individuals and societies in writing

Individuals and Societies in writing
Poems, short stories, and books of all kinds have a very important role that they must do, and that is to make the reader feel as if they can relate to everything that is going on inside the reading. Covering the basics like having people, places, or things are a given, but they must go a little deeper than that. What era is it in? Are their particular cultures involved, or maybe a mixture of ethnicity? How do the characters get along? What kind of education do the personalities have or maybe the lack thereof? Is it a story or poem about family, or war, someone dying or kids learning new things? Is it country living, or city survival? The list is endless, but one thing is for sure good literature clarifies what the societies in the stories are like, and how people and communities have an effect on each other.
When a writer wants you to get a feel of what it is like to live in certain circumstances, one way he may get you to comprehend is to use the verbal communication that the characters’ would use in their live’s. The short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cape Bambara uses lingo quite well to deliver the full understanding of the race, and education of the the character “Sylvia” that narrates the story. Sylvia uses Slang, lingo and improper language such as “puredee hot” “cause” “kick the shit outta me” “we oughta get to” and “un hun” throughout the story. The story ends with Sylvia stating that “aint nobody gonna beat me at nuttin” (Diyanni, R., 2007, p. 428-432).
Being able to describe people, places, and things, down to a tee in a story is crucial for a writer to do. Proper portraying can get across whatever it is the author wants you to see in your mind as you read the story. A good example of this is also in the story “The Lesson” when Sylvia describes Miss Moore as “with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup” and “the only woman on the block with no first name” and “black as hell, ‘cept for her feet which were fish-white and spooky” (Diyanni, R.,p.428)
Sometimes a very good story can be written with just the simplest of tools. “The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin (1894) is a short story with just five characters, takes place in an hour, in a single site, and has just one story line with no subplots. From the very open of the story the author makes sure that that you have no doubt that Mrs. Mallard has a heart condition, so when the ending comes and she dies the heart condition makes the ending more convincing (Diyanni,R., P.38).
The way that Individuals and societies affect each other is a key to what makes “the story of an hour” an interesting read. When writing, a theme is needed, and in the case of “The story of an hour” that would be repression of women of the 19th century. For someone to read the story and not understand the timeline of its theme you may not get the understanding of what is going on in Mrs. Mallards life, but when one takes into account that the story was written in 1894 a little history knowledge will get you a better insight on what this theme is about and the effect it had on Mrs. Mallard. Chopin makes the reader feel that Mrs. Mallard’s husband dominated her, and expressed it by writing that she “had loved him sometimes. Often she did not”. After the death of Mr. Mallard sinks in and the thought of living a happy life alone is in the future. She is so overjoyed, but when she finds out in the last paragraph that he actually did not die, she dies instead of “heart disease of… the joy that kills” (Diyanni,R., p.38)
All good writers know how to write so that we as readers can get interested in what it is that they are writing about. Covering all the little details and pointing out the facts so they make you feel as if you were part of the story is essential to keeping you wanting to read more. To be able to get a visualization of the words they put down is probably the most important part of writing. By them doing this we as readers get understandings of people and the societies they live in, ands the affect that these societies have on people.