American Author Thesis
Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.
Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.
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When starting the Author Thesis project, I had known little of Wallace Stegner and his works beforehand. I had asked people if they had read his novels and although they had not, they have heard he is a very good author. Stegner has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1972, Angle of Repose), and a National Book Award for Fiction (1977 The Spectator bird). I would agree that he is a very good author. His writing style is very descriptive and detailed--scenery and emotions of characters are complex. The development of the characters are thorough and descriptive. Stegner’s writing style is smooth and is not choppy, nor are plots hastily written. Conceptual notions are broken down into complex, detailed, and in-depth phrases. The majority of his novels are thoughts of the characters and detailed descriptions of scenarios.
The novels I read were A Shooting Star, Crossing to Safety, and The Spectator Bird. All of the books I read dealt with themes of identity, aging, desires, dreams, as well as consequences of actions made in the past. The main characters in the novels are middle aged or have grown old. They reflect on their past many times and are sometimes concerned about their future. The present is not as extremely focused on. Stegner uses current events in those novels mainly just to illustrate and suggest reasons behind a character’s thoughts or actions in the moment.
I must warn you, the books may be for people at an Honors skill level since they are dense with multiple descriptions, complex characters and scenarios, as well as hidden themes that require high critical thinking. Do not worry if you do happen to choose to read his books as they are well put together, and you will enjoy piecing together his themes and the stories themselves. All you need to do is concentrate and focus with NO distractions and you will have a great reading experience.
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