Prose Commentary

The case of Mary Morstan is presented to start on a ‘September evening’. This particular choice of month brings the reader into the cold,foggy and often miserable atmosphere of September. The atmosphere is highlighted by the sentence ‘the day had been a dreary one,and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city.’

These essays show me how much I lack when it comes to descriptive writing. I often use simple vague words to get my point across quicker rather than taking the time to write about the details about the situation or the people or whatever I may be writing about.

Harwood explores the intersubjectivity between the individual and the Other throughout ‘At Mornington’ through the use of inclusive pronouns, such as “we”. The line from stanza two, “by your parents’ grave in silence” expresses the potency of the individual’s empathy. The silence represents the acknowledgement of the Other, through nonverbally inhabiting the same space. This representation of the comfort of another being, conveys the extent of the acknowledgement, and contends the notions of existential nihilism through the implicit values of “dasein”. The last stanza of the poem contains the line “the peace of this day will shine”, this line reflects on the consequences of death. “We have one day, only one” the epanaleptic repetition of “one” emphasises the finite nature of our life and suggests an assertive tone to the statement. The motif of the day represents the lifetime of the individual; the metaphor of the day represents the cyclic nature of life and alludes to the biblical notion of death and resurrection. The cyclical representation of life and death symbolises the transition from loss to consolation, through the acknowledgement of the other, and through the developed acceptance of the individual’s

Most times, anything abnormal or odd tend to be pushed under the rug. Edgar Allan Poe subtly brings attention to topics the are typically ignored. E. A. Poe had far from a perfect childhood. His father left when he was young and his mother died when he was three. Poe also seemed to have a lonely childhood after his parents were gone. He was separated from his relatives and didn’t appear to have many friends. He attended the army and after went into West Point. His academics there were well but he was eventually kicked out because of poor handlings of his duties. Before Poe died, he struggled with depression and a drinking problem. Some believe Poe’s tragic lifetime was the inspiration for some of his stories. Such as, “The Fall of the House of Usher”. A possible theory about this story is that Roderick and the Narrator were one in the same. This essay will discuss the possibility of them being the same through plot, characterization, and personification.

“At Mornington” is about the acceptance of death and the transient nature of life. The poem conveys the richness and complexity of life ranging from naïve confidence of the child to the mature wisdom of the woman who gains fulfilment from a moment of shared friendship and can look calmly into the future. The poem is littered with biblical references and other literary techniques to outline this idea of a constant time and its effect and the change this has on a person’s identity and their reassessment. These concepts are further expanded upon in the first stanza and is utilised in

1. Throughout the story suspense is aroused and maintained excellently. This is achieved by the character the author creates. Mr. Martin is characterized as a neat and cautious man, who never took a smoke or a drink in his life. Our suspense is aroused when the author states that it has been “a week to the day since Mr. Martin had decided to rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows”. This arouses our suspense because we are told Mr. Martin is planning to murder this woman. The suspense is maintained with Mr. Martin’s thoughts. We as an audience are given his thoughts through the use of the 3rd person omniscient point of view. His thoughts are mostly on the issue on his dislike of Mrs. Barrows. Because of this, he

Memorable ideas are evident in Harwood’s poetry. In her poem, “At Mornington”, she considers the philosophical idea that the passing of time leads to gaining of wisdom. Harwood shows that growth and development are a critical part of defining our individuality. She has effectively used poetic techniques such as construction; vivid imagery and the context of her own life to explore this idea and contributed to the textual integrity of the piece. External contextual readings and values of the poem have illuminated the significance of the piece in asserting the value of friendship and relationships, and presented various ideas such as the inevitability of death, the significance that past events and memories play in shaping present perception as well as the defining of individuality through growth and development. Together, this contributes to the memorability of the poem.

