Reading Part I of Notes from Underground was unlike anything we have read before because it took the raw misery and unfortunate visuals and life of a common person. It was in a way interesting because it was written in such a “common” way and sounded more natural than the majority of the poetic sounding literary works of the time. I responded to Part I like I was reading a friend’s work. As stated before, it sounded so common and natural that it could be written by someone today. It was also made me feel deeply negative and pessimistic. Part I and Part II are connected by the narrator’s pessimism and anger towards the world. They differ in approach to illustrating these sentiments. The are connected in describing how the narrator’s pessimism
When a mentor gives you lemons, you make the lemonade. In the book The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, the person most important in Bod Owens’s life is his mentor, Silas. Bod Owens did not have the average teenage life; he was raised by two dead parents who live in a graveyard, and was not allowed to leave the graveyard unless his parents gave him permission. The lady on the Grey is the symbol of death that mentors Silas, which gives her and Silas a similar “job” in their afterlife.
Equally essential as the narrative in poetic writing is the overall effect of language structure and description. Although there is no distinct rhythm or rhyme to this poem, it is through language and structure that the text is made inviting. In the blank verse, “Why are you still seventeen.../ dragging a shadow you’ve found?” (1), this metaphor for a borrowed lifestyle facilitates a feeling of lost identity and nostalgia for the past. By incorporating such language, and by choosing a self-proclaimed rhetorical question, the speaker adds to the effect of personal obscurity. An immense component of the entire poem are the combined stanzas: “that's not the road you want,/ though you have it to yourself.” This emulates the feeling of regret. In continuation of the metaphorical self-evaluation of the poem, it supports the idea
• On page 89, “The shadows deepened in the little room. The music grew strange and fantastic—turbulent, insistent, plaintive and soft with entreaty. The shadows grew deeper. The music filled the room.” What are the shadows and music referencing besides themselves…what is happening?
The poem “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” by Amiri Baraka uses vivid images of sights, sounds, and daily activities to symbolize a heartfelt story. In the poem, Amiri, is one of the African American slaves who is frustrated about the discriminatory treatment by whites. So frustrated he wants to commit suicide. The writer used transition words starting with “lately”, “now”, and “then” for each stanza. He was imagining how he acted before his death and how his daughter reacted to his death.
Epilepsy, it is difficult to deal with for both the epileptic and his family. Howard’s harrowing seizures in the novel Tinkers, written by Paul Harding, frighten those that witness its inconsistency. George witnesses this in his father Howard and is frightened, himself. At first, their relationship is normal but because of Howard’s seizures the relationship collapses and George runs away in his teenaged years. Flashbacks of both George and his father Howard are entries into their lives. Harding helps the readers understand the themes of life, death and relationship between the Crosby men and reaches the readers by capturing their attention with examples for each. To represent the difficult, then later, satisfying life of
To begin, both “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are pieces of literature that illustrate a symbolic scenario of human society, and the relationship between individual truths and reality. As they both share the same vital messages concerning society’s reactions to unfamiliar and new knowledge, both passages contain similar themes and characters. Comprising of universes that include people who are heavily influenced by physical and mental barriers, “Allegory of the Cave” and Fahrenheit 451 emphasize the importance of curiosity, insight, and radical perception.
