Sunday, January 27, 2013

V is for vignette

LifLG says: 
vignette (vin-YET) noun
a short but descriptive passage in a book or scene in a movie

In my efforts to earn a 7-12 English endorsement for my teaching license, I took a class in adolescent literature. One of the books that we read was The House on Mango Street, which is a coming-of-age novella written entirely in brief vignettes. I was surprised to find that the book, although new to my reading list, is as old as I am. The tiny sections within describe the main character's thoughts, observations, and experiences in a somewhat disconnected fashion, but the overall effect is a book I can read again and again. Occasionally I choose a vignette to read aloud to my students, but I can almost never put it down without reading a few more sections just for me.

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