Annie Dillard: Essays Literary Elements

Collection of philosophical essay

The action described in “Disneyland” takes place during the duration of a few hours in Disneyland.

The action is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.

The tone and mood in “Footprints” is a neutral one.

The protagonist in “An Expedition to the Pole” is the humble man and the antagonist is the vain person who is only interested in himself.

The major conflict in “Footprints” is between the present and the past.

The essay “A Writer in the World” reaches its climax when the narrator reaches the conclusion that there is nothing that holds greater importance in this world than writing.

In the beginning of “Seeing” the narrator describes how she would make sacrifices just to see other people happy. This foreshadows the later things she will sacrifice in order to create the best literary pieces possible.

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The main allusion in “Jokes” is the idea that the most important quality a person can have is a sense of humor.

The most important imagery in “A Writer in the World” is that of the pen in the narrator's hands. This image is important because it represents the power the narrator has to influence people through her work.

We have a paradoxical element in “Jokes” in which the narrator mentioned how her parents, even though they were not religious, used to go to church every week.

In “An Expedition to the Pole” the narrator draws a parallel between an extremely vain woman and the Catholic church. This parallel has a great importance here because it transmits the idea that the Catholic church does not respect the Biblical norms they were supposed to.

The church is used in “An Expedition to the Pole” as a general term to make reference to the idea of vanity.

We have a personification in “Footprints” in the sentence "the mark spoke to everyone".