Winter Oak Annotation

Sea Oak is a short story centered on the life of Aunt Bernie. Sea Oak is an apartment complex in an unsafe neighborhood that Aunt Bernie lives in. Residing in her home: her nieces, Jade and Min; their two babies Mac and Troy; and her nephew and Min’s brother, the narrator. The conflict of the story arises when there is a shooting outside of the apartment while Jade, Min, and their babies are outside. Troy’s walker is hit by a bullet, leaving fragments from the walker on the baby’s clothing. Reeling from the close call, the cousins complain about the safety of the neighborhood, yet are unwilling to do anything to better their situation. Aunt Bernie’s ever complacent attitude, “At least we got a home. And at least none of those bullets actually hit nobody,” (Saunders), prevents her from any ambition to leave. The conflict resolves itself with Aunt Bernie’s death and her subsequent return from the dead, to convince her indolent family members to work hard to better their situation and live life to the fullest.

Previously this week we discussed "The Haunted Oak" that applied to the African American people that badly tried to escape slavery. For this reflection paper, I will portray some of the personal feelings I had after I read the text and heard the song and how that had a meaningful impact on me. The people that tried to escape slavery were accused and prosecuted by being hung in a tree, which happened to many people as they felt used by the white people. The story was told by the perspective of the tree and how it felt haunted because of all the people it had killed. The white people said that the African American people had no importance in this world and should not be allowed any power what so ever. However, the prosecution did not stop with

The Winter is the opposite of summer, during the winter not only does the winter change but the town's appearance. The houses that once looked artificial were exposed and looked abandoned. “Winter comes down savagely over a little town on the prairie...The roofs, that looked so far away across the green treetops...they are so much more uglier then when their angles were softened by vines and

One of the main elements that literature with merit must exemplify is symbolism. As soon as an author introduces a symbolic reference, a premade notion that the reader constructed could be affected. Not only would a symbol alter the meaning of a message, but it would also add an emotional element to the story. Throughout All the Light We Cannot See, a series of symbols were inaugurated. The first, and most predominant symbol that was recurrent throughout the book was vision. The two protagonists, Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, both play a contrasting role when it comes to the symbolic meaning behind vision. On one hand, Marie-Laure is physically unable to see due to her blindness. Therefore, she does not experience the world in the same way as the other leading character, Werner Pfennig. Instead,

But at a point, one must leave the comfort of the light. This symbolizes that one does not have comfort and help from others when stepping into a foreign path of life. Afterwards, when the poem says “A Moment - We uncertain step For newness of the night-.” These two lines confirm that “darkness” is the unknown path people walk. When walking into the unknown, one becomes hesitant and makes an “uncertain step.” But after taking a stride “Then [fits one’s] Vision to the Dark - And [they] meet the Road - erect - .” In the line before, it had said “A Moment”, now the poem states that “Then.” This signifies that when one first goes into the unknown, they have to wait until their “eyes” adjust to the dark. “Then” or after they adjust to the darkness, they are able to “meet the Road”. The “road” signifies one’s future since the poem is about one’s journey into the new unknown and people do not known what their future holds for them. When meeting their future, they stand “erect” or tall to illustrate the imagery of confidence since they can now see in the

We had not gone a rod when we found ourselves in a heap, in a heavy drift of snow. We took hold of each others’ hands, pulled ourselves out, got into the road, and the cold north wind blew us down the road a half mile south, where the Strelow boys and John Conrad had to go west a mile or more. When they reached a bridge in a ravine, the little fellows sheltered a while under the bridge, a wooden culvert, but Robert, the oldest, insisted that they push on thru the blinding storm for their homes. In the darkness they stumbled in, and by degrees their parents thawed them out, bathed their frozen hands, noses, ears and cheeks, while the boys cried in pain. “My brothers and I could not walk thru the deep snow in the road, so we took down the rows of corn stalks to keep from losing ourselves ’till we reached our pasture fence. Walter was too short to wade the deep snow in the field, so Henry and I dragged him over the top. For nearly a mile we followed the fence ’till we reached the corral and pens. In the howling storm, we could hear the pigs squeal as they were freezing in the mud and snow. Sister Ida had opened the gate and let the cows in from the field to the sheds, just as the cold wind struck and froze her skirts stiff around her like hoops. The barn and stables were drifted over when we reached there. The roaring wind and stifling snow blinded us so that we had to feel thru the yard to the door of our house. “The lamp was lighted. Mother was walking the floor, wringing her hands and calling for her boys. Pa was shaking the ice and snow from his coat and boots. He had gone out to meet us but was forced back by the storm. We stayed in the house all that night. It was so cold that many people froze.” Although most of the information that was collected or the stories that were told were in South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota the temperatures took

