Literary devices in the glass castle. The Glass Castle: A Memoir Study Guide 2022-10-31

Literary devices in the glass castle Rating: 6,8/10 811 reviews

The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeanette Walls, is a poignant tale of a young girl's upbringing in a dysfunctional family. Throughout the book, Walls uses various literary devices to convey the emotions and experiences of her tumultuous childhood.

One literary device that Walls employs is imagery. She vividly describes the squalor of the homes in which her family lived, painting a vivid picture of the filth and chaos that characterized her home life. For example, she describes the "gray, flaking paint and broken windows" of the home in Welch, West Virginia, and the "foul-smelling" trailer in Phoenix, Arizona where they lived after leaving Welch. This imagery helps the reader to understand the poverty and neglect that Walls and her siblings experienced, and to feel the emotional impact of these circumstances.

Another literary device that Walls uses is symbolism. The "glass castle" of the title represents the dream that Walls's father had of building a beautiful home made of glass, a dream that he never realized due to his alcoholism and refusal to work. The glass castle symbolizes the family's instability and their inability to provide a stable and secure home for themselves. The contrast between the dream of the glass castle and the reality of the dilapidated homes in which the family lived serves to highlight the dysfunction and disappointment that characterized Walls's childhood.

Walls also uses metaphor throughout the book to describe her relationship with her family and her own emotions. For example, she compares her mother's erratic behavior to "a weather vane spinning in the wind," and describes her father as a "tumbleweed," always moving from place to place and never putting down roots. These metaphors help the reader to understand the instability and uncertainty that marked Walls's childhood, and to feel the emotional impact of these experiences.

Finally, Walls uses repetition as a literary device to emphasize the themes and emotions of the book. She repeats the phrase "I was the one who had to fix everything" throughout the book, highlighting the burden that she and her siblings often felt as they struggled to care for themselves and each other in the absence of responsible parenting. This repetition serves to underscore the resilience and resourcefulness of Walls and her siblings, as well as the emotional toll that their upbringing took on them.

In conclusion, Jeanette Walls uses various literary devices in The Glass Castle to convey the emotions and experiences of her tumultuous childhood. Through the use of imagery, symbolism, metaphor, and repetition, she brings the reader into her world and helps them to understand the challenges and triumphs of her upbringing.

Quotes in The Glass Castle with examples and analysis

literary devices in the glass castle

Choose a moment from the story as an example and elaborate on how it would be altered. It follows the life of the crazy Walls family through the eyes of Jeannette as a memoir. Jeannette and her siblings finally get their first real home when they move to New York by themselves. The first person point of view from Jeannette influences the events because you see how crazy things actually are. With the many events and characters in the book it can be easily seen why she would choose the title for this book. The Spectator 297 April 30, 2005 : 38-39.

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The Glass Castle Analysis

literary devices in the glass castle

Their lives have not changed, however. These three children of poverty, not averse to working hard, find jobs to support themselves. On one Christmas when the family was doing well they chose to celebrate Christmas on Christmas instead of celebrating a week later when everything is cheaper and on sale as they had done in the past. Walls 38 In this conversation between young Jeannette and her mother when the innocent Jeannette a proposed an idea to straighten a wind-twisted Joshua tree by planting it near their house so she could protect it from the wind and care for it like a mother. Select a moment in the novel to give one of the characters advice. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life.


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Free Essay: Glass Castle Literary Analysis

literary devices in the glass castle

Jeannette takes this idea to heart even though she may not realize it, for her not to succumb to the environment in which encapsulates her, such as Welch and life on the road, she must be able to handle these hard situations and be able to stay Responsibility In The Glass Castle 750 Words 3 Pages The Glass Castle: Jeannette Walls- Responsibility Haileigh Williams Upon reading The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls, the reader will quickly notice all of the responsibilities Jeannette; the author and narrator of the novel, takes on throughout her life. Maureen ends up moving to California to hopefully better her life. It also means that what father has taught the children resonates even in their unconscious mind. In one scene, Jeannette and the family go to a water hole to go swimming. Maureen is hardly mentioned in the book because she just was hardly there.

