Sag Harbor Literary Elements

Sag Harbor Literary Elements

Genre

African-American Literature

Setting and Context

Long Island in New York, in the year 1985

Narrator and Point of View

Benji Cooper in the first-person.

Tone and Mood

The tone is emotional and powerful; the mood is tense and dramatic.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Benji is the protagonist; his prep school is the antagonist.

Major Conflict

The major conflict of the novel occurs when Benji spaces from his white prep school in Manhattan with his brother Reggie.

Climax

The climax of the story is reached when Benji and Reggie visit their beach house in Sag Harbor.

Foreshadowing

The escape of the Cooper brothers is foreshadowed by Benji's rebellious attitude.

Understatement

The role that race and status play in society is understated throughout the novel.

Allusions

The story alludes to the Whitehead's personal experiences as a teenager.

Imagery

The imagery of teenage happiness and freedom is present in the novel.

Paradox

N/A

Parallelism

There is a parallel between the love that Benji experiences in the novel and the young love that Colson Whitehead also experienced as a teenager.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

Benji's constantly moving nature is personified through the never stopping New York that he has grown up in.

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