"For the Record": Images Creating a Theme.

"For the Record": Images Creating a Theme Figurative language can be used in poetry to communicate a specific theme. In "For the Record", poet Adrienne Rich arranges a variety of metaphors to organize the poem and enhance its meaning. She expresses a clear statement through personification, controlling and extended metaphors, and the structure of this figurative language. Rich discusses the relationship between mankind's suffering and his environment, declaring men and women solely responsible for the destruction of themselves and each other. It is their political corruption, neglect, and unjust actions that cause pain and devastation to people and the world around them. The blame of this created war is taken away from the natural and constructed environment. Reverse & Basic Personification The poet takes the metaphor concept of personification and uses it in two opposite ways. Elements of nature and the environment are attributed human qualities throughout the poem. For example, the second stanza reads, "If here or there a house... poisoned those who lived there with slow fumes over years" (Rich, lines 7-10). The vehicle of a house literally poisoning its inhabitants is a metaphor because it is clearly impossible. A house can not poison someone. The tenor suggests that a house is being filled with toxic fumes, possibly carbon monoxide, for whatever reason, and the people

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Great Expectations Illustrates the danger of seeing status and money as the most worthwhile aims in life" - Discuss.

Pip's preoccupation with money and status! "Great Expectations Illustrates the danger of seeing status and money as the most worthwhile aims in life." Discuss Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is not so uncomplicated as to suggest that wealth is a destructive force. Instead it attempts to highlight the apparent dangers associated with becoming preoccupied with money and social status. In Pip, the book's chief protagonist, Dickens presents us with a character that misguidedly follows these ideals in a journey of self delusion. The abandonment of his childhood father figure -Joe - and his earlier virtues of decency and compassion are the consequences of his misconception that with wealth will come 'gentility'. Dickens' underlying message is that wealth and class are superficial, failing to give any indication of a person's quality or true gentility. This being said, it must be understood that Dickens' aim is not to condemn wealth and social 'niceties' such as good manners and a formal education, instead it is those who worship these false ideals and become preoccupied with them that are criticized. In characters such as Herbert and Mathew Pocket and, to an extent, Wemmick and Jaggers, we are presented with benevolent and harmless forms of class and privilege. Yet juxtaposed against this we have Pumblechook, Magwitch and Pip. Failing to realize what truly counts, these

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol".

"How does Dickens teach both Scrooge and the reader a moral lesson in "A Christmas Carol" Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843. It was a story that is designed to harness our emotions and rattle our consciences. His reasons for writing the book were to convince his readers for the need of reform. Dickens did this because he was aware of what life used to be like: many houses had an average of thirty people and children as young as nine were working. Charles Dickens intended to write a story with an uplifting moral. He showed this by Scrooge being visited by Marley and three sprits. Dickens did this because he felt he could make a difference to try and change wealthy people into giving money to the poor as he saw what poor people and himself went through. The spirit of Christmas Past, Present and Future all represented different parts of Scrooge's life and made him think about himself. Dickens' moral on the spirits of Christmases is that it is charity, generosity and kindness and it belongs to us all year round. When the spirits visit Scrooge his is taken on a journey of self-discovery. Dickens makes clear to us in the opening stave that Scrooge is a character who needs to learn a lesson. He does this by comparing Scrooge a lot to hard and cold words to create imagery. Scrooge is seen as miserly because he doesn't let Bob Cratchit have a decent fire. "; and so

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory" - In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale".

"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory." In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale" On examination of Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" it is possible to advocate the potential contention of the hypothesis. For, whilst it may be argued that the poem terminates in the "familiar" and "everyday", the first few lines intimate nothing of the like; rather Keats alludes to a sense of inebriation, evoked by the transcendental beauty of the bird's song. By line four the destination is indubitably reached as Keats describes himself as having sunk "Lethe-wards". The use of the classical allusion is commonly identified as something of a Keatsian leitmotif. The appeal lies in the gain of a subtle facet in implication. Here, for example, "Lethe-wards" refers to the river of the lower world from which the shades drank in order to forget the past. There are two possible lines of interpretation, first; in illustrating a slip from conscious thought, second; in conveying the penetration of another world, its foundation lying in myth. This particular form of imagery remains prevalent throughout the poem, indeed within the subject matter itself: According to legend; Philomena, following her rape and torture, was transformed into a nightingale. Thus, the creature is

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"In relation to other factors, how far was Henry's desire for divorce the main cause of the Reformation in England in the 1530's?"

"In relation to other factors, how far was Henry's desire for divorce the main cause of the Reformation in England in the 1530's?" During the 16th Century, we see the beginnings of what turned out to be perhaps the greatest shift in religious doctrine from Catholicism to Protestantism England has ever experienced; The Reformation. Henry VIII's break from Rome in the 1530's certainly helped cause this. Nevertheless great historical debate has raged for many years over the reasoning behind severing the link with the Papacy. The most popular argument is that it was Henry's strong desire for divorce from Catherine of Aragon -- in an attempt to re-marry to ensure the succession with a male heir -- that bought about the break, where as others dispute this, campaigning for the case that it was mass social discontent with the existing church that was the cause. Some have even taken the stance that the exclusive reason for the break was based on Henry VIII's greed; his further want for greater power, control and wealth, while others suggesting that he was taken advantage of by ambitious members of the Church and the Inner Circle. Soon after his accession in 1509 Henry married Catherine of Aragon, nevertheless this was not a straightforward marriage, it required Papal dispensation based on the fact that Catherine had previously been married to Henry's brother Arthur, who had died

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"In view of Wordsworth's Claim for the importance to him of low and rustic life; estimate the effectiveness of those poems which deal with the life and character of country people."

