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Puritan towns in early America were well known for their extreme religious piety based on an overbearing fear of judgment during life and after. Anything that happened in these societies that could not be explained from a biblical context was considered evil. One person's word was good enough to have someone burned at the stake for associations with the devil. So what happens when in Salem, Massachusetts, the most pious of them all, a young man finds himself the sole trekker on the path of righteousness and purity? Nathanial Hawthorne, in his narrative," Young Goodman Brown", experiments with this scenario as he sets his protagonist, goodman Brown, up against the town with a primarily internal battle involving his conscience.

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In his narrative, "Young Goodman Brown", Nathanial Hawthorne sets his protagonist, goodman Brown, against his own conscience, in a primarily internal conflict that prompts him to choose between faith and isolation, or damnation and inclusion. Hawthorne, through goodman Brown's experiences, is able to reveal his cynical and questioning thoughts about the church's corruption and its betrayal of the religion it was founded on. The first indication of Hawthorne's skeptical thoughts towards the church occur at the beginning of the story, just before Brown initially sets off for his journey. In response to Brown's resolve to proceed on his journey despite her protest, Faith says, "Then, God bless you! ... and may you find all well when you come back." Faith's words are genuine and sincere, yet the irony is not revealed until the end, when Brown does come back to find everything well. The difference is, when he comes back, everything he took for granted before has a new light; a foul tinge that represents the hidden sin of the community. This revelation that Brown recieves within the forest represents Hawthorne's own eye-opening experiences that comprise his beliefs about his church's leadership. Another point in the story that reveals Hawthorne's cynicism towards the church is when Brown finds out that everyone he once thought to be holy and faithful has in reality been babtized into sin deep within the forest. Hawthorne, through this turn of events, attempts to portray that the church is in many cases, not what it seems to be to those who worship within its walls. The ending of the story gives the strongest indication of Hawthorne's opinions of the church. During the climax, as Brown ultimately decides to stay faithful to God, he yells at his wife, "Faith! Faith! ... Look up to heaven, and resist the Wicked One!" Whether she did or not, he does not know, yet the next time he sees her he "look[s] sternly and sadly into her face, and pass[es] on without greeting." Having become extremely distrustful and cynical without any confirmation that the events even took place, Brown damns himself into lifelong misery until "his dying hour [of] gloom." Brown is not even certain whether the church members did bathe in sin, yet he still condemns himself into years of isolation. Hawthorne through Brown's confusion, attempts to mirror the cloud of uncertainty that follows the church and its leadership, and which, especially in Brown's case, is not even overcome with the strongest faith. Though Brown made the right decision, he refuses to partake even in family prayers without "scowl[ing], and mutter[ing] to himself, and gaz[ing] sternly at his wife, and turn[ing] away." Hawthorne acknowledges the importance of religion, however through Brown's exprience he illuminates to the readers the importance of keeping an open mind towards the church, as it can be corrupt through those who use it for personal gain. Hawthorne shows, through Brown's fate, the isolating effect a corrupt church can have on those who question its integrity.

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My original paragraph, though unfinished, never had a clear direction from the start. I start with some opening words about Puritanism that would have fit in nicely for an introduction to my revised paragraph, yet, by itself, the thesis statement doesn't have a clear focus. The first thing I did in my revised paragraph, other than improving the thesis statement from the previous one, was tie it in with an assumption or an argument. This gave me significantly more to write about in the revised paragraph. I, otherwise, would not have had very much to elaborate on.

Facebook | Ms. Emily

Ms. Emily is waiting for him... years ago

All Posts:



