Published in 1997, Marie Howe’s anthology of poems, What the Living Do was written as an elegy to her brother, John, who passed away due to AIDS. Howe’s anthology is written without metaphor to document the loss she felt after her brother’s death. Although What the Living Do is written as an anthology, this collection allows for individual poems to stand alone but also to work together to tell an overarching story. Using the poetic devices of alliteration, enjambment, repetition and couplets, Howe furthers her themes of gender and loss throughout her poems in her anthology. Alliteration is prevalent in most of the poems in What the Living Do. Howe uses alliteration to bring attention to the line of poetry and her word choices are meant to evoke a response from the reader. For example, in the poem, “The Promise,” alliteration is used to further the themes of gender and loss, as the narrator states “Dad was drunk again and dangerous” (Howe 54). The alliteration of “dad,” “drunk,” and “dangerous” bring the reader’s attention to this line and places emphasis on the idea of the narrator and her brother sharing this moment (line 13). Utilizing this emphasis, the narrator is able to highlight the loss of her brother as no one else has those shared memories with the narrator. Through alliteration, the theme of loss is clearly expressed by talking about the brother who has passed and who she has shared memories with. A majority of the poems in Howe’s anthology are written in
James Rachels claims that morality is absolute. In his article Mortality is Not Relative, he discusses the fallacies of Cultural Relativism as well as the Cultural Differences Argument. Rachels believes that all cultures have some values in common and that there is way less disagreement between them than it seems. He brings up the example of the Eskimo’s and how they choose to kill the infants that they cannot take care of, “The Eskimo’s values are not all that different from our values. It is only that life forces upon them choices that we do not have to make” (Rachels). Another example of this would be how in some cultures it is wrong to eat cows because they believe that the souls of their ancestors and deceased are reincarnated into the cow. In our culture we would not eat our grandparents either, the only difference is we do not believe that they become cows, thus we would have no problem eating cows. “Now do we want to say that their values are different than ours? No, the difference lies elsewhere. The difference is in our belief systems, not in our values” (Rachels).
“What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” (p. 28). In the scientific novel Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince, self-acclaimed “Medical Maverick” Dr. Moalem makes in-depth analyses of current human diseases that, ironically, may have led to the survival of mankind in the past. He presents a novel concept that greatly contradicts what have been universally accepted beliefs surrounding biology and the process of human evolution for a long time. With the use of myriad scientific studies and research, he formulates surprising theories about a positive correlation between disease and humanity. Moalem narrates the scientific world’s findings that strongly exemplify his assertions, however arbitrary they may seem at first. Three of the diseases that he examines, hemochromatosis, Type 1 diabetes, and favism, could have been particularly useful for resistance against other illnesses and survival in a historically harsh environment.
Every story has its own taste: sweet, bitter, sour, hot, creamy, plain, etc. Some storytellers like to stick to one flavor throughout a whole story, while others might prefer to create their work by mixing some flavors together. In Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson creates a story that has the mixed feelings of darkness, desperation, compassion, and humor. This is a story about a man, refers to as Fuckhead, in his early twenties drowning in drugs, wondering from place to place with other junkie friends, making awful life choices, behaving like a naïve kid, but still seeking for redemption and meaning. This book consists several short stories about death, pain, and hope. Denis Johnson shows readers the great desperation through the damaged and
Let the Circle be Unbroken portrays an african american family’s hardships against powerful white landowners and family tragedies. All in the perception of the strong-willed Cassie Logan. Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor is an enjoyable book with engaging characters, unpredictable plots, and an amusing genre.
Poets make books with poems that relate to each other. Marie Howe touches on topics related to herself throughout her book “What the Living Do”. She begins her book by going in the past and narrating events, but the main idea behind majority of the poems are on her brother John Howe, Father, and herself. Her brother John died of an AIDs related illness and her father failing to quit drinking alcohol. Howe is very reminiscent in this book. With the sequence of the poems it appears like a story and she used great figurative language to complement them. Although her language and her meanings in the poems are clear her consistent use of couplet stanza form does not always compliment her material, but her title goes perfectly with the way the
“What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” (p. 28). In the scientific novel Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince, self-acclaimed “Medical Maverick” Dr. Moalem makes in-depth analyses of current human diseases that, ironically, may have actually been beneficial to the survival and evolution of mankind throughout its existence on Earth. With the use of myriad scientific studies and research, he formulates surprising theories about the potentially positive correlation between disease and humanity. Survival of the Sickest presents a novel concept that greatly contradicts what have been universally accepted beliefs surrounding biology and the process of human evolution for a long time. Though the associations may seem arbitrary at first glance, Moalem narrates the scientific world’s findings that strongly exemplify this concept. Three of the diseases that he examines, hemochromatosis, Type 1 diabetes, and favism, could have in fact proved useful for helping humans resist other illnesses and surviving a harsh environment.
