Derek Fries 10-18-11
ADNPWD Final Essay Mrs. Walter PD: 7
A Day No Pigs Would Die does a fantastic job capturing Robert Newton Peck’s extraordinary writing style. It uses great dialect and very incredible literary elements to convey a strong message of love and hard work being the basis of life. I believe that A Day No Pigs Would Die is one of the best novels out there in terms of the great symbolism while having an interesting story. In only 150 pages, the novel gives a lifetime of lessons that anyone, adult or child, can take from and use to better themselves. Using the many literary elements at his disposal, Robert Newton Peck turned a semi-autobiographical story into an award winning novel. A Day No Pigs Would Die uses symbolism, themes, and literary elements to communicate a very strong, passionate message about love and family.
First, the author of A Day No Pigs Would Die is Robert Newton Peck. He was born in Vermont and was raised as a Shaker, showing the semiautobiographical elements of the story he wrote. The novel has many elements that did actually happen, such as his birthplace in Vermont or his religion. But many things he made up for the sake of the narrative. This makes it only semiautobiographical and not fully autobiographical. He lives in Florida today. His father’s name is Haven Peck, which also carries over to the story. His father was a pig slaughterer, as in the story. Robert wrote the novel in 2-3 weeks, which was published in 1972.
The Essay on Similarities of short stories, poetry and drama
Short stories, poetry and drama are different types of literature but they share many of the same elements. Some of the many elements shared are figures of speech, conflict, foreshadowing. One of the same elements short stories, poetry and drama have is setting. “The setting of a work of fiction establishes its historical, geographic, and physical context.” (pg. 251.) Setting can also ...
The setting on the novel helps get the point of the Shaker Way across. The setting of a story is the environment; time period, location, or surrounding that a story takes place in. The Shaker’s live a very plain lifestyle, with “frills” being frowned upon. Frills include things that are merely for the pleasure of the individual. The setting of A Day No Pigs Would Die is a small farm in Learning, Vermont. The time period is in the mid 1900s, all though it does not tell you the specific period. “I’d kick him from one end of Vermont to the other, and sorry him good.”(Peck, 3) This quote shows the setting. Rob mentions Vermont as the state he is in, and by the way Rob talks you can see that this is not a modern story. The setting of this novel helps shape the way the characters react and develop. For example, the setting makes Rob mature very quickly to be a hardworking gentleman, because he has been working hard all of his life. Daily chores and a strict father forced Rob to mature quickly, which showed when his father died, and Rob was forced to be the man of the house and take over all duties that his father once had. As you can see, the environment in which Rob grew up greatly affected the path of his life. Setting is a very important tool to use as an author.
Another very important literary element that can be used to profile the path of the story is point of view. The point of view in A Day No Pigs Would Die is from the perspective of Rob. Rob was a very mirthful character and told the story through his interesting thoughts “I should have been in school that April day.”(Peck, 1) This quote, the first line of the book, represents the book’s first person point of view. If the perspective was from a different point of view, the tone and mood of the story may have been completely different. For example, if the view would have been from Haven Peck’s perspective the whole story would have totally changed. Not the story in terms of what happens, but the way the reader would see the setting would change. As well as the tone and mood, and almost all other literary elements would be effective. It is totally obvious that the point of view in a story is so significant because it affects all other parts of a novel.
Narrative Essays: To Tell a Story
There are four types of essays: Exposition – gives information about various topics to the reader. Description – describes in detail characteristics and traits. Argument – convinces the reader by demonstrating the truth or falsity of a topic. Narrative – tells a story, usually from one person’s viewpoint. A narrative essay uses all the story elements – a beginning and ...
In my opinion, the most important literary element is the tone, or mood. The tone or mood of a story completely forms the story and changes the way a narrative is read. For example, in A Day No Pigs Would Die, the beginning of the story is very light-hearted and easy going. But at certain parts and towards the end, the story takes a drastic turn in mood. “I held the heavy wet buffalo robe around me tight as I could. Papa held the gun in the crook of his arm, muzzle down. Hillman come up out of the hole, covered with mud, but holding the shovel high. His face was wet with raining. He was looking up the barrel holes of Papa’s gun.”(Peck, 73) This depressing scene in the novel depicted the changing tone of the narrative. This scene was the first of the gloomy scenes that were included in this novel, and this helps portray the dismal mood that can reach even small towns like Learning. Tone and mood defines and tells the whole story.
One thing that can totally define a novel is the theme and lessons that can be taken from it. In my eyes, the theme of A Day No Pig Would Die is the process of maturing includes learning from your mistakes and appreciating what you have. This is a very strong lesson that could be learned from this novel. Robert Newton Peck also uses symbolism to represent the theme. For example, Haven Peck’s death can symbolize a huge maturation for Rob as he ages. This will teach him about the hardships that life can bring. Also, things such as the Hawk killing the rabbit, which symbolizes the circle of life. The author uses symbolism heavily to represent many things, as well as reinforce the theme.
The conflict of the novel happens when Haven Peck is dies and Rob is forced to mature quicker than he had liked to so he can take care of the family. This is the main conflict of the story along with other smaller ones. The climax of A Day No Pigs Would Die is when Rob’s dad dies and Rob needs to set up the funeral and do all of his dad’s chores. This is when Rob realizes the importance of his father. Haven always said he was “rich,” even when they had little money. Rob realizes at this point that his father really was “rich,” in terms of family and love. The resolution happens when Rob finishes his maturation process at the end of the novel. He says, “I don’t know why I walked out toward the orchard. All the work there was done. But I guess I had to give a goodnight to Papa, and be alone with him… buried deep in the land he sweated so hard on and longed to own so much. And now it owned him. “(Peck, 149-150) This tribulation shows how rounded he has become. He had always had a hankering for frills such as baseball, but after he matured he understood his religion and the laws as his Papa did.
The Essay on The Story of an Hour-Theme and Narrative Elements
When considering short stories, it is very important to realize that the little things make a big difference in how a piece is perceived. Each piece must be in sync to really help convey the short story in the way that was meant. Different literary elements are integrated in different short stories. For Kate Chopin, her piece The Story of an Hour, symbolism and point of view play very strongly ...