Examining The Different Styles Of Authors Writing English Literature Essay

Authors each have their own, unique way of writing. Writers are identified by their contributions to society and style. The style of the author says a lot about what kind of writer they are. It is very common to find figurative language, symbolism, comparisons, and various parts of the world in most pieces. Writers like are known for their specific genres, for example, fiction or Edgar Allen Poe in poetry. Others are only famous for one piece of work as others have a variety of pieces published. Each of these categories has a specific style they are known for. Katherine Anne Porter portrays various examples. Katherine Anne Porter’s style of writing includes personal experiences, literary devices, and regionalism.

Porter used her clarity and understandings to include her personal experiences when she wrote. Many of her works contain individual incidents that affected her throughout her life (“American Masters” 1). Katherine Anne Porter proved that for her career, no matter what was thrown at her, she took it as a lesson learned and used it for inspiration. She provided personal moral values, and how people need strength to survive. The public and any readers found her to bo one of the greatest authors of that time. She included tradition in her writings which gave her a reason to stand out as an author at that time. It gave her the ideas and techniques she used to approach writing her pieces. Katherine Anne Porter’s style is distinct from many other authors. She uses forms of irony and symbolism and has used the style of clarity to make her pieces easy to understand. Debra A. Moddelmog describes Porter’s style to include the view of how to accomplish justice. She relates many experiences so people get a personal feeling while reading her pieces (Moddelmog 1). “If only all of us who want a change for the better just get up and work for it….half the wrongs of human life exist because of the inertia of people who simply will not use their energies in fighting for what they believe in,” (Moddelmog 1). Porter emphasizes this statement often (Moddelmog 1). Porter wants to prove to the common individual that personal beliefs can be attained if effort is used to pursue them. If people try, they can follow through with any dream. Laura from “Flowering Judas” has some of the traits of Porter that show her real life experiences throughout the story. Laura strays away from her religion and in a dream she has, she sees herself eating a flower from the Judas tree which gives her a quality similar to Judas Iscariot who was a betrayer of Jesus (Cummings 1). Katherine Anne Porter’s personal experiences include much of her travelling across the world. She used Mexico, Paris, France, and Germany in her writing. She visited many countries and got her personal experiences from going through different cultures and events.

While using her personal experiences, Katherine Anne Porter incorporates literary devices. The two main literary devices focused on in Porter’s writing are symbolism and irony. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, symbolism is the use of conventional or traditional signs in the representation of divine beings and spirits (“Symbolism” 1). Porter likes using many religious symbols for readers to refer to. Porter’s religious examples come from her experiences and life events. Her examples include major symbolism of the Bible and events that had previously happened (Altieri 1). She uses a great deal of examples to keep it interesting and allude to past events or places. Her pieces are very clear and easy to understand. She has a distinctive precision included in her writing (Robertson 1). The style of her clarity proves that she has a great understanding of her work and subjects she talks about. She makes her work so she and her audiences could perceive the subject very well. Katherine Anne Porter has written one novel, Ship of Fools, a short story, “Flowering Judas” and a collection of other works. All of her works have mutual concepts of the style she owns. She includes the various cultures, religion, symbolism and irony she has experienced. Between Ship of Fools and “Flowering Judas,” they share the relationship between the different cultures and surroundings of Mexico, as well as other parts of the world Porter had familiarity with (“Porter” 2087). “Flowering Judas,” in particular, holds a great deal of symbolism. The title alone symbolizes a scene from the Bible where Judas Iscariot deceived Jesus and hanged himself on the same type of Judas tree (“Porter” 2088). Laura from “Flowering Judas,” shows what Porter experienced when she strayed away from her religion. This symbolism gives her the realization of what is happening and gives her the chance to fix the way she uses her religion (Cummings 1). “Some day you will remember what I have told you, you will know that Braggioni was your friend,” (Porter 2090). The irony of that statement shows that Laura is not considered friends with Braggioni at the time, but in reality they are true friends. A part of Porter’s style includes darker themes instead of being an open, happy, setting. She looks at the more cynical side of situations. These themes are from her situations. The cause of these themes are affected by her personal experiences throughout her life. Katherine Anne Porter uses the various types of style to diversify her writings from other authors.

She used her experiences from all over the world instead of one region. Katherine Anne Porter was born in Texas, which helps inspire the locations in her writing. She uses her personal experiences to create regionalism (Klein 1). She loved to travel and explore different cultures and areas of the world (1). Porter began writing about Mexican culture after living in San Antonio (Hochmeister, McQuien 1). “Maria Concepción,” “The Martyr,” and “Flowering Judas” were each set in Mexico (1). Porter’s original style aided her in receiving awards. Her style made her works individual that others found outstanding enough to earn the awards. While Katherine Anne Porter uses her style to prove things, she also is a writer of the South. Her style is viewed for purity instead of her thoughts and topics she uses (Flanders 1). Although she was a writer of the South, she also used other regions and cultures to portray her use of regionalism. Not only is Porter’s work criticized, but she gave her own criticism to fellow writers. Criticism helps a writer to become better. Many benefit from the advice offered. Katherine Anne Porter receives criticism from critics about her style and why she writes the way she does. Her works give a diversified look at literature.

In the literary canon, there is a variety of authors with different styles and ways of writing. In the style viewed upon at the time, Katherine Anne Porter was accepted and qualified her writing and style to appear in the canon. By being a woman at that time, it caused Porter to work a little harder for what she wanted. Men dominated the career at that time. Katherine Anne Porter edited her work and style to stand out from other authors. Her style that included personal experiences, literary devices and regionalism left a lasting impact on society.