Essay about Great Expectations, Life of Pi and the Great...

English Literature Summer Task The Great Gatsby, Life of Pi and Great Expectations: The Opening Chapters The opening chapters of each of these three books are both similar and different in many ways, and succeed to keep the reader interested enough to carry on their journey with Pip, Nick or Pi. The way characterisation is put forward in these three novels is rather similar, in the fact that all three are written in the first person, giving the impression that the character in question is telling their story directly to you, the reader. Similarly, all three characters open with a description of themselves and their lives; Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby stating facts of his childhood and education before going on to talk about his†¦show more content†¦All of these analyses differ greatly in detail and style. Across the three novels, a variation of language techniques is used to establish the correct mood within the first chapter. The Great Gatsby is slow going to begin with, and the reader wonders where the chapter will lead. Gatsby’s name is mentioned several times within the first few pages, but nothing more is said of him until his name comes up in conversation with that of Miss Baker. This then sets a curious and intrigued mood, and makes the reader wonder who and what Gatsby has to do with Nick, and how the story will develop. There are many sub-plots, such as Tom’s â€Å"woman in London†, that also create curiosity from the reader. At the very end of the chapter, the appearance and then sudden disappearance of Gatsby ends the chapter on a cliff-hanger, and therefore creates suspense and suspicion. Within Life of Pi, rhetorical questions are used to involve the reader and make them wonder what is coming next. I believe the mood within this first chapter is most awkward and strange, and feels almost as though the reader is intruding on a very personal story, or thought process. The epigraph immediately creates a depressed and down-tone mood to the story; however it does increase the desire to know what DID happen to Pi toShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Lolita s Tehran, And Fidelity1987 Words   |  8 Pages When entering this unit of postmodernism, my only thoughts were of a reluctant nature. I pessimistically expected only disagreement and frustration from reading the works of Life of Pi, Reading Lolita in Tehran, and Fidelity. However, my initial expectations were completely and thankfully wrecked. Though the philosophies of both Martel and Nafisi contradict my own, there are endless gems of insight to be plundered from their writings. These postmodern works emphasize where we as humans find our