...“The Minister’s Black Veil" is about Mr. Hooper the minister in a town and starts to wear a mysterious black veil over his head, but his people are left to be questioned. At first, his people think of the veil as a prop for his sermon. His people then start assuming he wears the black veil because of the sins he may have committed, and he's embarrassed to prove to the world what he has done. There are different thoughts in his people, such as the minister being an awful person. "Elizabeth, I will," said he, "so far as my vow may suffer me. Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends." (10)...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...The Minister’s Black Veil In literature, a symbol is something used to represent something else. The textbook defines a symbol as “a further use of metaphor” (194). However, unlike the metaphor, a symbol does not clearly state what it is being compared with. Instead, it “implies rather than explicitly states meaning” (194). Symbols need to be seen within context for the reader to truly understand their meanings. At times, symbols may hold more than one meaning. Their meaning may also change throughout the story. An example of a piece of literature that successfully uses symbols to create a plot is the short story The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Minister’s Black Veil is a parable published in 1832. It was inspired by Mr. Joseph Moody, a clergyman in New England that wore a handkerchief on his face. Earlier in his life, Mr. Joseph Moody had accidentally killed one of his friends. From that day until the day of his death, he hid his face from everyone. Similarly, The Minister’s Black Veil is about Reverend Mr. Hooper’s decision to wear a black...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...In The Minister’s Black Veil, Reverend Hooper shows up to church on Sunday morning with a black veil and the sermon he gives is on secret sin. He refuses to tell anyone the reason he's wearing it, and the townsfolk begin to think less of his character because of it. As the story develops, symbolism is represented through the sermon, the black veil, and the people in the community to create meaning in the story. First, the sermon Reverend Hooper gives with his black veil on his about secret sin. Throughout the sermon he is giving the congregation, he is secretly telling them the meaning of the veil: The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own...
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...Nathaniel Hawthorne in ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ uses the symbolic black veil to symbolize one hiding private sins. Hawthorne wrote ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’. He convinces me through his extraordinary writing to agree with the fact that the black veil is a good symbol. To continue, Hawthorne represented well by making a label clear, showing rather than hiding, and proving an element to the “black veil”. What does a label even mean? First, everything has a label. In ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’, the veil represented a label of screening a certain circumstance of one's life out. For instance, Mr. Hooper, in this short story, is a regular man. For example, his characteristics are still similar to other men who do not wear the veil. The sight at first may be weird to put together, but to Mr. Hooper the veil is a piece of him. For example, it's like an apple, apples usually don't have spots; just like how people usually don’t wear veils but some feel they...
Words: 768 - Pages: 4
...“The Minister’s Black Veil:” Confidential Sin The question about the minister’s black veil runs through everyone’s mind when he enters the scene, on a Sunday morning church day. No one dares to ask him why he wears it, instead they choose to spread a rumor. “It was remarkable that of all the busybodies and impertinent people in parish, not one ventured to put the plain question to Mr. Hooper (Pg. 240).” The narrator uses curiosity to make the reader more entide to the basic situation. The story, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an enticing American Romanticism that conveys an interesting life learning lesson to everyone. The most well known American Romanticism characteristic of a story is love. However,...
Words: 1156 - Pages: 5
...Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is centered on a man who wears a black veil. The man in this reading is a minister who has committed some vulgar sin(s), which is where the black veil becomes relevant to his life. Hawthorne has decided to write about sin, but his stories often give a different perspective on sin, and “The Minister’s Black Veil” is no different. Rev. Hooper, who is the minister, is the character that defines the world, which means that members of society as a whole shield themselves in order to present themselves as being perfect. However, perfection is unfortunately something one cannot achieve. Therefore, the veil symbolizes every man’s desire to hide his sins and be seen as perfect. Upon reading “The Minister’s Black Veil”, one can conclude that Hawthorne wants to demonstrate how individuals would rather hide their indiscretions than own up to them, and that is demonstrated through the character, Mr. Hooper. Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author who uniquely invites the reader into his stories through the use of symbolism, which draws the attention of the reader and allows one to become almost interactive with his readings. Mr. Hooper, who is a minister, is not allowed to commit any sin in his world, which means that even thinking sinful...
