My mom used to sing “Ring Around the Rosie” to me and my siblings. Although the memory is vague I can remember the fun we had singing the nursery rhythm. We would hold hands and form a circle, swaying to the words. We would first start out slow and increase our speed so when we got to the last verse we would fall down with some of us on top of each other. I chose this because of the fond memories in my childhood and the fun we all had. Another reason I chose this is because it reminds me of my childhood and growing up with my siblings. The origin of this nursery rhyme can have a variety of different meanings throughout the world.
This nursery rhyme can have a lot of different meanings between different people. “Ring Around the Rosie", is a fun interactive game that kids hold hands with each other and form a circle. The kids all say Ashes, Ashes and they all fall down. This is the kid’s favorite part of the song because they get to fall down while having fun. This nursery rhyme is a fun way to have kids play with each other and have a wonderful time doing it. Another meaning of this nursery rhyme could be associated with the Black Death. This is because whenever the children sing the song and they say “all fall down” that could mean the death of another person. Another reason this could signify the Black Death is that when it said “ashes” it means that person has died and is cremated after they die from the bubonic plague. To explain this further, it is saying that this
Children who are neglected by the people they care for during their childhood will find potentially harmful ways to cope on their own. This rings true in the circumstance of Baby in the novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill. Of Baby’s friends her age, she often chose the most troublesome, she begins to cope by means of drug use, and she sells her body in an attempt to gain self-worth. Baby’s father failed to care for her as a father should, especially in the absence of a mother. This forces Baby to find ways of dealing with his negligence on her own.
This seems to be very twisted, right from the beginning to the end. The hidden meaning behind this rhyme, is that the nursery rhyme refers to the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of King Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn was accused of incest and adultery. And in the end, was locked up and ultimately executed for treason. Yet again another dark and violent nursery rhyme (Brainz).
symbolizes in the story that death will come to everyone. No one can hide, and there is no escape.
Over the Garden Wall is a children’s cartoon series with a rather dark subject: a visit to the afterlife. The show focuses on two brothers, Wirt and Greg. Unaware of their true plight, Wirt and Greg navigate their way through unfamiliar territory in search of a way home, and meet other unusual characters along the way. The show resembles Dante’s own trip to the afterlife in many ways. Over the Garden Wall alludes to Dante’s Commedia through its settings, the characters, and the aspects that the two versions of the afterlife share, all of which implies that the series is based loosely on Dante’s travels in his Commedia.
“Life is a carousel. It goes up and down. All U gotta do is just stay on.” Pharrell Williams. In Catcher in the Rye, Salinger represents the golden ring that the kids and Phoebe reach for and Holden allows her to mature and move on. Holden didn’t want Phoebe to reach for the ring, he wanted her to stay away and preserve her childhood. Soon he realized it was the wrong thing and that if she was ready to mature, then he should let her. Holden states,” The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if say anything to them” (Salinger 232). This is similar to the cliff scene where he no longer feels the responsibility of saving the kids
In Arlie Russell Hochschild’s, “Love and Gold,” she depicts the economic influences that turn choices of mothers in Third World countries into a precondition. Similarly, in Toni Morrison’s, Sula, a recurring theme of the struggle between independence, the ability to choose, and doing what’s best for others, or coerced decisions, is imminent throughout the entire novel and revolved around the main character, Sula. Often times the factor that weighs down choice is responsibility. Choices are seemingly infinite until you factor in what choices will affect which people and why. Both mothers and caregivers have to put their dependent before themselves, therefore limiting their
Often times tragic events and circumstances are overlooked due to the withdrawn and unemotional telling of events. While statistics are important, they lack the emotional pull to generate change. In order to make a change, there must be a call for action to the public. A call for action can come in many ways. In regards to poverty in Harlem, New York, Muriel Rukeyser, a famous twentieth century poet from New York, called for action through her poetry. Rukeyser used imagery and symbolism in her poem, “Ballad of Orange and Grape,” to tell a story of poverty-stricken Harlem in order to advocate for education to combat poverty. Specifically, her vivid description of the setting and its glimpses of hope allows readers to empathize with the citizens of the city and crave change. In response to her poem, I felt moved to find a legitimate solution to mend a broken system. Research shows that revamping the public school system can create a domino effect, leading to higher quality of life and a way out of poverty for the people in the United States.
