In the book, My Antonia, by Willa Cather, there are many uses of symbolism to portray the ways of life in the characters; for example, the Nebraskan landscape, the prairie, and the lone plow. The purpose of the Nebraskan landscape is to show the influence of nature that it has on the people and the community as a whole. It determines the actions and moods of the characters; for example, Mr.Shimerda commits suicide after a very harsh winter. This shows a connection between the people and the harsh trials of the climate. In the book Jim gets really attached to the environment of the Nebraskan landscape such as the prairie even though after living in New York for twenty years. Also Jim and Antonia see a plow. It symbolizes the relationship between
In the excerpt of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel “Seraph on the Suwannee,” the author describes this town as unique compared to the ones that exist today with the numerous amounts of literary devices such as diction, vivid imagery, and parallelism. Moreover, Hurston goes into detail about the distinct features this town attains with a detached tone that shifts in the third paragraph to a characterizing one when referring to the past and the civilians that reside at the particular location. Ultimately, the author gives life to the community through words to represent who they are due to their demeanor towards Sawley rather than their individuality. The excerpt begins with a geographic description of Sawley and its surroundings. Hurston utilizes literary devices such as descriptive diction and imagery to aid the reader in visualizing the environment she is referring
In chapter 12 of “The bean Trees”, Kingsolver shows the beauty of nature through her figurative language. Her descriptions of the natural landscape, show that the land embodies a life of a baby to an adult- from birth to death. Taylor falls in love with the Arizona’s desert land and sky, and her appreciation for nature is mirrored in the landscape that is in front of
The three main symbols used are the Nebraska landscape, the plow, and Jim The Nebraska Landscape, this is the most important and universal symbols that Cather used in My Antonia. She poetically praises the Nebraska landscape hence making it the most outstanding and unique part of the novel. The landscape is used in the novel to depict the larger human environment’s idea where people are living and moving. The landscape mirrors Jim’s feelings and relationship with people and culture of Nebraska.
During the 1950s in Chicago blacks were in poverty. The city was filled with discrimination, racism and segregation. The Younger family was a black family living in a one bedroom apartment in Chicago at the time. They had big dreams but lack of money. In the play, A raisin in the sun, Lorraine Hansberry created the central idea of “feeling trapped” in the character Mama through the setting, symbolism, and figurative language.
It also exemplifies the jurastic difference between the peaceful areas of the forest and the extreme woods in Alaska. One moment there can be a nice little open field and the next you cannot see ten feet without a tree getting in your way. From that the reader can easily foreshadow the events to come in Alex’s
William Faulkner uses family and loyalty as the main theme of this novel. He also uses writing style as the author’s style always known for lengthy sentences anyway. He uses symbolism to characterize Sarty and to show
“Mammita’s Garden Cove” by Cyril Dabydeen tells the story of a protagonist Max, who demonstrates nostalgia of an island he once lived on whilst living in urban, downtown Toronto. Relying on the use of, repetition, diction, and juxtaposition Dabydeen successfully conveys the emotion of mild regret and ultimately complex attitude towards place held by the protagonist. Permeated throughout the excerpt are examples of repetition; emphasizing the despairing nature of the protagonist as he searches for a job. Dabydeen highlights the way in which Max’s sullen attitude towards his current place of residence. The author repeats the image of feet kicking into the ground on two separate occasions, “feet kicking hard ground” (line 4) and “His heels pressed
In the excerpt from “Cherry Bomb” by Maxine Clair, the narrator makes use of diction, imagery and structure to characterize her naivety and innocent memories of her fifth-grade summer world. The diction employed throughout the passage signifies the narrator’s background and setting. The narrator’s choice of words illustrates how significant those memories were to her. Specific words help build the narrator’s Midwestern background with items like the locust, cattails and the Bible.
“As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea... And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.” book one chapter two. Even after Jim grows up, he still retains the childlike wonder of the land around him. The amount of admiration that Jim holds for the land reflects on his innocence as a child.
The cat, the L shaped barn, the red pickle dish, and the elm tree all have an important symbolic meaning to the story. Wharton uses all these objects as a way of creating and developing the theme of failure in this story. One major, but not the most important symbol used in this novel is the Fromes family cat. The cat is used symbolically throughout the book.
Transitional states of maturity can be challenged or championed by unexpected discoveries which can be confronting or provocative. This is explored through Alice Walker’s 1973 prose fiction, “The Flowers”, as the protagonist’s view on the world is transformed due to the personal zemblanic discovery made. The short story explores the themes of loss of innocence and death in order to address cultural indifference and the prejudice experienced by certain groups within society, which in turn causes individuals to be effected negatively. Walker hopes to evoke sense of political and social reflection in her audience, hoping that intimate discoveries of past inequity by her readers will ensure cultural equity maintains future momentum.
Despite the title of the book, “My Antonia” is very much centered on Jim Burden. The story begins with an outlook on Jim’s adult life, and we are then catapulted into his Nebraskan childhood. As the book progresses, we witness the mental and emotional development of Jim as he has new experiences and meets numerous people. The book then concludes with Jim again as an adult. As a reader, I have observed him complete a cycle (going from point a, to point b and arriving at point a again).
Over the course of literary history, motifs have been used to symbolize emotions, signify ideas and qualities of a character, or bring new meanings to a reader’s sense of a novel. Imagery or symbols of nature are usually used because of their universal meanings and understandings. A river exists as a source of life. Even in the most barren deserts, a single river brings life to all living things. Herman Hesse invokes a deeper meaning to the river in his novel, Siddhartha.
Name: Eman Alkhalifah University: University of Texas-Austin Course: Ph.D. Architecture Statement of Purpose Introduction: personal statement Throughout my studies, expanding my research skills in Architectural has, with time, grown to be my long-standing passion and obsession. The Architectural field, therefore, stands out as the perfect career path for me. Progressively, I have come to realize that modern life is founded on innovations in architecture, with constant developments in the discipline making our lives more expedient and lively.
Regardless of where one lives, nature surrounds them. It is quiet in the winter, blossoms in the spring, flourishes in the summer, and then finally it lays to rest in autumn. Often in literature, writers utilize natural imagery because it is something that can be easily understood by everybody regardless of race, gender, religion, creed, and ethnicity. This imagery provides a deeper understanding of the book, play, story, or poem for the reader. The prominent playwright William Shakespeare uses natural imagery throughout his play Macbeth to foreshadow upcoming events in the plot (or provide a deeper understanding of the play/its characters).