Crossing the Bar

Crossing the Bar, written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, relates the notion of death back to a bay harbor that has a sandbar. The author develops these two scenarios that are supposed to represent death. The first was the idea of the ship being forced to turn back homeward after the journey out to the depths of the sea. This seemed to present death as the final return after a long journey that was a little bit off course and not coming back because of the lack of visible signs provided by the sandbar such as the sounds and the foam created by the waves crashing against and over it. This helped set up the divide that the sandbar creates from the safety of the harbor in comparison to the sea for the second set that the author provided. The second set was the idea that once the author crosses the sandbar he will reach a different place. It seemed that the second place had a "Pilot,"(13) that represented God. Maybe once the sandbar has been crossed and the new place has been reached, a metaphorical ship will sweep up to take the person that has passed on to a new place. Some interesting and a little bit confusing parts of the poem where in spots with odd capitalization such as, "Bourne of Time and Place,"(13) that lead to believe he must be thinking of the material world that actually contains a hourly clock and locations, but it leaves room for the vice versa to be contemplated as the Heavenly realm and where we are really coming from. The poem could us some clarification in certain areas, but the death theme was definitely represented through the intertwined scenarios.

That time of year

That time of year written by William Shakespeare utilizes the English sonnet. It develops three beautifully written quatrains and ends the poem with a two line couplet that connects the three quatrains to a deeper meaning. The quatrains vary in their meaning, but truly seem to connect by what they all point towards. The first quatrain develops this time period Autumn by speaking of the changing weather combined with the events going on in nature. It personifies the branches that are present in this time period by saying, "Boughs which shake against the cold,"(3). This develops the theme of absence and longing for what once was in the scenario. The second quatrain develops the season further by describing an evening in the Autumn. It is characterized by the sunsets that are often leading to the darkest of nights. This connects to the theme by speaking of death taking in all that is the rest as does the darkness in the night. The third quatrain pertains to death in a sense that it requires a loss that results in some emotions similar to the growth stage. The leaves nourished by the ground are then made a part of it again. The poem wraps its conclusion up with the two line couplet that relates love to the entirety of the poem. It allows the reader to contemplate the appliance of love to the life cycle and how that relates to the quatrains that in a sense build the life cycle.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

In Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas, the use of repetition of lines and many different word choice allowed the author to really convey the emotion toil that he was experiencing. The repetition of lines during the beginning, middle, and end of the play helped to show a deeper connection between all that was said about the various men. The men spoken of allow the author to express that he is not sure which man exactly his father is, but it does show that his father could be one of the various kinds of men and still fight the death up until the end. The use of many paradoxical phrases used throughout the poem reveal just how torn up the author is about the death of his father. He writes the confusion so wonderfully into not just the men that he describes representing those facing death, but also into the story of himself and his father. He mentions that his father is, "There on the sad height,"(16) and the he wishes his father would, "Curse, bless,"(17) him while he is reaching his passing time. These allow the author to reveal how he wants the best for his father while still wishing for him to push on and fight the death before him. He ends with the line about fighting the death before him. This relates back to when he characterized the different types of men. It allows his father to be one of the better men described but oddly leaves the chance that he be one that does give up the fight and accepts the good night gently.

A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner was written in first-person plural point of view and it had a large impact on the chronology and descriptions present throughout the story. Because of the presence outside of her home, the group that seems to be telling this story must be the community that was able to witness all that had happened to this woman. This allowed for a lot of jumping around from what could be recalled by various people in the community. They together portrayed the characters very well. They gave Emily this pitied woman description through various ways. One present was the repetition of the phrase, "Poor Emily,"(286) mentioned by many people in the community for the situations that she was continually found in. The addition of the multiple instances that Emily presented herself as one that was above the law gave the reader a real sense for how overbearing Emily's presence was to those around her. People pitied her to a degree, but they also feared and respected her to a level that not many others received. She demanded her respect when she wanted the poison, refused to pay taxes, and also when they attempted to give her a mailing address. This really showed the side of Emily that was not giving in to change. This played an important role in revealing how she really tried to love Homer Barron despite the refusal that he offered. The characterization of Emily over the course of the play was significantly altered by the point of view.

The Lottery

The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson contained an interesting plot that concluded very unexpectedly. This story had a very interesting "characterization" or a ritual that continues to last in a growing community. It began early with the description of the people going to and readying themselves for the event in a peculiar way. It seemed as though there was a slight tension in the air. This was portrayed through the men withholding back their laughter and the serious scorning of disobedient children on what one would assume was a good day. The inclusion of the tradition being performed, "As were the square dances, the teenage club, the Halloween program,"(264) then built up this lottery to be a positive action. Continuing on was the description of the box that the people chose their pieces of paper on to declare the "winner" with. This box also had a long description that helped to key on to just how long the tradition had been going on. The continual reference to how much was forgotten of the tradition really added a sense of mystery to the story as a whole and allowed for the reader to attempt to guess what was going to happen next. The clue that the Old Man Warner hinted during the story revealed that the tradition had to do with crop growth, but it was not easily picked up on the first time through. All of this leads to what might come off as situational irony if the clues were not picked up because of how this could have been seen as a positive event. The stoning of the "winner" of the lottery was definitely a surprise.

