2008 AP LIT FREE RESPONSE: Section II, Question One In both poems “When I Have Fears” by John Keats, and “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, both narrators expose their unfulfilled aspirations with the underlying fear that death will soon approach. Keats explains how his career as a famous, credited author has not yet been fulfilled, and fears that he will not live long enough to do so. Conversely, Longfellow looks back on his past slightly disappointed, but assured that he has the latter half of his life to accomplish his objectives and goals. Longfellow is dismal and terrified of death, while Keats comes to realize that his dreams are infinitesimal in the grand scheme of things, and any life lived is a gift that will eventually succumb to death. Keats’ poem is one extensive run-on sentence that truly “runs” across the page.
Your Smile Fades In The Summer “Fate fell short this time, your smile fades in the summer, place your hand in mine, I'll leave when I wanna.” In the song, “Feeling This” by, Blink 182 it stresses the point of beautiful things not lasting forever. Because of the sinful nature of man, nothing in our world lives on forever no matter how beautiful it may be. In the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” Robert Frost claims that nothing lasts forever. The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” tells a story about appreciating the things people have in life, and also about the reality of losing them. Throughout the poem the poet shares aspects of nature and life and how in an instant they will be gone.
Frome marries Zenobia Pierce prematurely, only to obviate “the mortal silence of…long imprisonment.” (Wharton, page 61) He wanted “the sound of a …voice” to fill the void on his farm. (Wharton, page 61) Likewise, Holden seeks conviviality with Sally Hayes though he dislikes her phoniness. He ends the “depress[ing]” date by calling Sally a “royal pain in the ass.”(Salinger, page 133) Both characters were merely looking for companionship in their otherwise lonely lives but both encounters ended badly, for Frome on a large scale and for Holden on a smaller scale. Undoubtedly, these rash acts to receive camaraderie illustrate the foolhardiness of the protagonists. They both abhor solitude but are unsure how to find viable friendship.
Eventually Poe falls asleep as it is vital for humans, and the suspense suddenly surrounds the reader. "When Nature could endure wakefulness no longer, it was with a struggle that I consented to sleep—for I shuddered to reflect that, upon awaking, I might find myself the tenant of a grave." ( The Premature Burial ) Poe has a dream of a figure displaying open graves and urging him to wake up. For he could be the next to be buried still breathing. I feel the dream is his inner subconscious trying to protect him.
While the conflict of individual vs. self is resolved in this story, the same conflict in “The Raven” is not so easily dismissed. In “The Raven”, the main character is stricken with grief and is beside himself with the loss of Lenore. Contrary to this poem, the short story “The Things They Carried” tells the story of Lieutenant Cross dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the loss of his comrade. Both these literary works share the common conflict of individual vs. self and use a variety of literary techniques to display the internal struggle. “The Raven” focuses more on symbolism and tone to provide the reader with a glimpse into the mindset of a man stricken with the memories of a lost love.
‘Please. You can’t you have to carry the fire… ‘I can’t just take me with you papa. I can’t.”(McCarthy, 278). The intent in writing this paper was to set the mood and tone to that of a dark state and bring the audience into the book and make them feel the pain that the boy is feeling. The tone after reading this passage comes out as a dark and depressing one in which you feel for the boy and know that he is having a hard time with his father’s death.
Belonging Belonging comes from a connection to a place and people, people can choose to belong and that belonging can be modified over time. Postcard – Synopsis • Peter Skrzynecki makes an effort to choose not to belong to the world of the postcard. Postcard is perhaps Skrzynecki’s most confronting poem in the sense that he is forced to acknowledge memories and his heritage. • Peter Skrzynecki does not feel the same sense of connection to his homeland that his father feels, but rather feels alienated and disengaged Language • The use of aprostophes in “I never knew you”, and “I never knew you / Let me be.” o The repetition of this phrase and the imperative (“let”) convey a passionate rejection of the image of the town (i.e. a decision not to belong) • Contrast o He contrasts his negative response to the postcard with imagined “praise” from his father and mother.
In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front the reader can infer that the narrator Paul Baumer as we know him in the novel is very different from Paul Baumer before he experienced war. He had plans to write a play and a love of literature that was lost after experiencing the horror of life in the trenches. It is shown in his apparent aestheticism, inability to fantasize beyond reality, and his lack of faith in the human race. The things Paul experienced truly changed his life. Throughout the novel Paul seems to leave his emotions behind in order to survive.
To the speaker, going to work is torture, although it is something he must do it is torment for him. The speaker has no way of escaping the pressure and misery of his job. Like being buried alive he is never quite ready for what he has to do, although he is aware of what is coming. In closing, using two metaphors in the poem “Subway”, Etsuro Saxamoto shows how going to work is like
Poetry Explication of “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe “The Raven” is a poem written about a man who is grieving about his lost lover. He has great difficulty with dealing with her death and the object in the poem that is used continually to remind him of the lack of her presence is that of the raven. Starting with the first stanza, there is indication of in climate weather and it also tells us that the setting is at night. There is an air of uncertainness and a definite dark side to the poem with the uncovering of some great tragedy that has befallen the narrator and he also has a fear of something coming to disturb him at rest. We find more out about what this tragedy that befell him is and we discover that the supposed date of this unfortunate happening occurred in the month of December.