Monday, December 30, 2019

The Yellow Wallpaper and The Cask Of Amontillado - 763 Words

The Yellow Wallpaper and The Cask Of Amontillado The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Gilman, and The Cask of Amontillado written by Edgar Allan Poe, are stories in which the plots are very different, but share similar qualities with the elements in the story. The Cask of Amontillado is a powerful tale of revenge, in which the narrator of the tale pledges revenge upon Fortunato for an insult. The Yellow Wallpaper is a story about a woman, her psychological difficulties and her husbands therapeutic treatment of her illness. She struggles over her illness, and battles her controlling husband. The settings in both stories are very important, they influence the characters, and help†¦show more content†¦Irony occurs when the reader becomes painfully aware of what will become of Fortunato, even though he continues his descent into the catacombs in pursuit of the wine. Poe also adds to this effect, by calling the man Fortunato, who is anything but fortunate, and has him dressed in a clowns costume, which p ortrays him as a fool. While the settings in the two stories are very different, the different settings create the elements to the stories. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper becomes haunted by the wallpaper in her room. The setting takes place in the room, she dislikes the room from the moment she sees it and fells suffocated by it. Her feeling of suffocation and being haunted by the wallpaper helps the reader become more aware of her motivation for tearing the wallpaper down. In The Cask of Amontillado, the setting creates a different effect. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the setting helps create the story, and sets the actions of the plot. In Poes story he uses the setting different then Gilman. He uses the setting to create suspense and to give the reader a sense of how the characters are felling walking through the catacombs looking for the wine. The dark, damp basement magnifies the tension and uncertainty of the actions in the story. While the two stories are very different, the settings play a major role in both stories, without the setting, both stories would have less style andShow MoreRelatedThe Cask Of Amontillado, By Edgar Allan Poe And The Yellow Wallpaper Essay1486 Words   |  6 Pagessatisfying to the author because the audience must look beyond what the narrator is portraying and view all the elements of the read to understand the author s message. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are great examples of unreliable narration. The Cask of Amontillado, Poe tells the story through the eyes and voice of the character Montresor, a seemingly wealthy socialite in nineteenth century Italy. Montresor is the classic example ofRead MoreA Cask Of Amontillado, By Edgar Allen Poe1273 Words   |  6 PagesEdgar Allen Poe and Charlotte Perkins Gilman depict a digression of humanity and sanity. Poe presents the downfall of Fortunato in â€Å"A Cask of Amontillado, and Gilman presents the same of John in â€Å"A yellow Wallpaper†, yet it is out of out of their own undoing. Each of their downfall is at the expense of themselves, yet it is at the hands of another. Neither character realizes the everlasting consequences of their own actions. Fortunato is arrogant and belittles those around him while John fails toRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesof Cain a legacy of guilt that the outcast Brand shares with his Biblical counterpart. One must also, however, be alert to names u sed ironically which characterize through inversion. Such is the case with the foolish Fortunato of Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, who surely must rank with the most unfortunate of men. 2. CHARACTERIZATION THROUGH APPEARANCE. Although in real life most of us are aware that appearances are often deceiving, in the world of fiction details of appearance often provide essential

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Significance Of Slavery And The Civil War Essay - 1979 Words

The investigation assesses the significance of slavery and its contributions that lead up to the American Civil War of 1861. In order to evaluate the significance of slavery, the investigation will evaluate the social and economic role of slavery in the South and the North; the religious aspects of slavery will be investigated along with the portion of the civilian population that depended on slaves for an income. The years 1850 to 1865 will be the focus of this investigation, to allow for an analysis of the tensions leading up to the war as well the war period itself. Furthermore, the perspectives of civilians (the enslaved, freed, and whites) during the Civil War will also be assessed. Memoirs, letters, diary entries, and oral history are mostly used to evaluate the significance of slavery. Two of the sources used in the essay, What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War compiled by Chandra Manning and scholarly article Slavery and the Civil War: Not What You Think by Jeff