Robert Frost’s Birches centralizes on the tension between reality and ideals. Thematically, there is a struggle as to whether or not it is possible, and more importantly, reasonable to escape life. For this reason the text can be interpreted in terms of two opposing readers: Type A and Type B personalities. It is commonly understood that the majority of people have mixed personality types; however, in order to have an effective analysis it is important to isolate the characteristics of the both. By taking on these extremes one could argue that the tension between the personalities reflects the tension between reality and ideal pair Reality with Type A personality and Ideals with Type B personality. To begin, it is important to understand the general attributes of each personality type. The fundamental characteristic of a Type A is a preoccupation with social status, accomplishment, and self esteem. Relaxation is often difficult for them and pragmatism is a principal feature of their personality. At the beginning of the poem the persona describes the biology behind the bending of birches, explaining that, “swinging doesn’t bend them …show more content…
In the context of Frost’s definitions, a Type A would be the adult and a Type B would be a child. In his poems Frost’s personas tend to see adulthood as a loss of imagination and illustrates it as monotonous and cruel. A Type B would be able to relate to this dislike of preoccupation with what is socially accepted as “successful”, whereas a Type A would see it in an entirely different light. The idea of growing up and becoming aware of success is what drives a Type A personality and in the context of “angel vs. devil”, the Type A would be urging the persona not to “get away from Earth” where the Type B would be supporting
In the first stanza, the persona is portrayed as carefree, naïve and almost childish, which corresponds to the author’s initial psychological state, prior to any maturation. d) 2nd Quotation in MLA (can be made shorter, but should be easy for the teacher to understand): “His beard
The words of many authors, poets, and songwriters can influence certain aspects of a person’s life. One may simply admire the work because of the inspiration or beauty behind the piece, but others take the words to heart and live their lives by it. A fan of many transcendentalism authors Chris McCandless wanted to live his life with the same simplicity they did. After finding the inspiration in the works of Jack London and Henry David Thoreau McCandless ventured out into a two-year-long journey to find happiness in the Alaskan Wilderness. McCandless had the bravery to follow his own dream and was willing to risk his life for true happiness.
Psychologist Albert Ellis, after years of intensive research on the human mind and its wellbeing, had this to say about the conundrum of depression: “You largely constructed your depression. It wasn’t given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it.” Robert Frost begs to differ. In his poem “Acquainted with the Night”, Frost asserts that depression is much more than a mental mindset, but a physical ailment as well.
He achieves this by making a summarizing statement about how people over 60 tend to reflect on life and the impact of their decisions. He shifts his focus to the overall significance of the piece when he declares, “Over 60 we are fascinated by the mystery of our life, why roads were taken and not taken, and our children encourage this as they develop a sense of family history” (98-101). Murray conveys to the audience that people over 60 often have the tendency to reflect on major events in their life and attempt to discover a reason for why they made they the life choices that they made. This allusion calls the Frost poem to mind without mentioning it explicitly. The author utilizes the rhetorical device to conclude his writing and synopsize its significance.
The reader gets to join McCandless in his adventure across the country as he invents a new life for himself. He embraces the ideas and morals of Thoreau and Emerson in his journey. In the book, a man by the man by the name of Westerberg discusses about how McCandless is not destroying his possessions and journey around the wild because the wild he is suicidal or unintelligent. “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent… He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing.”
I agree with Karl Shapiro’s statement: “The poet really does see the world differently, and everything in it. He does no deliberately go into training to sharpen his senses; he is a poet because his senses are naturally open and vitally sensitive. But what the poet sees with his always new vision is not what is " imaginary"; he sees what others have forgotten how to see." Poets really do looked at the world differently than normal people. A talented poet always have thoughts in the littlest thing that people tend to ignore.
Mark Smith the author of “The Road to Winter” displays that affliction brings out the very finest and least in people. The story is centred the main character Finn. He survived a deadly virus that wiped out his entire town and he has to adapt to a life by himself. Finn lost his family and friends and had to survive on his own. He learnt to kill animals, defend himself and a whole lot more.
The way that such intricate, specific, and divergent books and life events relate is quite showing that the choices we make do affect others and ourselves, our passions define us in positive and negative ways, and being alone in an indifferent world makes us more aware in the end. Hardship and toil prove themselves to be worth it because for Marjane, Meursault, and myself, the results of our hard work with teach us more strength and independence than before. Existentialism exists more than we can see, and its philosophy promotes learning from
Living as a “normal” citizen of his time, and the growing feelings of uneasiness this brought allowed him to realize the wrongs of his society’s ways and begin to seek life anew. Throughout his search, Montag also comes to know the importance of self-understanding, an essential element to a truly fulfilled life. Although it is common practice for individuals to go through life under the false conviction that “ignorance is bliss,” Ray Bradbury reveals that this notion is far from reality. Without an understanding of the world and one’s personal role in it, one can only go through life living out a pre-packaged lie, a plastic mold of expectation that cannot bring personal fulfillment or
He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.
Can mere mortals with hold magical abilities? In the Lake of The Woods, a mystery war novel written by Tim O’Brien, whose major theme is that not every problem has a solution, but may present a different outlook on the problem and aspects surrounding it. The main character, John Wade, uses magic to hide his manipulation and deception in order to put on a smiling face on a daily basis. As a result of wanting to carry on his deceit, he ventures into the political world, while putting his wife,Kathy Wade, through misery. Kathy hated the political life style and gatherings, in this degree she was secretly relieved when he was unable to become a U.S. Senator.
In the movie Simon Birch, we learn many aspects from the main character relating to our SPIES unit. The Main character Simon Birch was born the smallest baby of Grapeville in recorded history. When he was born, the doctors believed Simon would only be alive for days or a weeks at maximum, because of a undersized heart. Mr and Mrs. Birch didn’t care for Simon and carried on in their normal daily lives. Believing their son would pass away.
Throughout this poem, Robert Frost uses extended metaphors to convey that every human has a path that causes them to constantly make choices that will continue to shape their lives. In the first lines of the poem, Frost states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood/ And sorry I could not travel both” (Lines 1-2). Immediately, the idea is established that the speaker has to make a decision.
In the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses beautifully crafted metaphors, imagery, and tone to convey a theme that all people are presented with choices in life, some of which are life-altering, so one should heavily way the options in order to make the best choices possible. Frost uses metaphors to develop the theme that life 's journey sometimes presents difficult choices, and the future is many times determined by these choices. Throughout the poem, Frost uses these metaphors to illustrate life 's path and the fork in the road to represent an opportunity to make a choice. One of the most salient metaphors in the poem is the fork in the road. Frost describes the split as, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both (“The Road Not Taken,” lines 1-2).
The poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost states that in life we come upon many decisions, and there are points where we have to let fate take the lead. “The Road Not Taken” uses two paths as a symbol of a life decision. To understand this poem you have to have understanding of life’s meaning. The author helps us better understand the message by his use of tone and literary devices such as metaphors and symbolism. In this poem we come to realize that life is a combination of decisions and fate.