Comparing 'The Last Leaf And Gwilan's Harp'

“The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events: a marriage, or a last-minute rescue from death; but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” – Fay Weldon

Among other essays I have read in this book, the essay El Camino Doloroso written by David Searcy seems to have won my heart over the other ones. This story is short; in fact, it only has three pages, but the message Mr. Searcy conveys surpass these simple pages. To be honest, I have to read this essay three times to understand what is going on with the character and what is happening in this story. At last, I come up with this: In this essay, David Searcy wants those who believe dreams are flaws and useless to think that dreams and love are those that motivateki people to live.

9.) Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton can be deemed merely a story love that has an unfortunate conclusion. However, when one takes into account, all of the dialogue, all of the symbolism and imagery, all of the primary themes, Ethan Frome transforms into a story concerning how quickly a man’s mind, body, and spirit can be broken apart, reassembled, and broken back down again. From the events that place Ethan in such a terrible state to the arrival of a newcomer that spurs his heart, it is a tale of hardship and restoration. Edith Wharton did not specifically try to satisfy this summary when she was composing it, however. She just penned a tale that was based on her adventures at her family home many summers ago. It is this reason that allows a level of leniency when devising a reasonable moral for the story. When the literary techniques Edith used and the two most prominent themes are taken into account, the best potential answer to the question at hand is that Edith Wharton wanted to teach her audience that grief and loneliness lead to questionable choices with disastrous

What are the aspects of loss? The characters in the short stories “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, Isaac Singer’s“The Washwoman” , and “The Last Leaf” by O’ Henry, all suffer great losses in different aspects. Ursula K. LeGuin characterizes Gwilan as a skillful, lighthearted harper; however she suffer a great loss later in her life. Unlike Gwilan, in the short story of Issac and O’Henry, the washwoman and Behrman both live a tragic life since the beginning of the story. The characters in three different short stories suffer losses materially, emotionally, and physically.

Having lost her mother in birth and with her whole life encircled by death, Vada Sultenfuss, the gloomy 11-year-old daughter of Harry Sultenfuss, the town’s funeral parlour manager, is no wonder that death became almost an obsession to her.

Life is something that requires a significant amount of physical and mental effort. Some are deeply fortunate to have everything arranged for them and not have a single worry. For others, life is full of stress and hardships. It all just depends on how one was raised and brought into this world. Out of the Rick Bragg articles, the characters went through grief and heartache, government involvement, and the absence of life’s given moments.

In addition, the last way that the short story demonstrates grief is when the main character is fishing and she immediately gets the determination to catch the fish she is chasing,“It occurs to me if I fall, I will not have the strength to regain my footing”(36). The reader then gets the feeling that the main character is upset and irritated at the same time. The reader begins to think that it may be that she is a really good fisher and she does not want to let the fish go. The main character is imaging the fish as her father and if she lets the fish escape her, then she would not have the strength to hold herself together anymore. If she lets her father go then she knows that the wave of sorrow will finally hit her and he will finally be gone. When the main character had decided to stay there the rest of the day it was her way of remembering her father. In conclusion, the way grief is displayed in the short story is through the whole entire family and how everyone is different and they take

At the end of the story, the reader is left with a definite, yet somewhat inconclusive end. It allows the reader to answer certain questions by inferring and gathering clues. For example,was John's death accidental or intentional? Who is responsible for John’s death? John is a victim of snow or his wife’s betrayal? Had John not returned that night as he did, and the if story were to continue, would Ann have made amends? Or would she have continued to some extent with Steven? The sudden termination of the story fails to reveal both what John's motivations were, and what Ann's future holds. The end also makes the moral and themes of the story high interpretative for the readers. It leaves the reader to ponder the "right" ways for an adult to respond to a partner's infidelity, the impact of one’s permission of the will, the role of women in a successful marriage, the obligations of a husband, and test of human nature under the stress of isolation. Ross mentions, “On the palm, white even against its frozen whiteness, was a little smear of paint” (12). This makes the reader ponder about John’s actions and motivations before death, and the connections between the painted door and the married couple. The presence of a shocking and ironic end makes the story highly impactful. It leaves a great deal of the story’s content open to interpretation and examination by the