Schweitzer are then evaluated for their origins, purposes, values and limitations. The investigation does not assess the difference in ideologies by gender, nor does the investigation assess opinions other than those of the United States. The first source that will be evaluated is Chandra Manning’s What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War, written in 2007. The origin is valuable because Chandra Manning is an American historian who graduated from MountShow MoreRelatedSignificance Of The Reconstruction Act861 Words   |  4 PagesShort Answer Response Assignment 1 Part one – Define and describe the significance 1. Reconstruction Acts – after the civil war four bills were passed by the United States Congress in 1867 in order to bring the country back together, providing the process and criteria that would allow the Southern states with the exception Tennessee, readmission into the Union. (Ohio Civil War Central, 2015) The significance of the Reconstruction act was the division of the south into five military districts;Read MoreSlavery And The American Civil War1125 Words   |  5 PagesSanjani Prodduturu Slavery and Civil War Throughout history, it has been commonly misconceived that slavery and the abolishment of slavery has been the sole cause of the American Civil War. Whereas the institution of slavery has been a major cause of the war, the differences in ideologies and beliefs between the North and the South also play a role in the origins of the Civil War. The origins of the Civil War can also be attributed to the political, economical, social, and cultural differences betweenRead MoreTime Line 21050 Words   |  5 PagesTimeline Part II NOTE: Before starting the Timeline project please refer to the Example Timeline Matrix document. Instructions: Complete the matrix by providing the Time Period/Date(s) in column B, and the Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History in column C. See complete instructions in the Syllabus for the Module 3 assignment entitled. â€Å"Timeline Part II.† NOTE: The timeline project does not need to be submitted to turnitin. NOTE: Please write your answersRead Morecivil war963 Words   |  4 Pagesadvent of the civil war. Choose three and analyze the relative significance of each in contributing to the advent of the Civil War. During the time period of the mid 1800’s there was a great deal of growing tension between the northern and southern states. Many northerners were abolitionists and were anti slavery, the northerners didn’t want to outlaw slavery completely but wanted to put an end to slavery expansion. The south on the other hand was very against this and wanted for slavery to continueRead MoreThe Rallying Cry Of The Texans During Their Rebellion Against General Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna At The Alamo1208 Words   |  5 Pagesannexation as an act of war. The Boundary Dispute, the California Question: President Polk clearly wanted to expand the country to the Pacific Ocean by taking control of California and lands in the Southwest. Monetary Claims against Mexico. 95. The Wilmot Proviso was a fundamental condition in the acquisition of any territory of Mexico it banned slavery in all land gained from Mexican cession 1846. It was never passed through both houses but it transformed the debate of slavery. 96. The California GoldRead MoreInterpreting The Consequences And Causations Of The American Civil War1058 Words   |  5 PagesInterpreting the consequences and causations of the American Civil war is a complex and multifarious issue that is defined by two predominant archetypes, the revisionist and fundamentalist viewpoints. The multiple revisionist viewpoints emphasize different interpretations of the origins and significance of the Civil War such as a Southern constitutional viewpoint, politics, economics, sectional differences between the North and South, or the great slave power conspiracy. Moreover, while some of theseRead MoreThe Compromise Of 1850 : A Series Of Events1057 Words   |  5 Pagesrelated to slavery. The information provided by the US history website along with other credible sources, provided me with visual images, videos, and primarily text which allowed me to grasp, and better understand the concept of the Compromise. The websites that I used, gave me an ade quate amount of information so that I can better, put together this paper. Alongside of that, now I have gained interest in this topic as it served a major piece of history prior to the civil war: the war that killedRead MoreNew Orleans And The Child1269 Words   |  6 Pages1850: New Orleans woman and the child she held in slavery. New Orleans has a rich history that can be marveled at, as well as be frowned upon. As a constituent of the greater Louisiana, New Orleans was at the heart of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Slaves were imported from West Africa, as well as India and then tasked with working in the robust cotton farms that characterized New Orleans at the time (Blassingame 5). Women slaves were mostly assigned to households where they worked as house helpsRead