Gwen Harwood’s, ‘Father and child’, is a two-part poem that tempers a child’s naivety to her matured, grown up attitude. Barn Owl presents a threshold in which the responder is able to witness the initiation of Gwen’s transition. The transformation is achieved through her didactical quest for wisdom, lead by her childhood naivety and is complimented through ‘nightfall’, where we see her fully maturate state. The importance of familial relationship and parental guidance is explored in father and child, as well as the contrasting views on mortality and death. Barn Owl depicts death as a shocking and violent occurrence while the second poem, nightfall, displays that death can be accepted, describing the cyclical and

Gwen Harwood’s poetry endures to engage readers through its poetic treatment of loss and consolation. Gwen Harwood’s seemingly ironic simultaneous examination of the personal and the universal is regarded as holding sufficient textual integrity that it has come to resonate with a broad audience and a number of critical perspectives. This is clearly evident within her poems ‘At Mornington’ and ‘A Valediction’, these specific texts have a main focus on motif that once innocence is lost it cannot be reclaimed, and it is only through appreciating the value of what we have lost that we can experience comfort and achieve growth.

The speakers in “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” and “A Nocturnal Reverie” present themselves as somewhat

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time

In Alice Munro’s “Silence”, Juliet, a single working mother, is abandoned by her daughter Penelope, who left without a warning or a trace to explore her spirituality and start a new life for herself. Juliet is at first baffled and distraught, as she cannot understand why Penelope would leave. She had thought that Penelope had always been very happy at home. Juliet never does hear definitively why Penelope left, but throughout this short story she analyzes why it might be and what it means for her life now. The use of simple and straightforward diction, emotional monologues, and harsh conclusions show a drastic case of how children can grow apart from their parents. These techniques align with Poe’s theory that a story should evoke a unique

To begin, each of the character’s personality undergoes an indisputable transformation that is represented through their vulnerability and exposure to events, allowing them be compared and contrasted to one another. Confidence and self-assurance encapsulates how the husband-wife duo can be contrasted in their seemingly different personality. Prior to committing the ultimate crime of regicide, Macbeth acts with uncertainty and is manipulated his cunning wife: “I am Thane of Cawdor./ If good, why do I yield to that [thought of killing Duncan]/ Whose

Poe’s poem, “Lenore” extends further and uniquely focuses on a man’s journey to accept the loss of his betrothed using the tone and organization of the text. The poem is organized as a conversation in four stanzas between Guy de Vere and the narrator. The first and third stanzas are the spoken words of the narrator and the second and fourth stanzas are the verbal responses of Guy de Vere. Poe’s decision to compose his poem in this manner provides the reader with a direct look at the raw, bare emotions of the recently widowed man. These four stanzas allow the reader four opportunities to stand in Guy de Vere’s shoes and to hear what he hears. The reader now can identify with the complex array of emotions and stages of grief experienced by Guy de Vere. With each stanza in the poem, the tone changes slightly showing the gradual acceptance of the loss by Guy de Vere. In the second stanza, de Vere’s tone, created by internal sound devices and sentence structure, is hostile, demonstrating the anger felt. The change in de Vere’s tone occurring in the fourth stanza demonstrates a major evolution in his outlook toward the future. He finally understands that although Lenore is gone, she will be accepted in Heaven; and his life will continue without her. By talking out his feelings through conversation, Guy de Vere finally accepts the loss of his bride to be, showing the power that one conversation can have on someone’s life. In Poe’s poem, he uses structure and sound devices to show that after the loss of a loved one, one may attribute the death to others, but with consolation and care from others, he or she will make peace with the

The majority of Robert Frost’s poetry features a down-home, country, naturalistic tone. However, he reached for the dark sinister tone, reminiscent of Poe. In the poem, “The Witch of Coos,” Frost raises the hair on audience’s arms with the chilling imagery of an elderly woman keeping a secret. Within this poem, Frost explains the dark secret of the mother and son within the dialogue. Without giving away what events took place directly, Frost brings about a story which reminds audiences of campfire horror stories. Poe, on the other hand,