Laurie Anderson’s historical fiction book, Fever 1793, takes place in Philadelphia during the 1700s. This book mentions about a girl and her family living during the Yellow Fever epidemic. Throughout the story Mattie loses and gains family members while they are trying to protect her. Mattie goes through one of the worst epidemics in the history of Philadelphia, and her family tries to take care of her during it. Anderson uses description and imagery in the story to portray the theme, family is always trying to protect each other.
Ellie Wiesel, an author who wrote about his near death experience of being sent to a Concentration Camp in his book , Night, named his book after the darkness found in those who captured and tortured over six million people. The Jewish, Gypsies, and the Homosexuals were the main groups who were captured by German Dictator Adolf Hitler and his soldiers. In 1944, Wiesel and his family was captured in their neighborhood and was sent to Auschwitz. Wiesel, who was fifteen at the time, lied about his age in order to stay alive and be sent to work instead with the able-bodied. The able-bodied were those who were not too young, anyone under eighteen, or too old, those who were over forty-five.
In the movie Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond’s delusions are caused by her butler and ex-husband Max. Similarly, in King Lear, Kent caused King Lear to have delusions. The common downfall of Norma Desmond and King Lear is caused by the people around them crossing the line from aegis to enabler. They tell them what they want to hear, which causes them to be unable to see reality, to only see what they want to see, and ultimately puts them in a state of denial.
In the book Night by Ellie Wiesel there are many words that can describe the horrible events that went on during the Holocaust. There was a tremendous amount of evil that the Germans displayed during this time period. One of the most soul opening quotes from Ellie was, “Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes … children thrown into the flames" (Wiesel 51). The people in this book that committed these crimes were always so corrupt. It is extremely wrong to kill any person, but it is especially wrong to kill babies that still have so much more of their life to live.
In Sarah Ellis’s “Gore”, she uses its significance in the story, and evidently creates a compelling dramatic irony. The narrator’s use of a dramatic irony unfairly implies a negative image of the story’s antagonist, Lucas as opposed and when compared to Amy. Lucas began doubting his instincts and “[his] voice [had shrunk],” when he anxiously told Amy to “quit it.” Either way, the narrator provided the reader with a negative image of Lucas which supposedly portrayed him as a foolish, and ignorant man from his actions earlier. The narrator tends to portray his stupidity acknowledging the fact that Lucas is lacking the knowledge of Amy’s act, which was hidden from him for an intended purpose.
In Louise Erdrich’s story “The Red Convertible” there is a recurring topic of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The author portrays the harsh realities that someone with PTSD experiences every day to bring about change. In other words, by Henry exhibiting emotions such as silence, aggression, and depression Louise Erdrich attempts to bring awareness and recognition to an issue that was not so spoken about in their time. One of the most prevalent symptoms that stem from PTSD is silence.
Shakespeare, like any other man in the 16th and 17th century, saw ambitious and dominant women as evil and even disturbing or disturbed. From Macbeth, we can see Shakespeare feels women should be challenged and punished because they are trying to change society. Nowadays these ambitious and dominant women are regarded as brave and respected because of their ambition, such as Lady Macbeth’s ambition to become Queen. Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as mentally disturbed.
Intro: “It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane” (PHILIP K. DICK, Valis). In present day America laws have been placed that prevent people who are “insane” to be guilty of the crimes they commit. In short, insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill relating to madness. This is presented in the book Medea written by Euripides through her point of view. In Medea, a surge of insanity purges her after she is betrayed by her husband Jason causing many cruel and harsh actions to follow from her.
Lena is a caring woman who loves her family. She is understanding of the problems of others, and can look past their mistakes no matter the gravity of what they've done. Even though both of her children are grown adults, she still has the motherly drive to protect them as if they were still young children.
In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Panem is a destroyed country divided into districts that send a male and female tribute to death every year. Both books present two female outcasts that are fed up with their worlds, and attempt to save themselves and the people they love. Aveyard and Collins both use character archetype and mood to present the theme of that when you are being controlled by someone you want to get out you want to get away. Even though it might be hard, as long as you hold what and who you love most you will always find a way back to them.
Since her husband died she has taken charge. In every decision she makes she shows how much she cares about her family and puts them first. After her husband unexpectedly died the dreams he had for his family were placed into her hands and sprouted from there. Lena is very caring supportive, not only of her kids and
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play that mainly focuses on one common theme of insanity. Macbeth gradually becomes plagued by intense guilt as his desire for power drives him to attain his goals by any means necessary, including committing murder. He kills Duncan in cold blood in order to become King, has Banquo killed by three murderers because he wishes to maintain his position as King, and finally, he has Macduff’s family slaughtered. Each of these occurrences takes place because of Macbeth’s will to be King, or they are a result of his guilt. Nonetheless, they are all completed of his free will, which is what causes him to deteriorate mentally.
A Guilty Conscience: How Guilt Drives the Powerful to Insanity Guilt is the cause of the destruction of many, particularly in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth. As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth continue to murder for the sake of power, they embark on opposite journeys but their guilt ultimately drives them both to insanity. Macbeth goes from being driven mad with guilt, to his instability causing him to murder recklessly. His wife goes from expressing no compassion or guilt to her guilt overcoming her and driving her to madness.
Dystopian literature has become more common in today’s society. Some of the top book series are about dystopias. One of the top dystopian book trilogies is “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. While most dystopian novels are similar in some aspects, “The Hunger Games” is specifically relatable to Margaret Atwood’s novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Collins describes the society of Panem in “The Hunger Games”.
“I Was Sleeping Where the Black Oaks Move” written by Louise Erdrich focuses on a child and a grandfather horrifically observing a flood consuming their entire village and the surrounding trees, obliterating the nests of the herons that had lived there. In the future they remember back to the day when they started cleaning up after the flood, when they notice the herons without their habitat “dancing” in the sky. According to the poet’s biographical context, many of the poems the poet had wrote themselves were a metaphor. There could be many viable explanations and themes to this fascinating poem, and the main literary devices that constitute this poem are imagery, personification, and a metaphor.