More Positions of Blacks in the Civil War and Emancipation Essay1640 Words   |  7 PagesPreliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, the Civil War developed to be a war to ultimately save the union and to abolish slavery. Blacks overall played a substantial part in the victory of the union, helping them turn the tide against the confederate army. In all, there were roughly 200,000 black soldiers who served in over 100 units in the Union Army and Navy (10 percent of the Union). But while their involvement in war efforts deemed valuable there was tension on many fronts, thereRead MoreJohn J. Crittenden1245 Words   |  5 Pagesproposed that there should be states that have slavery and that satisfy the southern demands but that the Missouri Compromise line should be redrawn. Although the southern states were willing to agree with this compromise, the northern states and the Republican Party were against this compromise for allowing future expansion of slavery and slave states. The Republican Party was unable to agree with this compromise since it did not solve the issue of slavery and the fugitive slave laws; the only difference

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Culturally Poetic Free Essays

Culturally Poetic Cultural identity is the collective personality of a people usually associated with a certain group or culture, or that of an individual in relation to certain behavior, thoughts, and influences. (Central Michigan University) These beliefs and shared characteristics allow a group to establish a common ground and in turn make them unique to others. A cultural identity may be national, ethnic, or even generational. We will write a custom essay sample on Culturally Poetic or any similar topic only for you Order Now Our identity is based upon our differences when compared to other groups. Cultural identity is essentially defined by differences rather than likenesses to others. The identifiable aspects of culture are historical, linguistic, and mental. These three factors may also be found in poetry and are related to the views that an author wishes to express. In my essay, I will seek to identify elements of culture in the following poems: â€Å"Bully†, â€Å"What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl†, â€Å"Self-Pity’s Closet†, â€Å"Rite of Passage†, and â€Å"The Panther†, In Martin Espada’s poem, â€Å"Bully† cultural identity is evident throughout the length of the poem. The poem is introduced by way of location, the time period, and the year, â€Å"In the school auditorium / the Theodore Roosevelt statue / is nostalgic for the Spanish American War† (713). The poet themes seemingly focus on change within American society. This theme is noticeably identifiable in the following stanza: But now the Roosevelt school is pronounced Hernandez. Puerto Rico has invaded Roosevelt with its army of Spanish-singing children in the hallways, brown children devouring the stockpiles of the cafeteria, children painting Taino ancestors that leap naked across murals. 714) Espada effectively provides contrast between Roosevelt’s belief of ethnocentrism and the invasion of the Spanish colonies by comparing the immigration of Puerto Rican families in a 1987 Boston, Massachusetts. At the poem’s ending we are able to envision a revenge of sorts with the children now invading Roosevelt himself. The following stanza is irony at its best and brings the ele ment of culture and change to the forefront, Roosevelt is surrounded by all the faces he ever shoved in eugenic spite and cursed as mongrels, skin of one race, hair and cheekbones of another. (714) This bit of irony is representative of the fact that change once experienced on the island of Puerto Rico now too is prevalent within America. Roosevelt is declared the â€Å"bully† by his conquest and those that were once without power are now empowered through change and assimilation. This poem uses historical factors to establish a cultural identity. Patricia Smith’s, â€Å"What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl† (for Those of You Who Aren’t) approaches the idea of a black girl becoming a woman at a time when race matters were still prevalent. The author begins with a direct but conversation like tone to denote the importance of what is being imparted: First of all, it’s being 9 years old and/ feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong†¦(672) The theme here is puberty based changes that takes place according to a â€Å"black girl. † The girl feels incomplete because her body is experiencing changes. Smith goes on to describe the girl’s desire to fit into society by wanting to have the physical traits of a white woman. The young girl is displeased with being black and seeks to change her appearance: †¦it’s dropping food coloring In your eyes to make them blue and suffering Their burn in silence. It’s popping a bleached White mophead over the kinks of your hair and primping in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection†¦(672) She goes on to describe the Black Power Movement and the Motown era by mentioning â€Å"it’s flame and fists