Language

Style of language

The short story “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story” by Paul Auster is written in a casual, conversational style. The author uses contractions and informal expressions such as “I’d be damned” (l. 81). This helps the reader to connect with the characters and events presented in the story. However, there are also instances when the author uses more formal vocabulary, with phrases such as “unrelenting delirium” (ll. 37-38), “dreadful outpourings” (l. 79), or “out-and-out conundrum” (l. 83). These examples are from the main narrative, while in the story within a story the vocabulary is more informal. This creates a contrast in the style of language between the two narratives.

Dialogue is used in the story and gives it a dynamic feel. The sentences in the dialogue are short and fragmented, and contain informal expressions, for example: “ ‘Anything for art, eh Paul?’ ” (l. 207) or “ ‘You’re an ace, Auggie.’ ” (l. 209). This makes th...