From Childhood to Adulthood in Fantasy Fictions. Essay

The parents respond to her fear by telling her that the owl is only asking “an odd question…” (4). They say that if she “rightly listened” to the owl, she would be able to hear it merely asking “who cooks for you?” (6). The stanza expresses a humorous tone with phrases such as “[It] was an odd question from a forest bird…” (4), and “Who cooks for you?” (6). On one level, the parents comfort the child by telling a lie in order to get her back to sleep, on another level, this changes the perception the daughter has of the owl. The parents do this by using the term “forest bird”, instead of “owl” to make her feel less intimidated. Through this lie she perceives the owl as a friendly forest creature, rather than a horrid monster from the night. The poem’s “AABBCC” rhyme scheme also helped further establish the tone, giving a child-like feeling to it, because it’s often used in fairy tales which is meant for children. Wilbur believes that the lie is a good way to help the child go to sleep. He justifies it in the

Through this great horned owl, Oliver is able to convey a double-meaning. Not only is it a creature, but the meaning of death. It can be deceiving and appear like a “big soft moth”, but also turn around and “eat the whole world”. She uses this owl to represent the concept of death because anyone or anything can be enjoying

There is a single symbol that encapsulates the majority of these notions throughout the entirety of the book: the bird, the bird in the house, the bird "caught between the two layers of glass" that so changes Vanessa's life. Birds make too frequent and deliberate an appearance throughout the collection of short stories to be mere haphazard additions to the background; instead, they, along with the images and concepts associated with them, serve to alert the aware reader to what Margaret Laurence, through older-Vanessa, through child-Vanessa, is trying to tell us. The birds, and their associated images, are central and representative of the novel as a whole.

Dillard effectively uses concrete imagery as a way of conveying her inner struggle to the reader in a handful of ways. In the first paragraph, she paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind by writing “while barred owls called in the forest and pale moths seeking mates

The reader can first determine Oliver’s appreciation for nature through her vivid and crystal clear imagery of the “great horned” through the night. With its “razor-tipped toes” and “hooked-beak,” Oliver’s descriptions of the great horned owl show her respect towards the owl, and in the same vein, nature. Similarly, “the white gleam of the [snowy owl’s] feathers” effectively indicates Oliver’s respect and positive attitude towards nature and its picturesque qualities. At the same

Once upon a time, there was a literary genre commonly know as fairy tales. They were mystical and wonderful and a child’s fantasy. These fairy tales were drastically misunderstood throughout many centuries, however. They endured a hard life of constant changing and editing to fit what the people of that time wanted. People of our own time are responsible for some of the radical changes endured by this undeserved genre. Now, these fairy tales had a young friend named Belle. Belle thought she knew fairy tales very well, but one day she found out just how wrong she was.

Mary Oliver’s passage from “Owls” is composed of various stylistic elements which she utilizes to thoroughly illustrate her nuanced views of owls and nature. Oliver’s use of intricate sentence structure–syntax– and a speculative tone are formal stylistic elements which effectively convey the complexity of her response to nature. Oliver’s passage is largely constructed with complex sentences, which provide insight into her views of nature. Following her discussion of various types of owls which she is accustomed to seeing and hearing, Oliver connects her experiences of wondering about nature to her own life, stating: “The world where the owl is endlessly hungry and endlessly on the hunt is the world in which I live too.” In this example, Oliver’s sentence is composed of “endlessly” twice, a technique which emphasizes the connection between the owl that is incessantly active and the same environment in which she lives.

Mary Oliver’s passage from “Owls” is composed of various stylistic elements which she utilizes to thoroughly illustrate her nuanced views of owls and nature. Oliver’s use of intricate sentence structure–syntax– and a speculative tone are formal stylistic elements which effectively convey the complexity of her response to nature.

Birds are a common sight in most places people tend to be. These winged creatures are seen in bustling places like the pigeons that are in urban and suburban areas, the woodpeckers in rural regions, the crows on farms, and even in cages within buildings. In fact, these elegant creatures are so common a sight in society that they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This is similar to how women were and sometimes still are treated within society; they are given little appreciation when they are present and doing as they are told, but when they do not do as they are told they become a problem. This parallel that can be drawn between women and birds is used throughout Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, in which its main character Edna Pontellier is often likened to and symbolized by a bird. Throughout the novel, the bird acts as a theme and symbol of both Edna and women in general.

The synecdoche, “punish beak and claw,” represents the fact that the child can only see and focus on parts of the owl, symbolically denotes that the child is blind to the enormity of what she is about to do. The responder is hinted further, by this synecdoche, on what the persona is about to shoot This is a reflection of the child’s naivety and allows the reader to understand the impelling force urging her to steal her “father’s gun”, and to take this quest for wisdom, inherent childhood arrogance.

The setting of Alice Walkers short story” The Flowers” is important for us, the readers to obtain a perspective of how life was like growing up for a 10 year old African American girl by the name of Myop. The title of the story is “The Flowers.” When you think about flowers, you instantly compare them to being beautiful, pure, and innocent. The title of the “The Flowers” is a symbolism that correlates to Myop who is the protagonist of the story. Myop is just like a flower in the beginning of the story. She’s a pure and innocent child but that pure innocence changes when she discovers something that’ll change her life forever.

Comparing both of the poem, it carries across a similar message that the horror of mortality can allow a young individual to understand and realise the truth of the harsh reality. In 'Barn Owl,' due to the shot which she delivers, she has to 'end what [she had] begun' as she must be responsible for her actions and begin to act like an adult.Harwood uses enjambment, “obscene bundle of stuff” to create a sense of sympathy as attention is drawn to the detailed description of the owl's death. The use of the word, 'stuff' is quite child-like but at the same time, the phrase provides a vivid and evocative imagery of the ugliness of the owl's death. It also emphasises her inhuman actions that cause the owl to '[hobble] in its own blood' which are represented in the light imagery and like the owl she can 'not bear the light nor hide' as 'what [she has] begun' is the unavoidable journey from innocence to experience. As Harwood raises her 'innocent hand' it has caused her to regret it for 'sixty years'. Although Harwood did not have the real intension of winning, she made the choice of spelling it correctly. This shows the importance of her decision and that despite 60 years has gone by, guilt and regret still remain

age it is also one of the worlds most popular and beloved themes in literature.

Children’s literature can take many forms, from far-fetching science fiction to spell binding who-done-it mysteries. One of the most popular ideas presented in these various forms is that of escapism. The characters in these stories explore quite complex social issues in ways that are less confrontational then realism. One might consider why escape is such a central theme; as a child there are numerous benefits to fantasy, it allows readers to experiment with different views of the world and takes hypothetical situations and invites them to make connections between this fictive scenario and their own reality. John Stephens an English professor at Macquarie University has said “ Fantasy writing operates through metaphor- so that the unfamiliar is used to stand in for, or comment upon, the familiar.”

young adult is often referred to as the "coming of age," or growing up. The