Private ways of style

Sometimes In writing, authors have a way of capturing the reader’s mind and emotions through deep description of each and every moment occurring in the book. They can be descriptive of the setting, where the main character is or where s/he is going, they can be descriptive of the actions/events, what is happening to the character or what will and they can also be descriptive of the kind of person the main character is. In Private the author, Kate Brian, use much description of her character’s surrounding. Her main character, Reed Brennan has been through a series of events through transferring into high school, amidst from struggles of her family. To give readers a clear perfect understanding of what they’re reading the author must write much description of every moment in the book, which will grasps all the book’s feels as along with the reader’s.

From the start, Reed begins to say of her hometown and she discuss in detail the surroundings of herself. She says it in a way that shows feelings in sorrowly boredom way, as if she wanted to be elsewhere wishing that she had better. “Where I come from is gray. The bland, square strip malls. The water in the lake at the center of town. Even the sunlight has a murky quality. We barely get spring and we never get autumn. The leaves fall off the sickly trees early each September before they even have a chance to change, tumbling down on the shingled roofs of the standard- houses, each one exactly the same as the last.” Of this quote, the author uses much detail of describing her hometown. It gave the reader a clear understanding of how her town is. For it said, “Where I come from is gray,” had given the reader a sense that where she lived was moppy and dull. Then she wrote, “Even the sunlight has a murky quality. We barely get spring and we never get autumn,” which is out of the ordinary cause its supposed to happen, so that made the reader feel that since its nature is not normal, then it may be boring because what’s supposed to happen, isn’t happening.

Onward as the reader reads, the author includes more detail of the moment Reed rides to her new glorious high school. “As my dad drove our dented Subaru through the sunny streets Easton, Connecticut, it was all I could do to keep from pressing my nose to the dog-slobbered window. The shops here had colorful cloth awnings and windows that gleamed. The streetlamps were the old-fashioned kind that were electric now, but had once been lit by a guy on a horse toting a pole and flame. Potted plants hung from these lamps, bursting with red bright flowers, still dripping from a recent dousing with a garden. Even the sidewalks were pretty: neat and lined with brick, topped by towering oak trees.” Of this quote, the author is describing just the pathway to Reed’s beloved high school. She has memorized the campus’s map and read everything about the high school itself, so she’s clearly obsessed with it. Then on her way to it she couldn’t help to daze out of her original state and admire the beauty in her surroundings. When in thought of the beauty, “the shops here had colorful cloth awnings”, which gives the reader a sense that she’s comparing her hometown to high school’s city by saying “here” and there it has color, whereas back home there was none. Also by the author describing all things being “pretty” and “neat”, which gives the reader a clear understanding that the pathway is where the rich walketh upon.  

When Reed step foot on the campus she gleamed of joy and awe of the amazement around her but she then also felt as if she were the girl that hadn’t belonged. The girls around her had far more than what she ever could have, such as designer brand luggage, purses, clothing and appearances that were snobby. She then went to the her advisor for her room and schedule. "Her basement office was dark, the walls made of stone and lined by shelves full of dusty leather-bound books. It was lit only by two windows set high in the wall." This quote helps the reader visualize where Reed is going and how the scene is set up gives a better understanding what’s going on because it provides a picture how it would of looked in actual real life. “Her basement office was dark” already starts off with giving the reader a sense that she’s into an office that's going to be where much information of the environment will be mentioned. When she meets her advisor she breaks down the rules and expectations in a “good luck, you’ll need it” tone. “Full of dusty leather-bound books”, shows also that already her advisor has been well adapted to the high school and knows all the do’s and dont’s in a critical form of way.

A story that can truly relate to connecting of how the author can use description the capture the book’s emotion/feelings in from the Russian Sleep Experiment. Of that story it tells of Russian researchers who conducted a study where five prison inmates were placed in a sealed airtight chamber with an experimental gas that tested the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation, for 30 days. “On the ninth day the screaming began. First one subject, then another, was observed running around the chamber, screaming at the top of his lungs for hours on end. Just as disconcerting was the reaction of the other subjects, who began ripping apart the books they'd been given to read, smearing the pages with feces, and plastering them over the mirrored windows so their actions could no longer be observed.” The author  of this story uses visual descriptions of things happened and how the reactions of the character is which establishes the kind of atmosphere or environment for the reader. This affects the reader by the description being in sequence and helping the them visualize each moment occurring, so they feel as if they were the Russian scientists testing the experiment. It also gives them the feels of them being anxious for what’s going to happen next, of the tester’s actions.

Back unto Private, another last example of how the author uses visual details is though Reed’s thoughts has also been said in the sense of smell, to give the reader a not just an emotion of the atmosphere but an experiencal moment of familiar recollection. “Dozen of girls crowded on around the couches and chairs, chatting and laughing. The place was packed and the decibel level was staggering. A thick concoction of perfumes and scented hair products and scented lotions choked the air”. The phrase “dozen of girls crowded on around the couches and chairs, chatting and laughing”, puts the reader in thought that Reed is considered to be alone, without friends watching them the other girls have joy of friendly pleasures. Which also gives the reader an assumption that Reed is antisocial unless spoken to, for she doesn't fit in with the other girls. The author uses the word “staggering”, to clarify that Reed is in astonish of the thick scent of lotions and perfumes were wearing, which puts her down, giving the reader moment of where she is different, unlike the others. For if she were like the others then she’d be used to the scent, but she isn’t.

Wherefore this structure has such an importance to the book because it establishes a knowledge within the reader, which can develop feelings for the main character through the knowing of what's happening as if it were themself in the occurring moments.