...In both passages, the authors characterizes one or both characters as loyal, devoted and a little gullible, which ultimately conveys the theme. In “Mending Wall” two neighbors argue over whether to rebuild a wall between their properties or not. The neighbor who stubbornly believes the wall should not be built believes this because it is a tradition within his family. The opposite neighbor states he “will not go behind his father’s saying, And he likes having thought of it so well He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’” (Frost 43-45). In The Interlopers, generations of fighting and hatred between two families has escalated to the point where the heads of the families are out to kill each other and neither main character plans to break the tradition....
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...A stone wall separates the speaker’s property from his neighbor’s. In spring, the two meet to walk the wall and jointly make repairs. The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept—there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He does not believe in walls for the sake of walls. The neighbor resorts to an old adage: “Good fences make good neighbors.” The speaker remains unconvinced and mischievously presses the neighbor to look beyond the old-fashioned folly of such reasoning. His neighbor will not be swayed. The speaker envisions his neighbor as a holdover from a justifiably outmoded era, a living example of a dark-age mentality. But the neighbor simply repeats the adage. The image at the heart of “Mending Wall” is arresting: two men meeting on terms of civility and neighborliness to build a barrier between them. They do so out of tradition, out of habit. Yet the very earth conspires against them and makes their task Sisyphean. Sisyphus, you may recall, is the figure in Greek mythology condemned perpetually to push a boulder up a hill, only to have the boulder roll down again. These men push boulders back on top of the wall; yet just as inevitably, whether at the hand of hunters or sprites, or the frost and thaw of nature’s invisible hand, the boulders tumble down again. Still, the neighbors persist. The poem, thus, seems to meditate conventionally on three grand themes: barrier-building (segregation, in the broadest sense of the word), the doomed nature of...
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...Jaylene Navarro Mrs. Torres English 10A, Period 2 12 December 2014 “Mending Wall”: A Literary Analysis on respectful distance What would you expect from two neighbors who share two different opinions on repairing the wall, that separates them, but keep their opinions to themselves? In this poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost demonstrates how two neighbors have a peaceful relationship because of a wall that separates them. Through the use of metaphors and personifications, Frost conveys how a respectful distance between people is the key to a stable relationship. There is no denying that Frost uses two metaphors to support how a considerate amount of space that is shared with people is the magic for a sane relationship. While the two neighbors are on their way to fix the wall a neighbor states, “Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,/ One on a side”(21-22). This quote gives an explanation on how one neighbor takes the task more nonchalant than the other neighbor. The speaker compares how restoring the wall is more of a one player game. Meaning he practically has no say on what Player One does. In another part of the poem, the neighbors are repairing their wall the same neighbor thinks, “He is all pine and I am apple-orchard”(23). In this quote the neighbor is comparing themselves to a “apple-orchard” tree which means he is open to new ideas and allows people to be close to them. But then the they explain how their neighbor is a pine tree meaning they pictured them covered in...
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...What is a wall? Anyone can answer that it's a simple logical question. But what would someone say if I asked, what does a wall symbolize? Than the question becomes a bit more complex because you have to think in what context is the wall being used. The poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost is a blank verse poem in which the speaker explains the tedious task he has to do each year. He and his neighbor have to get together each spring and fix the wall that separates the two properties. The speaker and his neighbor seem to have polar personalities since they don’t seem to interact much during the rest of the year. The speaker conveys their conflicting personalities by his use of symbolism and metaphor to express their differences....
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...Tradition Triggers Tragedy Traditions are blueprints for our beliefs, values, memories, relationships, and overall, our bond to society. They give a sense of belonging and can bring families together and reconnect friends. Not all traditions are healthy though. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost reveal the dangers in following tradition blindly. However, Frost uses symbolism to address this theme, while Jackson relies on word choice that creates a suspenseful tone. Initially, Both Jackson and Frost urge the reader to notice the negative impacts on questionable traditions. The citizens in “The Lottery” choose to carry out a tradition of coming together to find a winner of the town lottery in order to sacrifice...
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...“The Lottery” and “The Mending Wall” have themes that almost mirror each other exactly. One shows a small town and its tradition of a cruel, random murder each and every June, that has been repeated for hundreds of years. The other shows two neighbors repairing a wall, the narrator thinks that repairing the wall is unnecessary and that the wall should not exist only to exist and serve no purpose, but his neighbor claims that the wall is key to maintaining their relationship. Both Shirley Jackson and Robert Frost play with the idea of blindly following tradition and how it can be harmful. This short story and poem are similar because in both, there are people who refuse to question tradition; while they differ because the consequences of ignorance are much greater in “The Lottery”. “He only says, “Good Fences make good neighbours.” Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder if I could put a notion in his head: “Why do they make good neighbours?”” The message Robert Frost tries to convey in this poem, is that breaking free of tradition if one feels the need to do so, is not wrong. He’s trying to tell the reader to be the one who questions things rather than just blindly following someone else’s beliefs or customs. In the short...
