Style Mapping

The Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy has a musical and elegantly figurative sound to it. The words used for description are somewhat poetic and melodious. McCarthy writes, "Days of riding where there rode no soul save he. He's left behind the pinewood country and the evening sun declines before him beyond an endless swale and dark falls here like a thunderclap and a cold wind sets the weeds to gnashing." Stardust by Neil Gaiman is more denotative and specific however. His way of description is littoral, precise, and common. His description is seen by the excerpt, "The houses are square and old, built of grey stone, with dark slate roofs and high chimneys." The Help by Kathyrn Stockett is lower and blunt, but is still somewhat poetic with a figurative rhythm to it. One of the characters, Aibileen, says, "But I ain't never seen a baby yell like Mae Mobley Leefolt. First day I walk in the door, the she be, red-hot and hollering with the colic."