...Gatsby’s magnificent capacity to hope. Using Nick as a moral guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to illustrate the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve this, Nick’s credentials as a reliable narrator are carefully established and reinforced throughout the story. The American Dream is a sensitive and beloved topic in American culture. Discussing its failure and corruption needs to be done gently and morally. Fitzgerald understood this, and therefore acknowledged the need of a kind and cordial narrator within a materialistic society. Enter Nick Carraway, who on the first page lets readers know “In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments” pg 7. This statement already serves to set Nick up as a decent and honest man that can be trusted. To back up this statement Fitzgerald included a short section regarding Nick’s family and background. The Carraway’s claim themselves to be loyal Americans. However, when Nick’s great uncle was called to fight in the Civil War, a substitute was sent in his place. This provides concrete evidence of Nick’s honesty. If he is able to see hypocrisy within his own family, there is no doubt that he is a forthright gentleman. Nick graduated from “New Haven” pg 8, proving that he is not only honest, but also competent. Throughout the first few pages of the novel,...
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...Please type your response in MLA format. Use as much detail as possible. Chapter 1 Questions: Select quotations from the text that support your answers. 1. Hurston begins the book with an extended metaphor. What are the dreams of men? How are they different from the dreams of women? Who doesn’t get disappointed? 2. Janie has come back to town after doing what and to whom? (Pay attention to and remember their description.) 3. What are the porch-sitters compared to? How are they characterized? What can you infer from that description? 4. The first two pages are loaded with figurative language, as though Hurston was writing poetry in book form. What is the effect of this? Is it hard to understand? What is the effect of having to work a little harder to understand all the layers of her opening pages? 5. Pay attention to porches. What is the function of the porch in this chapter? 6. The author makes a big deal about Janie’s black rope of hair. This metaphor is a central image in the book. What might Janie’s hair symbolize? Follow it through the book. 7. Hurston is careful to give us many of the particulars of Janie’s life since she left this town. What do we know about her? 8. In the last line of the first chapter, Hurston uses a metaphor. What is it and what is its effect on the mood of the story? 9. Briefly discuss the voice in this book. Hurston switches from dialect to narrative prose. It is difficult to read at first, but it also has some benefits. Discuss both,...
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...forever. Instead of leaving he was a “coward,” and was taken by the army, and learned many things about life, how to live it, what life is worth, in what a real soldier is. His use of blunt and sometimes extremely elaborate detail to immerse the reader in the experiences he had to push through, but to also go straight to the point and not “fluff up” the story like America does. O'Brien's unique style of objection of truth to storytelling has a great impact in the readers mind, because he is portraying his life experiences back to the reader in such a human like an emotional way that sometimes he substitutes other characters projects as his emotional or physical burdens. Tim O'Brien a Vietnam War veteran whose purpose is to address the misconceptions of war and illustrate the gruesome fax of how war really is, all using his own life experiences and his works and we a rating with the emotional and physical burdens at the soldiers carry both emotionally and physically. In almost every single one of his novels including The things they carried and The lake in the woods, O'Brien goes into an incredible amount of detail all events, with even more elaborating on the characters despite being in the whole book or for only a moment. Even for every object, O'Brien has complex deep detail in order for the reader to understand what each object means or symbolizes in order to give characters emotional depth, and giving the readers...
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...Aha Moment- After having a strenuous few days, Holden has come to a realization about what he wants to do with the rest of his life. While talking with Phoebe about failing out of Pencey, she brings up the point about what he will do if he does not continue school. Holden stops and really thinks about this and all of a sudden has an idea, “That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye. I know its’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be”(Salinger 225). Although this idea sounds crazy, it must mean something because The Catcher in the Rye, ended up being the title of the book. It is also ironic that Holden wants to do something that helps others because he needs the help of other people to help him through his problems. This is a significant realization for Holden because now he can have something to aim for in life instead of being depressed all the time. Aha Moment- There are two occasion in the book where Holden has came up with a plan to move to a secluded place and to never be bothered by anyone. The first time this plan came up was when Holden was on a date with Sally Hayes. Out of nowhere Holden wanted Sally to run away with him to a...
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...while some people choose not to move on from it. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye the main character Holden Caulfield, a troubled young man, is going through a tough time in life where everything is moving so quickly. He cannot accept the fact that he is becoming an adult and needs to start behaving as well as act like one. He constantly wants to be treated like an adult, but never acts like one. The reason for this is because he does not want to let go of his childhood. Dealing with change has been the issue he cannot seem to conquer. There are various images, symbols, and motifs that Salinger used in the novel that helps the reader realize that Holden is going through a tough time in life and cannot handle the fast paced. Overall the main problem with Holden is his trouble with dealing with change. There are many images in the book that Salinger used to make the reader come to a conclusion that Holden is having a hard time dealing with change. The movie theater, the museum, and the carrousel are just a few that were used in the novel. The movie theater is a strong image because basically that is the place where Holden goes to get away from everything. The movie theater is a place where he can escape reality and just relax from the fast paced life he has at that moment. Even though he thinks of the movie actors as phony, he still watches the movie to get his mind off the problems he is facing. Holden seemed really interested when he went to the museum. In the museum...
