...Amanda Karski Professor Kipple English 1202 CD 2 November 2015 Literary devices in “The Lottery” Literary devices are specific language techniques that are used in a text to make it clearer. Shirley Jackson author of infamous horror story, “The Lottery”, uses five literary devices such as symbolism, allegory, foreshadowing, theme and irony. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. This literary device is used most often throughout the short story to keep the suspenseful ending a surprise rather than a shock. Three main symbols are used in this story, the title “The Lottery”, the black box, and stones. The reader can look at the “The Lottery” title itself to see it exemplifies symbolism. A lottery typically represents...
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...Kim Willen Jim Andrzejewski English Comp 102 2/3/2014 “The Lottery” In the short story “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing and symbols to help understand the story’s major theme through many of the offensive details leading up to the violent but surprising ending. Starting in the second paragraph the children are making a great big pile of stones in the corner, at the square, and Bobby Martin starts stuffing his pockets full of stones while the other boys start following him by example, and selecting certain kinds of stones, the smoothest and roundest they could find. When reading this part in the story one could and would expect that to be completely normal for young boys to do such a thing. Starting off quite and then breaking out into an energetic play. All seems innocent until the real meaning becomes clear at the end when the stones are used to commit a murder. Throughout the story the author also uses symbols to help in understanding the story’s theme. One example is the black box. The black box represents a tradition that has been around for many years and ties into irony, representing death. The color of the box black is even a symbol, which is a universal symbol for evil and death. No one really seems to know when it started or where it came from, but it still remains. The villagers are very loyal and are firm believers that even though the black box is splintered badly, showing its original wood colored, faded and needs to be...
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...The Mutations of Macbeth's Mind (Act I Scene 3) "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven." These words from John Milton's Paradise Lost echo the sentiments behind William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. Shakespeare was a poet as well as a playwright, famous for his powerful poetic language, universal themes, and keen insight into human behavior. His works dealt with the consequences and the psychological effects of certain actions, rather than the actions themselves. His effective use of figurative language, and unique writing style in Macbeth, as well as his other works, instantly captivates and mesmerizes the reader. Macbeth is a powerful drama about unchecked ambition, murder, intricate human relationships, and corruption of the human conscience. The play, set in 11th century Scotland and England, is composed of various acts and scenes, each greatly contributing to the overall plot and the play's varied themes. This is the inciting incident of the witches' prophecies in Act I Scene iii that puts the whole play into action. It is an extremely important and a very complex scene involving the Weird Sisters, Macbeth and Banquo, holding the key to future incidents and actions in the play, leading right upto the climax. This scene is pivotal in the overall development of the play- getting the characters geared up, and setting the stage for depraved thoughts and terrible actions to come. "The charm's wound up"(37) when...
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...aspect of the clash between good and evil in his uncharacteristically dark short story, Young Goodman Brown. Hawthorne does this mainly through symbolism. There is an abundance of symbols throughout the tale. These range from hair ribbons to colors and names. Regardless of specifics, these symbols allow a plentiful amount of space for personal interpretation, but one conclusion that no reader can miss is the fact that Goodman Brown is fighting desperately between two opposing forces. Through the use of symbols throughout the short story, Hawthorne allows for the assumption that there is a constant battle between good and evil that is on occasions incomprehensible to distinguish between. Some readers might find it plausible that the use of names and colors have no influence on the story and are completely by coincidence. However, to say that it was random assignment of the chosen names and colors – Goodman Brown, Faith, black and pink – is to not give full credit to Hawthorne’s talent and intentions. These devices have a tremendous impact on the story as a whole. If the names were not what they were, then the story could be taken in a whole opposite direction. It would all be based on personal interpretation. Because Hawthorne chose the names and colors that he did, readers are able to distinguish the theme that he is trying to convey, that is of, as previously stated, the battle between good and evil. Readers may not comprehend at first the evil within Goodman Brown’s companion...
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...Scene I of Macbeth is used by Shakespeare to introduce the concept of tragedy and to set the tone for the rest of the play. The first thing that is the audience is drawn to is the thunder and lightning presented in the opening stage directions to the play, presenting inclement and ominous weather alongside the appearance of the witches, the instruments of darkness. The audience will already be aware of the significance of this use of the thunder and lightning as Elizabethan audiences often attributes violent weather with supernatural forces, which are embodied by the Three Witches here. This created a great sense of fear in Shakespearean audiences, as they were very superstitious and afraid of the supernatural. Right at the start of the scene we are made aware that we will see the witches once more, with the first witch asking her companions ‘when [they] shall...meet again/ in thunder, lightning or in rain’, again emphasising the role of the weather in presenting them as ominous and sinister characters, perhaps also suggesting that they have powers to control the weather, as is seen later on in the play. This weather is symbolic of the chaos that the witches will bring into Macbeth’s life, as it is they who set him on the inevitable path that leads to his demise by planting the seed of greed in his mind, as well as preparing us for the crimes that Macbeth commits later on in the play. However the first witches’ limiting choice of weather conditions in which they are to meet...
