Preview

Comparing Two Ways Of Seeing A River And In The Trenches

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1003 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing Two Ways Of Seeing A River And In The Trenches
In Mark Twain’s “Two Ways of Seeing a River” and Charles Yale Harrison’s “In the Trenches,” the authors use sensory imagery to enhance the reader’s visualization on the plot. In addition, both authors effectively demonstrate the use of imagery. In Twain’s “Two ways of seeing a River,” he uses sensory imagery to describe his change of view on his once great river; however, in Harrison’s “In the Trenches,” he effectively uses multiple types of sensory imagery to show the wartime life of the narrator. Both passages allow the reader to understand the point of the narrator from the effective use of sensory imagery. Twain uses visual imagery to illustrate a vivid image in the reader’s mind; however, Harrison uses multiple senses of imagery to effectively show the life of man in war.

The narrator, Mark Twain, in the passage “Two ways of seeing a river” effectively uses sensory imagery to describe his viewpoint on the river. The narrator begins the brief story by describing his knowledge about the river as he has “Mastered the language of [the water]” by the way he compares it to his familiarity with “The letters of the alphabet.” Twain creates an image in the reader’s mind, which permits the reader to perceive the connection of the narrator to the river. Furthermore, Twain notes the glories and the charms which the “Moon
…show more content…
Both authors effectively use sensory imagery to create a visual in the reader’s mind, as Harrison utilizes multiple senses to convey his meaning to the reader while Twain utilizes visual imagery exceptionally well to create a picture of the river in the reader’s mind. Twain’s purpose of the use of imagery is to illustrate the message that beauty does not last forever. However, Harrison’s purpose of the use of imagery is to put the reader in the perspective of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Stephen Crane uses pervasive imagery throughout the book. He describes scenes with such detail that at times it seems you can become lost in the description. For example, “Presently he began to feel the effects of the war atmosphere-a blistering sweat, a sensation that his eyeballs were about to crack like hot stones” (39). The author also tends to name soldiers by their appearance rather than their name. He shows this in names such as “the tattered man”, or “the spectral soldier”.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In John Misto’s play ‘The Shoe-Horn Sonata’ (1996) and the poem ‘The Send-Off’ written by Wilfred Owen distinctively visual techniques are used to explore past experiences of war and individuals and society’s perceptions. These concepts are conveyed and explored through the use of distinctively visual techniques such as visual and aural imagery, stage directions and dialoged.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. Identify at least two pieces of imagery or sensory details the author uses to describe the men he knew as a boy.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Composers in everyday situations use distinctively visuals through the use of elaborate techniques and complex word choice. These visuals are vivid and very clear; so it helps the responder visualise the text and therefore relate to the texts and also deepen their understanding of the short stories. Two short stories composed by ‘Henry Lawson’ that use techniques and word choice to portray distinctively visuals are ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘In A Dry Season’, these two texts are strongly opposite to the visual ‘The English Countryside’ by an unknown composer. Both ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘In A Dry Season’ use distinctive visuals to deepen the responders understanding of place; the situation of the story, where the stories are set. People; the characters of the story and how they evolve throughout. Ideas; the message that the composer is trying to get across to his intended audience. ‘Henry Lawson’ creates images of isolation, stoicism and the struggles for survival in the harsh rural Australian outback in his two well known short stories ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘In A Dry Season’. In contrast, the visual, ‘The English Countryside’ creates images of tranquillity, serenity and freedom through the composer’s use of colours, brush strokes and positioning.…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the passage continues his view of it changes. His perspective of nature becomes a more informed one and he realizes that the beauty of nature does not help him in any way but it actually distracts him. The passage says, “All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat.” He states how he began to cease noting the river’s glory and beauty altogether because it is useless when piloting a steamboat.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Writers use imagery to protest war by describing certain events that happened using sensory details that help the reader visualize what happened. For example in document A the author of “War is Kind” uses imagery many times to show how he protests the war. He writes “ booming drums of the regiment”, “swift blazing flag” and “ eagle with crest red and gold” which are all examples of sensory details describing war and how it's a beautiful thing that happens.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twain’s use of long, descriptive sentences and sensory imagery reflect the natural beauty of human morality and nature. First, Twain characterizes the river as the inner beauty and morality of man. As Huck floats along the peaceful…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In writing, much like in painting, the act in itself is, in simplest terms, the transfer of image/thought from the writer/painter to its reader, its spectator, us. And in writing just like in painting, the image is conveyed by showing us the components, bringing the mood into the room we are sitting in, taking us there to same mind setting that the writer/painter is in. In painting the image/symbol is deciphered in actuality, on a physical creation, but in writing we are painted an image not on canvas but in our minds. Just like some art works create a heavy impression to the eye, a novel like Frederick Douglas’s “Narrative of The Life of An America slave” creates such an impression in the mind. The masterful use of imagery and symbolism employed by Frederick Douglas in this novel achieves the type of emotion the greatest works by any artist at his peak would evoke on those who witness its beauty. Both techniques are combined in Frederick Douglass’s “Narrative of an American Slave” to such a brilliant level, that audiences in years since its initial publishing have revered it as one of the most moving tales that births compassion and humanity in its reader and exemplifies what one man can do.…

