It rains on the night of Anna’s funeral. The sky splits itself open and weeps for her and Abner does not. Anna is dead. It’s the first time in years that all the Drummond children are together and nobody is fighting and Anna is dead.
Mitford takes note that “not one in ten thousand has an idea of what actually takes place” (310) and there is so much more beneath the surface of things. Mitford also uses oxymorons such as, “he has done everything in his power to make the funeral a real pleasure for everybody” (314). It’s clear that a funeral isn’t a “pleasure”, it’s an incredibly sad experience (for most people) and it just goes to show the depth Mitford will go to portray her aggressive opinions. As Mitford continues to describe the shocking details about embalming she gets into a routine and systematically gives us disconcerting imagery every other paragraph, such as, a corpse “whose mouth had been sewn together” (312). Mitford’s style is informative and she doesn’t shy away from being brutally open by using unsettling imagery, which once again makes her case even
Referring to the closing of the chicago world fair, Larson compares the feeling as “the death of a dear friend,” by doing this the readers can better relate to the remorseful feeling of such a lose. Larson knows that many of his readers have, in some way, lost a loved one, so by comparing this feeling to the death of a loved one, the readers can fully comprehend the feelings going on in each individual of Chicago. Therefore, by using this simile Larson’s readers are able to relate to the remorseful feeling in the city of
The “Eulogy for Princess Diana” by Earl Charles Spencer, was a speech given at Westminster Abbey during the funeral service of Princess Diana. Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana gives the audience the sentiment of being uplifting to the tragic loss of his sister and hearten those around the world as he shares her meaningful achievements and the life they shared as brother and sister. When Earl Spencer addressed “the tens of millions of people taking part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met her”, it builds his ethos. He evoked emotion in those people listening who a majority didn't even know much about her but still they discovered the impact and influence she made to her family and society whole.
In The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, Bod is a child in danger of a man who killed his family and is only protected in the graveyard. Bod grows up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts of various times. He was never let into the outside world which only made him more longing to see it. Bod is different in the sense that his life and upbringing is different from others, which shaped him into a somebody much different from everyone else; he was also ambitious in the sense that he has big dreams to travel all over the living world even though he barely knows about it, this trait affected how he developed. In The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman creates a different and ambitious character, whose traits affect how his story and interactions are written.
In “The Dead” by James Joyce, Gabriel Conroy, the main character of the novella, is the epiphanic revelation of love. While attending the fancy Christmas party which is a tradition of the upper class, Gabriel realizes the shallowness of his love for his wife—Gretta. Joyce utilizes abstract and concrete diction, abstruse symbolism, and profound epiphany to illustrate Gabriel's relation with the dead and understanding of his own soul and identity. To begin with, Joyce uses several kinds of diction to depict the troublesome relationship between Gabriel and Gretta. First, using abstract diction helps the author show the internal thoughts of Gabriel.
There was a content family: “a man mowing a lawn”, and his wife “[bending] to pick up flowers”(Bradbury 1). Included in this story is their son throwing a ball, and opposite him is his sister, “hands [raising] to catch a ball” (Bradbury 1). They seem happy; however, the truth is, they are all “the silhouette in paint” on the west face of their house (Bradbury 1). The author uses irony to express the grief of this family’s death. Though the silhouette of the family looks like the people in this family are living happy and content, they actually are dead at that time.
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
A beautiful portrait of the fair is built with Larson’s detailed depictions of “the buildings, waterways, and scenery” (Larson 274) within this spectacle. The clear pictures painted in the reader’s mind transports them to this wonder-filled attraction. However, more disturbing images are depicted in subtle ways, like the fact that Holmes “often smelled vaguely of chemicals” (Larson 46.) An image of horror conjures within the mind of the reader at this seemingly minuscule detail.
My’yonna Pride Professor Suderman Enc1102-20946-002 Them of Innocence/Power of Literacy Theme: “Loss of Innocence and The Power of Literacy “ To live is to die and to die is to live again, in the short story fiction “Lives of the Dead,” by Tim Obrien, either seems true. When a loss of innocence is experienced traumatic events, such as death, has created awareness of evil, pain, and or suffering. Obrien experiences a loss of innocence, by death, at the age of 9, when his childhood girlfriend dies of cancer. Physical the dead may never be able to be brought back to life but, mentally, through The Power of Literacy anything is possible. Many of the Character in “Lives of the dead” are deceased; however, they are able to live again, through the power of literacy.
One of the best-selling authors, Barbara Ehrenreich, in her narrative essay, “Serving in Florida,” describes her personal experience working in a local restaurant called Jerry’s. Ehrenreich’s purpose is to attach importance to the low-wage America workplace. Using rhetorical strategies such as negative diction, simile, images, and pathos, Ehrenreich attempts to raise public awareness of the low-wage workers’ life in her readers. Firstly, Barbara Ehrenreich exploits connotation of words and simile to emphasize the difficult life of the lower class.
The attitudes to grief over the loss of a loved one are presented in two thoroughly different ways in the two poems of ‘Funeral Blues’ and ‘Remember’. Some differences include the tone towards death as ‘Funeral Blues’ was written with a more mocking, sarcastic tone towards death and grieving the loss of a loved one, (even though it was later interpreted as a genuine expression of grief after the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in 1994), whereas ‘Remember’ has a more sincere and heartfelt tone towards death. In addition, ‘Funeral Blues’ is entirely negative towards death not only forbidding themselves from moving on but also forbidding the world from moving on after the tragic passing of the loved one, whilst ‘Remember’ gives the griever
Further, situational irony is present through the reaction that Louise Mallard has after learning about her husband’s death. Upon first learning of her husband’s death she is very devastated and distraught. As soon as she is alone in the bathroom however, it is clear to the readers she is not as upset. In fact she is slightly relieved in that “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (235).
