Vivian Island Essays

The concepts of Death and Life in John Donne’s Divine Meditation X John Donne “is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. […] Donne's style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations” (poemhunter). In his “Divine Meditation X” (also known as “Holy Sonnet X”), Donne addresses Death and presents an argument against its power. According to the speaker, such power is nothing but an illusion; so the end Death brings to men is just a

Vivian Bearing is the main character within the play Wit by Margaret Edson. Wit centers on Vivian’s journey after learning she has ovarian cancer. As the story progresses, Vivian’s characters grows and changes with each passing moment. Edson does a magnificent job of displaying this character development through Vivian’s actions and dialogue. The play opens with Vivian speaking directly to the audience. As she explains her situation, the audience is given the first taste of who she is and how she

In the short story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson is an elderly African-American woman who plans to go on a very difficult journey. This journey is not only arduous for Phoenix physically, but mentally also. Through the journey she succumbs to challenges such as crawling on the forrest floor despite her old age, and often loses focus from the purpose of her journey. The setting of the story creates a strenuous path for Phoenix to travel, and also enhances the mental strain Phoenix

The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently. Therefore

Analysis of “The Demon Lover” Reliving a past experience can often cause someone to have a relapse of those exact emotions of feelings. Elizabeth Bowen often uses her own life experiences throughout her work. Bowen often portrays herself as the main character. Bowen gives her readers a chance to read little bit and pieces of how her life was during the Blitz and World War II. In the short story “The Demon Lover” Elizabeth Bowen uses internal conflict to portray the effects of war.Mrs. Drover through

In this essay, various aspects, behaviors, and moods of different characters from two completely different stories are going to be revealed by analyzing the dialogue in the text namely “The Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce. In “The Oliver Twist” Oliver Twist, an innocent, brave boy who was suffering the horrors of slow starvation for three months along with his friends and only being served one small bowl of gruel per day. During

In Lorca’sconflict themed play;Blood Wedding , symbolism is a dominating literature technique that forebodes the significant events that occur. The protagonist of the play, Leonardo, is seen to have a rebellious attitude towards society. The horse is perceived to be a symbol of occurrences that foreshadows his destiny, which is his death caused by his desire to attain individuality in the repressive society he lives in. This is especially prominent in the morbid lullaby sang by his mother and wife

Abigail the Accuser (A Discussion on what Abby could have done to lessen the conflict) The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s. This play starts out with many girls from Salem trying to conjure up spirits to get boys to like them. Mr. Parris, a pastor at the Salem church, caught the girls in the act of trying to conjure up spirits, and interrupted it which scared everyone. When he did this, some of the girls were passed out and wouldn't wake

Literary Analysis of The Joy Luck Club In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan states, “My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club. I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the mah jong table has been empty since she died two months ago” (Tan 19). The Joy Luck Club’s setting is in present day San Francisco and flashes back to China. Writing this novel Tan experiences many emotions. The reader receives various emotions while reading this book from examples given by the author.

People in relationships are like puzzle pieces, some of them fit and some do not. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, Juliet and her father, Lord Capulet are the puzzle pieces. The two family members have a complex family relationship. Throughout the play their relationship is tested. Lord Capulet wants the best for his daughter and has different opinions on Juliet's future compared to her own. Juliet married a member of the Montague house which her family has been in a fued

Quote “She seemed so helpless with her soft yellow feathers, slender twiggy legs and small webbed feet. One small gust of wind and she would be blown away.” Pg. 73 Response I think that Adeline can relate to PLT. I’m sure that Adeline chose PLT cause she saw herself in her. She is considered bad luck and maybe she feels helpless. I think that she thinks that Aunt Baba is the only one that cares about her and that she wants PLT to think that about her. Quote “As soon as I said this, I felt

Il Deserto Rosso: Film Analysis Il Deserto Rosso – Red Desert is an Italian film from 1964 directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. The plot of the film focuses on the events that revolve around Giuliana (Monica Vitti), a woman who is living a deep inner crisis. After, an attempted suicide, which is disguised as a car accident, Giuliana’s mental state is compromised. The woman is affected by continuous neurosis, which preclude her the possibility of leading a normal life. Giuliana is married to Ugo (Carlo

In both movie adaptation and novel the social hierarchy of the characters in “Of Mice and Men” is clear. Curley’s wife ranks lower on this social hierarchy than most workers, including Lennie, a mentally-challenged man, and Candy, a old crippled man. The only dominance she can assert is over a black crippled man, but she, unlike Crooks, is not even awarded the respect of being named. While the movie adaptation focuses on the vulnerability and victimization of Curley’s wife and the text focuses on

In the novels Looking For Alaska by John Green and Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger both main characters demonstrate the importance of forgiveness. To make change do you have to forgive? That is the big question. Holden and Miles each have this big perspective on this world. They see this world as a cruel never ending cycle no one will solve , but does anyone really no the actual purpose of why we are here or what we should be doing. They sure think they have it all figured out , but with a change

How do the roles of women in society reflect how they are expected to act, speak, dress, and conduct themselves? For example, women are generally expected to dress and act in a feminine manner by being polite, accommodating, and nurturing to others. However, as seen in Tyrese Coleman's powerful story, “How to Sit”, the grandmother is perceived as a wild, selfish, and fiercely independent woman, who is forced to harass her granddaughter in order to shape her as the woman she wishes she could still

Rhetorical Analysis – J.K. Rowling “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination” The author of the famous Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling held this speech during a graduation ceremony at Harvard University. The speech was to the Harvard graduates from June 5, 2008 and was held outside in the famous ‘Old Harvard Yard’ as a tradition. The purpose of the speech was to celebrate and congratulate the graduating class. Her speech is a motivational speech for the graduates but

The False Gems was a short story published in 1883, which was a work typical of Guy de Maupassant’s style. The deep and profound social reality reflected in the story is always a highlight of Maupassant’s short novel, and The False Gems is no exception. It was only a 4500-word story, completely show French society’s reality in the 19th century through objective description and meaningful irony, though. As the skillful use of irony in the text really contributes a lot to the expression of the theme

The social class system is a phenomenon experienced around the world. High class individuals live fancy, pampered lives and spend time with other members of the upper class while members of the middle and lower classes spend time with other members of the middle and lower class. There is a difference in how high class people interact with lower class people. They often talk down on lower class members and treat them with less respect. “The Stolen Party” is a story that highlights these characteristics

Loss of Innocence In John Updike’s “A&P” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” the two authors illustrate difficult initiations teenagers face while they realize the harshness of society around them. Updike’s “A&P” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage boy, Sammy, who makes the tough decision to quit his job at the local A&P and realizes the bitterness of the world. Similarly, Bambara’s “The Lesson” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage girl, Sylvia, who realizes the value of money and clash

Soon as she screamed the last words of her sorrow, that old book was somehow gleaming so brightly then pulled Ana into an unknown dimension and everything turned dark. . . . . . “Unghh Where is this? Ahh what has happened recently?” Ana said while slowly rubbed her painful head and walk around that weird place to find a clue. However when she saw the leaves from the trees in front of her, she suddenly realized that she was no longer in the real world for even the trees there looked just like a piece