...The Priceless Ruby and Nettle Munro's stories abound in such questionable seekers and well-fingered ploys. But they abound also in such insights: within any story, within any human being, there may be a dangerous treasure, a priceless ruby, and a heart's desire. ----Margaret Atwood I. Munro’s narrative mode In traditional narrative mode of novel, such as Chekhov，the whole story is divided into four parts: the beginning, development, the climax and the end. Some critics describe this mode as “Roller Coaster” kind, because the hero or heroine’s life in the story is just like taking a roller coaster—you know there is going to be a big turn but you never know how dangerous or exciting it can be. But in Munro makes every story looks like a peaceful journey, we can wander with the narrator, to see what is inside her mind and to explore her memory, and we will never expect the big change that is about to happen. In a 2010 interview, Munro said she wanted her readers “to feel something is astonishing—not the ‘what happens’ but the way everything happens”. We readers will trust her and give away our hearts to let her lead us to a sightseeing or maybe take a trip back to the childhood or a “beautiful time” of the narrator’s life, and we will be confronted with the real life—the one that might be bitter compared to the sweet memory, that’s when we realize her theme. In this novel, Nettles, Munro tells us a story about the problem of a middle-aged woman, about her passion...
Words: 985 - Pages: 4
...Heaven’s Gate Control, brain washed, and mental illness. Those are the first thoughts that come to mind during and after watching this documentary. Heaven’s Gate was founded and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1928–1985).Marshall Applewhite is a disturbing individual, who seems to me he just wants control over these individuals. The most shocking part is that they actually allow him to control every aspect of their lives. According to what we learned and discussed in class, Heaven’s Gate is definitely a cult. Applewhite was a charismatic leader that kept tight control. He regulated who and when they could go outside to the size a pancake could be. He also isolated them from their family and friends (separation). He controlled all of their resources. One former member even stated Applewhite would use “idol threats” to keep them there, as if they were going to miss out on the best part if they left. This destructive cult claimed the lives of 38 members and the leader. The followers in Heaven’s gate believed that Earth was going to be recycled or “renewed” and the only way to survive was to leave Earth immediately. I felt like this group should have sat down and actually read the bible. Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God you are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” With that said a Christian is supposed to have...
Words: 695 - Pages: 3
...This major work began for me on the reading of Junichirō Tanizaki’s ‘Some Prefer Nettles’. The tale itself, highly symbolic and tinged with an unmistakable pathos, ultimately led me to select as a focus for my major work the Taisho period of Japan, a period of social, political and literary fermentation. The Taisho period was a time of literary reflection on the changes the Meiji period had brought about, it was a period where a great many authors turned their minds towards locating an authentic cultural identity distinct from Western influence. Decidedly thus influenced by this topic, my critical response was to have the purpose of illustrating the tensions that exist between modernity and traditional culture, additionally dealing with the...
Words: 1555 - Pages: 7
...Stinging Nettle Alyssa Peterson, Lauralee Cook, Kelly Swensen PWS 101 Urtica dioica: The Cultural and Medicinal History of Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica, or Stinging Nettle, is a well-known plant in much of the Northern Hemisphere. This weed is often found growing beside abandoned buildings and in empty fields, but it has a long history of traditional use both medicinally as well as in other cultural practices. It has been used for centuries for a wide variety of ailments ranging from treating bloody noses, to inflamed uvula. Today, the use of U. dioica has been whittled down to include the treatment of just a few ailments, but still remains an important medicinal plant. Background...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
...In Nettles, the speaker is a father who demonstrates parental love for a young child through his protective thoughts and actions. The poem demonstrates that parents must accept that even though they love their children, they cannot protect them from all pain. As in Nettles, Born Yesterday explores parental attitudes towards children. The speaker in the poem is a friend of a new parent. The poem reflects on what we should hope for in our children’s lives. Near the beginning of Nettles, the speaker describes the incident when his child fell into a ‘nettle bed’, but goes on to describe the nettles as ‘green spears’. This metaphor exaggerates the danger of stinging nettles and the harm that they can cause is presented as deadly instead of just painful. Juxtaposing a three year old boy with weapons designed to kill shocks the reader, but it also presents the protective nature of the father. Every threat, no matter how small, is perceived as a matter of life and death by this overprotective speaker. Later in the poem, the speaker demonstrates the angry retribution that a parent may bring down upon anyone or anything that hurts their children. The speaker says ‘And I took my hook and honed the blade/ And went outside and slashed in fury with it’. The violent verb, ‘slashed’, expresses the speaker’s aggressive need for violent revenge upon the nettles. The monosyllabic diction across these lines supports the brutal simplicity of the need to remove anything that threatens the boy...
Words: 818 - Pages: 4
...In this Essay I will be comparing and contrasting the poems: ‘Nettles’, ‘Brothers’ and ‘Farmers bride’ with Mice and Men. In ‘Nettles’, the poet uses structure to symbolise his feeling. The first stanza consists of four sets of lines and applies in all of the stanzas which is proximate to sonnet form. He has intentionally done this to show anger because Scannel didn’t believe in regimented discipline he didn’t like the military, he reacted against what other people would tell him to do; this indicates that he is breaking the rules as he did when he ran away from the army. The way he uses words is very interesting as the first line says “My son aged three fell in the Nettle bed” the word bed causes the reader to stop, the full stop represents this pause It is a moment of contemplation the word ‘bed’ is ambiguous as we know that it’s used for sleeping or resting which...
