Epistemophilia And Optimism In The Young Stones

Throughout the book when the stone motif comes into play it has a strong connection to something a character experienced. This is first shown when Papa cries when he is playing the

It says how the stone is “the token of preposterous time” meaning the rocks is what will take part of the future savagery of the boys, it is what will eventually contribute to the boys becoming savages.

The poem “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa has a tone that will haunt a reader well after they are done reading it. The poem is about the author, a veteran visiting the Vietnam veteran’s memorial for the very first time. The author describes the emotional impact the visit has on him. The author uses lines such as “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears.” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 3-4) and “I’m stone. I’m flesh” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 5) to drive home the emotion and deep feelings in the poem. Throughout the poem the author utilizes personification to add to the effect and tone of the poem as well. The author talks about the memorials stone as if it were alive. He uses the line “I turn this way –the stone lets me go.” (Komunyakaa, 1947, line 9). This is an example of the personification the author uses to help bring the stone to life. The author feels the stone truly has a strong hold on him.

In the poem “Watering Stones” by Mary Oliver, the ambiguous use of the pronouns “they” and “them” when referring to both the stones collected from the beach and the people collecting the stones for observation blurs the line between the inanimate stones and the living, breathing people, granting the stones a sense of liveliness that otherwise would not be perceived. In the first eleven lines of the poem, the focus is on the stones themselves and the speaker’s observation of how they “drink” water, an act that living creatures perform, a scene that personifies the stones(4). In the remaining nine lines, the speaker shifts the focus from the stones and the possibility of “them” drinking water “mean(ing) something” to her friends and others who

From this religious perspective, water symbolizes origin, or creation of life, the possibility of existence. The land is seen as divine not because it was created

Parents often say, “Listen to your elders.” This cliché can make some people apathetic, but when looking back, most appreciate the wisdom of their elders. The knowledge imparted to children is crucial for their ability to understand and improve the world. In XIV by Derek Walcott, the speaker uses imagery, metaphor, and other literary devices to convey the storyteller’s significance to his life.

Within the first lines of the passage, the reader can identify a clear metaphor that compares idleness to a rock. A rock just sits there; it poses no benefits to anyone. Which in turn is the gentlefolk’s obstacle? It is used by the speaker to show how having an idle attitude will not lead to anything

This is particularly evident within drifters were a families sense of identity is continuously hampered by their nomadic lifestyle with they must embrace as itinerant workers. Throughout the poem, the blackberry bush is constantly referred to as a symbol of hope that the family would settle into one location “when they came here, she held out her hand bright with berries”. The use of such a symbol brings to light the similarity between the drifter’s erratic life journey and the blackberry bush. As the family move into a town they begin to embrace there environment, only to end the experience as quickly as it began similarly to the blackberry bushes cycle of growth and ‘bright berries’ only to wither and die. This ultimately displays the emotional obstacles within a physical journey that reinforces our inner strength. Furthermore, the negative and positive aspects of the journey of life experienced by the characters are highlighted through the juxtaposing of the girls reaction to the decision to move, “the oldest girl was close to tear/ the youngest girl was beaming”. The positive element of the a family being an individual’s sense of support and identity is vaguely portrayed, however the overwhelming negative sense that such a family provides and undesirable predetermined script of one’s life is emphasised as in this instance it has impeded on the girls growth. This ultimately increases the responder’s awareness of the underlying emotional journey within every physical journey, increasing the inner strength of those that choose to take such

Lizabeth struggles with her emotions when she says, “I was still child enough to scamper along with the group over rickety fences and through bushes that tore our already raggedy clothes, back to where Miss Lottie lived” (261). Lizabeth is caught in a sort of limbo, acting childish, yet feeling as though she ought not to be. Consequently, she feels as though she possibly should be acting more mature. “Our already raggedy clothes” demonstrates how her clothes are dirty and ripped like a child’s clothes would be. Furthermore, the children are rushing to Miss Lottie’s to taunt her, an immature act in itself. Additionally, Lizabeth also shows how she wants the best of both childhood as well as adulthood when she says, “Y'all children get the stones, I’ll show you how to use ‘em” (263). Although she appears mature by displaying courage when she says, “I’ll show you how to use ‘em,” the fact that she is showing them how to tease a neighbor completely contradicts that. Acting just as immature as the children she’s talking to, Lizabeth is hardly a grown adult to be taken seriously. Through the emotions and phony bravado, Lizabeth’s acts and words paint a clear picture of her

The stones in the story symbolize death because that’s what they use to sacrifice the person that gets chosen when they do the lottery. “A person still has the capacity to reason would be harshly awoken by the truth that he or she was in the act of killing an innocent person.” In my own interpretation what this quote is saying that they make

While outdated traditions obtain the ability to negatively impact the relationships between characters, they are also capable of creating internal conflicts within a character. In both texts, readers witness the effect traditions have on one’s morality, mental mind, and sense of identity. The occurrence of atrocious, old traditions plays a significant role in corrupting one’s morals, inducing conflict with a character’s past values. This is clearly exhibited when “Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (51). The ritual itself of hurling stones at another human is a demoralizing act that should not be justified by society, and reveals her iniquitous and immoral traits as she lacks awareness of her dehumanizing actions amidst participating in the ceremony. Mrs. Delacroix picks a colossal stone amongst a variety of possible sizes, demonstrating her loss of morals and redefined focus on the power she obtains from this abhorrent tradition. Moreover, traditions from the past are

(Quotes: “Bobbie Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones and the other boys soon followed his example selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” [pg147] “The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, she held her hands up desperately as the villagers moved in on her, ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the

Birthed from the stone a monkey shall rise. Into the woods the stone monkey goes; a quest he follows to find the answers he seeks. “The Journey To The West” is a well known Chinese epic contains mainly poetic and rhythmic passages to build suspense and expand on the characters throughout the epic. One passage in particular talks about the life of a woodcutter who cares for his ailing mother. From chopping wood to the trip the market he continues the never ending cycle. The passage presents itself in a way that suggests the woodcutter enjoys his line of work and feels at home with what he does for a living.

The story of Stone Mother functions both as an origin and etiological story because it provided a sense of values and explained the phenomena of nature’s creation in time. It’s amazing to analyze how certain landmarks in nature were created based upon the stories that were passed down through generations. The story shared the value of family and to appreciate the connection that exists between people and nature. If one does not acknowledge each others’ characteristics and the world around us, certain choices may lead to regrets later on in life. For example, the children were separated and sent to opposite sides of their mother homeland (“Stone Mother,” pg 11-12) due to discipline actions. Since the children left, the parent remained in their original location but were very sad and heartbroken when they learned about the band returning to fight the remaining groups (“Stone Mother,” pg 12). Overall, the important idea that this story wanted to provided is that any connections always exists among humans as well as the nature that surrounds us if we take the chance to appreciated each other existence.

“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."( (Jackson)