Writing about Literature - "Country Halloween".
Kurt Lawson Oct 24, 2002 Writing about Literature Mr. Frongillo "Country Halloween" What is it that makes Halloween one of the most mysterious holidays of the years? Could it be the ghastly ghouls and ghosts that have fun scaring innocent humans, the blood sucking vampires, who with their superhuman immortality, stalk weak human victims, or could it be the evil demons who room the earth in search of their next human spirit? Halloween is a season that questions the outer image of many things, and stretches the religious beliefs of many people. Most of the emphasis is also placed on appearance during this season. Whether it is dressing up for a party or watching Horror movies, things are never as they really seem during this season. Ironically, In Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People," most of the main characters create fake personalities for themselves. These artificial masks also hide the weaknesses that they have no wish to face or understand. Most people try to be comfortable with every aspect of themselves, because certain people, who in this story are represented by Manley Pointer's character, easily exploits the weaknesses of others. He's "good country people"(396) and " '-just the salt of the earth' " (403) says Mrs. Hopewell as she refers to Manley Pointer. All the characters in this story have two sided personalities; however, only Manley Porter exploits the
Cannibalism – the Last Taboo
CANNIBALISM - THE LAST TABOO The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast the highly individual views of two authors on their interpretation of cannibalism and how they use their writing to put across their views. Cannibalism is defined as the eating of any animal by another member of the same species. It can serve as a means of genetic control by irradiating the weaker member of the species or a mechanism for population control when food sources are short. It is very rare in the civilised human species but it has occurred in modern society usually as a result of extreme necessity in isolated surroundings. A Modest Proposal was a satirical political pamphlet written by Jonathan Swift, the Protestant Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, in 1729. Swift wrote many political and religious works in addition to his great literary classic Gulliver's Travels and on his death was revered by Protestants, Catholics and Presbyterians throughout Ireland. Although he was born an Englishman and initially hated Ireland describing it as "this vile country", he grew to love it and its people. Much of his writing was directed against the social injustices inflicted on the Irish people by their English masters. Alive is a contemporary novel written by English Catholic author Piers Paul Read. It is based on true incident, which happened in 1972, when a plane carrying a
Flight - imagine.
Bhaktipriya Nayan Kapadia Flight- imagine "Flight" is an interesting story, as it shows the relationship between a young girl and her Grandfather. The story creates tension about the way Alice's Grandfather reacts towards, her boyfriend and the thought about Alice getting married. My essay will describe Alice's thoughts throughout the story. This is just what I was scared of Granddad finding out about Steven and me, I didn't want to hurt my Grandfather it was just that he reacts in a way which would make me upset and also him upset. In fact what is wrong with having a relationship with Steven? After all I am eighteen I am not the same old little Alice anymore am I? I am not that little Alice who used to like to just play around all the time like a little child. My Granddad thinks that I am still in my childhood. GOSH!!! Things are just going so wrong at this moment; Steven could arrive any minute now. I hope that Steven doesn't turn up right at this moment because if he does everything is going to be in such a mess. "da da da da da" Granddad will go and tell mum and she already knows, then even if he doesn't know about everything he will find out. I do not understand that I do not want to hurt granddad, but why dies he keep interfering with my own life. He doesn't even know how it feels to get married. Oh! Steven's here I'd better go. I knew it that Steven will help me to
Discuss satire in Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels - Part IV.
Jennifer Zaino Eng 8/ Sec 1 Prof. Rosenblum Researched Analysis Essay ~ First finished paper In Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels - Part IV ("A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms", satire is one of the genres that is used. Swift uses satire to show the flaws of humanity, and the flaws of society. The 'Yahoo' that exists within each of us is demonstrated and is an attack on the essence of man and how man, in the form of the horse-like Houyhnhnms, could be elevated to reach his ultimate potential. While the man-like Yahoos desire "power and riches," and suffer the "terrible effects of lust, intemperance, malice and envy" (Swift 249), the Houyhnhnms find these flaws so alien that Gulliver has great difficulty even making them understand the concepts. Man is not a reasonable creature because the want of power and money gets in the way of rational thinking, and of what is right and wrong. One of the many attacks that Swift directs at society is that man must lie and twist the truth to get what he wants. The "faculty of lying, so perfectly well understood, and so universally practiced among human creatures" (Swift 247) was totally foreign to the Houyhnhnms. Lying undermines the very purpose of speech-to make us understand one another. In his effort to explain European mankind to these noble creatures Gulliver is made by Swift to satirize his own society. Must men
The world of Pope's satires
The world of Pope's satires Despite the fact that Pope made most of his money from subscriptions to his Classical translations, it is for his sharp and gritty satires that he is best remembered and justly revered. It is these that proved most entertaining and that, in literature, remained pertinent personal accounts of social history. During the Restoration and 18th Century satire was a popular generic choice for those writers who wanted to pass comment on some issue of contemporary life whilst still practicing their art. By definition satire is Œthe use of ridicule, irony, sarcasm etc. in speech or writing for the ostensible purpose of exposing and discouraging vice or folly¹. Satire is then necessarily didactic because its aim is to realign its target with a particular ideal from which the satirist believes it to have strayed. This definition alone though is not enough to help us define and examine why Pope delighted in this particular genre and why he used it as a vehicle for his political and moral beliefs. Satire is distinct from pure didacticism because of its ability to entertain; Complaint and teaching alone...do not themselves make satire...satire at all levels must entertain as well as try to influence conduct... (by) the joy of hearing a travesty, a fantastic inversion of the real world. An inversion such as the realm of the Queen of Dullness in the Dunciad.