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...result, humans believe that the structures we create are superior to the “lesser” things in nature. Edward Thomas uses a two stanza poem to reflect on the simple beauty of nature and the way that it will last past the man made objects of our creation. Tall Nettles effectively compares the unseemly weeds to be stronger than stone and just as beautiful as the flowers that bloom alongside. The poem begins with a strong title, Tall Nettles. The positive connotation associated with tall brings me to the assumption that Thomas thinks highly of the nettles even though they are poisonous weeds. The height of the letters in tall and nettles represents the power held by nature within the piece. On the other hand, the man made objects like the harrow, plough and roller are described as being covered up and rusty in lines 1-2. It indicates how the nettles, which signify nature, are more powerful than the man made objects. The speaker is far more fond of the mere weeds than the tools meant to remove them. When thinking of an elm, one thinks of strength; resistance. Thomas ends the first stanza in line 4 by describing how only the elm butt is taller than the nettles. Only the wisdom of the elm is able to top the nettles in this farmyard and it keeps the theme of nature as the champion. This is an important comparison because it shows the balance that nature provides. Elms are seen as providing foundation to great forests around the world and the mention of this tree proves...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...For some, it is tempting to view Tanizaki’s move to Kansai following the Great Kanto earthquake as a strategic retreat away from the modern reality of Japan. However, to Tanizaki the terms East and West and the values they implied were never polarised. The works that came to fruition in this period suggest instead that he had found a precarious balance between the two, never quite daring to envisage the existence of one without the presence of another. Following on this strand, his 1928 serialised novel Tade kū mushi (‘Some Prefer Nettles’) tells the tale of the ennui in a marriage caught between the final throes of a dying Edo culture and an increasingly ever-present modernity. In the novel, protagonist Kaname is faced with the decision as...
Words: 1049 - Pages: 5
...Compare how poets use language to present feelings in “The Manhunt” and one other poem (Nettles) In ‘Manhunt’, Simon Armitage uses rhyme to reflect the togetherness of a relationship. He says “After the first phase, after passionate nights and intimate days.” As the poem goes on, the reader can start to recognise that the un-rhymed cuplets show how fragmented their relationship has become. In ‘Nettles’ Vernon Scannell uses elements of nature, the nettles, to portray his keen anger towards the pain his son is going through. At the beginning of the poem, Scannell uses soft ‘s’ sounds to emphasise the soothing of his injured son who has fallen in a nettle bed. The child is presented using emotive language. “It was no place for rest. With sobs and tears the boy came seeking comfort and I saw white blisters beaded on his tender skin. We soothed him till his pain was not so raw.” These soothing sounds emphasises the love his father has for him and how he wants him to recover quickly. The ‘watery grin’ is another emotive description also serving as an opposing image. The way in which Scannell merges the child’s laughter of comfort and relief with the tears of pain from the sting of the nettles shows that the child is being helped by his father to get over the pain. In ‘Manhunt’, there is imagery indicating how carefully she treats her husband. “And handle and hold the damaged, porcelain collar bone, and mind and attend the fractured rudder of shoulder blade.” The point she makes...
Words: 728 - Pages: 3
...There are many similarities between the poems Nettle’s and The Manhunt one being that both poems are about people caring for someone close to them for instants in the poem Nettles it’s about a father who caring for his child after falling in a “parade” of Nettles but even after fixing him his father is still angered by the nettles and doesn’t want his child to feel this pain again so he decides to cut down the nettles but even after cutting them down, the new “recruit” of nettles are back within two weeks showing that no matter how hard the father tries to protect his son from pain “he would often feel sharp wounds again” this is the last line in the stanza which clearly shows how he’s son would experience pain in his life no matter how hard he tries to protect him. Whereas the Manhunt is about a man’s wife who is caring for him after his injuries from war and how he been scarred physically and emotionally. The poem is structured in couplets and each couplet lets us almost experience each small step the man wife took to help come close to him again and to get him to open up to her. The poem structure also looks like a ladder so each stanza could represent a rudder on the ladder and with every step she takes she is slowly getting closer to the top or her husband. Both poems also touch on the topic of love but in each poem it’s a different type of love, the love shown in the Manhunt is an intensive love towards her husband we see evidence of this from “handle and hold” and...