Living Like Weasels Close Reading In her documentary type story, Annie Dillard describes and reflects on her encounter with a weasel living in the wild and presents her interpretation of that encounter. She begins the essay by giving the readers an introduction into how a weasel is characterized as wild. For example she states, the weasel “stalks rabbits, mice, muskrats, and birds, killing more bodies than he can eat warm, and often dragging the carcasses home.”
All living beings promise one thing when they are born and set in existence; that they will live and then after they have exercised their temporal being they sign off to death. The contract of a human being’s life is that it comes with mortality, so we do as much as we can in
Marie Pinschmidt, the author of Life Interrupted does a beautiful job of writing a memoir of her husband. She chooses to divide the book into three different sections. She starts by explaining her daily routine with a feeling that something was wrong. Marie begins telling her ordeal of her husband being hospitalized and the thoughts that were invading her mind. The author swiftly transitions to the past and describes how she came to meet Norm, her husband. At least half of the book focuses on the life that they built together. Marie opens the doors of her heart and lets us see a glimpse of the struggles, victories and happiness that encompassed her marriage. The last part of the book focuses on the decline of Norm’s health and the struggle that the author faces after losing her beloved husband.
“Life changes in the instant…” a quote by Joan Didion has never summed up my life before this incident. I remember my colorful childhood where I was always kept in a cocoon where real problems did not exist. My parents easily changed the news channel and sent me back to my bedroom whenever there were any distressing topics discussed. I was kept away from suffering, poverty, war and death. Coming to think about it now, all my parents wanted was to save me from the negative emotions and preserve my innocence and childhood. Hence, it made me ignorant and self-centered because I was a frog in a well.
The poem uses a vast amount of alliteration throughout it. The author is showing a pattern through their writing. He uses alliteration to give life to his words for a better understanding of what is happening.
What is the meaning of life? Jeremy, from Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass, he often asks that question throughout his journey to open the box in the novel. In “Summer Day” by Mary Frye, she asks about the world and many questions that have currently no answers. Mass and Frye convey the message of life is short and every moment should be lived to the fullest through the use of repetition of rhetorical questions.
In the article "A World Turned Upside Down By Mary Morton Cowan " how the Black death affected the earth And how it affected Europe and ended many lives. In the article "like black smoke," Dianna Childress' purpose is to show how the black plague spread. Finally, the Black Death petered out somewhere in Kiev, having come almost full circle back to Kaffa.
Emma Goldman was a revolutionary, proselytizer, and above all else a women 's activist. She was conceived in Kovno, Lithuania. She moved with her family to St. Petersburg, Russia (1882), where she worked in a glove production line and assimilated the common radical-progressive thoughts (Chalberg). She emigrated to America (1885), worked in a Rochester, N.Y., article of clothing production line, and was quickly hitched to a kindred specialist. Rankled by the execution of those associated with the Haymarket shelling in Chicago (1886), she started to relate to revolutionaries; she moved to New York City, turned into a supporter of Johann Most, and turned out to be personally required with the revolutionary Alexander Berkman, whom she
Everybody experiences death within their lifetime. Although it comes in different shapes and sizes, it’s still inevitable; nothing can be done to stop it. Not only do people experience physical death among their families, but they also deal with relational death. A traditional family is your typical idea of a family: heterosexual parents with their kids who have the bond of a lifetime and do everything together. Death is not only hard to get through, but it can also leave scars that last a lifetime. These ideas are shown together in three specific poems: “Eating Alone” by Li-Young Lee, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. As well as articles by Jonah Goldberg, Frank Pittman, and Out of the Fog,