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...How effectively does Golding anticipate de conflicting forces of good and evil at the beginning of the novel? In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding permanently creates situations where good and evil are confronted. This contrast is made evident through different resources: behaviour of the characters, forces of nature, metaphors, contrasts and other literary devices. These dense forces flow within a primitive environment where leadership based on physical superiority will take over the ethical principles of civilisation. Conflicts between good and evil, represented through the contrasts of civilization versus savagery, order against chaos, and reason in opposition to impulse, will take over the island and pull the children apart. But how does the author introduce us to this rivarly and what is he trying to show us? I would say that Golding’s approach, so as to make the reader perceive the permanent parallel between good and evil, runs along three strategic lines or levels. The first way in which he approaches the conflicting forces involves actual behaviours of the children that bring forth good or evil ways. These are built upon the characters’ actions which are based on their values, morals and ethics. By doing this, Golding begins to expose the theory that there is always a power struggle present in human beings. This is firstly unmasked in pages 29 to 30. When the time arrives to choose a leader, Jack blurts, "I ought to be chief because I'm chapter chorister...
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...Hamlet: William Shakespeare biography: * William Shakespeare is the grand literary figure of the Western world. During England's Elizabethan period he wrote dozens of plays which continue to dominate World Theater 400 years later. Shakespeare handled high drama, romance and slapstick comedy with equal ease, and so famous are his words that his quotes, from "To be or not to be" to "Parting is such sweet sorrow," take up more than 70 pages in recent editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. His works rival the King James Bible (also produced in the 1600s) as a source of oft-quoted English phrases. Shakespeare is known as "the Bard of Avon," in a nod to his birthplace, and many of his plays were originally performed in the famous Globe Theater in London. Among his best-known plays are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and MacBeth. He is also known for his poetry, especially his sonnets. (Who2biographies) * William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582. Their daughter Susannah was born in 1583, and the twins Judith and Hamnet were born in 1585. Hamnet died in 1596... William Shakespeare's precise birthdate is not known; he was baptized on 26 April 1564, and over time 23 April has become the accepted date of birth, in part because he also died on 23 April in 1616.( Who2biographies) * Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, and these are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these...
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...In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, wealth is seen as the most important thing and without it one is not important. Wealth is shown in many extravagant ways and many in the novel are shown as either the new rich or old rich. Money is considered happiness to most in the novel but to some even all the money in the world is not enough to gain true happiness. Although Gatsby’s parties were seen as fun and extravagant, they were a facade, because all the money in the world couldn’t buy his happiness. Jay Gatsby’s parties are extremely fanciful and flashy and attract many people young and old. The parties are depicted as fabulous and extraordinary when Nick states: There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights....
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...death, a spiritual death. We see death in the dying fish flies, the dying Elm trees as well as the Lisbon girls. The perspective of the world in the novel is cruelly and unrealistically pessimistic. The “…town is covered by the flotsam of those ephemeral insects. Rising in clouds from the algae in the polluted lake…flying scum” (4). But is not just fish flies that are polluting this town. Life itself in the Suburbs is morally and spiritually polluted. Eugenides writes that “Winter is the season of alcoholism and despair” (175). If this is the case then the entire novel seems to be one eternal winter. Or one could consider summer in comparison to winter, as the season of suicide, and no matter what the season, the world in the novel is a cruel, dark, hopeless place. The world is viewed in the novel as a sort of wasteland from which mankind has attempted to escape, moving to Suburbia seeking perfection and thus salvation. Only perfection is an unrealistic goal, and is therefore naturally unobtainable. Part of the American ideal of happiness is to strive for the unobtainable. The suburbs only exist as an attempt to cover up reality, hiding problems, worries, anxieties, realities, and skeletons behind the monotonous lawns, and closed doors. This theme is repeated throughout the novel. For example, in the line that reads: “What my yia yia could never understand about America was why everyone pretended to be happy all the time” (175). Perhaps Eugenides is encouraging us to...