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The Glass Castle Characters with Examples and Analysis

literary devices in the glass castle

Throughout her writing, Jeannette implements the rhetorical device of a motif in order to demonstrate to her audience how the recurring themes affected her future. They would rather their children eat one meal a day for their own pride. While most in similar situations observe experiences like these through unforgiving eyes, Walls views her unfortunate experiences through the transparent walls of the "glass castle" and recalls how although not rich with money, she learns to overflow with not only strength, but the determination to succeed as well. There are many reasons for poverty wheather they be out of consequence or one is simply born into it there are many reason for its occurance. His family still lives there, and Rose Mary hopes their Walls relatives can help keep Rex in line. Kai Sebastian English 10H Mrs.

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The Glass Castle Study Guide

literary devices in the glass castle

He ends up drinking again after his wife convinces him to join her back on the streets being homeless again. Rex and Rosemary Walls, the parents of Jeannette, can be seen as irresponsible and careless people, although they raise Jeannette as an extremely resilient, independent and warm-hearted person in the future. Alcohol is usually the root to this. Though this success has led her to a state of happiness, she still feels deeply for her parents due to them still struggling and being homeless, and communicates her feelings through this memoir. Theme 4 Nonconformity Whether it is of an individual or of the whole family, nonconformity is not accepted in a society or a family.

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Literary Devices In Jeannette's The Glass Castle

literary devices in the glass castle

The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. He often lost jobs because of his alcoholic-like issues and in the bigger picture, that lead to no constant flow of income for the household. This meaning Jeannette talks about very negative experiences in a very upbeat way, even though she is truly angry and upset about the incidents. He gives up drinking while he is in the hospital but resumes once he leaves. This is explaining how her face was easy to read like a traffic light. Select a quote from the novel that exemplifies this moment.

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"The Glass Castle" and Literary Theories

literary devices in the glass castle

The children end up putting more work into it then their parents and move away to New York when it literally starts to fall apart on them. Your father and I are who we are. During the time Jeannette is hospitalized for her burns, she enjoys her stay within quiet, snug walls, experiencing regular meals for the first time and discovering such marvels as chewing gum. The Glass Castle Symbolism 1211 Words 5 Pages As a child, Jeannette Walls moves around constantly with her family. Kirkus Reviews 72, no.


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The Glass Castle: A Memoir Study Guide

literary devices in the glass castle

The Appalachian coal community cannot offer many jobs, and Rex soon becomes known as the town drunk. Although Walls's childhood gushes with heartbreaking tales of searching through dumpsters for food, she remains as unbitter as possible and instead views her youth in an almost comical light. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her mother, Rose Mary, while also dealing with the destructive nature of her father, Rex. Using references to the text, explain the conflict that exists between the central character and someone else in the book. Terming his daughters as mountain goats, he states that all they have to do is to stare at the monsters and they would run away.

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Ashley's Glass Castle Blog: Literary Devices

literary devices in the glass castle

When Jeannette moves away from her father into the city, her standards of living as well as other aspects improve, only because she worked for it. This books tittle is symbolic of the overall book in its whole, and takes up a large amount of the authors life in the process. This also connects to the idea of foreshadowing as this idea is followed throughout the story. Rex Walls can talk himself into jobs at nearby mines, digging the minerals or sometimes working as an electrician, but the jobs never last. The case of the Walls is almost the same. It is a book that would make you feel upset and angry.

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ENGLISH 9A THE GLASS CASTLE: Literary Devices

literary devices in the glass castle

Through school, she lands an internship at a small newspaper. He really drove home the values of objects and the priorities in which they came. Alcoholism In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls 874 Words 4 Pages According to Jeannette Walls, Rex was a very fun and loving father while she was growing up. This lead to the theme, sometimes you can be mature and responsible at a very young age. Their time in West Virginia turns into a dark period in the Walls family history. Cite textual evidence to support this.


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