Week 11 reading and activities expanded my knowledge of the differences between sonnets and poems. Before my exposure to week 11 activities, I could differentiate a poem from a sonnet. I was familiar with the term sonnet. Activity 5 was the most compelling because it expounded on my sonnet knowledge. Sonnets differ from poems in that sonnets contain fourteen lines and employ any form of formal rhyme scheme. On the contrary, poems express feelings and ideas in a given intensity using specific diction, rhyme, rhythm, and imagery. In addition to expounding my knowledge of sonnets, activity five also enhanced my understanding of reading a poem. Reading a poem requires students to read the poem loudly, read the poem silently line by line, and talk back to the poem. The last step talking to the poem is vital in understanding a poem since it prompts a reader to formulate specific questions regarding the poem. By answering the proposed questions, students can depict the major themes in a poem.
Zachary Yudenfriend
My research paper focuses on the story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The short story narrates events that follow a dead stranger swept by sea currents to a small remote town. Even though the villagers knew little about the stranger, they gave him a unique respectable burial because of his beauty. The thesis of my essay is that inspiration arises from the least expected sources because, at the end of the story, the stranger`s presence influenced the villagers to make their town and lives better beyond their imagination. The essay will use Runyon et al. (2008) article “The Most Wonderful Thing I Have Ever Seen’: Indiana’s Contribution to Petrified Man Hoaxes. The latter article explores Gabriel`s short story. I will use the JASTOR database. Applicability of JSTOR arises from the fact that it presents researchers with a wide range of study materials, including academic content and primary source content. Moreover, the database allows students to filter their search using varying criteria.
Gender inequality in Emily Dickinson’s “The Wife” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour. Emily Dickson’s poem “The Wife” demonstrates how marriage institutions perpetuate a privilege and inequality system for women. The poem depicts marriage as an institution governed by patriarchal rules, a fact that signifies gender inequality. The poem’s first line, “She rose his requirement, dropped the playthings of her life,” expounds an ideology that transitions from girlhood to becoming a woman, and then a wife prevents women from accessing self-dignity and freedom. Married women are considered their husbands’ possessions, which leaves them no choice but to comply with whatever rules their husbands impose on them. The resultant of explained ideology is a situation where women suffer emotional pressure. Emily’s poem contradicts a socially constructed ideology that marriage strengthens women with claims that it reduces women to mere men’s objects that abide blindly to her husband. Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour” illustrates the theme of inequality through Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state of mind. The story depicts the state of a woman suffering from her husband’s restrictions and confinement to home chores. Mrs. Mallard was overjoyed after receiving information that her husband was dead. “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,” but then she began to feel free (Chopin n.p). She expresses her feelings for freedom by repeating the word “Free! Body and soul free!” (n.p). Readers expect Mrs. Mallard to mourn and grieve her husband’s demise, but the contrary happens because she knows her husband’s death meant her freedom. Mrs. Mallard’s emotions did not last long because her husband had not died. This realization caused her emotional breakdown and death.
In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor tries to connect readers with the true meaning of Christianity through death and grace. The author shows how grace is an important aspect of Christian theology. The author named the place where the party took a detour ‘Grace’ to connect the theme of grace in Christian theory. Christians in modern-day society misplace their grace on earthly material that amounts to suffering. The author expounds on the latter ideology using Grandmother, who lured the party to take a detour to Tennessee from Florida. Unknown to the grandmother, the Misfit gang invested the detour route. Even though the grandmother wanted to save guard her daughters from the gang, she subjected them to the gang’s hands. At the story’s beginning, the grandmother perceives herself as a superior person. She prejudiced Misfit as an evil person from the story she leads in the newspaper. The latter ideology changed when she encountered Misfit. In summary, the story illustrates that Extraordinary situations (Grandmother’s encounter with Misfit) can help a person understand the true meaning of grace.
Oedipus the King illustrates timeless human experiences by bringing a universal unconscious fantasy and physical relationship between mother and son to life. Human beings are compassionate and emotional irrespective of the misunderstanding among them. Jocasta illustrates the latter ideology at the end of the play when trying to soothe Oedipus against banishing Creon from the city. In addition to the latter trait, Oedipus the King effectively reveals the deepest fears in a patriarchal society. Many societies across the globe embrace the idea of respecting one`s parents. Disrespecting parents is a taboo in many communities. The play illustrates the deepest fears of a son murdering his father and marrying his mother. Additional fear evident in the play is fear of not assuming control over one`s life. Since the creation and fall of humankind, people have been exploring their environments to gain control and learn more about them. In the attempt to control his destiny and personal condition, Oedipus embraced a personal exploration journey.
