“Night Circus Analysis”
In showing the opening night three different times in the same part, Morgenstern creates mystery and tension in how each character reacts to the lighting of the cauldron. The first part is the description of the cauldron-lighting, telling the reader in detail how each bow creates a different color change in the flames (120). The first reaction the reader is shown is that of the crowd, which is “uproarious” (121). This gives us the idea that it was a major spectacle, something that caused great joy and wonder in those who saw it. However, in the second chapter (part II of opening night), Celia’s reaction is brought to the reader’s attention. “It courses through her body, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine, almost knocking her off her feet” (127). Lighting a cauldron shouldn’t have this effect on people, even if it is magic, which is revealed only pages before when Marco “takes a large, leather-bound notebook from his coat” and “tosses it into the bottom of the cauldron” (125). Following Celia’s reaction, Chandresh is shown having a negative side-effect of the magic used to change the hue of the flame. He asks Tara, “Did you feel that?” (131) as he shakes and seems to be in shock due to the lighting. Tara, however, has no idea what he is talking about, causing suspense and confusion as to why it only happened to Chandresh and Celia. The rest of the circus seems to be lapping up the amazing lighting ritual, yet the two people that have a significant connection to Marco have physical side effects, like a wave going through them and no one else. Mystery and intrigue as to why this happened are created through this three-part reading of opening night, mainly due to the multiple perspectives of one single event.
“Night Circus Analysis” Reflection
For this piece, we were told to choose among three different analysis choices of The Night Circus; the one that I chose was where I had to analyze why Morgenstern chose to have three different viewings of the same event (the opening night of the circus) and how it shows tension and mystery. It was interesting to analyze why Morgenstern did this in her book, and I found myself figuring out something that I wouldn’t have had I just read the book.
As for standards that I accomplished in this piece, I am proud of my ability to “analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to...order events within it...create such effects as mystery, tension or surprise”, which is specifically mentioned in standard ELAGSE9-10RL5. In fact, that standard was almost word-for-word our prompt for the analysis. I was also able to “cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis” of the text, found in standard ELAGSE9-10RL1, which was used quite often in this unit.