Myop's Innocence

Eugenia Collier, the author of the short story Marigolds makes great use of literary devices such as imagery, diction, flashback, and juxtaposition in a way that creates a voice for the narrator that conveys both the regret over, and possibly the longing for her childhood. The diction, that is, the vocabulary choice is expertly combined with imagery, or the unique descriptions and sensory details, in order to allow the reader to formulate the experiences and the surroundings of the narrator's childhood in their imaginations. Flashback is used to allow the narrator to not only explain how she viewed the events of her past as a child, but to compare these views with her adult feelings of the same events. Juxtaposition aids in further explaining the connection between the setting and emotions of the main character, creating a better picture of the narrator’s life. These elements all combine to construct a narrative that effectively conveys the coming of age theme.

p. 82). Therefore, the adult narrator’s ability to comment and reflect on his child-self effectively emphasizes the naïve and vulnerable nature of youth, and contributes to the mood of foreboding and suspense throughout the novel, ‘now I was over confident. I expected things to go my way’ (Chapter 1. p. 28).

Most of the time there is a moment in life where one realizes they have lost all innocence and gained some compassion.  “Marigolds” shows how one young girl transferred from a child to young adult through her life experiences.  Throughout this story another young, but at the same time old in her prime, lady’s experiences are revealed:  the author’s.  In this short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier’s subconscious is unmasked through symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s actions.

Trees and plants represent life in the novel which ties into the overarching theme of the dehumanization that comes from slavery. Many of the characters in Beloved have been subjected to awful events causing them to feel as if they were worse than animals. Because of this, many characters look to the beauty of nature and trees in particular, to help them heal from their time in slavery. For example, Baby Suggs decided to preach in a place called The Clearing, which is surrounded by tall trees. "In the Clearing, Sethe found Baby's old preaching rock and remembered the smell of leaves simmering in the sun, thunderous feet and the shouts that ripped pods off the limbs of chestnuts. With Baby Suggs' heart in charge, the people let go." (Morrison 94) Another example of trees bringing healing to the characters in the novel is the arrival of Beloved. “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water. She barely gained the dry bank of the stream before she sat down and leaned against a mulberry tree.”(Morrison 60) This tree represents a chance at a new life for Beloved and also offers Sethe a chance to heal. Ever since killing her child, Sethe has been haunted over her decision and she is finally able to confront her past with the appearance of

The diction in the excerpt is an essential component to the dramatization of the plot’s central incident. Jewett uses rich language to intensify the simple nature of the main character Sylvia’s journey up a “great pine-tree.” For example, in describing the tree, the narrator uses personification as he mentions the “huge tree asleep yet in the paling moonlight.” The use of personification harkens back to those universal moments in childhood in which everything alive had human feelings, and creates an emotional attachment between the reader and the tree. Jewett also uses other figurative language, like similes, to relate the grandeur of the tree to the audience. She writes, “It [the tree] was like a great main-mast to the voyaging earth…” In comparing the tree to the great mast of a ship, the author invokes feelings of awe at its size.

of them ninety feet high; which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for all

There comes a point in one’s life when they must recognize the hardships placed upon them, and instead of being ignorant of those hardships, they must confront them head-on. In “Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia Collier, the main protagonist, Lizabeth, encounters various struggles that come with living in a poor town in rural Maryland during the Depression, allowing her to learn more about growing up and accepting reality with all its flaws. Lizabeth is a 14-year-old girl who feels a conflict between her inner child and her inner woman, as she is unable to do anything that satisfies both sides of her. She feels too old to be a child, yet too young to be a

1. Goodman Brown is headed to the forest after the sunset. 2. In the text you can tell that Brown’s destination is a scary one when the narrator describes; “he had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees in the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind.”

Throughout these two stories, the forest serves to represent evil and the unknown; however, it also represents truth, as it is the place where secrets come out and people express their true selves. In the very beginning of Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown’s wife Faith, advises him to wait until sunrise of the next morning to start his journey into the forest instead of leaving at night time, suggesting that Brown is traveling towards, and into the ominous darkness. This darkness represents everything evil, or the devil’s abode, so by having Faith urge her husband not to travel during the dark nighttime, it can be inferred that she is attempting to help him avoid the devil. However, Brown does not listen to the advice of Faith, and ventures deep into the path of sin, eventually coming to a terrifying realization

Titles and opening paragraphs of stories are very important. Although titles are known to tell readers the overall summary of the story in just several words, they also have significant meanings to the overall theme or subject of the story. In “Young Goodman Brown” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”, the first few paragraphs reel the readers into the world envisioned by each author. The titles inconspicuously hold significant meaning in relation to the story. The title of “Young Goodman Brown” suggests that Goodman Brown is known to be a religious, everyday man; he is neither rich nor poor and he lives a very modest life.

Alice Walker “The Flowers” is a literary piece in which violence is not presented but suggested , and not experienced, but witnessed. Alice Walker is a contemporary African-American writer who is mainly concerned with racism. She has worked to address problems of poverty and inequality. Originally written in 1970, it is set in the south of America and is about Myop a small 10- year old African-American girl who explores the place where she lives with her black family. Alice Walker succeeded in employing symbolism to highlight childhood innocence and the loss of it.

Shirley Jackson creates an atmosphere of a gloomy, dark, mysteriously fantastical wood through the twisted encounters of Christopher and the woods and dark interactions between man and nature to show the effects of the “real world” on the perception of nature. Christopher is walking through the woods for days on end with no plan, no end point. His interactions with nature show his apparent hatred and bitter attitude toward it. “Wearily moving his feet because he had nothing else to do, Christopher went on down the road, hating the trees that moved slowly against his progress, hating the dust beneath his feet, hating the sky, hating this road,” (Jackson 1). Jackson repeatedly utilizes the word ‘hate’ in a variety of forms to portray Christopher as teenager of young adult full of animosity towards all aspects of nature.

“The Flower” by Alice Walker is a story about the loss of childhood innocence. The main character, a young girl named Myop, is enjoying a summer morning by gathering flowers when she stumbles upon a decaying body who has been lynched. By this situation, Myop can no longer erase that horrific image and will be traumatized forever, therefore; her childhood, like the summer, is now over. Walker uses symbolism, and setting to prepare the readers for the end in which the story is develop

Significant Locations of the novella Of Mice and Men Throughout the course of John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ nearly all of the locations play a significant role in the development and overall meaning of the story: the author includes multiple scenes of which take on underlying connotations and metaphorical motifs. During the period in which the novel takes place (Nineteen thirties America) the global economy was experiencing widespread recession caused by the effects of the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929, this led to a rise in unemployment, the lowering of personal wages and a mass migration to find what little employment was available. This directly coincides with the situation of the two protagonists of the book as well

Myop, a young African American girl who lives in a sharecropping cabin is introduced to the concept of death. This occurs while near-sighted Myop is happily walking around through the forest, when she is introduced to beauty evident in flowers, “various common but pretty ferns and leaves, an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet suds bush full of the brown, fragrant buds” (4). The flowers come to represent life, and Myop is shown to be ignorant of her surroundings, possible reasons as to why this particular passage was included would be to foreshadow dark