Stolpestad

Throughout the world, an undeniable, yet perpetual force is responsible for tearing nearly everyone apart: hopelessness. Often caused by instability or vulnerability, hopelessness plagues those who refrain from combating its vile side effects. Hopelessness loves company, producing an inseparable bond between itself and self-doubt. During wartime events, it’s imperative to display some form of resistance towards the crippling despair. Although on the surface hopelessness seems insurmountable, it can be fought. In All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr emphasizes how the vital tool of resilience can be used to conquer hopelessness in all situations.

The viewpoint of this text is first person from a narrator, who appears to be a younger version of the author, and the narrator is

The speaker is the voice of the poem, since “I” is used alot in this poem, it is in first person. I imagined the speaker’s

The dogs passing could be seen as a metaphor for the Beth leaving her husband on his own to provide for himself, to take care of any possessions she may have had, and to fight his depression alone. The main character is now having feelings of loneliness and depression. The first paragraph states that "inside is warm", and "outside is cold", This could be tied as symbolism of the fact that he is secluding himself from the world. When the dog passed away the main character said that "it's not my dog, but it's my responsibility", this can make the reader think of all of the other responsibilities that the main character was left with. There are definitely some parallels between the dog and Beth. They both end up being burdens on the main character and leaving behind more for him to deal with. After the dog passes away the main character says "the blood on the carpet of the car is out of sight, and I will pretend it isn’t there. And then there's the touch." The touch can be seen as how the dog emotionally affected him by passing away. The dog did bring sadness to the main characters life due to the memories the main character seemed to have when he interacted with the dog. "I watched my hand volunteer itself and run its finger through the nap of his head". The way this sentence is put together makes it sound as if his caring for the dog was an involuntary action.

For this essay I will analyze the unnamed narrator whom is the protagonist in the story. The story opens up with the narrator describing

Although some people react dramatically when facing a situation, after reflecting on their initial reactions, their previous emotions may be affected by a previously unknown feeling of freedom. In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, receives some sad news. Initially, Mrs. Mallard reacts with great sadness over the news of her husband’s death. As the story progresses, Mrs. Mallard begins to reflect on her previous emotions alone and begins to develop her true emotions towards her husband’s death. Finally, Mrs. Mallard realizes that the wonderful feelings of individual freedom overpower her feelings of sadness. Therefore, although Mrs. Mallard reacts with sadness over the death of her husband, Brently, after reflecting on her previous emotions, she discovers that the feelings of individual freedom overtake the relationship with her husband.

As seen in the passages, the speaker is a highly philosophical and educated person in the field of critical reading. For instance, the speaker makes many comparison such as buying a beefsteak and eating it and distinguishing whether a book owner owns woodpulp and ink or the book itself. The speaker stated that even though one may have the beefsteak in their icebox, it doesn’t truly belong to them until they consume it. Similar to the beefsteak situation, one truly owns the book if he or she writes in it, but only owns the ink and wood pulp if he or she lets the book sit on the shelf, untouched. The speaker’s temperaments are revealed to the readers through his opinions about books and critical readings. Furthermore, the the speaker’s identity is apparent in the story due to the first-person narration in the beginning and the use of the word “you” to show that he is talking directly to the readers.

In the first chapter, I discovered who the narrator was on page 21. It specifically was revealed when the narrator is talking about the dead brother of Liesel Meminger saying, “It was exactly when I knelt down and extracted his soul, holding it limply in my swollen arms” (21). revealing the narrator’s identity as Death.

Unemployed and overwhelmed by inferiority and disappointment, Bowker lacks a motivating force for life. Emotionally stricken, he only finds satisfaction in driving slowly and repeatedly in

The loss of hope is one of the most substantial factors contributing to the loss of self. Hope is what keeps someone going in life. How can one remain himself without a purpose in life? Luckily, in A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, the protagonist regains hope in himself after losing it due to a pessimistic viewpoint. The drastic shift in Grant’s outlook on life reveals that hope is needed for success.

In the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin presents the character of Mrs. Louis Mallard. She is an unhappy woman trapped in her discontented marriage. Unable to assert herself or extricate herself from the relationship, she endures it. The news of the presumed death of her husband comes as a great relief to her, and for a brief moment she experiences the joys of a liberated life from the repressed relationship with her husband. The relief, however, is short lived. The shock of seeing him alive is too much for her bear and she dies. The meaning of life and death take on opposite meaning for Mrs. Mallard in her marriage because she lacked the courage to stand up for herself.

To have hope is to be able to see the light amid the darkness. This is a notion shown in Ned Vizzini’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story”. The protagonist is a teenage boy named Craig, who struggles with depression. One night, Craig checks himself into a hospital because of his suicidal thoughts. He then gets placed in the adult psychiatric ward called Six North. The novel “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” demonstrates that it is crucial to remain positive during hard times as there will be better days, with the usage of conflicts and characters. This is important because everyone undergoes hardships at some point in their life and must be able to prevail.

Another form of symbolism takes place later in the novel in chapter thirteen, when the Joad family dog is run over by a car on the highway. In the story, the dog’s mangled corpse is described to be “a blot of blood [with] tangled, burst

Last, one of the biggest parts of the film was the word rosebud. We didn’t get to know what it meant until the last scene of the film. But, it was his sled I believe that was something that he loved and felt that he belonged to. It reminding him of his family and home. That was probably one of the only things he really cared about. I guess while he was lying there dieing he thought of his sled rosebud, because of all the good times he had with it, and how he had a family that loved him at one point in his life.

The novel Tenth of December by George Saunders, I picked the chapter “Tenth of December” to discuss perseverance. In this chapter, Saunders uses a post-modern style of writing to illustrate and critique one of the main characters in the chapter, Don Eber. He believes that because of is his sickness that makes him a burden to his family, and he is not worthy of life. then a little boy named Robin ruined Eder’s desire of suicide by almost dying himself. Eber acts fast and he saves Robin, and he returns him home safely. In that moment, Eber realizes that his life has meaning. He must fight is sickness and make the best out of what little time he has left. Everyone has a role to play in this life. Saunders designed the dialogue to be a back and forth subconscious dialogue between Robin and Eber. This represents the symbiotic relationship between Robin and Eber, and how Robin gives Eber a reason to live. This story critiques the main character’s (Eber’s) idea of what self-worth is.