Abstract The paper analyzes the four-stanza, sixteen-line long poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson about the suicide of Cory. It examines how Robinson employs simple but well-chosen words to illuminate the title character and illustrate the tension between Richard Cory's inner and outer worlds. It discusses the use of the first person plural pronoun, 'we' to identify with the 'people on the pavement' and how it lures the reader into identification with the general populace enabling the reader to perceive Richard Cory through the people's eyes, rather than the poet's.
From the Paper "Robinson places far more attention on the actions of Richard Cory than he does on the populace because the poem characterizes Cory. But the working class people who come into contact with Cory color their perception of the "clean favored" man. ?We the people on the pavement...thought that he was everything,? because Cory seemed to glow. His presence evoked a sense of quiet envy, of respect and admiration. "We people" lived ?down town,? a visible and metaphoric distinction from the uptown, well-educated milieu of Richard Cory."
Abstract This paper reviews the short story "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, the story of Pheonix Jackson, an elderly African American woman who is on a journey to town to buy medicine for her sick grandson. It examines how the focus of the story is the journey Pheonix makes, a habitual journey bought about by the love she feels for her grandson but also how the setting of the forest represents Pheonix's emotional journey as well as her physical one. It looks at how the setting is crucial to the story because it represents Pheonix's inner state since the forest, the journey through it and the obstacles encountered all represent something about Pheonix and her habitual journey.
From the Paper "A turning point in the setting occurs at the top of the hill. It is here that Pheonix feels she has to make the most effort and after this point her journey becomes less troublesome. The journey from the top of the hill is literally a downhill one and metaphorically a downhill one. After this point she has accepted that she will make the journey. On the top of the hill Pheonix says, "Something always take a hold of me on this hill -- pleads I should stay" (Welty 143). This is because once the hill has been passed, there is no turning back. This is the last point where Pheonix questions whether she should continue the journey. After this point, no matter what obstacles she encounters, she knows she will brave them. "
Tags: african, american, medicine, hill, forest, journey, emotion, inner, state
An analysis of four contrasting William Blake poems from "Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience", demonstrating both the contrary states of innocence and experience and Blake's social criticism.
Abstract A paper contrasting "The Chimney Sweeper" poems from William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience" with "The Ecchoing Green" and "London". The paper focuses on the portrayal of the contrary states of innocence and experience, but the paper suggests that in a greater thematic sense all poems carry Blakes social criticism of the hypocritical Romantic society.
From the Paper "William Blake, from a young age, displayed a vivid imagination which was not looked upon favourably during the pre Romantic period. He continued throughout his writing to radically question religion and politics, especially critical of the church, putting forth his views on the world. Perhaps what Blake is most famous for are his contrasting Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence poems, which have either been paired by Blake himself, or by critics in their interpretations. In plate three of "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" Blake wrote, "Without contraries is no progression", this statement defining the contrary states of Innocence and Experience, regarded as necessary to both human existence and human progress."
Abstract This paper argues that in her novel, "Mary Barton", Elizabeth Gaskell is trying to offer knowledge as a solution in reducing class tensions and in giving the rich and the poor a better understanding of each other. The paper uses female characters and their roles in the public domain as a medium for demonstrating this.
From the Paper "City life in the 19th century ushered in a difficult and conflicted era for women. Torn between the necessity of remaining in the domestic sphere for the sake of the maintenance of a comfortable family life for all, and the new, frequently arising necessity of entering the public sphere, women of lower classes became obligated to undertake the double burden of balancing traditional roles and roles in the workplace and other public venues. Staying home and entering the public domain both offered many consequences, and left women's practical options unclear, and also created an ever-greater rift between their ways of life, and those of wealthier women, who typically remained entirely in the domestic sphere. Elizabeth Gaskell's 1848 novel, Mary Barton, displays the intricacies of a variety of female lives, rich and poor, public and private, under extremely trying and class-dividing circumstances, those of the Industrial Revolution. Gaskell tends to represent women as actively engaging in public urban life out of necessity rather than out of any personal desire to do so, and she uses the idea of balance as an important issue which also relates to class tensions. Mary Barton's message to women is that they must cautiously advance into the public domain, but not neglect the ill effects and the dangers of such a move, and rather be aware of the positive and negative aspects of life in the private and public spheres. This awareness of both sides of an issue is additionally reflected in Gaskell's compromise-centered views on class tensions and reconciliation, which is to do what one must for one's own station in life, but to remain aware of the effects on others of different classes, and to find a balanced "happy medium" in one's actions."