    • 1636 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crossing the swamp

    • 600 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Oliver’s use of imagery enhances the sense of struggle and developing accomplishment between the speaker and the swamp. The bits and pieces of the description serve as the parts of life, as if alongside crossing your own swamp. At the same time, it speaks closely of hardships and worries in journeying across the swamp. It also represents life and the world. Oliver uses the swamp as a symbol for a hardship in a time of life. Every detail, every description of the swamp, and every "earth"(Oliver. 28) adjective is used to demonstrate this symbol through imagery. Struggling further through the swamp, hope begins to shine with pleasant pictures of “fat grassy mires” (Oliver .25-26) and thoughts that life is “not wet so much” (Oliver .23) having plus sides in the end.…

    • 600 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Olaudah Equiano’s narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the reader is illustrated a slaves life during a six to seven month journey, proving the point that slavery is a horrific experience and a bad impact on how society is viewed. The diction Equiano uses specifies the pain that the slaves endured. Equiano also used sensory details to relate to the smells on the ship or relating to the feelings of the chains used on him, the heat of the climate and how crowded the ship was. All of these create visual senses fall under the imagery literary device.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rising Tide

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The last rhetorical device in the passage is the use of vivid imagery. The author uses this powerful device in the passage to amplify and captivate the reader. An example of this is “Humphreys observed an eddy, running upstream at seven miles an hour and extending half across the river, whirling and foaming...” (47-49). This example helps the reader emphasize the rivers complexity and…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    He himself even said, “Write what you know.”(Twain, How the Mississippi) He translated different experiences he had during his riverboating time into his writings, especially the works: Life on the Mississippi and Huckleberry Finn. His writing paints descriptive images of the life and design of the Mississippi River. He draws from memory to create beautiful scenery and detailed characters. Just by reading his writing, you can be transported to the river. It’s like you’re there on the Mississippi yourself! His writings take you on a journey through the same passages he’s traveled…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mark Twain's works exposed the Mississippi River area culturally and greatly contributed to the way outside people think of the area. Location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region are all demonstrated in a way that provides the reader with a clear picture of the area even if they have never been there…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Humans have always relied on their senses for description and imagery, that is why authors F. Scott Fitzgerald of The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemmingway of The Old Man and the Sea rely on the imagistic writing style in their books. The authors of both these books bring readers into their stories and connect the emotions in the book with the senses. The senses that have the strongest imagery and connections are touch, sight, and sound. These are the strongest for the descriptions of each of the settings, and are used fantastically in each of the respective books.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Introduction: In Mark Twain’s essay “Two Views of the River,” the implied thesis is losing innocence and gaining experience. This idea is effectively communicated to his audience through appropriate organization of ideas, opposing tone, and stylistic devices. Twain’s essay uses the block structure for contrast, differing styles, and opposing tones.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays