...In The Awakening, it starts out with a parrot and a mockingbird in a cage. Chopin’s uses the birds to symbolize 2 very unique characters. The parrot is repeating over and over “Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi!”(Solemon, pg1) to Mr. Pontellier. This meaning “Get out! Get out! Damnation!” which possesses a hidden representation by speaking Spanish. It’s Edna’s hidden voice, her unspoken feelings unknown by most people. Whereas the mockingbird represents Mademoiselle Reisz with the sweet sound of music it makes. Both birds are pretty, but caged symbolizing them and even all women in the 19th century being restricted, unable to move because of society. Edna’s home life isn’t very different, repressed by her husband she feels caged. She must...
Words: 293 - Pages: 2
...position as a social truth. However, I would argues that, in The Awakening written by Kate Chopin, Edna sets an impressive example that presents us with a figure who takes a weary and tough journey in seeking liberation and authentic identity in a complex society, along with exploring self. The courageous soul seems to be the essential beacon guiding her through this tough tunnel, whereas, she finally understands that being herself in an authentic society will be the first step in truly achieving liberation. Quite a few people claim that Edna already has an authentic life, since she is well protected by her husband, who looks at his wife “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage” (The Awakening, Page 4) My view, however, is that this has the same meaning as Edna being a caged bird who is not fully understood by others. The author writes: “Her eyebrows were a shade darker than her hair. They were thick and almost horizontal, emphasizing the depth of her eyes. She was rather handsome than beautiful.” (The Awakening, Page 5) We learn that Edna’s powerful and serious impression foreshadows her internal strength and masculinity. According to Chopin’s description, Edna defines herself properly: “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. The mother-woman seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle […] fluttering about with extended, protecting wings.” (The Awakening, Page 9) Firstly, the mother-woman depicts a typical-identity...
Words: 1300 - Pages: 6
...this passage, “[Léonce] makes her get up on the pretext of one of their son’s imaginary illness…” (94). In doing so, Léonce is using her apparent lack of domesticity and care toward their children as reason to not only get back at her but to reinforce these her oppressive roles as mother and wife that she is uncomfortable with having. For, as Léonce believes, “If it was not a mother’s place to look after the children, then whose on earth was it?” (565). After this incident Edna feels overwhelmed with “an indescribable oppression” (566), prompting her journey of self-discovery. This journey later drives her to want to “Swim far out, where no woman had swum before” (583). This passage where Edna learns how to swim is significant in her awakening as it symbolizes Edna’s growing independence as well as a growing spiritual connection with the sea - which she returns to by the novel’s end. This is in agreement with Heilmann’s reading: Edna’s midnight swim is much more than a victory of physical coordination. It establishes her sense of self-ownership, physical, mental and spiritual, which in turn triggers two fundamental insights that determine her progression from disengaged wife to autonomous subject: in control of her body, she becomes aware of its potential for pleasure and learns to claim her right to self determination … (87) After her “encounter with death” (583), she returns to the shore feeling a sense of “achievement” (583) and “intoxicated with her newly conquered...
Words: 2048 - Pages: 9
...In a world of restraints, freedom is fruit of people's labour they may never harvest without giving themselves to the mercy of mother nature. Within a passage of her novel “The Awakening” Kate Chopin utilizes rich imagery, extended metaphor and motifs to form a symphony of literature depicting a restless woman's desire for release. This woman, Edna, is crippled by the recollection of memories, be it good or bad, as she struggles to find peace somewhere out at sea. Life can bring many memories, yet to some these memories can drown them in an ocean of anguish and agony. The Gulf seduces her luring her with pleasant imagery and sweet memories from her past. Imagery such as “gleaming with the million lights of the sun” suggests infatuation that shows the ocean as a place of beauty and enticement, bringing her in. “Thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she traversed as a kid” is an example of the happy memories she brings to mind as she swims which satisfy her enough to keep going. Additionally, the ocean not only lures her through these...
