The unique artistry of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh

Prompt: The unique artistry of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh

3 exemplary essays on the unique artistry of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh

1. The unique artistry of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh, sample 1:

The short story 'My Sister's Painting' is not long (just over two pages), but it is enough to show us the author's talent through storytelling and character development. Tạ Duy Anh is a young writer appearing in the literature of the renewal period, who has attracted readers' attention with his unique and unique artistic style. In which there is the work 'My Sister's Painting.' The story has achieved second prize (highest prize) in the Future Calling Writing Competition launched by the Youth Pioneer Newspaper.

First of all, we must mention the storytelling method. Tạ Duy Anh chose the first-person narrative. The story is told by the narrator, the older brother. Such a choice helps to make the description of the character's emotions more vivid, meaning the narration is more natural and reveals more discreet and profound emotions. In this way, the emotional development, the changes in the older brother's perspective on his younger sister, and the beauty of the younger sister are naturally expressed. Through the older brother, we see his awakening, and we also see the beauty of his younger sister. Thanks to this, the theme of the work is more deeply revealed. The lesson about self-evaluation, self-awareness is more deeply absorbed by the older brother.

Readers highly appreciate the art of character development through the emotional development and attitudes of the older brother and younger sister. As a result, the story leads us from one surprise to another, continuously from the beginning to the end.

The emotional development of the older brother is constructed through the character's own narrative. That mood changes through the story's progression: at first, when seeing his sister drawing and curiously concocting paint; when his sister's painting talent is discovered; and at the end of the story, when facing his sister's first-place painting.

At first, there is a condescending attitude towards Kiều Phương's actions. When seeing his sister drawing and experimenting with making paint, the older brother only sees it as child's play and looks with a contemptuous gaze, paying no attention to what 'Mèo con' has drawn. This view is expressed through the older brother's narrative voice: I often call her 'Mèo' because her face is always dirty. 'Mèo' is always reminded because she often messes with things in the house: Hey, can't you keep them quiet? When discovering his sister with paint powder, the older brother blurts out: Why do you let her wipe everything white? Indeed, the attitude of older siblings in a family often regards their younger sister in this way!

When the artistic talent of the younger sibling is discovered, the older brother's mood also changes. Due to chance, Uncle Tiến Lê discovers the artistic talent of the younger sibling. After the painting done by the younger sibling that surprised, delighted, and pleased everyone, only the older brother feels sad, sad because he feels untalented and thinks that because of this, he is pushed out, forgotten by the family. Living with such feelings, the older brother can no longer be close to his sister as before, then treats her unfairly, just a small mistake from her and I would snap at her. This complex of inferiority and self-doubt sometimes makes the older brother, when sitting at the study table, just want to slump down and cry. Even the cute face of his sister that used to amuse him now makes the older brother extremely uncomfortable, feeling like he is being 'teased'. This is a common psychological type in everyone, especially in adolescence, that is self-esteem and feeling inferior when seeing others excel. Being very understanding of children's psychology, the author has presented a situation that changes the older brother's psychology attractively and creates drama for the story to be so interesting!

Another important situation that creates the climax of the character's emotional development for the older brother is at the end of the story. It is a series of consecutive surprises for the older brother, when he stands in front of the first-place painting given to him by his younger sister. The first surprise is that the painting depicts him. Moreover, what he could not have imagined is the image of himself through the eyes of his younger sister: In the painting, a boy is sitting looking out the window, where the sky is blue. The boy's face seems to emit a very strange light. His sitting posture not only thoughtful but also very dreamy! In an instant, his mood went from surprise to pride and then to shame. Surprised that the painting is himself, the painting is completely surprising to him. The pride is also understandable because he sees himself appearing with beautiful lines in his sister's painting. If Tạ Duy Anh had ended the older brother's mood here, the story would have nothing more to discuss. But more importantly, the author has aroused the older brother's mood not to stop at pride and satisfaction, but to feel ashamed. His state of shame 'unlocks' the drama of the story. And that's also the moment the character awakens to perfect his personality. In my sister's eyes, am I really that perfect? A suspended sentence with artistic implications of the author. Yet in my eyes... let the reader imagine the torment, the awakening of the character. But somewhere in the distance, there is a very 'gentle' reminder: everyone should look at themselves.

The character Kiều Phương - the younger sister - is constructed very gently by the author through various aspects: appearance (facial features), gestures and actions (curiosity, enthusiasm, painting), through attitudes and relationships with the older brother rather than going through the tension of emotions like the older brother. The uniqueness here is that the author allows the beauty of the younger sister to gradually appear through the eyes and narration of the older brother, becoming more beautiful until the end of the story, then that beauty lingers deeply in the heart of the older brother and evokes many thoughts for the reader: a talented and highly rated girl but Kiều Phương still does not lose her innocence, her purity of childhood and especially still shows her brother very good feelings, expressed in the painting 'My Brother'. Looking into that painting is also looking into the innocent, kind soul of the younger sister, the character the older brother has seen more clearly about himself to overcome the limitations of self-esteem and inferiority.

My sister's painting is a very everyday story, seemingly without literary substance. But with the creative artistic talent, Tạ Duy Anh has succeeded in portraying the characters' personalities in the story through very genuine and touching narration of the older brother. Without 'overdoing it,' the work has evoked profound insights into relationships, attitudes, and behaviors between people in daily life. The work has left many impressions on the readers.

2. The unique artistry of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh, sample 2:

The short story 'My Sister's Painting' by young writer Tạ Duy Anh demonstrates the author's talent through a gentle yet deeply profound storytelling style. The author has skillfully constructed the characters in a very subtle way.