Compare the language themes and style in the two extracts explaining how this relates to the audience and purpose.
Compare the language themes and style in the two extracts explaining how this relates to the audience and purpose As 'Alice in Wonderland' and the 'BFG' are both written for a children's audience there are many similarities within the themes and styles of these books, however there is also a vast transformation of language and the styles used. As these texts have been written within 100 years of each other this change is usually due to the evolution in society and laws that would once dictate common features within the book, i.e. the use of neologisms. In Alice in Wonderland we see that the perception of children in Victorian society vastly contradicts that of today. Children in Victorian society were considered, after the age of eight, to be small adults that would start to take on serious responsibilities that would involve helping with finance of their family. This effects the style and themes used in Alice as children would be encouraged to take on a more mature attitude but still lead an active imagination. This is shown throughout the book by the attitudes of characters in concern to their place in the hierarchy. A clear example of this is in Alice in Wonderland would be the Queen as she clearly acts as though she is better than everybody else and everyone in her presence acknowledges this and conforms to these rules. In The BFG however we have a similar situation
Explore the implications of the title "Great Expectations".
Explore the implications of the title "Great Expectations" Throughout literary history, the titling of a novel, play or poem can, has and will continue to define not just what a book will be filed under, but how it is received by the readership and critics alike. In the case of Dickens' "Great Expectations", the thematically driven ambiguity of the title allows readers and critics to draw interpretations of its implications based on theme, character and the interweaving of these in the narrative, whilst providing intrigue over its relevance and suitability to the Bildungsroman that Dickens crafts. Naturally, the very phrase "Great Expectations" provokes intrigue as to what these expectations are, and the variation between what is great, and expected by various characters is central to the presentation of character and its depth in the novel. For Pip, the idea of "great expectations" is precisely that, a superficial idea, and it is Pip's vehement and frequently misguided idealism over the obstacles and events that he comes across throughout his life that shapes his actions. One of the most important examples of this is upon his dreams of becoming a gentleman being realised- the superficial picture of the behaviour that constitutes "gentlemanliness" that he draws from the "very pretty, very proud and very insulting" Estella and the vengeful Miss Havisham lead him to begin to
Gulliver does not Yahoo: He Houyhnhnms - An Analysis of Gulliver's Travels, Part 4.
In Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Part 4, Gulliver arrives at the land of the Houyhnhnms, intelligent equine-like creatures who rule the land. Also inhabiting the island are the Yahoos, human-like creatures who serve the Houyhnhnms and are incapable of learning. Unlike his first three voyages, he becomes quite comfortable in Houyhnhnm society, and adapts quite well to the lifestyle of the Houyhnhnms. Throughout this voyage, Gulliver learns a valuable lesson in humanity. Realising the distinct similarities between Yahoos on the island and Humans in European culture, Gulliver becomes disgusted with humans and the human society. Upon his arrival, Gulliver first comes into contact with the Yahoos. Gulliver thinks that the Yahoos are offensive and bestial; he feels strong antagonism towards them. He then meets the masters of the Yahoos, Houyhnhnms, who are rational and intelligent horses with a highly developed method of communication. Their initial assessment of Gulliver was that he was a Yahoo, but due to his clothing, his dislike for the food that Yahoos love, and his ability to learn to pronounce words in the Houyhnhnm language, they determine that he is not a Yahoo. Furthermore, Gulliver requests not to be referred to by that name, and the Houyhnhnms consent. Gulliver engrosses himself in the Houyhnhnm culture and eventually learns to speak the language.
Alice in Wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland. In the first passage from "Alice in Wonderland", Humpty Dumpty asks Alice what her name means. Alice replies questioningly whether a name must mean something. As a matter of fact every word must have a meaning, or it would be useless. An argument might be that names of people do not have meanings, but that is not true. It may be the case that the meaning of the name is irrelevant to the naming of the person, but the name while have a meaning, and in fact Alice means sweet or noble. In the second extract from Lewis Carroll's work, Humpty Dumpty uses a word, glory, in a manner different to that which Alice would use it. Glory is an arbitrary grouping of sounds that Humpty Dumpty uses to mean "a nice knock-down argument!" For Alice, the signifier glory has a completely different meaning. There is nothing in the passage, or linguistics, that indicates whether one or the other is correct. In fact, Humpty Dumpty's use of the word could be common in the society in which he lives (Wonderland is far away). What it does mean, especially if this is not an isolated incident, is that he does not in fact speak English per
Use of setting in 'The Tale of Two Cities'
Choose two or three chapters from 'The Tale of two Cities' where Dickens use of setting to: * Understand what is happening in the novel * Understand and appreciate the characters more fully * Appreciate the writers skills * Learn more about the 18th century * Understand the writer's purpose In this essay I will be analysing the following chapters 'The period' 'The wine shop' and 'Monseigneur in town'. I chose 'The Period' because it sets the scene for the novel, it also compares and contrasts the monarchs of France and England and how they had different legal systems which were equally as arbitrary and 'lawless' for instance the young man who had his hands cut off and put to death in France, where as England was being plagued by highway men. The reason why I chose the 'The Wine shop' because it shows the desperation of the working classes and Lucy Manette visits her father. Then lastly I chose 'The monseigneur in town' because it shows the indifference of the upper classes (Aristocrats) to the plight of the working classes and the Peasants. In the chapter 'The Period' it starts off with the very famous quote 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' which meant good times for the rich people until the revolution and the bad times for the poor people. Dickens highlights the quality of life which the rich people were having then he compares this with the