English Literature Homework
Analyse the author's technique on how to draw the reader's attention based on the first page of a book of your choice.
This fictional novel starts off with a one-page prologue, which establishes a sense of curiosity before the readers find out the story, the characters or anything to do with the book's narrative. An opening can decide a lot about whether or not the reader is going to find the book worth reading and in my opinion, Dan Brown succeeded in drawing me in simply through the prologue of his book 'Angels and Demons'.
He uses various techniques. First of all, the prologue contains a single event, the incident that triggers the whole adventure that makes this book. This incident is of a murder, a rather gruesome start but will most immediately be of interest as the book is a thriller. It certainly gives a sense of mystery, making you want to read on just like I did.
Brown describes the murder but also describes the victim's thoughts, giving the readers an insight to why the murder is taking place without giving the story away. 'His only solace was in knowing that his attacker would never obtain what he had come for' - This quote raises questions. What did the attacker come for? The readers would want to read on, and find out the answer to this.
Dan Brown also uses effective adjectives and verbs like 'looming', 'burning' and many more, adding to the thrill of the murder. He uses different senses to describe the scene, putting the readers in the victim's position and submerging us into the story, making it seem more real. He uses phrases such as 'the darkness was closing in', 'he stared up in terror' and 'smelled burning flesh'.
He also varies his sentences. He uses long sentences when there is progression and action and meanwhile uses short sentences when he wants the readers to take it all in slowly and feel the tension, thrill and excitement mounting with every word. For example - 'The blade hovered. Carefully. Surgically.'
Overall, the opening doesn't disappoint when you want to be immediately drawn in. From just one page, the readers can tell that the book is going to be an interesting read. Dan Brown's techniques succeeded in establishing a sense of what the narrative is going to be like but also giving the readers enough to be curious about to want to read on.
Analyse the author's technique on how to draw the reader's attention based on the first page of a book of your choice.
This fictional novel starts off with a one-page prologue, which establishes a sense of curiosity before the readers find out the story, the characters or anything to do with the book's narrative. An opening can decide a lot about whether or not the reader is going to find the book worth reading and in my opinion, Dan Brown succeeded in drawing me in simply through the prologue of his book 'Angels and Demons'.He uses various techniques. First of all, the prologue contains a single event, the incident that triggers the whole adventure that makes this book. This incident is of a murder, a rather gruesome start but will most immediately be of interest as the book is a thriller. It certainly gives a sense of mystery, making you want to read on just like I did.
Brown describes the murder but also describes the victim's thoughts, giving the readers an insight to why the murder is taking place without giving the story away. 'His only solace was in knowing that his attacker would never obtain what he had come for' - This quote raises questions. What did the attacker come for? The readers would want to read on, and find out the answer to this.
Dan Brown also uses effective adjectives and verbs like 'looming', 'burning' and many more, adding to the thrill of the murder. He uses different senses to describe the scene, putting the readers in the victim's position and submerging us into the story, making it seem more real. He uses phrases such as 'the darkness was closing in', 'he stared up in terror' and 'smelled burning flesh'.
He also varies his sentences. He uses long sentences when there is progression and action and meanwhile uses short sentences when he wants the readers to take it all in slowly and feel the tension, thrill and excitement mounting with every word. For example - 'The blade hovered. Carefully. Surgically.'
Overall, the opening doesn't disappoint when you want to be immediately drawn in. From just one page, the readers can tell that the book is going to be an interesting read. Dan Brown's techniques succeeded in establishing a sense of what the narrative is going to be like but also giving the readers enough to be curious about to want to read on.
2 comments:
This is a good analysis. How different is it when you read a poem? How do you decide to read on after the first stanza?
I think it is different because it is shorter than novels, which means that the poet does not waste it on meaningless words. Every word counts to the whole meaning. The reader decides to read on when the first stanza flows and when it is packed with emotion or meaning. Similar to novels, it has to get the reader curious enough to want to read on but it should also hint to what the rest of the poem is going to be like.
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