...I chose the poem, “A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe because it is about the questioning of what exactly classifies reality and fantasy. Dreams can fade away, and this poem gives imagery of watching those dreams disappear. In the first two lines, Poe says, “Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now.” So he is saying goodbye to those dreams. The rest of the first stanza could possibly be referring to saying goodbye to one’s true love. The narrator feels that “his days have been a dream,” and “hope has flown away.” So this true love could have meant everything to him, and now since this lover is gone, so have any dreams the narrator once had for his future. In the second stanza of “A Dream Within a Dream,” the narrator is now standing on a beach attempting to grasp a handful of sand, however, only a few grains of the golden sand remain in his palm. Most of the grains of sand slipped away from his palm, just like his lover did. “How they creep, through my fingers to the deep, while I weep.” The narrator knows that everything he once thought was obtainable in his life is now inaccessible to him. The narrator also feels hopeless; he is wishing and begging to take grasp of the sand, which represents broken dreams. He wants to be able to fulfill his dreams, but he cannot. This poem is an example of deferred dreams, and could also relate to death, or departure after having been with someone for a long period of time. The first stanza represents departing...
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...That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand -- How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep -- while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream? The poem is 24 lines, divided into two stanzas. The poem questions the way one can distinguish between reality and fantasy, asking, "Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?" ( wiki) Although the two stanzas are not identical in length, their similar use of an iambic rhythm and of couplets and triplets in their end rhyme scheme creates a pattern that matches the parallel of their ideas. In particular, the refrain (repeated) lines "All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream" unite the passages in the poem's conclusion of futility and regret at the movement of time. Poe draws attention to "all that we see or seem" with alliteration, and we can view this phrase as the combination of two aspects of reality, where "all that we see" is the external and "all that we seem" is the internal element. By asserting that both sides are the also alliterative phrase "a dream within a dream," Poe suggests that neither...
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...final expiration came on a Baltimore hospital bed the evening of the 7th October in 1849. Poe had a myriad life struggles, and in A Dream Within a Dream, which questions reality and was one of his poems written in youth and, first published in the Flag of Our Union (Poe 89), his general distress is clear. Born Edgar Poe on the 19th of January 1809 and orphaned two years later, he was adopted by John & Frances Allan, whereby he received his middle name (Frank 18). “There is no doubt that Poe was a difficult child” (Krutch 25), but with such a tragic beginning to life, how could he be expected to act as if nothing was on his mind? During his adolescence, he wrote many poems that went unpublished. Poe notes in his prefix to Poems Written in Youth, “Private reasons – some of which have reference to the sin of plagiarism… have induced me… to re-publish these, the crude compositions of my earliest boyhood” (Poe 88). Though categorized as one of his ‘boyhood’ poems, A Dream within a Dream, did not make it into this collection, and it “was first published [after Poe’s death] in the March 31, 1849 edition of a Boston-based periodical called Flag of Our Union“ (Sova 73). The poem begins with three rhyming lines, where Poe bids farewell to someone dear, kissing them upon their brow and then stating, “You are not wrong, to deem / That my days have been a dream ” (Poe 89). Poe’s dramatic childhood rooted in him “obsessions with death, the afterlife and the hold of...
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...Amanda Stopinski Dr. Shillock English 108 September 14, 2009 Dreams Can Be Created but Destroyed Within Minutes As we go through life we come to face many decisions, or events, that will shape who we are today and change our lives forever. I am a gymnast and have been for fifteen years, and the sport has consumed my life. I have competed for two clubs as a gymnast. At first I was competing for Parkettes and trained with top level gymnasts who have gone all the way to the Olympics. After nine years there I decided it was time for change and I needed it right away. When I arrived at 1665 E. Race St. in Allentown, Pennsylvania, I knew that Lehigh Valley Sports Academy (LVSA) was my new home. As I walked in the doors to LVSA all I saw were orange, blue, and green walls surrounded by people and future teammates ready to greet me with a friendly smile. The gym looked like an old airplane hangar that was emptied out with four, full-size spring floors, 16 balance beams, three sets of uneven bars, two bars over a foam pit, and two vaults just sitting there waiting for me to start flipping on. The gym was quiet, cold, and had that morning dew feeling to it, but as we sat there waiting to start our workout, nice and early, I met my coach, a former world champion, Natalia Yurchenko. It was an honor to be in the presence of such a great gymnast who has had so many high level skills named after her, and to know that she is my new coach. At the close to my summer in 2007,...
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...07/08/15 Poetry essay ENG4U-42 A Dream within a Dream By Edgar Allen Poe Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow-- You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand-- How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep--while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream? Analysis My initial glance through this poem I realise that the poet is not really talking about a dream. He compares life metaphorically to a dream within a dream. The structure of this poem is not a standard rhyming pattern which halts the reader in order to absorb what is being said. The poem consists of nine couplets and two triplets. The opening stanza, for example, begins with a triplet, then shifts to couplets and the second stanza shifts from couplets to triplet in the middle then shifts back to the original pattern. The poem expresses the poet’s frustration of the uncertainty and temporariness of life and people. He compares life and dreams because when we dream, it seems so real but when we are awakened by the roar of life...
