...Evelyn Mercer is a nice old woman who spent her life doing good deeds, like acting as a foster mother to put as many unfortunate youths in great homes. She embraced four of the roughest young men two white and two black, and raised them as her own. When Evelyn is killed in a corner store theft in her Detroit neighborhood, her four sons return home for the funeral and stick around to find her killer. The brothers were 30 years old and are still harsh and still close. Bobby's the criminal who likes to battle. Blessed Messenger is an ex-trickster and a ladies man. Jeremiah, the most established, has settled down with a spouse, kids and a business. The most youthful, Jack, is attempting to transform from a stone to star. After some crying,...
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...Strange objects analysis - Forms of writing • Letters • Diary entries • Reports • Manuscripts • Newspaper articles • Interviews • Documents - Character/plot connections- multiple stories and there have links Wouter, Steven Messenger and the diary entries all have links because they both speak about Ela and Jan Pelgrom, Charlie Sunrise, Dr Hope Michaels and the gold ring, which Jan Pelgrom originally owned and gave to Ela before they died. Steven Messenger – is a lonely teenager who discovers the artifacts and, after keeping the ring, becomes more and more crazy and experiences visions. Nigel Kratzman – Steven’s neighbour and friend. Wouter Loos – a historical figure, Wouter (and Jan Pelgrom) were castaways, while there isn’t any evidence...
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...MEDEA Part 1 Analysis The first purpose of this section is to offer background information for the action about to unfold. It's important to note that at the time the play was first produced, most people in the audience would have known the story of Medea and Jason when they came into the theatre. The myth was part of Greece's cultural and societal heritage. The interest in coming to the theatre, for the Greeks, was to see how the playwright illuminated larger questions of human existence by telling the story in his particular way. This particular playwright's viewpoint appears in the conversation between the Tutor and the Nurse, specifically the Tutor's reference to selfishness ("everyone loves himself more than his neighbor"). The two main characters in this play, Medea and Jason, are models of selfishness. Both of them are concerned with meeting their own needs, acting on their own desires and doing what they think is right without any consideration for anyone else. They both take their selfishness to extremes. Jason leaves his wife for a younger, prettier and richer woman just because he wants to, and the excuses he gives for doing so in Part 2 are just that - excuses. Medea sacrifices four innocent lives because she so desperately wants to cause Jason pain. The question of whether she's justified in that desire will be examined later. Note that this is a different question from whether she's justified in killing her children. The Chorus functions in a similar...
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...The unknown author of the play uses Death as a character to present a very real truth that all people will meet death. Death is an antagonist in the play and represents physical death. The word "death" grabs people's attention because it is a strong word. It is a loaded, often offensive, intense word and it reflects a reality every human will one day have to realize. The author understands death's implications and uses it to draw the reader in. In the play Everyman, the character Death is presented by the author as an allegorical representation of physical death and the reader finds that Death is under God's control, brings conviction, and will visit everyone. In Everyman the character Death is viewed as submissive to God's will and under His command. Since the play is a morality play, the characteristics of Death are viewed as the same as a human's physical death. In the Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, the author brings to attention that "[t]he themes in Everyman are strongly reflected in the allegorical characters which populate the work." The play opens up with "[h]ere beginneth a treatise how the High Father of Heaven sendeth Death to summon every creature to come and give an account of their lives in this world, and is in manner of a moral play." In Everyman, Death is merely a carrier and transporter for God. From the beginning of the play, it is known that Death is set beneath God. God uses Death as His messenger to tell Everyman that his time is up on earth...
