Rhetorical Devices In The Death Of The Moth

Ted Kooser’s poem, “Surviving”, can be interpreted in many different ways. At first the poem seems to be about a man who is watching a bug being attentive to its surroundings and the bug having the fear of death. Another way to interpret this poem is that death is unrelenting. Even when the speaker seems to have ceased the image of death, it finds its way back. This is prevalent because the speaker starts talking about the fear of death, then altering the tone by describing this bug he witnesses. The speaker then leaves the reader uncertain at the end of the poem. Ted Kooser reveals the uncertainty of the bugs’ near future in the last line of the poem. A careful analysis of the poem, the poem is truly about a man in his final stages of life being attentive to death and the beauty of the bug he observes.

A trickiest aspect regarding growing up is considering death. It's something individuals truly don't like to think about, but thinking about mortality is pretty much an inevitable part of coming of age. Everybody does it at some point—you know because we're all going to die someday, as are our loved ones. You know the drill: Our grandma show us, cherish, then they get super old and die, and after that we slither into the bathtub with their corpses. It's just the circle of life. What's that? You've never taken a bath with a dead person? Well then you might be a little surprised by how things unfurl in Helena Maria Viramontes' 1985 short story "The Moths," a story about a youthful Latina girl who feels at odds with pretty much everybody in her family except her cherished Abuelita.

In “On Natural Death,” Thomas appeals to the readers by contemplating the subject of death with an academic approach that includes facts, data, and information. Thomas successfully transforms death from an awkward, emotional subject to a more comfortable intellectual one. This engages the readers by placing contemplation of death and dying within the confines of a more manageable and rational context. His gradual exhumation of death eases the audience into pondering the subject in the absence of emotional stress. The essay transitions from the death of an elm tree to that of a mouse. This is followed by Thomas giving a significant amount of attention to a scientific explanation of death, and then finally the description of the near death experience of a human. This use of an academic appeal moves the audience to a comfort zone with the subject of death and circumvents the common response of avoidance. The reader is simultaneously desensitized to the gravity of subject matter and given permission to consider death and dying without the normal societal negative stigma associated with the subject.

Annie Dillard, the author of "Death of a Moth" and Virginia Woolf, the author of "The Death of the Moth" have different perspectives on the subject of life and death.

"The Death of the Moth," written by Virginia Woolf, explains the brief life of a moth corresponding with the true nature of life and death. In this essay, Woolf puts the moth in a role that represents life. Woolf makes comparisons of the life outside to the life of the moth. The theme is the mystery of death and the correspondence of the life of the moth with the true nature of life. The images created by Woolf are presented that appeal to the eye. For instance, the moth's body during the death is appealing to the eye. The image makes the reader more interested. The essence of true life is energy. As Woolf describes, "I could fancy that a thread of vital light became visible. He was

Contrary to many people, including Woolf’s, beliefs, death is not the end of life. The moth becomes bigger than itself. It was a normal moth, yet its untimely death benefitted Dillard. Though reading a book may not be considered great, Dillard enjoys it, and would not have been able to enjoy it without the ultimate sacrifice performed by the mere moth, which became bigger in a single moment.

To conclude, Annie Dillard’s piece “The Death of the Moth;” is about Dillard being reminded of the death of a moth she observes and how it relates to herself, this piece is a great depiction of the impact of life and death. She talks about her personal experience in a tone that

In the excerpt, Death of a Moth, by Annie Dillard, she attempts to overcome her writer's block by getting away from it all and taking a trip into the Mountains of Virginia. While taking time off, she intends to spiritually find her true self again and get back on a successful track. Only by using concrete imagery, drawing a strong parallel, and meticulously selecting a certain word choice to create points of clarity, is she able to effectively convey her inner struggle.

In the short stories, the “Death of the Moth,” Annie Dillard and Virginia Woolf discover a moth flying and observes it. The short versions has two versions and both author tries to explore the theme of life and death and explains their perspectives on it. Both of the short stories have similar titles, but both pieces exhibit several differences. Annie Dillard starts off her short story by beginning the death of the moth and realizes the value of life. Virginia Woolf tells us that she sees the moth as a pathetic creature and sees that death is a powerful force that no one can stand up to. Both authors go into great detail pertaining to life and death.

Life is a constant struggle against the ever present chill of death. Fear, betrayal, and cowardice all stems from life’s distaste of death. Human beings naturally rebuke the unknown, so it is only logical that people fight the inevitability of death. However, most people are ignorant of the reality of one day dying, prompting writer Virginia Woolf to write the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, in order to convey the frailty of life whilst also showing the awesome might of death. In the essay, her main purpose is to show that the moth embodies the human race, and that death is an inevitable fact of life no matter how much the human race struggles to stay alive. Woolf is able to get her purpose across by

Death is often displayed in literature, showing how would people react towards it . Whether its in "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin, "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, or even "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield, death appears to be unavoidable. Although these are different short stories, death is applied, but the author's interpretations differentiate.

In her essay, Woolf resorts to a melancholic, even a sad tone. Watching the moth and its unsuccessful attempts to get out of the windowpane to where life goes on, Woolf feels towards him “a kind of pity” (195). The word “pity” pops up in the work constantly, which puts reader into sympathetic mood. Then, describing the moth’s last effort to escape from the glass trap and her useless try to help it, Woolf uses a helpless tone. As well as the moth, she gives up. There is no way one “had any chance against death” (Woolf 195). These words evoke a hopeless feeling that there is no way out, no matter how hard we try.

When I first read through Nathanael Johnson’s article discussing the fall of bee populations in relation to a catastrophic unearthly demise, I kept an open mind. With my personal opinion about the bee crisis stifled, I read on to see if Johnson could aptly convince me of his argument. Unsurprisingly, he failed.

Virginia Woolf’s “Death of a Moth” may, at first glance, seem lackluster; however, her creative and impactful message is brilliantly hidden within symbolism that demands an abstract perspective. She uses imagery to describe a moth and personify its actions in order to present it as a symbol for life. Additionally, pathos throughout her work evokes emotions and prompts the analytical thinking needed to understand her underlying meaning. Thus, Woolf’s analysis about life is composed using symbolism, imagery, and pathos that combine to create a contemplative style and motivational purpose.

Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” are both written about life’s stopping point, death. Although the poems are written by the same poet, both poems view death in a different manner. Between the two poems, one views death as having an everlasting life while the other anticipates everlasting life, only to realize it does not exist. While both poems are about death, both poems also illustrate that the outcome of death is a mysterious experience that can only be speculated upon with the anticipation of everlasting life.