In both Midnight’s Children and The God of Small Things, idiosyncratic capitalizations are used abundantly in order to convey a deeper meaning from certain words in the text. This technique is employed throughout both novels in order to bring attention to the special significance of certain situations and words that add meaning to the plot.

Question

Rushdie writes “Fresh From Fifty Fierce Weeks In Delhi!” (p. 50, paragraph 2, line 5) in his novel to combine aspects of alliteration and capitalization to express the statement as a title. He also uses the epithets of “The Lotus Goddess; the One Who Possesses Dung; who is Honey-Like, and Made of Gold; whose sons are Moisture and Mud…” (p. 223, paragraph 4, line 4) to put a character into context so that the reader can better understand it. Another example of Rushdie’s use of idiosyncratic capitalizations is “Certain wags in our audience had begun to heckle the Most Charming Man In The World”. (p. 475, line 13), which was used as an epithet, and a form of hyperbole in the sense that the narrator considered him to be the most charming man in the world.
Roy uses capitalizations to highlight significant events in her novel. “The Loss of Sophie Mol stepped softly around the Ayemenem House like a quiet thing in socks”. (p. 17, paragraph 1, line 1). The author uses this quote to emphasize a major event that is used as the central focus for the rest of the story. Also, Roy uses capitalization to name the recurrent tasks that the characters complete throughout their day, “For a Breath of Fresh Air. To Pay for the Milk. To Let Out a Trapped Wasp”. (p. 29, paragraph 1, line 2). Lastly, the quote “A few mornings ago she had opened her window (for a Breath of Fresh Air) and caught them red-handed in the act of Returning From Somewhere” (p. 283, paragraph 1, line 3) from The God of Small Things is used to assert that the human actions in that family have a lack of emotion or enthusiasm.
In both novels, I have noticed that the capitalization acts as a sign for a reader to pay more attention to those words that play a specific role in the plot. Capitalization is used in both novels to describe characters, emphasize actions, and list duties.

This is one of the 3 body ideas I have to write about. I feel like it's amazingly weak.

Answer 1

I would divide my paper this way:

I. Introduction, including thesis statement [write the thesis first; write the rest of the intro almost last]

II. Rushdie
A. Capitalization
1.
2.
3.
B. Personification
1.
2.
3.
C. Similes
1.
2.
3.
III. Roy
A. Capitalization
1.
2.
3.
B. Personification
1.
2.
3.
C. Similes
1.
2.
3.
IV. Conclusion

You have to imagine the indentations in that outline. In the 1., 2., 3. spaces, I'd put the examples -- very specific examples with LOTS of explanation about WHY you believe each one is true.