Annie Dillard: Essays Literary Elements

Annie Dillard: Essays Literary Elements

Genre

Collection of philosophical essay

Setting and Context

The action described in “Disneyland” takes place during the duration of a few hours in Disneyland.

Narrator and Point of View

The action is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.

Tone and Mood

The tone and mood in “Footprints” is a neutral one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist in “An Expedition to the Pole” is the humble man and the antagonist is the vain person who is only interested in himself.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in “Footprints” is between the present and the past.

Climax

The essay “A Writer in the World” reaches its climax when the narrator reaches the conclusion that there is nothing that holds greater importance in this world than writing.

Foreshadowing

In the beginning of “Seeing” the narrator describes how she would make sacrifices just to see other people happy. This foreshadows the later things she will sacrifice in order to create the best literary pieces possible.

Understatement

N/A

Allusions

The main allusion in “Jokes” is the idea that the most important quality a person can have is a sense of humor.

Imagery

The most important imagery in “A Writer in the World” is that of the pen in the narrator's hands. This image is important because it represents the power the narrator has to influence people through her work.

Paradox

We have a paradoxical element in “Jokes” in which the narrator mentioned how her parents, even though they were not religious, used to go to church every week.

Parallelism

In “An Expedition to the Pole” the narrator draws a parallel between an extremely vain woman and the Catholic church. This parallel has a great importance here because it transmits the idea that the Catholic church does not respect the Biblical norms they were supposed to.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The church is used in “An Expedition to the Pole” as a general term to make reference to the idea of vanity.

Personification

We have a personification in “Footprints” in the sentence "the mark spoke to everyone".

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.