She lets her erratic emotions get the better of her, and commits one last act of immaturity. After furiously destroying Ms. Lottie’s marigolds-the only form of beauty left for the whole neighborhood- Lizabeth realized that “that was the moment when childhood faded and womanhood began.” When Lizabeth had seen Ms. Lottie’s look of melancholy and sorrow, she had finally understood how gravely important the marigolds were to the old lady. In that moment, Lizabeth knew what she had done was remorseful, and she couldn’t help but feel compassionate towards her, “Whatever verve there was left in her, whatever was of love and beauty and joy that had not been squeezed out by life, had been there in the marigolds she had so tenderly cared for.”

In her short story “Marigolds”, Eugenia Collier, tells the story of a young woman named Lizabeth growing up in rural Maryland during the Depression. Lizabeth is on the verge of becoming an adult, but one moment suddenly makes her feel more woman than child and has an impact on the rest of her life. Through her use of diction, point of view, and symbolism, Eugenia Collier develops the theme that people can create beauty in their lives even in the poorest of situations.

Throughout the course of African American Experience in Literature, various cultural, historical, and social aspects are explored. Starting in the 16th century, Africa prior to Colonization, to the Black Arts Movement and Contemporary voice, it touches the development and contributions of African American writers from several genres of literature. Thru these developments, certain themes are constantly showing up and repeating as a way to reinforce their significances. Few of the prominent ideas in the readings offer in this this course are the act of be caution and the warnings the authors try to portray. The big message is for the readers to live and learn from experiences. The authors want their audiences to use these tales and examples as life lessons and hope for them to utilize these sources in their future lives. These two ideas are presented through the use of figurative language, mainly metaphors. In addition, the similar tone of these pieces allows the author to connect more deeply with the readers. Toni Morrison’s Nobel lecture, folktales, and several poems illustrate how metaphors and tone are used to describe experience and caution the readers.

One day, Lizabeth comes home to her father crying about not having a job. This is really hard on Lizabeth because she describes her father as the “rock” of her family. After this, Lizabeth is feeling so many different emotions so she goes and destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds. Lizabeth really regrets her actions afterwards but feels like this was her transition to

Marriage is often much more complex than what people envision, as many factors play roles in ensuring it will last. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston portrays the story of a young African-American girl named Janie whose Grandma marries her off to Logan Killicks, a man she does not love. Yearning for real love, Janie runs away and marries a promising rich man named Joe Starks, only to discover that there is once again a lack of affection. After enduring almost twenty years of a hollow relationship, Janie’s second husband passes away, and by chance she meets the love of her life; a young man known as Tea Cake. However, this happiness is short-lived as she is ridiculed for being with a younger man, whom not too

Perhaps the famous old saying, “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage,” applies to almost anyone. This saying also pertains to life especially when one is encountered by dreadful or horrific circumstances. This is very much true for three mysterious and valiant people who share their own stories. A true survivor has the ability to survive physically, mentally, and emotionally under any given circumstances and lives until the very end to signify it. The autobiographies, Night by Elie Wiesel, Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki, and Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls displays how having character traits, such as determination, helped them survive through their past journeys in life, to succeed in informing readers about their experiences.

In the play Our Town, written by Thornton Wilder, and the novel Sounder, written by William H. Armstrong, most of the characters have a great deal of loss to cope with. The mother in Sounder suffered the loss of her husband and also lived through extreme poverty. She is a strong person to have survived the loss of a husband and lived on in poverty with a child to take care of. The next character who suffered lots in their life is Mrs. Gibbs from Our Town. She was forced to cope with the loss of both of her children before she herself died at the end of the play. The third character is the boy from the novel, Sounder. This young child lossed his father, and his dog that meant a lot to him. “Only it seems to me that once in your life before you