Abstract The paper examines John Milton's Poem "Paradise Lost", showing the poem to be a struggle between good and evil; this being the case, it would seem only logical that God would be the protagonist of the poem, and Satan the antagonist. The paper observes that God in the poem makes for a rather lackluster hero: Milton's God is hardly the caring, loving and omnipotent deity of Christianity. It shows that the result of Milton's portrayal of Satan and God is an account of the fall that is anything but a straightforward allegory of good and evil. Neither Satan nor God is completely good or completely evil; in both, the two qualities are joined in the same person.
From the Paper "Satan, in contrast, is a fully developed character with vivid emotions; he exhibits both fear and remorse, and is therefore often capable of winning the reader's sympathy. Milton goes so far as to use devices common to other works of epic poetry, such as Beowulf or The Odyssey, to depict Satan as an epic hero, as a man of stature, nobility, and great deeds. It often seems as though Milton is subtly encouraging the reader to empathize with Satan's struggle against Heaven. Given that Milton himself declares, in the poem's opening lines, that his intention is to "justify the ways of God to man" (I, 26), it is rather difficult to determine why he seemingly reverses the roles of protagonist and antagonist."
Abstract This paper examines how Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", and "The Fall of the House of Usher? all depict the tragic loss of young and beautiful women. Poe describes Lenore, Annabel Lee and Madeline as young and achingly beautiful and all three women die premature and tragic deaths. In "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee", Poe mourns their tragic loss, while in "The Fall of the House of Usher?, Poe is clearly simply horrified at the gruesome and tragic death and he is not so deeply wrought with grief over the loss of someone he loves. It considers how Poe's depictions of women in his literary work reflect his personal experiences with the premature deaths of his young and attractive wife and mother. Poe's depictions remain relevant to readers of all ages and nationalities, as they speak to the universal misery of tragic loss and mourning.
From the Paper "Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" recounts the perfect love of the narrator and his child bride Annabel Lee. As in the Raven, Poe delves into the tragic loss of a beautiful woman within the lines of "Annabel Lee". Annabel Lee's similarity in age to Poe's young real-life bride is striking, and the poem can be seen as a reflection of Poe's grief over the loss of his young wife. As in "The Raven", Poe focuses on the beauty of the young woman who dies tragically. The stars and the moon even remind the narrator of the young woman's beauty after her tragic death. "Annabel Lee" focuses primarily on the depth of the feelings of between the two young lovers, while "The Raven" focuses more clearly on the grief at the loss of the young woman. In "Annabel Lee", the narrator tells a tale of a kingdom by the sea, where both he and Annabel Lee lived, and that they "loved with a love that was more than love"."
Tags: death, youth, beauty, wife, mother, saint, angel, love
Abstract This paper describes the life of the Underground Man in Dostoevsky's work, "Notes from the Underground". It analyzes his ways of thought from a naturalist perspective. The paper shows how the Underground Man is a romantic dreamer, living in a fantasy world and unable to make his own decisions.
From the Paper "Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground is a critical commentary and rebellion from the traditional romantic view that had been so popular in previous eras. Dostoevsky belongs to the naturalist and realist school of thought, which emphasize the idea that life is hard and complex, and we must deal with it. This contrasts with the romantic thoughts regarding life as simple, beautiful and correlated to nature. In his work Dostoevsky uses each of these conflicting views to build the mindset of the protagonist known as the Underground Man (UM). The UM is a very intricate individual. While he is very shy and reserved, he deeply craves attention. He desperately wants to succeed, but is constantly setting himself up for failure. He feels superior to others by recognizing he own inferiority. It seems that the UM's life is full of contradictions and it is this life that are meant to represent human nature."
Discusses novella's themes (loneliness, acceptance of death), plot, characterizations, style, irony, symbolism, messages and relationship to author's life.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 3 sources, 1989, $ 63.95
From the Paper "This paper will discuss the novella The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. One of the basic themes of this story is that of "loneliness in the face of death" (Cain 4). It can be seen that the mediocrity of Ivan Ilych's life has done little to prepare him for the unexpected shock of dying. At the very end of the novella, Ivan Ilych undergoes a transformation during which he comes to an acceptance of death and realizes that his entire life has been one of avoiding other people. Thus, the intense loneliness suffered by Ivan Ilych is due to his attitude toward life, in which he always placed the highest value on work, career and material possessions while rejecting the real life needs of his family and others. Tolstoy makes it clear that this fault in Ivan Ilych's life exists in virtually everyone's life, with the only exception being seen in the character of the servant (...)"
