English commentary - what the thunder said

English Commentary What the Thunder said "What the Thunder Said," the final section of "picks up the same thread, referring in the first stanza to the passion of Christ, another famous deceased. The "torchlight red on sweaty faces" perhaps indicates the guards who come to take Christ away; the "garden" is Gethsemane; "the agony in stony places" refers to the torture and the execution itself; and "of thunder of spring over distant mountains" describes the earthquake following the crucifixion. From Christ's death springs life; similarly, the Phoenician is killed by water, that life-giving force, that symbol of fertility and rebirth. As in "The Burial of the Dead," life and death are inextricably linked, their borders blurred at times: "He who was living is now dead / We who were living are now dying / With a little patience." The final section, "What the Thunder Said," begins with images of a journey over barren and rocky ground. The thunder is sterile; being unaccompanied by rain, by a mysterious sense of some compassionate spirit visits the traveler. Chaotic images of rot and of a crumbling city, at which time a cock (a symbol of Christ) crows, announcing the coming rain. In fantasy, and in an ever-declining mental state, the poet imagines himself one of the disciples of Christ, watching as his master undergoes

  • Word count: 1017
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Langston Hughes poems

Langston Hughes's poems "Negro Mother", "Let America be American again" and "Mother to Son" express the status of African Americans in early 20th century American society, and the hope they have for their future. In all three of these poems, Hughes positions the reader to empathise with the African Americans of the early 20th century. Hughes employment of imagery, structure and contrasting the ways of which the reader is positioned to view both African and white American help the audience to gather an understanding into Hughes feelings about their past treatment, and the hope they hold. Hughes employment of imagery influences how audience view the treatment and status of the African Americans in the early 20th century. Negro Mother is from a mother's perspective, explaining her "year's heavy with sorrow", as she was "the child they stole from the sand", "beaten and mistreated". This explains how people were "stole[n]" from Africa, and their lives were "the long dark way", "the night". The dark imagery connotes a negative view of their experiences; whilst "beaten and mistreated" explain how they were treated with no respect or status. The "Negro Mother" further reiterates how African Americans were treated with no respect or status when she says; "no safety, no respect, no love was I due". In Let America be America Again it says "Let my land be the land ...[where] ...

  • Word count: 689
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Killing at Ambrocia

a) This extract is written by Ambrose Bierce and is taken from "Killed at Resaca" that was published in 1891. This extract mainly salutes the bravery of the martyrs and their families. The extract's opening line is not only very out of the ordinary but also very interestingly captures the reader's attention, to explore further to comprehend a sensitive topic - death. The first setting of the extract is set on the battlefield of Resaca, where the brave Lieutenant Herman Brayle embraces death. The second setting of the extract is set in San Francisco, where the narrator informs the martyr's lover about his death. The narrator of this extract is a soldier or a member of the army. This is evident in the quote, " In the distribution of mementos of our friend, which the general, as administrator, decreed, this fell to me". The fact that the narrator is the martyr's friend he must be a member of the Lieutenant's troop. The entire extract is written in the first person narrative. "One evening I called on Miss Mendenhall to return the letter to her." The use of the first person pronoun, I, in the above quote substantiates the extract to be a first person narrative. The tone of the narrator is filled with sorrow and deep sadness for his fellow men. During the first two paragraphs the narrator is giving a brief description and is casually inspecting the situation with not much

  • Word count: 1554
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Bullying - Commonwealth Essay

Commonwealth Essay Topic - Bullying is an issue which concerns young people throughout the Commonwealth. Why does it matter and what can be done about it? Word Count - 1,423 Everyday thousands of young people start off their day with the fear of being bullied. It is common not amongst a specific race, class, religion, country or continent but worldwide. So, first of all what is bullying? Bullying is an act of harassing or persecuting another person intentionally either verbally or physically. Bullying is something that everyone, especially the young people encounter in life in some way, they may have been bullied themselves at one stage or may have bullied someone else, seen someone being bullied, heard of a case of bullying by friends or in the media. Bullying can take many forms and it arises out of all sorts of reasons. People, usually do it because it satisfies them in one way or the other, usually they enjoy the sense of power. Bullying violates the human rights and it has crucial effects on both the victims and the bullies themselves. Therefore it should not be taken lightly or left alone as something that is part of a human nature. It may not be possible to eliminate it completely but it can be surely eliminated to a great length. Bullies lack in certain skills of appreciating others lifestyle. They pick on people who they think do not fit in the circle. They may