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...The unknown author of the play uses Death as a character to present a very real truth that all people will meet death. Death is an antagonist in the play and represents physical death. The word "death" grabs people's attention because it is a strong word. It is a loaded, often offensive, intense word and it reflects a reality every human will one day have to realize. The author understands death's implications and uses it to draw the reader in. In the play Everyman, the character Death is presented by the author as an allegorical representation of physical death and the reader finds that Death is under God's control, brings conviction, and will visit everyone. In Everyman the character Death is viewed as submissive to God's will and under His command. Since the play is a morality play, the characteristics of Death are viewed as the same as a human's physical death. In the Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, the author brings to attention that "[t]he themes in Everyman are strongly reflected in the allegorical characters which populate the work." The play opens up with "[h]ere beginneth a treatise how the High Father of Heaven sendeth Death to summon every creature to come and give an account of their lives in this world, and is in manner of a moral play." In Everyman, Death is merely a carrier and transporter for God. From the beginning of the play, it is known that Death is set beneath God. God uses Death as His messenger to tell Everyman that his time is up on earth...
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...secular’s life, the play presents surprising events in one’s perception of death and is relevant to one’s faith at their time of judgment and therefore serves God’s purposes. I. INTRODUCTION: II. BODY A. Characters: 1. Messenger, God, Death: Scenes I and II 2. Death approaches Everyman, Death forces Everyman to go to his reckoning with God: Scene III 3. Everyman meets Fellowship, Kindred and Cousin, Good: Scenes IV -VI 4. Everyman talks with God, Everyman meets Good Deed, Good Deeds forsake Everyman and Good Deeds gets her sister Knowledge to go on Everyman journey, Knowledge leads Everyman to Confession: Scenes VII - X 5. a. Everyman prays to God and Mary for mercy, Good Deeds rise and walk towards Everyman to accompany on his journey, Everyman clears his reckoning, Everyman calls forth Discretion, Strength, Beauty, and his Five-wits: Scenes XI-XII b. Everyman goes to the Priest and honors the seven Sacraments and receives the sacraments, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits deserts Everyman at the grave, Everyman has an epiphany; he understands he can take nothing with him when he dies, In the company of Knowledge and Good Deeds, Everyman commits his spirit in the hand of the Lord; an angel receives Everyman into Heaven: Scenes XI-XII 6. Relevant Character overview B. Author’s Perception of Death and the treatment of death 1. Everyman’s journey compared to Man’s journey in real life; Moral Lesson III. CONCLUSION TIME OF JUDGMENT Douglas Morse...
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...transforming Macbeth from a friendly hero to a Stalinesque tyrant. It is clear that the entire ensemble cast had created a production that was true to Shakespeare’s intent, true to their characters and true to our modern times. Having watched several renditions of Macbeth in the past, I was certainly surprised when I found myself thoroughly engaged and intrigued throughout out the entire show. Opposed to other performances, I found the this play to be exceptionally well executed because of the well trained actors, unique sets, gorgeous costumes, stunning special effects and the brilliant modernization of the play. One of the many things I specifically enjoyed was that the Witches were portrayed as nurses to fit into the modern military regime. I really enjoyed the first act in the beginning scenes when the Witches told the prophecy to Macbeth and Banquo because of how Roy added a touch of humour to that part lifting the "darkness" that typically clouds the play. One part I did not like however was the fact that the witches seemed to be not evil or mysterious unlike the text where the witches are interpreted as the “custodians of evil." Also, I thought it was kind of a shame that they took out Hecate, as personally I enjoy more supernatural factor that influences the play. Out of all the characters in Macbeth, I found Lady Macbeth to be the most intriguing of them all, because of the fact that she transforms from this cunning deceptive manipulator to this fragile unstable figure...
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...Primavera Analysis Beatriz Picaz Section D4 Charles Stapleton February 29th 2012 Botticelli’s Primavera is an interesting piece of art. Like many works of art from the Renaissance, it has many scholars still arguing about what the painter was thinking when he painted this, in order to give some meaning to the figures and objects of the painting. The excerpts that were given to us helped to explain the painting from the perspective of two different scholars, who used various sources to help decipher the painting. Both were very interesting interpretations, however I found Zollner’s argument, as opposed to Zirpolo’s, to be more convincing based on his attention to every character in the painting. In the first excerpt, taken from Frank Zollner’s Botticelli: Images of Love and Spring, he takes each character from the Primavera and gives them a background and a story, based on sources from different text fragments. According to Zollner, the figure on the very left is Mercury, the messenger of the gods who divides clouds and drives away wind with his wand, which is discussed in Virgi’s Aenid He characterizes the little flying boy as Amor (Eros in Greek mythology), the son of Mars and Venus. Venus, the goddess of love and beauty is the woman at the very center of the painting. She is accompanied by the Three Graces. He explains how these characters are often found together in other literary works, like in one...
