The signification of emotion, drama and unhurried poetic writing style in the lyrical stories of Alistair MacLeod Andrew Duan 12th Grade

"...the tears froze to their reddened cheeks." Indeed, Calum's poignant reimagining of the past in The Road to Rankin's Point unveils the dramatic and acute emotion of grief that permeates MacLeod's narratives. Inspired by a historical context of dispersal and Gaelic clanship, Alistair MacLeod's anthology of short stories Island employs a poetic cadence, underpinned by emotive intensity, to unveil dramatic realizations of loss and unhurried reflections of love. The discursively unhurried nature of MacLeod's stories traverses the intensity and poignance of moments of existential revelation and reflection on the past. Moreover, the lyrical cadence of MacLeod's poetic works reveals the entrancing and heart-warming nature of love and kinship. However, the poetic and figurative style of MacLeod's works contributes, in fact, to dramatic and powerfully theatrical scenes of trepidation and libido.

Discursive and relaxedly unhurried passages are used by MacLeod to contrast scenes of dramatic action and traverse the intensity of realization and yearning. MacLeod's orchestration of ruminating repetition in James' realization that "I do not know when he may die. I do not know in what darkness she may cry out…" endows his recollections with...