Diction In Henry James 'The Funeral'

Riddled with insouciance, haughtiness, and patronization, the author’s diction divulges the pompous outlook of the narrator. For instance, the onlooker continually mocks the “spectacle” of the funeral that he describes as one he “[would] have been sorry to miss.” Rather than expressing pity for the loss of an honorable man, he is instead merely concerned

The novella Generals Die in Bed was written by Charles Yale Harrison who was born in Philadelphia and raised in Montreal. Harrison fought in World War 1 with the Canadian army and later became a writer in New York City. Generals Die in Bed is a fictional novella based on Harrison’s personal experience with the army that mostly takes place in France from the early part of the war until 1918. The story follows a private throughout his time on active duty that offers a brutally honest depiction of the war trenches during World War 1. As the novella progresses, we gradually see the narrator’s growing hatred for war. By being chronological, the novella effectively illustrates the events as if they are happening in real time, the impact these events

In “Dog’s Death”, John Updike depicts the death of a young dog and creates a sorrowful and anguished speaker through detail in order to suggest to the reader that death is inevitable, even with all the affection and care in the world. John Updike describes the family’s love with the words “surrounded by love that would have upheld her”, conveying how much love and care they gave her. Through these melancholy details, Updike creates a somber but also poignant tone, as they effectively convey the family’s anguish. Through this tone Updike suggests that death is unavoidable.

Jessica Mitford’s, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain,” is an assertive account of the true realisms involving embalming. Jessica Mitford takes a bold stand against the funeral industry and states that people are “blissfully ignorant” (Mitford 310) on preserving people. Ultimately, Jessica Mitford’s argumentative essay is successful due to her very somber but informative and organized tone, her style using dark vivid imagery and quotations make her claims credible.

In the grim short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842, “The Masque of the Red Death” tells the tale of a kingdom ravaged with disease and a prince’s journey to escape death. Poe hides underlying messages throughout the story, leaving the reader to interpret the true meaning of prosperity and death. Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism and imagery in the form of an allegory to reveal to the reader that death is inescapable, no matter how wealthy you are.

Death can never be escaped no matter what. In “The Masque of the Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe shows the theme of death, a suspenseful mood, and an ominous tone. Through Poe’s use of literary devices, the reader can discover tone, theme, and mood. Throughout Poe’s life he experienced death with two of his mother’s and his young wife. Death is shown how inevitable it is with Poe’s writing and experiences combined together.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is about the Bundren family of six on their journey to Jackson to bury the matriarch of the family, Addie Bundren. The family consists of Anse Bundren, the patriarch of the family, Cash, the oldest son who makes Addie’s coffin, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman. Faulkner writes this novel with fifteen different viewpoints, each chapter narrated by one character, including Addie, who expresses her thoughts after her death. The characters’ chapters, except for Darl’s, are all jumbled and hard to read due to the absence of an objective narrator. Instead of being presented with a framework of events, the jumble of images, memories, and unexplained allusions by the alternating narrators, force the readers to take the pieces each character gives

In “Odgers’s Funeral”, by Henry James, the satirical and irreverent tones connote his emotions regarding the scum of society.

In Toni Morrison's novel, Song of Solomon, the “Dead” family, including Milkman, Ruth Dead, and Macon Jr. Dead are the protagonists of the novel. Even though each of the main characters of the book expresses dissimilar characteristics and actions toward specific events as Milkman’s name, several of them become alike and similar without noticing. A major factor that evolves throughout the novel is the symbolism of the name “Dead”, and the main character that this symbolism applies to is Macon Dead Jr. Other subjects that correspond to the meaning of “Dead” are the characters’ social classes and their way of living life. Wealth and money are recognized as the two main elements that symbolize the liveliness and happiness of life. However, in this

Society in today’s world is very alike to society years ago, with different social classes and stereotypes. In “Just walk on by” by Brent staples, a variety of rhetorical devices are used in order to convey the message of how a black man is trying to show society that he is so much more than the color of his skin. The author explains how the character was characterized as violent and dangerous because he was black. Staples continues on a sort of journey with the character to show how he overcomes that stereotype, by whistling classical music to give the idea that he is mature and less threatening. Throughout the piece, Staples uses devices that will help the reader better understand the struggles that the character has to face on a daily basis.

While Mrs. Mallard is just starting a new life, so to say, for herself, her life she has known comes to an end. She is just able to become “free, free, free!” (57) when she loses her life. Kate Chopin uses contrast with the news Richard’s gave, the way Mrs. Mallard felt in the room and the doctor’s news to show how women perceived marriage in the 19th century in her story The Story of an Hour.

The author's diction highlights the man's perception of Mr. George Odger and his funeral. The man thought that Mr. Odger was a "useful and honorable man," which was an ironic contrast to the mans comment on Mr. Odger, "He distinguished himself by a perverse desire to get into the Parliament." These comments accentuate Mr. Odger's personality and behavior as he tried to achieve his goals. Then a feeling of curiosity to know more about their relationship fills the reader due to the ironic and compromising comments of the man. The man then describes how the funeral had a "serious comedy" tone, but he still found the funeral to be "one of the finest of the year." This comments are interesting due to the nature

In “The Funeral Passage”, the tones of detachment and condescension reflect the speaker’s twisted amusement and attitude towards a lower-class funeral. The author’s detail illustrates the speaker’s mini adventure upon discovering a lower-class funeral procession and their thoughts towards it. The speaker “emerge[s] accidentally” into the midst of a funeral that was so peculiar, “the spectacle was one [they would] have been sorry to miss”. The speaker had the fortuity of happening upon a funeral for a well-known lower-class London citizen. The speaker’s particular use of the word “spectacle” immediately tells the reader that the speaker doesn’t particularly care or feel saddened about the fact that there is a funeral currently happening. The

The speaker in the poem “Because i could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson personifies death as a gentlemen to make death seem less scary. The speaker states “Because I could not stop for death--He kindly stopped for me…” (568). Death normally cannot stop to let a person inside a carriage. However, the reason this scene is happening is because we have such a fear of death that most of us refuse to stop for it. However, as the courteous gentleman that death is kindly stops for the speaker in the poem to show that death isn’t so bad. Another example is “And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility” (569).

In this world, there are certain issues that most people would rather avoid confronting, and at the top of that list is one a particular event that inevitably affects everyone: death. There were, however, a select few that accepted death – embraced it, even. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an author who explored this topic extensively through the myriad short stories he wrote in his lifetime. Initially, they were all published anonymously and separately in magazines and the like, which were very well-received by the public. He then collected them into multiple volumes and re-published them, hence the title Twice-Told Tales. This selection includes the stories The Haunted Mind, The Minister’s Black Veil, and The Wedding Knell, which all address common