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...Wharton1 David Wharton Dr. Northcutt ENG 1020-04 April 10, 2012 “What a Beautiful Bridge” In the writing of A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway employs symbolism in many forms. Hemingway uses water in various states throughout the progression of the novel such as the use of rain and rivers to symbolize life and love as well as death and danger. Hemingway uses symbols to allude to the events that will occur in the coming chapters of the novel if the reader is keen to heed them. Hemingway’s use of the “bridge” and the rivers they cross, represent the lives of people and the hazards people encounter when they approach and cross a bridge in an effort to reach what is waiting on the other side. The novel opens with a beautiful description of life and of living our lives. “In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels”(3). Life’s river bottom is littered with small problems and with large problems. When things are going well, our lives are blue skies and sunshine and we are eager to have life pass rapidly. Hemingway is making a stand on the political atmosphere that was prevalent in America in the late 1920’s and one which can be applied in contemporary America as well. I must Wharton2 disagree with Thomas P. McDonnell, who wrote in an article for the...
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...Explore the way the writer presents the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” Of Mice and Men was written in the 1937 by John Steinbeck, he other well know books as the Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, h also received a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. This book is set in the 1930s and set in California, his home region. During this time, the USA was suffering from a great depression, this meant that it was hard to find job because the economy was very weak, so to find job the men were disposed to go anywhere and the bosses would exploit their workers. The itinerant ranch workers where very lonely people because they had to move from place to place and tis meant that they could set up a stable life with a wife and children. Another reason that suggests to us that they are lonely is that at the end of each month they take their money and they go to “cat house”. The character of George and Lennie are very unusual and contrasting, this is because they have a strong relationship between them and they also have a dream, a dream of buying a house and some land to become independent and to life together for the rest of their lives. But the reader knows from the beginning that this will not happen and it will have a tragic end, and this is suggested in the title “Of Mice and Men” that comes from a from Robert Burns poem “The best laid schemes o’mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley” and it means: the best laid schemes of mice and men/ often go awry. As soon as the...
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...How The Count Found Solace “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord”. (Holy Bible, Romans 12:19) Alexandre Dumas uses his novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, to not only comment on French politics of the time, but to provoke thought about the role of God, especially his judgement and justice. Dumas demonstrates that while society’s justice is easily corrupted by men, the power and responsibility of true justice lies within a higher being Men must trust and honor the judgment of God, and consequently refraining from taking revenge on their fellow men. Alexandre Dumas’ life, which was filled with economic and political turmoil, greatly influenced his literary works, especially The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas was born into a powerful and respected military family in 1802, in Soisson, France. His father was the first black French general, and served faithfully and dutifully under Napoleon Bonaparte. However, Dumas’ father died in 1806, leaving the young Dumas and his mother impoverished. Beginning in 1823, Dumas worked as a secretary for the Duke of Orleans in Paris. It was also at this time that, Dumas became obsessed with theater and started mixing with artistic and literary crowds. Much of his spare time was spent reading or watching plays, of which he focused on the works of William Shakespeare, who greatly influenced the aspiring writer. In 1829, Dumas wrote the play Henri...
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...the society. In the community, release is death, but it is never described that way; most people think that after release, flawed newchildren and joyful elderly people are welcomed into the vast expanse of Elsewhere that surrounds the communities. Citizens who break rules or fail to adapt properly to the society’s codes of behavior are also released, though in their cases it is an occasion of great shame. Everything is planned and organized so that life is as convenient and pleasant as possible. Jonas lives with his father, a Nurturer of new children, his mother, who works at the Department of Justice, and his seven-year-old sister Lily. At the beginning of the novel, he is apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, when he will be given his official Assignment as a new adult member of the community. He does not have a distinct career...
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...to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters are very poor – this is repeatedly emphasized – and yet the story suggests that their love for each other makes them very rich. It is that love, which motivates them to give up the only things of monetary (or personal) value they have to buy presents for each other. Perhaps their poverty is what enables them to appreciate what really matters. Women and Femininity The main character of...
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...War I, her uncle served in World War II, and the year Collins turned six, her father left to serve his own tour in the Vietnam War. War, consequently, was a part of life for Collins, something very real and not just an abstract idea. While her father was gone, she would sometimes see video footage of the war zone on the news, and she recognized that her father was there fighting. Though her father returned after a year, Collins’s connection to war didn’t end. In addition to being a soldier, Collins’s father was also a military historian and a doctor of political science. That knowledge and experiences serving in the Air Force and fighting in Vietnam had a profound effect on his relationships with his children, and he made sure they learned what they could about war. While other girls’ fathers were telling them fairytales, Collins’s father educated her about military history. When the family was moved to Brussels, Belgium, for instance, her father educated her about the region’s violent history and took her on tours of the country’s historic battlefields. Eventually, Collins attended Indiana University. There, she met the man who would later become her husband, Cap Pryor. At 25, she began an M.F.A. program at New York University where she specialized in playwriting, and after graduation, worked for about a year before landing her first television-writing job on the show “Hi Honey, I’m Home!” Since then, Collins has been on the writing staff of several...
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