The symbol of the Glass Castle has a completely different meaning for every character in the story. Through all the meanings that the memoir has to offer, one can see that something can symbolize many things. When all the little things are brought together, the whole big picture can be seen. Without a symbol of something important, life no longer has a true…
This opening passage introduces several important ideas and approaches that will operate through the entire book. Dillard insistently presents the natural world as both beautiful and cruel, like the image of roses painted in blood. She demonstrates throughout the book that to discover nature, one must actively put oneself in its way. The narrator sleeps naked, with the windows open, to put no barriers between herself and the natural world. But the natural world is a manifestation of God, and it is God she is really seeking to understand through the book. Dillard introduces the theme of religion as the narrator washes the bloodstains off her body, wondering whether they are ‘‘the keys to the kingdom or the mark of Cain.’’ Finally, the anecdote structure itself is typical; throughout the book, Dillard weaves together passages of reflection, description, and narration.…
In stanza 21, the poet start out by stating that he is the poet of both the body and of the soul.He protest the religious veiw of heaven and hell, saying that he has made heaven part of his life in the present, and that the idea of hell needs to be reinterpreted. As the reader we get the point that he's not very enthusiastic on conventional Christian veiws of santions and hell.…
‘The richness of Gwen Harwood’s poetry lies in their ability to lend themselves to particular interpretations, reflecting different concerns and values’. Discuss…
What meaning have you derived from Harwood’s poetry? Refer to 3 poems and include theoretical readings.…
In this example the proffered glass refers to soma. Soma in the new world is taken to relieve stress and forget one’s problems. There are hypnopaedic phrases to make children want to take soma such as “A gram in time saves nine,” or “One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments,” (Huxley 99). Although the sayings are pumped into children’s’ ears thousands of times Bernard seems to not have absorbed them. Children are taught to love soma, as shown through the two hypnopaedic phrases above however Bernard rarely takes soma. This ironic because Bernard is responsible for the phrases but tries to escape them socially. By outwardly denying such a tradition in the world state he is out casting himself from society. By not conforming and taking the soma like everyone is, and everyone is taught to he is quarantining himself.…
For some time, there has been debate over what is the ‘true spirit’ of this module, with particular emphasis on how a student should ultimately respond – personally or through ‘readings’. This study guide will dispel your uncertainty and support your classroom studies by guiding you towards a personal response which should be at the heart of anything you compose.…
The poems transition from an absolute experience to the abstract is mirrored by the tone, beginning wistful and moving toward resignation. Harwood utilizes imagery of imprisonment and personification of the heart “when the heart mourns in its prison” to establish a confrontation between the heart and the spirit. The line “In the space between love and sleep” is repeated and inverted in the third stanza “darkness between sleep and love”; foregrounding the struggle between sensuality and spirituality (QUESTION).…
The poem “Father and Child” by Gwen Harwood shows Harwood’s father teaching her the concepts of life and death, from when she is a young child in “Barn Owl” up to when she is around forty at the time of his death in “Nightfall”, coming to accept the idea that life is not never-ending. In part one called “Barn Owl”; she has learnt to accept death as a component of life. The persona of the poem experiences a loss of innocence with the discovery of the tragedy of death. Before shooting the owl, the child believes they are the “master of life and death,” with the noun, “master,” reflecting the power that the child feels and the ignorance that the child has about the nature of death. This description of the child is later contrasted in the fourth stanza, “I watched, afraid by the fallen gun, a lonely child who believed death clean and final, not this obscene bundle of stuff.” The emotive term, “afraid,” represents the change in the persona’s attitude after being exposed to the harsh reality that is mortality. However, the rhyme and last line “what sorrows in the end, no words, no tears can mend” releases an element of inexpressible sadness that she has towards the death of her father showing that although she accepts death, it still upsets her as it did in “Barn Owl”. Father and Child” Nightfall” is more metaphorical and symbolic suggesting a more mature persona like an adult. The poem represents a human’s journey over time of learning to mature and accept death.…
1. Throughout the writing, Bradford gives numerous examples of how God directs the history of the pilgrims. At the beginning when describing the fate of the “proud and very profane” young man, Bradford begins with “And I may not omit here a special work of God’s providence”, that providence being Bradford’s death to illness, which according to Bradford was by the hand of God, “But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease”. This is an example of the control God had over the pilgrim’s fate. Bradford also gives examples of how God may not always direct the history, but is at least watching over the pilgrims. For example,…
Harwood uses light and dark symbolism in a traditional Christian style; light represents god while dark represents evil. This is exemplified with the boy’s hope of using sunlight “to exorcize monsters that whispering would rise nightly”, and with Harwood’s pun on “sun” to also symbolise Christ. While in the first stanza, with the sun’s rays personified as disciples who fled; “sun’s disciples cloaked…from his passion fled” alludes to Christ’s suffering, the last stanza refers to the “resurrected sun” ending on a hopeful note, while also having an ironic quality as the boy as already lost his innocence. Personification of the sun; “wink and laugh” almost in a mockery tone ridicules the innocent humour which exist in our childhood, and positions…
The Glass Jar Such images of light assist Harwood in conveying her ideas about the purity and goodness associated with innocence and the extended metaphor of ‘the day’…
Edwin Morgan paints a vivid picture for the reader by using imagery in the poem. In the opening line of the poem he uses and effective metaphor.…
Gwen Harwood’s, ‘Father and child’, is a two-part poem that tempers a child’s naivety to her matured, grown up attitude. Barn Owl presents a threshold in which the responder is able to witness the initiation of Gwen’s transition. The transformation is achieved through her didactical quest for wisdom, lead by her childhood naivety and is complimented through ‘nightfall’, where we see her fully maturate state. The importance of familial relationship and parental guidance is explored in father and child, as well as the contrasting views on mortality and death. Barn Owl depicts death as a shocking and violent occurrence while the second poem, nightfall, displays that death can be accepted, describing the cyclical and ephemeral nature of life.…
The poem “David”, written by Earle Birney is a very emotional and allure piece. The major theme that pursues throughout the whole poem is maturity. Which includes the beginning of such, and all the obstacles that must be overcome. The tone is a very cynical one, especially when David asks Bob to push him off the cliff. Birney also uses figurative language and poetic devices to create an element of tension, complexity and emotion.…