Monday, September 21, 2009

"Little Things" Raymond Carver Close Reading

Close Reading of “Little Things” By: Raymond Carver

This was a very short but interesting story to read in my opinion. It had a definite point to get across and I think it did that well. The point was that divorce or separation among parents can bring harm to those who are close to both parties in this case the baby. Because both parents were selfish and greedy about the custody of the baby, they fought and struggled for him. Ending up with both having a piece of the baby, he was split in half because of the fighting.

From the beginning of this story I had an eerie feel coming inside because of the way that the author describes the dirty snow melting and how ugly everything looked. This set up a mood within me that was repelling and an overall feeling of not wanted to read on. I was thinking if the road is that disgusting what is the story going to be like. As the story went on I got what the point was and what the author was trying to get across.

What got that point across for me was when the author stops the action to describe the lighting. That was very important for me anyway. It was a major foreshadowing and set up mood of dark and dreary at that point. Setting mood in this story helps the reader feel and relate to it. Most authors do not do a good enough job describing the feel or the overall mood but this one I did.

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