Words: 623 - Pages: 3
...The Awakening The Awakening explores different details of a woman living life through the 1800's. The main character that is discussed is Edna Pontellier. She is married to Leonce Pontellier and they have two children together, Etienne and Raoul. The story behind Edna is her desire and struggles to be an independent woman and live fully within her true self. She has struggles learning this about herself and the purpose of a happy life that in turn it causes friction with her friends and family. There are many symbols and perspectives in the story that will help decide whether or not Edna did the right thing in the end. Although Edna's ultimate suicide is a waste of her struggles against an oppressive society, The Awakening supports and encourages feminism as a way for women to obtain sexual freedom, financial independence, and individual identity. A critical analysis consists of choosing a certain lens that would point out certain characteristics of a book and summarize the findings. From the weekly reading “When you analyze a piece of literature or portion of it, it is important to look at various parts of the work—characters, setting, figurative language, and symbolism” (South University, Lecture, wk.2). There are three perspectives that were included in The Awakening, Feminist, Psychoanalytical and Historical. While writing this paper from a feminist perspective there will also be comparisons from the other two. As Sigmund Freud stated “the mind has two parts,...
Words: 1649 - Pages: 7
...Heinrich-Heine-Universität Wintersemester 2010/11 Vertiefungsmodul Kurs: American Realism and Naturalism - Short Stories Seminarleiter: Georg Schiller Datum der Abgabe: 16.04.2011 Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” Anjana Dhir BA Englisch KF, Geschichte NF 3. Semester Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The French – Creole society of Louisiana 4 2.1 Cultural background 4 2.2 French-Creole women 5 3. The Role of Women 6 4.1 Edna vs. Madame Ratignolle 7 3.1.1 “A Valuable Piece of Property” 7 3.1.2 Edna – The Unusual Woman 9 3.1.3 Adèle Ratignolle – The Archetype Woman 14 3.2 “Mother Woman” – The Patriarchal Ideology 16 4. Chopin’s Imagery 18 5. Conclusion - Edna’s Suicide 19 6. Bibliography 21 1. Introduction A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence. […] A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She...
Words: 7915 - Pages: 32
...The Awakening Close Reading Discussion Questions Always reference page numbers as part of evidence for responses. Always add new vocabulary to your notes to expand your diction. Chapters 1 through 5 • What observations can be made from the cover? What might be meant by “The Awakening”? • What does the introductory paragraph/page introduce? Why? • Are there any symbols? • Character descriptions (What kind of husband/father is Mr. Pontellier? Mother/wife is Mrs. Pontellier? How is Mrs. Ratignolle described? Robert Lebrun?) • What is the setting (time and place)? How does it factor into the interactions of the characters? • Page 18, why is Edna crying. Find the best word from the text to describe what she is feeling? • Chapter 5, paragraph 4, how is Adele Ratignolle described? To what is this allusion referencing? • What is a Creole? Chapters 6 through 10 • How does the Chapter 6 relate to the title? • What is the significance of the sea? • What is chapter 6 saying about Edna’s emotional state? • Why does the author spend time referencing Edna’s childhood? • Lady in black and the lover imagery is referenced in the same paragraph, multiple times in these chapters, why? • What is the significance of Adele and Robert’s conversation on the way back from the beach? • Alcee Arobin is introduced as a character. Why? How does he contribute to the story? • Where is Vera Cruz? What is its significance...
Words: 996 - Pages: 4
...cause of the suffering in the world and concludes that “crass casualty obstructs the sun and rain”, that it is fate, not God, that controls our lives. He demonstrates a slightly depressing view of the dead in his poem ‘Friends Beyond’ when he claims they have “no wish to hear the tidings, how the people’s fortunes shift”. In his short composition ‘Christmas 1924’, he expresses a cynical view of the uselessness of religion “after two thousand years of mass, we’ve got as far as poison-gas” . Hardy’s poetry often comments on human nature and society. He idealises his idea of the traditional rural lifestyle in the region of England he calls ‘Wessex’, which was his home, and rejects urbanisation and modernisation. In ‘The Darkling Thrush’, the bird sings for “some blessed hope, whereof he knew” at the coming of the new century but Hardy “was unaware”. In the poem, the thrush represents society and the voice represents Hardy as being separate from them. In...
