Book Report Magonia

Although Birdie’s sad story seems to be very tragic, it is not identical to the normal literary tragedies that we normally see. Usually, a tragedy is written with a heroic character and features characters acting out the roles of the story. Instead, Waxen Wings displays a girl who loves flying, but is caught up in a series of unfortunate events Unless the reader is also a lover or flying, it is

In life, there are often many different ways to experience an event depending on a person’s background and field of study. Regarding these two passages, John Audubon, a scientist, and Annie Dillard, an artisan, describe a murmuration of starlings based on their experiences. The use of their craft in the description of this phenomenon is shown through their styles of writing. While both authors use descriptive language, Audubon utilizes an exact and scientific style while Dillard utilizes a reflective and poetic style.

John James Audubon and Annie Dillard are two authors who both describe large flocks of birds in flight. Although Audubon describes pigeons and Dillard speaks about starlings, these passages can be easily compared. Both authors feel that the birds are beautiful and worthy of admiration, but Audubon is more curious about the birds than Dillard seems to be. Dillard feels more connected with the birds, as if they are a part of her, and she appreciates their mysteriousness more than Audubon does. These similarities and differences are clearly conveyed through the author’s use of diction, imagery, details, similes, metaphors, and level of formality.

Birds are shown throughout our culture as symbols. Simply by their appearance, they can spark feelings of love, freedom, or wonder in the hearts of people. Birds are creatures that have attributes similar to the beings on earth that are so fascinated with them. Humans are full of constant bewilderment and curiosity, so it is no epiphany that they are entranced by such graceful creatures of the sky. People tend to use birds as symbolism, given the stark similarities between the creatures in the sky and humans. Each can fly with the desire to soar above in the sky and see all that is hidden down below. Both humans and birds can sing songs of revelation to their neighboring friends. Additionally, birds and humans can find themselves being restrained by something. Although such a comparison seems bizarre, Anthony Doerr captured the essence of birds and its connections entirely in his novel, All the Light We Cannot See. Almost every character that is spoken of has an aspect of freedom and flight deep in their story. Doerr’s novel follows the life of two teenagers as they travel through life during the disaster of World War Two. Many characters in the novel exhibit actions and situations in which a bird might find itself in. Werner finds himself fighting restraints, as a bird would to its cage. Marie-Laure is a young birds stretching her wings for the first time. The surrounding friends and characters also face the issues of the war, similar to which a bird struggles with the

His daughter understood the bird better than all the others who had owned it. As soon as the swallow was brought to her by her father she noticed it was feeling sickly as was she. The text states“When the girl wakes suddenly in the middle of the night, the first thing she sees through her fever is a small cliff swallow blinking at her from behind the bars of a rattan cage. She knows too well how terrible it is to be kept inside. ‘I know what you need, little bird,’ she murmurs. But the swallow no longer believes what people say. Slowly, the sickly girl rises from her bed and carries the cage to the open window. Unlatching the rattan door, the girl asks, ‘Will you fly for me, too, little bird?’ And her language is one that the swallow understands.” This shows how the girl and the swallow understand each other. The swallow was able to fly under the rice moon yet another time. Both the little girl and the bird became free. The swallow passed by the little girl’s window every

Among other animal imagery, birds appear frequently throughout the story in times of crisis. The birds often foreshadow dangers that lie ahead. For instance, when Robert's team takes a wrong turn, "the fog is full of noises"(80) of birds. Then the birds fly out of the ditch and disappear. Robert and Poole know that "[there] must be something terribly wrong...but neither one knew how to put it into words. The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them. There was an awful sense of void--as if the world had been emptied" (81). The birds return and when Robert nears the collapsing dike and "one of the birds [flies] up cut[s] across Robert's path" as if it is trying to prevent him from going any further. Robert does not heed the warning and almost dies in the sinking mud.

This time, the page was turned to a dying bird. And I mean, really dying. Most of the picture was this one wing, held straight up. All its feather were spread out, and you could see how Audubon got their pattern down - three rows of long, overlapping dark feathers, tipped white at the ends. You could feel how the wind would cruise over them. It was beautiful, and it’s just what you looked at first. And then you looked down at the second wing, which was crushed. And then you looked at the

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

The bird stops singing at once and then I’m aware of all that could happen to me… just me, I’m totally by my own now. I find myself, waiting for something really bad to happen; that feeling inside found its way out, yelling at me, saying that this is not my imagination, that something is actually wrong, I wonder what could it be. Seconds freeze, floating on the air, a moment seems to be a life time, how many lifetimes have I been here waiting? And what am I waiting for?

Now, it was finally time to be reunited with his team. But, luck was never on Yanagita's side. Three more wraiths quickly surrounded him as their friend was still burning despite. Knowing that he was no match against them, he saw an abandoned loading shuttle and raced towards it. The creatures began their hunt as they began running towards Yanagita. Eventually, he made to the shuttle and dropped the leg as he leant on it while using his sniper rifle. He fired one shot that managed to wound one of the wraiths and realized that the rifle wasn't going to help much. So, he threw the rifle down and reached for his shotgun. Then, he waited until one of the wraiths stupidly decided to charge towards

The imagery of the short story “The Birds”, by Daphne du Maurier, illustrates that nature will always overcome man. In the story the birds there are many examples of imagery but one of the main ones is “The birds had been more restless than ever” 52. This is letting the reader know that the birds are acting up. This also shows the reader that there is also a little foreshadowing in the story. Another part in the book where there is imagery is in the first sentence “On December the third the wind changed overnight and it was now winter”50. This tells you that it is now the coldest time of the year and it might explain why the birds are acting up. This also shows that mother nature is really throwing everything at them. The

Survival. As a famous saying goes, “Sometimes even to live can be an act of courage.” Survival is not something most Americans think of first thing in the morning. For some humans in the world, surviving is the most difficult task to complete in their daily life; one reason being poverty. For Nat Hocken, it isn’t poverty that made it difficult for him to survive; it is birds. Birds are known to have a predominantly positive connotation such as innocence, beauty, gentleness, nobility, and good omen. In the story “The Birds,” the author Daphne Du Maurier creates birds that are evil, violent, ferocious, and savage creatures that are apparently hungry for humans. Nat, living on a small farm, being physically disabled has to survive on his

Magical Realism: “Tita stayed flat on the ground, terrified. She couldn't move. If she was caught in the whirlwind again, the chickens could peck her eyes out. That hen hurricane was boring a hole in the dirt of the patio, a hole so deep that most of the chickens disappeared from the face of the earth” (Esquivel 364).

Birds are a sizable image in The Awakening. Edna feels like a caged bird, and wishes to be freed. When

Breathing in once again, my surroundings blur and I seem to freeze in time. In this moment, suspended in the forest, I hear a lone bird chip once, twice, but the third is absent. I search for the origin of the sound but I am moving in slow motion without a clear picture surrounding me. Exhaling, my speed regains full strength with a powerful breeze howling in my ears and lone bird is joined by a chorus of the forest’s inhabitants in harmony.