If Ms. Emily were to have a Facebook page, then this is what I think it would look like. One important aspect that cannot be overlooked is that this page has not been touched in many years. I emphasized this by writing "years ago" since her last status change or log-on. The reason I emphasize this, is because this is Ms. Emily while she was still in love with Homer, and before she became an isolated hermit. I believe that she had a very attachable personality, and stuck on Homer like glue. This is why I put three successive wall posts asking about Homer when he was gone. Notice that her first wall post is very inquisitive, showing her genuine concern and attachment towards him. She uses full punctuation and spends time formulating her questions. After receiving no response from Homer, she attempts again, this time with a little less. In her last wall post she writes, with no punctuation or effort, "When are you coming back". This progression is attempting to show her irritation towards Homer's lack of commitment to her and lack of responsiveness to her concern. Homer responds similarly after the her third post, giving as little information as possible, and without committing to a specific day that he would come back, merely saying that it would be soon. Ms. Emily's relationship status even after Homer's response remains, "In a relationship with Homer Barron" showing her attachment to him even she kills him, as we come to find out in the story. As far as her profile picture, I put a representation of her house, basically because that is the only thing most of the towns people saw. She has no photos of her or videos, showing her relative isolation, and over-attachment to one person (Homer). For Homer's picture, I put a picture of two guys, presumably friends, portraying Homer's enjoyment of male company. They are dressed in modern clothes to signify Homer's involvement in society and his keeping with the times. This is in direct contrast to Ms. Emily's gray, old, faded picture. Her privacy settings, though not viewable on the page, are set to private.

Thesis Statement

Gwendolyn Brooks, in her poem, "We Real Cool", uses a unique structure coupled with short, concise sentences to characterize her protagonists, the pool players, as naive, hasty, and reckless. Her characterization of the pool players speaks to the carefree attitude of the younger generation, as she warns youth of the risks of having a dangerous and reckless lifestyle.

Forgive me, I borrowed your VISA

This is just to say:

That I borrowed
the VISA
that was in
your wallet

You most
likely needed that
for your
wedding

But I hope
you like your new boat
that I will
be using
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My parody of William Carlos Williams's "This is Just to Say" is very similar in structure, yet quite different in content. I decided to mirror the amount of stanzas, syllables, and lack of punctuation Williams uses primarily to give it some common ground and making it quite obvious that my poem is a parody of his. The first-person narration and tone of the poem is the same as well, giving that sense of nonchalance that the speaker feels towards his actions. The biggest difference between our poems is the extremity of the situations. The speaker in Williams's poem eats plums from an icebox, while my speaker "borrows" a VISA. The effect of borrowing a VISA is quite different from eating someone else's plums, yet both the speakers feel the same way about their actions. In other words, my speaker doesn't feel any more regret about his actions than does Williams's. This is the basis of my parodical premise on Williams's poem. I follow Williams's poetic elements exactly, yet blow the content out of proportion. The reason why I do this, is primarily for comedic effect, but also to slightly mock Williams's poem. The idea that someone would apologize in such a careless way for eating plums is humorous, yet slightly ridiculous. I emphasized this by exaggerating the incident (borrowing a VISA) while keeping the same careless apology and attitude.

