Raft Of The Medusa Essay

While Gericault's, Raft of the Medusa was essentially criticized for its lack of direct criticism of the event and more a display of the human element, it is this feature that made it characteristically romantic. Gericault took the national scandal out of the papers and turned it into a personal event for each of the passengers. Rather than depict the weltering bodies of the crew, he gave them more muscular frames in vigorous poses. Originally setting out to portray the event as nothing more than a visual truth, he shifted his focus to portray a greater truth of suffering.

A Voyage Long And Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America

Our world is full of mystery. There are countless unknown traces from the past all over the world and they are waiting to be solved and answered. Archaeology studies the ancient human past through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. In fact, archaeology is the tool that decipher the clues that are found through its continuous development of excavation and methods. The advance of new technologies in recent decades enable archaeologists to excavate previously unapproachable areas, such as underwater. The underwater archaeology is developed in order to discover the lost shipwrecks and various

"The Boat" by Alistair MacLeod is the story told from the perspective of university teacher looking back on his life. The narrator relates the first memories of his life until his father's death. The story focuses on the conflicting relation between the mother and the father, and their different perspectives on how their children should lead their lives. MacLeod uses features of setting to present the tension between tradition and freedom.

Oftentimes, when burdening or stressful circumstances begin to generate strain on an individual, they find themselves turning to literary art as a form of mental relief. This deliverance applies, in particular, to the narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and the father in “The Boat,” by Alistair MacLeod. In both short stories, readers can pinpoint several instances in which these specific characters seek solace through differing formats of written language. The function of the father’s books in “The Boat,” and the narrator’s diary in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is to serve as an instrument of escapism, rebellion, and self-expression, within the controlled existence of

It was Clayton who climbed up and freed the boat, and Bud, a tall fat boy, who got the weight of it on his back to turn it into the water so that they could half float, half carry it to shore. All this took some time. Eva and Carol abandoned their log and waded out of the water. They walked overland to get their shoes and socks and bicycles. They did not need to come back this way but they came. They stood at the top of the hill, leaning on their bicycles. They did not go on home, but they did not sit down and frankly watch, either. They stood more or less facing each other, but glancing down at the water and at the boys struggling with the boat, as if they had just halted for a moment out of curiosity, and staying longer than they intended, to see what came of this unpromising project.

The Shipman’s Tale, one of the many tales in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, is exactly suited to the Shipman’s personality and profession as given in “The Prologue.” The shipman is described by Chaucer in the prologue as very sneaky, deceitful, and even pirate-like. The Shipman’s tale matches his personality and profession because The Shipman’s Tale is one of trickery and con. The monk in the tale tricks both the merchant and the merchant’s wife out of their money. He also uses his relationship with the merchant to his advantage, because he knows the merchant would never suspect him of having sex with his wife. The shipman is also portrayed in the prologue to have no sense of remorse or feelings of sorrow.

Medusa was a victim and not a villan. Medusa was not born an ugly, cruel lady with snakes as hair and eyes that turned people into stone, she was cursed. Even worse, Medusa was not punished for her own wrong doing. Medusa’s life was completely changed after something horrific happened to her. In this story, Medusa is not the villian, nor the monster many see her as today. Medusa was a girl who was missunderstood.

Symbolism allows writers to suggest their ideas within a piece of literature. This is found in most types of writing. Stephen Crane expresses this in his short story, The Open Boat. Through symbolism and allegory, it is demonstrated that humans live in a universe that is unconcerned with them. The characters in the story come face to face with this indifference and are nearly overcome by Nature’s lack of concern. This is established in the opening scenes, the “seven mad gods” and in the realization of the dying soldier. The descriptions that Crane uses in the opening scenes illustrate nature’s lack of concern for their tragedy. He discusses the waves in the ocean that continually roll and crest. The waves are problems or

In the time when the French salon would have been looking for a Rococo style painting of important figures and royalty to hang in their gallery they accepted Gericault’s work as it was an extreme change from the typical types of paintings they hung. It represented the nameless souls who fought to stay alive upon the raft. Jeffaris (2005) exclaims “This event was a political scandal - and Gericault's painting - an exposé - a 17th Century tabloid headline!”. They knew it would create a stir and grasp attention, and it has become iconic for the the way in witch it broke traditions. This event had a huge effect publicly because of the fact that the lower ranking people were left behind to die while the wealthier and more important people escaped on life rafts. This is quite metaphorical of the political situation in France in this period (after revolution) as the wealthy got wealthier and the poor were left to starve and die. Its ironic that this painting of such a horrible event was such a symbol of hope for the lower class of France at the time. It showed the strength of the weak and poor, it showed that the lower class had the strength to survive even after the wealthy had taken everything and left them to die. Giving hope to the lower tier of society that anyone can make it regardless of their status. From the description of Medusa (n.d.) the raft of the medusa was “Intended as a political statement about the disorderly state of the French

In the story "The Open Boat," by Stephen Crane, Crane uses many literary techniques to convey the stories overall theme. The story is centered on four men: a cook, a correspondent, Billie, an oiler who is the only character named in the story, and a captain. They are stranded in a lifeboat in stormy seas just off the coast of Florida, just after their ship has sunk. Although they can eventually see the shore, the waves are so big that it is too dangerous to try to take the boat in to land. Instead, the men are forced to take the boat further out to sea, where the waves are not quite as big and dangerous. They spend the night in the lifeboat and take turns rowing and then resting. In the morning, the men are weak and exhausted. The captain

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greek civilization had a god for everything that they could have thought of. One such god was Poseidon. Poseidon was the god of the sea and horses (Gil). Symbols that represented Poseidon included the trident and dolphin(Gil). He became one of the most well known of the gods because of his fierce temper and his adulterous ways. Poseidon was also part of many battles, such as the Trojan Wars. (Poseidon: Greek) He also caused many hardships for Odysseus as he returned home from the war.(Gall 49). Poseidon was a lustful (Gall 48) being who showed signs of violence and was also known to hold fierce grudges against those who wronged him (Poseidon).

The sacred canoe journey was one of the several native traditions that was lost during the assimilation period where europeans attempted to save the man, but leave the Indian behind. Traditionally, there was a ceremony on land that involved the entire Indian community that was performed when someone lost a loved one or felt extremely depressed. The ceremony was to help bring the lost soul out of their depression and allow them to live their day to day life. The canoe resurgence is similar after so many hardships the Native people have had to endure. The canoes help tribe members to retrieve language, culture, and songs. This is a chance for Natives to get out of the western clock and instead think about their own. I think for so long Native Americans have been forced to

The poem “Medusa” by Carol Ann Duffy is connected to the Greek story of Medusa who was killed by Perseus, a Greek hero, by using the a reflecting surface. Carol Ann Duffy poem is written in the perspective of Medusa. The question answered in this essay will be; How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? The interpretation of the poem might vary depending on the age social status, gender, culture and the time period in which the text was read in. The variation of the interpretation will be based on the different interpretation of the literary devices such as metaphors, the effect of repetition and structure of the poem.