Words: 531 - Pages: 3
...relationship in their poems. The poem "Nettles" by Vernon Scannel is about the narrator showing his thoughts and feelings when his son fell in a bed of nettles. The poem shows us that their relationship was strong and that they were close. The poet uses a metaphors to share his thoughts and feelings. An example of a metaphor is when the poet compares the nettles to be "green spears." The words "green spears" makes me think the nettle are like weapons that are razor-sharp. The use of colour imagery here with the "green" isn't used for pain. The colour green links with environment in this instance it is nature that has hurt his son. Another example of a metaphor is when he compares the nettles like soldiers dying in a army " fallen dead". This suggests that he is angry and upset because the nettles hurt his son. Also this suggests that he wants revenge by killing the nettles. Moreover, it suggests that he has killed the nettles and the nettles are thrashed! The poet describes the nettles like "nettle bed". The word "bed" suggests that the bed is comfy. The word bed is usually associated with soft, relaxing and warm. The word "nettle" is associate with sharp. The words " nettle bed" suggest that the poet son has fallen into a nettle bed and hurt himself Moreover, another example of a metaphor is when he compares the nettles like soldiers because in the text it says "fallen dead." This suggests that he is angry and upset because the nettles have hurt his son. In addition...
Words: 2455 - Pages: 10
...Bonnie Lu Trusdale Nettles met twenty seven years ago and they formed a cult together because of their ideas. Marshall felt that he and Nettles had some kind of connection when they met. The year that the met and the years before, Applewhite was a failing musician with a dying dream. In addition to his doomed music career, Applewhite had homosexual desires which he hated and sought to get cured. Now, Bonnie Nettles was the one who was thought to be saving Marshall, but she was really sending him back into insanity. She was thought as the nurse that would save Marshall Applewhite. Bonnie Nettles was a nurse that worked in Dallas, Texas. She had four children and firmly believed in reincarnation. When Bonnie and Marshall met, they thought that they had met before in a past life. Let me give you a little backstory on Bonnie Lu Trusdale Nettles. She was alienated from her family, which means they had no idea of her cancer. Yes, she had cancer. Liver cancer, to be exact. She died from the cancer, however. You...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
...SANDY (CONT’D) I have to go, I took the train here and Pat is going to drive me home. Bye I love you. Sandy kisses Morris on the lips. INT. HOSPITAL BEDROOM - NIGHT Morris scans around the room with his eyes. The room looks cold and dark. He is all alone. Morris lies awake working on his speech. Noise is heard coming from his mouth, but he can’t pronounce any words. INT. HOSPITAL BEDROOM - DAY Dr. Nettle looks at Morris’s respirator. DR. NETTLE (to Morris) We are going to shut off your respirator to see if you can breathe on your own. Blink twice if you have any trouble. Cynda shuts the respirator off. Dr. Nettle studies Morris’s facial expressions. DR. NETTLE (CONT’D) Are you doing okay? Morris blinks once for yes. His chest rises and falls. Dr. Nettle hands Cynda Morris’s clipboard. DR. NETTLE (CONT’D) Closely watch him, and in an hour turn the respirator back on. Cynda nods her head. She has a resolute look on her face as she attentively stares at Morris. Later. DR. JACKSON, is an ENT doctor. In his late 40s, he holds a ball in front of Morris’s mouth. DR. JACKSON Hello Morris, I’m Dr. Jackson... We are going to place this in your tracheotomy, to obviate air from escaping. This will help you enunciate...
Words: 1780 - Pages: 8
...the fulfilment of Tess's fate, her destiny of her destruction has been fulfilled. It is ironic as there is no fulfilment of Tess and Angels marriage. Tess and Angel have scarcity of time together, as they are on the run and Tess will inevitably die soon. Chapter 54, page 323 in the opening of the chapter, it mentions :'he was driving up the hill out of which three or four months earlier in the year, Tess had descended with such hopes and ascended with such shattered purposes.' This is indicative of how Angel retraces Tess's steps and her journey, in order to replenish his love and relationship with her. Also on page 323 it mentions: 'the pale and blasted nettle-stems of the preceding year even now lingered backed.t in the banks, young green nettles of the present Spring growing from their roots.'- the 'young green nettles' represents the new pain yet to come, Tess has no choice but to go to Alec...
Words: 371 - Pages: 2
...Gate was an American cult based in San Diego California, founded in the early 1970s and led by Marshall Applewhite, and Bonnie Nettles. On March 26, 1997, police discovered the bodies of 39 members of the group who had committed suicide in order to reach what they believed was an alien space craft following the Hale-Bop comet. The first public meeting was in the seaside town of Waldport, Oregon in 1975. For months before, they had put up fliers on telephone poles urging people to attend the meeting to discover the truth about reality. Two hundred people arrived at the Bayshore Inn Hotel to find out what the fliers were about. The Two believed that to be saved, spiritual-minded people must recognize that the appearance that most humans have souls is only an illusion. Only those who truly had souls and were ready to be harvested by God would recognize the truth of the message. Once they did, they would give up their worldly clutter at once and follow a strict regimen. Using biblical notions about sexless angels and the praise Christ gave to those who sacrificed family life to follow him, they insisted that spiritual perfection came only at a price. One had to first see the truth about the evils around them and want desperately to free oneself. The demands for members were overwhelming, which slowed down the cult's early success, but Applewhite and Nettles believed that purging earthly ways was the only means for rediscovering the alien beings they truly were. There was to be no...
Words: 1663 - Pages: 7