Words: 899 - Pages: 4
...he faced within his life. Some of these short stories include “Young Goodman Brown,” “Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Birthmark,” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” Within his work, Hawthorne tells great tales where each character faces a different issue in which they must make a decision such as one’s that Hawthorne had to make. Some decisions Hawthorne made in his very own life were his families’ beliefs of Puritanism and if he should follow their beliefs, conflicts with learning about his father and grandfather, marrying his wife, and how he remained isolated, a recluse, away from the world. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne uses symbolism to tell the story of a young man who goes on a journey from his innocent world into an evil world. In the beginning of the story the reader is introduced to two characters, Young Goodman Brown and his wife, Faith. Hawthorne uses their names as the first piece of symbolism, Young Goodman Brown means a young man, who is good natured, and his last name “Brown” also means he is dull and just blends in the background. Morgan 2 Brown is married to Faith, whose name is also symbolic. Faith’s name is used as not only Goodman Brown’s wife, but it is also used as his faith. This is shown when he says, “My love and my Faith,” (Young Goodman Brown, 58), using his wife’s name and referring to his faith and seeking faith in God. Brown’s marriage to Faith symbolizes how he clings to her for his own faith. Evidence of this is proven when Brown says, “…and...
Words: 3061 - Pages: 13
...Juliet Byington. Vol. 95. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. p375-387. From Literature Resource Center. Document Type: Critical essay Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning [In the following essay, Levy examines Faith as a character, an allegorical figure, and a symbol.] Few of Hawthorne's tales have elicited a wider range of interpretations than “Young Goodman Brown.” The critics have been victimized by the notorious ambiguity of a tale composed of a mixture of allegory and the psychological analysis of consciousness. Many of them find the key to its meaning in a neurotic predisposition to evil; one goes so far as to compare Goodman Brown to Henry James's governess in The Turn of the Screw [Darrel Abel, in “Black Glove and Pink Ribbon: Hawthorne's Metonymic Symbols,” in NEQ 42, 1969]. The psychological aspect is undeniably important, since we cannot be certain whether “Young Goodman Brown” is a dream-allegory that takes place in the mind and imagination of the protagonist, an allegory with fixed referents in the external world, or a combination of these that eludes our ordinary understanding of the genre itself. The story is all three: a dream vision, a conventional allegory, and finally an inquiry into the problem of faith that undermines the assumptions upon which the allegory is based. Whether we think of the central episode of the witches' Sabbath as a dream or an hallucination, or as a nightmarish “real” experience, it must be placed in relationship...
Words: 5791 - Pages: 24
...The White Tiger Summary The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of Laxmangarh. Early on, he describes his basic story: he transcended his humble beginnings to become a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore, largely through the murder Mr. Ashok, who had been his employer. Balram also makes clear that because of the murder, it is likely that his own family has been massacred in retribution. In Laxmangarh, Balram was raised in a large, poor family from the Halwai caste, a caste that indicates sweet-makers. The village is dominated and oppressed by the “Four Animals,” four landlords known as the Wild Boar, the Stork, the Buffalo, and the Raven. Balram's father is a struggling rickshaw driver, and his mother died when he is young. The alpha figure of his family was his pushy grandmother, Kusum. Balram was initially referred to simply as “Munna,” meaning “boy," since his family had not bothered to name him. He did not have another name until his schoolteacher dubbed him Balram. The boy proved himself intelligent and talented, and was praised one day as a rare “White Tiger” by a visiting school inspector. Unfortunately, Balram was removed from school after only a few years, to work in a tea shop with his brother, Kishan. There, he furthered his education by eavesdropping on the conversations of shop customers. Balram feels that...
Words: 26039 - Pages: 105
...Copyright Salman Rushdie, 1988 All rights reserved VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd. Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 John Street, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 1B4 Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190, Wairau Road, Auckland ro, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England Published in 1989 by Viking Penguin Inc. For Marianne Contents I The Angel Gibreel II Mahound III Ellowen Deeowen IV Ayesha V A City Visible but Unseen VI Return to Jahilia VII The Angel Azraeel VIII The Parting of the Arabian Seas IX A Wonderful Lamp Satan, being thus confined to a vagabond, wandering, unsettled condition, is without any certain abode; for though he has, in consequence of his angelic nature, a kind of empire in the liquid waste or air, yet this is certainly part of his punishment, that he is . . . without any fixed place, or space, allowed him to rest the sole of his foot upon. Daniel Defoe, _The History of the Devil_ I The Angel Gibreel "To be born again," sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, "first you have to die. Hoji! Hoji! To land upon the bosomy earth, first one needs to fly. Tat-taa! Taka-thun! How to ever smile again, if first you won't cry? How to win the darling's love, mister, without a sigh? Baba, if you want to get born again...
