...Have you ever felt a personal connection to a character? An author counts on that when assigning traits to a given character. In A Sound of Thunder, Ray Bradbury, the author, makes Eckels, the main character, believable through the character's speech, his actions, and the reactions of others. Through Eckels' speech, we learn a lot about him. For example, when Travis is trying to explain the effects of killing a mouse, Eckels replies “So what if they're dead?”. This lead to Travis going more in depth with his explanation. This shows me that Eckels doesn't think about the facts in front of him, nor does he think of how his actions affect people. He didn't think about how killing a mouse in the past could have repercussions in the future. My...
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...short story, “A Sound of Thunder”, Ray Bradbury rise to the well-known theory, which was later coined by American meteorologist Edward N. Lorenz in 1961, known as the “Butterfly Effect” (Lorenz). Bradbury demonstrates the butterfly effect by illustrating to the reader how a single event or action in the present can have a significant impact on the future. Through his use of technology, in this case a time machine, to create a theme that centralizes around the butterfly effect. In addition through the protagonist’s, Eckels, persona Bradbury illustrates the butterfly effect. Bradbury creates Bradbury...
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...C h a p t e r 1 Prewriting GETTING STARTED (OR SOUP-CAN LABELS CAN BE FASCINATING) For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing. Jean Kerr, author of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, admits that she often finds herself in the kitchen reading soup-can labels—or anything—in order to prolong the moments before taking pen in hand. John C. Calhoun, vice president under Andrew Jackson, insisted he had to plow his fields before he could write, and Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and other novels, is said to have cried on occasion from the sheer dread of sitting down to compose his stories. To spare you as much hand-wringing as possible, this chapter presents some practical suggestions on how to begin writing your short essay. Although all writers must find the methods that work best for them, you may find some of the following ideas helpful. But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that 1. You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader,...
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