In this paper, I will discuss the orthodox definition of hope expressed in Adrienne Martin’s How We Hope: A Moral Psychology, and emphasize the inherent problems raised by Martin that challenge this definition. Martin derives the ‘orthodox definition’ of hope from the works of Day and Downie introduced in the late 1960s. Day states that “hope involves (1) desiring and (2) estimating a probability” and names these two constituents of hope as the desiderative and the estimative constituents,…
The topic of suicide is, and always has been, a grim subject to discuss or write about; however, this did not stop Gwendolyn Brooks from writing a poem about suicide titled, “To the Young Who Want to Die.” In this poem, the speaker of this poem seems to be Gwendolyn Brooks but is not specified. This method of writing is useful because of the way the poem is formatted, combined with the words used in the poem, lets the reader see that the speaker is talking directly to them, or to anyone who…
Although not an inmate himself, he had breakfast first, in the "normal" world and then goes to work. The doctor is the one who takes control, who has a viewpoint, who is composed, sane, and in disciplined. The speaker, on the other hand, is portrayed by differences with Doctor Martin. The speaker is not given a name. "Her motion is speeds' a word that connects, by means of internal rhyme with queen' in line six and bee' in line seven, to suggest the brittle meaninglessness of her position…
Comparison Essay The Road & The Last Day of the World When reading the short stories in parallel to “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, only one truly stood out to me as directly related in theme, portrayal, and literary style. This has to be “The Last Day of the World” by Ray Bradbury. Both stories have deep rooted themes around nihilism and death, but are substantially distinct in their portrayal of these ideas. The premise is the same as the rest of the short stories; it is the end of the world,…
Bishop constantly uses wires, electricity, and storms throughout her poems and especially ones that allude to her sexuality/love life. “Electrical Storm,” as the name suggests, has all three elements, but is different than how some of her other poems have used these elements. Altogether, “Electrical Storm” denotes electricity as a destructive force, a sharp contrast to most of her other work with electricity, but doing so actually expands her motif. While it is true that many of her poems use…
William Blake’s five-stanza poem “The fly” tries to see humanity in a fly. It narrates the poet’s act of thoughtlessness in brushing away a fly which leads to the contemplation of the act and its implications, which further reveals the essence of life as “thought is life” and the lack of it, death. As the stanzas proceed from observation,contemplation, and conclusion to revelation and liberation, I get an understanding of Blake’s philosophical system. In my essay, I will argue that Blake uses a…
Kamala Markandaya was born in 1924 a well educated and modern Brahmin family in a small village in South India. She was brought up in a healthy atmosphere with traditional and cultural values. She was the student of the University of Madras where she studied history between the years of 1940 to 1947.12 Besides studying at the University, she also worked as a journalist, wrote short stories and fiction. She has a good opportunity to travel through India and Europe; this helps her to get the…
In the villanelle structured poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” written by Dylan Thomas is a transparent, yet raw expression of animosity and utter brawl towards annihilation of one’s life. Dylan Thomas embodied complex analogies, naturalistic imagery, and repetition to correspond to the elemental, impassioned theme of bereavement and fatality. While the poem advises one to be unyielding and relentless as death approaches until the last second, the author implies that death is…
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf can be compared and contrasted in only a few ways, I believe. Although short stories, both dive deep into the big questions of life. More importantly, they both question the significance of life itself. While The Death of the Moth is showing, at first, the playful and less significant side of life, being swept away by forces much greater than the moth which comes off almost as pathetic. The Story of an Hour starts…
How is the theme of tragedy presented in Lament and MId- Term Break? The poem lament is a famous poem written by Gillian Clarke. She was born in Wales and she was a poet but also a playwright, editor, and a translator. The poem lament is about the gulf war, which happened in August 1990 to February 1991. This is when Iraq invaded Kuwait; soon the USA and UK interfered by bombing Iraq. The word lament is an elegy this word is an expression that is used to show sorrow or grief. The title of the…