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...Although Robert Frost and F. Scott Fitzgerald are from the same time era and passed away at around the same time, they had many differences in their writing styles. Robert Frost was poetically inclined in his writing ‘The Mending Wall’ which I will be comparing to Fitzgerald’s ‘Winter Dreams’ which is more on the story side of the spectrum. Frost went through a string of jobs before finding his passion in poetry. He became interested in high school, but didn’t pursue a career in it until much later. Fitzgerald was born into a upper middle class family and had always been interested in stories. Both of these artists fell in love with writing during their younger years. Robert Frost was writing his poems around the 19th century and draws his...
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...neighbors In Robert Frost’s poems “Mending Wall” and “The Ax-Helve,” the characters demonstrate the comparable differences of being each other’s neighbor. Frost uses these poems to tell us that we shouldn’t determine one’s worth on first interaction. Although Frost suggests that we should share amongst our neighbors yet there should be a boundary. In both poems, one neighbor is willing to be the open and “good neighbor” while in contrast, the other wants excludes himself. (Frost, Mending Wall) I “Mending wall” the neighbors like having a fence between the two. The fence symbolizes many different things, but ultimately it symbolizes a space or boundary between the two. This is completely different from “The Ax Helve” where the French neighbor wants the other neighbor over. So while they are very much different they are also very much similar. (Frost, Ax helve) The similarities come into play when you look into the underlying meaning and triggers of each poem, in both the neighbors have this unspoken suspicion of the other neighbor. For example in “Mending Wall” the narrator did not see the need for the wall between them which was there to create an alienation and a similar alienation was created by the cultural differences between the two neighbors in “The Ax Helve.” In the “Mending Wall” the narrator and the neighbor pretty much agree on the benefit of the wall, and in the end they both repair the wall, but the narrator did question the walls purpose. It appears they do not...
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...LAC1_COMP_16.2_Planning_an_Essay The Mending Wall by Robert Frost Getting Closer by Seperation The poem "Mending Wall", is about two neighbors that had different thoughts of why or why not there should be a wall in between thier properties. Between natures courses, the trees, rain, animals, and even hunters, every spring Frost has to repair the wall and his neighbor helps him, even though his neighbor feels it is unnessary to seperate the properties. As time goes by, thet eventully start bonding throughout every spring. Frost refers to "as something there is that doesn't love a wall", the wall should not be there in the first place, seperating we as people, the wall needs to come down. To build a lasting relationship while still possesed with discrimination and hatred, toward his neighbor, towards mother nature, and god's creatures. No matter how nice the wall is fixed up. Between the mixure of the rain and sun, the suns rays spills over the wall causing damage. As the damge to the wall is already done and noticed, the two neighbors are literelly putting the stones back, one by one. Frost and his neighbor that lives behind the hill, finally end up taking a walk to discuss the reaccuring damage to the wall and how they might beable to protect it . Their dedication, commitment, and determination to fix the problems, with their differences set aside. As these two neighbors spend time together discussing how to keep this wall intact, they are sharing an expierence...
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...Poetic Imagery and Political Realities Kathy Kubisty, Omar Contreras, Adolfo Arce University of Phoenix Eng/ 302 David Maker August 24, 2010 Poetic Imagery and Political Realities Poetry has been around for many centuries and the world has witnessed many fine artistic poem writers. Throughout this paper, the life of Robert Frost will be explained along with some of his outstanding poetry. We will discuss who he was, how Frost started in writing his poetry, and how some of his poems relate to what is happening in today's world. Robert Frost was named after the Southern General, Robert E. Lee. He was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. Because his parents were a teacher and a journalist, he was always around books. He studied literature from William Shakespeare and poems from Robert Burns and William Wordsworth. Robert excelled in many topics in school such as history, botany, Latin, and Greek. Frost also played football and graduated top of his high school class. Robert Frost started writing poems at an early age. His first poem, “La Noche Triste” was published in his high school newspaper. Frost later enrolled in an Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire. Robert Frost was not fond of the campus life so he quit college and started teaching while he was writing poetry. Frost got his first break as a poet in 1894 when the New York Magazine, “Independent” published his poem, “My Butterfly” for only 15 dollars. Robert Frost later in 1895 married...
