Those Questions!

a) I believe plot is necessary, although I believe it would be possible to write a work of fiction without". Including your own defintion of plot, consider the relative importance and impact of plot on works in your study in the light of the above quotation.
This question is asking you to define the term plot in your own words and discuss how the plot's existance is significant, or insignificant, in writing a work of literature.
Obviously, plot would have to be the element talked about the most in this essay.

I would choose to use Darkness at Noon and As I Lay Dying.

b) Symbols and motifs are an essential element of many novels or short stories. How have either or both of these devices been used and, in your opinion, how successfully, in two or three works you have studied?
This question is asking you to examine the importance and the role of these literary devices within literature and wants to know how this can be applied to the works in which we have studied.
The primary literary techniques I would use would be the motifs and symbols.
I would use The Bluest Eye and Metamorphosis.

Commentary Outline

I. Intro

a) Thesis: The depressed tone and melancholy diction and the predictable rhyme scheme in the poem "The Voice" by Thomas Hardy cpntributes to the theme that you can never get back what you've lost.

II. Body

a) The author uses melancholy diction such as "listlessness", "wistfullness", and "faltering" to show that without this woman, he has been reduced to misery.

b) The rhetorical questions in this poem are examples of the false hope this man feels everytime something reminds him of his lost lover.

i] ex. "Can it be you I hear?"

c) The use of a perfect rhyme for every other line shows that the speaker's life has been reduced to complete predictability with no surprises or excitement now that his lover is gone.

III. Conclusion

a) In conclusion, the depressed tone and melancholy diction along with the predictable rhyme scheme contribute to the theme that you can never get back what you've lost in Thomas Hardy's poem, "The Voice".

The Family Jewel

In the novel "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulker, one of the most misinterpreted characters is Jewel Bundren. Part of the reason he is so misunderstood may be the fact that he only has one narration in the entire novel, so we only really get to see what other characters see and think of him, without hearing Jewel's side of the story. A prime example of this is on page 24, where Cora says that Jewel "was after that three extra dollars" when Addie was dying. Cora seemed to think that Jewel cared nothing for his mother, which is clearly not true, because within Jewel's own narration he says,"And now them others sitting there, like buzzards. . . It should just be me and [Addie] on a high hill" (15). Jewel doesn't like how all Addie's other children are hovering over her death bed, and how Cash is building the coffin in plain sight of his dying mother. Jewel sees them all as being insensitive, and his quote shows that he is a bit selfish in wanting his mother all to himself, most likely because he wants to let her die in peace.

We know from the beginning that Jewel is different, and seperate from the rest of the family, but we don't know why until it is revealed later in the book. Jewel's obvious love for animals may be a symbol for his alienation from the rest of his siblings, since he is, in a way, a different "species" from them, since we learn later that he is from a different father. We also know that Jewel was Addie's favorite child from Cora's narrations, where she says, "Jewel, the one [Addie] had always cherished" (24). The knowledge the other children have of this fact often causes tensions among them, because of the jealousy that came with it. It is possible even that Darl may have tried to get Jewel to leave with him for the three dollars as Addie was dying in order to prevent Jewel from being with her when she died.

We also see Jewel's alienation from the rest of his family when he chooses to ride on his horse instead of the wagon when the family is making the journey to Jefferson to bury Addie. This clearly upsets Anse, since he says "I told him not to bring that horse. . . because it wouldn't look right" (105). Perhaps Anse is acknowledging the fact that Jewel is not his son and doesn't want anyone else to see Jewel riding seperately and notice this. However, Jewel insists on riding his horse, perhaps because he does not feel a part of the rest of the family's "flesh and blood" (105).

However, we see Jewel's loving and compassionate qualities during the travel to Jefferson as well. When the wagon tips over and Cash breaks his leg, Jewel is the most determined one in retrieving Cash's precious tools, despite the turmultuous waters. It says "Jewel dives again. . . he is swimming now, toward the bank, the current sweeping him downstream. . . When Jewel comes up he has the saw" (160-162). This shows Jewel's love for his half-brother, because even though earlier in the novel he was angry with Cash for sawing Addie's coffin right where she could see it, he still has the devotion to him to risk his life to save the things that were important to Cash.

