Aryelle Jacobsen

Grubb

AP Language (1)

April 6th, 2017

Analysis of an element from Beloved

Everyone has a unique way about them that helps them to develop a personality. Whether

its the way they look or speak, everyone is diverse in their own way. Like people, books have

elements that allow them to develop their own personality, or as authors may say, style. The

elements that authors use to creates these styles often have a strong development throughout the

book to keep the reader entertained. Toni Morrison is an author who uses these devices to give

her novels a unique value that keeps the reader wanting more. Morrison creates a diverse

development in her syntax demonstrating the iconic style she creates in Beloved.

In Beloved, Morrison develops diverse uses of syntax showcasing her unique style. In the

beginning of the novel Morrisons syntax ranges from short sentences such as 124 was spiteful

to medium lengthed sentences such as Sethe...children (Pg. 1 & 28). This syntax demonstrates

the style the Morrison creates in Beloved, keeping the reader focused with her diverse adoption

of syntax. In sentences such as Move. Walk. Run. Hide. she develops a short syntax, which

follows the unique flow in sentence structure that Beloved contains (Page 78). Toward the

middle of Beloved, she uses an extensive amount of commas when stating Who decided

that...work at once creating a new syntactic development that emphasizes the subject matter

within all of those commas (Page 102). Morrisons writing is very untraditional due to the way

she constructs her sentences. She sometimes doesn't even putting a single sentence together as
demonstrated in pages 248 through 252. Morrison puts spaces between words instead of periods

to represent the constant way in which Beloved has always haunted her life. This emphasizes the

development of Morrisons style by illustrating her diverse way of forming (or not forming)

sentence structure to help represent what is currently happening in the novel. She creates a

parallel feel with sentences that are formatted most notably as a poem such as You are mine

and I have your milk (Page 256). This sentence structure allows her to further develop her

style by distinguishing her syntax, whether it has sentences or not. Morrisons syntax creates her

overall style by aiding her in developing a mysterious nature and eerie tone to her novel.

Morrisons syntax is what varies her writing style from other authors. Whether her syntax

is lengthy with several pauses throughout, or short and sweet, it never fails to add that Morrison

flare - otherwise known as style. The style that she succeeds in creating gives Beloved its own

exclusive impression. Because Morrison demonstrates a symbolic syntax, she makes an

unforgettable impact on literature through her novel, Beloved.