Research Paper on:
Comparing the Literary Styles of Anne Roiphe and Mary Karr

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truly horrific. The circumstances of each life story are, of course, different. Roiphe grew up in a luxury apartment locate in a high rise on Park Avenue in the 1940s  and 50s. Karrs family home was located in a trailer part in Texas in the 1960s. However, stylistic differences between the two works run much deeper then mere differences  in content. A close comparison of the two authors styles shows that Roiphe is far more serious in her approach. Stylistically, it is as if she is persistently asking the  reader, "Is this not dreadful?" Karr, on the other hand, although she, like Roiphe, records events that make for a perfectly dismal childhood and adolescence, her attitude is more  casual, more laid back, as if she is saying to the reader, "well, it could have been worse" Use of the writers persona Both writers narrate their own stories.  Karrs story starts when she is about seven years old and a doctor is encouraging her to lift her nightgown to show him any marks on her small body. As  this suggests, the doctor is checking for signs of child abuse. Karrs perspective is much more from the point of view of the child that she was at the time.  There is much more use of the present and present perfect tense in her writing. Like the child that she was at the time, the reader, therefore, is not at  all sure precisely what occurred or what will happen next. However, Karr does let us know that the circumstances have to do with her mother being "Nervous," and how dire  this prognosis can be. Her commentary, as a precocious little girl, keeps the reading relatively light, despite its content. For example, as it becomes clear to her seven-year-old self that