The Keys to a Great Story Essay Example For Students

The Keys to a Great Story Essay Brett AndersonEnglish pd. 9Compare/ Contrast11/25/98What certain qualities are necessary to create an excellent literary work? What makes onework impossible to put down while another work is difficult to stay focused on? There are severalkey elements essential in making good work outstanding. These key elements are: interestingcharacters, an intriguing plot, a valid theme, and a carefully structured conclusion. These are the keyelements of a literary work that I am going to focus on and explicate for you. The characters in Witness for the Prosecution are believable through the authors vividdescriptions and through what Mr. Mayherne says about the characters during his interviews withthem. For example the author described Romaine as a foreign woman with high cheekbones , denseblue-black hair, and a nervous twitch in her hands that is distinctly foreign. The narrator went on tosay she is a strange, quiet woman, who is so quiet that she made visitors feel uneasy. The author isalso very detailed with her description of Mr. Mayherne. The narrator depicts him as a small preciseman, who is neatly dressed and recently had his boots shinned. She also said the most strikingcharacteristic of Mr. Mayherne is his shrewd and piercing gray eyes. From his brief encounter withMrs. Mogson, we found out that she was scared with sulfuric acid by Romaines boyfriend and hasbeen bent on getting revenge on Romaine. Plausible characters and vivid description make this storymore interesting and add to the plot of the story. We will write a custom essay on The Keys to a Great Story specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The author of Wine was very non-discriptive about the characters. This lack of descriptionmakes the characters extremely difficult to relate too. The author never even gives her charactersnames. She just refers to them as a man and a woman. This total lack of detail makes it hard focuson the story and often you find it easy to lose sight of what is happening in the story. The plot for Witness for the Prosecution is clear, logical, and well-defined. The plot mainlyconsists of Mr. Mayherne and Romaine trying to get Mr. Vole aquitted of the charges that he killedEmily French. The most interesting twist of the plot in this story is that Romaine lied to the jury to getMr. Vole aquitted of the charges. By contrast there is no real plot for wine. The man and woman are sitting at a cafe for noapparent reason talking about their first kiss. The man tells the truth to the woman about his first kissand she gets upset with him. I thought this was an interesting point of contrast because in Witnessfor the Prosecution Romaine lied and won the court case for Mr. Vole , but in Wine the man toldthe truth to his wife and was ridiculed by her. The theme of Wine and Witness for the Prosecution almost seem to directly contradicteach other. The theme foe wine is the truth can be painful at times, whereas the theme for Witnessfor the Prosecution is that liars do not always get caught. The theme for Wine was hard tounderstand, because the woman gets upset at the man for no apparent reason when he tells the truth. The theme in Witness for the Prosecution is easily understood because it is clearly spelled out inthe conclusion of the story. The conclusion of Wine is very unclear, poorly developed, and not focused. It leaves a lotof unanswered questions in the readers mind. This completion never tells the reader what happensto the couple or why the woman is mad at her husband. The only thing the reader learns from thisconclusion is that the wine the husband and wife are drinking reminds them of their youth. Thisopaque conclusion only adds to the lack of purpose in the story. .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .postImageUrl , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:hover , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:visited , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:active { border:0!important; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:active , .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2 .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud6cb6d4e9787b5f701cff6c1b260c1b2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Kants Humanity Formula EssayThe conclusion of Witness for the Prosecution is very focused, well developed and it tiesup all the lose ends of the story. The completion of this story reveals that Romaine is disguised asMrs. Mogson and it was Romaines false testimony that got her husband aquitted of his murdercharges. The conclusion of the story tells the reader everything that Mr. Mayherne knew and drawsan excellent ending to a great mystery. After carefully contrasting the key elements in Wine and Witness for the Prosecution ithas become apparent that Witness for the Prosecution contains the qualities necessary of a greatliterary work. Wine is lacking too many of the key elements essential in making a good literarywork. The differences between the two the two stories makes Wine difficult to stay focused onbecause it is lacking in many of these key areas. While having many of these key elements welldeveloped throughout the story makes Witness for the Prosecution, one of those stories that aretruly a pleasure to read.