We also can see Jewel's caring and self-sacrificial nature when he decides to sell his precious horse in order to buy mules to help get Addie to Jefferson. Eustace says on page 193, "I just found the horse in the barn this morning when I went to feed, and I told Mr. Snopes and he said to bring the team [of mules] on over here". This shows that Jewel was willing to sacrifice his most prized possession in order to help get his mother to Jefferson and fufill her wish to be buried there. This clearly shows Jewel's compassion for his mother and his family, which is often over-looked by other characters and by readers in general.

Plog #5

In the poem "Red Fox" by Margaret Atwood, the harsh diction, disoriented structure, and the important extended metaphor as seen in the title all lead to the theme that people will do anything to save themselves.

Throughout this poem , there are many words which connote corruption, such as "trickster", "thief", and "steals". This shows that people will do anything and turn into anything to save themselves. There was also an allusion to the story of Hansel and Gretel in order to show that even someone who you'd assume to be selfless, such as a mother or a father, will often become corrupt in order to look after their own interests.

The extended metaphor of the red fox can be seen as what people will turn into when they are trying to save themselves. Since foxes are seen as thieves and being sneaky, by comparing them to suffering people, this shows that people will turn to criminal behavior or doing things that they normally would not consider doing in order to end their own suffering.

The structure of this poem also has no pattern of ryhme scheme or within the stanzas. None of the stanzas show a pattern of the number of lines in them or a pattern of syllables within the lines. This lack of structure or rhyme scheme shows that life has no pattern, and you never know what's going to happen next. It also shows that we don't know what we would do if we were put in a situation like the red fox in this poem. This disorganized structure shows that we can't predict how we would act if we were put in a situation where we had to save ourselves.

In conclusion, the diction, the extended metaphor, and the stucture of the poem "Red Fox" by Margaret Atwood all contribute to the theme that people will do anything to save themselves, and that no one can predict what they would do if they were put in such a position.

Plog #4

From The Frontier Of Writing

The tightness and the nilness round that space

when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect

its make and number and, as one bends his face

towards your window, you catch sight of more

on a hill beyond, eyeing with intent

down cradled guns that hold you under cover

and everything is pure interrogation

until a rifle motions and you move

with guarded unconcerned acceleration—

a little emptier, a little spent

as always by that quiver in the self,

subjugated, yes, and obedient.

So you drive on to the frontier of writing

where it happens again. The guns on tripods;

the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating

data about you, waiting for the squawk

of clearance; the marksman training down

out of the sun upon you like a hawk.

And suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed,

as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall

on the black current of a tarmac road

past armor-plated vehicles, out between

the posted soldiers flowing and receding

like tree shadows into the polished windscreen.

In the poem "The Fronttier of Writing" by Seamus Heaney, the author uses intimidating diction and an extended metaphor in order to show the struggles of a writer to please others without compromising his/her own beliefs.

Within the poem, Heaney uses the overarching metaphor of writing being a checkpoint that a writer must pass through in order to be published. He uses intimidating diction such as "guns", "quiver" and "interrogation" to show that the fear or rejection or disapproval in one's writing is real, and that the speaker feels forced almost with violence to do as he is told, or write as he is expected to.

We can tell that this speaker has conformed to what he was told to write by where he says "subjugated, yes, and obediant". We can also tell that he is not happy about this fact because he says he feels "a little emptier, a little spent" - almost as if he is wasting away by not being able to write what he wants.

It is also interesting to note that the speaker doesn't actually sound happy or proud of his work at the end of the poem. He simply says he is "arraigned yet freed", which makes him seem relieved, but not necissarily pleased with the outcome. He may feel as though he has compromised what he wanted to say in order to be published, and is therefore not feeling proud of his work, merely happy that is it done. The use of second person narrative also makes the speaker sound disconnected from it, almost as if he is looking at what has happened to him from an outside view to try and understand what really happened.

Therefore, in Seamus Heaney's "The Frontier of Writing" the use of intimidating diction and the extended metaphor of almost a battlefield contributes to the theme of the struggles of writing and being recognized for your own work and ideas, rather than for what everyone else wanted you to write.

Plog #3

Mid-term Break

I sat all morning in the college sick bay

Counting bells knelling classes to a close,

At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying--

He had always taken funerals in his stride--

And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram

When I came in, and I was embarrassed

By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"

Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,

Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.

At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived

With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops

And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him

For the first time in six weeks.

Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,

He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.

No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

In the poem "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, the use of visual images, sound diction, and sporatic structure all helped to create the overall depressed tone of the poem.

Within the poem, I found a lot of sound diction which contributed to the depressed tone of the poem, for example, the "counting bells" which reminded me of funeral bells as opposed to just school bells, which could be considered foreshadowing the death at the end of the poem. However, there was also a contradictory sound diction where "the baby cooed and laughed. . . when I came in" which I think shows that perhaps the speaker does not really understand what is happening as well as he thinks he does. Perhaps he is just as confused of what is going on as the baby is.

There were also many striking images, such as the "corpse, stanched and bandaged" which is a sad and depressing picture. However, I also felt that the image of the "snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside" when he first sees his little brother as possibly being a symbol that he is in a better place, and at least they could take comfort in that.

I also noticed that the poem as a whole had no rhyme scheme or meter, which I took as a symbol for the unpredictability of life. Nothing in life is promised except for death, which I think was demonstrated by the lack of rhyming except in the very last two lines, which were prefect rhymes. I think that shows that you don't know what's going to happen in life, even four year-olds can die, but the only thing you can rely on is that everyone will die, which definately contributed to the depressing mood of the poem.

Plog #2

A VALEDICTION FORBIDDING MOURNING. by John Donne
AS virtuous men pass mildly away,

And whisper to their souls to go,

Whilst some of their sad friends do say,

"Now his breath goes," and some say, "No."
So let us melt, and make no noise,

No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ;

'Twere profanation of our joys

To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears ;

Men reckon what it did, and meant ;

But trepidation of the spheres,

Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers' love

(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit

Absence, 'cause it doth remove

The thing which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refined,

That ourselves know not what it is,

Inter-assurèd of the mind,

Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,

Though I must go, endure not yet

A breach, but an expansion,

Like gold to airy thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so

As stiff twin compasses are two ;

Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show

To move, but doth, if th' other do.
And though it in the centre sit,

Yet, when the other far doth roam,

It leans, and hearkens after it,

And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must,

Like th' other foot, obliquely run ;

Thy firmness makes my circle just,

And makes me end where I begun.

In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne, the reassuring and loving diction and tone create the theme that love will last forever, even after one partner may die.

At first, the reader gets the feeling that one of the lovers in the poem is dying (the speaker), and that this is going to be a depressing poem about love being lost. This feeling is created by the pessimistic diction such as "sad", "harm", and "fears". However, soon you realize that the speaker is instead telling his lover that they will be together even after he dies, by saying "Though I must go, endure not a breach, but an expansion", where he is telling her than their love will grow rather than die when he is no longer with her. This gives the poem a much more uplifting mood, which in turns helps create a theme of eternal love.

The speaker also uses numeral diction like "one" and "two" specifically, which he uses to stress the fact that their souls are combined as one, which death cannot break. I also noticed the use of the analogy of one foot following the other, which I interpreted as his way of telling his lover that like that, she would one day follow him into the afterlife where they would once again be reunited. This would be a typical theme of John Donne, since he was well known for being a religious man, and this would show that he believes that he and his love will meet again in heaven.

Therefore, through John Donne's use of soothing and reassuring diction and tone, the theme of lovers being reunited after death is created in the poem "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning".

Plog 1

In the poem, "The Good-Morrow" by John Donne, the use of rhetorical questions and the diction creates the theme of unending love. The use of open-ended questions about the mysteries of love and the repitition of diction associated with love all help create this overall theme of unending love.

The open-ended questions which seem to require no answer give the reader a feeling that this poet's love will just go on forever. Besides the rhetorical questions, Donne only ends a sentence at the very end of each stanza, giving it a feeling as you read it that it is continuously flowing and there are no abrupt stops. This feature also contributes to the idea of unending or uninterrupted love, which is the major theme in this poem.

The repeated diction of such words as "love", "beauty", "pleasures", "hearts", and "souls" also gives the reader a feeling of happiness and love. By the constant repitition of words like these, the poet is stressing that these words represent the feelings that he has always. It shows that in this poet's life, these are the only feelings and emotions he encounters because he is surrounded by love and happiness. Therefore, since the diction is consistently positive and never turns bitter or pessimistic, the feeling that this happiness and love will continue forever is created.