Surprised By Joy Written By William Wordsworth

Joy Hopewell is the thirty-three-year-old maimed child of Ms. Hopewell in Flannery O'Connor's short story, Good Country People." Joy is characterized throughout the story as an ungrateful, childish adult with a bad temperament. Joy's leg has been shot off in a hunting accident over twenty years ago, and it can be presumed that at least some of her behavioral issues can be attributed to the accident.

Written in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, one could hardly mistake it for anything so pleasant. Sonnets being traditionally used for beautiful, appealing topics, already there is contradiction between

In literature, readers often see topics that one can relate to; topics that mimic everyday life, personal anecdotes or situations one has experienced . “A Rose for Emily,” a fictional story written by William Faulkner, shares eerily similar details with an article written in the Philadelphia Inquirer on January 30, 1987, “A Woman’s Wintry Death Leads to a Long-dead Friend,” by Dick Pothier and Thomas J. Gibbons JR. Faulkner’s narrator depicts the reclusive life of Miss Emily Grierson and the events leading to the discovery of a dead man’s body that had been locked away in her 2nd story bedroom for over forty years. In the article, Pothier and Gibbons report how a woman named Frances Dawson Hamilton was found to have “lived with the skeletonized remains” of her long-time companion for over two years after being discovered frozen to death in her home (153). Faulkner’s short story heavily relies on the narrator’s knowledge in addition to his point of view and experiences whereas Pothier and Gibbons report facts observed on scene or learned from interviews of neighbors, police, and investigators. Although fear of solitude initially motivated both women to behave so outlandishly, it is the authors’ distinct portrayal that illustrates each individual’s intentions.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “The Cry of the Children” is a poignant look into the horrid practice of child labor that took place in the mines and factories of 1840’s industrial England. Browning paints such a vivid, disturbing picture that she aroused the conscience of the entire nation. A new historicist perspective into this poem will help understand why Browning decided to take a stand and speak up for these children through her work.

Although everyone is their own individual, society determines who is considered “normal.” In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon struggles to fit in with the people around him because of his mental illness. Elie Wiesel faces the same struggles while trying to survive in a concentration camp in Night. Charlie and Elie have both been challenged by the concept of identity. In Flowers for Algernon and Night, these characters have faced many conflicts including not having their identity accepted by society, having insecurities about their identity, and being mistreated based on their identity.

To have compassion is to have the ability to show a deep understanding towards one’s situation, and to be able to reflect that understanding in a conscientious manner. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, compassion is a central theme as it is the rise and fall of many of the characters. Atticus, Tom Robinson and Scout were all able to show compassion in dire situations even if it may not have been what most people would have done.

In the poem, “Sympathy” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and the response to the literature, “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou are structured around the symbol of a caged bird. As the caged bird is the symbol of the African American race during that time, both have similar and different meanings in their responses.

Joy Shapiro Krushelevansky is a typical almost 13 year-old girl who will sneak makeup to school, put it on in the bathroom, and take it off before she gets home to keep it from her strict mother and still be popular at school. Cannie, her mother, is like a helicopter ☺, hovering over Joy trying to protect her. Cannie will not accept the inevitable truth of Joy maturing. With Joy’s bat mitzvah around the corner, their ideas clash in what is appropriate and meaningful, and what is a big extravaganza, similar to all the other kid’s parties. Joy is finally taking notice in her mother’s novel from 10 years ago, and reading about her mother’s sexual life would be terrifying for any 13 year-old. When Joy realizes her mother’s book is not boring science

Sunlight is often associated with happiness which is juxtaposed in this poem by being the first and last line despite the negative connotations throughout the

Author Gennita Low once said, “A new life is innocent, like an empty page, ready for the hard lessons ahead” (Low). This overlying message can often be seen in many pieces of media created throughout the 20th century. Two chief examples include director Godfrey Reggio’s documentary Powaqqatsi (1988) as well as Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, written in 1960; To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of a little girl named Jean Louise (Scout) Finch who, over the course of the book, helps to confront the problem of deeply-rooted prejudice in a close-knit southern town in Alabama. Powaqqatsi, on the other hand, draws attention to the conflicts arising in Emerging countries between their older, more traditional ways of life, and the new ways of life introduced to them through industrialization and spread of Western culture. When looking at the archetypal idea of coming of age, both of these forms of media help present-day audiences understand how adolescents grow and develop. This leads one to ask, what exactly are contributing factors that could make adults and children begin to lose this childhood innocence?

William Wordsworth's poem The world is too much with us is a statement about conflict between nature and humanity. The symbolism in his poem illustrates a sense of the conviction and deep feelings Wordsworth had toward nature. He longs for a much simpler time when the progress of humanity was tempered by the restriction nature imposed. Wordsworth is saying in this poem that man is wasting his time on earth by not appreciating nature around him. He is looking but not beholding. "We have given our hearts away" (4) means that we have sold the part of us that is from the earth (man which is from dust) in order to make other things more important than appreciating life; such as, money or

Robert Frost is the author of Out Out--, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and Nothing Gold can Stay. His literary work communicates deep meaning through the use of metaphoric language and deception. Being raised most of his life on a farm; his works perceive the natural life of a normal person while out in nature. “Frost believes that the emphasis on everyday life allows him to communicate with his readers more clearly; they can empathize with the struggles and emotions that are expressed in his poems and come to a greater understanding of ‘Truth’ themselves” (Robert Frost: Poems Themes).

We are seven, a poem written by William Wordsworth, paints the perfect picture of innocence, in all its forms. It tells of a man conversing with a young girl, inquiring about her family. She, without fail or any hesitation, responds that she is one of seven children; however, two have died. This is ultimately why the man is confused throughout the entire work. I am going to explore the notion of naïveté in Wordsworth's, We are seven, by analyzing the many different aspects of innocence in the young girl and the man and contrasting with the element of experience.

Robert Frost said many times throughout his life that all men share a common bond. In his poem “The Tuft of Flowers” he analyzes the potential of such a bond, in first person. Frost turns an everyday common job, into discovering a common bond with another laborer. The author uses a comparison between aloneness with a sense of understanding to demonstrate his theme of unity between two men. In another one of Frost’s poems “Birches” he imagines walking through the woods looking at all the trees, and seeing the top bending towards the ground. When he sees this he imagines they are bending from kids swinging on them, rather then what is really happening to them. It can be analyzed that Frost had a very definitive appreciation for nature, and a very broad imagination.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.