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Leo Tolstoy: Life, Works, And Term Paper

In all his works, Tolstoy does not lose his sense of reality and only rarely does he veer off the path of his own experience. There is simply no evidence of sentimentality or staginess in any of his works. In seeking to guide and reinforce the reader's understanding of his texts, Tolstoy also makes use of a variety of literary devices. In this case, I will mention just two of these, i.e. imagery and allusion. Through the use of imagery, Tolstoy largely succeeds in bringing his writings to life. In Anna Karenina, the author consistently attempts to associate some characters with specific colors. For instance, in regard to Countess Lydia Ivanovna, the author describes her as having "an unhealthy yellow complexion." In so doing, Tolstoy paints a vivid picture of the character in the reader's mind. In Hadji Murat, Tolstoy also makes use of olfactory and color imagery in phrases such as "faintly scented, neatly arranged purple plantains with blossoms slightly tinged with pink…" Tolstoy's utilization of imagery in this case cannot therefore be regarded arbitrary.

Next, in an attempt to make his...

In War and Peace, the author makes an allusion to Empress Fedorovna in the following sentence: "it was in July, 1805, and the speaker was the well-known Anna Pavlovna Scherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Fedorovna." In so doing, he enhances the ability of his readers to create a visual image of the situation and relate it to its time.
Works Cited

Bloom, Harold., ed. Leo Tolstoy. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2003. Print.

Borrero, Mauricio. Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 2004. Print.

Leburn, Victor. Leo Tolstoy. Raleigh, N.C: Lulu, 2006. Print.

Orwin, D. Tussing. Leo Tolstoy. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, 2005. Print.

Robinson, Douglas. Estrangement and the Somatics of Literature: Tolstoy, Shklovsky, Brecht. Baltimore, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press, 2008. Print.

Snodgrass, M. Ellen. Encyclopedia of…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Bloom, Harold., ed. Leo Tolstoy. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2003. Print.

Borrero, Mauricio. Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 2004. Print.

Leburn, Victor. Leo Tolstoy. Raleigh, N.C: Lulu, 2006. Print.

Orwin, D. Tussing. Leo Tolstoy. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, 2005. Print.
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