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...keep a breast of her husband’s demands” The writer then brings out the theme suffering. This shows how Annie was forced to do such things to keep her husband happy, the writer shows that she had to do it because the word “obligated” was used meaning she was committed to doing what her husband says to do. The writer also shows not only how physically strong Annie was but also how emotionally strong she was to put up with her husbands’ demands, and also how only her one being a female and not having as much strength of a man to draw ‘countless buckets’ of water each day. “He got up from the table and rushed into the kitchen to find his wife, who usually ate her meals there to escape her husbands’ evil temper” This shows how wise Miss Annie was she knows that her husband has an evil temper so she tries to distance herself away from him. The writer also uses setting to show this because Annie would go in eat in the kitchen to escape her husbands’ temper. Which was...
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...Exploring Evil in "The Lottery" The Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale of disturbing evilness. The setting is a small village on a clear summer day. The village consists of about 300 residents. On June 27th of every year, the members of the community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. At first, the reader might think that this is a great idea, not knowing what the “prize” at the conclusion of this lottery is. But as the story progressed, the reader begins to get an odd feeling about the residents. Although they are gathering for a lottery drawing, there is an air of nervousness about the event. From start to finish, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen. This is due to the use of foreshadowing the author uses in the story. In the beginning of the story, Jackson describes the lottery event as an expected tradition that occurs every year on the assigned date. After reading only the opening paragraph, the reader can gather that it is not a "normal" lottery taking place. “In some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours…” This sentence alone should grab the reader’s attention because of the way it is worded. It is not directly saying that something dangerous or evil is going to occur but only hints that this...
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...lines in Act I, Scene I. The three witches speak the simple line “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (I: i, 10) shortly before they disperse. This quotation becomes a prophecy as well as an underlying warning foreshadowing the rest of the drama. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (I: i, 10) can be interpreted as saying good is bad and bad is good. The quotation leads the reader to question their standpoint on the good and bad depicted in the drama. This quotation is a major line in the drama because it implies that some of the characters are not who they claim to be. This quotation affects the Witches because although they speak of the future, they do not seem to affect its course. In Macbeth's case, the prophecies serve only to suggest the future, not to affect it. They do not predict that he will commit murder to become king but simply that he will become king. For example, they hail Macbeth as king by saying, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (I: iii, 50). So furthermore, even if the witches did not exist, Macbeth would still have taken the throne due to fate. When the line comes from the witches, the reader assumes at first that they are speaking plainly. That the line means that for them, what is fair or good, for the witches is foul or evil; what is evil and foul for the witches is fair and good. And that the witches delight in the confusion of the two words, fair and foul. However when comparing the Holsclaw 2 quote to the rest of the themes of the drama...
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...became a third longer than he did and punished him all the time by beating on Ender whenever the chance arose. Ender has a sister named Valentine who by her name you could guess she was the love and good in Ender’s life. Their bond was of the strongest thing that Ender had to remembering the outside world. His brother Peter talks Valentine into using her special skills of persuasion to help him get the audience of the people to recognize his intelligence in order to try and gain a seat of power to run the world. They are all VERY gifted children; in fact most of these kids are not your ordinary six, seven, and eight year olds in this novel. The government is searching for that one leader who will help them be prepared and ready to win a war against a fearsome opponent (buggers). In that, the ones who actually make it to battle school are put in battles against each other in order for the government to test the potential in every kid that is attending in situations where they must improvise and show leadership. Battle training called” Games” that all the boys lived for in battle school. This story portrays emotions such as anger, love, and hate. It reminded me both of “Harry Potter” and “Cirque Du Freak” in its own way. It reminded me mostly of Cirque Du Freak when they were at battle school and Ender is all on his own and has to go...
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...The Cask of Amontillado by: Edgar Allan Poe In The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allen Poe manipulates the story to be the way he wants it to be by using the point of view of the narrator, the setting, and a common monotonous sentiment throughout the story. Poe is successful in maintaining a spirit of perverseness. The point of view plays a very important role in influencing the reader's perception of the story. The first line of the story is a good example of how the narrator attempts to bring the reader to his side, right from the start. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (101). Montresor, the narrator of the story, immediately tries to win the reader to his side, by telling him/her that Fortunato has “ventured upon insult,” and apparently crossed the line. This attempt is clever, but the reader never gets a sense of what Fortunato has actually done to the narrator, or whether Montresor is creating it in his own mind. The point of view of the story can also affect the emotional attachment that the reader gets, or fails to get, in this case, for a given character. When a reader is involved in a story, the point of view from where the story is being told is crucial to the feelings the reader has. In this story, Montresor dominates the progression of the story in every regard. This being the case, it is difficult for the reader to develop a liking for another character, unless Montresor...