A "Coole" Parody

The two poems that Andrew Hudgins refers to in his parody, "The Wild Swans Skip School", are "We Real Cool", by Gwendolyn Brooks, and "The Wild Swans at Coole", by William Yeats. The parody itself is short, merely six lines, yet is able to masterfully integrate both poems' rather contrasting structures, tones and themes.
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Brooks's "We Real Cool" is famous for its powerful, yet short and simple couplets. Brooks, essentially commenting on the rash and dangerous lifestyle of the young pool players, does not have many words to spare. The poem is quick and concise and its message is clear: If one lives primarily for the moment, signified by the short couplets each describing a different event, then he or she will not have many moments to cherish. The poem starts with, "We real cool", speaking to the invincible attitude of younger generations, and ends with a non-euphemistic "We Die soon."
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In sharp contrast to the pessimistic tone and jutting sentences of "We Real Cool", is William Yeats's "The Wild Swans at Coole". Yeats writes in long, flowery sentences, with a tone of reverence for nature's beauty and wonders. He remarks on "The trees ... in their autumn beauty," and "the October twilight" mirrored on the water. The subject of his poem, the nine-and-fifty swans, provides a bliss for him as he observes their every move. The tone shifts towards the middle of the poem as the swans fly away, and a sense of longing and sadness ensues. Yeats ends the poem with, "By what lake's edge or pool / Delight men's eyes when I awake some day / To find they have flown away?" Yeats, through his expressive description of his surroundings and his tone shift in response to the swans' desertion, is attempting to convey the importance of living life to its fullest and enjoying the small and simple pleasures of life. This contrasts Brooks's idea of living with respect to the future, rather than getting absorbed in the present.
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It is because of these striking differences in structure and content that Hudgins's poem succeeds in being parodical. Hudgins, being well aware of the contrasting themes, integrates the graceful swans of Yeat's poem into the background and setting of Brooks's. Essentially he takes Yeats's swans out of context and sets them into the theme surrounding the pool players. By doing this, he cuts out all of the flowery language that makes the swans graceful, and mockingly depicts them as school children that "skip school". The swans, rather than being a temporary escape from the realities of the world, are now fully emersed in it. Also, since Yeats poem takes the form of Brooks, the point of view shifts as well. Rather than the swans being wondrously observed, they are the ones speaking. These shifts give the swans a new personality: reckless, hasty, and short-lived. This is in direct contrast to the swans in Yeats's poem, who, "paddle in the cold... lover by lover...passion or conquest, wander where they will." The fact that Hudgins turns Yeats's careful and eloquent language into hasty and swift sentences, is a direct mockery of Yeats's theme. By undermining Yeats's elegance, Hudgins attempts to reveal his naivety towards escaping reality for simple pleasures. He portrays Yeats as a youthful Romantic who obsesses over the trivialities of life rather than focusing on the future. "The nineteenth autumn has come upon me / Since I first made my count;" Yeats writes. Yeats admits that for nineteen years he has been chasing after the birds on the lake.
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At the end of his poem, Hudgins writes, "We / won't stay. We / fly 'way." Through this statement, Hudgins reveals how short lived the pleasures of the swans are to Yeats. He parallels the last line of his poem with the last line of "We Real Cool", "We / Die Soon" to signify that his naive escape will end abruptly as reality sets in. Hudgins through his use of parody and the juxtaposition of two extremely different poems, is able to reveal his thoughts about Yeats's poem, mocking/ "scorning" him for his idealistic outlook on life.

Imagery in "Daddy"

Sylvia Plath, in her confessional poem "Daddy", describes a metaphor that evokes dark images in the minds of the readers. This metaphor, one relating to the dark and gruesome times of the Nazis during WWII, ultimately conveys Plath’s understanding of her relationship with the men in her life, including her father and her husband.
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Plath, in order to depict her relationship with her father, prompts readers to call upon harsh and unsettling images from the reign of terror of the Nazi's. She writes, "I thought every German was you, / and the language obscene/ An engine an engine/ Chuffing me off like a Jew." The German that Plath is referring to in this line is her father, who is being compared to a Nazi. She compares herself to the Jew, and by doing this, attemps to portray the abuser/victim relationship that she felt she had with her father. (Even though this is confessional poetry, it is not necessarily autobiographical) The image that Plath depicts is of the massive termination systems that the Nazi's had in place in the concentration camps. A picture that I felt adequately portrays Plath's image is one of the crematoriums found in the Belsen-Bergen camp. This ghastly black-and-white image is deprived of any signs of happiness or emotion and for many Jews was the final stop of a physically and emotionally devastating journey. It is a symbol of death and despair, however it could also be argued as a symbol of hope. Compared to the torture of the concentration camps, death was peace, a soul at rest. Plath works this idea of hope into her metaphor with 57-60, "I was ten when they buried you. / At twenty I tried to die / And get back, back, back to you. / I thought even the bones would do." Here, Plath attempts to get "back to" her father (a common characteristic of an abuse victim is that they are psychologically drawn to their abuser), under the impression that death alone would be enough to solve her psychological problems. She however failed to kill herself however, evident in the next lines, "But they pulled me out of the sack, / And they stuck me together with glue."
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Another picture I felt depicts this metaphor is the one on the left, which shows a girl cowering under the extended hand of what is presumably a man. This girl, representing Plath in the age that her father was still alive, stands in for the Jews from the Nazi metaphor, while the man stands in for the Nazi.
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Plath is able to convey this metaphor primarily because of her use of language, and secondly her first person narration. Her tone is cruel and unforgiving, as she blames her father for her problems. Plath is brutally honest and does not hesitate to portray the worst of images. "The tongue stuck in my jaw. / It stuck in a barb wire snare. / Ich, ich, ich, ich." This type of imagery and onomatopoeia (ich, ich) contributes to the entire "Nazi : Jew :: Abuser : Victim" analogy. It sets the atmosphere and tone of the poem, and allows readers to sympathize with her. The fact that everything is in first-person, again, brings readers to a personal level and sets the readers against the father. There is no emotion reserved for the father, as there is none for the Nazis. Plath, through her language, is able to depict this image of her father as a Nazi, convincing the readers that her psychological problems are justified through the actions of her father.