Words: 811 - Pages: 4
...Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova State Pedagogical University “Ion Creangă” Foreign Languages and Literature Faculty English Philology Department DIPLOMA PAPER Figurative Language, Language Shaped by Imagination in Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories Submitted by: the 4th year student Paşcaneanu Mariana Group 404 Scientific adviser: Tataru Nina Senior Lecturer Chişinău 2012 Contents INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER I: SHORT STORY AS A FORM OF FICTION 5 I.1.Common Characteristics of a Short Story as a Form of Fiction. Its Plot and Structure. 5 I.2. Figurative Language. Definition. Function. 9 I.3. Imagery – Language that Appeals to the Senses 11 I.3.1. Simile, Metaphor and Personification. 13 1.3.2. Symbol and Symbolism. 26 I.3.3 Allegory. 30 CHAPTER II: LANGUAGE SHAPED BY IMAGINATION IN K. MANSFIELD’S SHORT STORIES 36 II.1. Figurative Language, Symbolism and Theme in "Her First Ball": 37 II.2. Katherine Mansfield – Techniques and Effects in A Cup of Tea. 41 II.3. Literary Colloquial Style in “Miss Brill” by K. Mansfield. 49 II.3.1. Lexical features—Vague Words and Expressions 49 II.3.2 Syntactical and Morphological Features 52 II.3.3 Phonological Schemes of the Figures of Speech 55 II.4. Simplifying Figurative Language in K.Mansfield’s Short Stories 60 CONCLUSION 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY 66 APPENDIX 70 INTRODUCTION Figurative Language is the use of words that...
Words: 23312 - Pages: 94
...W.B. Yeats's "The Second Coming" W.B. Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" was written in 1919, just one year after WWI ended. The beginning of this poem reflects on how evil has taken over the minds of good Christians, and the world has turned into chaos. It is apparent that Yeats believes that a Second Coming is at hand, and he spends the last half of the poem discussing what that Second Coming could look like. Turning and turning in the widening gyre (line 1) Yeats imagines the world in a cyclical sphere known a gyre (shape of a cone). In Yeats' note on the text, he states that "the end of an age, which always receives the revelation of the character of the next age, is represented by the coming of one gyre to its place of greatest expansion and of the other to that of its greatest contraction" (2036). Yeats believes that the two thousand years of Christianity will be coming to an end, and after a violent reversal a new age will take its place. The widening part of the gyre is supposed to connote anarchy, evil, and the loss of innocence. The falcon cannot hear the falconer; (2) The falconer in this analogy is most likely God (or Jesus), and the falcon is the follower (or devotee). Humanity can no longer hear the word of God, because it is drowned out by all of chaos of the widening gyre. A wild falcon can symbolize an unconverted Gentile; someone who has sinful thoughts, and does sinful things. A tame falcon (one who listens to the word of God) is a Christian convert. In the...
Words: 23171 - Pages: 93
...An A level English Student Guide by Julia Geddes, Kitty Graham and Helen Ince ~ Wessex Publications ~ Selected Poems by John Clare CONTENTS Page Using the Workbook......................................................................................1 How to Study Poetry......................................................................................2 John Clare 1793 - 1864 ..................................................................................3 The Poems A Country Village Year.................................................................................6 December from ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’: Christmas ...............................6 Sonnet: ‘The barn door is open’ ...................................................................11 The Wheat Ripening......................................................................................13 The Beans in Blossom ...................................................................................16 Sonnet: ‘The landscape laughs in Spring’ .....................................................19 Sonnet: ‘I dreaded walking where there was no path’...................................21 Sonnet: ‘The passing traveller’......................................................................23 Sport in the Meadows....................................................................................25 Emmonsales Heath .......................................................................................
Words: 33689 - Pages: 135
...Senior English Curriculum Map: 2010-2011 School Year English IV * Note: “Sacred Book List” Addendum is at the end of this document Quarter #1 August 23 to October 22 Essential Questions: 1. How do writers and artists organize or construct text to convey meaning? 2. What does it mean to be a stranger in the village? Unit Goals 1. To understand the relationship between perspective and critical theory. 2. To apply critical theories to various texts studied and created. 3. To control and manipulate textual elements in writing to clearly and effectively convey a controlling idea or thesis. Student Published Portfolios: For each of the first three quarters, students are required to complete three to four published writing portfolio products. Quarter 4 is devoted to completion of the Laureate Research Project. . Pacing: This map is one suggestion for pacing. Springboard pacing guides precede each unit in the “About the Unit” sections and offers pacing on a 45-minute class period length. Prentice Hall Literature – Use selections from Prentice Hall throughout the quarter to reinforce the standards being taught as well as the embedded assessments within the SpringBoard curriculum. QUARTER #1 SpringBoard Curriculum Pacing Guide August 23 – October 22 Standards and Benchmarks | Unit Pacing Guide | SpringBoard Unit/Activities | Assessments | SpringBoard Unit 1Literature * The students will analyze and compare significant works of...
