The title acts as a headline. The blurb, on the other hand, is like a 30-second sales pitch. From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

………………………….. Write With Focus

In roughly two paragraphs, it tells readers who the lead character(s) is, when and where the story takes place, and what may be at stake – without giving much away.

Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. What possible themes do the title and the blurb reveal? When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. Year of publication: 2014

Here are three examples: Let’s practice this together using Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find.

Category: war

Wow.

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Think about the middle third of the definition.



Try answering Questions #1 through #3 with books you haven’t read from your collection. Your IP: 128.199.55.74 The book has stellar Amazon reviews, and the MSM reviews are quite positive (or here), and yet I bought it only with reluctance, … If you’re writing a story, practice the above exercise with your current WIP by drafting the blurb. •

Let’s revisit our working definition of “theme” from the first A Story’s Soul article: Theme: An idea, concept, or lesson that appears repeatedly throughout a story, reflects the character’s internal journey through the external plot, and resonates with the reader.

Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance.

Yes, by implying what’s personally at stake for the protagonist, the title and the blurb reveal themes while motivating readers to care about the outcome before they’ve started reading. Cloudflare Ray ID: 5dbc957c3bd20b4f

Also, as discussed in our previous article, the external plot threatens the protagonist’s values, passions, worries – things that the protagonist cares about, and reasons for the reader to be invested.

The title and the blurb tag-team for the most crucial role in book promotion: creating an exciting first impression. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

We’ll review the blurb, then answer the questions listed above.

Check back here for that article on Monday, February 2!

With World War II driving All The Light We Cannot See, warfare and its impact on society will be a central theme.

That’s why we’ll look at other methods as Theme: A Story’s Soul continues.

personalized program. I’d also say courage, since both children will encounter difficult situations during the story; wisdom / knowledge, since the intelligence of both characters is highlighted; and secrets / deception, since Marie-Laure and her father may go to great lengths to hide that dangerous jewel – as well as themselves. Divide.

In today’s edition of Theme: A Story’s Soul, we’ll explore how both items can reveal a great deal about the ideas and lessons the story might explore. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Get this: “The written equivalent of a Botticelli.” That is from an advertisement for Antony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See.

As for Werner, the blurb hints at his struggle to comprehend warfare and his role in the ordeal. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. Share your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting me at @SaraL_Writer with the hashtag #AStorysSoul. 1017 quotes from All the Light We Cannot See: ‘Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.’ “We all come into existence as a single cell, smaller than a speck of dust.

………………………….. The “invisible” light Doerr refers to here is most likely symbolic, so what could it symbolize? Author: Anthony Doerr This mini-course

Build Your Community. What potential sources of conflict (external and internal) do you infer from the title and/or blurb?

Success! Your email address will not be published. Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. All the Light We Cannot See study guide contains a biography of Anthony Doerr, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. What might they have to fight for as a result of the external plot? Both Marie-Laure and Werner could be beacons of hope, based on what we’ve inferred so far.
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Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. It comes down to knowing which questions to ask that dig into the heart of what theme is. It also hints at the plot, genre, or a central idea to the story. What might be the underlying causes of these conflicts? delivered via email Goodreads: All the Light We Cannot See Blurb From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Finally, for Question #3, how does the title All The Light We Cannot See tie in with the blurb? When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea.

Depending on the chosen title and how the blurb is written, sometimes it’s a challenge to glean possible themes from them.

Now, look at some examples of book titles and blurbs. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a). —Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See “Conrad, Stevenson, and Jack London come to mind, but so does the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez . and productivity.

Now we can develop a list of questions based on the above observations. The Plover sails delightfully on an imaginative sea of insight, compassion, and a kind of mystical grace.” What appears to be personally at stake for the protagonist or listed characters? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. Unfortunately, no. Light could also represent goodness, which relates to Werner’s theme of compassion; and innocence, which both children could lose as a result of the war. How about Question #2? Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance.

Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee, Severed at last by […]. Multiply. Do you see a common method for hooking readers? In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined.

Does the title tie in with aspects of the blurb?

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks.

We’ll review the blurb, then answer the questions listed above. on writing craft, creativity She’ll endure blindness at a young age, and then a complete uprooting of her life to escape the war and hide the jewel.

With so little information (and so few words) to go on, though, how we can play detective and find possible themes in the title and the blurb?

If so, what words, phrases, or ideas helped create this connection? Copyright © 2020 | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes, From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan). using these resources What seems to be at stake for Marie-Laure and Werner? However, what if the title and the blurb (a.k.a. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where

If the external plot influences the protagonist’s character arc, aspects of that plot (events, conversations, even objects) might show underlying themes, especially if they illustrate conflict. Now check your email to confirm your subscription. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass.

When you read those books, pay attention to themes as they emerge.

More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

What observations did you make while answering Questions #1 through #3? Family is a given; the blurb mentions Marie-Laure’s father and Werner’s sister, and war always affects the people whom a POV character loves. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

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Also, Marie-Laure’s individual story could be an example of perseverance.

We usually need to read a novel in order to identify its themes. The themes highlighted above might only be a sampling of what All The Light We Cannot See will offer, so chances are you might find other potential themes that weren’t discussed. gives you resources so Discussion of themes and motifs in Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See.
How about you? Did you guess correctly? It’s not a stretch sometimes.

Pages: 531 You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. It’s strong, concise, and meant to grab a reader’s attention. There was an error submitting your subscription. .

After all, the blurb’s purpose is not to divulge the entire story, but to tease us with enough details to make us want to read it. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. Learn techniques to No shortage of conflict here, so we’ll find plenty of answers to Question #1. Next time, however, we’ll bring you our first case study on theme: the concept of trust, and how it’s delivered in a classic YA historical fiction novel and a recently published urban fantasy.

jacket copy) could suggest potential themes? Let’s practice this together using Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See. Label: Recent Prize Winner

Goodreads: All the Light We Cannot See. All the Light We Cannot See By Anthony Doerr From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr , the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. These intangibles become themes because the character spends the novel striving to save them.