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...Robert Frost is one of America’s most beloved poets, and "Mending Wall" is one of his most popular poems. This poem tells the tale of a rock wall which sits between two properties in the countryside. Something continually destroys this rock wall. A compelling aspect of "Mending Wall" is the Frostian sense of mystery and loneliness. What begins as a quest to discover the identity of the wall-destroyer, ends in a meditation on the value of tradition and boundaries. "Mending Wall" is the first poem in North of Boston, Frost’s second book of poetry. This book was published when Frost was in England, rubbing elbows with the likes of W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, andEzra Pound. Frost was a contemporary of many modernist poetic movements, but he isn’t associated with any particular group of poets. He marched to his own drummer, and as a result, he garnered a good deal of criticism from the literary world. But, it is precisely because he was such an individual and his voice so original that Frost became so beloved. Born in San Francisco, Frost moved to Massachusetts at age eleven following his father’s death. He attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard University, but never earned a college degree. He was, however, often invited to teach at Dartmouth and Harvard later on in his life. You know you’re good when you get to teach college students without having a diploma yourself. After spending some time in England, Frost befriended a lot of poetic giants, including William Butler Yeats...
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...Cassie Osborn Ms. Chavis 1113/18699 October 2, 2015 Walls Are Not Necessary In Modern Society The definition of a “wall” in society is a means of separation between things that should be together. There are many types of “walls” in society today which include, but are not limited to, prejudice and separation. “Walls” like that do more harm than good to our society. Some people may think otherwise, saying that many metaphorical walls need to separate us in order to keep peace between certain things. Whether it be countries or certain groups of people. The other half of people that think differently, think that there would be no need for these “walls” if we could get rid of them slowly and find a way for everyone to work together. These barriers tend to have overall negative effects on people if they don’t have any “wiggle” room. These enclosures limit the freedom of an individual. They are no longer able to move about freely when you have certain barricades in the way. Next, dividers limit the person’s mindset. “Walls” can cause people to feel less than important by restricting their freedom of thought. And last, obstructions can end up causing problems or altercations. This is caused when a barrier is broken and the individual has to overcome the impending hurdles being thrown at them. “Walls” are not necessary in society because they limit freedom to “roam,” freedom to think, and they force people to have conflicts. “Good fences make good neighbors.” This is what the...
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...Bartleby the Scrivener The meaningful projection in this story is the walls. These walls are symptoms of separation and represent Bartleby's separation from both reality and people. This set the tone for the story, as the relationships with each other seem to be purely professional in nature. This impersonality of the characters is significant - the business based world in which they operate has no room for personal interaction. Nothing is learned about any of the characters beyond what they are like in the office. The walls serve as a safe haven for Bartleby, as he is in a world with societal expectations and he chooses not to conform and the walls, in essence, allow him to retreat into a world of his own, thus protecting himself from those who may think he is a threat to their own materially oriented world. It is as though I am involved in trying to deal personally with Bartleby, a sensation that keeps me fully engaged with the story as it heads toward its tragic ending. "Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby" (Litz,1994, p.165-166). "I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my feet" (Litz,1994, p.166). After Bartleby dies, alone and imprisoned, I learn a little of his past; apparently he worked in the dead letter office. Could it be that this depressing job affected Bartleby's sanity? Bartleby died of sadness...
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...Observation of Young Children I observed for two and one-half hours from 9:39 am to 11:55 am. The preschool has three teachers and a full enrollment of 24 children, ages 2 and five, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They also have 24 children, age three, on Tuesday and Thursday. On the Friday that I visited, there were 20 children in attendance. There is a large enclosed play area outside. There is a large covered sandbox area with several toys including large plastic scoops, a large metal spoon, plastic bowls, shovels and buckets, a large play structure with a slide and climbing apparatus, a log cabin play house with several tools; such as plastic hammers, wrenches, and saws. There is a big sidewalk that goes around the yard where the children ride the tricycles. There are six tricycles but they were not out for use on the day that I observed. Inside there are many areas for playing and learning. There is a small room that has a cradle, dolls, blankets, dress-up clothes and shoes for girls, child size furniture; table, sink, dishes, and other kitchen items. Also kept in this room is a large roll of paper that can be cut to any length for drawing and painting. In this room is where one of the teachers meets for story time with her group of eight children. The large room is divided into two parts for the other two teachers and their groups when it is story time. The divider is opened when the individual group time is over. In the large room are many different activity...
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...male had a low hair cute. Their conversation was about school. The young lady had just taken a Civil Rights course and she was describing the impact that the course had on her. Her male friend seemed to be very interested in the conversation. 4. “That cornbread looks good” a group member quoted 5. The restaurant has a coat rack for your coats. 6. Younger couples seemed to sit at the bar and customers that were there by themselves sat at the bar. 7. The waiter’s attires were black tops and blue jeans. 8. The restaurants sits about 125 guests; two levels, black and white pictures on the wall downstairs, colorful pictures upstairs with painted yellow walls. 9. Daily specials were written on the blackboard at the entrance of the restaurant. 10. There was a white phone on the side of the wall. 11. There was a thermoset on the wall by the customers. 12. Restrooms downstairs had no gender on them and there were only two; upstairs there were restrooms as well. 13. The restaurant had energy saving lights as well as lights over top of the tables....
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