Agnes'+best+and+worst+paragraphs

Introduction: // In short stories, narrators are always given a role, where good use of the narrator is often a useful literary technique. Referring to several short stories, including Eileen Chang's 'Great Felicity' and Anita Desai's 'The Accompanist', and their respective narrators, different ways of using the narrator to emphasise, or even present the theme, are clearly shown. //  In short stories, narrators are always given a role, where good use of point of view is often a key literary technique. Referring to the omniscient narrator in Eileen Chang's 'Great Felicity' and the unreliable first person narrative perspective in Anita Desai's 'The Accompanist', different ways of using the narrator to emphasise or articulate the theme are clearly shown. Best body paragraph: // To begin with, Chang's 'Great Felicity' is in third person narration, where the narrator is omniscient. There are quite a number of characters in this story, some being the two Lou sisters, Yuqing, Lou Xiaobo, Mrs. Lou, Dalu, Tangqian and Liqian, etc. Through the omniscient narrator, Chang reveals the thoughts and actions of all characters. Right at the beginning, the narrator describes the two Lou sisters talking about Yuqing, their soon-to-be sister-in-law, behind her back, about her appearance, figure, and her age, shamelessly, and their thoughts regarding the way Yuqing spent money as well. The sisters are "infuriated" and "thought [Yuqing] too extravagant", and "they still couldn't help feeling that it was a shame the stupid woman spent her money in such bad taste", but "of course, they kept smiling". This is one of the many examples of the story where a mismatch is observed between a character's thoughts and actions. The narrator clearly lays out the contrast between what the characters are thinking on the inside and their outward actions, revealing the insincerity of the two Lou sisters. Through this, Chang criticises the insincere attitude she sees in people in her society. //  To begin with, Chang's 'Great Felicity' is in third person narration, where the narrator is omniscient. There are quite a number of characters in this story, some being the two Lou sisters, Yuqing, Lou Xiaobo, Mrs. Lou, Dalu, Tangqian and Liqian, etc. Through the omniscient narrator, Chang reveals the thoughts and actions of all characters. Right at the beginning, the narrator describes the two Lou sisters, Erqiao and Simei, talking about Yuqing, their soon-to-be sister-in-law, behind her back. They talk about her appearance, figure, and her age, shamelessly, and their thoughts regarding the way Yuqing spent money as well. The sisters are "infuriated" and "thought [Yuqing] too extravagant", and "they still couldn't help feeling that it was a shame the stupid woman spent her money in such bad taste", which is interestingly followed by "Of course, they kept smiling". This is one of the many examples of the story where a mismatch is observed between a character's thoughts and actions. The narrator clearly lays out the contrast between what the characters are thinking on the inside and their outward actions, revealing the insincerity of the two Lou sisters. Additionally, using the phrase 'of course', Chang implies that this is what is expected of people in the story, that it is taken for granted that people are not acting according to what they are feeling. Through this, Chang appears to be criticising the false attitude she sees so often in almost everyone in her society. Worst body paragraph: // In 'The Accompanist', Desai writes the story in the way such that the narrator is the main character himself speaking, such that the point of view is inevitably limited to Bhaiyya's, the narrator. The story is virtually plotless, but a free flow of thoughts of the narrator, random flashbacks, his recalling memories in his life. He describes events in great detail as well, but blended with his emotions and feelings. In the story, the narrator describes his life, from "When I was a boy", when his father "taught me all the // ragas//, the //raginis // and tested my knowledge", how "I ... was beaten and cursed by the whole family", to how he ended up as an accompanist on the tanpura for Ustad Rahim Khan. //   In 'The Accompanist', Desai writes the story in the way such that the narrator is the main character himself speaking, such that the point of view is inevitably limited to Bhaiyya's, the narrator. The story is a free flow of thoughts of the narrator, random flashbacks, his recalling memories in his life. He describes events in great detail as well, but blended with his emotions and feelings. In the story, the narrator describes his life, from "When I was a boy", when his father "taught me all the // ragas, //the // raginis // and tested my knowledge", how "I ... was beaten and cursed by the whole family", to how he ended up as an accompanist on the // tanpura // for Ustad Rahim Khan. It is his justification to treat his Ustad as a god, to see him as his hero who has saved him from wasting his life, when what he was before was a delinquent, a disobedient, dishonest son. Conclusion: // In conclusion, as from the above, we see that each author has a different role for their narrators. And it is sometimes through these narrators that the theme of the story is developed. //  In conclusion, as from the above, we see that each author has a different role for their narrators, and it is sometimes through these narrators that the theme of the story is developed. In Chang's 'Great Felicity', the omniscient narrator has the role to present to the readers the common disconnection between the thoughts and actions of all the characters; in Desai's 'The Accompanist', the story is in first person narration, with the narrator's free flow of thoughts blended with his emotions and biases guiding the story.