Republic of the Philippines

Tarlac State University

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City
Tel. No. (045)4930182; Fax No. (045)982-0110
Level III Re-accredited Status by the AACCUP, Inc.

CUNANAN, BLESSED LORA

TAYAG, JESS RHODA
BSED 3D-1

ONLY THE DEAD KNOW BROOKLYN by Thomas Wolfe

Thomas Wolfe was an American novelist of the early twentieth century. He wrote four lengthy novels, plus
many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and
impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing. His writings vividly reflect on American culture and the mores
of that period.

Only the dead know Brooklyn is about

The author’s style in writing the story is how a Brooklyn person way to speak or his dialect. He wrote it out
beyond the usual. It is narrative because obviously it tells a story, there is a narrator, there are characters that are
conversing, there is a definite beginning –wherein the narrator saw a bug guy asking for a direction to the little guy,
there is interval- the narrator is showing off the road to the big guy, and there is the ending- the narrator thinks the
big guys is out of his nuts.

The story’s totality is deviated. In the beginning of the story it begun with this sentence “Dere’s no guy livin’
dat knows Brooklyn t’roo an’ t’roo, because it’d take a guy a lifetime just to find his way aroun’ duh goddam town.”
Even from the start deviation is evident.

In graphological deviation, every conversation between the characters is under this deviation. Like when the
big guy asked a little guy for the direction “How d’yuh get t’ Eighteent’ Avenoo an’ Sixty-sevent’ Street?” if you write
it in usual it will be “How do you get to Eighteenth Avenue and Sixty-seventh street?”. Most of their conversation is
in graphological deviation.

EM9 STYLISTICS December 9 , 2016

Ms. JUNAHLYN CARIÑO PROSE ANALYSIS
 In grammatical deviation, although most of the conversation are grammatically incorrect some of the best
example is this “Neveh hoid of no one drownin’ heah in Brooklyn, unless you mean a swimmin’ pool. Yuh can’t
drown in Brooklyn,” the “neveh hoid of no one drownin” into “never heard of no one drowning” is a double negative
which actually there is someone who actually drown.

EM9 STYLISTICS December 9 , 2016

Ms. JUNAHLYN CARIÑO PROSE ANALYSIS