...Death: The New Beginning Death is the inevitable truth of life but it is not the end. Instead death is the only beginning of eternal life. The desire to live life to the fullest is a fundamental part of being alive and so it is natural to fear death. Some people consider that to be mighty and dreadful however the poet in conversation with death states that death has no reason to be proud. The poet argues death is weak and dependent on faith, chance, kings and desperate man. The poet takes a strong stance in confronting death and he communicates the central theme that death is neither absolute nor powerful. Instead of worrying about dying, people should live their life to the fullest, so when it actually comes, they don't regret it. In a dialogue with death he uses the word “overthrow”, “die not”, as a verdict that death does not perform actions and that makes it powerless, which is contributing the central theme. He uses the word “poor death” stating that death is less worth than a human, also adding to the theme that death is not to be feared of. He emphasizes by saying “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, and dost with poison, war and sickness dwell...” In general, people perceive death as absolute and mortal but the poet claims that death as a “Slave” to poison, war and sickness from which people die. Death completes the mortality of humans and they attain immortal status. The poet continues that after one dies, the soul is carried on to live eternally...
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...Death, Be Not Proud “Death, Be Not Proud” is a nonfiction sonnet written by John Donne, in which the speaker takes on Death, claiming it to be boastful and proud unjustifiably. The speaker takes a stand against the oppressive nature of Death, and asserts that a greater effect can take place through the use of simple human means, such as “poppies, or charms.” In fact, Donne ultimately claims that death has no real effect, and could conceivably be a relief, as we will “wake eternally.” He alleges that in the end, the only thing to die is Death itself. Throughout the poem, Donne talks to death as though he is speaking to it directly. This use of personification is of use, especially when the author is seemingly patronizing death, calling it “poor Death.” He exploits Death’s dependence on accidents, mistakes, and misfortune. According to Donne, Death is at the mercy of “Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men.” He demeans Death’s endeavors to such an extent that he pokes fun at its bleak and undesirable affiliates, “poison, war and sickness.” In giving death the role of something tangible, Donne is certainly aiming to take control and humble a force that is seen to most as unnerving. By establishing supremacy, it seems as though John Donne is trying to convince others to adopt the same attitude as he. Considering his obvious belief in heaven through the phrase “wake eternally,” Donne is proudly claiming to have conquered death because of his acceptance of the Christian afterlife...
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...“On the Subway” by Sharon Olds “On the Subway” is a poem illustrated by Sharon Olds that distinguishes the worlds of a prosperous Caucasian woman and a deprived African American man through the sense of trepidation, vagueness, disparity, and municipal tension. The two characters contain numerous contrasting personalities, and the writer utilizes fictional methods such as tone, poetic devices, and imagery to depict these distinctions. The storyteller is the Caucasian lady, and she understands how natives get "trapped" in places of humanity base on their skin color. The poem is shifted into three divisions to articulate the intricate affiliation among Caucasians and African Americans. The metaphors Olds uses in the first part accentuates the disparities among the Caucasian lady who is the storyteller as well as the spectator and the African American young man, who is the pragmatic, while both of them are traveling on the channel. The shoes he has on are black crisscrossed through pasty. The narrator portrays the pasty meander as "deliberate disfigurement”. The disfigurement alludes to the inequity against the African American male by Caucasian humanity. The adjective "intended" indicates that Caucasians deliberately hurt African Americans. The picture distinct Caucasians among African Americans: Caucasians are authoritative; African Americans are submissive. “Correspondingly, the lady and the young man are portrayed like "trapped on conflicting sides" of the subway car; they are...
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...English literature Analysis of poetry Holy Sonnet Death be not proud John Donne John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England, who is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poems are famous for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, and so on. His poem is famous for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, especially compared to that of his contemporaries. Donne's style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. He always habitually uses the dramatic or everyday speech rhythms. He is the pioneer of modern poet. In this semester, we learn a poem is written by John Donne, which gives me the deep impression. Is "Death be not proud". "Death be not proud" is his masterpiece of metaphysical poem, is written around 1610 and first published posthumously in 1633. It is the tenth sonnet of Donne's posthumously published Holy Sonnets. This poem is addressed to Death, telling him not to be proud, because death is not to be feared. This poem explains death is the moment while joy is eternal after death. Besides, it also shows sleep is a type of death, and that it is pleasurable. In addition, he uses bold description of practices; the rhythm of the poem is more powerful. In the poem imagine is newness and bolder, and it's mainly dominated by death. By means of terrorist imagination and unreal scenes...
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... WRITING STYLE USED: Essay of poetry (MLA style) Thesis Statement: “Death be not proud” by John Donne personifies death, as its title aptly prescribes. Giving death human traits allows the writer to blast him with colorful images full of sarcasm and a tone of defiance. The ultimate message of the author provokes the human soul to resist the fear of death. Outline: Introduction: Thesis statement Transition: Discuss the writer’s life in relationship to the subject of the poem Body: Discuss the poem’s form based on the 14-line Petrarch sonnet Evaluate the mood and tone as it changes through the thoughts expressed by the writer Review the uses of symbolism and imagery Review the poet’s theme based on mortality and hope Summary: Donne successfully encourages the reader to reevaluate the power of death The Death of the Power of Death “Death be not proud” by John Donne personifies death. The poem is an apostrophe. By giving death human traits it allows Donne to blast his vilified opponent with colorful images full of sarcasm and a strong tone of defiance. The title is drawn from the first line of the poem, as this is the tenth of Donne’s “Holy Sonnets,” according to Louis Untermeyer, in his work Lives of the Poet ( 136). The ultimate message of the author is to provoke the human soul to resist the fear of death and embrace the freedom of eternal life. “Death, which became Donne’s obsession, was always a leading theme,” states Untermeyer...
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...English 101 Research Outline Hasheem Al Ibrahim - 115166 7th August 2012 Thesis: Fast Food is the cheapest food man can buy, but it is not at all the healthiest. We are led to believe that this food is good for you when in reality, it’s nothing but harmful to the body and it needs to reveal it’s true identity. I. The average fast food meal a. Nutritional information i. Comparison to normal food b. Effects on human body i. Damage over time ii. Compare to a life without fast food II. Media a. How it convinces it’s customer’s to buy their food i. Strategies used to “reel” customers in ii. How they keep people coming (i.e. value menu, etc.) b. Advertisements that bend the truth to attract more people i. Different styles of advertisement ii. Other ways to attract people (i.e. smells, visual appeal, etc.) III. Reasons a. Why people still eat it when they know it’s bad i. Prices ii. Convenience iii. Availability IV. Prevention a...
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...John Gunther wrote a memoir about his son’s, Johnny, tragic death called, “Death Be Not Proud.” Gunther entails the wondrous accomplishments Johnny made, along with his terrific fight against a brain tumor. Throughout the whole book, Gunther describes Johnny’s attitude as positively upbeat and wittily sarcastic, even though Johnny seemed to already have accepted his death early on. Gunther starts the memoir by informing the reader that Johnny dies after fighting a brain tumor for fifteen months; then, goes on to describe Johnny’s life as a whole. Johnny was sixteen years old, attending Deerfield Academy, loved learning new things, was especially passionate for science, and had a selfless, amiable nature. Over spring break, Johnny started complaining about a stiff neck, and his parents called their doctor, Traeger, to check on him. Traeger gives Johnny a clean bill of health, but after continued complaints, Johnny’s parents decide to bring in a specialist, Putnam, who believes Johnny has a brain tumor. Johnny is rushed into surgery where Putnam is only able to remove half of the orange-sized tumor that was occupying Johnny’s brain. Johnny’s condition seemed to be improving, until he suffered a fainting attack, and the...
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...“Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” “I Heard a Fly Buzz,” and “Death, Be Not Proud” speak on death. Emily Dickinson wrote both “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz.” John Donne composed “Death, Be Not Proud.” These poems, written over 200 years apart, show how people continually try to understand and process death. Dickenson and Donne used different rhyming patterns to express their thoughts on death. It seems that the only similarities that these authors share appears to be that they wrote about death and were both poets. Emily Dickinson wrote “Because I could not stop for Death” in 1863. Dickinson's poem was not published until 1890, twenty-seven years after it was written and 4 years after Dickinson died. Emily Dickinson spent her life living in isolation. Some consider this Dickinson's most famous poem. In this poem, Dickenson looks at death and the journey that “Death” goes on. Death passes a schoolyard, fields of grain, and the setting sun as it heads toward eternity....
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...Death is presented as intimidating and scary in most cultures. Death and what happens after is the topic of many poems. Many of the poems are about death not being intimidating or alarming. One such poem being Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson. Another poem with a similar message Death, Be Not Proud by John Donne. Though Because I Could Not Stop for Death and Death, Be Not Proud both attempt to show that death is not intimidating, they use different depictions of death, the attitude of the narrator, and poem format. Both poets depict death as something people should not fear. Donne confidently ridicules death for being proud of nothing and claims that in the end death will die while everyone else is in the afterlife. He was a devout Christian which helps explain how he can seem so sure of his claim that death is pointless. Dickinson does not take an aggressive stance against death like Donne. Instead, she turns death into a civil gentleman that will give you a peaceful ride to your grave. In the end Donne and Dickinson both show death in a different light than expected by most people....
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...Death, Be Not Proud”: Macduff’s Contemptuous Condemnation of Macbeth In life, the most disarming fear experienced by mankind is of the absence of life. Death is the most frightening fate of mankind and the inevitable fate of all living things. The fact that death cannot be evaded, and that it is impossible for the living to have an accurate concept of death is the root cause of fear derived from it; all life will inevitably be consumed by the mysterious and destructive power of death. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is punctuated by moments of murder and death caused by the hands of the power-delirious title character. John Donne’s Holy Sonnet X “Death, Be Not Proud” exhibits arguments that challenge the integrity of death’s power. The...