Free Association

Free association- A spontaneous, logically unconstrained and undirected association of ideas, emotions, and feelings. (dictionary.com)
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When I say water, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

How about trees?

Roses?

Is there anything strange about this:

Brown
Green
Blue
Yellow
Purple
Orange
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The reason why the words written above may seem a bit odd is because your brain has, over time, made neural pathways that associate for example, the word green, with its color. In this case, the neural pathway follows a logical progression. When you see the word, you will think of the color. Your brain however, has many, many pathways, and the connection between them can often seem extremely random. When these seemingly random connections are harnessed and manifested into a literary form, a powerful tool for depicting the human thought process results. T.S. Eliot, uses this method of free association in his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", to simulate the seemingly illogical progression of human thought, and through his protagonist J. Alfred Prufrock, speaks to the shallow nature of humanity in regards to looks and physical characteristics.

Eliot depicts Prufrock as an old, blistering character that worries about the effect of aging on other's perception of him. "I grow old...I grow old... I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled," he says. Shortly after he states, "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think they will sing to me." The connection between these two lines is evident in that the mermaid's lack of singing is derived from the idea of women not finding Prufrock attractive. The association, though clear when analyzed, may not be easily understood at first. Eliot capitalizes on this fact in order to convey the confusion many have as they try to cope with aging. The free association technique is helpful in portraying this confusion as the audience may not understand the jumping from one idea to the other. Eliot's brisk touching of each topic before jumping to another also helps to convey the shallow thoughts that many have in regards to their looks. It is this technique that gives life to Eliot's character and a deeper meaning to what may seem to be a shallow and confusing poem on first read.

Poetic Form

Sonnet 73: Quatrain 3:

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
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Prose Interpretation
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The fire within me glows, fueled by the remains of its past,
Inevitably it will die among the ashes, suppressed by what once it was sustained.
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My prose interpretation of the original text, Quatrain 3 of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, though similar in meaning and vocabulary, lacks an important aspect of poetry: a distinct poetic form. Structural elements in Shakespeare's sonnet include the four line quatrain, a rhyme scheme of *ababcdcdefefgg, and a rhythmic beat of iambic pentameter. These structural elements alter the reader's perception of the poem's content.

Shakespearean sonnets mandate the use of quatrains, which separate each of Shakespeare's sentences into four individual clauses. In prose form a sentence has no restrictions on its structure. These distinct separations between thoughts give the Shakespeare's sonnet a more formal tone. When read aloud, the pauses between thoughts slow down the pace of the reader give a more elegant feel to the content of the poem. In the prose form, the reader may run through the commas, not giving necessary time for the listener to understand the complex diction and ideas.

The rhyme scheme and rhythmic beat of Shakespeare's poem play an important role in distinguishing it from prose. The abab rhyme pattern, coupled with the 10 beat pattern of iambic pentameter, gives a graceful flow to the poem, not quite achievable with the free-flow of prose. This graceful flow supplements Shakespeare's high-level diction and gives depth and a *third-dimension to the poem, as opposed to the two dimensions of poetry lacking structure and form.

Without these essential structural elements, Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 would lack the grace and elegance that characterizes the fire he writes about in the third quatrain. Shakespeare potrays the fire as "glowing", delicate and small, as it nears the end of its life. The tone of the poem is that of a longing for life in the presence of an inevitable death, and with help from the form and structure, readers are left with a sense of sadness as the fire extinguishes among the ash "it was nourished by."
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* The quatrain I am analyzing falls into the efef part of the rhyme scheme.

* I propose that literary works can be examined on three levels or dimensions: the author's literal meaning, the author's figurative meaning, and the author's meaning portrayed through syntax and structure. 2-Dimensional works are analyzed solely on the basis of literal and figurative meanings. Most poetry will fall into the three-dimensional category due to the fact that form and structure is such a crucial aspect in poetry.