Literary Analysis Essay on Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

Introduction

In this paper, I will do an analysis of "Two for the Dough" which is the second book from Janet Evanovich's novel series. There is a breakdown of various aspects of this book including the historical and biographical background, the author's point of view, the setting, modal analysis, the theoretical analysis of the book and many other factors.

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Stephanie Plum is the narrator in this book. She tells the story from her own point of view where she places here self directly affected by the events of the narrative. Giving the first point of view she related to the events as the first person. By the way that she is describing herself, one would assume that she is in her late twenties and that life good on her side while in good shape as she always laments how she is always running down a bad guy. Stephanie has a dynamic and round character making all her moves very unpredictable showing off different point of her personality as the various turn of events take place. She is always optimistic, gets depressed, mischievous, contemplative and undergoes different phases of character transformation (Zachter). However, her feelings vary with different characters as she relates to them differently. The character is only bad to other only when they wrong to her.

This fascinating narrative takes place in an impoverished neighborhood of New Jersey where many criminals and crimes take place. This case is depicted when the narrator gives the details of how she met her partner; she describes it as a place in town which was unworthy of the gang graffiti and intensely depressed. This narrative is told in the past tense even though at some point the narrator employs the summary style of retelling the happenings. The narrator virtually retells the stories especially when the characters are being described. For instance, she gives the recount for how the blonde guy cranked an engine over them before they could drive away.

The book does not clearly define the implied audience. However, anyone would tell that it cannot be a formal audience which is implied due to the diction used. I guess that the implied audiences are acquaintances or friends that were able to give an ear as she gives the comical ordeal in the time to time journey. The narrator maintains a casual style of addressing her audience, as she refers to the things and places to a large range of audience who are familiar with media's various aspects. She uses words such as "Kuwait" and "Ghostbusters" (Evanovich). It also means that the audience is a little older due to how media conscious they are. She creates an informal and relaxed mood as she even tells of the guys that annoy her often disrupt her bowel whenever she gets a chance to hear their voices. Her style of narration shows that she is confident with the audience that she speaks to as she comfortably speaks of bodily functions.

From the onset, the general theme for this narrative was the recalling of the events in bounty hunter's day of a life. They spend too much time preparing for getting to events, eating fast food, and driving around which sort of makes them act like detectives. The general ideas for the narrative are the happenings of the moment where the narrator gives the felon of what she gets involved and she is very accommodative to her audience. In some instance, she recalls waiting outside the house of a suspect so that she can have a clue of a case which had been taking place for some time. More information is uncovered as the events unfold (Tebeaux, and Dragga). It is a contingent plot since anything is bound to happen at any given time, and are not necessarily based on seemingly scripted events. This narrator is simply sharing her experiences and what is happening is so ridiculous that can actually make someone feel better about their own life.

Through modal analysis, one can easily conclude that there is a dramatic speaker mode where Stephanie always refer herself as "I" while when she wants to tell what another character said she will use a word like "Yo, Ranger said". This kind of audience mode is epic as the narrator speaks to the audience generally and outside the realm of the story. However, the characters still have to speak to one another. As such, from the modal analysis point of view, I would acknowledge the character as the narrator but not as the author. It is based on knowing that it is not the author who is telling the story but the character who is Stephanie (Publisher). The created narrator makes the prose epic and interesting to follow up apart from the norm. it makes it easy through the modal analysis to understand the kind of things, places and most importantly the people that the writer of this narrative is familiar with as per the issues which are discussed. It is possible to fathom the level of comfort that the narrator has bestowed on his audience.

The reason for choosing this work by Janet Evanovich is because of my love for the witty writing style which she always employs. She uses things, places and people that are familiar to most people to create a story most people in the audience can identify to. As such, the performance analogs which are selected for this analysis put the audience in the realm of the story where they are not just left hanging so they can decide for themselves. The narrator has the feeling that she is connected to the audience that providing for a better plot od of the story.

There are various historical and biographical reasons as to why the writer chose to narrate the story this way. It seems like the neighborhood she resides in is full of drama and a lot is going on as people are trying to push on with their lives. It is a place where there are crimes but is also just like any other contemporary society where you can walk or drive but be sure that you will be safe. This is the kind of narratives where the author has total control over the reader as they are swayed in any direction not knowing what to expect next. The author would say that it is because of her familiarity with the places and different events the reason why no one else had to give this narrative better meaning or even better creativity. As the reader, I didn't have to go through a lot of ventures and too many guesses so as to know how passionate the narrator was in describing the places and foods which I have had the chance to come across. As such, the personal opinion and the actualization of the timing are what is main the narrative gather personal in-depth emotions for what the author narrates.

The author critically assumes the first-person narrative sense of writing to ensure that the readers grasp all that is being talked about. Also, the use of familiar names enables the reader to find some kind of solace and the feeling that they are being accommodated by the author while going through the manuscript. To some extent, the reader has some sense of ownership towards the story, setting, and aspects in this narrative. There are some of the streets where Stephanie was hesitant to drive at in the neighborhood. Some which are half an hour from the house that she had in L.A. Downtown. The Buick that she drove was ridiculous and one could likely see a dozen cars that favored hers in the neighborhood. There is also the Popeye's chicken and the biscuits slaw cole side that immediately places her back in L.A. where Popeye's food is more likened to the staple food since people like it and uses it a lot. These scenarios that Stephanie are so familiar that you would think she is just a next-door neighbor or someone that you have encountered several times on that you have never known who exactly they are. The familiar places, events, and experiences from my own life are relatable to this on the script as some of the places or food I have got to encounter even if it is once in a lifetime. As such, these coincidences bring out the times that I have got to play in character for some of the color and emotional depth as asserted by the narrator.

Conclusion

The narrative is got from the Janet Evanovich serious of twelve or so book collection. It is certain that most of these stories are written for the purpose of entertainment to the audience or the readers. However, there are various moments of truth which someone can relate to personally, and the narrator asks the audience to evaluate some moments relative to their feelings. She, at those times, dares the audience to place themselves in her shoes and think or feel what can happen. In the dissection of this piece of literature through various analytical angles, it is found that the narrative prose can be viewed in a much different way other than just a simple reading to get done with the text (Ghali, and Neville). For one to get a deeper appreciation of this text, they have to examine many events even behind the scenes.

References

Evanovich, Janet. Two for The Dough. St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007.

Ghali, A, and Adam M Neville. Structural Analysis: A Unified Classical and Matrix Approach. E & FN Spon, 1997.

Publisher, Weekly. "Fiction Book Review: Two for The Dough by Janet Evanovich, Author Scribner Book Company $27.99 (304P) ISBN 978-0-684-19638-1". Publishersweekly.Com, 2018, https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-684-19638-1. Accessed 20 Nov 2018.

Tebeaux, Elizabeth, and Sam Dragga. Analyzing Prose: Second Edition. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Zachter, Mort. Two for The Dough: A Memoir. University of Georgia Press, 2007.