The truth behind the poem “Poverty and Wealth” is bone-chilling, almost as if it was meant for a character like Ponyboy Curtis. On the east side of town, there lives
Throughout ‘Still I RIse’, Angelou repeatedly reiterates ‘I’ll Rise’ to show her profound personality, whilst, Harrison’s lexical field of anguish conveys a lack of identity; Angelou’s use of ‘I’ll Rise’ delineates persistence and perseverance. The speaker uses this effective phrase on numerous occasions to emphasize how she will resist the oppression and stand proud. Moreover, Angelou’s speaker uses repeated rhetorical questions and an antithesis to again bring this perception of dedication and stamina. This is evident when said, “...to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?” The consecutive rhetorical questions used here show determination and strength. Angelou’s application of “Bowed head and lowered eyes?” suggests submissiveness to challenge tyranny. This recapitulates perseverance and persistence. An antithesis is used to show how she falls, yet, she is still rising: “Shoulders falling down like teardrops.” The contrast of ‘shoulders falling’ and ‘teardrops’ shows the belligerence and controversy but still gracefully and with refinement. On the contrary, in ‘The Bright Light of Sarajevo’ there is a dark and secretive atmosphere. This is evident when said, “Dark boy-shape leads dark girl-shape away to share one coffee”. Harrison exploits ‘dark’ to create this lexical field of despair and concealment. This concealment shows the lack of identity and insignificance. Furthermore, Harrison uses ‘candlelit cafe’ to devise a hidden and clandestine ambience. The application of ‘leads’ suggests mystery and the boy having an authoritative character . Throughout the poem, many themes are created, nonetheless, the most prominent is this matter of concealed emotions. Contrasting of confidence and uncertainty creates this conflict between one’s identity and the lack of identity.
The atmosphere of this exposition is clearly foreboding: "the dark clouds, broken chimneys, unused street, solitary cat, and dead air" all prove ominous and reflect the sordid ruling mood. Failed culture and solitary of aimless women ("a cat moved itself in and out of railing") not knowing exactly what to do about their predicaments in which
The poem Suicide Note, written by Janice Mirikitani (1987), talks about a young lady, who has studied in an Asian-American female college. The lady, unfortunately, committed suicide by jumping through her dormitory’s window. She left behind a note, citing reasons that led to her actions. After a critical analysis of the note, her parents were held responsible for her actions; they were pressurizing her to perform better in her exams. The poem, thus, describes the real feelings and the emotions of this young lady, who believes that committing suicide is the only option left to please her parents and to escape the enormous pressure placed on her. The persona uses voice in the poem to bring our attention to the sufferings she was going through, and that led to the devastating event. Voice in poetry is the strong words of a line, stanza or a page that creates a relationship between the audience and the persona. Voice can, therefore, be categorized as imagery, patterns of sounds created, rhythm, tone, and diction (Gahern 166). The following is a description of how the voice in Mirikitani’s suicide note helps the reader understand the persona’s reasoning.
There are clues throughout the poem that express the man’s past experiences, leading him to have a hostile tone. The speaker represents his past as “parched years” that he has lived through (7-8) and represents his daughter’s potential future as
One word that has come to represent the mid-18th century Enlightenment movement is “Reason”. The French philosophes believed that reason could provide critical, informed, scientific solutions to social issues and problems, and essentially improve the human condition. Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground is one of the most famous anti-Enlightenment novels for its rejection of these very notions. Through this novel he showed what he believed were gaps in the idea that the mind could be freed from ignorance through the application of reason, and the rejection of the idea that humankind could achieve a utopian existence as a result.
Within Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader, the characters Michael Berg and Hanna Schmidt possess individual and collective pasts which are impossible to escape and ultimately influence the paths of their lives throughout the novel. Schlink conveys this idea through the combined use of structure, setting, characterization, narrative perspective, and references to memory, dreams and symbolism.
Reading and writing instruction do not occur in discrete sections therefore trying to tease out one from the other was arduous, but ultimately fulfilling. I began teaching the writing process before the popularity of personal computers or online editing devices. The process and its helical nature of constant revision and circling back is akin to teaching. I reread the standard, plan a lesson, teach the lesson and then revise the lesson. But, each year different students come to my class.
He transitions the tone of the poem from one of despair and hopelessness to one of encouragement which adds a realistic effect to the poem while still encouraging the reader. There is a thin line between being completely discouraging and being realistic; the speaker in the story seems to keep the perfect balance between these two lines. With the skillfully organized tone, the author helps the reader better understand the mood of the story as well as the difficult