Poetic devices

“If that was life, then it was twisted.” In Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel “Twisted”, life for the protagonist Tyler Miller wasn’t a perilous adventure, nor was it a piece of cake either. For Tyler, life was in between, a twisted cocktail of good and bad. Yet, the bad always seemed to outweigh the good to him. Which Anderson’s first person narration of the book helps us understand and relate to. In the beginning, Tyler is still a young, naive boy who only wants to be seen when he commits the…

Homeric and Hellenistic Epics and Tragedy are two genres distinct from one another in many ways. Tragedy is more compact than Epic, not wasting time on repetition or embellishments. They also differ in that the purpose of Tragedy is to show the downfall of great heroes and royalty, but Epic focused more on the heroic code and the glory of heroes. One of the things that both genres showcase though, is fate is important in everyone’s lives. Although Greek society’s ideals of heroes have changed…

What characteristics must one possess in order to be regarded as a tragic hero? Arthur Miller describes what he considers to be a tragic hero in his essay “Tragedy and the Common Man.” In this essay, he identifies the criteria and attributes that are suitable for a modern day tragic hero. Moreover, many can agree that John Proctor, the main protagonist of The Crucible, exemplifies Miller’s theory of a modern day tragic hero in numerous ways. By Arthur Miller’s definition, John Proctor is a…

In the 1991, Diane K. Osbon had worked on the Reflections on The Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion, which happens to have recorded on of the most renowned Joseph Campbell quote: “The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center” (pg. 8) One major component of a story is the hero. Typically, the definition of a hero would be, "A man of distinguished courage or ability,…

The purpose for the structuring of this concert comes from the nature of the title of the concert. “The Lords” is a characterization of the Nizetich ideal from the book, The Birth of Tragedy - the book articles on the Apollonian and Dionysian duality. The duality that describes the difference between what is seen - the Apollonian - and what lies behind the walls that is the inner workings of what is seen - the Dionysian aspect . Furthermore, in The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche describes what “the…

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their life. Often times those mistakes can be forgiven as long as the motives behind them were pure. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, Willy Loman makes some decisions. Willy is a salesman that is constantly lying to himself about where he stands in the world. He decides to take his life because he thinks it is the best decision. So, is Willy Loman a tragic hero in this story? King says, “Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a person who must…

Esperanza is a character in, The Bean Trees who undergoes a significant change in character throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning, Esperanza is portrayed as depressed, withdrawn and dreary. Esperanza’s state of profound depression is not only evident through her attempted suicide but furthermore confirmed through Taylor’s observations. Taylor senses Esperanza’s depression and her first impression of Esperanza is that, “At one time in life she'd been larger, but that someone had…

In any tragedy the tragic hero is the protagonist through which the author gives insight on his view of the destructive flaws of humans. Ultimately the tragic hero causes his own downfall because of the flaws of his own human nature, but through the hero’s defeat, humanity is enlightened and shown to have redeeming qualities. Three main theories of the tragic hero are the Aristotelian model, the Shakespearean model, and the modern tragic hero. Each model has five defining characteristics, which…

The play Antigone, by Sophocles, sometimes appears to have two tragic heroes: two characters that make decisions that lead to a tragic conclusion. However utilizing the ideas presented in Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy, is is clear that the true tragic hero of this Greek play is Creon. Although the story deals with the demise of Antigone in her quest to honor both her brother and the gods, the true misfortune of this tragedy is that of Creon who through excessive pride, ultimately loses all that…

In Brave New World, John the savage tries to do what he thinks is right but does that make him a tragic hero? Aristotle once said, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." Five specific traits can define a tragic hero according to Aristotle. Three of theses traits are evoking a sense of pity from the reader, having a fatal flaw, and a moment of realization about what is wrong. Throughout Brave New World, John displays all three of these traits. John evokes a…