Words: 195828 - Pages: 784
...Mosque A wedding Midnight Abracadabra Book One The perforated sheet I was born in the city of Bombay ... once upon a time. No, that won't do, there's no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar's Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. And the time? The time matters, too. Well then: at night. No, it's important to be more ... On the stroke of midnight, as a matter of fact. Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came. Oh, spell it out, spell it out: at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world. There were gasps. And, outside the window, fireworks and crowds. A few seconds later, my father broke his big toe; but his accident was a mere trifle when set beside what had befallen me in that benighted moment, because thanks to the occult tyrannies of those blandly saluting clocks I had been mysteriously handcuffed to history, my destinies indissolubly chained to those of my country. For the next three decades, there was to be...
Words: 217909 - Pages: 872
...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
Words: 221284 - Pages: 886
...AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO KOREAN MYTHOLOGY RUSSIA KOREA CHINA CHEJU JAPAN TAIWAN An Illustrated Guide to Korean Mythology Choi Won-Oh GLOBAL ORIENTAL AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO KOREAN MYTHOLOGY Choi Won-Oh First published in 2008 by GLOBAL ORIENTAL LTD PO Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP UK www.globaloriental.co.uk © Global Oriental Ltd 2008 ISBN 978-1-905246-60-1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library This book is published with the support of the Korea Literature Translation Institute (KLTI) for the project ‘Books from Korea, 2005’ Set in Plantin 10.5 on 12 point by Mark Heslington, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Printed and Bound by Stallion Press (Singapore) Pte Ltd Contents Preface Introduction: Understanding Korean Myths The Korean gods Myths about Cosmology and Flood 1. The Formation of Heaven and Earth 2. Shoot for a Sun, Shoot for a Moon 3. A Man and a Woman Who Became the Gods of the Sun and the Moon 4. Origin of the Seven Stars of the Great Bear 5. The Great Flood Myths about Birth and Agriculture 6. The Grandmother Goddess of Birth 7. Chach’o(ngbi...
Words: 115927 - Pages: 464
...C h a p t e r 1 Prewriting GETTING STARTED (OR SOUP-CAN LABELS CAN BE FASCINATING) For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing. Jean Kerr, author of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, admits that she often finds herself in the kitchen reading soup-can labels—or anything—in order to prolong the moments before taking pen in hand. John C. Calhoun, vice president under Andrew Jackson, insisted he had to plow his fields before he could write, and Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and other novels, is said to have cried on occasion from the sheer dread of sitting down to compose his stories. To spare you as much hand-wringing as possible, this chapter presents some practical suggestions on how to begin writing your short essay. Although all writers must find the methods that work best for them, you may find some of the following ideas helpful. But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that 1. You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader,...
Words: 234754 - Pages: 940
...PRAISE FOR AUTHORS Merline Lovelace “Merline Lovelace’s Mind Games is an exciting and skillfully told tale.” —RT Book Reviews Lori Devoti “Lori Devoti provides yet another action-packed mythological tale.” —RT Book Reviews on Wild Hunt Linda Winstead Jones “Raintree: Haunted, by Linda Winstead Jones, is nonstop action from start to finish.” —RT Book Reviews Lisa Childs “In Childs’s gripping tale…there are some surprising twists.” —RT Book Reviews Bonnie Vanak “Bonnie Vanak’s Enemy Lover offers nonstop excitement and great sexual tension.” —RT Book Reviews CHRISTMAS WITH A VAMPIRE Merline Lovelace Lori Devoti Linda Winstead Jones Lisa Childs Bonnie Vanak CONTENTS A CHRISTMAS KISS Merline Lovelace ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN THE VAMPIRE WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS Lori Devoti ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN SUNDOWN Linda Winstead Jones ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE EPILOGUE NOTHING SAYS CHRISTMAS LIKE A VAMPIRE Lisa Childs ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE UNWRAPPED Bonnie Vanak ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE...
Words: 112350 - Pages: 450