Literary Devices in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The first thing we learn about the idyllic campus of Alabaster Preparatory School is thatInformation as to the locale and setting of Alabaster, its course requirements, and the sports activities re...
Narrator Point of View
This whole sordid tale of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is told from the perspective of an uninvolved third-person narrator who happens to know everything that's going on in one...
Genre
With a fifteen-year-old protagonist who's navigating the ins and outs of boarding school life, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks definitely falls into the young adult category. After...
Tone
The tone of the book is helpful, informative, and rather thoughtful, if we may say so. Though it's told from the point of view of a third-person narrator, it's not just your typical laying down of...
Writing Style
Sure, the narrator has her rambling and reflective, but for the most part, the writing style is quite civilized, Austen-esque, even. The writing style is crisp and clear and tells the readers what...
What's Up With the Title?
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is a play on the history of the secret society that Frankie manages to find: The Disreputable History of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. When...
What's Up With the Ending?
If the beginning of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks opens with Frankie meeting a cute boy at the beach, then the ending turns this moment on its head. In the end, we see Frankie ha...
Tough-o-Meter
Sure, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is a story about an adolescent girl, but it's not overly fluffy or easy-peasy. Our Frankie is a pretty savvy girl, and so it makes sense that...
Plot Analysis
A Young Woman Blossoms In the beginning, young Frankie is just entering her sophomore year of high school. She's gotten a lot hotter over the summer, which is great because she captures the attenti...
Trivia
E. Lockhart, the author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is actually a vegetarian. Perhaps some inspiration for the Canned Beet Rebellion prank? (Source.)
E. Lockhart also says o...
Steaminess Rating
Though there are no explicit sex scenes in the book, it still takes place at a high school where a bunch of teenagers are away from their parents. There's obviously some exploration going on. Frank...
Allusions
The philosopher Jeremy Bentham (10.7) Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (10.10) P.G. Wodehouse, Something Fresh (11.12) P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters (11.14) Rob...