"Crossing the Bar"

“Crossing the Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson employs symbolism throughout the poem. It is about the journey towards death and that it may come unexpectedly. “And may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark.” This line portrays the speakers view of death as a journey. In addition, it also reveals that the speaker does not want his friends and family to be sad when he dies. “I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar.” This line reveals a subtle eagerness towards death. Pilot symbolizes God because it is capitalized and it refers to seeing a person after the speaker has died.  Crossing the bar symbolizes the transition from life on earth to eternal life through death. Because death means that the speaker will move onto eternal life, he or she is accepting of it and thinks of death in a positive light.

Death, be not proud

“Death, be not proud” by John Donne

This poem employs personification when referring to death. It refers to death being proud and overthrowing people. For example, “For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow.” Personification of death contributes to the poems meaning by emphasizing that we should not fear death. The fear of death can create anxiety within people. It can act as a person when it is thought of and worried about in people’s lives, which often results in fear. The poem expresses that it knows death is coming and that there is no reason to fear it. The speaker is trying to convince himself that there is nothing to be feared in death. For example, “Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.” The tone of this line shows that there is a hint of hesitation and fearfulness of death. The speaker convinces his or herself to not fear death because there is eternal life afterwards, so we never truly die.

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas

Paradox and repetition

                The poem continually repeats “Do not go gentile into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Because of the repetition and the fact that one of the phrases is in the title, the moral of the poem is to fight for life and no to use death as an escape. The repetition of the phrases keeps the main point of the poem central and evident. This poem also contains paradoxes. “Dark is right” refers to the wise men in the poem. This conveys that wise men know that their death will come and that it is a part of the cycle of life. Because they are wise, they know how to live and fight for their life, and when death comes, they are willing to accept it. “Sad height” refers to the speaker’s father. The paradox could refer to the father on the edge of a tall building about to commit suicide. “Curse, bless, me now” in line 17 right after “sad height” could refer to the curse of the speaker’s father trying to end his life. “Bless, me know” could refer to the speaker wanting to be blessed with his father changing his mind about committing suicide and fighting for his life. The blessing would be still having a father.

"A Rose for Emily"

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Question #5

      The point of view of this short story is first-person plural. The point of view in the story comes from the people who live in the town with Emily Grierson. The effect of this point of view is that it conveys a distance and separation between the community and Emily. The community notices abnormal behavior and portrays the unusual and weird behavior of Emily. Moreover, an advantage to first-person plural is that it creates at similar tone of legends and stories about weird people living in a suspicious and creepy house. The community whispers about Emily Grierson and her odd behavior, which creates a tone of mystery. For example, “And as soon as the old people said, ‘Poor Emily,’ the whispering began. ‘Do you suppose it’s really so?’ they said to one another. ‘Of course it is. What else could…’ ” (Faulkner, 286). The mysterious tone of “A Rose for Emily” compels the reader to become more interested in the story. If the story were not told from first-person plural point of view, it would not be as exciting to read. There would be no mystery about Emily. Moreover, there would be no evident portrayal of the separation between Emily and the community.

The Lottery

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

     This short story conveyed an important message using symbolism. Moreover, by conveying the moral or message of the story in a disturbing way, Jackson helps her audience contemplate why they follow their own traditions. Symbolism used in the story comes from Old Man Warner. He represents the constant holding onto the past and never deviating from tradition. “ ‘Some places have already quit lotteries,’ Mrs. Adams said. ‘Nothing but trouble in that,’ Old Man Warner said stoutly. ‘Pack of young fools,’ ” (Jackson, 269).He is the oldest man in the village and has survived the lottery more times than everyone else. Moreover, he is the only one who knows the reason for the lottery, which is to kill someone to have fruitful and bountiful crops. Everyone else is following the lottery tradition blindly. Times have changed and there is no longer a purpose for it. Also, villagers continue to follow the old tradition of the lottery without knowing the reason why they stone their one of their friends or family members to death. How can they stone their own friends and family members without knowing why they are doing it?! The story conveys a powerful message to not follow traditions blindly because they can hurt others and the purpose of the tradition could be meaningless.

