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Compare And Contrast The Raven And The Minister's Black Veil

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The Dark Truth “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two stories that show the dark and twisted side of humanity. Edgar Allen Poe is best known for writing his stories about death and the darkness of death. This in turn makes all his seem to be this style where as “The Raven” is a creation of humans seeking hope in a situation that is hopeless. Hawthorne writes about the good and bad in the choices we choose. In “The Ministers Black Veil” Hawthorne confronts a touchy subject by displaying how the congregations covers their sin like a veil covers the face. Even though both authors write in the same type of style they differ in their themes, points of view, and symbols used to portray these …show more content…

All throughout the poem Poe uses dark poetry to present this gloomy dark poem. Right from the beginning we see the hopelessness as the narrator tries to stop thinking about his lost love Lenore. Poe uses his word choice throughout the poem to add to is depressed hopeless theme. His use of “bleak December” (Line 7), adds imagery to the poem and provides the picture of a dark winter. Later in the poem Poe writes of a raven that is with the narrator. The raven, which represents dark times and death, adds the most to the theme of hopelessness by only saying the words “Nevermore” (Line 48). In “The Ministers Black Veil” the theme throughout is that of hiding behind a mask to hide one’s sins. Mr. Hooper is a reverend that during his sermon wears a black veil to show his congregation how we all hide behind a mask to cover our sins.” The black veil, though it covers only our pastor's face, throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to foot” (Hawthorne 638). By giving this lesson it drove away his congregation due to his seriousness of wearing the veil and finally led to Mr. Hooper being feared by the people and being left to live alone and no one wanting to come in contact with

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“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of many different symbols, but the most notable one is the veil itself. Throughout the story, Hawthorne presents many instances where the veil could mean several things. Some may see only one meaning, however, others may see a number of them. Hawthorne may have been the only one who truly knew what the veil symbolized, but at the same time the fact that the story makes the reader think even after reading it is what makes it all the more interesting to analyze. The veil itself could symbolize things such as rebirth, secrecy, ambiguity.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine darkness, sin, and the desire to keep it all hidden from yourself and the outside world. Together Poe and Hawthorne paint this picture of traits which consist of suspense and darkness. Within the stories “Tell Tale Heart” and “Ministers Black Veil”, the two authors writing styles are vividly comparable. With the comparison of these short stories, it becomes more than feasible to feel the true emotion and movement that Poe and Hawthorne wished to give to their readers.

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In contrast, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” incorporates a narrative style, with the theme that one cannot hide from their own sins. Hawthorne writes, “There is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils.” The veil symbolizes sin, so the quote explains that one lives with their sins until death. This is a key line that ties the story’s theme

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Poems like "The Raven" serve as great references to find emotions that the author may have not been able to express as intensely if it was not for symbolism. Symbolism is more popularly used to portray more harsh, or intense feelings. In "The Minister's Black Veil" the minister's feelings of guilt and sinfulness are expressed through the dark and mysterious veil ("SchoolWorkHelper"). Nathaniel Hawthorne put the wedding and funeral in the story to symbolize the circle of life and death (Lorcher). Continuing with the idea of symbolism in the wedding and funeral, the minister and his black veil creates a sense of evil at both events and reminds the reader that evil presences can be anywhere (Lorcher).

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757 Words | 4 Pages

While the writing styles of the two authors differ tremendously these two themes play a large part of the dialogue of

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277 Words | 2 Pages

First, the common theme of “The Raven” is grief,agony, and heartache. With dialogue like “while I pondered,weak and weary”shows that emotion. The narrator is sad about his lost love Lenore. Which is parallel to when Poe’s wife was deadly ill.

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1943 Words | 8 Pages

“Thus from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which enveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could never reach him.” (Hawthorne). In the Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne evokes the idea there is a dark side of humanity and that humans have secrets and sins hidden away from their nearest and dearest. In the parable, Hawthorne emphasizes the idea of personal sacrifices must be made during one’s lifetime for those you love even if it meant giving up one’s source of happiness. In Milford, a small Puritan town men, women, and children are fancying another Sunday.

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Edgar Allan Poe’s work has been admired for centuries. One of his most famous works, The Raven is one many people gravitate towards. This 108 line poem consists of assonance and religious allusions to contrast many different types of religion including Christianity and Hellenism. This gives the audience an inside view on Poe’s religious views, or lack thereof. Poe starts off this poem with assonance when he uses the terms “dreary,” “weak and weary.”

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Thus, while both works have a shared theme, they differ in terms of context, characters, and ultimately, their

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“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two rather similar pieces of writing, not in style, but in topic. While they are almost completely different in the entirety of it all, they do somewhat hover over some of the same concepts, such as the wickedness and evil that is present in mankind, both on a personal level and on a broad spectrum. Both of these writings have very different themes and writings styles though. Jonathan Edwards takes a more direct approach, as it is actually a sermon that he once delivered to his Puritan church. Nathaniel, however, writes his in the view of a narrative, and that has a completely different effect; in this case, a better one.

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Edgar Allan Poe’s frightening gothic style poetry and short novels about fear, love, death and horror are prominent to Gothic Literature and explore madness through a nerve-recking angle. The incredible, malformed author, poet, editor and novelist is recognized for his famous classical pieces such as “The Raven”, “Berenice” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, pieces of work that mystically yet magnificently awakens readers with a gloomy spirit. Awakening the subject of madness through written work was viewed as insane during Poe’s times. Yet Poe published some of the worlds most magnificently frightening pieces of literature throughout history. In the following essay I will examine and cautiously analyze

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357 Words | 2 Pages

This poem also deals with losing hope, even though the narrator has no right to even have the small amount. This poem deals with his dead leave Lenore, and how the raven torments him into insanity. To start off Edgar Allan Poe has communicated his thesis through the use of abstract language and connotation. this abstract phrase which is repeated throughout the poem is the word ‘nevermore’, combined with different phrases depending on each stanza. This word can have countless

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458 Words | 2 Pages

These feelings reflect a sorrow as deep as it morphs into a psychological madness, a feeling that the pain death brings has ruined one forever. After analyzing this poem I came to the conclusion that Poe 's poem “The Raven” demonstrates that the sorrow of the death of a loved one bring will stay with you forever. Poe communicated this theme through abstract language and connotation, tone and allusion. I would like to give examples of how Poe communicated this poem through the use of abstract language and connotation. An abstract phrase repeated throughout the poem is the word “Nevermore” combined with different phrases depending on the stanza.

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562 Words | 3 Pages

Similarities of “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” are two short stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that share many similarities. In his writings, Hawthorne displays a fascination with the Puritanical beliefs and ideals associated with sin and wickedness. Such ideals serve as a common thread that weaves the stories together by using a religious base, symbolism, and a dark mood. First, Hawthorne’s meticulous usage of religion is the foundation of both stories.

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472 Words | 2 Pages

He shows he is very lonely. When the author uses, "bleak," "dying," and "ghost" When he addresses the raven with many word choices it becomes more intense and extreme as the mood darkens to reflect of the misery of the speaker. Poe's metaphors and word choice help set the mood of the poem. "The Raven" best reflects on Edgar Allen Poe's sense of melancholy and gloominess. The setting, the bird and his word choice illustrate the darkness and the ominous mood.

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