Introduces her four major concerns illustrated in Silas Marner –

The play Fences by August Wilson is a story about Troy Maxson a legendary baseball player whose dreams and legacy died with the Negro Leagues. Wilson portrays Troy as a conflicted and complicated character. Is Troy a good or a bad person? Is a controversial question among the audience. Throughout the play, he has gone through so much that there is a drastic change from the beginning of the play to the end. He had many positive traits that conflicted with his negative traits. Even though he made many wrong decisions throughout the play he was a good person by heart and was an admirable character.

Singer and Benassi (1981) described a positive correlation between environmental uncertainty in western countries and occult beliefs. Although it could be argued that they may be overreaching with this generalization which is not supported with data, there is truth to this correlation. Humans try to be rational, and logical, and think critically, but in uncertain situations, we look to our environment, the physical and social environment, to provide us with information. Therefore, superstitions and supernatural phenomenon seem possible if no logical explanation can be given, and if the feedback from the environment reinforces what could be occult beliefs. French, Haque, Bunton-Stasyshyn, & Davis (2009) conducted an experiment attempting to investigate whether they could try to create a “haunted” room, and if participants would experience more abnormal sensations. Participants were informed they may feel some abnormal sensations prior to entering the room. Majority of participants reported having three or more abnormal sensations in the 50-minute period they were in the room. These sensations can be a result of susceptibility, but the uncertainty of that environment, and the lack of information may create these sensations and can validate occult

The people of the town were so unbendable when it came to their humble tradition that they did not even bother to question the reasoning behind the tradition. All they needed--perhaps all they wanted--was the comforting assurance that it had been around for a long time and would continue to be as long as they lived. People are far less willing to break traditions that have established themselves than traditions that have just begun. It is as if longevity is placed upon a golden pedestal, unable to be touched by the hands of human beings. It is a mandatory fact of human existence that the status quo must be questioned, for the majority of eminent men in centuries past have said or done things which no one will now justify. The villagers should have questioned the beliefs of their town in order to rectify the wrongs of years past.

Many scenes take place at night on mysterious streets. In the first chapter, the reader meets Mr Utterson and Mr Enfeild; these two friends have Sunday walks that neither “say nothing”, both characters refuse to allow their more careless thought and feelings. They avoid gossip; they see gossip as a great destroyer of reputation this suggests the society is focused on their reputations and reflects on the importance of appearance in the Victorian times. This theme can be provoked throughout the novel, even the character’s name ‘Hyde’ reflects on the importance of

In “Preludes” the motif of decay, such as ‘newpaper’, reminds the persona of a changing society, where the rapid changes are having an impact on his ability to adapt. The symbolism and juxtaposition of “withered leaves” and “newspapers from vacant lots” emphasises the decaying nature of tradition, compared to the pervasive modern society, because of this Elliot’s difficulties lie within his inability to understand the changing situational environment. This is supported by Montogoner .M “How can one play any reasoned confidence in that “feeling of pastness” which suggests that there is difficulties between the present moment of awareness and past moment of awareness” Implying that decay is omniscient, and its affect on the past have an impact on the way we feel about history and social change. Elliot repeatedly implies this idea throughout the poem, demonstrating his battle with social change. The allusion in “with other masquerades/ That time resumes,/ One thinks of the hands” draws upon the changing societal expectation and the decay of old expectations. In order for Elliot to see the changing world he needed a window, ultimately it was language. This is emphasised by the shorter strophe length of “That time resumes” In comparison to other strophes in the stanza, indicating that change is already happening.The idea of decay prevailing in social change is reflected through the use of visual imagery and personification in “His soul stretched tight across the skies/ The fade behind a city block/ or trampled by insistent feet”, as the “trampled by insisted feet” being tradition, it is seen as being devalued and forgotten show that social change is happening. Elliot’ s acute senses forces him to accept the social change and this is what torments him. Hence, Elliot concludes to a hight extent that

Even each word has its own meaning; in the different context, a word’s meaning can be different as well. Additionally, each word, passage, and said or written story has an ability to influence a person. Hawthorne was influenced by Puritan religion, which provoked in the author distrust and depravity. Therefore, the story “Young Goodman Brown “expresses the author’s feelings and concerns regarding religion, morality, and witchcraft. Moreover, the events, places, and specific word choices provided in this story relate to Puritanism that historically had place in Massachusetts.