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...we use to perceive what is considered reality should not be trusted fully. In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes attempts to convey the fascinating illusion of always being in a dream without a certain ability to distinguish what is actually reality or what is a dream, or at bare minimum prove that there are no certain marks to prove otherwise. He states, “…as I think about this more carefully, I see plainly that there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep. The result is that I begin to feel dazed, and this very feeling only reinforces the notion that I may be asleep” (First Meditation). In my attempts to contrast what Descartes argument was comprised of and what certain illusions made him feel this way about our perception of physical existence. I turned my attention to his famous dream argument originally brought forth in his Mediation on First Philosophy, and will be using different ideologies between a John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, two famous English philosophers who have attempted to refute Rene Descartes’s dream argument by providing useful and insightful situations to further explain against the idea, as well as provide my own insight in concluding that we are not dreaming right now. It should be noted that within the context of Meditations, which is atypical from traditional philosophical text, the narrator is considered ‘I’ and is intended to be a fictional character by Descartes. This invites any...
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...A Dream is A Wish the Heart Desires Throughout the years, many have chosen to abandon their original lives to try to find a place within the “California Dream”. The California Dream is the idea that if one were to move to California there is a chance for that person to reinvent themselves and release their own potential. Many believe the “California Dream” is perfectly displayed throughout Disneyland because it shows a land of opportunity, it exemplifies the glamour that many seek, and it displays the laid back life style that people only dreamed of. Although many may not think of it as a land filled with opportunity, some pursue the “California Dream” within Disneyland. One man believed that there was the land of opportunity in California. That talented man was Walt Disney, his “California Dream” was to create a place where families could come and have fun together. He once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them” (brainyquote.com). His idea of Disneyland has proven to be one of the greatest opportunities that anyone has ever taken in California. Walt Disney is one the role models of the “California Dream” as he has expressed his own idea of what the “California Dream” is, by taking the opportunity to create Disneyland. He has spread the “California Dream” throughout the world from his Disney creation. Many opportunities within Disneyland aren’t just the land itself but what’s inside. Dawn McKay is a blogger and she writes about every experience...
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...METATHEATRE IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (SHAKESPEARE). The term metatheatre is used to refer to any instance in which a play draws attention to itself as a play, rather than pretending to be a representation of “reality.” Various uses of metatheatrical devices can be found in the works of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeare’s favorite such devices is the “play-within-a-play.” With this device, the theatre audience finds itself watching an audience (on stage) watching a play. The play-within-a-play is thus a self-reflexive device that addresses the question of where audience reality ends and theatrical illusion begins. Shakespeare often incorporated the device as an integral part of his plots. A famous example can be found in Hamlet, in which a play is used as part of the effort to uncover the guilt of Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. Another famous play-within-a-play is found in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this work, the play performed by Nick Bottom and his friends takes up almost the entire final act. It appears after the major issues of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have been resolved, and thus it is clearly not integral to the development of the plot. Nonetheless, as this paper will argue, the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream serves an important function by making commentaries on the events that occurred in the first four acts. Various metatheatrical elements can be found throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For example, Bottom appears for...
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...Dreams can be both fascinating and baffling, which is why they have garnered attention from philosophers, artists, writers and poets for thousands of years. Only fairly recently in history have researchers began to scientifically study the dreaming process. While people still disagree about the exact purpose of dreams and the possible interpretations of dream content, this area remains a topic of interest for both psychologists, researchers, students and anyone who wonders about the reasons behind their dreams. Dream Meanings and Interpretation: Do you often find yourself exactly why you dreamed what you did, especially after having particularly strange dreams? Despite the research and interest in dreaming, no one yet fully understands how to interpret dream meanings. Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams contributed a great deal to the general interest in dream interpretation. Books and dream dictionaries have helped ensure that the topic remains popular today. Dreams can be mysterious, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be downright baffling. The content of our dreams can shift suddenly, feature bizarre elements or frighten us with terrifying imagery. The fact that dreams can be so rich and compelling is what causes many to believe that there must be some meaning to our dreams. Theories about Dreams: While many theories exist to explain why we dream, no one yet fully understands their purpose, let alone how to interpret the meaning of dreams. In fact, some prominent...
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...designed to contain dream blockades in the brain stem to prevent us from acting out our dreams. After reading the studies findings that most dreams contain threatening aspects, where fight or flight responses may be initiated, I feel much better that the brain stem creates blockades that prevent neurons from firing in the muscles in the body. It does not matter where the stimulation comes from, but the fact that neurons are receiving stimulation makes them react in sending signals for creating our reality, and not necessarily related to actual reality itself, which makes illusions like Ames rooms work. The same is true in our dreams, where our dreams are simulations designed to help us become better at survival. I am interested in learning more about REM behavior disorder, and would like to research more about the effect it has on men with Parkinson’s disease, to see if we might be able to create or construct...
