Rachel Carson, the author of "Obligation to Endure," claims that man isdestroying the earth by science, specifically by the use of chemicals

Rachel Carson, the author of "Obligation to Endure," claims that man is destroying the earth by science, specifically by the use of chemicals. Throughout Carson's essay, she points out "man's war against nature" (458); by using chemicals on, for example, crops to produce better agriculture, man has too much power and control over nature. Carson begins her claim by offering statements about how man has and is destroying the environment. She accuses man of "poisoning" nature through the use of chemicals. The chemicals are harmful, Carson says, "and pass mysteriously by underground streams until they emerge and, through the alchemy of air and sunlight, combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and work unknown harm on those who drink from once pure wells" (457). Carson quotes Albert Schweitzer a physician who says, "man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation" (457). Carson gives the reader facts and details about these chemicals and how they eliminate not just the "bad" but also the "good" insects and plants for example, that may be effective in environmental growth. Carson believes that as man tries to eliminate unwanted insects and weeds, however he is actually causing more problems by polluting the environment with, for example, DDT and harming living things. Carson adds that the "intensification of

  • Word count: 461
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - The audience, the Pentangle and the Green Sash

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The audience, the Pentangle and the Green Sash Although some early manuscripts of the poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' still exist, nothing, beyond speculation, is known about the poet, which is a pity when considering its rich language and imagery. Believed to have been written between 1375 and 1400, and some 2500 lines long, the unknown poet blent a unique mixture of chivalry, the Beheading Game and the temptation of a knight called Sir Gawain into probably the best example of an Arthurian romance. In this essay, the alliterative language and style of this poem will be seen to reflect the period and place that it was written as well as the audience for whom it was intended. With reference to the 'Sir Gawain' text, the use of the pentangle and the green sash, representing truth and untruth will be studied. Together, they will be shown to fit within the major theme of the whole poem. Particular attention will be paid to how these emblems might have been interpreted by the court audience of that period. 'Sir Gawain' was written in local dialect and its language ...'contains many harsh-sounding words of Norse origin...' (Stone, 1974 p 10). Partly because of the characteristics of the dialectic text, it has been placed as having been written in the north-west midlands, probably Shropshire. The poet also shows knowledge of a particular

  • Word count: 2032
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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"Enslaved": An Explicative Analysis.

Camille Y. Gomez @01117935 African-American Poetry "Enslaved" Revision 03/02/04 "Enslaved": An Explicative Analysis Claude McKay's "Enslaved" discusses exactly what the title suggests, slavery. In this poem, McKay utilizes repetition of various hard and soft consonant sounds to contribute to the general theme of oppressive white power over the despondent blacks. One of the most noticeable patterns in the poem is the constant hissing sound produced by the "s" in various words in each line. This hissing sound generates the image of a snake in the reader's mind. Oh when I think of my long-suffering race In this line, the poet uses the words "suffering" and "race" in their connotative meaning to emphasize the importance of this opening line. These two words now assume different qualities, those of a slithering snake. For weary centuries despised, oppressed, The poet is taking the reader on a journey; the snake is the tour guide. In this line the repetition of the hissing sound is heard in the words "centuries", "despised", and "oppressed". However, the poet also introduces contrast between soft sounds and hard sounds. The "d" sound in contrast with the "s" sound represents the contrast between the white oppressors and the enslaved blacks. Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place The contrast between hard and soft (blacks and whites) continues. The reader

  • Word count: 912
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The types of relationships that people have

Relationships There are many types of relationships that people have. A relationship is defined as a state of being related or interrelated. The three main themes, or relationships discussed are our relationship with the supernatural, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with the self. The first relationship is the relationship that we have with the supernatural. In the text Paradise Lost by John Milton, it shows us the relationship between Satan, God, and humans. The story mainly takes place with Satan coming down to Eden to get revenge. It begins out by showing the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience by eating the forbidden fruit. "Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden, till one greater Man..."(Paradise Lost, p. 3001). This shows the relationship with the supernatural by showing how Adam and Eve disobeyed God's orders of not to eat from the forbidden tree and they did and then Satan came down to Eden to be revenged on men. Satan once lived in happiness; he was full of joy, and surrounded by pleasure. After he had forsaken God, he was punished for his unfaithfulness to the worst extremes. That is why he has come back to get revenge on God by hurting Adam and Eve, God's creations. If you believe in God and follow him and obey

  • Word count: 658
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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How does Thomas Hardy present men and women and their relationships in the three 'Wessex Tales'? The relationships between men and women are explored seriously and humorously

How does Thomas Hardy present men and women and their relationships in the three 'Wessex Tales'? The relationships between men and women are explored seriously and humorously in 'The Withered Arm', 'Tony Kytes - the Arch-Deceiver', and 'The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion'. It is through the plot that concerns about marriage and social status are revealed, and through this Hardy presents a fictionalised picture of society and relationships at that time. Hardy's stories are based on many tales, which had been told to him as a young boy. They are mainly based on events, which happened before his birth in 1840. This therefore separates the time period of his contemporary readers from his characters lives, and therefore enables Hardy to create a fictionalised world that is based on social fact. Wessex is a fictional county that was closely based on the county of Dorset, which is why much of the dialect used in the three stories, is that of Dorset. The events relayed in the stories tell us that the social attitudes and values have not changed, and this also gives us a picture of how relationships between men and women must conform to society's standards. In each of the three stories, Hardy has chosen to use the pastoral voice, which is the common dialect throughout many of Hardy's stories. The use of dialect during his stories, occur at moments when Hardy does not

  • Word count: 3903
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Discuss the ways - conventional or unconventional - in which the poet's mistress is represented by any TWO poets of the period. Refer to at least three poems, commenting closely on at least two.

