Water for elephants thesis statements and essay topics. Free download water for elephants by sara gruen epub file on your apple android kindle device. His lie telling the old ladies that he used to carry water for the elephants is what triggers jacobs memory about working with the circus. Since the book is relatively new, only time will tell how its going to settle in the literary canon and whether it will remain as popular as it is today. Joshilyn jackson, author of gods in alabama so much more than a tale about a circus, water for elephants is a compelling journey not only.
The novel also takes place during the 1930s, so the circus provides life and entertainment for those coming from near and far. Water for elephants is the new york times bestselling debut novel by sara gruen. Water for elephants by sara gruen at the best online ebook storage. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa. Dec 11, 2011 water for elephants book discussion questions water for elephants moves between a story about a circus and a story about an old man in a nursing home. Trust us, water for elephants is going to be one of the surprise hits of 2011. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of water for elephants by sara gruen. When jacob jankowski is tossed by fate onto a rickety depressionera circus train, he enters a world that is both his salvation and a living hell. Jacob, the books narrator and protagonist, worked as a vet and trainer of sorts at a circus. Sep 07, 2016 i bought this book because of push advertising and regretted it. The reason jacob is denying that joseph had carried water for any elephants is because it is nearly an impossible task with the amount of water that elephants can drink. Sara gruen has said that the backbone of her novel parallels the biblical story of jacob, in the book of genesis.
Sep 18, 2011 what are some literary devices in the novel water for elephants. Water for elephants literary elements these notes were contributed by members of the gradesaver community. The title, water for elephants, is almost a little inside joke with the reader once weve finished the book, that is. I hate being so enamored with a book and then a crappy movie version comes along and tarnishes it. This famous simile, spoken by tom hanks titular character in forrest gump, is just one example of the many literary devices available to screenwriters, novelists and poets. References to time period characteristics setting summary who is she. Important literary devices independent loves animals not afraid to stand up for herself very kind to everyone graceful, perfect in jacobs eyes a little impulsive very greedy really hates ringling brothers. Water for elephants is one of my most favorite books. A water for elephants discussion from reading group guides writers digest interview with sara gruen.
Sara gruen has a voice to rival john irvings, and i am hopelessly, unabashedly in love with this book. Stories similar to water for elephants books, stories, and novels like water for elephants by sara gruen. The distinguished setting of the novel is a circus. While reading water for elephants i found the plot hyperbolic and excessively melodramatic and the characters little developed beyond their names. A thousand splendid suns, memory keepers daughter, etc. Dive deep into sara gruens water for elephants with extended analysis. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Jacob also denies this because of his knowledge about elephants, especially after working with rosie, an elephant he had helped to train by speaking polish. This goes hand in hand with the expression live every minute to the fullest. Water for elephants, which has sold more than 4 million copies to date, was a surprise hit by a littleknown author when it was first published in 2006. Jacob laughs and says, im not running away, im coming home. Classroom ideas posted april 12, 2011 by sara novel novice 5 comments there is so much to love about sara gruens water for elephants, from the lush and magical setting of a 1930s circus, to the sweeping forbidden romance, to the heartbreaking recollections of narrator jacob jankowski. Winner of the 2007 bookbrowse award for most popular book. I persist, dunking them for longer and longer periods.
The stories are both very similar to the fact of the storylines being similar. Then gruen shifts readers attention away from the eerie circus to introduce the ninety or ninetythree year old protagonist, jacob jankowski. As excitement for the movie builds, sales of the book are skyrocketing once again, with more than 800,000 copies shipped by publisher algonquin within the last month. How do the chapters about the older jacob enrich the story about jacobs adventure with the circus.
Water for elephants is the story of jacobs life with this circus. Water for elephants is fun, sweet and thrilling and will pull you into the mysterious life of the circus so far that you wont want to leave. Even our main antagonist, august has been struck by love. Water for elephants by sara gruen ebook epubpdfprcmobiazw3 free download water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. One important literary device in the novel is the use of flashbacks, as the story is told through the standpoint of jacob as an old. His stay here is cut short by the death of his parents.
