Denotation

In “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” Katherine Boo argues that societies are becoming corrupt because of capitalism’s prevalence in modern societies. Capitalism is creating an economy where products and profits are owned by companies and individuals instead of the government. ("Capitalism" Merriam Webster) Having profits owned by individuals drive owners to create inequitable systems that take advantage of lower class citizens. The systems drive the lower class to compete against one another to…

From comic book heroes to the ordinary teacher, masks have been a part of our life, whether we are traveling through the worlds of Marvel or just searching for evidence about who we truly are. Kenneth Gergen in his essay, “The Defense of Masks,” talks about the necessities that forces people to employ masks which will tend to hide their true identity. Things such as being with those you are comfortable with or being in front of the chairmen for an important business firm demonstrate that…

An Accident Waiting to Happen In life, an innocent bystander, parent, or friend may receive news that changes their life forever. A death of a loved one is something that can drop anyone to their knees in agony. Karl Shapiro’s “Auto Wreck” faces the hard truth that is involved in a car accident. In summary, “Auto Wreck” is a gut-wrenching retelling of a brutal mishap in which two cars collide in a fatal accident. The poem concludes on a more philosophical note explaining the certainty that is…

Denotation and Connotation Connotation and Denotation are the two principal methods of describing the meanings of words. While denotation describes the precise and literal definition of a word that would be found in the dictionary, connotation refers to the wide range of interchanging associations that most words carry with them. To use these two variances incorrectly can be a very negative thing, and could induce many damaging consequences. “The New York Times has a Communism fetish” (The…

I was born, raised and educated in Chile; it was not easy to give up an imminent career as soccer player when I was younger; one of the biggest teams selected me and everybody anticipated I would have an outstanding career in soccer… well, all except dad: my father had something else in mind for me and decided not to support the dream of my life. At the beginning it was hard to believe, unfair, selfish. Then we had a conversation and I learnt that he pursued a career in soccer when he was…

In “The Minotaur”, metaphor is used in a variety of ways. Hughes takes a domestic incident, and transforms in into an exploration of the difficult relationship between himself and Plath, his wife. Though this exploration, Hughes uses the myth of the Minotaur as a creative starting point from which he draws his metaphors. By titling the poem “The Minotaur” Hughes draws on the historical context of the myth. This is particularly effective in assisting the poem to explore “haunting memories of his…

At the end of the month of October, international Instagram model Essena O’Neill enacted her personal revolt against social media. If you don’t have Instagram, or don’t follow the ‘Instagram famous,’ you may not know who Essena is. Essena has been fairly well known since she was the equivalent of a junior in high school in Australia. Her fame began with her Tumblr blog (a platform that makes it easy for fans and anonymous followers to ask questions), and her Youtube videos, which she used to…

Analysis First, and one of the most interesting things we can actually see, when using a scale of 1-10, as we did in a few of our questions, people often did not use five to mean an average. Instead they would often use 7, as the average for a group. This is an interesting finding, and we tried to take it into account later in the analysis. You can tell this is true, because in many cases where people would speak of their roommates as being average, they would put a 7, instead of the expected…

The main goal in a human’s life is to seek understanding, whether it be something large scale like to understanding the universe or something smaller scale like figuring out the latest Iphone. Francis Bacon wrote Novum Organism to create a better philosophical understanding of prejudices humans have created when it comes to acquiring and determining truth. He categorized four types of prejudices and named them all different idols: The Idol of the Tribe, the Idol of the Cave, the Idol of the…

How is the theme, Cultural Identity reflected in the poems“Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan” by Moniza Alvi and “Search For My Tongue” by Sujatta Bahtt? The poems “Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan” and “Search For My Tongue” are both poems that convey the theme of Cultural Identity by personal experiences. “Presents From My Aunts in Pakistan” focuses on the idea of confusion and loneliness of belonging to two different cultures, while “Search For My Tongue” gives the reader an idea of the…