Now the story, “Day of the Butterfly” was written by Alice Munro and had a clear theme. The theme of this wonderful story was friendship. It showed how the main character became friends with a girl named Myra. In fact, we never learned about the main characters name but we do learn a lot about Myra. In the story, Myra is a lonely girl who has to hang out with her younger brother all the time because he doesn’t get along with the other boys. This is what separates Myra and her classmates. One day our main character confronts Myra and they quickly become friends. The main character of this kind-hearted story gives a Cracker Jack prize to her new friend. It was a glass butterfly. Now when you first read this story you immediately
Within the film, Ma Vie en Rose (Alain Berliner, France, 1997) we are encouraged to sympathize with the main character, Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne), a seven year old boy that insists that he is actually a girl. The importance of viewing this movie and being able to identify with the character of Ludovic shows us as an audience the absurdity of gender norms, while simultaneously encouraging us to have a more empathetic viewpoint in regards to such topics.
4 In the Novel Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, the character Salamanca has had internal and external forces that has affected Sal, Phoebe, and Margaret. In the book, Walk Two Moons Salamanca has faced many challenges internal and external forces, and we are going to take a look to see these forces, so put on your seatbelt and get ready for the journey. 4
In her essay “Throwing Like a Girl,” Iris Marion Young examines why women move differently than do men. She discusses the apparent observable differences in bodily comportment, physical engagement with things, ways of using the body in performing tasks, and bodily self-image of feminine existence. Young makes the argument that the differences between men and women are not caused by a mysterious “essence” or by any biological or anatomical limitation, but, rather, we are socialized into “being” in our bodily space by the situation surrounding our existence.
Kelly J. Mayes defines plot in The Norton Introduction to Literature as the way the author sequences and paces the events so as to shape our response and interpretation. Every piece of literature contains a plot pattern that follows Freytag’s pyramid. This pyramid consists of an exposition, rising action, a climax, falling action, and a conclusion. Though each story displays this pattern of organization, authors use many different literary devices to differentiate their work and to acquire the response they want to achieve from their audience. The author of “The Jewelry,” Guy De Maupassant, correctly followed Freytag’s Pyramid and used varied literary devices to create a suspenseful read for the audience.
I have chosen a famous oil on canvas painting: Venus and Cupid by Lorenzo Lotto made around the fifteenth and sixteenth century during the Italian Renaissance period. Overall, this piece is extremely intriguing to me, I cannot imagine how the artist created it with such detail and precision. Overall, this painting has this happy and positive mood, but it is also makes me curious as to what this painting is about. It also gives me this feeling to smile for Cupid and Venus in the painting, rather than with them, as there faces are conveyed as being happy together. Its colors similarly, just like the overall painting, has this beautiful bright and cheery color that seem to suit Venus and Cupid well.
We as individuals have a chance to make a difference in the world, we have a chance to be a voice for others who don’t, and we definitely have the power to make and be the change we want to see. Although we have the power to do so, sometimes it’s difficult, but it does not mean that we have to give up. An example of someone making a change is the author of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The author, Wallace Willis, is believed to have written the song to bring awareness to slavery in the past. The song was sung by many and grasped the attention of people and helped bring awareness to the topic of slavery. There are also authors now, in the present who write protest songs to bring awareness to problems and situations that are happening everywhere in the world, situations that are affecting us now. The song “FDT,” is a song written about the current president, Donald Trump, and talks about his decisions in office and other things. These people use their voice to make a stand, they want to change the world for the better. Although, the way they make their voice heard is by using strategies that will catch everyone’s attention.
The dramatic short story "The rocking horse winner," is about a young boy who desires to be loved by his mother. The author, D.H. Lawrence develops a theme that states, the desire for money and social status is a destructive force. The story is about a young boy named Paul who tries to win his mothers love by gambling for money. Paul has a supernatural power which he can commute with his rocking horse to find out the winning races. However, in the end Paul tries too hard to win his mothers love and dies. The moral theme is revealed through Paul, who is the protagonist, and his relationships with the characters. The relationships which result in conflict is between Paul's mother and father, between mother and