The Wild Souls
The story “wild souls” is effectively narrated, especially considering the extent to which it employs a number of literary tools. Notably, the story uses both present and past tense. The present tense acts to take the reader to the setting of the story. In point of fact, one of the most notable strengths of the story is the manner in which dialogue is employed. The dialogue is realistically structured, giving the story a touch of reality. The second positive is the setting. Considering that the characterization revolves around wolves, the forest setting is the most appropriate. The references made to such features as “rock that jutted out of a hill” creates the perfect setting for the wolf story.
Personification is yet another tool effectively used. By giving the wolves humanly features such as speech, the author successfully makes the reader effectively perceive the feelings of the characters. Speaking of the negatives, the author’s mixture of tenses breaks the flow of the story. If I had to add a thing or two, I would stick to one tense, probably the present. Secondly, I would opt to be more realistic. For instance, I would not include a scene where the wolf speaks with the man. Ultimately, the story is effective in its use of literary tools.
The Golden Apple
Another positive aspect is that the author employs exaggeration to make the story interesting. For instance, where he says, “the air could not only be seen but also tasted”. Such exaggeration adds a touch of flavor to the story. Thirdly, the author successfully employs the use of repetition to emphasize a point. For instance, the question asked by Wayatto, “can you see anything?’” is repeated to emphasize the fact that Yoannes was absent minded. Dialogue is effectively and realistically used, and it makes the story more real, and attracts the attention of the reader.
Overall, the use of literary skills and tools outweighs the few weaknesses. The extent to which contrast is used, adds an aspect of suspense to the story. For instance, Yoannes, who is brought out as a weakling at the beginning of the story, turns out to be a heroic fighter who saves the life of Wayatto, a man he so much depended on, and fights the fiercest Aragon fighter, Antagon. Perhaps the only negative feature of the story is the fact that it has a flat ending. If I were to add or change a thing, I would give the story a high paced, suspense laden ending. Ultimately, the story is narrated remarkably well.