and life according to Motown. † As a blossoming young girl approaching womanhood she finds it not only difficult to become a woman, but a black woman. Finally, the girl looks forward to every woman’s dream of becoming a bride. This is evidenced in the final three lines: â€Å"it’s finally having a man reach out for you/then caving in/around his fingers. The girl anticipates a completed transition when she will become married. This poem uses mental aspects to form cultural identity during a time or racial tension. Michelle Boisseau’s, â€Å"Self-Pity’s Closet† focuses on the way that society views beauty, self-image, and self-confidence. Boisseau uses figurative speech, imagery, and perceived sounds throughout the poem to bring light to a poor self image. The theme of this poem is equated to as the poem states self-pity. What seemingly appears as others judging us blinds us to the fact that we judge ourselves far worse than others would. The closet so to speak is within the individual feelings of: â€Å"Depression, loneliness, anger, shame, envy† (999) are the basis of self-pity. Feelings of self-loathing and self-hurt are evident in the following lines: after your vast and painful declarations subtle humiliations creeping up like the smell of wet upholstery, dial tone in the brain, the conviction that your friends never really loved you†¦(1000) The author seeks to express an inner fight a person struggles with when worried about the way others perceive them. The narrator uses the words, â€Å"dial tone in the brain† to describe a continuous mode of embarrassment within herself. She is unable to part with a feeling of inadequacy and is therefore trapped by her very own self pity. This poem uses mental aspects by associating self-pity with not being able to identify with the status quo of our cultural identity. In Sharon Olds’s, â€Å"Rite of Passage† a mother examines the behavior of her son and his friend during his birthday party. The title of the poem allows the reader to relate the â€Å"rite of passage† being the journey that her son will take toward manhood. Male maturity is the theme of the poem. What makes the poem ironic is her ability to view them as men though they are but six and seven years old. The following lines are quite imaginable to any mother noticing the machismo nature of young boys: As the guests arrive at my son’s party they gather in the living room— short men, men in first grade with smooth jaws and chins. Hands in pockets, they stand around jostling, jockeying for place, small fights breaking out and calming. One says to another How old are you? Six. I’m seven. So? (811) In the last line we experience a typical conversation between two boys that are likely â€Å"sizing† each other up; the six year old responds to the seven year old â€Å"So? The mother then goes onto visualizing the boys as men with careers by stating, â€Å"They clear their/throats a lot, a room of small bankers/they fold their arms and frown†¦Ã¢â‚¬  One cannot help but to envision the boys as men at a table matching wits at an older age. The birthday boy as if chairman of the bank settles the dispute between his friends in the following lines: â€Å"speaks up as a host/for the sake of the group. /We could easily kill a two-year old,/he says in his clear voice. † The group agrees and the children return to playing or as the mother describes, â€Å"†¦they relax and get down to playing war, celebrating my son’s life. Just as Smith’s â€Å"What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl† focused on a girl approaching maturity so did Olds’ â€Å"Rite of Passage. † Olds uses mature language and terms to equate the behavior expressed by the boys as being their way of coming into manhood. The boys feel a need to intimidate each other with physical threats which showcases their immaturity on their way to adulthood. This poem identifies with the culturally defined behavior of a male having to prove he is a â€Å"man. † In Rainier Rilke’s poem â€Å"The Panther† the poet uses the panther a wild animal to express personification and similes to express confinement. An obvious reason for the panther being the subject is because its color represents a seemingly dark nature and contributes to the poem’s tone. A panther is also known to be a solitary creature that stakes out its prey. The use of the panther represents a theme of entrapment that most readers are able to identify with. The panther’s discontentment and longing to be free from his troubles is expressed as the cage’s bars. He has become so accustomed to seeing the bars that he no longer sees anything but what appears directly in front of him it is as if he has lost himself. The panther’s desperation in a sense mirrors human personality. Rilke’s offers her interpretation of this poetically by saying, His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars and behind the bars, no world. (674) Rilke’s makes us aware that although the panther is confined we are still able to see its power and its beauty. Though caged he is still himself though he feels â€Å"paralyzed† by the cage; this feeling is interpreted in the