Tiny Beautiful Things Literary Elements

(Note to editor: I'm not able to italicize the titles of the novels. Gradesaver's tools don't give me that option). Self-help

Context: The essays contained within Tiny Beautiful Things were originally written (under the pseudonym "Sugar") for the online literary journal The Rumpus from 2010 to 2012 and later published in book form in 2012.

Each essay in the novel is told from Strayed's perspective (through her "Sugar" alter ego).

Tonally, the novel is animated, assertive, direct, candid, forthright, and eloquent. Mood-wise, the novel is thoughtful, sympathetic, serious, and empowered.

Cheryl Strayed is the protagonist; the bad situations people find themselves in is the antagonist of the novel.

The conflict between decisions people face in their life, like whether they should stay in a relationship or get out of a relationship.

There is no climax in the novel as there is no narrative or narrative structure.

Not applicable. This book doesn't have a narrative structure and thus doesn't use foreshadowing.

The sheer pull and force of Strayed's opinion has on her readers is understated frequently throughout the novel.

There are allusions to events, especially in the United States, from 2010 to 2012 (the period the essays were written in), as well as allusions to psychology and psychological theories, and to Strayed's past.

Strayed uses vivid imagery to convey a message to readers. For instance, her line “Forgiveness doesn't sit there like a pretty boy in a bar. Forgiveness is the old fat guy you have to haul up a hill" shows readers how difficult forgiveness is.

"Many people you believe to be rich are not rich" is paradoxical. People that have a lot of material wealth are, by definition, rich. Oftentimes, seemingly "rich" people are drowning in debt and not actually rich. They want to keep up appearances so that they seem more wealthy than they are to impress other people.

N/A

Washington D.C. is a metonym for the seat of government of the United States.

Dear Rumpus, the online literary magazine that Strayed initially published the essays enclosed in Tiny Beautiful Things on, is personified in the novel. Strayed talks about it as if it were a living and breathing thing.