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...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Search over 100,000 Essays Home Page » English and Literature Explore the Different Attitudes to Love Are Presented by the Characters in Romeo and Juliet and the Speakers in the Sonnets You Have Studied In: English and Literature Explore the Different Attitudes to Love Are Presented by the Characters in Romeo and Juliet and the Speakers in the Sonnets You Have Studied Explore the different attitudes to love are presented by the characters in Romeo and Juliet and the speakers in the sonnets you have studied. Love is presented through the use of characters, themes, linguistic, structural and contextual references. That pieces are ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written by William Shakespeare, ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare again, ‘Sonnet 43’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ‘Sonnet 130’ by Shakespeare and also ‘Sonnet 18’ again by Shakespeare. They were all written in the time that was considered the Elizabethan Era. A religious theme is set in both Romeo and Juliet and sonnet 43 to convey the attitudes to love. In Romeo and Juliet the theme of religion is used to express their love between each other and suggesting it is similar to religion can impose that it is a life-long commitment and will always be there even if they lose faith. At that time their attitude towards religion was very strong and it was their integral, which links to the...
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...2013 Turabian October 8, 2013 Everyman, a medieval morality play was written by an unknown author in 1495 and contains 921 lines. Regarded as one of the finest of the morality plays, Everyman is said to be an adaptation to the Dutch play Elckerlyc., The Chambers Dictionary of Eponyms defines “everyman” as the typical or average person, ‘the man in the street.’ The allegorical character Everyman is portrayed as the classified definition. The failure of every man is sin. Like a scorpion delivers a deadly sting, sin spreads its immovable sting; the result-death seizes its allegiance. ““. . . Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin . . .”— (I Corinthians 15:55-56, New International Version). Before sin yielded its entrance, there was no account of Death. Sin is how Death marked Everyman. The character Death is symbolic of physical death and Everyman is symbolic of the entire human race. Physical death is predestined and removes the physical life of all humanity. Death is named by God, His mighty messenger (63); it can be perceived that Death is a forceful messenger of God. Not forceful to feel threatened or intimidation, but forceful in a sense of an “eye opener.” Under God’s rule, Death dispatches and conveys God’s message. Death is summoned by God, and is obedient to God’s submissive will and authority to approach Everyman and inform him of his inescapable journey to encounter Death and God’s judgment. God inhabits the domination of Death’s...
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...Analysis of Major Characters Dante Alighieri Thirty-five years old at the beginning of the story, Dante—the character as opposed to the poet—has lost his way on the “true path” of life; in other words, sin has obstructed his path to God. The Divine Comedy is the allegorical record of Dante’s quest to overcome sin and find God’s love; in Inferno, Dante explores the nature of sin by traveling through Hell, where evil receives punishment according to God’s justice. Allegorically, Dante’s story represents not only his own life but also what Dante the poet perceived to be the universal Christian quest for God. As a result, Dante the character is rooted in the Everyman allegorical tradition: Dante’s situation is meant to represent that of the whole human race. For this reason, Dante the character does not emerge as a particularly well-defined individual; although we know that he has committed a never-specified sin and that he participates in Florentine politics, we learn little about his life on Earth. His traits are very broad and universal: often sympathetic toward others, he nonetheless remains capable of anger; he weeps at the sight of the suffering souls but reacts with pleasure when one of his political enemies is torn to pieces. He demonstrates excessive pride but remains unsatisfied in many respects: he feels that he ranks among the great poets that he meets in Limbo but deeply desires to find Beatrice, the woman he loves, and the love of God. Dante fears danger but shows...