Beautifully written, water for elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Posted by mom with a book february 22, 2017 february 22, 2017 posted in books tags. For example jacob describes an event by saying, when i first submerge my feet in the frigid water, they hurt so badly i yank them out again. Sara gruens very readable novel is a story of impossible love set in the circus world during the 1930s and is set to be made into a blockbuster film starring robert pattinson and reese witherspoon. It has 335 pages, and is classified as historical romance and fiction. Water for elephants is the touching story of jacob jankowski, a ninetythreeyearold man, who is reminded of his colorful past when a circus sets up next door to his assistedliving center. The short story hills like white elephants, by ernest hemingway, is about a young couple and the polemic issue of abortion. Only days before graduating from vet school in 1931, young jake learns his parents have died and left him penniless. In water for elephants, the story is told through jacob jankowski at two different.
Love is shown though the way jacob treats and loves marlena. What are some literary devices in the novel water for elephants. Water for elephants by sara gruen ebook epubpdfprcmobi. Water for elephants resembles stealth hits like the giants house, by elizabeth mccracken, or the lovely bones, by alice sebold, books that combine. Ppt water for elephants powerpoint presentation free. Lovethe first theme shown in the book, water for elephants is love. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Download and read online for free water for elephants by sara gruen. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Water for elephants movie tiein by sara gruen, paperback. Answered questions 22 seen this book around at sales a lotfinally picked it up. The story is told as a series of memories by jacob jankowski, a 93yearold man who lives in a nursing home. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.
August can be very friendly and sweet on the surface, but deep down he is a cruel and cold man. Water based on the novel, water can symbolize the purification and a clean start. More common examples include devices like contrast, repetitions, paradox, understatement, sarcasm, and rhetorical question ex. Start studying rhetorical devices ap language and composition. Jacob is the main conflict in the book, water for elephants. To ask other readers questions about water for elephants, please sign up. Why would an author use rhetorical devices such as. We gave this book four and a half elephants because although the book is outstanding in many. After all, thisis definitely a book for adults that engages with very adult themes, language, and subject matter. There was a strong relationship of trust and love that emerged from the three, and which was viewed as their single and only hope for survival. Discussion of themes and motifs in sara gruens water for elephants. Jacob is beat up and threatened to be kicked off the train because he loves marlena, but he never gives up.
Jacob jankowski, a veterinary student at cornell, discovers that his parents have been killed in a car accident. Hills like white elephants literary analysis machetemag. This really helps me but i wish you would tell me what part of the book the figurative language were taken from. The focal point, or most important part of the setting is the circus tent, where all of the performances take place. The fourth theme shown in the book, water for elephants is suffering. Gruen transports us into the world of a thirdrate traveling circus during the great depression. First, young jacob is found on the campus of cornell university in ithaca, new york. Oliver then runs away and joins a group of misfits. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. In the movie water for elephants, the main characters in it provide the movie audience a journey that is very memory to human beings. Water for elephants symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Jacob jankowski, a retired veterinarian living out his days in an assistedliving facility, drifts in and out of his memories. This study guide consists of approximately 58 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of water for elephants. Novelist sara gruen sweeps her readers off their feet in the opening pages of water for elephants and doesnt let go until she deposits them at the end of her fantastic tale of passion, madness and fancy.
Water for elephants is a book worth reading because its use of literary devices keeps the reader engrossed in the novel. Water for elephants begins violently and then veers into weirder terrain. In one plot, jacob is a young guy just starting out in the world. Water for elephants the novel water for elephants is written by the bestselling author sarah gruen.
When jacob overhears a man at the assistedliving center claim to have been a water boy for the elephants on. The water for elephants community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and. Jacob, the book s narrator and protagonist, worked as a vet and trainer of sorts at a circus. Jacob also denies this because of his knowledge about elephants, especially after working with rosie, an. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. A depressionera circus provides the backdrop for sara gruens latest novel, water for elephants. On the outside the circus looks like a fun, exciting, and beautiful life, but behind it is suffering and pain. The choice of a childish rhyme from a childrens book as an epigraph for water for elephants is an interesting one. I read water for elephants for our book club, and i expected it to be as slow, dull, and superficial as most of the other books we have read.
The theme of the book in this section is that one has to appreciate every moment of your life, because you dont ever know when that moment may end or when it may never happen to you again. It is there that he falls in love with marlena, the equestrian star married to the maniacal. There are three main settings in water for elephants. It is stupid and anyone who labels it a novel is as well. August is an antagonist and jacob is a protagonist.