  • Word count: 1463
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Story of the Farmer

Que Viva la Independencia ! Todo el mudo está de acuerdo en que Roberto Arias es un chico con suerte ; hace apenas una semana de su graduación del Instituto Politecnicó y ya ha encontrado un trabajo en una tienda de artículos deportivos. - Este es el perimer paso hacia mi independencia- piensa Roberto, - el segundo será encontrar un piso en donde pueda vivir solo. Mis padres son muy buenos y no es difícil vivir con ellos... pero vivo en su casa y su casa no es la mía. Por eso, no me siento completamente libre. Roberto se dicide a buscar un apartamento. Compra un periodicó y lo abre a la página de anunicos clasificados. De la lista de apartamentos vacantes el muchacho selecciona tres y se prepara para visitarlos. All the dumb one agrees in which Robert Aryan is a boy with luck; for one week of his graduation of the Polytechnical Institute and already it has hardly been finding a a job in a sport article store. - This passage is to perimer towards my independence thinks Robert, - the second will be to find a floor where it can only live. My parents are very good and it is not difficult to live with them... but alive in his house and its house she is not mine. For that reason, I do not feel completely frees. Robert dicide to look for an apartment. He buys a newspaper he abre and it to the page of classified anunicos. Of the list of vacant apartments the boy

  • Word count: 1210
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Analysis of the Incipit of Bel ami

Séquence sur le roman : Bel-Ami, de Maupassant er extrait : L'incipit, de " Quand la caissière lui eut rendu la monnaie... ", à " ...il ressemblait bien au mauvais sujet des romans populaires. " Rédiger une introduction présentant l'auteur, l'œuvre et le passage. Guy de Maupassant est un auteur réaliste du XIXème siècle. Il écrit le Bel-Ami en 1885, ce roman dépeint l'ascension sociale d'un jeune homme dans le Paris de l'époque. Maupassant choisit d'exposer un personnage ambitieux, assoiffé d'argent d'honneurs et de conquêtes. Cette oeuvre naturaliste permet de se faire une idée des différents cercles mondains de la société parisienne du XIXème siècle. Dans ce passage, on découvre Georges Duroy, un jeune dandy sans le sou. / Trouver un titre au passage et formulez le sous forme de phrase qui pourrait constituer le projet de lecture d'un commentaire. Portrait physique et moral d'un ambitieux : Georges Duroy, un jeune dandy sans le sou. 2/ Rédigez un passage construit (= introduit, développé et conclu) sur le fait que Maupassant ouvre son roman sur la beauté de son personnage principal et sur la séduction qu'il exerce sur les femmes. En quoi est-ce significatif par rapport à la suite du roman ? Maupassant ouvre son roman sur la beauté physique de son personnage principal et sur la séduction qu'il exerce sur les femmes. C'est très

  • Word count: 984
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Zwyczaje i tradycje Swiat Wielkanocnych. Dwa wielkie Swieta religijne, Boze Narodzenie i Wielkanoc spedzam w gronie najblizszej rodziny w Polsce. Moi rodzice sa Polakami. Choc ja urodzilam sie i mieszkam w Londynie, czuje sie Polka,

Weronika Marciniak Zwyczaje i tradycje Swiat Wielkanocnych Dwa wielkie Swieta religijne, Boze Narodzenie i Wielkanoc spedzam w gronie najblizszej rodziny w Polsce. Moi rodzice sa Polakami. Choc ja urodzilam sie i mieszkam w Londynie, czuje sie Polka, podtrzymuje i poglebiam wiedze o polskich tradycjach i obyczajach. Dla mnie i dla mojej rodziny, Wielkanoc jest najstarszym, najwazniejszym swietem chrzescijanskim- Swietem Zmartwychwstania Panskiego. Przez 40 dni caly kosciol i wszyscy wierni przygotowuja sie do Swiat Wielkanocy- Paschy Chrystusa. Okres ten nazywamy- Wielkim Postem. Przez caly ten czas powinnismy czynic dobrze I okazywac jak bardzo kochamy Boga. Post rozpoczyna sie w Srode Popielcowa, kiedy podczas Mszy Sw. ksiadz posypuje nasze glowy popiolem (na znak podjecia pokuty przez caly kosciol). Ostatnia niedziela Wielkiego Postu to Niedziela Palmowa. Idziemy do kosciola z palemkami, swiecimy je. Palemki przypominaja nam jak ludzie witali Pana Jezusa, kiedy wjezdzal do Jerozolimy. W Wielki Czwartek wszyscy uczestniczymy w uroczystej Mszy Sw. Wieczerzy Panskiej. Jest to pamiatka ostatniej Wieczerzy, kiedy to Jezus podzielil sie ze swoimi uczniami Chlebem I Winem, ktore symbolizowaly Jego Cialo i Krew. W Wielki Piatek jest odprawiane nabozenstwo na czesc meki i smierci Pana Jezusa. Pan Jezus umarl za nas na krzyzu, za nasze grzechy, nie chcial zebysmy cierpieli, bo

  • Word count: 513
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Pregunta base: Cmo el destino en Edipo Rey se convierte en una prueba de valenta para el personaje principal?