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...About Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe's college work sharpened his interest in indigenous Nigerian cultures. He had grown up in Ogidi, a large village in Nigeria. His father taught at the missionary school, and Achebe witnessed firsthand the complex mix of benefit and catastrophe that the Christian religion had brought to the Igbo people. In the 1950s, an exciting new literary movement grew in strength. Drawing on indigenous Nigerian oral traditions, this movement enriched European literary forms in hopes of creating a new literature, in English but unmistakably African. Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart is one of the masterpieces of 20th century African fiction. Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s, during the coming of the white man to Nigeria. In part, the novel is a response and antidote to a large tradition of European literature in which Africans are depicted as primitive and mindless savages. The attitudes present in colonial literature are so ingrained into our perception of Africa that the District Commissioner, who appears at the end of the novel, strikes a chord of familiarity with most readers. He is arrogant, dismissive of African "savages," and totally ignorant of the complexity and richness of Igbo life. Yet his attitude echoes so much of the depiction of Africa; this attitude, following Achebe's depiction of the Igbo, seems hollow and savage. Digression is one of Achebe's most important tools. Although the novel's central story is the tragedy of Okonkwo...
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...MEDEA Part 1 Analysis The first purpose of this section is to offer background information for the action about to unfold. It's important to note that at the time the play was first produced, most people in the audience would have known the story of Medea and Jason when they came into the theatre. The myth was part of Greece's cultural and societal heritage. The interest in coming to the theatre, for the Greeks, was to see how the playwright illuminated larger questions of human existence by telling the story in his particular way. This particular playwright's viewpoint appears in the conversation between the Tutor and the Nurse, specifically the Tutor's reference to selfishness ("everyone loves himself more than his neighbor"). The two main characters in this play, Medea and Jason, are models of selfishness. Both of them are concerned with meeting their own needs, acting on their own desires and doing what they think is right without any consideration for anyone else. They both take their selfishness to extremes. Jason leaves his wife for a younger, prettier and richer woman just because he wants to, and the excuses he gives for doing so in Part 2 are just that - excuses. Medea sacrifices four innocent lives because she so desperately wants to cause Jason pain. The question of whether she's justified in that desire will be examined later. Note that this is a different question from whether she's justified in killing her children. The Chorus functions in a similar...
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...authority blessed by God as well. Most of information on David can be found in the Books of Samuel and Ruth. Historically, David was one of eight sons of Jesse, who in his turn descended from Judas. In the Old Testament books, it is mentioned that he was handsome, physically strong, had red hair and was an outstanding musician. He started by helping his father to care about the herd and quite succeeds in doing so. Even at a young age, he demonstrates courage as a shepherd when a lion and bear attack the herd. He conquers in the battle with beasts, for which he gains his first glory. In fact, it should be mentioned, that being a shepherd is more than a narrative element which is mentioned in the Bible. In fact, this role of David is foreshadowing his future position of Israeli ruler. In the scriptures, a shepherd is often a positive idea that implies being in charge of people. Even God has been compared to a shepherd not once like for instance in the following passage: ‘Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day”( Genesis 48:15). Yet, though David seems to be blessed by God for glorious deed from early years, it should be also noted that his story conveys an idea that one cannot take all the glory at once but work hard in order to prove his devotion...
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...GREEK MYTHOLOGY Background to Homer’s Odyssey As you read each story, ask yourself: What is most enjoyable, predictable, or bizarre about this story? How would I have responded in this situation? What mysteries or features of the world might this story try to explain? What bit of moral or religious instructions (i.e. don’t disobey the gods) might be contained in this story? How does this story compare with Christian beliefs, or with the values of our culture today? Are there any other stories or fables I’ve heard that follow the same pattern as this story? The Creation Myths Part 1 Before there was anything, there was Chaos, a formless void. This void, this pure nothingness, gave birth to Gaea (the Earth itself), Tartarus (the underworld), Eros (love), Erebus (underground darkness) and Nyx (the darkness of night). The two kinds of darkness joined together and gave birth two kinds of light: the Light of the heavens and the Light of day. Nyx (night) also gave birth to the three Fates, who control the course of the universe and determine the length of each person’s life on their wheel of fortune. Of the fates, Clotho spins the threads of each person’s life, Lachesis measures the length of the thread, and Atropos cuts the thread. The Fates – Francisco Goya (one of the best painters ever!) 1823 – Note the scissors in the hand of Atropos and Lachesis measuring with a magnifying glass. Who’s...
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...Literary Devices and Terms Literary devices are specific language techniques which writers use to create text that is clear, interesting, and memorable. Alliteration - repeated consonant sound at the beginning of words or within words; used to establish mood and rhythm in a story; true alliteration has three words beginning with the same sound (two words beginning with the same sound would be called alliterative) Examples: bucking bronco; miserable morning; Bed, Bath, and Beyond Allusion - a reference in one story to a well-known character or event from another story, history, or place Examples: the rise of the baseball team from last place to first was a real Cinderella story; at times teachers need the wisdom of Solomon to make decisions Ambiguity - when a single event or expression can mean two different things to two different people Example: When it is announced that another baby is on the way, Father remarks, “That could create some problems.” He means problems with money, but his young son thinks, “You’re right, dad! I don’t want to share my room and toys with anybody!” Analogy - comparing one thing to another very different thing in order to explain it better Examples: a school is like a garden, where children are lovingly raised and cared for; the rabbit shot from its hole like a rocket; the confetti fell like snow in a blizzard as the parade passed through the city streets (these three analogies are all written as similes) Aphorism - a brief...
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