who hides and what is hidden? how does deceit function in the world of the play, and how does it help the play comment on life in general? a central motif in the play is trickery or deceit, whether for good or evil purposes. counterfeiting, or concealing one's true feelings, is part of this motif. everyone seems to lie; good characters as well as evil ones engage in deceit as they attempt to conceal their feelings: beatrice and benedick mask their feelings for one another with bitter insults; don john spies on claudio and hero; don pedro and his 'crew' deceive benedick and beatrice.
Question before the Procession Shirley Jackson’s use of literary techniques in The Lottery is a true work of genius. She strategically uses irony in many places such as the story’s title, the setting an even in certain character’s personality traits. Another important literary technique used by Jackson is symbolism. The black box and the story’s title seem to create a range of associations outside themselves such as the importance of questioning irrational traditions and the unexpected nature of death. With the use of these two literary techniques, (irony and Symbolism) Shirley Jackson is able to emphasize important dramatic events within the plot.
He speaks through Huck declaring it, at least as it was taught, to be irrelevant to the average person's life, "Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see..." (pg. 4). Not much later Huck finds that prayer has never done him any good, and he can't see that it has helped many others either.
The reason the scene was cut from the play lies in both the significance of the conversation and what it revealed about the John Proctor in terms of his affair and his character. The conversation between John Proctor and Abigail Williams had great significance to both the play itself and the setting in which it was placed. It blatantly called out the irony of the Puritan way of life and the hypocrisy going on in Salem at the time. When Abigail addresses John and says, “Oh Hypocrites! Have you won him too?” [p. 151], she is referring to the townspeople of Salem as the hypocrites and questioning John’s integrity and strength.
Kristy Mosley English 102 Instructor Guerin 21 February 2012 Obedience of Tradition in “The Lottery” “The Lottery” she expertly tells a story that is not only disturbing, but shocking and demonstrates In Shirley Jackson’s how coldness and the lack of compassion can be brought out in people, when in situations regarding obedience, in keeping with traditions. Shirley Jackson also exposes the many flaws of human nature in which a large role of obedience to superiors could cause considerable damage and sets the theme of the story to make the reader question many cultural traditions. The first character that surfaces and presents the role of obedience is Old Man Warner. Old Man Warner, being the oldest in the small town where the lottery takes place, has survived more lotteries than any other person in his village. As Warner puts it, "seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery.” (1217) Jackson uses Warner's own viewpoint on his continual luck to add drama to the large amount of time he has survived.
In the dark comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace, the steady build up of tension is frequently interrupted whit the use of humor. Beginning with acts such as Abbott and Costello, and episodes of "I Love Lucy," humor is often the result of a misunderstanding. In the movie, "Arsenic and Old Lace," the plot combines murder and insanity. "Arsenic and Old Lace," seemingly outlines a mystery or drama, however with the addition of misunderstanding, it becomes a comedy. The humor is drawn from the characters' relationships with one another as well as the characters themselves, being misunderstood.
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),
According to LiteraryDevices.com the word satire is a technique used by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain uses satire to expose the reader to many human weaknesses or flaws that are corrupting our society. His uses of showing the corruption through said techniques is an important part of this novel. The flaws that Twain puts in this book are not very obvious, but if you read carefully and thoroughly they can be seen clearly. One of the human flaws that we have is the our addiction to alcohol.
However Lennie also has an antagonistic side to his character, mainly because of his actions throughout the novel. The fact that we have a character stating this from rumours, means that the writer is in-fact giving a biased opinion, and expressing his opinion through Candy. “… An’I seen her give Carlson the eye.” Curley’s wife has been appalled with Curley so much; her discontent is
‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ Argues without Argument ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’ is a complex short story told though the point of view of a sarcastic and insane protagonist, who has rapidly changing ideas about her surroundings, other characters and even her own psychological state. Because of this, readers may come to a variety of conclusions about major plot points and themes. Puzzled, readers will identify the piece as a horror story—a vivid portrayal of insanity with unsettling realism. This is indeed the conscious conclusion that Charlotte Perkins Gilman intends for her readers to form. However, the piece is so much more than a simple horror story; it is a deceptively hidden but powerful essay on female equality and marriage, two topics about which Gilman wrote frequently.