Ever had a mental “fork in the road?” Of course you have. We all have those tough decisions to make at times. William Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark” is about one of those very instances. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. In fact, one could argue that the point of view character has this internal struggle due to a psychological theory called behaviorism. Behaviorism is the psychological theory that we are influenced by our environment through social means. Because of behaviorism
“A person, who watched the interview between the dead and the living, scrupled not to the affirm that, at the instant when the clergyman’s features were disclosed, the corpse had slightly shuddered, rustling the shroud and muslin cap, though the countenance retained the composure of death.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in 1804, had been a descendant of Puritan settlers and had grown up with society constantly beating down on him, because of his family history. After he went to college at Bowdoin College
To start off my analysis, it is important to note that this is a free verse lyric poem with three stanzas. The first and the last stanzas are cinquains, while the middle stanza is a quatrain. In Robert Hayden’s poem there are a few lines that are crucial to the understanding of the speaker’s tone, thoughts and feelings and to the understanding of the poem as a whole. I have found the following words and phrases to be the most important: “Sundays”, “my father”, “blueblack cold”, “cracked hands”, “labor”
Fairy tales have been part of the collective work of different cultures for centuries. Their main functions were to dictate moral concepts such as good and evil, as well as ideal notions of beauty, femininity, and motherhood. Such tales often told the struggles of different women who were bound to fill out their designated roles in patriarchal societies and were thrashed against each other in order for the author to make a point. The typical representations of women in fairy tales as good or evil
A non-attentive spectator watching the movie directed by Woody Allen (in 1995) may think it can be reduced to a simple comic narrative with curious solutions for detected problems. But different from this perspective, it is known that Woody Allen works with singular details in his plot, allowing the attentive spectator to analyze its real meaning, exposed through a comic and ironic chosen tone. Therefore, in Mighty Aphrodite each single cinematographic element cares a singular metaphor (scenarios
Langston Hughes poem, “A Dream Deferred” explains many similar themes that go along with the play “Raisin in the Sun ”. They both really explain how a dream can come true, and just like that be broken. Langston Hughes poem does a great job of making you sit and question what really happens to a dream that has been pushed to the side. The themes of the play “Raisin in the Sun” closely mirror and capture the meaning of the lines from the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem” (Dreams Deferred). In line one
The imagery of both poems highlights the identity of what an American is. The author of this poem “Langston Hughes” was a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of 1920’s, and during this time was when he made the “I, Too, Sing America,”poem. The original title of the poem was called “Epilogue” when it appeared in “The Weary Blues”, the 1926 volume of Langston Hughes. The author of the poem “I Hear America Singing”, Walt Whitman is considered the father of free verse, although he was not the
High Versus Low Class Social class is an issue among people all over the world due to earning wages and quality of life. Lower class people are often envious of the upper-class community because of their salaries. Upper-class people are often spiteful of some lower class for the job titles they hold. The poems “What Work Is,” by Philip Levine, “Singapore,” by Mary Oliver, and “The Restaurant Business,” by James Tate focus on the issue of social class and feelings towards other classes. These poems
Written Commentary on Havisham Love can drive people to say very strange things and do some stranger actions. Love could make people happy or can completely devastate them, depending on how their time with romance went. Most people end up on the lighter side of love, happily married but some have gotten on the darker side which could lead to some life ruining moments. There are plenty of reasons that someone could have a ruined image of love such as having their partner cheat on them, but in the
Everyone wants to be successful and live the life they always dream about having. Some people achieve the dream and others fail to accomplish it. The short story was published in December of 1922. Fitzgerald has multiple stories that he is well known for, but The Great Gatsby is his claim to fame. In most of his stories he focuses on the American Dream, mostly the failure of it. He is known for writing about a poor boy who falls in love with a rich girl and will do anything to be with her. “Winter
“See you soon” is a common phrase used by people as a form of saying goodbye; some use this phrase to make a goodbye less sad. Saying goodbye to a person is difficult, especially when he or she is a loved one. In the story of Destino by Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, a loved one is lost and the story is told in a way of flashbacks. In the song “See You Again” by Charlie Puth, a loved one is lost, but the story is told as a way to say “thank you for all of the good times” waiting for the day where
In the first poem in the unit, The Passionate Shepherd to his Love composed by Christopher Marlowe explains how nature can bring love to unity and can essentially make love blossom into something beautiful to his love, the Nymph. Marlowe states in Stanza one “Come love with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills and fields, Woods or steepy mountains yields.” In stanza one Marlowe is essentially explaining how the valleys, groves, hills and fields will
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Petrarchan Sonnet, “How do I Love Thee?,” sets out to define how she loves her husband by introducing and developing her desire to do so in the octave, and in the sestet, by expanding upon and settling that desire with connections to her life’s experiences. To better understand and analyze the sonnet, a brief history of Barrett’s life is necessary. Analyzing the octave is crucial in order to see its development and how it eventually connects with the sestet. The analyzation
Quotation and speaker, First witch: Sleep shall neither night nor day. (1.3.19) b. Paraphrase and clarification: I will curse you with no sleep during the night and day. I believe the witch has put a curse on him that will not allow him to get a bit of sleep either night nor day. The agony of insomnia will eat away at him. c. Conclusions: First quote, no comparison yet. The witch has placed a curse on him that will prevent him from sleeping. 2. Quotation and speaker. Macbeth: My dearest love,
The concepts of Death and Life in John Donne’s Divine Meditation X John Donne “is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. […] Donne's style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations” (poemhunter). In his “Divine Meditation X” (also known as “Holy Sonnet X”), Donne addresses Death and presents an argument against its power. According to the speaker, such power is nothing but an illusion; so the end Death brings to men is just a
Introduction This paper aims to investigate the language variation and changes and the rhetorical analysis of the poem ‘Sonnet 144’ by William Shakespeare. By using language variation it will help me understanding the language used in the poem, and how language has changed through the years. To get at good insight of the meaning of the words there are used I will do a rhetorical analysis to look at metaphors in the poem. The Poem ‘Sonnet 144’ by William Shakespeare was first published in 1599 together
Authors and talented writers have the ability to use the style of their sentences and writing to their advantage in order to help readers comprehend their stories and create vivid pictures with extreme detail and emotion. A perfect example of this is shown in the poem “Sonnet XVIII” written by William Shakespeare. Through Shakespeare's use of the elements of writing, such as imagery, diction, and varying forms of syntax, he is able to create lifelike images in the reader's mind and portray his romantic
The phrase, ¨He comes from your side of the family” is used by many to explain why someone, a child maybe, has done something terrible or something that they should not have. To some, It is believed that genetics is the sole reason for a person's behavior, good or bad. This is called Nature. Others believe that it is the environment that influences a person's behavior, and the environment can be anything or anyone- society, a community, or a caretaker. This is called Nurture. The debate of Nurture
Poems can be seen as an expression of the soul and mind, and even though, poems are not everyone’s favorite literary subject, when an individual’s find that special poem it can move their soul one with the poet. There are many poets in the world, but the one that draws my attention the most was no other than Langston Hughes. It would be impossible to cover all the poems he has written, but the one that seemed so relevant with society today would be “Let America Be America Again.” The eye-opening
The Red Wheelbarrow The Red Wheelbarrow is a poem written by an American poet called William Carlos Williams. Initially, the poem was published without a title, and the poem is in form of verse form. Williams in his writing constructs an image within the readers mind. The author uses simple words to construct a poem that is basically based on imagery philosophy. Williams’s poem is all about a red wheelbarrow that is painted in the readers mind in order to create a flamboyant picture. The Red Wheelbarrow