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...Interpretation When I hear “American Dream” I immediately think of having opportunities to achieve every one’s individual goal that they have for their life and where they want to end up. For many years, the United States has been a symbol of freedom and opportunity around the entire world. Also, the dream has represented a idea and ultimate goal that people had in terms of where they wanted to be in life. This dream included having a family, a house, a job, etc. for many years and is still a dream for many today; however, the “American Dream” can also incorporate other aspirations as well and can be much more flexible in terms of what is considered an “American Dream”. Similar to the individuals being interviewed within the New York Times...
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...Your dreams are unique. Now the only problem is that you spend most of your time trying to figure out what in the world they actually mean! So today you’re going to figure out what the different symbols mean so you can translate your dreams!I have spent a good amount of time researching about this topic, so I can assure you everything that you will learn today will be in fact true! Main Points: -Dreams -Good Dreams -Bad Dreams -Fun Facts -Sources Unment needs- A problem that isnt or has not been solved. REM- (Rapid Eye Movement) We dream of the present or past, not the future. Dreams are reflections of situations that already happend We dream of Umment needs or chronic problems that werent solved yet and are one big source of bad dreams. Also, they are one of the main causes of recurring dreams. We dream in symbols and everyone has his/her own set of symbols. Keys things to focuse on in your dream: Handshake- Symbolizes a new beginning or the end to a situation. If you are shaking hands with a celebrity in a dream, then it suggests that you are well liked by others Zebra- Symbolizes Perfect balance, unity and harmony! Ice Cream- Symbolizes good luck and satisfaction with your life! Alternatively, it could mean that you need to cool off Pegasus- Symbolizes swiftness, agility, and braveness Teeth- Symbolizes Anxieties over your appearance How others percive you Frustrated with yourself because your voice isnt being heard Lack...
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...English 101 “Dreams Converted to Reality” In “The Symbolic Language of Dreams”, Stephen King speaks in depth about his writing process. King has written over fifty novels and sold over three hundred and fifty thousand copies worldwide. Most of us cringe at the thought of re-living some of our worst nightmares, but that’s not the case for novelist Stephen King. He uses his dreams and nightmares to sculpt his stories to his liking. King believes that dreams are the way our minds translate the nature or solution to our problems, and speaks in depth about this connection with his writing process. In “The Symbolic Language of Dreams”, Stephen King reveals that writing and dreaming are closely correlated, and writers prefer routine to achieve a semi-dreaming state. King uses dreams extensively in his writing process. He believes that dreams have a precognitive effect on the story and uses those experiences to bring the eerie feelings to life in his novels. When he was writing “IT”, King reveals that he came to a halt in writing, and needed to come up with something. He fell asleep and had a very scary nightmare; he awoke terrified and delighted, all at the same time. It would be safe to say that we’ve all had dreams reflecting on a current situation or problem, especially ones that weigh on us the heaviest. We can draw a conclusion to our problems from dreams, which is also what he relates to his readers. King describes the writing process similar to digging...
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...Dreams can be fascinating, exciting, terrifying or just plain weird. Dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of years, but only recently have dreams been subjected to empirical research and concentrated scientific study. Chances are that you’ve often found yourself puzzling over the mysterious content of a dream, or perhaps you’ve wondered why you dream at all. Dreams can be mysterious, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be downright baffling. The content of our dreams can shift suddenly, feature bizarre elements or frighten us with terrifying imagery. The fact that dreams can be so rich and compelling is what causes many to believe that there must be some meaning to our dreams. Why do we dream? Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while others believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. Although there is not much agreement on why we dream there are some interesting theories around. One possibility is that our minds are running us through the worst-case scenario during sleep. Disaster preparation you could say. For example if a new mother was to dream of losing her baby she is rehearsing what it would feel like for that to actually happen. So our dreams are just fire drills? Another possibility is that dreaming is actually aiding learning. Some researchers have found that performance on physical tasks is actually enhanced by dreaming about it. Whatever the reason for why...
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...A Dream within a Dream Edgar Allan Poe’s Dream within a Dream (1), written in 1849 (2), is one of the most powerful English language poems of the 19th century. The power of Poe’s poem stems from its masterful use of rhyme, compactness and simplicity. It’s divided neatly into 2 stanzas, like bookends of a hallucination, the first one 11 lines, and the 2nd 13 lines. In the first stanza, the Poe wastes no time thrusting the reader immediately into his dream. As if sleepwalking, the reader is being kissed. This powerful technique places the reader as the subject of a romantic fiction. The universal condition of love, loss, and sorrow of separation are introduced in a mere 2 lines. As in many of Poe’s poems, this a tone poem, with the message reinforced by a plaintive repetitive melody. The ending of the first 3 lines: brow, now, avow, all sound in a soft minor key, setting a rhythm and pattern that strengthens the poem by setting the stage of meter and rhyming inevitability. The sounds are familiar and the reader knows they will repeat. The inevitability that is set up by the rhyming sequence is also a key theme of the poem. Poe tries to find some comfort in the pain of separation. He asks the reader, if hope is abandoned, does it even matter if life is only a dream? Is what we experience in his dream or in life insignificant? The second stanza takes the reader from the universal human experience of loss, to the microscopic examination of the smallest particles...
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