E. Dodge Post 3

Engraved into the story Sold, Patricia McCormick speaks through the demolished eyes of a young girl, in such an honest and isolated tone that the reader can almost take on the role of a character in the book.

Sold is well understood through the diction that the author portrays. "My mouth is parched. I stand on shaky legs, then collapse on the bare floor, the pain between my legs like a searing coal" (122). You are given such diction that not only broadens your vocabulary, but also gives you a sense of feeling and also imagery.

"Before it starts, you hear a zipper baring its teeth, perhaps the sound of a shoe being kicked aside in haste, the wincing of the mattress" (127). The writer allows you to imagine the physical presence of being in that room, watching this stranger undress while you await a destiny that you cannot escape. The blatant honesty of this reality is present through the description given.

The detail that Lakshmi envisions herself, such as "chatter of girls" and "aroma of the bowl of curried rice" (112), not only provides evidence for her desire to be amongst those things, but brings more components to the story being told. Patricia McCormick uses such details in a way that it helps you comprehend the isolation at hand with Lakshmi.

What some readers tend to favor, is direct honesty; there is no hidden story or confusion to the book. In Sold that is exactly the case. The author used knowledge and honesty to abide confusion, and her sentences are not only detailed with image and applaud-worthy diction, but short and to the point. This allowed the book to be not only well understood but well written.