following lines, â€Å"As he paces in cramped circles, over and over/the movement of his powerful soft strides/is like a ritual dance around a center/in which a mighty will stands paralyzed. The idea of confinement is relatable to a prisoner or anyone trapped in a situation with seemingly no way out. The panther yearns for more and this is evidenced by his pacing and boredom with his life. In the end the panther has lost his soul and his excitement is reduced to the opening of his eyes ever so slightly . It seems that the panther takes his final glance that touches him inwardly to the point his body becomes tense and his heart is excited for a split second until he realizes his situation and no longer bothers to react. This idea is well expressed in the final stanza. Only at times, the curtain of the pupils lifts, quietly—. An image enters in, rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone. Rilke in â€Å"The Panther† and Boisseau in her â€Å"Self-Pity’s Closet† both convey the message of an inner struggle within their subjects. The poems are able to speak to the reader on a personal level and make the connection of human emotion with their dark but personal nature. â€Å"The Panther† embodied a feeling of weariness and surrender that human often time encounter in not one but within all societies and cultures. Often times we find ourselves staying within the box or the status quo instead of stepping outside of the box-in this case the cage. In comparison, the five poems that I have chosen to review are full of impact and take on a deeper meaning. They touch on outward appearances as well as inner feelings. They were all able to bring out identifiable aspects that we are all able to connect with through either personal or secondary experiences. In contrast, â€Å"Bully† came from a historical standpoint, while â€Å"What it’s Like to Be a Black Girl† and â€Å"Rite of Passage† focused on what is accepted by society. Lastly, â€Å"Self-Pity’s Closet† and â€Å"The Panther† dealt with inner struggles and the way that we tend to view ourselves when we take an inner look. Works Cited Central Michigan University. Cultural Identity as an Instrument. 8 May 2006. 3 November 2009 http://www. reslife. cmich. edu/rama/index. php? section=Diversitycategory=Cultural_Identity. Boisseau, Michelle. â€Å"Self Pity’s Closet. † Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 999-1000. Espada, Martin. â€Å"Bully. Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 713-714. Olds, Sharon. â€Å"Rite of Passage. † Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 811-812. Rilke, Rainier Maria. â€Å"The Panther. † Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 674. Smith, Patricia. â€Å"What It’s Like to Be a Black Girl. † Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 672-73 How to cite Culturally Poetic, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Developments in the Theater free essay sample

A paper discussing the recent developments in theater that increase audiences experiences of the truth, rather than confirming their notions of what they experience as lived reality. The following paper examines how theater has changed since the times of Shakespeare, focusing on changes in the actual design of theaters, subjects of texts and particularly changes in dramatic characters language which has grown more heightened and more strange and removed from reality. This paper addresses issues of notions of linear time in plot structure, climatic plots and character composition with reference to several contemporary and classic plays, such as Margaret Edisons, Wit, Terrence McNallys Master Class and Ibsens Peer Gynt. Characters in their psychology seem more fragmented and strange, less like the people we meet on the street because of their language, but also because authors are more willing to show characters in different points of their life, as in Master Class Better to give audiences a new perception of truth than to attempt to confirm audiences preexisting expectations of character, art, and life, says the modern theater and modern authors. We will write a custom essay sample on Developments in the Theater or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although the attempts to do so are often unpleasant and jarring, they are equally often haunting and moving. The plays Master Class, Art, and Wit, similarly use of heightened language to challenge the expected notions of the audience and what reality is. Master Class does not have a clear beginning and an end in the sense that it jumps back and forth in time and place in the protagonists Maria Callas mind. The setting is ostensibly a master class taught by the singer, but the real drama is within the woman, not in external action. Callas is a real person, but the story does not evolve through real time. Instead, song drifts in and out of Callas voice, but these songs do not feature vocals during the play. Instead it is the voice of Callas in the past that fills the room, from recordings, even though the character that begins the play can no longer handle the demands of an operatic soprano aria.