Style of writing

Part of your essay should focus on Marina Keegan's style of writing in “Stability in Motion”. When analyzing a style of writing, you should look at aspects related to tone, language, and stylistic devices.

The language of the essay is often figurative but easy to understand. The choice of words is related to cars and teenage lifestyle and culture, helping the author convey a vivid and dynamic description of teenage life, filled with imagery that transports readers into Keegan’s personal story: “The glove compartment had a magnifying glass, three pens, and the registration in a little Ziploc bag. The trunk had two matching black umbrellas, a first aid kit, and a miniature sewing box for emergency repairs.” (ll. 57-62); “Empty sushi containers, Diet Coke cans, half-full packs of gum, sweaters, sweatshirts, socks, my running shoes. My clutter was nondiscriminatory. I had every variety of newspaper, scratched-up English paper…” (ll. 84-90)

The most important stylistic devices in the short story are: irony, contrasts, personifications and metaphors, enumerations, and similes.

Irony

Linguistic irony is created through antithesis (opposition, contrast), exaggerations, and a mocking tone. For instance, the author mocks her grandmother considering the car ‘high tech’ by describing how the car was equipped:

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Contrasts

An important and dominant stylistic device in the text is the use of contrasts. The title itself is a contrast, as stability is the opposite of motion and it suggests two important ideas presented in the text.

First of all, it suggests the differences between the speaker and her grandmother using their treatment of the car as an example. The grandmother is stable and disciplined, while the speaker is a teen for whom mobility is a defining aspect as this is a time when she changes through various experiences.

Secondly, the title refers to the fact that the car - which is symbolic of motion - becomes an element of stability across the speaker’s various experiences:

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 Personification and metaphors

Throughout the text, the author frequently describes her car using personifying and metaphorical language. Associating the car with a person helps the author accentuate the idea that the car is not merely a means of transportation, but that it reflects Keegan’s identity and her teenage experiences: 

“…grown organ by organ in four major assembly plants in Alabama” (ll. 6-8)

“Born and raised in proper formality, the car saw me as that friend from school…” (ll. 70-72)

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Similes

A few similes are used in the text, drawing comparisons that help readers form associations that convey deeper meanings.

The simile “Like my grandmother’s wrists, everything smelled of Opium perfume” (ll. 62-64) suggests that, initially, the car was imbued with the grandmother’s personality and scent.

To accentuate the idea that the car witnessed many of the sender’s experiences and thoughts, Keegan compares her words with spilled juice, absorbed by the car’s fabric:

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