Red Badge of Courage

     Near the threshold he stopped, horror-stricken at the sight of a thing.

     He was being looked at by a dead man who was seated with his back against a column like tree. The corpse was dressed in a uniform that had once been blue, but was now faded to a melancholy shade of green. The eyes, staring at the youth, had changed to the dull hue to be seen on the side of a dead fish. The mouth was open. Its red had changed to an appalling yellow. Over the gray skin of the face ran little ants. One was trundling some sort of bundle along the upper lip.

     The youth gave a shriek as he confronted the thing. He was for moments turned to stone before it. He remained staring into the liquid-looking eyes. The dead man and the living man exchanged a long look.

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Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, ch. 7 page 101

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    (Applause) Stephen Crane did a fabulous job at describing this moment. He creates uncomfortable, disturbing feelings in his readers. His description does not go on for too long, and he has the talent of not making it boring. He has captivated and engaged his reader. His words are very easy to picture and flow very smoothly. Despite its disgusting topic, I like this passage. It is very realistic. It really gives the reader an idea of what Henry would be thinking at that moment. My favorite part is, 'The dead man and the living man exchanged a long look.' It makes it sound as though the dead man were partly alive, or at least able to come back to life. If I was in that situation, I would not want to take my eyes off of the dead man for fear he would move even though it was very apparent he was dead. It is nice to have the main character thinking the same thoughts as you are. Stephan Crane is a skilled writer, and I enjoy his work.

                                                                                                                                                  ~Alayna~

Keep up with the Style

     'Edith!' said Margaret, gently, 'Edith!' 

     But, as Margaret half suspected, Edith had fallen asleep. She lay curled up on the sofa in the back drawing-room in Harley Street, looking very lovely in her white muslin and blue ribbons. If Titania had ever been dressed in white muslin and blue ribbons, and had fallen asleep on a crimson damask sofa in a back drawing-room, Edith might have been taken for her. Margret was struck afresh by her cousin's beauty. They had grown up together from childhood, and all along Edith had been remarked upon by everyone, except Margaret, for her prettiness; but Margaret had never thought about it until the last few days, when the prospect of soon losing her companion seemed to give force to every sweet quality and charm which Edith possessed. They had been talking about wedding dresses, and wedding ceremonies; and Captain Lennox, and what he had told Edith about her future life at Corfu, where his regiment was stationed; and the difficulty of keeping a piano in good tune (a difficulty which Edith seemed to consider as one of the most formidable that could befall her in her married life), and what gowns she should want in visits to Scotland, which would immediately succeed her marriage; but the whispered tone had latterly become more drowsy; and Margaret after a pause of a few moments, found, as she fancied, that in spite of the buzz in the next room, Edith had rolled herself up into a soft ball of muslin and ribbon, and silken curls, and gone off into a peaceful little after-dinner nap.

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Elisabeth Gaskell's North and South, ch. 1 page 7

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     'Sarah!' called Cossette, kindly, 'Sarah!'

     Unfortunately, as Kolton has explained, Sarah had left home. She had crawled uncomfortably out through the window by the musty study near Cossette's room, hurrying very desperately in a frantic manner and torn dress. If Cossette had ever crawled near the study and the window, and had sneaked away on an important, special occasion in a torn dress, she might have been whipped to death. Cossette was angry with her crazy student's behavior. She had tried from dawn to dusk, and no advice had Sarah been taking into consideration, except once, to master self-control; but Sarah could not be trained in a week nor in a long, heavy month, when all efforts of Cossette teaching her pupil were pointless to make with such an unreasonable time limit and child which Frederick had assigned. Cossette had been teaching about dinner etiquette, and dinner preparing; and cleaning house, and what she had learned from her mom about her mother's professional ways with royalty, where her skills were formed; and the struggle of earning a tip among such people (a struggle that Cossette was to learn all too well with the heaviest burden that anyone could imagine in his entire life), and what labors she would accomplish at work in the mansion, which was largely furnished with furniture; and the delicate chairs had to be polished with care; and her mother after an hour of non-stop work, would learn, as was the common way, that in fact near the kitchen around the corner needed more dusting. Cossette had overcome herself near as many troubles with cleaning and teaching, and managing kids, and such with a firm, hard, tolerating hand.

                                                                                                                                                  ~Alayna