Sara gruen has written an utterly transporting novel richly full of the stuff of life. Symbols love is one of the driving forces of this novel. The number of rhetorical techniques, like that of the resources of language, is long and runs from tuesday. The book was published on may 26, 2006, under algonquin books, in the united states of america. The devices using effective or persuasive language. What literary devices does eminem use in his lyrics answers. Publishers weekly gorgeous, brilliant, and superbly plotted, water for elephants swept me into the world of the circus during the depression, and it did not let me go until the very end. Water for elephants, published in 2007, is sara gruens third novel. Water for elephants has two plots going on, both starring the same main character, jacob. All of sara gruens novels, including her massive 2006 bestseller water for elephants, feature animals horses, apes, the eponymous pachyderms and her new book. Use these book club discussion questions on water for elephants to lead your book clubs conversation on the story. Sara gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself.
The circus, the great depression, a complex elephant, equally complex love, the mists and twists of memory articulated in the utterly winning voice of a very old man whos seen it all. Gruen skillfully humanizes midgets, drunks, rubes and freaks who populate her book. August feels the need to beat rosie to get her to walk on cue and august beats marlena so she does what he wants her to do. Post comments atom rachels blog blog archive 2008 34 may 8. Author interview sara gruen, author of water for elephants. Novelist sara gruen sweeps her readers off their feet in the opening pages of water for elephantsand doesnt let go until she deposits them at the end of her fantastic tale of passion, madness and fancy. Jul 23, 2018 water for elephants by sara gruen is a must read a story about a 90yearold man remembering his days with a circus during the great depression. Water for elephants book club discussion questions and answers. Their two, completely separate personalities clash and collide. Water for elephants is a book that can be read and reread, recommended and handed off between friends. As a young man, jacob jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth. Water for elephants, by sara gruen literary ramblings literary ramblings literary ramblings. Is it primarily written for a female audience or will i like it. Read free book excerpt from water for elephants by sara gruen, page 1 of 7.
One important literary device in the novel is the use of flashbacks, as the story is told through the standpoint of jacob as an old man. Authors use literacy devices to underscore meaning in their texts. I decided to not watch the movie when i heard it was coming out simply because i didnt want to possibly ruin the experience id had with the book if the movie wasnt uptopar. She wrote the book as part of national novel writing month. You are, of course, free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. If you like water for elephants, you might like little heathens by mildred armstrong kalish seabiscuit by laura hillenbrand the adventures of miles and isabel by tom gilling. According to the novel this period is the most difficult, because it has a huge economic crisis. Subscribe i bought some instant water one time but i didnt know what to add to it. On our first date, my husband took me to see tod brownings freaks, a 1932 horror film with a distinctly diane arbus feel. Write an essay on water for elephants 34 pages typed 12 pt font, doublespaced choose an essential question at top of page or make your own level 46 question discuss the literary merit of the novel use concrete details from the text compare to at least 12 other classic works. Water for elephants is gruens third book, it became one of the new york times. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company.
Water for elephants is the touching story of jacob jankowski, a ninetythreeyearold man, who is reminded. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford. The water for elephants community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. The second connection is between water for elephants and oliver twist. Rhetorical devices ap language and composition quizlet.
The man agrees, saying that jacob will go down in the records book as the oldest man to run away with the circus. What are some literary devices in the novel water for. A lot of the moral choices that the characters have made, have most likely been for love for another character. Water for elephants begins dark and violent as it braces readers for the tumultuous circus atmosphere during the terrible years of the great depression. He is someone that shows goodness towards other while risking his own life and struggles against evil in order to find peace. On the first night after his leaving cornell, for example, jacob as did his biblical namesake lies back on the bank, resting my. Readers may find themselves churning through this book at a rapidfire pace, eager to see what lies ahead, then slowing down as they realize the pages are dwindling. Jacob fights for her and never gives up until he has her. Though the word abortion is nowhere in the story, it is doubtlessly understood through hemheingways powerful use of two literary elements. This may be a totally amateur answer, but i totally thought the book was titled water for elephants because of the old man in the book that jacob despised. The last notes of water for elephants linger long after the book ends. Facts used in water for elephants book by sara gruen. Mar 18, 2008 it came up as question 16 in the water for elephants reading group guide.
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