It is no secret that Puritans had an allegorical outlook on everything in life and The Scarlet Letter is, without a doubt, full of allegory and symbolism. Hawthorne proved that even the setting could be symbolical in his novel. There is a fine line between the marketplace and scaffold in Puritan era Boston and the heavy forest that surround it. In the middle of the marketplace, perhaps the most important structure in the whole town is centered: the scaffold. It is said that “ignominy was embodied and made manifest in this contrivance of wood and iron. (pg. 39)” The scaffold represents not only the harshness of Puritan decree, but it symbolizes the belief that sin should be out in the open and sinners should endure public shaming. The marketplace is closely associated with the scaffold, where “... iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine, (pg. 38)” and again shows how Puritans believe that sin taints the world and sinners

A central theme of Fences and The Great Gatsby is interactions between a wife and husband throughout a relationship and the role that self-deception can play in a marriage for better or for worse. The authors August Wilson and F. Scott Fitzgerald use literary devices such as rhetorical questions, metaphors, tone, and word choice to explain how self-deception plays an important role in both Daisy and Rose’s lives, although it manifests itself differently in the different books.

In Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, she captures the hardships that the mill workers experience during the 1800s by including imagery and contrast. The author writes about the workers’ conditions by explaining their lives and differences to the ones who do not suffer, and she also vividly describes the experiences of the workers to make the readers see the hardships and their distressing lives. Therefore, one can predict that the author feels sorrow and sadness for the mill workers.

American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, felt guilty about the intolerance of his Puritan ancestors, one of whom judged at the Salem witch trials. He utilized his passionate sentiments regarding Puritanism as an inspiration for his iconic literary work, The Scarlet Letter; in which he does not embrace but rather critiques Puritan ideology. Because Hawthorne has fathomed the Puritan community, he favors to provide a more in depth understanding of their customs. Though born into this extremist civilization, Hawthorne conveys the idea that Puritans are highly unjust and unaware of the damage they inflict on others. Puritanistic customs, such as social regulation and overwhelming judgement, are such traditions that would further justify Hawthorne’s reasons for ridiculing his prior community, as well as religious discrimination and hypocrisy. Hardly ever does Hawthorne befuddle the reader by taking these beliefs into account and he depicts Puritans as a people with irrational standards originally intended for religious and societal reform. Ironically, the morality of the strict community transcends due to the scarlet letter; however, this fictitious take on the transformation of the Puritans differentiates with reality. While Hawthorne seems to occasionally uphold the society throughout the novel, he continues to criticize the Puritan community for its severe hypocrisy, lack of privacy, and religious

Distrust and suspicion are innate human qualities that every person will experience in their lifetime. The romanticism movement in American literature invokes these human qualities into its works, targeting the distrust and suspicion towards society and social order. Institutions and other restrictors of human liberty are viewed as shams in the sense that they don’t reveal the inner truth. Instead, romantic authors argue that to truly grasp the inner truth, they have to separate themselves, both mentally and physically, from civilization and enter the natural world. Hawthorne, in his work Young Goodman Brown, emphasizes that the inner, revealing truth is in nature and not in structured society.

The reader is able to gain knowledge about what society of the 19th century was like, through the novel. For example: the role of women, entailment and social class. The panic in which Mrs Bennet adopts, although it is exaggerated by her character, it is acceptable and understandable in her situation. This is because women do not inherit their father's property, as an alternative, the property is passed down to the next male in the family. In this case, it is Mr Collins. Therefore, Mrs Bennet needs to make sure all her daughter are

Instead of explaining how society can influence and individual she is able to illustrate it through her use of setting and characterization specifically. Her characters alone are able to show just how damaging an unaccepting society can be to one’s self-esteem. Readers are able to connect with Sense and Sensibility because it touches on a topic that is still very relevant in today’s society. It also teaches the reader that being excessively sensible can sometimes have negative results. It is a lesson about how two people can balance each other out. The issues within society in this novel open the reader’s eyes to such topics and teach them how to overcome their own issues in their everyday

Within the book Silas Marner by George Eliot, there are different depictions of religion. One faith chooses to focus wholly on God and his power to determine the lives of the people, whereas the other faith chooses to value people’s actions over how often they attend, or worship at church. Eliot describes the two differing religions as having flaws as well as virtues. However, Silas is inherently different at both locations Lantern Yard and Raveloe. How do his relationships differ in these two places, and what kind of importance do these relationships have on the religion of the region? Furthermore, is it also a question that is it religion that is responsible for forming relationships or is it that relationships are key to defining the type of religion practiced. These are some of the questions that will be explored in the following passages.

In his essay ‘The Profitable Reading of Fiction’ (1888) Hardy, proclaims that ‘an attentive reader will catch the vision the writer has in his eye, and is endeavouring to project upon the paper, even when it half eludes him’. (Regan, 2000p.325-326). However, at the time of writing Far From the Madding Crowd, Hardy was unaware of the anxiety he would go through to portray the intended verisimilitude of his narrative to his readership. Hardy’s initial objective was to present a retrospective view of reality in a rural community rapidly changing within this new industrial society. Leslie Stephen editor of the prestigious Cornhill Magazine first commissioned Hardy to write Far From The Madding Crowd, which was serialised in the magazine between