Analysis Of 'The Cook Was Bailing'

Among other animal imagery, birds appear frequently throughout the story in times of crisis. The birds often foreshadow dangers that lie ahead. For instance, when Robert's team takes a wrong turn, "the fog is full of noises"(80) of birds. Then the birds fly out of the ditch and disappear. Robert and Poole know that "[there] must be something terribly wrong...but neither one knew how to put it into words. The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them. There was an awful sense of void--as if the world had been emptied" (81). The birds return and when Robert nears the collapsing dike and "one of the birds [flies] up cut[s] across Robert's path" as if it is trying to prevent him from going any further. Robert does not heed the warning and almost dies in the sinking mud.

In Elia Kazan’s movie On the Waterfront, we see that pigeons and hawks are used to symbolize different characters in the movie. Pigeons are used to represent characters that are weaker and more susceptible to the mob. On the other hand, hawks are used to represent characters that are more powerful and influential to others. Certain individual in the movie begin as either a pigeon or hawk and mutate into the other by the end. Timothy Dugan is an example of someone that remains a pigeon while Terry is one that begins as a pigeon and morphs into a hawk by the end of the film.

The poem The Great Scarf of Birds by John Updike is something of a chronological piece that walks the reader through a day beginning with a normal day of golf that leads to a witness of nature’s beauty and a heart-wrenching, bleak statement of self discovery. The organization of the poem is purely time-based, using cues such as the tinting of the sky to exhibit a passage of time. The diction of the poem is mostly delicate language rife with imagery to try and show the reader the extent of the feelings of wonder that the narrator is holding for nature at this time. Uses of phrases such as “swaying vases of sky,” show the author’s rich language used to describe their surroundings. There is also a line that displays the intensity the author has for the image of the swelling flock above him, “It dartingly darkened in spots darkened in spots paled,pulsed, compressed,distended yet held an identity firm.” This line is set up to be read fast, the closeness of the words leading with hard syllables leads you feel the shock that the narrator is at the sight of the massive, awe inducing flock.

This means that nature will soon hit him with unexpected power. “The Sea Devil” no doubt is hitting at that possibility. The story’s tone is a sorrow-fear-worry one. The story starts off by being night, which gives it a eerie feel. When the ray attacks the man that’s where the fear and worry really kicks in.

narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some

Character Analysis: Give your ideas about the main characters(s). Include what you like and dislike about the characters and why they deserve praise or criticism. Does the author intend for you to like/dislike them? How do you know?

Diction affects the tone of the passage. Starting from line 14, the diction evolves into a more negative view. He uses biblical reference towards the beginning of the stanza. He begins to analyze his surroundings more rigorously, and sees the differences in how they look from a distance, to how they appear close by. Once this negative connotation has begun, the flock is said to be “paled, pulsed, compressed, distended, yet held an identity firm” (Lines 20-21). The author’s choice of words as in “less marvelous” (line 25) indicates his intention for making his lines definite, giving it a solid state of meaning. It symbolizes that the feeling of someone longing for something, and once they receive it are not as impressed by it. The diction plays a critical role when the tone of the qualities of nature are exposed. The author conveys the “trumpeting” of the geese as an exaltation to the beauty and simplicity of nature. “A cloud appeared, a cloud of dots like iron filings which a magnet underneath the paper undulates” (Lines 16-18). The iron filings in this phrase symbolize the issues the man faces. Once he looks closely at the flock, he realizes that these issues are only miniscule and do not add up to life in general. This elates him, thus concluding him to lift his heart.

Daniels, the main character, had brought the love birds to Bodega Bay, the local birds had started to act very strange. In the film one of the town’s people had said to Ms. Daniels “Ever since you came to bodega bay this happened, you’re evil!” The director wanted to view this as one of the many major clues on why the birds attacked, This and all of the other turning points are important details to a reader breaking down the story. Also, the film had a better understanding of character development. In the film at the beginning Ms. Daniels had took time to deliver the birds to Mr. Brenner and spend time with him and his family.

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

Lost at sea in a small boat with waves the size of mountains. Land is no where to be found and help could be days away. Constant thoughts racing through one's mind about if they will sink or swim. From the beginning of the story, as the men had to change boats from their ship to a fairly small rowboat, their hope began to fade. To make matters any worse, a storm began and it brought strong, high waves along with it which overtopped the boat many times during their journey to find refuge and at times, the men thought they were going to die at sea from drowning in the frigid waters.. As they venture the sea, they stumbled upon people that appeared to be waving at them as if they were trying to help. By this point, the men are desperate for any help they can receive and they notice a man waving a coat at them as if he was signaling to the men. The men thought they had found help only to be disappointed that they were only regular people on the beach. As the day progressed and the search for help continued, the narrator said “The man waving a coat blended gradually into this gloom”. The narrator is referring to the man who was waving the coat and how that gave the men

A cool breeze lifted off the waves and struck Ella’s face. She walked along the edge of the beach, where the water met the sand, desperately trying to dodge each wave that crashed ever so close to her feet. Ahead of her, seagulls were fighting over something. Ella rushed over to where the seagulls were perched, sending a flock of birds screaming and squawking into flight and then landing back on the ground only meters away.

Are details integrated into the story so that they do not overwhelm readers or distract from the story?

In the parlour scene, the contrast between the predatory birds and the

He wonders why the birds are just waiting in the sky as if they are waiting for a command, why they are restless, and he thinks it is strange that they are little birds and they are the type of the birds that normally keep to their own territory and don’t have a history of attacking people . When he looks out toward the coast, he sees the birds flocking in his direction and he believes that for some odd reason, they are going to come down to the

Seagulls tend to enjoy hanging out at the beach. You could just be having a nice meal at a cafe with your family, but see them at the next table robbing food. How ridiculous! They did not pay for the food and we don’t want them interrupting us