The Glass Menagerie- nonrealistic drama

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Nonrealistic Elements

This play is far from realistic as it includes several elements that would make it nonrealistic. One of the main elements is that some of the scenes are from a memory. For example, “The scene is memory and is therefore nonrealistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart,” (Williams, 1235). Scenes that use memory in The Glass Menagerie include scene one where Tom recalls his mother talking about the many gentlemen callers she had. In addition, Laura recalling her high school experience and her crush Jim O’Connor. Other nonrealistic elements include a transparent forth wall that the audience must imagine. Moreover, music spontaneously plays to evoke the feelings of characters in their memories and in the situations they face in the present. A narrator is another nonrealistic element in The Glass Menagerie. At the very beginning of the play, Tom states that he is the narrator. Lastly, the Wingfield family’s portrait of their father lights up in certain scenes, which contributes to the nonrealistic drama of The Glass Menagerie.  

The Glass Menagerie- Jim O'Connor

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Jim O’Connor

Jim O’Connor is the typical high school “golden boy” who was the most popular, athletic, and handsome. Laura and Jim knew each other from a distance and hardly ever spoke in high school. However, when Tom brought Jim to his family’s house, Laura reminded Jim of their days in high school. Jim and Laura talked to each other, and they began to appeal to each other. Jim becomes increasingly interested in Laura and has the impulse to kiss her. Right after he does, Jim tells Laura he cannot call her because he is engaged. “I can’t take down your number and say I’ll phone. I can’t call up next week and—ask for a date. I thought I had better explain the situation in case you—misunderstood it and—hurt your feelings…” (Williams, 1285). Jim made angry because he cannot just kiss an extremely fragile girl and then tell her he cannot date her. He tells her that she is beautiful, kisses her, and then tells Laura that he is engaged! Why did he not mention that earlier? So much for “going steady” with Betty!

The Glass Menagerie- father's impact

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Impact of father

Although Tom and Laura’s father is not a character in The Glass Menagerie, he does have a prominent impact on the characters in the play. There is a large picture of the father in the apartment. This picture symbolizes the constant reminder of the father’s impact on the family’s life. Moreover, when things go wrong, Amanda always blames the problem her husband, even though he is not present in her family’s life anymore. Amanda uses her husband as an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for her actions. Tom’s mother constantly compares him to his father. Moreover, Tom constantly threatens to leave the house because his job makes him unhappy and he is constantly getting into arguments with Amanda. She is paranoid that Tom will end up just like his father. Tom is similar to his father in the sense he seeks adventure. Despite Amanda talking negatively about her husband, Tom followed in his father’s path. For example, “I descended the steps of this fire-escape for the last time and followed, from then on, in my father’s footsteps, attempting to find in motion what was lost in space—I traveled around a great deal,” (Williams, 1288). Despite Amanda’s efforts to keep Tom from being like his father, he turned out to be just like him.

The Glass Menagerie- Aphorism

 

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Aphorism

While Jim O’Connor and Laura talk to each other, Jim offered an aphorism. For example, “And everybody has problems, not just you, but practically everybody has got some problems. You think of yourself as having the only problems, as being the only one who is disappointed. But just look around you and you will see lots of people as disappointed as you are,” (Williams, 1277). Jim’s comment provides a new perspective for Laura. She is far removed and isolated from society, and she only thinks of her problems. Realizing that other people have problems could give her more self-confidence and less anxiety. Jim’s comment is not only insightful for Laura, but for the real world as well. People easily tend to become concerned with their own problems and non-considerate of others. They become self-absorbed in their difficulties causing them to think negatively about themselves. Seeing that other people have more difficult problems can lead one to have a more positive outlook on life. Moreover, this new perspective can help people overcome their obstacles and problems to move on to bigger and better things in life.

The Glass Menagerie: Symbolism

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Symbolism

Laura’s personality and feelings are symbolized by her glass menagerie collection. One of Laura’s characteristics is that she is fragile. In a scene where her brother Tom gets angry with his mother, Tom throws his coat and knocks over Laura’s glass collection. She then becomes very upset, not only because of her glass breaking, but also by her mother and brother constantly arguing. Moreover, the glass symbolizes her isolation and removal from society by always sitting alone on a shelf. For example, “Laura’s separation increases till she is like a piece of her own glass collection, too exquisitely fragile to move from the shelf,” (Williams, 1234). Laura lacks self-confidence and is extremely self-conscious of her small physical defect. Her favorite piece of glass, the unicorn, has a tiny horn. This piece of glass represents her because she has unique qualities. The horn on the unicorn symbolizes Laura’s small physical defect. When it breaks and she gives the unicorn to Jim, she lets go of her anxieties and insecurity she feels within.