Journal 1: The Sound and the Fury

A lane turned from the road. I entered it and after a while I slowed to a fast walk. The
lane went between back premises - unpainted houses with more of those gay and startling
colored garments on lines, a barn broken-backed, decaying quietly among rank orchard trees,
unpruned and weed-choked, pink and white and murmurous with sunlight and with bees. I
looked back. The entrance to the lane was empty. I slowed still more, my shadow pacing me,
dragging its head through the weeds that hid the fence.

Faulkner uses length of sentences to show the importance the scene has on the character.
He starts off with describing a simple setting: A lane turned from the road which shows this
particular description is not importantshort sentences generally do not keep a readers
attention, and so he wants the reader to overlook it. The next sentence is a little longer, catching
more of the readers attention and starting a build-up within the passageunlike the shorter
sentence before which is very choppy, to the point. Then comes the third sentence; which, if read
aloud, would leave the reader breathless. This sentence is fast paced, a sensory overload of the
characters surroundings. Though this sentence is long, it takes almost great detail in pausing on
each aspect that it is describing, so that reader can understand the importance this place has on
the character. Right after that, though, Faulkner goes back to using short sentences, which helps
freeze the previous, fast-paced flow. Suddenly, the sensations are cut off. The reader is left
feeling lost. This feeling of loss is further pressed with the final sentencethe structure showing
it is supposed to be the most important part of the entire passage. The use of a short sentence,
connected with a medium sized sentence creates a flowing pattern in the read, allowing the
reader to feel how this character is so utterly alone that even their shadow is reluctant to follow.

Found Paper One

In this excerpt from The Sound and the Fury, the author, William Faulkner, makes use of
deliberate changes in sentence length. Pacing is key throughout, as the rate at which the reader is
able to both read and comprehend the text is directly affected by each sentence's length and
punctuation.

this character is so utterly alone that even their shadow is reluctant to follow
Journal 2: The Awakening
"She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again.
Edna heard her fathers voice and her sister Margarets. She heard the barking of an old dog that
was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across
the porch. There was the hum of the bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air."

In this excerpt from Kate Chopins The Awakening, Chopin uses imagery to create a
disconnect between reality and the character. The first line places the character into a distant
mindset, since normally when one looked into the distance they are disconnecting with their
surroundings, added on top of that there is also the line the old terror flamed up showing that
whatever was happening in this scene was something the character was running from. Chopin
then uses auditory imagery of Edna hearing her fathers voice and her sister Margaret's then
moving onto the barking of an old dog and the spurs of the cavalry officer and the noise they
made as he walked across their porch. Both of these sentences have a muffled way about them,
since the reader knows that Edna is still looking off into the distanceshes not actually
concentrating on the commotions going on around her, just the noise of it all penetrates. The last
sentence is the strangest part, since Chopin chooses to switch from auditory to olfactory. This
sentence doesnt just contrast the rest of the excerpt because of the different uses of imagery, but
also because they are less muffled. Edna seems to take in the hum of the bees more than she
does with anything else, and the musky odor of pinks is so potent that she cant run away from
it. This last sentence suggests that whatever was happening within her home was something
terriblethat she was running away from it, disconnecting from itbut that the freedom of the
nature around her is beginning to ground her once more.

Journal 3: The Bluest Eyes

If my mother was in a singing mood, it wasnt so bad. She would sing about hard times,
bad times, and somebody-done-gone-and-left-me times. But her voice was so sweet and her
singing-eyes so melty I found myself longing for those hard times, yearning to be grown without
a thin di-I-ime to my name. I looked forward to the delicious time when my man would
leave me, when I would hate to see that evening sun go down cause then I would know my
man has left this town. Misery colored by the greens and blues in my mothers voice took all of
the grief out of the words and left me with a conviction that pain was not only endurable, it was
sweet.

In this passage from The Blues Eyes, Toni Morrison adds quotes throughout to add the
sense of longing in the character. The first two lines describe how the characters mother used to
sing about the hard times so instantly Morrison links bad times, singing, and their mother
together. The passage then goes on to describe how the character connect any time something
goes wrong in her life like how shed hate to see that evening sun go down because my
man has left town or her excitement of not having a thin di-I-ime to my name with when
her mother would sing songs about those topics. This connection allows the character to see how
pain was not only endurable, it was sweet. Embedding quotes of the mothers actual songs also
shows the characters longing of that connection with their mother once more, and so there is an
even deeper beauty in hard times since they find solace in the songs of their childhood.

Journal 4: Richard Wibler, "Piazza Di Spagna, Early Morning"

I can't forget
How she stood at the top of that long marble stair
Amazed, and then with a sleep pirouette
Went dancing slowly down to the fountain-quieted square;

Nothing upon her face

But some impersonal loneliness, - not then a girl,
But as it were a reverie of the place,
A called-for falling glide and whirl;

As when a leaf, petal, or thin chip

Is drawn to the falls of a pool and, circling a moment above it,
Rides on over the lip -
Perfectly beautiful, perfectly ignorant of it.

In the poem Piazza Di Spagna, Early Morning the woman the speaker is describing is more of
a mysterious idea rather than an actual person. Most of the words used to describe her
movements are flowy such as: pirouette, dancing, glide, and whirlall of these words replace
the word walk, and so an image is created in the readers head of a person who seems to float
through the world.