The story is about a work that won the highest prize in a painting competition for children. Author Tạ Duy Anh has cleverly chosen to take an active role in the character 'I' to tell his story. Thanks to this choice, all the emotions of the author, as well as those of his younger sister, are portrayed more vividly.

Revealing the characters' personalities more deeply. Through the story, readers can see the change in the older brother's perspective on his little sister. Every word is expressed naturally. Through sincere confessions, we see the change in the older brother's temperament, the awakening of his soul towards his younger sister.

The story begins with the older brother's condescending attitude towards the actions of his younger sister named Kiều Phương. The older brother sees his sister always curious about learning to paint. He only sees it as childish, playful, and quite dismissive. This perspective is expressed through the older brother's narrative voice. I used to call her 'Cat' because her face was always dirty from her own mess. And because of that, little 'Cat' is often reminded and scolded by her family for making a mess of things in the house.

'Hey, can't you keep them quiet?'. When he saw his little sister dabbling in painting, his older brother asked with disdain, looking down on her. In his eyes, his little sister was just doing something silly, useless.

But when he learned that his sister had a talent for painting, recognized through clear achievements, his attitude towards his sister changed. The whole family being happy about discovering her talent made the older brother feel anxious, fearing his own inadequacy, that he had no special talent and would be forgotten by the family. In such a jealous and envious mood, the older brother distanced himself from his sister, no longer as close as before. The sibling relationship then had certain distances.

Then in family life, whenever his little sister made a mistake, the older brother would find excuses to scold her, feeling that she was looking down on him. Feeling inferior because he had no talent like her, the older brother just wanted to cry. He no longer felt affection for his sister but always showed dissatisfaction with his flesh and blood because he felt that she was better than him, that his parents loved and valued her more.

Author Tạ Duy Anh was extremely subtle in describing the characters' emotions, very suitable for their age, at the age of adolescence, people often have childish insecurities. This psychology is often seen in easily agitated, rebellious, and unreasonably angry teenagers.

The author created a situation that became the highlight of the story, completely changing the course for the older brother. Upon learning that his younger sister had won first prize in a painting competition, the older brother was curious to see the painting, only to find out that she had painted him. In the painting, the younger sister depicted him looking out of a window at a vast, blue sky. The boy in the painting had a magical, sparkling light emanating from his innocent, dreamy eyes.

In that moment, seeing the painting, the older brother felt a sense of pride, feeling that he was portrayed as perfect, wonderful in his sister's eyes. However, he also felt ashamed for having moments of jealousy, resentment towards his own flesh and blood sister.

Through this short story, author Tạ Duy Anh wants to praise family bonds as a sacred feeling, unmatched by anything else. Therefore, don't let a little envy, jealousy, or insecurity destroy the sacred bond, the essence of oneself. The author was extremely subtle in using his exceptional writing skills to successfully depict the older brother's character.

3. The exceptional art of the short story 'My Sister's Painting' by the young writer Tạ Duy Anh, model 3:

Tạ Duy Anh is a rising writer in the period of renewal, when the country is moving towards socialism. He has established his name and unique writing style on the poet's forum. The short story 'My Sister's Painting' is a touching and emotionally rich story. With the art of choosing the narrator and building the characters' psyches, he has achieved success in this story.

Tạ Duy Anh chose the first-person narrative, with the older brother narrating the story revolving around his younger sister. Through this, readers have a more objective view of the two siblings in the short story. Surely, this is Tạ Duy Anh's artistic intention, to clearly see the emotional and psychological changes of the older brother and his sister Kiều Phương. Also, through this choice of narrator, the author has shown the important role of the narrator in a story.

Furthermore, the success lies in the art of analyzing the characters' psychological development, the changes, and shifts in the older brother's perception of his sister. Thus, readers discover many unexpected situations and plot twists.

The older brother's feelings when he sees his sister 'experimenting and inventing drawing medicine' until his father's friend discovers her 'innate talent' and ultimately her first prize-winning painting. These emotional lines are not straightforward but always have unresolved doubts, hesitations, and regrets of the older brother.

The reader can observe the older brother's psyche through many details. When he sees his sister experimenting with drawing medicine, he views it as 'childish play, not worth paying attention to.' This is expressed through his nickname 'kitten' for her. Because Kiều Phương's face is always dirty, the older brother's attitude towards his sister is perhaps only indifference.

But when his father's friend discovers Kiều Phương's talent, the older brother's mood changes accordingly. Everyone in the house is surprised and happy about her talent, but the older brother feels sad because he feels everyone will forget about him, stop caring about him. Due to jealousy and resentment towards his own sister, 'I' always 'get annoyed' when Kiều Phương makes a mistake, even though it is very minor. This mindset has led to the older brother's mood always falling into despair and hating his sister more and more. Perhaps this is the psychology of adolescence. Tạ Duy Anh has closely followed the emotional life, feelings of young adolescents to reflect in his story.

However, if the story stops there, it is too dull and does not leave a mark on the reader. The key detail is Kiều Phương's prize-winning painting. A painting that changes the thoughts, psyche, emotions, and attitude of the older brother in a strange way. That painting, or in other words, the noble thoughts, the pure heart of Kiều Phương has made the older brother realize many things worth cherishing in life.

That painting is a painting of the older brother himself, looking out the window at the blue sky. The boy's face emits a strange light. Here, the reader realizes the sudden psychological change of the older brother from 'pride to shame.' This makes the older brother feel ashamed of Kiều Phương - a pure girl.