Emily the Strange

A Rose for Emily “When Miss Emily Grierson died…” is the enigmatic and captivating beginning to William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” These words introduce a character and story that immediately capture the reader’s eagerness to know more. “It was a big squarish frame house that had once been white… Only Miss Emily’s house was left” (Faulkner 91). This first description of Emily’s home is our first look at the world she loves in. Throughout “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner uses many facets of…

It is well known that death is inevitable and unescapable to all forms of life. In Virginia Woolf’s, “The Death of the Moth ,” Woolf utilizes metaphors, powerful imagery, and tonal shifts to explain the struggle between life and death as a battle, that in the end, is never won. The uses of these rhetorical devices depict the intense power that death has over life. The tonal shifts throughout the piece strengthen the idea of an all powerful death. Woolf’s final words, “death is stronger than I…

American poets of the nineteenth century incorporate these ideas as well as others into their own writing and poetry. One idea of this is romanticism, which can be defined as “an emphasis on feelings” (Roets), and one of the poets who uses this idea is Emily Dickinson. According to Brenda Wineapple in “Voices of a Nation,” “These writers were looking for an idiom elastic enough to represent each singular individual, yet, somehow, to include and symbolize all Americans” (Wineapple). Dickinson…

When it comes to living life, there is often that though inside one’s mind about the end of life, about death. It is a common topic that reflects upon the humanity of oneself and those around. Life and death are a topic that is versatile to authors of diverse genres. Virginia Woolf is one of those authors who was drawn to this continuum. Woolf’s childhood was filled with death, born in 1882, her mother passed in 1895, her half-sister died in 1897, her father followed in 1890, and her brother in…

‘To the Lighthouse’ is a personal, self reflective and so moving a book in a larger sense because of its dense symbolic texture and themes. The book portrays a number of symbols, elements and themes such as art, light, death, marriage, patriarchy, family life etc. Death as a theme too plays a part in the book and in most of the modern literature texts as (Detweiler 1972) states that “The death moment in literature lends itself well to an analysis from the standpoint of phenomenology and…

Imagine this: being alive and dead at the same time. Is this even possible, existing in life but be considered dead? Indeed it is, and Modernist literature combined this element, as well as other truths, in their writing. The Modern Era lasted from around 1900 to 1950. World War I, World War II, Great Depression, and Dust Bowl are just some of the events that influenced the literature such as: The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Mrs. Dalloway by…

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, several aspects of Emily’s life drive her to different extremes. Her actions throughout the story are heavily influenced by her surroundings. Emily lives a small, southern town set in the early 1900’s after the civil war. The traditional culture of this area and her town compels her to do certain things. The setting is a significant part of the story because it influences the main characters actions and contributes to the plot. “A Rose for Emily” takes…

Poetry, unlike standard prose, is meant to be read aloud. In order to utilise the oral nature of poetry, poets often add structural and sonic elements that enhance the meanings behind their poems. Emily Dickinson, an American poet in the mid 19th century, used these techniques frequently. One example of this occurs in the poem, “The Soul selects her own Society,” in which Dickinson describes the process of choosing whom one associates with. The renowned poet explains that people often selects…

Emily Dickinson did not title her poetry; nevertheless, her poems are recognized by the first line. In her “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers...” poem she uses a metaphorical description of hope as a “little Bird” that “sings the tune”. Dickinson describes this bird that sings everywhere despite all the difficulties; she sings in the face of the most powerful storm and the strongest wind. As this bird’s song, hope also always stays alive within us, and it never asks for anything from us; it…

Bradstreet vs Edwards “Anne Bradstreet was essentially the first notable American poet, man or woman” (“Meet the Authors: Anne…” 114). Jonathan Edwards was another great American poet, and they are both alike and different in many ways. Anne Bradstreet wrote “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and Upon the Burning of Our House.” Jonathan Edwards wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Bradstreet and Edwards are both talented Puritan poets who wrote about their views on God, amongst other…