The death of a Moth by Virginia Wolff
I think the essay is very beautifully written, yet I find it to be very dark. Virginia Wolff suffered from depression and other personal issues, and I really think this is something that shines through in the essay. The essay is about the simplicity of life and death. The life of the moth represents the life of humans. In spite of this simplicity, the author also wants to remind us of the power of death. Life can be taken away from us at any moment of time, and this will in fact happen to everyone at some point. Even though the essay portrays something as simple, and perhaps insignificant, as a moth, and its journey through life, the story really caught me. I got the experience that I was there with the
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Leaving your everyday life of work and routines behind, is healthy no matter what age you’re at. Experiencing a new culture and meeting new people of different backgrounds is something very valuable. You will gain important perspectives along the way. Travelling helps you look at your good old and safe home country in a new light. It helps you see your everyday life in a new light – you may find out how grateful you are for some aspects, but it may also motivate you to make changes in other areas. I have no doubt, that it’s the travels I’ve made throughout my life, that has enriched me with my curiosity and open-mindedness towards life and people. The effects of travelling are not just short-term, you will learn a lot along the way, that will be valuable all throughout your life. Being able to see the things from a worldly perspective, is helpful in both the small situations of your everyday life, but perhaps, also in relation to your work. I think travelling is a basic human desire – to put miles between your home and wherever your next location might be. This doesn’t mean that your destination has to be on the other side of the world. Experiences of same value and caliber may be closer than you think. Furthermore, there are many different types of travels. Some people prefer hiking in the Alps, other people want to lay by a beach in Thailand while some people like big-city holidays in New York or London. Some people prefer having a group of friends or family with them, whereas others like being completely on their own. And in spite of all the above mentioned advantages, some people also choose to live their life in one place only. This may be out of fear, because they can’t afford to spent the time away, or other barriers such as
In the Time of the Butterflies- Critical Analysis The novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez was published in 1994 and was written as a tribute to the Mirabal sisters, better knowns as “Las Mariposas” (the butterflies). These sisters were women who stood up against the transgressions in their country—a country that was under a governance of a cruel dictator known as Raphael Leonidas Trujillo. It just so happened to be that this circumstance is the reason as to why the Alvarez family had to move back to New York City. Her father joined the underground assembly in an endeavor of plotting to overthrow Trujillo.
“Sometimes you have to do something wrong for a higher good” (43), these words are spoken by Minerva in the book In the Time of the Butterflies. All of the characters in In the Time of the Butterflies were entrapped by the dictatorial rule of Rael Trujillo but even though one may be scared to, they sacrifice themselves for their family. In the Time of the Butterflies is well known as a fictional novel that takes place during the real historical period of the Trujillo Era in the Dominican Republic. These qualities have helped reader learned more about the Dominican Republic during that time along with the brave action of the Mirabal sisters. Julia Alvarez was born on March 27, 1950 in New York.
Having the Courage to Rise Against Imagine this… the United States, a beloved nation, being ruled by one individual, the rules of the country being entirely arbitrary, rules based on violence and force, having no difference between state and government, and last of all having little to no rights or freedom. The picture that was just painted would be the United States if it were under a dictatorship. Currently in the world there are still forty nine countries that are run under a dictatorship. Out of one hundred and ninety five total countries one hundred and forty six managed to escape the fate of a being under a dictatorship.
Death is the unavoidable part of our daily lives. In the poems, “Shrike Tree” by Lucia Perillo and “Plums Falling Well” by Linda Gregg, the poets discussed the plot with an accepting attitude towards death because it is part of the natural life cycle. In our society, we tend to hide and avoid death; However, Shrikes and the plums in the poems face death with an open manner. Their attitudes towards death indicate the shrikes and plums are not afraid to die.
In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government.
There is an old Moorish proverb that reads, “He who does not travel, does not know the value of man.” That quote resonates deep within me because I have a yearning to use my education to empower those in need. In order to do so, I need to see and experience the world outside of the one I am accustomed to. Curiosity is one of the traits that define the person that I am; because of this trait I always ask questions about the world around me and the people I meet. This is one of the driving forces behind my desire to venture outside of the United States to learn a new language and culture.
