The Day of - NaNoPrep Assignments

Plot: Literary Devices

1. Narrative Hook: Story opening that grabs the reader's attention. Solomon receives a cryptic message, "The Day of" in the mail in the first chapter, that is truly the driving force and goal of the entire story.

2. Repetitive Designation: An object or fact appears over and over. Solomon starts to see the phrase, "The Day of" everywhere he goes. He sees it etched into the bark of trees. He sees it written across the sky in the clouds. He sees it highlighted in the words of billboards, on the side of busses, and "A-frame signs" on the street. He sees it being formed in the flight patterns of starlings.

3. Foreshadowing: Hints of something to come. Solomon senses that the Lord is causing him to search for the Truth in order to finish growing up and/or to heal from the pain of his past. Every time he explores a new day, (like the Day of Sadness, the Day of Joy, the Day of Pain, and the Day of Healing, etc.) he finds some new piece of the puzzle, that will be fully understood when all the pieces come together as in a jigsaw puzzle.

4. Poetic Justice: Good guys are rewarded and bad guys are punished. Solomon learns, that in so many ways, he is both the good guy and the bad guy of our elaborate wisdom tale. When his foul mouth and impulsive actions get him into trouble, he is the bad guy, who must go through the Lord's smelter's cauldron (Ezekiel 36:26-27, KJV) in order to remove more of his wickedness to make him less objectionable and more Christlike. When he walks in the ways of the Lord, he is the good guy, who receives some form of encouragement from the Lord, Who says, "This is the way, walk ye in it." (Isaiah 30:21, KJV)

5. Cliffhanger: Ending a scene, chapter or story in the middle of action, hooking the reader. I plan to use this device with every chapter to keep the pages turning.

6. Breaking the Fourth Wall: A character speaks directly to the reader. This will be great to use occasionally through the last half of the book since Solomon must go on his quest alone. The Lord will come to Solomon in some form from time to time, but I think it would be interesting to have his time of out-loud processing, (aka talking to himself) be times of talking things over with the reader, who has become his travel companion.

by Jay O'Toole
on October 21st, 2022