English Literature - Wordsworth (Low and Rustics) "In view of Wordsworth's Claim for the importance to him of low and rustic life; estimate the effectiveness of those poems which deal with the life and character of country people." Wordsworth loves to write poetry about low and rustic characters that he has met. Three examples of such poems are, "The Old Cumberland Beggar", "Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman" and "Resolution And Independence". In all three of these poems Wordsworth makes a clear connection between the men involved and the nature surrounding them. I feel that this shows why these people countrymen have been so important to Wordsworth. Wordsworth loves nature, he is "At one with nature" and he actually describes these men as being part of the landscape. That they themselves are part of the countryside to which Wordsworth is so spiritually associated with. I think that Wordsworth is very successful at dealing with the characters of low and rustic country people as he has grown with them and has been around them all the time. He creates an almost mystical association between himself, the land and these men. I feel that the most important aspect of these poems and how they relate back to nature and naturalism is the vivid and beautiful use of description that Wordsworth successfully uses to describe and familiarise us with the three characters. Simon Lee is an old

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Is Heart of Darkness a racist novella

"Is Heart of Darkness a racist novella?" In this essay the question of racism in Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness will be discussed. Using this essay I will attempt to prove that it is not a racist novella. Liberal humanists believe that a text can be taken from the social environment of its origins, placed into any other timeframe and essentially any other environment and still be related with by its readers. Yet apply this theory to Conrad's Heart of Darkness the racial meaning within the text alters. This principal of liberal humanism is essential when considering racism in Heart of Darkness. Due to discrimination laws and human rights, Conrad's use of terms such as "nigger" would be deemed racist and derogatory in today's society, but the society at the time of the texts creation used such terms without any knowledge of the effects the term could cause and the consequences which could entail. Therefore the term had less power, less meaning and essentially in Conrad's Heart of Darkness less malice. This is important for the reader to note before analysing racism in the text. A key factor for readers and critics alike to take into consideration before

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Gothic...reflects humanity's quest to aspire to great things, but also to hide in shadowy spaces. It represents perpetual human ambition, and the constant threat of human failure"

"Gothic...reflects humanity's quest to aspire to great things, but also to hide in shadowy spaces. It represents perpetual human ambition, and the constant threat of human failure" The Gothic novel is characterised by horror, transgressive violence, supernatural effects and a taste for the mediaeval. Horace Walpole heralded the arrival of the gothic genre in 1764 with his archetypal novel: The Castle Of Otranto. The success of this catastrophic story led the way for an analogous torrent of gothic releases such as William Beckford's Vathek (1786) and Mathew Lewis' The Monk (1796). By 1818, Mary Shelley's perennial masterpiece; Frankenstein had been released, its arrival marked a new chapter in the gothic genre; by combining her knowledge of feminist authors such as Radcliffe and her reading of patriarchal tales such as those listed above, Shelly was able to actively critique previous gothic traditions while still managing to create a great myth. Like many of the stories before, Frankenstein reflects humanity's quest to aspire to great things. Shelley subtitled her novel; The Modern Prometheus, by doing this she is reinforcing her protagonist's great endeavours while infusing inevitable failure. The subtitle refers to the figure in Greek mythology who was responsible for a conflict between mankind and the gods. Prometheus stole fire from Zeus in order to help people

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over"Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice.

"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over" Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice. John Keats is well known for his escapism-based poetry. Critics argue that this escapism is Keats way of escaping life and death, the latter, a subject well experienced by the poet. However, this could also be the basis behind Keats attitude that human life is 'short-lived.' Loosing his father at the age of eight and his mother to tuberculosis at fourteen, it is perhaps no wonder that he has this attitude. Within the poems 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over. He does this through detailed descriptions of sensation. In both 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats begins with an apostrophe, addressing both with respect. Personifying the Urn, Keats praises it. He calls it the "foster child of... slow time" and this shows the greatness of immortality against the mortality of human life. This comparison highlights Keats belief that human life is too soon over. Keats in 'To Autumn' personifies the autumn, however not for the same reason. He appears contradictory to his attitude in 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' portraying short life as a good thing. Throughout the poem Keats visually illustrates the abundance of the autumn. He

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by: William Wordsworth

"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by: William Wordsworth In Exploring Poetry of Gale Research states ""Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" is a meditation upon memory, youth, nature, and human love."1 "Tintern Abbey" is very much so of what Exploring Poetry states but also a very profound poem about nature which is composed by William Wordsworth. He uses many in depth physical images of his favorite spot in nature, or his 'Tintern Abbey'. Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a soft inland murmur.--Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. (Wordsworth lines 1-8) Although this intro into his poem contains many vivid images which are incredible, he introduces many other deeper meanings. Wordsworth presentations of deeper meanings are shown through three stages: first, revisiting the memories of nature mentally, second, the when you return to nature and your past selves in nature, and finally, sharing your experiences of nature with someone else. First, the speaker speaks very highly of revisiting his memories mentaly which nature has made available for him. These beauteous forms Through a long

  • Word count: 1767
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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