This paper analyzes the poetic wit of Alexander Pope, 19th Century British writer, in two of his poems "Essay on Criticism" and "The Rape of the Lock".
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 3 sources, 1991, $ 55.95
From the Paper "This essay is concerned with Alexander Pope (1688-1744), and poetic wit. For the purpose of this analysis, two of Pope's poems will be examined: "Essay on Criticism" and "The Rape of the Lock".
The eighteenth century was known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Johnson in English literature. Neoclassicism was one of the most prominent movements during that time. Classical literature was very much admired, and the imitation of nature and the classics was a much sought after ideal. In fact, it was thought by eighteenth-century thinkers that the classics imitated nature. Very much admired were the artistic ideals of order, concentration, economy, utility, logic, wit, retrained emotion, 'correctness,' 'good taste,' and decorum. The favorite form of verse consisted of rhymed couplets. Poetry was inclined to be ... "
From the Paper "Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man seeks to demonstrate both the scientific weaknesses and political contexts of biological determinist arguments. As a side argument, Gould attempts to show that science is objective only if performed properly, like anything else. In order for scientists to obtain this all essential objectivity, he shows that they must first "shuck the constraints of their culture, and view the world as it really is" (21).
The primary focus of The Mismeasure of Man is intelligence testing. Long shrouded in pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo, IQ testing has been used to culturally oppress the mental underdogs who occupy the lower rungs of the social ladder. The essential tragedy of such thinking is that biological determinist arguments with regard to IQ are limiting to the individual. As Gould..."
From the Paper "Thomas Bell, in Out of This Furnace, published in 1941, presents a fictional portrait of the life of three generations of Slovak immigrants in the United States of the early 1900s, emphasizing the struggles of these people as they carved out their existence in the steel mills of America.
The life of these struggling immigrants is so difficult that they inevitably find sense and comfort in their existence primarily in their families, in their communities. They have left the old country behind in order to pursue the American Dream, but they quickly discover that the dream is more of a nightmare.
Bell writes that George Kracha "came to America in the fall of 1881 . . . It may be that he hoped he was . . . leaving behind the endless poverty and oppression which were the birthrights of a Slovak peasant . . . He was bound for the hard-coal country of..."
From the Paper "In her novel Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison uses the history of one black family as a way of commenting on the history of blacks since the Civil War, and the main character of Milkman goes on a quest for his past, discovering how the women of his family have been ill-served by the world, by the men in their lives, and by himself because he has not known of their sacrifice or their reality. Yet this does not necessarily mean that he will be able to achieve a stronger sense of either their lives or his own. Even though his quest appears to be successful, the ambiguous ending of the novel leaves the reader uncertain about his fate, a device whereby Morrison creates some doubt and leaves the reader more interested in seeing to it that such a quest is successful and that a new attitude is created than would be the case if the story were clearly resolved."
From the Paper "This study will provide a critical analysis of The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Schlesinger's argument is essentially that the United States is in danger of breaking up into ethnic camps, that such a breakup will be a dangerous and counter-productive occurrence, and that he hopes and believes that it will not happen after all. It is not only a short book (115 pages, not counting the Foreword), it is a book short on argument. It is probably not a coincidence that the word "reflections" appears in the book's sub-title, because there is a superficial tone to the book, as if it had been a brief essay stretched into book-length. The same basic thesis is repeated over and over: America was once a..."
From the Paper "This study will examine the 1946 novel Mine Boy, by Peter Abrahams, first giving some information on the author and the background of the book and its historical context, and then exploring the elements of the novel itself, including plot, characterization, style, intended audience, and the contribution the book makes to an understanding of African life and history.
As we read in Charles Larson's Introduction to the novel,
the book was published "two years before the Nationalists gained control of South African politics" and "just before apartheid became entrenched into the South African legal system and racialism became a sanctified governmental policy (Abrahams 5)."
The book was published in South Africa, as Shava writes, precisely because its publication preceded what was to shortly be the beginning of official and legal crackdowns against such..."
From the Paper "From the first pages of Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes' El Indio, it is made clear that the men who brought modernization to the area are men who seek their own enrichment and men who do not care about the poor people. The first words out of their mouths are lies: "The white man explained: his masters had a few things to sell that might please the villagers; they were studying the countryside and, incidentally, sought a few curative herbs" (15). But when the men are alone, the truth is revealed with respect to their true intentions in the village: "I have questioned the old one carefully; he tells me there are no mines around here; as to the cache of gold, he insists he never heard tell of it; and that he knows nothing at all of gilded idols" (19).
One remarkable incident in the book typifies the impact of modernization and the nature of the abuse of power on the part of..."
