Writing Mentor Piece
Joseph Heller
“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22.”
Joseph Heller was born in New York on May 1, 1923. He was raised in a Jewish family and joined the US Army Corps at age 19 to fight in the Second World War. This heavily influenced his book Catch 22 because he was involved in the war and also flew planes like the main characters in the book.
Joseph Heller is often known for his most famous book Catch 22. It is often referred to as one of the greatest literary pieces of the twentieth century. Heller only wrote 7 novels in his career as writer, one of which came out after he passed away in December of 1999. The term catch 22 is now in the English language to express a puzzle that can not be solved. Some of the techniques Heller utilized were:
Joseph Heller is often known for his most famous book Catch 22. It is often referred to as one of the greatest literary pieces of the twentieth century. Heller only wrote 7 novels in his career as writer, one of which came out after he passed away in December of 1999. The term catch 22 is now in the English language to express a puzzle that can not be solved. Some of the techniques Heller utilized were:
- Repeating the same word multiple times within the span of a couple paragraphs.
- Detailing how processes could be done differently.
- Used stronger words to make a monotonous process seem more interesting.
"When he had exhausted all possibilities in the letters, he began attacking the names and addresses on the envelopes, obliterating whole homes and streets, annihilating entire metropolises with careless flicks of his wrist as though he were God." -Catch 22
This quote from Catch 22 shows how he can make a process seem interesting using words. He lightens up the paragraph with words such as "obliterate" and "annihilating". This is also an example of how he often details a process in very particular details, stretching out small processes into detailed phrases.