The Chorus plays a vibrant role in promoting peace in the above excerpt. The excerpt comes moments before Oedipus had passed a ruling to ban Creon from his Kingdom. In most cases, Chorus in ancient tragedies was lamenting after a terrible event. Even though choruses did little to stop horrible things from happening, Oedipus the King illustrates a different situation because Chorus prevented King Oedipus from banishing Creon in the latter case. The Chorus achieves the latter objective by settling the differences between the two men. The rhetorical question is the most notable figurative language employed in the excerpt. The Chorus asks the King why he reacts so harshly to the queen. In addition to the rhetoric appeal, the passage illustrates the effective use of vivid descriptions of the scene. For instance, dead calm bursting into a storm of owes. The latter description creates a vivid picture of the tragedy associated with Oedipus` actions.
Similar to many stories by James Joyce,’ Araby’ uses a close first-person narrator displaying the world as it pleases his senses which leaves the readers with just a suggested instead of a clear moral story, the initial part of the story occurs around the Dubin, Ireland, which is the narrators home however at the conclusion of the story moves to bazaar across town. The story’s narrator is a young man with an undetermined age though he is young enough to go to the neighborhood school. The narrator loves Mangan’s sister who lives across the street. She is the sibling to the young boy’s friend. She is also young but it is implied that she is older than the narrator because she can attend the convent. The narrator does not expand on his home life but he lives with his aunt and uncle. The uncle is the most significant in the story because he prevents the narrator from going to the bazaar on time. ‘Araby” is about an introverted young boy navigating towards adulthood with little guidance from the community or family. The young character in this story leaves the house at night when people are asleep with the approval of his guardians. The narrator’s uncle is good-natured but has a drinking problem. “Araby” adopts the form of a mission-a journey in pursuit of a precious or sacred thing however the quest is futile. Even if the young boy finally gets to the bazaar he is too late to buy a decent gift for Manga’s sister. Therefore it would have been better if he has stayed home. The boy in this story knows that the real adventures must be sought abroad however setting his goals on something that sounds exotic such as Araby which equates to Arabia, the boy cannot reach […]
Toni Cade Bambara’s novel, “The Lesson,” addresses the themes of poverty and wealth. The novel’s plot revolves around Miss Moore (a teacher who takes her kids) to a toy store. The primary objective of the visit was to find out kids’ reactions to wealth and poverty. Even though the kid’s displayed different reactions, Sylvia and her best friend sugar had an almost similar experience. After completing their visit, the children take the subway home, where Sylvia thinks about her experiences at the store. Sylvia was taken away by the clown bearing a price tag of $35. The kid was amazed that a single person could purchase a birthday clown worth too much. In her real world, Sylvia notes that $35 could afford her entire family a visit to Grandpa, pay rent and the piano bill (p.6). The latter exposure leaves Sylvia wondering why some people have so much money while her family and friends have none. Sylvia’s experiences at the toy store are vibrant in connecting her childhood to the poor distribution of wealth and poverty. In addition to exposing her to unequal distribution of wealth, Sylvia is seen questioning Miss Moore’s ideology that poor people should not remain poor but rebel against their social status quo. Sylvia’s experience at the toy store is similar to Sugar’s. Despite having different opinions about items sold at the toy shop, the two girls agree that the prices indicate that their country is not democratic since some people earn too much. In contrast, others can hardly pay for their rent. For instance, Sylvia notes that the price of a clown can afford her family many things. Likewise, Sugar is surprised by Sylvia’s comment that the cost of a sailboat could feed all the children in a year (p.6-7).
The story’s beginning exposes readers to a young and innocent character Lanston. Langston’s aunt wants his nephew to be saved and tells him he will see Jesus once he is saved. With his aunt’s ideology, the young boy joined other young sinners who knelt in front of a congregation to be prayed for and get saved. However, to his dismay, Langston did not hear, see, or feel Jesus in his heart despite church members’ efforts to pray for him. He was convinced that the only way to be saved was by seeing Jesus. Langston ended up giving up his beliefs to save his aunt and other church members the trouble in praying for him. After getting up, the whole church cheered him, not knowing he had lied. That night Langston was furious that he had lied to his aunt and the congregation and cried a lot. His aunt believed that he was crying because the Holy Spirit had filled his heart. However, it is ironic because Langstone was crying because he could not stomach that he had lied. Langston had also made up his mind that Jesus does not exist.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” narrates the story of a drowned stranger who sweeps up on the shore of a tiny coastland society. The community members take good care of the dead man, with women washing mud from his hair while men embark on a journey to trace the stranger’s whereabouts. Even though the man did not deserve a ceremonial burial, he ended up receiving a proper burial and transformed the community a great deal. The villagers decided to change their village’s name to honor the stranger. The story signifies a major theme: inspiration can come from the most unexpected sources. The primary reason the instructor assigned the story is to boost students’ morale. Regardless of the challenges they might be experiencing, they should not give up their efforts since anything and the most unexpected can make a difference in their lives. Even though Estaban was a stranger, his unique beauty won him the villager’s attention. Likewise, the student should aim at having a distinct trait.
