In a revisit to Homer’s eighth century epic poem "Illiad", David Malouf’s "Ransom" > explores the worlds of royalty, war and the common man. Although Malouf explores > the original themes of revenge, redemption and fate, he > predominately > focuses on the human connections, relationships and inner thoughts of his > characters. Malouf contends that Somax is the true hero of the novel, > "Ransom", through the events he participates in, > his disposition and the characteristics he displays, > > > > Somax, a mere > commoner that Malouf has added into his novel, gives Priam an insight into > the > world he was missing out on. His chatter, whether about ‘[the] little cakes’ > or > his ‘pretty daughter-in-law’, is always intriguing to Priam. After Somax > successfully > persuades Priam to do a number of things, such as getting him to waddle in > the > stream and nibble on some griddlecakes, he describes Priam as 'like a > child’.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1850, was just what America was needing in his time. He composed a both beautiful and tragic story while still creating a deep symbolic novel that few could forget. He captivated his readers with his allegorical novel, depending on symbolism and characters heavily, in the style of true dark romanticism. The novel deals with many issues that were prominent at the time, such as the importance of society versus nature, human temptation versus society’s influence, and many others. In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, he focuses on the conflicting views of society and nature in the Puritan society and uses contrast, symbolism, and imagery to convey his beliefs.
The short stories “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe are two stories that are morbid tales of both murder and insanity. While the stories take place in different times and different motivations are given, the stories are similar. In each of the stories the format of the stories has the narrator explaining why they were forced to commit murder, and while the reasons seem like rather weak excuses to us, the narrators both believe they had valid reasons for their crimes. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the main character Montresor, fifty years after the events of the short story, explains what has happened to his once good friend, Fortunato. Montresor murders him because of some unnamed injustice he has suffered.
Wendy Perez Analysis At the beginning of the opening chapters, Cooper introduces the setting between the brutal and bloody war of the French and Indian War. There are some parts in the novel where Cooper used historical facts to narrate the actual, lived events in this colonial history of the United States. Although there are roots in his narrative to be from his own imaginary war, Cooper wanted to emphasize the tensions between mankind and the land, natives and the colonists, and nature and culture. The characters in the novel are illustrated in various ways that national cultures interact. They even materialize some of the extended stereotypes held during the colonization of America and racial tensions arise throughout the chapters.
When Heaven and Earth Changes Places, written by Le Ly Hayslip, explores themes depicting family bonds, as well as the enemy of war being war itself. Nigger, written by Dick Gregory, discovers themes of societies running on racism and fighting for one’s rights. These two novels display various strategies used by the authors that help in developing the overall plot and authenticity. Hayslip and Gregory work together in dealing with common issues – most evidently not being accepted within a given society. Not only do they speak about their real-life situations in the form of autobiography, but they speak about larger and more complex issues.
In what ways is your appreciation of both texts enhanced by a comparative study of ambition on Frankenstein and Blade runner? Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ridley Scott's Bladerunner both project dystopian images of society and morality, propelled by the main characters' ambition and egotism. It is through this that an audience’s appreciation for texts is enhanced. These complex texts can be seen as a pair that differs in context, seeing as they are separated through time. Frankenstein driven by romantic imagery and set in historic context, that analysis the European divide in society perpetuated by superficiality.
Wilmer Ortiz Ortiz 1 John Benvenuto English 102 March 8, 2013 The Unseen Line Between Life and Death Throughout history we have seen evidence of man’s obsession with mortality. In an effort to understand the unknown, writers create stories through literature that give readers an explanation they can grasp. This writing about our impermanence shows just how insecure and un-accepting we can be of this unavoidable fate. Literature often has the ability to show just how vulnerable humans can be, and yet somehow manage to find elegant, beautiful and dignified ways to show. Three
John Mackey Mrs. White Honors English 10/ 4th period 4 March 2012 Ironic Downfall into the Catacombs The literary devices irony and foreshadowing are used to accent one another. Edgar Allan Poe craftily uses both of these devices in order to make his stories tricky and deceitful to the characters but obvious to the reader. As the devices intertwine they allow for stories to become more complex and meaningful. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe uses irony to foreshadow Fortunato’s downfall through the Montresor coat of arms, the origin of the characters’ names, and the use of the Free Masons. The Montresor family crest, the human foot d’or, accompanied by its motto, Nemo me impune lacesit (No one insults me with impunity),
Perhaps O’Brien sought to chronicle through fiction those whose experiences would ‘speak out and speak up’ from the battlefield. In any case, one rationally may presume that O’Brien’s works mirror the public’s distaste for the war. Following this rationale, one also may presume a substantial degree of commonality between the management of the theme of war across each preceding literary period and the Postmodern
The Crucible Essay Question 7 Discuss the importance of the themes order and disorder, guilt and innocence, and good and evil. Set in Salem in North America, in 1962 Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a chilling play that draws parallels to the historical witch-hunts of 1962. Inspired by the McCarthy era Miller is deeply reflective in his ideas about good and evil, and the hysteria that one individual causes in a town that is gripped by superstition, paranoia and malice. The Crucible is a thought provoking omnipresent modern literary masterpiece that raises many imperative issues regarding the role of the individual in society. Miller has portrayed the community of Salem as a town tainted by enigmatic irony as a result of the role reversal of good and evil, due to greed and autocratic power, aggravated by sexual repression, themes that are still prevalent in society today.