In the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, Virginia Woolf uses metaphor to convey that the relationship between life and death is one that is strange and fragile. Woolf tells the story of the life and death of a moth, one that is petite and insignificant. The moth is full of life, and lives life as if merry days and warm summers are the only things the moth knows. However, as the moth enters it’s last moments, it realizes that death is stronger than any other force. As the moth knew life seconds before, it has now deteriorated into death.
After reading "The Death of a Moth" by Annie Dillard I can conclude that this essay has a second meaning to it. I can see that Dillard wrote this essay with a lot of details so readers could understand what she was saying or to make readers imagine what she experienced. This essay that Dillard wrote talks about how she watched a moth burn for over two hours. Dillard implied that the moth still meant something even after it was burned. This is why I think that this essay that Dillard wrote has a second meaning to it.
It is quite evident that tyrannical governments often deprive its citizens of their inviolable rights as humans. While some struggle to grasp the gravity of this suppression, Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies provides a way of better comprehending the corruption behind the denial of these entitlements such as freedom of expression, liberty, and no discrimination. In this story, Alvarez intertwines the real life tragedy of the Mirabal sisters with fictional writing to fully connect the reader to the evilness of dictatorships. Her use of characterization and admiring descriptions of the Mirabals lead to her readers being emotionally connected to each sister, prompting a better response to her message.
The poem, “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe dramatizes the theme of everlasting love. The use of contrasting diction effectively conveys this message. For example, the speaker states, “That the wind came out of the cloud by night, / Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee” (26-26). Poe uses the wind to represent a disease, such as tuberculosis. In addition, the choice of the words, “chilling” and “killing” and the use of cacophony emphasize Annabel Lee’s death and the effect it had on the speaker.
“Dead butterfly” is about a depressed girl that is holding onto the past by carrying around a butterfly that reminds her of her brother so the mom asks herself questions about past events to figure out why her daughter won’t let the butterfly go. The main tone of the “dead butterfly” is depressed. Bass wrote “We just lived with the dead winged thing as part of her, as part of us, weightless in its heavy jar.” (bass 3.5-7).
Everyone leads different lifesytles and varying experiences, but no matter how diffrering a humans life is, it all ends with death. The essay “The Death of The Moth” was published posthumously in 1942, a year after Virginia Woolf lost a battle with depression and mental illness, and at age 59 committed suicide. Virginia Woolf 's "The Death of the Moth" shows the audience the power of death through a short narration about everyday, yet very symbolic moth. Woolf uses her own experience of watching a moth die to apply it to a larger theme. Woolf connects a simple moths lifespan to paint a gorgeous picture of “life” and then destroys it right in front of the audience 's eyes, to leave a lasting impression of Woolf 's perception of life and death.
I think that this one could be a good reason for a lot of people who like to travel outside of the country. Another good reason for learning a foreign language is people who have learned a foreign language, when applying for a job are more likely to get the job than the person that didn’t learn a foreign language. Be more employable, knowing a foreign language can make you a useful resource for most businesses, and it helps you stand out from a crowd of job applicants. Build job skills, In the global economy,
Travelling helps us to know more about different lifestyles, cultures, cuisines and festivals. Visiting new sights and exploring new places increases our knowledge and widens our global perspective. We get to learn so many things about different cultures and customs. It makes us open minded and gives us a new viewpoint about life and it also changes some of our bad habits.
Most people dream about sudden trips to exotic lands or planned voyages to previously familiar locations, but what is it that drives us to seek to leave our home? Why is it that we travel, even if we are completely comfortable in the country we live in? Pico Iyer, in his travel essay titled ‘Why We Travel’ states different reasons why he believes we seek the unknown. One of the points he claims that we travel for the “self and anonymity”. As he expands on this idea, it is clear to the reader that Iyer believes one of the reasons we travel is to be able to be “free of caste and job and standing” in order to better comprehend ourselves.