Response To John Greenblatt's 'Invictus'

Historical- This story was written in the 1970’s about war, the Vietnam War to be more specific. The reason I know it was that war is because the author himself fought in the Vietnam War. In 1968, after graduating from college, O’Brien gets a paper saying he’s being drafted. He was going to flee to the boarder of Canada but he went to war. Coming back after the war he attended Harvard and became an Award winning novelist. The text is saying briefly it was a hard period in time. There were parts where he talks about the character Paul and he says “He was pretending he was a boy again”, I’m guessing deep down he didn’t want to be there fighting.

There are many poets that have been writing some of the most amazing poems in the world for years upon years. Poetry is a great way to write about some of the most meaningful things in one’s life, without directly having to state what you’re trying to say some of the times. A lot of poets write about events within their lives as well as things in everyday life in the lives of everyone in the world. The poems “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and “Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) both use great diction and varying tone in their poems to portray their individual perspectives about life.

The theme of fatalism in the poem is so strong that it is evident that fate was a strong force in the lives of the people of this

“What people say you cannot do, you try and find out that you can.” - Henry David Thoreau. The poem,12b “Invictus”,12d tells the story of a man faced with many difficult challenges but always showed perseverance. *While the other poem, “If We Must Die”,12d by Claude McKay, 12d references the civil rights movement and repeats throughout that if one dies they should die honorably for a cause they support. Both poems are similar to the play Antigone, which retells the myth of a young woman in Ancient Greece, faced with challenging man’s law to uphold God’s law. The poem, “Invictus”,12d by William Ernest Henley,12d relates more to the play, Antigone,12d by Sophocles,12d due to the common theme of perseverance and the personal tone throughout

Francis Howard Greenway was born on the 20 November 1777 and lived near Bristol, England. He was an only child and lived with his mother and father.

“Being unconquerable lies within yourself; being conquerable lies within your enemy” -Sun Tzu. The novella Anthem and the poem “Invictus” both have the same theme of being unconquerable. In the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand the main character, Equality, lives in a society where you do everything for everyone else. Nothing is personal. Equality starts breaking laws and does things for himself.

Timothy McVeigh was quoted the famous poem, Invictus, saying “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul”. McVeigh believed in many things; one being that government was planning to strip it’s citizens of their rights. As McVeigh hatred for the government grew so did the outcome of his actions. After the Waco Siege massacre, which involved the accidental burning of an isolated compound that took the lives of seventy-six members of a religious cult in Texas, McVeigh wrath against the government was boiling. It was at this time that McVeigh planned to carry out one of the worst terrorist attacks ever on US soil. It is often told that in the last moments of someone’s life remorse and shame are visibly expressed on an individual 's face; however, in the execution of domestic terrorist, Timothy McVeigh, that was not the case.

“I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future, as I have in the past, to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my ideal of academic freedom—that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in our Constitution of personal and religious freedom. I think the fine is unjust.” John T. Scopes. The state of Tennessee had beaten the defendant and had shown that they, no matter how good a trial, will not be bested when it came to the Butler Act. Scopes should’ve won the trial, except some limiting factors that made it virtually impossible for him to win was towards the end of the trial when all of his key witnesses had been struck from the record and could not be used to influence the final verdict, by the time the trial had started he already had a target on his back and he had already lost in the eyes of the country and how they treated the case as a publicity stunt and not the importance they needed to. This changed the view of people and the school’s.

As we journey through life and engage in a myriad of physical and emotional experiences, we renew our understanding of the world and ourselves. Composers Ang Lee and William Ernest Henley amplify the intrinsically complex journey of overcoming obstacles allowing the audience to gain deep insight into the challenges each individual is faced throughout their lives. Through spiritual revelations and realisations Ang Lee's film 'Life of Pi' reveals significant attitudes of individuals in order to survive. Similarly, the poem 'Invictus' composed by William Ernest Henley accurately explores the changes of attitudes in life through emotional and intellectual discoveries. Both composers enable great discoveries about society and ourselves through communicating

William James, an American philosopher and psychologist once said “believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” Life, regardless of how close it lies to death, is worth keeping. The poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas is a son’s appeal to a fading father. He shows his father that men from all walks of life confront death, however, they still war against it. Thomas uses figurative language to classify men into four different categories to persuade his father to realize that a life, regardless of how it was lived, should be fought for.

There can be a clear message found in both literary pieces that conveys a strong message. A similar theme that can be found in both “A Long Way Gone” and “Invictus” is they both display power. The theme that can be found in both literary pieces is that everyone has the power to overcome harsh situations, but it depends on their ability to execute it. In “A Long Way Gone” Ishmael displays his power when he is able to overcome his symptoms of being a child soldier. Ishmael had always felt that no matter what had happened to him he had the “resilience to outlive [his] sufferings,” this displays Ishmael’s power to overcome the hardships of a child soldier(Beah 169). As well in the poem “Invictus” power is displayed by the

The iconoclast controversy, initiated by Leo III and solidified by decree by Emperor Constantine V and his allies through the Council of Hiereia, was a violent and theologically divisive struggle which transcended dispute over the material with a Christological partition. The controversy between iconoclast and iconophile lasted for some time, and was a matter that consisted both of physical violence and persecution of the iconophiles and physical destruction of icons, the immediate and primary source of the issue. The veneration of icons, to the iconoclasts, signified worshipping an idol; therefore, the idolatry of venerating icons was a violation of past ecumenical dogma, a violation of Biblical decrees, and a denial of the hypostatic union of Jesus, as a material object

People going through a hard time can not let their struggles consume them, but they need to overcome them and get stronger. Poems “Invictus” by

William ernest Henley in his poem Invictus and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in his poem Ulysses offers a resolution of thinking. Although both poems may have different context literary play to express their purpose, both poems share a message to venture onward for the purpose of gaining sovereignty of ones life.

Many people have both feared and questioned death throughout the ages but when it’s time to die, two kinds of people emerge: those who accept it and wait to die, and those who keep fighting. Dylan Thomas describe the importance of continuing to fight in his poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, which he wrote for his dying father. Firstly, there is lots of symbolism in the poem, which helps to develop the theme of never giving up. Secondly, the author uses many literary devices, which help to develop the main theme of the text, which is to never stop fighting. Lastly, there is lots of imagery used to help develop the theme of persevering until the end even more. Death is all around us but it is important to persevere and keep fighting