Journaling on Steve Lopez

Unfortunately, this story had already been deleted by the time I went to the website. However, after reading through some of the other student's blogs, I came up with a few opinions of my own. Lopez used two narrative techniques in this story that proved to be successful in that many of the students recognized his use of them. The first is that of character. He introduced his audience to each of the characters, and thoroughly explained each one. He used very descriptive words that helped the audience to envision what each character was really like. Some of the quotes he used to describe his characters are as follows: "Ten-year-old Danny White, red-haired and freckled, was riding his skateboard while his mother walked a friend's dog."Ron Dobson was on the corner after a day of revisions on a screenplay, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun on his face, eyes closed and head tilted back."Myra Crowe was on her way to a ballet class for one of her three kids, all of whom were in her Honda Pilot as she headed out of her town house driveway and onto Palisades Circle at the very moment Danny approached."
Another narrative technique Lopez used was dramatic action. Through the use of dramatic action, he made the story come to life. In reading his story, the audience was able to picture in their minds what was happening in the story. An example of the dramatice action Lopez used is, "The car wasn't going very fast as it approached the intersection, but Dobson wondered how long Danny could hold on. It was like a scene out of a movie -- this young child pulling off what looked like an impossible stunt, using all his strength to hold his head up off the pavement. If he let go, Dobson thought, he could be crushed by the low undercarriage, or be thrown under the wheels."