Annie Dillard Analysis

In “Living Like Weasels,” author Annie Dillard’s idea is that humans can benefit from living wild as a weasel. I strongly agree because to live wild like a weasel is to live mindless, free and focused. With these living abilities we as humans will be able get closer to our aspirations in life and do whatever means necessary to get there.

In Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard uses different forms of figurative language and syntax/sentence structure to characterize the mangrove. In some parts of Dillard’s essay, she uses similes a few times while personification is used more in the essay. Annie Dillard also uses different sentence structures and sentences with contrasting lengths. Annie Dillard uses similes and personifications in ways that characterize mangroves. For example, Dillard uses a simile in the first paragraph when she mentions, “...a black muck matted like a mud-sopped rag…”

In “Living Like Weasels,” Annie Dillard recalls an encounter with a weasel and connects the weasel’s tenacity to the human pursuit of one’s calling. In a forest, Dillard describes the encounter with the weasel when they lock eyes; she then explains what is inside of the weasel’s brain, his habits and traits. (MS7) She explains that a weasel’s living is one desire: instinct, a weasel’s tenacity to lock onto its prey and to not let go. Dillard then compares the weasel’s tenacity with the human calling; humans urge to understand their calling and refuse to quit until they have achieved their goal. Additionally, Dillard offers an exhortation to live in obedience to that calling. (MS6) As well as obedience, instinct requires the human capacity for reason.

In the introduction to Dillards short story, she discusses a few basic facts related to a weasels life and behavior. She states, ¨Obedient to instinct, he bites his prey at the neck, either splitting the jugular vein at the throat or crunching the brain at the base of the skull, and he does not let go¨ (Dillard 119). The topic of instinct is one she brings up several times throughout the rest of the story; in fact, one significant point she conveys through her writing is the value of one's instinct. It is a valuable tool, not just for an animals utilization, in the sense that it can guide one in several situations. Much like a weasel who is forced to hunt for food, they know precisely where to bite in order to

Josephine Baker reached the height of her fame during the 1920s, however, she still was not able to speak about her work and explain what her performances were trying to convey. This left the audience to decipher the performances for themselves, while doing so this highlighted the racism that was still apparent in France. In Phyllis Rose’s book ‘Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in Her Time’ She shows quotes from the tabloids saying, “We can’t find a way to tie the scenes together, but everything we’ve ever read flashes across our enchanted minds...glimpses of enormous steamboats swallowing clusters of Negros who carry rich burdens”. (Rose, 1991) The Parisians visiting Bakers show at the Revue Negre interpreted her show based on what they understood Africa to be. Baker was able to make a lasting impact with her unique look and style and was able to entertain crowds with her “rubber legs” (Rose, 1991) and “crossed eyes” (Rose, 1991) during a time in which racism was the norm. While “she did not exercise complete control over her own image” (Jules-Rosette 2007) she used the stage as a way of expressing herself which she could not do with her voice. In doing so Baker has influenced many performers today. Most notably she inspired Beyoncé Knowles.

In many religions, God is considered to be omnipotent, powerful and benevolent. However, this creates a logical fallacy, if God is benevolent, why would He create evil in the world? This implies that He can not control evil, which further implies He is not all powerful or that He is not as benevolent as people think. Annie Dillard and Elie Wiesel talk about the nature of God and evil in their books Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Night. Annie Dillard describes evil found in nature, while Elie Wiesel explains his first-hand experience with evil during the Holocaust. Although Wiesel and Dillard both have similar questions about Gods morality, they both have different ideas about evil in nature and its impacts on the surroundings. However,

In “The Writing Life”, by Annie Dillard, the author weaves a magnificent and compelling picture of the artistry created by the stunt pilot, Dave Rahm. One could argue that comparing art to flying is most certainly unusual, yet one is equally obliged to acknowledge that Dillard’s imagery has successfully achieved this. Dillard compares and contrasts the art of Rahm, to the artistry of authors, musicians, and dancers alike. Dillard probes the motivation of what drives humans to search out and produce such beautiful achievements and yet, transcends beyond the motivation of that which compels, to what is even more compelling; the fact that this artistry is transient making it an object of even greater value.

