The Jump Literary Devices

In the short stories “Stones” and “To Every Thing There is a Season” the authors Sandra Birdsell and Alistair MacLeod both use literary devices in a similar manner in order to achieve their thematic objectives. This essay will compare the way the authors use three literary devices such as imagery, metaphor and similes in their short stories to portray the thematic objective of loss of innocence.

Fear is a part of life, however, how we face it is what makes each of us unique. In the story, “Breaking Through Uncertainty-Welcoming Adversity”, McCormick faces a fear of death. Although he is a very experienced jumper, one day, the lines of his parachute twisted and caused him to spiral down out of

One of the things we fear the most is the loss of or lack of control. Even if we really don’t have control, we like to think we do, and when we lose that sense of control, fear rushes in. For example, an alcoholic will say " I can quit any time; I’m in control." The fear comes when he realizes for the first time that he is an alcoholic and that he is not in control. We all fear uncertainty and the unknown. We arm ourselves against it with candles in the dark, or faith against the uncertainty of death. Then, when we think we’ve conquered our fear, it comes invading our minds again, let in by a smell or a taste, a sound or a thought Fear is always there, just waiting right under the surface, to awaken those memories which frighten us the most.

The idea of fear is a fairly simple concept, yet it carries the power to consume and control lives. Fears have stemmed from an inadvertent psychological response to situations deemed threating to one’s personal safety, but have evolved into a complex web of often illogical misconceptions which are able to cloud a person’s judgment and result in situations often worse than originally intended. Fears can be hard to quell, but it has been shown the best way to overcome fears is often to face them, as author James Baldwin asserted when he wrote, “To defend oneself against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” Baldwin makes strongly qualified statement, and his idea fears must be faced to

I don’t go to outside sources to get past my fear of the unknown because I want to believe my challenges don’t matter. I want to believe that my challenges are all blessings in disguise. By facing my challenges, I am also facing the complexity of life, but more importantly I am forced to correct them. I am forced to admit that my excuses like not knowing where to start or what steps need to be taken are merely excuses. I make them because it is easier to stay in familiar but negative places than to improve myself.

In “The Certainty of Fear” by Audra Kendall, the author chronicles the fears we have throughout our lifetime. Starting with the fears of childhood and then adolescence, progressing to a mid-life crisis and concluding with the fears of our senior years; I can relate to these fears but I don’t remember much of my younger years. For me, my greatest fears started as an adolescent and continue now into the mid years of my life and further into the future of my senior years.

In Paulo Coelho’s book, The Alchemist, he demonstrates that people should let go of their fears in order to succeed in life. In several occasions the main author, Santiago, had lots of fear that interfere with him traveling to Egypt and finding his treasure. It took strength to overcome those fears and take the necessary steps to be able to pursue his Personal Legend and find his treasure. In addition to Santiago, the crystal merchant also had fears that prevented him from meeting his goals. I can related to both Santiago and the crystal merchant in that sometimes I have fears that interfere with my goals.

When I was younger I went through a trial that was difficult but I faced it. I came my fear like Odysseus over came his problems on his way back home. Over coming my fear wast easy like Odysseus getting home The trial that I had faced was me getting over my fear of heights but I couldn't show my fear because I had show my family that I was brave enough to ride the rides like Odysseus had to show he ship mates that he was brave.getting over my fear wasn't easy just thinking about how high it went in the air made my stomach turn just the thought of it like Odysseus had thought about what was going to be in his path and he had to think about the danger that he can possibly be in. Leading up too the time when i was going i researched roller coasters I prepared myself for thrill like Odysseus prepared himself and his men for danger and thrill.

As our minds seek to be scared it is a great stress reliever and self confidence booster. These two authors show fear through imagery, figurative language, and sound devices making us feel like we’re in the poems. They play heavily in our fears testing our sense, our sense of hearing, our sense of

How is something that makes a person so uncomfortable so important to their life? When people step slightly out of their comfort zone, positive changes begin to happen. The risks of stealing a high definition television or racing on a highway may not fit this spectrum. However, taking the right opportunities can be the key to success. Sweaty palms, fast heartbeats, and fearful thoughts can make an individual refrain from risks and realizing the positives of taking them. Risks are inevitable if a person wishes to grow; confidence will be built, mental strength will elevate, while the fear of failure will vanish once they are present in a person’s life.

How many opportunities do we lose because of fears, unreasonable wariness? Our frights sound distinctively, telling everyone something unique, unlike, special. However, its only action is to hide and paralyze our will. Fear is the natural reaction caused by the environment. Fears arise as a reaction to certain events. And the root of all of them is the conviction that we are not able to cope with life. But for any person, it is very important to be able to overcome fear, because otherwise he will not be able to achieve in his life any, even the smallest heights, not to mention achieving success or realizing ones dreams. Fear is a signal that says something needs to be changed for a harmonious and effective life. And only we decide: to deal with our fears, to live happily and to embody our intentions, or to be afraid of leverage, to forget about intentions and dreams, and to react, to spend our strength on how to hide fears deeply from us and others. The short stories “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar and “The Old Chief Mshlanga” by Doris Lessing have a mutual theme of fear, however each story’s character performs it uniquely.

“New Year’s Day” by Edith Wharton uses literary devices to reveal how the social values and customs have changed from how they were in old New York, by exemplifying a number of literary terms throughout her work. Through the title alone, the audience can infer that there will be a drawn contrast between “old” New York and “new” New York because New Year’s Day is often a point that people use to start over and work on their “New Year’s Resolutions.” It’s a time where people see change, and the change in New York’s customs, according to Wharton, was drastic. She demonstrates this by speaking through the narrator of a gentleman who is currently a member of society in what he considers to be “new” New York and throughout various points of the

Montaigne said, “Fear sometimes arises from want of judgment as well as from want of courage.” Going through life’s challenges some might think ignorance is bliss but to really experience life we must open our eyes. Montaigne continued by saying, “All the dangers I have seen, I have seen with open eyes, with my sight free, sound and entire; besides, it takes courage to be afraid” (368). In order to get through challenging times or new

Fear is the number one obstacle everyone must overcome at some point in their life. When the word fear is brought up I like to think of past situations that I experienced. There are many different methods used to conquer and learn from our fears such and exposure therapy, having a growth mindset, and thinking positive. For example, when I was younger fear was my worst enemy, School was the main reason that caused my fear. My fear of failure was my biggest obstacle growing up so I used that as a method to learn from my fears.

When one has a fear of something, one normally does not spend much time thinking about it, and it only affects one when one is forced to confront it.