Joyas Voladoras Author and Structure
This author wrote the essay "Joyas Voladoras" and often uses lyrical, exuberant prose celebrating small things.
Who is Brian Doyle?
This character is the narrator's childhood friend who dies in the tsunami.
Who is K?
A recurring theme is the celebration of these small, often overlooked _____ of life.
What are wonders/miracles/moments?
The story's central traumatic event is this natural disaster.
What is a tsunami (or large tidal wave)?
Murakami often uses plain, direct prose interspersed with moments of this (odd, dreamlike imagery).
What is surreal imagery (or dreamlike elements)?
The essay's title, Spanish for "flying jewels," refers to this creature the writer describes in detail.
What is a hummingbird?
The narrator gives this friend a simple nickname that reflects his gentle nature.
What is "K"
Doyle balances wonder with this emotion or awareness when contemplating mortality and fragility.
What is poignancy or sadness (awareness of mortality)?
The narrator's friend drowns while trying to retrieve this item (or while doing this action) near the water.
What is retrieving a friend/toy/trying to save someone from the water?
The narrator's retrospective voice is an example of this point of view.
What is first-person narration?
Doyle frequently uses this literary device that gives human traits to animals and objects.
What is personification?
The narrator struggles with guilt and this emotional burden over his friend's death.
What is guilt (or remorse)?
The essay's tone can best be described as this combination of reverence and playful awe.
What is reverent wonder (or "celebratory awe")?
The narrator's recurring nightmare centers on this terrifying image coming from the sea.
What is the image of a huge wave or the face of the drowned friend?
The story uses this device when it repeats the image of the wave to emphasize trauma (repeating an image or idea).
What is repetition?
The essay contrasts the hummingbird's heart with this organ in humans to highlight scale and wonder.
What is the human heart?
The friendship is marked by this specific childhood activity they shared by the sea.
What is playing on the beach / swimming / watching the sea together?
Doyle uses the hummingbird to reflect on human _____ — our desires, loves, and vulnerabilities.
What is the human heart/longing/vulnerability?
The narrator moves away from the seaside town to cope, eventually becoming this profession.
What is becoming a writer
The juxtaposition of ordinary daily life with the terrifying sea creates this mood (a mix of calm and menace).
What is an eerie or unsettling mood (or "haunting calm")?
This short-form genre (personal, reflective, lyrical) best describes "Joyas Voladoras."
What is an essay (lyric/meditative essay)?
This Japanese author wrote "The Seventh Man."
Who is Haruki Murakami?
The essay invites readers to practice this mindful habit: noticing and cherishing brief, beautiful moments.
What is paying attention / mindfulness / noticing small beauties?
The final confrontation with the sea involves the narrator doing this symbolic act to overcome his fear.
What is returning to the sea / confronting the wave / reenacting the scene to let go?
The story's structure, moving between past and present memories, is an example of this narrative technique.
What is non-linear chronology (or fragmented memory structure)?