Annie Dillard’s tone changed significantly between the first and second paragraph. Changing from pure amusement and leisure into shock, confusion, and interest. As the passage begins, her uses words such as amuse to set an general tone for the passage. The narrators constant sense of humor, conveys the authors playfully cruel thoughts. As the first paragraph progresses we start to get a better feel of Annie Dillard’s character and thoughts. The tone suddenly changed when her plan failed to startle the frogs. Words used in the passage that express the tone are “Crumpled” “vanished” and “bewildered”. These words show the descent and change in the narrators mood. The narrator's shock and confusion is shown mainly through her actions. “I gaped

Audre Lorde, author of the autobiography The Cancer Journals, reiterates her experience of having breast cancer and her decision to have a mastectomy through a series of journal entries. Throughout these entries, she expresses a range of emotions all across the board. This is not just to describe her battle with breast cancer, but to also highlight how her various identities intersect with her experience. Lorde looks to her journal to channel her fear of breast cancer in order to power through the experience as a black lesbian feminist. She writes not only to help herself cope, but also to help the thousands of women battling breast cancer who share those same fears along with her.

How did you write this good book that really relates to my aunt Dixie? Chris is this nice man and he played for Luther football in Decorah. He was running down the field and Bam he was down just like that. That one play in Luther football ruined his life and is so sad. It also related so much and has changed me in so many ways. It changed the way I think about my aunt Dixie and how I feel about her. I know that Chris’s and Dixie’s parents feel the same way and are sad.

It is a brutal, cold night in the hill country. The wind howls and whistles through the few leaves that remain on the trees. Moisture in the air gives warning that the first snow of the season is near, and the animals scurry around in furious preparation. The night is moonless, and the predators are intent on taking advantage of the darkness. A hawk circles the landscape with silent wings and smooth movements. Its keen eyes scour the scene until it sees a small field mouse scurrying around. The mouse has left its burrow in search of a meal, unaware of the threat from above. The hawk makes subtle changes to its flight path and begins a quiet descent towards the defenseless mouse. Just as the hawk prepares to make a final lunge, a figure steps out from behind a tree, and the hawk's meal returns to the safety of his hole. The hawk squawks angrily at the figure who has scared his meal away. As it returns to the night sky with a strong flap of its wings and begins the search for another target, the figure - a male based on his silhouette- stops in the darkness to scan his surroundings. His eyes, like those of the hawk, dart around looking for something in the night. There is another predator out tonight, and this one is much more dangerous than the hawk.

The conclusion of "Good Country People" does offer a wrap up of the story, but it may fail to offer closure to some readers. At the end of the story, Joy-Hulga is left, high in a loft, without her leg and without her dignity. Manley Pointer has seduced her, even though it was her intent to seduce him. Critical readers come to find

Throughout history, society has convinced women and men they have to look and act a certain way depending on their gender. Kincaid’s Annie John illustrates how expectations of men and women differ not only in Antigua, but in many places of the world in the 1950’s. From the beginning, Kincaid portrays women as feminine and males as masculine. The novel shows women as handlers of the domestic roles while men support their families’ financial needs. Furthermore, women and men have to live up to different standards regarding how they act outside of their caretaking roles. Kincaid also shows those who do not conform to society’s gender roles as being viewed negatively. Three of the main characters of Annie John, Annie, her mother, and her

Mother's are mysteries that we never seem to solve. Have you ever asked yourself, “do I really know my

Substandard events happen to each one of us every day. Some may be small things such as getting a poor mark on an assignment, but some could be as substantial as losing a close loved one, similar to the speaker in the poem "Annabel Lee", written by Edgar Allan Poe. The speaker and Annabel Lee were a couple who met at a young age, and instantly fell in love. Their love was so strong that someone wanted to put an end to it, and the speaker believed the angels envied their love so much, they did just that. They ended up putting and end to it by killing Annabel Lee and leaving the speaker alone in sorrow. It is how we handle the situations like the speaker in Annabel Lee's circumstance that make us who we are. If you keep your composure and remaining having faith in God, chances are you will excel over your rough patch and continue on with your life. On the other hand, if you lose faith in yourself and start doubting God, you may never get over whatever you are experiencing. Although some people may never give thanks for all the positive occurrences in our lives, we often blame God when something unfortunate strikes, and this could end up damaging us in the long run.