Death, Be Not Proud

Personification is the first literary term that comes to mind regarding John Donne's Death, Be Not Proud. "Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so"(Donne, 971).  This poems emphasizes the reasons one should not necessarily be afraid of death.  It almost seems as though Donne is mocking death by saying that he comes about in so many various ways and it relies on the doing of other men or the passage of time.  Donne then characterizes death as just a type of sleep that one experiences.  The only difference, he says, is that when we awake from that different type of sleep, there is no more death to be around.  One could easily be confused as to who is a "slave to fate, chance, kings,..."(Donne, 971).  Thou usually refers to a person, but because Donne is referring to death as a person, that "thou" is directed towards death. In a way, he is almost giving a pep talk to those who may actually fear death.  He says that everyone dies, even the best men.  However, on a positive note, he says that death will die when we awaken from our final sleep.  Donne almost has a sense of victory with the syntax and diction that he uses in the last sentence.  

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

The four stanzas after the first one of Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night characterize the different type of men in the world.  He specifies how these men will die and how they may view death.  "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright"(Thomas, 968).  In this stanza, he states that the good men that eventually die should still resist that death.  He characterize four types of men total with that sort of classification.  For that classification, he uses the phrases "Do not go gentle into that good night." For the second phrase, he uses "Rage, Rage against the dying of the light."  Both of these phrases emphasize a type of rejection to the metaphor that both of these represent: death.
At the end of the poem, the final stanza wraps up why he was talking about these various men and how they all fight death in certain ways.  By stating to his father both of those phrases, he characterizes him as a wise, good, wild, and grave man.  Each one of these characteristics was given to the father by the use of those two phrases.  

Crossing the Bar

In the very last question, it asks why "Pilot" is capitalized in Alfred Tennyson's Crossing the Bar.  After reading the poem and concluding what it is about, the Pilot represents God.  A pilot typically guides the passengers around to different areas of the world because the tourists have decided to board that transport and allow that pilot to take them places. Similarly, we allow God to guide our lives and lead us in right directions, but we have free will, meaning that with our choice first, God can help guide us.
When reading this poem, a calmness comes about.  It makes the reader feel relaxed with his diction use of stars, sound and foam, and twilight.  They all bring to mind the serenity of a nigh-time beach experience.
He uses multiple metaphors in the poem.  His traversing out to sea symbolizes his journey to his peaceful death.  His embarking also symbolizes his death and journey and his wanting of no sadness.  Lastly, at the end "When I have crossed the bar"(Tennyson, 886). This crossing of the bar is a metaphor of the transition from life to death.

A Rose For Emily

Focusing on the questions provided by at the end of  A Rose for Emily by Faulkner, we are able to analyze multiple important aspects. Number five of the questions asks what important aspects would be lost if the first person plural point of view was not present.  By having this town-narrator, we are able to receive many more perspectives about Emily.  We see from multiple angles how truly messed-up and scary she is and by seeing that from multiple angles, it emphasize that fact.  It also allows the reader to see that nobody specific was regarded towards her in the sense of seeing her come out of the house.  "When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl..."(Faulkner, 285).  This quote does not specify who exactly views her as this way.  Rather it states that the general consensus was the she had a girl-like appearance.  Lastly, question four talks about what the reader feels after reading the last paragraph and seeing it's bizarre twist.  After seeing that paragraph, it was clear that she did not want to move on, she was lonely, and she was certifiably insane.  Already we were able to tell that she did not want to move on based on the taxing situation.  However, she was so lonely that she wanted to be with that man that she killed possibly because he was homosexual.     

The Lottery: Weirdness Abounds

Surprising, I though something was slightly fishy as I began The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  "...and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest roundest stones"(Jackson, 264).  This was the first indication of the importance of the stones in the story.  Stones usually do not have much to do with lotteries in with the Hunger Games in the back of my mind, I knew that this was not a normal lottery that the town was dealing with.  As it progressed, it became more and more disturbing how nonchalant the townsfolk were regarding the situation.  Even the family near the end of the story seemed undisturbed and accepting of their mother's impending doom.  
The lottery itself though was not all that was out of place in the story.  The mother throwing her married daughter under the bus showed another discontinuity from the normal.  Any good mother would never throw their daughter in the path of death by stones.   Additionally, the widespread but shrinking use of this lottery is rather unnerving.  The peoples acceptance of this atrocity really confuses me.  They all walk to the town square knowing that they could be dead within the hour.  However, by the observed atmosphere, one would not immediately assume a lottery for a sacrifice.  I believe it's safe to say that this town is messed up.  