Discuss the ways - conventional or unconventional - in which the poet's mistress is represented by any TWO poets of the period. Refer to at least three poems, commenting closely on at least two. This essay proposes to explore, compare and discuss the different ways in which poets have portrayed their mistresses in the Elizabethan sonnets. I will be particularly focussing on sonnets 18 and 130 by William Shakespeare and Whoso List to Hunt and They Flee from Me by Thomas Wyatt. These poems show very different ways of portraying the mistress's of two prominent Elizabethan poets, one displaying a conventional portrayal the other three not. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare; 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day' is a beautiful and conventional Petrarchian sonnet with the explanation of the summer, then line 9 beginning with saying how the mistress is lovelier. He compares the beauty of his mistress the beauty of a day in summer; line 2 says 'Thou art more lovely and more temperate' saying that she is more beautiful than summer and more pleasant. He spends the next 7 lines explaining that summer does not last forever, 'And summers lease hath all to short a date' line 4. Shakespeare says the sun becomes too hot using a metaphor for the sun as heavens eye 'Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,' then he also says that often it is not bright enough using personification,

  • Word count: 1484
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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On First Looking into Chapman's Homer.

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer John Keats was a famous romantic poet from England. He was born on 31 October 1795 in Moorfields, son of the manager of a livery stable. His parents died when he was young so he had to live with his brothers and sisters. He began writing poems in 1814, when he was about 19 years old. Keats left school in 1811 to be apprenticed to the surgeon Thomas Hammond. After four years he registered as a student at Guy's Hospital. A year later he abandoned medicine to write poems all this life-time. Keats didn't stop writing poems, even when he was nursing his brother Tom that was ill of tuberculosis. During this time Keats wrote "Isabella". He wrote many poems which are still regarded as classics, including "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "The Eve of St. Agnes." He spent his whole life writing more than 30 poems and died of tuberculosis in Rome in 1821. John Keats first great poem was written on the subject of one of his inspirations, Homer. One of Keats' schoolteachers, Charles Clarke, introduced him to the George Chapman translation of Homer. Clarke and Keats stayed up all night reading Homer's translated works and after Keats got home he sat down and wrote the first poem, which he finished the next morning and posted to Clarke in the mail. That poem was called 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. In this Keats makes particularly effective use of

  • Word count: 1055
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The supernatural in Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient mariner" & the uncanny in Hoffman's the "Sandman"

(TMA 05) Supernatural is often used interchangeably with preternatural or paranormal. It refers to conscious magical, religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily be perceived except through their effects. Unlike natural forces, these putative supernatural forces can not be shown to exist by the scientific method. Supernatural claims assert phenomena beyond the realm of current scientific understanding, which are often in direct conflict with current scientific theory. This essay will discuss the supernatural and uncanny as they have been recurrent themes among the romantic writing. The discussion will start by Hoffman's: "The Sandman". Then it will focus on Coleridge: "The Ancient Mariner" to specify the supernatural and uncanny elements in each of them. After that, there will be a comparison between the two, and how the different genres have a bearing on how the treatment of the topic differs. In Coleridge's poem "the Rime of the Ancient Mariner" the supernatural is obviously appeared. While the uncanny has appeared in Hoffman's the "Sandman". "Supernatural is an event consider as out of nature, something beyond human realization. Supernatural is Belonging or relating to or being phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of nature or physics. Whereas Uncanny '' has to do with a sense of strangeness, mystery or eeriness. More particularly it concerns a sense

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Write as much as you can on the idea of nature and its relationship to art and poetry in 'A Skylark'.

Write as much as you can on the idea of nature and its relationship to art and poetry in 'A Skylark'. In Percy Shelley's 'A Skylark' nature is used to represent an omnipotent and enlightened force that is above everything on earth in every sense. Shelley specifically uses a Skylark to bring across his message of something that is free of desire and void of care showing there to be a strong relationship between nature and art. The reason for this is that Shelley is writing about something that humans do not feel, 'Waking or asleep, Thou of death must deem, Things more true and deep Than we mortals dream,' therefore to get the powerful image of total harmony across Shelley has to use an equally powerful image that the reader can relate too. This comes from nature; nature itself is a mysterious and somewhat unknown force, perfect for illustrating something that is also mysterious and unknown. The Skylark is natures representative, a bird that carries a certain aura due to it rarely being seen yet being heard so clearly, 'And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest,' and 'Thou art unseen, yet I hear they shrill delight,' The alliteration in the first quote is a cleverly emphasized illustration of the birds majestical ability to soar so high and yet still be heard. This firmly establishes early on in the poem the mystery that the skylark projects and later enables

  • Word count: 1071
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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'Romanticism was revolutionary.' In what ways is this statement true or untrue?

'Romanticism was revolutionary.' In what ways is this statement true or untrue? Before any analysis into the notion of Romanticism being revolutionary can be made, it seems necessary to examine the word revolutionary itself. The dictionary states that the adjective revolutionary means 'involving great changes' but the meanings of words can change over time, so surely we cannot be sure that the word revolutionary held the same implications in the 1800's as it does today. A revolution can be seen as a rebellion, or reaction to something. If we take revolutionary to mean a rebellion against existing beliefs and art forms then Romanticism could be viewed as being a reaction to the Age of Reason, enlightenment and neo-classicism. But it is also possible that revolutionary is a distinctly political term and in this case Romanticism could be seen politically revolutionary in that it forced questions to be answered about the monarchy, the government and organised religion amongst other issues. Blake and Wordsworth are two hugely important writers of the Romantic era. Their poems hold great significance, and although sometimes ambiguous, their views seem to encapsulate the anxieties and concerns that the people of this time must have been feeling. Blake and Wordsworth both lived in a time of turmoil and revolution. The effect of the War of American Independence, which ended in 1783,

  • Word count: 3524
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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