The Allusion Of The Butterfly In Whila Cather's O Pioneers

In the Time of the Butterflies is a novel written by Julia Alvarez. This book is written in the first person point of view. This is one of the easier ways to go about writing a book or short story. In the book each chapter is written in a different person’s point of view.The first point of view helps understand the characters better, make a story stronger and get the reader to feel connected to the characters in some way.

After reading In the Time of the Butterflies, one can clearly see that Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez thoughtfully and purposefully incorporated a plethora of symbols throughout the story in order to carefully craft her novel. From instances as large as the title of the novel, to concepts as simple as the weather each day of the narration, Alvarez shows deep consideration in utilizing the literary device of symbolism consistently throughout the story. Alvarez took the time to deliberately focus and place emphasis on the element of symbolism in order to not only recognize Dominican culture, but to highlight the journey of the Mirabal sisters as they left their mark on society and fought back against the oppressive Trujillo regime. As

In society many find that males hold dominance and make all of the major choices. This is just a stereotype that many people seem to believe. There are many stereotypes for a variety of concepts but that does not mean they are true. There are few females that stand up against sexist stereotypes, but for the few people who have spoken out against them literature has been an effective way of getting their message out. Feminism has impacted literature in several ways; it allows people to share their messages about stereotypes. In the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez there are many times when feminism is present, along with the many stereotypes found in the Dominican culture.

Throughout history, women have made a name for themselves. By rising up and fighting for something that they believed in, the Mirabal sisters made a name for themselves in the Dominican Republic and in Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies. By applying a theory to a novel, readers can relate the book to the world they are living in today (Davidson). Feminism can be defined as a dynamic philosophy and social movement that advocates for human rights and gender equality (“Feminism”). Feminist Theory involves looking at how women in novels are portrayed, how female characters are reinforcing stereotypes or undermining them, and the challenges that female characters face (Davidson). Feminist Theory can be applied to In the Time of

Marxist Criticism focuses on class struggle and power structure in a literary piece (Davidson). In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez can be analyzed using Marxist Criticism to show how power is maintained in the novel. Trujillo maintains his power by convincing girls to live in his homes, jailing citizens who try to overthrow him, and killing citizens that he has large problems with. Trujillo uses his authority to make all of his citizens obey him so that he can keep his power, or else they must deal with severe consequences. Trujillo acts this way to prove that he is the man in charge and ultimately prove that he is unbeatable.

It was useful for Alvarez to apply literary and rhetorical devices to enhance the appropriate understandings of her symbols, and foreshadowing in her novel. The four sisters were most known as “Las Mariposas”, which in the English language translates to Butterflies. “Even in the church during the privacy of the holy communion, Father Gabriel bent down and whispered “Viva la Mariposa”” (Alvarez 259). Butterflies are known for its beauty, freedom, and short term lives. Which all three known facts represents the Maribel sisters, they had the face of angels but strong and determined to fight against Trujillo and the regime. They truly believed in civil rights and preached out that everyone has a voice. There were plenty of foreshadowing I caught reading the novel.

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. The moth which had been so full of life, was now dead, showing that the line between life and death is one that is fragile and easy to cross without intention, or expectance.

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.

Being the keeper of a secret is an important job for humans. Secrets, while they can be destructive, are also a blessing. Someone who is trusted with a secret suddenly feels a sense of responsibility and importance. In the “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett, the little girl named Sylvia discovers a beautiful white heron in the woods. The story, which is told from a third person omniscient point of view, provides an intimate reading experience that puts the reader into the story with Sylvia. The beautiful imagery provided further enhances the intimacy of the story and provides a haunting setting for the story to unfold. The discovery of the heron by Sylvia is important to the story as it gives Sylvia a sense of importance and drives the central

The short story begins with a man named Blake leaving from work and doing his best to avoid Miss Dent, his former secretary. He fears that she may be following him and possibly, “she might be meaning to kill him.” (Cheever pg. 2). The author uses this quote to grab the reader’s attention and make them wonder what series of events would make his former secretary want to murder him. Cheever then uses a flashback to recount the first meeting between the two characters of the story and showcase where the butterfly effect begins. Blake was looking for a secretary and ultimately hired Miss Dent for her appearance of, “a dark woman who was slender and shy... Her dress was simple, her figure was not much, but her voice was soft and he had been willing to try her out,” (3) and decided to overlook her crude handwriting. Cheever’s used this quote to

Not many people actually care about the life and death of a moth. An even smaller percent of people actually care enough to write something about it. However, this is exactly what Don Marquis, author of “The Lesson of the Moth”, and Virginia Woolf, author of “The Death of the Moth”, did. Both of the authors feel wonder towards the moth, but in “The Death of the Moth” Woolf also feels pity while Marquis feels envy in “The Lesson of the Moth”. The two authors also both describe the moth’s death as triumphant and its life as living in the

More than 12,000 children under the age of 15 passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp, also known by its German name of Theresienstadt, between the years 1942 and 1944. Out of all the children, more than 90% lost their lives during the time of the Holocaust. Additionally, throughout this time, children would write poetry describing how they would like to be free and their faith in believing they would one day be free again and see the light of the sun. They would also write about the dreadful experiences they suffered through. To add on, the poet’s word choice helps to develop the narrator’s point of view. For example, in the Poem The Butterfly, it says, “Such, such a yellow is carried lightly ‘way up high. It went away I 'm sure because it wished to kiss the world goodbye”(stanza 2). To say it in another way, the poet, Pavel Friedmann, wrote it in a way where the reader, when reading, would feel like he is the main character and he was saying everything in his/her point of view. I interpret this to mean that the author of the poem wanted whoever was reading the poem to get in his (author) shoes and kind of imagine how much sufferment was felt during the Holocaust, while being in a Nazi concentration camp. Moreover, in the poem Homesick, it utters, “That there 's a ghetto here, a place of evil and of fear. There 's little to eat and much to want, where bit by bit, it 's horror to live. But no one must give up! The world turns and times change” (stanza 5). In other

Nature is the purest form of perfection. The golden sun shining on clear blue waters. Bright flowers blooming in the spring, adding color to an otherwise bleak world. Its beauty is captivating, breathtaking, and inevitably everything. However in some cases pure perfection is not good enough. To some perfection must be made, bypassing the laws of nature, and to those beauty is ultimately lost. Beauty is a fluid idea, it is easily manipulated and easily agreed on by the masses. Through these two works the fluidity of beauty is further explored by how the protagonists attempt to redefine it. In “The Artist of the Beautiful” and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the characters Owen and Aylmer are similar in their pursuit of producing perfection

Main Idea/ The article that I read was the Day Of The Butterfly by Alice Munro the theme of this reading is that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Or that you shouldn't judge someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Evidence/ Some examples are

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), written and illustrated by Eric Carle, this story starts with a tiny egg on a leaf. The tiny egg hatches into a small very hungry caterpillar. On Monday, the caterpillar ate through one apple and Tuesday through Friday he ate even more fruit. After eating Monday through Friday, he was still hungry. For Saturday, he ate through chocolate cake, an ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, sausage, a cupcake and a piece of watermelon. On Sunday, he ate a green leaf and was finally full. The caterpillar wove himself a cocoon to sleep. Finally, a beautiful butterfly emerges from the cocoon. This story is illustrated with the use of painting and collage to create colorful images of the caterpillar, setting, and the