Words: 2782 - Pages: 12
...J.R.R Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit follows the journey of one central hero, Bilbo Baggins, and his company of dwarves as they embark to Erebor to retake the dwarves’ homeland. This epic tale can be analyzed using a mythological, biographical, or historical critic’s point of view. There are also a few themes seen throughout the novel, including greed and the journey. From a mythological standpoint, one could mention the works of literature that Tolkien himself said has influenced his fantasies about the fabled land of Middle-earth: Iceland’s Poetic Edda and Beowulf. Some tales in Norse mythology can also be analyzed to apply to Tolkien’s novel. Based on a biographically and historically opinion, one might talk about the World Wars’ effect on Tolkien and his novels. Another approach that could be taken is one based on the archetypes seen in The Hobbit; the hero, Bilbo Baggins, and the villain, the dragon Smaug. One could connect the archetypes and events of The Hobbit to those of Beowulf. The Hobbit could also be seen as a novel of the genre bildungsroman, which means “coming-of-age” and focuses on the emotional and physical development of the main character. The use of mythological criticism in the analysis of J.R.R Tolkien’s first novel The Hobbit is by far the most popular among renowned literature critics – one of whom was CS Lewis, an author of children’s fantasy novels himself. It is easy to explain the story from a mythological point of view; many ancient texts have themes...
Words: 4640 - Pages: 19
...A Comparison of Jane Eyre and Lin Daiyu in the View of Philosophy and Feminism I. Introduction 1.1 A Brief Introduction of Jane Eyre and Lin Daiyu “A Dream of Red Mansions” is one of the most outstanding works of China’s classic novels of realism. It bases on the background of Jia, Shi, Wang, Xue four families’ rising and falling, with the clue of the love tragedy of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. It truly and artistically reflects the historically declining trend of China’s feudal society. “A Dream of Red Mansions” can also be described as “Girls’ Country”, which is the anthem of female, but also is the threnody of women. The heroine Lin Daiyu, Annatto Fairy, wants to repay the goodness of God Shen Yin, taking her lifetime of tears in exchange for his being saved. Her rebellious sprit and solitary character, makes her as a lotus opening at a secluded place, clinging to her own pureness—for pure you came and pure shall go. She is sentimental and unfortunate, and is doomed to being lonely and pathetical .She, Lin Daiyu, lives under another’s house—Rong mansion, Grand View Garden, and she has no one to complain her sadness to. She is “Yea to the very end of heaven, Where I could find a fragrant grave!” in frustration, “What time the third moon comes, the scented nests have been already built. And on the beams the swallows perch, excessive spiritless and staid” in sorrow, and finally ends up with the sadness of “Flowers fade and maidens die; and of either naught any more is known”...
Words: 8010 - Pages: 33
...A Course in Light Speed Reading A Return to Natural Intuitive Reading Joseph Bennette A Course in Light Speed Reading A Return to Natural Intuitive Reading Joseph Bennette A Course in Light Speed Reading A Return to Natural Intuitive Reading by Joseph Bennette First Published July 1997 Fifth Edition ISBN 0-9631506-9-4 © Copyright 2001, Joseph Bennette. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without consent or written permission of the author. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or position of anyone else. No guarantee as to applicability of this program is implied or expressed. Ideas, concepts, processes, and techniques offered in this book are intended to assist the reader in opening to their own intuitive processes and may appear different to each person. However, due to the many variables involved, I make no assertion, warranty or guarantee that all the information here will work for all people, all the time. Available from: Joseph Bennette 265 37th Ave SE Salem, OR 97301 joseph@jbennette.com www.jbennette.com About the Author Joseph Bennette holds Master Rapid Eye Technician (MRET) and Reiki Master Teacher (RMT) certificates and is listed in the International Registry of Rapid Eye Technicians. Joseph is a trainer with the Rapid Eye Institute, Salem, OR, and has Doctorates in Clinical Hypnotherapy (DCH) from the American Institute of Hypnotherapy, Santa Ana, CA, and Psychology (Ph.D.) from American Pacific...
Words: 28691 - Pages: 115
