Okay, I am supposed to "Craft a well written essay that illustrates how one of the summer reading authors uses colloquial speech to put the reader in the context of the characters" . I chose to do Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" and here is my essay.
I feel like I'm off from the topic... not sure. I don't know whether I'm writing it correctly=/
August Wilson has used colloquial speech in his work, The Piano Lesson, to create and convey the tone and mood he wants for each scene. The best way to learn how he has used colloquialism to put the readers in the context of the characters is studying difference usage of informal words among characters. For instance, Berniece uses more colloquial words when she talks with her borther, Boy Willie than with Avery or Lymon.
Conversations between Berniece and Boy Willie have a big part in the play and for that reason, many of colloquial speech is found in their dialogues. For example, in Act I Boy Willie says "I ain't done nothing but come in and say hi. I ain't got in the house good". The words, "ain't" and "ain't done nothing", help readers to make prediction on either Berniece or Boy Willie, or setting. It also shows discontent of Berniece on Boy Willie's unexpected visit and offended Boy Willie by her remark. In Act 2, Berniece warns Boy Willie by saying, "you gonna play around with me one too many times". This quote well conveys her falling patience on Boy Willie's action. It also gives the reader an idea of their poor relationship.
The way Berniece and Avery talk is different from the way Berniece and her brother uses, representing a different relationship. For example, in the play Avery occasionally proposes Berniece to marry him: "I ain't never found no way through life to a woman I care about like I care about you" but she always turns him down by saying "I ain't ready to get married now". The part when Avery says "I ain't never found no way..." with triple negative words in one sentence give the readers an idea that how badly Avery wants to marry her. The continuous proposal and refuse also well indicate their relationship.
Similar to the dialogues with Avery, Berniece uses analogous colloquial speech in the conversations with Lymon. When Lymon complains about his suit and Winning Boy, Berniece comforts him by saying "Ain't no telling what you liable to run into out there (saloons)". In this quote, the readers can learn that Berniece has not had any feeling against Lymon. Later on the play, he offers a perfume to Berniece, saying "I wanna give it to you". In both examples, the colloquial words make each sentence more like it was from Bernice and Lymon.
Considering Berniece and other characters are from the South, the colloquialism has made The Piano Lesson more realistic with informal words. With the colloquial speech, August makes the readers to think all the characters in the play are actually from the South, struggling with their present lives. He well draws the readers into the perspective of the characters with colloquial speech.
