How does the author of witch child create an effective setting and atmosphere in the beginning of witch child?
Celia Reece, the author of 'Witch Child' creates an effective atmosphere and setting in the beginning of the novel with a number of techniques which I will show in this essay.
In the beginning of the book, the author uses a short sentence in it's own paragraph to get her point across. The paragraph says, “I am Mary,” which is blunt but informative and introduces the character's name to the reader. This first paragraph also introduces the fact that the book is written in the first person. The fact that this sentence is in in it's own paragraph symbolises how isolated and and alone Mary feels at this period in 'Witch Child' because the paragraph is segregated from the rest of the entry. The paragraph is also used on its own to shock and slow the reader.
The sentence structure also helps the author to reflect time frame and attitudes. The author puts in quotations from the villagers, but not in quotation marks and as their own sentences: “Spawn of the Devil,” and “Witch child,” to reflect the villagers attitude towards Mary, and the fact that they are in short fragmented sentences shows that Mary doesn't think much of their accusations. These quotes put it into the time frame of the seventeenth century because we no longer accuse people of witchcraft.
The diary is written by Mary, the narrator, in first person. It starts off written in the present tense and changes into the past tense. The first sentence, “I am Mary,” is in the present tense, but it changes to past tense when she says she, “Lived. Live there no more.” This sets up the fact that she is going to tell the story.
The second and third sentences in the book, “I am a witch. Or so some would call me,” is also blunt and informative which demonstrates the character of Mary, showing she is able to mock the presumptions of the villagers who are accusing people of witchcraft.
Mary is an...