Class Notes- Internal Conflict

The conflict for Tom is essentially the same no matter what perspective it is looked at.  Tom hates the position that he is in. He feels trapped and unfairly burdened with the responsibility of taking care of his family.  He also has the responsibly of trying to help Laura find a caller! This constant trapped feeling is why he goes to the movie nearly every night.  Amanda's conflict is something that she eventually comes right out and says.  " My devotion has made me a witch and so I make myself hateful to my Children"(Williams, 1251).  This is essentially saying that by wanting what is best for her children, Amanda has caused a bitterness between them all. She hates the feelings between them all, but in her heart, she truly wishes to help her children out.  Lastly, Laura has some personal physical and psychological issues.  Laura, being constantly under comparison of her mother, has many self esteem issues that she must try and deal with.  By Williams using Laura as a symbol in The Glass Menagerie, we are able to see how fragile and breakable Laura is.  She knows how fragile her life is and tries to fix it.  However, like Jim said, getting over being shy and timid takes time and practice.   

Class Notes- External Conflict

There are essentially three sets of external conflicts throughout the play.  The first that I will discuss will be about Amanda and Laura.  As we see when talking about her past callers, Amanda is a very nostalgic and hopeful person.  However, I do not believe that she realizes that the time that she lived in is over and the prime time that her daughter is living in is just beginning. She does not realize that there is a difference between her and her daughter.  She is constantly comparing Laura to herself.  This constant comparison wears down Laura and causes her great distress.  This stress is slowly eating Laura down.  "Mother's afraid I'm going to be an old maid"(Williams, 1240).
 The second external conflict that arises in the story is between Laura and Tom.  Honestly, this conflict seems similar to any brother and sister tussles that arise in any situation.  Tom is bitter to nearly all because of the trapped situation he is in.  He feels bad for his sister but he also wants to escape the life he is in.
Lastly, the most important external conflict in Williams' The Glass Menagerie is the conflict between Amanda and Tom.  Tom is extremely sick of his mother's constant nagging and wishing that he would help his sister.  Amanda is extremely sick of Tom's selfishness.  This creates a near constant conflict between Tome and Amanda. 

QUESTION THREE

Looking at a part of question three at the end of the chapter, many intriguing things are brought to mind. Tom has multiple dilemmas throughout the play.  One dilemma that he faces is the dilemma of trying to find a caller for his shy sister.  Another dilemma is the constant nagging he endures from his mother about going to the movies every night.  However, the main dilemma is caused by someone not physically seen in the play.  His father left him with the burden of supporting the family.  Though he eventually leaves for his own life, Tom spends years working while his dreams and aspirations fade.  He is essentially trapped and restricted from adventure while he is there.  "Adventure is something I don't have much of at work..."(Williams, 1252). Williams is essentially saying throughout the entire play that Tom hates his position.  He constantly fights with his mom because of her constant talking and nagging.  He also has feelings of sympathy and pity for his sister.  By the way he talk to Amanda about Laura, I feel though he feels bad for her.  Obviously though, he does not feel bad enough to stay because we see him eventually leave the family all together.  

The Unseen Character

"This is our father who left us a long time ago"(William , 1237).   Tom initially addresses the fifth character in Williams's The Glass Menagerie as one who does not physically show in the play.   However, the father's impact on the lives of the family cannot be understated.  One specific thing that I noticed was the numerous times that Amanda would mention the man.  I would also assume that if someone hurt me in the way that he hurt his family, his pictures would be either thrown out or kept from public eye, not hanging for all to see.  I suppose this is rather peculiar to me and probably part of the non realistic portion of the play.  The father also is keeping Tom trapped where he is.  He is stuck providing for the family that should be provided for by the father.  Tom's dreams and inspirations are quickly fading due to where he is at in his life.  The father also serves, for Amanda, as to something that she cannot let her kids become.  She constantly is expressing her paranoia about Tom showing traits similar to his father.  This serves as a reason as to why Amanda comes off as overbearing and oppressive in a way.  Lastly, the fathers impact on scene understanding is significant.  When Tom mentions his father and what he did, his father's portrait lights up.  This shows, in a way, how the father, though gone, still has an impact on how the family operates.  

Symbolism- Tennessee Williams

In Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie, the use of symbolism was made know early on in the play.  We soon see that the character with symbolic focus is Laura.  Laura is a fragile, easily-hurt character that is consistently hurt and injured.  These injuries range from her crippling feature to her getting ill, but they can also refer to the poor mental state that she is in.  Glass is looked upon as something that is hurt and broken in a very easy manner.  We instantly can make the connection between glass and Laura. "I hope it wasn't the little glass horse with the horn"(Williams, 1282)!  This quote could be used to symbolize the unintentional harm that Jim will soon be inflicting upon Laura.  Though Jim accidentally breaks that glass horse, he still does with only the slightest bump.  Similarly, Laura, for the first time in her life, was shown ten minutes worth of attention from someone outside of her family. The time was brief but the impact was large because of how meaningful it was to Laura.  She was severely hurt when Jim informed her of the other girl that Jim plans on marrying.