Monday, September 29, 2008

Reading Like a Writer #3: The Kiterunner

1. Notice a Passage: This passage comes from The Kiterunner. I just started reading it and already I'm hooked!

2. Passage: "It was an odd thing to see the stone-faced Ali happy, or sad, because only his slanted brown eyes glinted with a smile or welled with sorrow. People say that eyes are windows to the soul. Never was that more true than with Ali, who could only reveal himself through his eyes" (8).

3. Name: The author is using a cliche' to explain how this character, Ali, expresses his emotion.

4. Evaluate: Although I do like this description, I think that using a cliche' isn't always a very effective way to describe things. To really determine this effect works or not I will have to read further into the story to better understand Ali's character. But as of now, this cliche' doesn't work for me. It makes Ali's character seem somewhat trite, rather than the deep character that I believe the author intends him to be. I suppose I will see as I read. Maybe I'll change my mind.

5. Everyone raved about the girls hair. It was golden like honey and as soft as silk. Everywhere she went people couldn't stop stroking her head.

6. Using it: Well in this case, I want to avoid using cliche's when describing important, deep characters. I think that it makes the characters seem more superficial.

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