The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-18

Chapters 19-28

Chapters 29-37

Chapters 38-48

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Literary Devices

Foretelling/Foreshadowing

Often at the end of chapter or a section, Coyote will close with a foreboding warning. One example occurs at the end of the triumphant Chapter 28. The chapter is full of joy and rejoicing as Salvador at last plays the violin for his mother in a performance hall. Coyote wants the reader to know that the joy will be short lived and remarks, “Of course, it all fell apart. Everything does, if you give it long enough” (210). This type of reference to events that have not yet happened is called foreshadowing or foretelling. Authors often include a symbolic reference to foreshadow events, such as describing a thunderstorm just prior to an extremely conflicted event.

Gemeinhart uses foreshadowing to set the tone for readers. Foreshadowing in the book is almost exclusively used for bad news that is cropping up in the next chapter. Since the challenge facing her is major and there are numerous unexpected setbacks, Coyote uses foreshadowing to prepare the reader. The foreshadowing in the narrative also serves as a lure to draw the reader into the next chapter or section. After several instances of foreshadowing, the reader gets to the point of knowing something untoward is about to happen but also that Coyote will somehow prevail.

Apostrophe/Flashbacks

Occasionally, Coyote departs from the current narrative and relates her memories as if they are happening in the moment. The first of these is Chapter 7 just after Coyote learns that the park where the memory box is buried is about to be bulldozed. Another is Chapter 44 when Coyote is at the park and about to open the memory box. Before she opens the box, she recalls climbing a mountain with her parents and sisters. She lingers in describing her mother’s beauty and the unforgettable look of love they shared with one another.

This poignant memory intensifies the emotion and importance of the current moment, much as if a person is about to return for the first time to the location where a pivotal event occurred years earlier and the past memory colors and contrasts the current moment. Similar literary devices are used in other narrative forms such as plays and motion pictures. They are often referred to as flashbacks. In literature, such a temporary digression from the ongoing narrative is referred to as an apostrophe.

Symbolic Names

Gemeinhart uses symbolic names for several of the characters in the novel. The most obvious instances of this are with the Latino family. Salvador’s first introduction to Coyote is when he helps her escape from a service restroom where the police are about to descend. Salvador in English translates as “savior,” which Coyote would say is appropriate. His mother’s name is Esperanza, which translates as “hope” in English. When she takes her son and they leave her abusive husband, all she has is hope. Her hope is tested throughout the book but is ultimately confirmed on the far side of the country. Salvador’s aunt is Concepción, which can be translated “new life.” In her first appearance, she has just decided to leave her unhelpful boyfriend and start a new life. Coyote’s name becomes ironic when she and her father see a coyote mother and two pups in the wilderness. Her father’s name may be a symbolic reference to the constant motion and struggle one experiences at a rodeo.

Symbolic names are used by many writers to suggest their characters have certain qualities, as with Salvador’s family. Symbolic names are also used ironically, as in William Faulkner’s book Light in August that features an unpleasant protagonist who is ironically named Joe Christmas.