the title 'My Last Duchess', you straight away get the impression that the man is quite possessive of his Duchess, and from lines such as: 

'That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive...'

we are told that the man treats her as a possession, to be shown off and not treated like a human being.  Later in the poem, a curtain (which covers the painting) is mentioned, which has been drawn for the first time in a long time.  This detail gives the idea that even in death, the man is trying to control who she sees, and who sees her.  The fact that he has paid someone to kill her is not surprising given the level of control he likes to keep over her.

However what is surprising is that he seems to be showing a slight amount of regret about it.  The fact that there is one continuous stanza seems as if it is a constant outpouring of emotion, that the man is looking at the painting, and can't hold back the emotions he feels towards her any longer.  Moreover, throughout the poem he accuses her of flirting, yet never gives any proof.  This may be because he regrets what he did, and is trying to persuade himself that he acted correctly.

Spoken Word

One of my favourite things about Literature is it's variety. It can come in so many forms, yet each one of them is powerful and beautiful in it's own right, particularly spoken word poetry.  I have two poets that I can't get enough of:

• Sarah Kay
• George Watsky

Now I don't have a huge amount to say about why I love them so much, only that they've both inspired me in very different ways, and reduced me to a crying wreck on more than one occasion.  Any style of Literature that can do that to a person must be pretty powerful!

So I leave you with these:

Sarah Kay - Ted Talks

George Watsky - Letter to My 16 Year Old Self

I performed Sarah Kay's poem 'B' at my secondary school's verse speaking competition, and although I didn't win, I still enjoyed it because I believed so much in the words I was saying.  I also had the pleasure of seeing Watsky perform this poem live in London earlier this summer, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only is he an amazing performer, but the way he involved the crowd in his performance was just phenomenal. He is truly inspiring.

Porphyria's Lover

One of the poems we will be studying this year for AS English Literature is Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning, which shows an interesting take on the storytelling and narrative. 

The main way in which the story is told in this poem is through the perception of power.  Initially it is insinuated that Porphyria has the power in the relationship from both the title (Porphyria's lover, as if he belongs to her) and from the way she presents her shoulder to him:

'Made her smooth white shoulder bare
And all her yellow hair displayed
And, stooping, made my cheek lie there.'

We are also given the impression that her lover (our own narrator) is not happy about this dynamic, from the lines:

'From pride, and vainer ties dissever
And give herself to me forever.

This may be due to the expectations of society during that time; that the man had the power over the woman in any relationship. This explains his course of action:

'In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around
And strangled her. No pain felt she;'

Earlier in the poem, it is mentioned that the man loves Porphyria so much that he wants to be with her eternally.  This may be one of the reasons why he takes the option of killing her, so that he can have the power in their relationship, without losing his love altogether.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

If a book can make me think past what is written on the page in front of me, then it immediately wins my heart; but I don't think that a book has ever made me contemplate life just as much as The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. In our English Lesson last week, we were asked to bring in a piece of interesting narrative, which straight away made me think of this:

'When the coughing stopped, there was nothing but the nothingness of life moving on with a shuffle, or a near silent twitch.  A suddenness found its way onto his lips then, which were a corroded brown colour and peeling, like old paint. In desperate need of redoing.

Their mother was asleep.

I entered the train.

My feet stepped through the cluttered aisle and my palm was over his mouth in an instant.

No one noticed.

The train galloped on.

Except the girl.'

Written from the point of view of Death, this book offers an interesting perspective into life during WW2 Germany, and the story of Liesel Meminger.  Due to it's unusual narrative viewpoint, the book offers a unique and sometimes confusing descriptive style, yet it seems to fit perfectly with the content and storyline.  It leaves such a lot of questions, too many to be pondered in a short blog post; however I'll leave you with this quote (another of my favourites, this time from the blurb of the novel):

'It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.'

When I Woke Up The Knife Was Still There

I'd never realised before that a sentence could make up a complete short story.  The genre 'short story' isn't very specific about how long/short the story has to be so I guess it makes sense, but this story made me see the genre in a whole new light:

'When I woke up the knife was still there.'

What I found most interesting, was that the full story and description is there, it's just not r imagination.  A story such as this encourages the reader to make the story their own, to create whatever they want it to be. It's personal. It's meaningful. To me, that's where you expect it to be. Instead of being on the paper, it's in yous what makes it so brilliant.  One other thing that struck me when I first read it, was how quickly myself and my classmates jumped to conclusions, and assumed things that were never actually given to us.  For example:

    All of us immediately saw the character 'I', as a male, who was not the victim himself.  After further thought we realized that the person could be a female, who has been victim to a stabbing and is drifting in and out of consciousness.

    Moreover, we straight away got a sense of danger and tension, however this was only insinuated from the story.  Nothing was ever said about what had taken place, where it was, or the time at which it had taken place, so how do we know for certain that the danger is there?

After roughly 30 minutes of discussion (I also find it amazing how so many ideas and thoughts were provoked in us from so few words) we then began to get onto the subject of metaphors.  What if 'the knife' was a metaphor for something/someone. What if 'the knife' was a nickname for a person? Again, we don't know, we can only guess.

Personally, the first thing that popped into my head was a dark, rainy night on a London street.  The victim, whatever gender they may be, has fallen victim to a stabbing due to gang violence.  No one else had the same idea as me, and that's what I find so amazing about it. Thousands of different ideas have come from these 9 words, yet each of them are so different from each other, and so unique in their own right. All of these assumptions and ideas are all plausible, yet only one of them is right. The 'right' answer is whatever you want it to be.