Throughout the story “In the silence” by Peggy S. Curry the protagonist; Jimmy is on a rollercoaster of emotions. At the beginning of the story, Jimmy is depressed and homesick because of his interactions with Angus Duncan. Although as he would finger is brooch he would remember home, this made him happier. When Angus sent Jimmy into “the silence” he was scared, scared of all the dangers around him. After a few nights “in the silence” he had already lost two of his sheep, one was killed when trampled by a horse, and another was dropped and killed by a sheep, he was worried about what Angus’ reaction would be along with the sheep’s safety in jeopardy.
A difference in self-identity often causes conflict between individuals. Head cook at weddings and Funerals by Vi Plotnikoff demonstrates how differences in beliefs, values, future plans and different opinions can cause conflict between a family, community or individuals. Beliefs and values often differ between people, just as Marusa and Aunt Florence. Murusa is considered a perfect girl, she came from a profoundly traditional Doukhobor family. Marisa 's mother, Aunt Florence was a fairly traditional as well as having strong ties to the Doukhobor community.
Rhetorical Situation: The dying wish of Paul Kalanithi was for his family to make sure his book got published after his death. Kalanithi started writing When Breath Becomes Air after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The context, audience, author, and subject all reflect the urge to share knowledge before death. Written with the need to put word to paper, the context surrounding the memoir deals entirely with the evanescence of time.
In Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, two cultures clash with each other in the struggle to save Lia Lee, a Hmong child refugee with severe epilepsy. Although Lee and her family live in the United States, and thus receive medical care from Westerners, her family believes that Lee’s condition is sacred and special. The following miscommunications, both culturally and lingually, between the American doctors and the Lee family leave Lia Lee in comatose at the end of the book. However, Lia Lee could have been saved if the Lee’s had a better understanding of the American doctors’ intentions, and the American doctors understood the Hmong culture. Essentially, the tragedy of Lia Lee can be attributed to the clash of American and Hmong cultures at both the surface and sub-surface level.
Saba Mirfatahi Professor Bourget English 1130 October 6th 2015 Mitford: Analysis of “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” Jessica Mitford’s, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain,” is an assertive account of the true realisms involving embalming. Jessica Mitford takes a bold stand against the funeral industry and states that people are “blissfully ignorant” (Mitford 310) on preserving people. Ultimately, Jessica Mitford’s argumentative essay is successful due to her very somber but informative and organized tone, her style using dark vivid imagery and quotations make her claims credible. One of the way’s in which Mitford’s argument is effective is through the use of her sarcastic tone. There are many words to describe Mitford’s tone; cocky, blunt,
In Susan Wolf’s article “The Meaning of Lives” she argues a meaningful life is engaged in positive projects to some degree of success. She also believes that the pursuits with meaning have an objective value that connects with the rest humanity. Susan Wolf’s did not write about her thoughts on the concept of plugging oneself into an experience machine like described by Christopher Grau in “Bad Dreams, Evil Demons, and the Experience Machine”, but her argument for what gives meaning to a life makes it clear that she would argue someone should choose to not plug in. The reason a person would choose to plug into an experience machine is because they could live out all of their fantasies and avoid all the discomfort experienced in real life. But
The movie Carved in Silence was a very provoking and eye opening documentary for me. It depicted the experience of the Chinese immigrants of Angel Island very well through the narration and the dramatic recreation. As an immigrant, the opening scene and the many stories told evoked many memories and reflections of my family 's journey and aspirations. The stories and descriptions in this documentary were very surreal because they were too hard to believe.
Mother had not died. Mother had been alive all the time. And father had lied about this” (page 112). This created suspense from radiating tension. It leaves the readers feeling uneasy and gives an urgency to read on.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner In the excerpt from William Faulkner’s Southern novel, As I Lay Dying the author structures his novel through the use of literary features such as allusion, similes a belittling yet humorous tone, concrete imagery and a stream of consciousness style in the passage. Faulkner throughout the passage not only describes Cash’s reserved character and Darls perspective imagination but he also foreshadows the struggle the Bundren’s will go through as they prepare to go on the journey of burying Addie. First, Faulkner has the speaker Darl create a gloomy mood by using similes to display the ambiance in the room. Then Faulkner alludes to the bible and uses concrete imagery to illustrate both the surroundings and Cash’s concentration and determination as he makes his mother’s coffin.
In her 1967 essay Behind The Formaldehyde Curtain, Jessica Mitford utilizes the rhetorical devices of diction and verbal irony to illustrate the unthinkable, little-known truth behind the North American funeral industry and its manipulation of death. Through her choice of diction used when describing the process of an embalmment, Mitford shows us the horrifying and questionable truth behind it, prompting us to question the American funeral industry's ethicality. In the 9th paragraph, Mitford states during an embalmment, the blood of the deceased person "is drained out through the veins”. The word “drained” could’ve easily been replaced with “removed” or “extracted”, both of them being more suitable and correct terms, but the author chose it because it has a negative
From the Suffragette movement of the early 20th century to modern day Women’s Marches, it is evident that women have continuously fought against the expectations and limitations placed on them by society. Throughout William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, female characters also grapple with gender standards, and either abide by or reject them. Characters such as Dewey Dell and Cora Tull follow female expectations since Dewey Dell allows men to control her and Cora fulfills the expected role of being a caretaker for her husband and children. Addie Bundren meanwhile does not obey societal expectations, which is apparent since she has her own desires and rejects the homemaker role given to women during this time.
In “I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe, the poem describes how her experiences at a Residential School attribute to her identity and empowerment through poetry that uses symbolism, imagery, and visual mental images to illustrate themes, white dominance, and empowerment. The poem is written in the point of view of an indigenous woman born in the time during the residential school crisis. This was a time when genocide was taking place, mothers separated from their children. Kids were segregated like it was 1957, in other words, the white 's were in their own educational system and the indigenous were forcefully put in schools to be assimilated of their raising. To be assimilated is to strenuously forget about your history, culture, language, and traditions.
I have recently read the short story “Priscilla and the Wimps” by Richard Peck. In response to the prompt, I do not believe that Priscilla’s treatment of Monk was justified. When dealing with conflict, it is crucial not to resort to physical violence, otherwise it may further escalate the conflict. Technically, if you resort to physical violence to try to stop bullying, you are just as bad as the bully. In the story, Monk was picking on Melvin (Peck 2), who was Priscilla’s closest friend (Peck 1), and Priscilla ended up putting him in a hammerlock and then locking him in a locker for a whole week (Peck 3).
Like ghost these silenced stories are forced to wander through their minds but never be confronted. The author also experiences this state of living dead, and this is only brought to her attention when her brother says, "You died too you just don't know it"(17). It is only when the ghost brings attention to this lack of consciousness that the narrator is forced to face her silence. She realizes that her silence has been slowly killing her saying, "I wept…for all the words never spoken between my mother, my father, and me"(17). By not sharing their story, whether it be to one another or a third party, that she has taken away value from her life.
The short story, “Haunting Olivia,” by Karen Russell, portrays two boys looking for their sister, Olivia, who died at sea. The boys stay with their grandmother on an island for the summer, and each night they sneak away to a boat graveyard to search for the girl. Guilt and grief consume the narrator, Timothy, and his brother, Wallow, as they search for a way to rescue their dead sister. Tim holds onto the idea that Olivia can continue to exist as a spirit. The narrator uses echo to create the effect of Olivia’s ghost.