The Glass Menagerie #2

The Glass Menagerie has an interesting approach produced by Tennessee Williams that produces an interesting effect in the audience because of the combination with the narrator and the character Tom being the same person. This narrational fusion of this person allowed the play to flow nicely and also have a sense of connectedness with the audience. The Tom that narrates allows himself to talk about what he knows now compared to what he knew at the time the scene was happening. It helps the transitions between major changes between the scenes that occur. Having Tom as a narrator also made me think that he was more credible on the information provided before and in-between scenes. By the conclusion of the play, I was comfortable with the knowledge that Tom has exaggerated some details to a certain degree, but so has every other character in the play. The diction used by Tom when he was not in character proved to be a little bit informative at times but he wrapped the play up extremely well by almost concluding with a speech while the action continues. As his mother and sister discuss other business, Tom makes the larger decision and makes his way out of the home. Looking back in he reveals what actions he takes in the future and keys in the audience on how his family influenced the rest of his life. His dialogue calls out to his sister longing to maintain the relationship that he had at one point in time. He watches as his sister stays in her own little world, wishing her the best saying, "Blow out your candles, Laura-and so goodbye..."(1289).

The Glass Menagerie

In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams forms characters with a lot of variation. The complexity of the historical aspects of the family resulted in a huge difference in the personalities. that the children had. It resulted in Tom being a foil character to the personality that Laura develops. Tom's personality is that of reckless abandon. Instead of constantly remaining at home, Tom goes out to experience different things in life. Despite the fact that he is the youngest in the family, Tom must embrace the role of provider. He struggles and ends up finally escaping. This is the exact opposite of Laura. She has the smallest amount of confidence in the world. Her personality was that of complete fragility. When she finally musters up the courage to do something outside her comfort zone, she, "Couldn't go back. I-threw up-on the floor"(1242).

The Glass Menagerie #6

The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams contains a lot of symbolic representation through the glass pieces as I discussed in a previous blog. Now, getting into more specifics, I would like to discuss the importance and significance drawn from the event that altered a piece of glass dear to Laura's heart. Beginning with the glass piece, we are shown that it represents Laura. This extremely small piece of glass has very little importance to anyone in the outside world, almost like the state that Laura is currently in. Besides the fact that it is minuscule, the glass is also a fictional animal(A unicorn), "Aren't they extinct in the modern world?"(1281). This fact points to the unrealistic element that Laura brings on herself despite the fact that she actually does exist in the real world. Not many other people are anything like her, it's as if they've gone extinct. Her reaction to the unicorn breaking really shows that even she can be altered. She has the ability to gain confidence and change, but she doesn't often. This is the opposite of the reaction she has to Tom breaking the glass accidentally. She cries out in desperation because deep down she knows how unimportant the glass, and incidentally herself, really are to anything in the world. I do not see an extremely optimistic future for Laura. She to easily falls back into her own personal norm. She does not seem to have the outgoing attitude needed by most other individuals in the world. The symbolic revelation brought forth by her ending the play with the blowing out of the candles brings forth the understanding that even though Laura is surrounded by these unfortunate circumstances, she still has the ability and control to change them herself.

The Glass Menagerie #3

Tom, a character in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, finds himself living in conditions that he does not enjoy at all. He seems to have this dilemma between doing the right thing and maintaining the role of caretaker of the family or deciding that he really only cares for himself and taking off. He has these secret ambitions that are brought up throughout the play. One is to join up with the merchant marine and ends up actually pursuing his dream. He finally reveals to his friend Jim, "I'm a member"(1268). This actually helps in the fulfillment of his previous deceleration that he desires a life of action. When speaking with his mother he constantly said that he wanted something more. This brings up more confrontations because of the concern that his mother has with finding Laura a husband. He is looking for a way out while his mother really wants to secure her daughters future before she sends her son on sin way. Tom comes off as having a nostalgic attitude towards Laura. This results from the constant babying and belittling that the family puts on Laura. They never seem to make her stand up for herself. Tom finally leaves as a result of a quarrel with his mother. He needs to move on to bigger and better things. The dialogue that Tom leaves the audience with does not leave a resolution to the problem that he is constantly facing. It seemed as though the reminders in all of the places that he went to of Laura never really enabled him to live out his life without regrets of the past.

The Glass Menagerie

Throughout The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams creates the ultimate symbol that then applies to so many aspects of the play. First, Tennessee builds up the character Laura to be one that is extremely fragile and seems to have a history that reveals how babied she was growing up. This has resulted in her having a lot of trouble adjusting to anyone treating her differently than these immature ways that have become the norm. All the while that Williams creates characterizes Laura, there is a continual mention of Laura's obsession with a glass collection that she has. This glass collection comes into danger in several scenes and seems to be representing more than just the glass figurines. This symbol comes to represent Laura as a person. She is breakable and worrisome like the glass proves to be. It also represents the family, and how quickly the relationships built up have the ability to be altered and broken like a small piece of glass. These two representations become a reality when the family is affected by circumstances outside the family. Laura is greatly affected by Jim who Tom has brought around in an attempt to find Laura a wife. While with Laura, Jim accidentally knocks a piece of glass off of the table. Laura responds with, "Glass breaks so easily. No matter how careful you are"(1283), giving the notion that her family is easily jostled by what happens outside of their control. This event seems to snowball into events that cause Tom to angrily leave his family in an attempt to rid himself of that uneasy breakability that was associated with those present.