Writing Techniques in The Other Side

This Study Guide consists of approximately 9 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Other Side.

Writing Techniques in The Other Side

This Study Guide consists of approximately 9 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Other Side.
This section contains 186 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
Buy The Other Side Short Guide

The narrative has five parts and is written in the present tense, with flashbacks. The framing action takes place in one day: August 14, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. The intent is ironic; Ellen has exhibited none of the saving graces of love and generosity attributed to the mother of Jesus.

Parts I, II, and IV are a series of interior monologues and narrations revealing the lives of the major characters. Parts II and IV present the stories of Ellen and Vincent. The fully-rounded portraits of these two characters give the reader a secure location from which to observe the terrain of the narrative. Other characters — even Dan and Camille, whom Gordon seems to care most about — appear in episodic glimpses. This technique is perhaps intended to suggest the fragmentation of their lives; but it often is an obstacle to the...

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This section contains 186 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
Buy The Other Side Short Guide
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The Other Side from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.