Literature Analysis #1

The book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen is told by a girl named Annabel. She's a teen who tells her story about her crazy life. She has been working as a model since she was young. But, she's beginning not to like it as much anymore. She doesn't want to quit though because her mom loves that she does it. She thinks it's the only thing that her mom has left to look forward to since her mom died. Her two older sisters, Whitney and Kristen, also model. But, her sister Whitney has an eating disorder. She's going to therapy but is mad because she doesn't think that anything wrong with her. In the commercials that Annabel is in, she's the "popular" school girl-cheerleader. But, in real life, she has no friends and nobody likes her. Until she meets a guy. His name is Owen Armstrong at school. He has his own radio station with unusual music. They instantly click once they start talking. They give each other rides to and from school and they always talk about music, which Owen loves. Owen gives Annabel a list of songs to listen to one by one. At the end of the list is a song titled "Just Listen" . He tells her to not ask any questions or anything, but to just listen to it. At the end, the song ends up being a song that he wrote for her. They go though many obstacles, but end up falling in love with each other.

The theme of this story is "never judge a book by its cover". At first, Annabel thought that Owen was a trouble maker guy who everyone was scared of. But, once she got to know him, she found out that he was actually a really nice guy who she fell in love with.

The author's tone to this book is mostly objective. She doesn't really tell her feelings throughout the story, she just says facts. Like, when she says "I had a flash of my first impression of him-that he was dangerous, a threat," and "I could feel her looking at me, and i knew, despite her questions, that she knew exactly what had happened, or most of it," and lastly "My mother's depression, or episode, or whatever it was..."

The author uses some literary elements in this story. She uses flashback on page 21 when she says "It had happened the previous January, in the parking lot before first bell. I'd gotten out of my car when I saw Owen..." . Also, she uses situational irony on page 35 when she says "I could take her," she said We all looked at her. "I mean, if she wanted to go." She uses imagery on page 56 when she says "Whitney." I put my hand on her face. Her skin was hot, wet, and her eyelids fluttered." . She also uses diction on page 41 when she says "Kristen and I were always being told by photographers that while we had pretty faces, we were too plump or too short..." . Lastly, she uses sensory detail when she says "The dirt in them was black and fragrant, spotted with fertilizer, and I could see beads of water here and there, glinting in the sun light."