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Literary analysis on the monkey's paw
Horror significance of the monkey's paw
Horror significance of the monkey's paw
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In W.W Jacob’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” there are many instances of foreshadowing in order to keep readers engaged and on the edge of their seats. In part one of “The Monkey’ Paw’” the White family is introduced to the monkey’s paw by, family, friend Sergeant Major Morris. Major Morris explains the dire outcome of using the paw. Mrs. White asks if anyone has used the paw before and Major Morris responds with “The first man used his wishes, yes,”...”I don 't know what his first two wishes were, but the third was for death.
In the vignette, “The Monkey Garden,” Cisneros uses similes, personification, and juxtaposition to show how the garden quickly changes from a child’s playground to a place of haunting grownup memories. In the beginning, Cisneros uses similes to describe the carefree nature of the garden: “There were big green apples hard as knees. And everywhere the sleepy smell of rotting wood, damp earth, and dusty hollyhocks thick and perfumey like the blue-blonde hair of the dead" (Cisneros 95). Initially, Esperanza and the other children are young and naive and play in the garden without any worries. The garden is a place of childhood innocence and shows that although Esperanza wants desperately to grow up, she is still a child.
In W.W. Jacobs’ story The Monkey's Paw, the author uses foreshadowing as a tool to create suspense. The first example of foreshadowing is when Sergeant Major Morris warns the whites about the consequences of using the monkey's paw. This happens after Sergeant Major Morris visits the whites and tells them the tale of the magical monkey’s paw. Mr. and Ms. White are unsure about the paw at first. The Sergeant then tries to burn the paw, but Mr. White stops him.
Have you ever been reading a book and start to wonder “what happens next?” This is called suspense, a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. These stories use suspense to help develop the overall tone of the two stories. “The Tell-Tale Heart”, by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Monkey’s Paw, by W.W Jacobs, created a feeling of suspense by using cause-and-effect relationships by showing the characters’ feeling of something frightening might happen. First off, “The Monkey’s Paw” uses cause-and-effect relationships to cause tension or suspense.
Synthesis Essay A symbol is a thing that represent or stand for itself or something beyond itself as well. A symbol can be a color, a book, or a person. For example, Melissa de la Cruz used symbols when she stated that “Black is the color of night. White is the true color of death.”
Thesis: In The Monkey's Paw by W.W Jacobs, the realistic essence of the monkey's paw made it fundamentally creepy. Point 1: The monkey's paw is a symbol for inclination for greed, exposing our superior wants as people, even the most humble. Point 2: Consequences for the actions of those using the paw develops the image of regret and fear. Point 3:
In W. W. Jacobs’ short story, “The Monkey’s Paw,” the White family’s innocent want for a better life is challenged when a magical talisman plagues their family through its wishes. When faced with death, humans have different ways of dealing with the rollercoaster of feelings that accompanies it. The family has to overcome grief, disappointment, and anger as they live their lives without their son. Through these emotions, the characters are being taught not to act foolishly, but they never learn. Through foreshadowing and situational irony, the story “The Monkey’s Paw” conveys the theme of how innocent intentions can have terrible repercussions.
Imagine that you were given three wishes would take the the chance to lose someone or something for them. It's something you have to think about right? Well all of this is in the short story of “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Which is labeled to have the horror genre. Because of the horror included in the short-story of “The Monkey's Paw” by W.W it is a horrifying story.
Two stories and two magical wishes. The Monkey’s Paw and the Story of an Hour share several similarities throughout the passage. In the beginning of each passage, the author creates a sense of mystery and curiosity for the readers. As each passage reveals the characters in the story, the reader begins to relate the characters role from each story and how they act towards the conflict in the text. These different events, conflicts, or plot in both stories connect with death and wishes.
Think Question 1: Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. How does the author of “The Monkey’s Paw” use foreshadowing in the first chapter to suggest that the spell placed on the paw might not bring happiness to whoever possesses it? Cite textual evidence from the selection to support your answer. Response 1: W. W. Jacobs uses foreshadowing in "The Monkey 's Paw" by having Sergeant-Major Morris recount his experience with the monkey’s paw. After Herbert asked Morris if he already requested his three wishes, Morris replies with, “‘I have,’...and his blotchy face whitened” (Jacobs).
After the juxtaposing social upheaval of the preceeding eras, the Elizabethan Era (1558-1603), and part of the Jacobean Era (1603-1625) were relatively stable periods in time. In this 67 year timespan, a plethora of political reform took place. It was considered to be the "Golden Age" in English history as creative works in literature, poetry, and theatre began to flourish (C.S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, page 1). This political reform helped in shaping what would come to be some of the most notable works in the history of literature, the works of William Shakespeare. First and foremost, it is important to understand the political ideals of William Shakespeare and how they go along with the time.
The conflict in the story is not only the monkey’s paw but was somewhat Mr. White’s attitude. If he never was that greedy the story would have changed he would have agreed with Morris and burned the monkey’s paw but he didn’t want to do that creating the plot. Any change in the plot could have/ would have altered the course of the story but also altering the theme. In “The Monkey’s Paw,” the downfall of the White family is when they receive the two hundred pounds as a compensation for the son’s death which was actually caused by messing with fate.
“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality”-Edgar Allan Poe. All great horror stories represent that quote. There is one story that does not. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs is not a horror story because there is not a monster, it is not believable, and it does not have a creepy setting. Classic horror stories usually have some sort of a monster in it, whether the monster is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Frankenstein.
To have a great story, it has to make use of literary elements to give detail and depth to a story. Stories can leave a feeling or thought that can make the reader think about what they just read. Making use of literary elements can help give hints to what the story is gonna be about or what is going to happen in the future. The four stories that our class read use these two elements and a few of the stories can almost tell the entire story just in the first two pages. Two of the most well used literary elements is symbolism and foreshadowing.
In the short story, The Monkey 's Paw we are first introduced to the White, the Mrs.White, Mr.White, and their son, Herbert White. Later in the story, we are introduced to Sergeant Major Morris who brought the mummy-like monkey’s paw to the Whites house. The theme of the Monkey 's paw is to never interfere with fate. The theme is shown through many forms in the short story. The forms are the events, the foreshadowing, and the actions.