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...Thesis Statement: The main character known by the name “Everyman” is representative of all of God’s people and the subsequent journey each must take in order to make the Presence of God their dwelling place as well as the pitfalls that must be avoided along the way. Outline: Introduction Thesis Statement Summoning of Everyman God Death Author’s Perception of Death Biblical Concept of Death Everyman’s Perception of death Seeking Traveling Companions Journey Repentance Death Conclusion Morality plays were written to convey a simple moral lesson to the audience or the readers. One such example is the play “Everyman” which was written in the late fifteenth century by an unknown author. Everyman is an allegorical play because it has two levels of meaning. One level of meaning is seen through the eyes of God. The other level is seen in how Everyman views life. The main character known by the name “Everyman” is representative of all God’s people and the subsequent journey each must take in order to make the Presence of God their dwelling place as well as the pitfalls that must be avoided along the way. The protagonist is symbolic of people who seek salvation through their good deeds. One theme highlighted in this play is the transitory nature of human life. Life is transitory; which means it never stays the same. It is always changing and moving toward the end that God designed for this earthly life. The Messenger introduces the transitory...
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...All in One A Critical Analysis of Macbeth 4:2 The classical tragedy Macbeth, written by the world renowned playwright William Shakespeare, is a text that has been studied for centuries. Indeed, Faith Nostbakken said in her book Understanding Macbeth: A Student Casebook..., “Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s best known tragedies, and is studied often in the classroom.” This play itself is very complex and was intricately written by Shakespeare when you look at how he was able to weave themes together throughout the duration of the play. There are numerous themes that are prevalent in Macbeth and all of them show up in different phases of the play. The one scene that brings all of the themes together in a brilliant culmination is the second scene...
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...http://www.novelguide.com/MurderintheCathedral/themeanalysis.html Murder in the Cathedral: Theme Analysis Theme Analysis In its assessment of Eliot's importance to modern English literature, A Literary History of England (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967; ed. Albert C. Baugh) argues that a shift from despair to hope-a change from "the 'inert resignation' of those who breathe the small, dry air of modern spiritual emptiness" to something more positive and potentially transcendent-can first be detected in Eliot's "Ash-Wednesday" (1930), "of which the theme is the search for peace found in humble and quiet submission to God's Will" (p. 1587). This theme, clearly an expression of the Anglo-Catholicism Eliot embraced during his life, appears again throughout Murder in the Cathedral. It informs and breathes through the entire text of the play, as the commentary above has demonstrated. In Murder in the Cathedral, the "inert resignation" of modern life manifests itself in the Chorus' refusal to embrace transcendence: the women of Canterbury are content to go on "living and partly living." As they state, even imploringly to Becket, on several occasions, they "do not wish anything to happen." They do not want the wheel of God's pattern to begin turning. As do all moderns in Eliot's estimation, they "fear the injustice of men less than the justice of God." They are not ready to live, as Becket was, "out of time." Yet, through Becket as he portrays him, Eliot forcefully argues...
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...familiarity with Greek tragedies. Most people do not take the time to think about the elements that make them tragedies or make the characters in them tragic heroes. In one of the “earliest surviving works of dramatic theory” of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, he laid out his rules for what is the foundation of a tragedy and a tragic hero. In the play by Sophocles, Oedipus stands out as a classic representation of what a tragedy hero is. Oedipus the book has key aspects that Aristotle said to make a tragedy and a tragic hero. One of the requirements for being a tragic hero according to Aristotle is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." There must be some mistake made by the character flaw that causes the great man’s fortunes to turn for the worst. Aristotle felt that there were certain plot devices that needed to take place in order for it to qualify as a tragedy and for the character to really be a tragic hero. Without a tragic hero there cannot be a tragedy happening, plot is a very important point. The plot of a true tragedy should be complex and consist of reversal and recognition. Both of these plot elements are contained within the play Oedipus the King. The play starts out highlighting Oedipus’ character by showing him talking to the grieving citizens in front of his palace. They are praying to the gods to stop the plague that is...
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