Skeletons-Personal Narrative

the screams of pain, the pangs of hunger, and merciless evil. The novel recounts the

Even though Mr. Malter knew Reuven would want to know about Danny. He kept this unspoken promise to Danny.

I used to be proud of who I was. I used to be free, but I’ve fallen, slowly stripped bare of all I was and could have been. I resent them, those who gruesomely ripped me from my haven and shackled me beneath their feet. I resent the world for abandoning me in this hell, leaving me to suffer. I resent who I have become, a puppet, used only for their entertainment. The devil only grows within me, plaguing my mind during the sleepless nights. Feeding images into my mind. Images of their blood splattered across the walls of their beloved blue and red (tent). My teeth sinking into the fatty flesh of their neck. The horror painted on their faces as I gleefully avenge the loss of my sanity. And I detest myself. I loathe the satisfaction that I feel fantasising about their murder. I fear myself, and what I have become under their control. I yearn for the days I spent in my

A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall. I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed — I aided — I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew

In “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the atmosphere is dark and unsettling. In addition to the setting and characters, there are various other factors that give the story a creepy feel to it. Furthermore, the narrator’s thoughts and descriptions add to the ominous mood of the story. For example, the tale states, “By long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, and had become in every respect a fitting subject for the species of torture which awaited me” (Poe 5). At this point in the story, the narrator, falling into his torturers’ trap, tips on the verge of insanity and begins to lose hope. The reader can easily picture the narrator, cowering against the wall, eyes wide, flinching at the slightest of sounds. Therefore, along with the horrifying aspects of the torture chamber, the unstable narrator and his thoughts create a foreboding and macabre feeling characteristic to gothic

First came the pride, an overwhelming sense of achievement, an accomplishment due to great ambition, but slowly and enduringly surged a world of guilt and confusion, the conscience which I once thought diminished, began to grow, soon defeating the title and its rewards. Slowly the unforgotten memories from that merciless night overcame me and I succumbed to the incessant and horrific images, the bloody dagger, a lifeless corpse. I wash, I scrub, I tear at the flesh on my hands, trying desperately to cleanse myself of the blood. But the filthy witness remains, stained, never to be removed.

this! With a shriek, I rushed from the margin and buried my face in my hands -weeping bitterly,”

First came the pride, an overwhelming sense of achievement, an accomplishment due to great ambition, but slowly and enduringly surged a world of guilt and confusion, the conscience which I once thought diminished, began to grow, soon defeating the title and its rewards. Slowly the unforgotten memories from that merciless night overcame me and I succumbed to the incessant and horrific images, the bloody dagger, a lifeless corpse. I wash, I scrub, I tear at the flesh on my hands, trying desperately to cleanse myself of the blood. But the filthy witness remains, stained, never to be removed.

I had not expected to feel, after an unknown amount of time, the gentle sensation of a small creature slobbering all over my face. In fact, I had not expected to feel anything. My resignation to the dark caverns of the hallowed Hades and the ghostly Persephone was fabricated out of the sheer desperation and weakness of my mortal body. After all these years, my spirit still clung onto the possibility of seeing those comforting peaks of Ithaca before I slipped the coin to the pocket of the ferryman.

Among the various significant events whether in daily life, calendar festivals, or spectacular victories, an element of religious dining throughout emphasized the Roman people’s aptitude to include their gods in every aspect of their lives. Different forms of offering could be arranged depending on the occasion or elements associated with that god; some deities required a specific ritual in order to please their being and align with the needs of the people. The benefits of contributing to such divine auspices were mutual; by offering a proper sacrifice, the believer provided compensation and in return, initiated contact with a higher power. Through the offering of an animal, the Romans appealed to their gods as a commitment and in return, were

The human mind possesses a vivid and limitless imagination. When confronted with tragedy, the mind can distort reality by making instances look appear worse. In the poem Persephone Writes a Letter to Her Mother by A.E. Stallings, the author discusses Persephone’s dreadful and solitary life in the underground world. The repressive lifestyle she is subjected to deforms her mind because of the negative attitudes caused by her surroundings. As a result, Persephone writes a letter to her mother, Demeter, in an effort to explain the horrors of the underworld. She describes the underworld as horrendous by stating “ the dead breed like the bulbs of daffodils- without sex or seed-all underground- Yet no race has such increase. Worse than insect.”

The overall themes found in this excerpt of the text are deception, impending doom, and death. This is displayed all throughout this reading by various symbols and actions by the characters. A few main symbols that contribute to the portrayal of these three themes are the Purple Flask, Lydia’s dress, Lydia’s demeanor, and even the way Midwinter faints when he first encounters Lydia upon returning to England. By using these symbols, there is a certain aspect of foreshadowing that hints and forthcoming death within the story.

Birth rate is defined as the number of live births per thousand of population per year. The US birth rate has dropped to the lowest point in over 10 years. In the first quarter of 2017, the rate fell to 61.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. This has fallen from the previous year of 62.5 births per 1,000 women. (Emanuel, CNN, 2017)

As Montresor and Fortunato venture the abyss of the catacombs, an eerie theme and scene linger. Montresor defines the catacombs as “a long and winding staircase” accompanied with “damp grounds … encrusted with nitre”, a poisonous compound laden along the walls (Poe). The nitre sickens Fortunato, and the use of onomatopoeia allows the reader to conceptualize the cacophony

Scuttling innocently through the twisting corridors I bore the same expression; head down, shoulders hunched, avoiding any eye contact - my desperate attempts to deter the despot for one day at least. Despite my efforts, there was no escape, as seemingly within the second of having that naively optimistic thought, a cruel, callous voice demanded I surrender my broach. Fear spiked, as it always did, but with it came something else, an alien emotion ... Looking back now, I see that it must have been the cumulative effect of months of torment that brought me to the realisation that at this point I had reached the nadir of my life. Deriding cackles pierced my ears and this time I recognised the emotion, fury. It burned through my veins, along with the memories of the past to form a feeling of overwhelming power. I met the daggers that would usually invoke terror, and calmly, I said “No.”