Prof. Jessica Penner | OL05 | Fall 2020

Diana Rivera, “The Water Dancer” Formal Critiques

ENG1141

Creative Writing

Formal Critique

Reviewer’s Name: Diana Rivera      

 Title of Piece: The water dancer

Author’s Name: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Plot: The story is about Hiram and his brother Maynard accidentally falling into the River Goose after one of the brothers saw their mother dancing in the water in the form of a vision.

Did Hiram hit his head with the carriage when they fell in the water because although they fell in the water, it mentioned before that he knew how to swim?

Point of View: The way that the story is told by first-person narration, through the eyes of Hiram.

How would the story be told by the eyes of Maynard?

Characters: The way that the story was told with the characters included it made each character important to the story. It made each character’s personality shine through in a beautiful spotlight.

Setting & Context: The setting and context gave the story a setting in Virginia. The way it was described with its rivers, bridge, and mountains gave the reader the images that can help the reader be put into the story.

Voice & Style: When mentioning slavery, it gave off the intention of the author’s targeted audience was any form of racist supremacists?

2 Comments

  1. Robert Rampersaud

    Good evening Diana,
    I also can come to the conclusion that the story probably took place in the south, and the author did give us great visual of the setting by words.

  2. Robert Rampersaud

    Good evening Diana,
    I also can come to the conclusion that the story probably took place in the south, and the author did give us great visual of the setting by words.

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