“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” (Horace). The idea that hard times elicit the development of certain aspects of a character, whether good or bad, is prevalent in literature, particularly The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Horace’s assertion is true in regard to the two texts in that they both contain characters who develop maturity and mercy, a new self-awareness, and cunning duplicity.
In the world there are amazing regions to explore and see. However, we usually don’t see them in person. Writers use the fact that readers may not know anything about their region, but are able to read or experience the region the writers provide. In fact, Twain uses this to his advantages to talk about his home village near the Mississippi River, as well as, Jewett shows us the wilderness in Maine. Jewett and Twain uses regionalism throughout both of their writings, by creating their own types of settings. Each other shows how their region is different in their writing; Twain compared to Jewetts’ has many differences in their settings and some comparisons as well.
During the novel several characters die, of different causes. Misery is also a main motif, while several personas gradually become more and more miserable. The loss of characters caused dreadful misery. For example, “grief and fear again overcame me” (52), which portrays the highly frail condition of Frankenstein. Even though he is the most visible and brightest example of misery, the whole family is suffering of the loss, in a more profound way, as Ernest describes, how in such a joyful event such as the reunion of Frankenstein and his family, “’tears instead of smiles will be your welcome’” (55). The loss of innocent William has had such an impact on the family, that now anything cheerful in life turns into
Growing up is something that we all experience some time in our lives. Whether we eagerly await or stubbornly resist it, the coming of age is an inevitable and crucial time in our lives that builds up our character and personality. Correspondingly, in Something Wicked This Way Comes, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are both struggling to go through this transition as they face the temptation and evil that comes along with growing up. In the fantasy novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bradbury applies the theme of coming of age through the difference of mentalities, the change of self identity, and finally their approach to the world.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby to represent the roaring twenties lifestyle and the ever changing American Dream during the 1920s. Symbolism plays a drastic role in bringing the essay into a more perspective view for readers by growing characters, creating suspension and motivating the reader to continue reading. The Great Gatsby contains large amounts of symbolism, making it one of America's most loved novels. Fitzgerald uses different concepts of symbolism by integrating weather, location, colors and signs into the book by playing out relatable situations, for example the tension during hot weather.
Li-Young Lee’s poem “Eating Alone” expresses a son’s loneliness and love for his father that has passed away. He continuously connects the father to all that the speaker does whether it is lifeful or not. Lee does so in a way through imagery, tone, and irony.
What are the conditions when society gets destroyed? Dystopias can be described as an imagined place where everything is miserable. They are characterized by human misery and poverty. The following essay will contain evidence from three stories; The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, and There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury. The authors of the dystopian stories, all demonstrate the theme of an oppressive government which assists them in showing how the government has the power to destroy society by stoning people, putting restraints on them and even using nuclear bombs, which all cause the death of innocent citizens.
How do you cope with the reality of day to day life? I would like to think I handle the reality of day to day life moderately well like everyone else. However, I began to question myself once again as I read Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” This story, with its unexpected ending, had me rereading it several times to pull out key details that led me down the wrong path the first time. As you can tell from the title, something big happened at the Owl Creek Bridge, but you have to wait until the end of the story to find out the truth, or else you could be lost in someone’s daydream. The story had me intrigued by the different directions it could take you, but it all made sense in the end, and I discovered you sometimes have to dig a little deeper to find the whole truth about someone.
"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a parable written to ponder the mind of the reader and to make them realize many aspects of life. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. This early American Romanticism story is about a Minister named Parson Hooper who, wore a black veil on his face, covering it entirely. He lived in a small little village, where he was the Minister and soon he started to wear a black veil for the multiple reasons but the most important reason is articulated several times in the parable.
Ray Bradbury wrote a variety of short science fiction stories and added them together to make an overall collection titled The Illustrated Man. The Illustrated Man has stories that all take place in the futuristic, Dystopian America. The overall theme of this novel is accepting one’s fate. Narrowing down the overall theme, the stories of “The Last Night of the World”, “Marionettes, Inc.,” and “Kaleidoscope”, all share the common overall theme of looking back on life and seeing all the things one has done with their life, and the things one never got to do. While one is living, they don’t tend to look back on their life until they know it’s coming to an end. These stories are all focused on that exact time of the protagonist’s lives. The stories “The Last Night of the World,” “Marionettes, Inc.,” and “Kaleidoscope,” from The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, all have a common theme: Reflecting on one's life when he or she knows it is coming to an end.
The non-fiction novel ‘In Cold Blood’ interestingly begins as a fiction novel would-with the author setting up the scene of the gruesome quadruple murder about to take place, unbeknownst to the victims. Capote describes the isolated flatlands of rural Kansas, and introduces the victims and their killers as if they were the main characters of a fictional murder mystery.
The ordinary world is introduced first in part two mainly through the actions of Dr. Heywood Floyd, a scientist on the verge of a discovery that may well alter humanity’s perception of life. The monolith, or TMA-1, proves itself to be the first sign of extraterrestrial intelligent life. When this is realized, humanity has officially crossed the threshold from the ordinary world, to a new one (another facet of the hero’s journey). Part two provides the reader insight into the ordinary world. Marked differenced can be observed between the ordinary world and the world that exists in the following sections. For example, family plays an integral part of Ordinary World Life. Close, loving families make their life on the moon, have children (such as Halvorsen’s daughter), grow food, and complete the tasks humans need to survive. The author presents these residents of the ordinary world as far more human than he does those residents of the world after. Even Dr. Floyd, who arguably is the one to harken in the new age with his research on the monolith takes time to make a call to earth from his spaceship about such mundane things as a tennis tournament and his video player. However the threshold is crossed from old to new world at the end of part two when,
Nature is expressed in the world in many ways like beauty, peace, and youth, but it can also teach people lessons on how to live their life. The poem “Thanatopsis” by William Bryant, the short story of “ The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the essay “ Self Reliance” by Ralph Emerson all have lessons on how to live through nature. The poem Thanatopsis is about what nature has to say about death and dying. It discusses how everyone experiences death and it should be not be feared but embraced. The lesson teached by nature is explained through the quote “Go forth, under the open sky, and list
In the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson, death is described as a person, and the narrator is communicating her journey with death in the afterlife.
When creating a story, symbolism can be a crucial factor that helps represent ideas and morals that build onto the characters and the work as a whole. Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible both use a great amount of symbolism to create a picture for the reader and connect ideas throughout the plot. In Things Fall Apart, the harvesting of yams is used as a symbol to represent wealth and fire is also used to describe Okonkwo’s aggressive behavior. The Poisonwood Bible uses a parrot named Meshuselah to represent The Republic of Congo and what they go through. They also refer to the poisonwood tree and the word “bangala” when speaking about Jesus and religion. All of these forms of symbolism help shape the themes and conflicts that arise in the characters lives.