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...Essentially I feel that each poem in its own “Funeral Blues” (W. H. Auden), “Death, be not proud” (John Donne), and “Because I could not stop for Death” (Emily Dickinson) are unique in their own way however, I feel that two poems in particular may show more similarity in each other versus all three being compared at once although, I will be comparing and contrasting all three poems towards the end of this essay. For example, When reading “Funeral Blues” (W. H. Auden), I felt a greater sense of similarity to “Because I could not stop for death” (Emily Dickinson) versus “Death, be not proud” (John Donne) so I will begin to discuss those poems first. When comparing each poem I will list the related styles between the two and the same for contrasting each when discussing the distinctive differences. In “Funeral Blues”; a poem about the mourning of a dear loved one, Auden used a great sense of imagery when writing to assist the audience in creating a mental picture. Each line used a great amount of detail for example, when Auden wrote “Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead scribbling in the sky the message he is dead.” It was easy for me to actually picture this statement mentally due to his choice of words. Also, he uses a rhyme scheme that is successful in expressing the deep mourning and sorrow that he feels. The same feelings expressed in “Funeral Blues” can also be felt in “Because I could not stop for death” (Emily Dickinson). As in Auden’s poem when speaking of his sadness about...
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...concerns with mortality and death directs and upholds enduring notions dependant on the contextual values of religion and human epistemologies. In the poetry of John Donne (1572‐ 1631) and play Wit (1997)by Margaret Edson, the recurrent issues of death and self actualisation are realigned in the Elizabethan context and post modernist ideals. While centuries separate the historical and social context of the paired texts, the human issues remain parallel reasserting the fundamental concerns of life and death in Donne’s poetry to give rise to new interpretations of the understanding of life. The evolution of societal ideologies regarding humanity’s attitude towards death is reliant upon the vicissitudinary nature of both cultural and historical contexts. In Donne’s context the Jacobean era saw the flourishing of Protestant Christianity and scientific advancements as seen in individuals such as Shakespeare and Galileo. This anthropocentric, humanistic movement is apparent in Donne’s challenge to the petrarchan conventions of poetry, in which he expresses the confidence of humanity and the arrogant attitude towards death that is central to his Holy Sonnet X ‘Death be not proud.’ Addressed through the second person references ‘thou’, ‘thee’, ‘thy’, death is not considered abstractly but anthropomorphisedas the poems central conceit. In Donne’s apostrophe to death , he personifies this concept and arrogantly reduces its power in “Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty ...
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...Danes are proud of their hall, since “the mead-hall/meant to be a wonder of the world forever” (Beowulf, 69-70). Yet, their excessive egotism towards their hall brings along a battle between in-laws, thus destroying their pride and joy, Heorot (Beowulf, 43). The excessive self-importance of monsters and men bring them to their dooms. Like Beowulf and Grendel, the Danes’ hall gets destroyed by their hubris. The battle of the in-laws serves as the collapse of grace for the Dane. [transition sentence to the second...
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...Issa Haddad Jason Sebacher ENGL102 27 November 2012 Compare/Contrast Essay In Dylan Thomas', “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, he entreats his father to not succumb quietly to death. He uses the metaphor, "the dying of the light" (3) to illustrate that he feels death to be a destructive power seeking to put out the "light" which is the human life force. That he feels this destruction should not be passively accepted is first shown when he states, "old age should burn and rave at the close of day" (2). He employs the metaphor, "close of day" (2) to show he feels death is an end to human consciousness as he knows it. He also uses "old age" (2) to personify the person/people who should fight death, and "burn and rave" (2) to indicate the fight. He uses examples of different types of men resisting death to add to his argument that life should not be given up lightly. "Wise men" (4) do not "go gentle" because "their words had forked no lightning" (5). Another metaphor, meaning that the words they speak receive no notice, therefor there is still more recognition to achieve before death's finality. "Good men" (7), realizing (with the metaphor/personification) that their "frail deeds might have danced in a green bay" (8), also fight against dying. The use of "green bay" (8) as a metaphor for the inevitable "sea" of mortality shows that they realize their actions in life may not yet be enough to secure them an illustrious place in human history and remembrance. "Wild men"...
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...In the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the main plot of the story is that the narrator had a brother and that brother was a cual baby.The narrator didn't like his brother but he did take him everywhere even though he didn't want to.The topic for this essay is if the narrator is solely to blame for Doodle’s tragic death.No! The narrator is not to blame for Doodle’s tragic death. The narrator is not to blame for Doodles tragic death.One reason he is not to blame is”Mama,he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there! And he was.”(416)This piece of evidence shows that he isn't to blame because everyone told that narrator that if Doodle stayed alive he wouldn't be all there and when he saw him smile he believed that he was all there and this shows that...
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