Tema: La valentía frente al destino Pregunta base: ¿Cómo el destino en Edipo Rey se convierte en una prueba de valentía para el personaje principal? En la antigua Grecia se creía que los humanos tenían un destino trazado por los dioses. Nadie podía escapar de este destino ni podía modificarlo. Es así como en la tragedia de Sófocles, Edipo Rey, se presenta al destino como inalterable y permanente, por más trágico que éste sea. El personaje principal, Edipo, enfrenta entonces una prueba de valentía al conocer su destino, ya que, siguiendo la cultura griega, nunca podría escapar de él. Consultando un oráculo, Edipo se entera de que dará muerte a su padre y se casará con su madre. Frente a este trágico destino, es importante destacar que Edipo es un ser humano, y como tal, sus sentimientos más profundos deben afectar su comportamiento y sus decisiones a futuro. Sin embargo, se puede decir que Edipo acepta su destino, ya que continúa con su vida. Edipo sabe que no hay forma de escapar del destino, pero alberga al menos alguna esperanza. Aleja entonces cualquier posibilidad de que su destino se cumpla, yéndose a Tebas y alejándose de la vida que llevaba. Este acto podría verse como un acto cobarde si se entiende como una forma de huir y escapar del destino, pero es más un acto de valentía, ya que Edipo está también protegiendo al que creía era su

  • Word count: 1147
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Antigone Analysis - literary techniques

Antigone Analysis After hearing the final verdict of Antigone's grim fate, Haemon calmly confronts his father Creon - giving the impression of being fully devoted and supportive of his father's will and wisdom. A somewhat astonished Creon, praises Haemon's reverence and acceptance for what seems like compliance to Antigone's death. He then launches into a brief speech detailing his strong belief in misogynist rule and his deep disdain for traitors like Antigone. This speech proves an essential role to the play as it emphasizes Creon's major flaws of ignorance and selfishness, while highlighting many themes like the abuse of power and law, which ultimately leads to his wretched punishment. In this scene, Creon is portrayed as a very patriotic, yet stubborn ruler who cannot stand to be defied - let alone have the laws of the state be defied. He proclaims, "But whoever steps out of line, violates the laws... he'll win no praise from me." He starts the declarative sentence with the conjunction "But" - a contrast to the previous stanza where declarative sentences are started with personal pronouns, and imperative verbs. He uses this conjunction with the triple technique to emphasize not only his confidence in his beliefs, but also to emphasize how important he feels it is for the Thebans to win his "praise." This self-absorbed thinking ultimately escalates his ego, where all his

  • Word count: 1944
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Comparison of Allie and Nathan Price from The Mosquito Coast and The Poisonwood Bible respectively

Sid Rai English Year 1 Haske 7-11-2009 Are the characters in the book and the movie realistic? The Mosquito Coast (TMC), directed by Peter Weir, is a movie quite similar in many aspects to the book The Poisonwood Bible (TPB), written by Barbara Kingsolver, one of those aspects being the similarities between the setting and the characters. In both books, the figurehead of the family, Allie Fox (in TMC) and Nathan Price (from TPB) both have similar personalities, ideas and motifs, however, different approaches to their ideas. For example, Nathan believes in forcing on his views and ways onto the Congolese people, however, Allie believes in cooperation with them to succeed in his goals. Both also seem incredibly lifelike as they seem like determined men who are willing to get to their goals at the beginning, however, they seem somewhat more lifelike when they loose something that is close, and become obsessed with their goals, forgetting the welfare of their own families. Both stories are about two families who leave America, their home country, to go to a foreign land. The two 'heads', however, leave for very different reasons, but they do somewhat leave their families with no choice but to go with them. In TMC, Allie takes his family to the Central American Rainforests as a means to 'escape' America and it's fate with the Atomic Bombs. Allie also believes that his

  • Word count: 1823
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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