The winter is surely when the novella’s tone goes downhill. As the nights grow longer, and the days grow colder, the mood of this book darkens . “ The sky is an empty hopeless gray and gives the impression that this is its eternal shade. Winter’s occupation seems to have conquered, overrun and destroyed everything…” This quote shows the change in mood that winter has brought.

Furthermore, Ann’s uncertainty flourishes when “night [comes] early” (5) and the “slow dimming of the light [clutches] her with an illogical sense of abandonment” (5). The illusion of loneliness becomes reality as night approaches and John remains absent. As the light progressively disappears, Ann begins to feel abandoned and uncertain of the truth behind John’s promise. In addition, we notice the significance of light in Ann and John’s relationship when Steven arrives and Ann “[lets] him in and [lights] the lamp” (6). Lighting the lamp for Steven elucidates Ann’s slight sense of reassurance that John will return. During her moment of uncertainty, Ann believes that if Steven is able to travel and persist through the storm then John will be capable as well. However, this feeling is momentary as “the lamp between [her and Steven] [flickers]” (7). The flickering light augments a feeling of weariness in her fidelity as well as wavering feelings towards Steven. Ann is unsure of her feelings towards John and begins to question if they should instead be directed to Steven

Whenever the light is mentioned in the story there is always darkness to go hand in hand with it. The light equals to positive relief whereas the darkness exemplifies the dread and misery that always threatens to extinguish those encouraging things. These references to the light and darkness give the reader a sense of the mood and tone of the story. These symbols make the story an important part of

In a thousand spots the traces of the winter avalanche may be perceived, where trees lie broken and strewed on the ground; some entirely destroyed, others bent, leaning upon the rocks of the mountain or transversely upon other trees. The path, as you ascend higher, is intersected by ravines of the

In conclusion, many people fail to see the light that lies within them; causing a social epidemic of lost and withering identities. In today’s modern society trends are set, to herd in as any people as possible, to the umbrella of conformity. Likewise fear stagnates their victims, which forces them to let go opportunities and the other factors of expectation cripple and divert those in question from who they really are. Doerrs All The Light We Cannot See shows characters going through these struggles and how they fell victim or how they overcame their quarries of; adult authority, ambition, anxiety and the pressures of society. Doerrs leaves his readers with the motif and repeated phrase “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before

January Thaw describes the close of winter through a few signs: the melting of the snow, the wake-up of the hibernating skunk, the grieving of the mouse over his flooded tunnels, bundles of rabbit hair and their newfound “freedom from want and fear”.

The weather is very stormy as she is traveling on the river, which affects her in a number of ways. It hinders her ability to see properly, and it makes for some rough waters, contradicting her hope for smooth travel. The storm only progresses, reaching the point where there are “... torrential rains. Waves higher than…” her “...kayak, trying to capsize…” her.

The introduction to my poem is a scene of two kids playing in the woods. It’s meant to illustrate their unadulterated friendship, and introduce the forest as a place of comfort due to childhood memories. After they say goodbye, I decided to make the scene reveal to be a flashback because I wanted it to be a sharp change to a changed and nostalgic present. Also, portraying the opening scene as a flashback provides an exposition of both the characters’ relationship, and of the forest, which serves a great purpose in the narrative, providing a place of comfort for the characters. I portrayed the introduction as a flashback primarily through the first stanza in the boy’s point of view, specifically the word “reverie” showing how it was a daydream, and “fond” portraying how he felt very warmly about the memory.

In the case of “Snow in Midsummer” we may notice a somewhat paradoxical view on