Sunday, July 31, 2011

How does society see Liza at the end of Pygmalion?

Liza is stuck in the middle of two classes.  She is no longer able to fit in with her flower-selling counterparts as she no longer looks or speaks the part.  In fact, when she goes back to her roots, no one she knows recognizes her.  She has been programed by Higgins to "be a duchess," yet she has no title, no money, no family, and no support system. 

She is enamored with Freddy, because he loves her and wants to marry her, but she is in love with Higgins.  Higgins, a self-proclaimed bachelor, does not wish to get married.  The reader is left to believe that he would allow her to live in his home as a "slipper-fetcher" and arm-ornament for those posh Victorian parties, but nothing more. 

Higgins won the bet, but he left Liza with nowhere to go.  It is understandable that she is frustrated and angry.  Her independence has been stripped from her as she is no longer able to support herself.  Perhaps she will sell flowers in a flower shop if someone will hire her without any work experience, but it is more likely she will marry and be miserable.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

What is the tone of "Ode on A Grecian Urn"?

Ode on a Grecian Urn" consists of five stanzas that present a scene, describe and comment on what it shows, and offer a general truth that the scene teaches a person analyzing the scene. Each stanza has ten lines written in iambic pentameter, a pattern of rhythm (meter) that assigns ten syllables to each line. The first syllable is unaccented, the second accented, the third unaccented, the fourth accented, and so on. Note, for example, the accent pattern of the first two lines of the poem. The unaccented syllables are in lower-cased blue letters, and the accented syllables are in upper-cased red letters. 


thou STILL un RAV ished BRIDE of QUI et NESS,  
thou FOS ter - CHILD of SI lence AND slow TIME 


Notice that each line has ten syllables, five unaccented ones in blue and five accented ones in red. Thus, these lines--like the other lines in the poem--are in iambic pentameter. Iambic refers to a pair of syllables, one unaccented and the other accented. Such a pair is called an iamb. "Thou STILL" is an iamb; so are "et NESS" and "slow TIME." However, "BRIDE of" and "FOS ter" are not iambs because they consist of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. Pentameter--the first syllable of which is derived from the Greek word for five--refers to lines that have five iambs (which, as demonstrated, each have two syllables). "Ode on a Grecian Urn," then, is in iambic pentameter because every line has five iambs, each iamb consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. The purpose of this stress pattern is to give the poem rhythm that pleases the ear. 


Situation and Setting 


In England, Keats examines a marble urn crafted in ancient Greece. (Whether such an urn was real or imagined is uncertain. However, many artifacts from ancient Greece, ones which could have inspired Keats, were on display in the British Museum at the time that Keats wrote the poem.) Pictured on the urn, a type of vase, are pastoral scenes in Greece. In one scene, males are chasing females in some sort of revelry or celebration. There are musicians playing pipes (wind instruments such as flutes) and timbrels (ancient tambourines). Keats wonders whether the images represent both gods and humans. He also wonders what has occasioned their merrymaking. A second scene depicts people leading a heifer to a sacrificial altar. Keats writes his ode about what he sees, addressing or commenting on the urn and its images as if they were real beings with whom he can speak.  

What are the lessons to be learned from Anowa?

One of the lessons deals with the power of traditions and customs and what happens when a person tries to change those customs and traditions. Anowa refuses to take on her traditional role as a woman in her society. As a result, she committs suicide as well as her husband, Kofi Ako. Anowa remained true to what she believed, but in the process of following her own beliefs, she hurt others.

Pride is another lesson because pride is Anowa's downfall. She shows how strong she is by sticking to what she believes, but her pride leads to her death as well as her husband's death.

We can also learn about the consequences of the choices we make in our lives. Kofi Ako chooses to buy slaves, and this choice leads to the destruction of his marriage, and the eventual ending of his own life.

What decisions were made in Act V in Julius Caesar that lead to Brutus' death?

I find your question highly interesting because for me,
Act V is too late to look - you need to look back at the preceeding acts to consider the
actions of Brutus, and most importantly, his mistakes, to trace his
downfall.


However, if you are looking at Act V, it seems
that his assessment of Octavius´ troops was rash and hasty, leading to a confusion which
resulted in Cassius´ suicide because he thought all was
lost.


If you want to go back and examine the issues that
led up to this defeat, however, you will want to examine how Brutus systematically
ignores or puts to one side the very shrewd advice he received from Cassius. Brutus
refuses to recognise the importance of Marc Antony, telling the conspirators that he
will not kill him along with Caesar, and underestimating his
character:



for
he is given


To sports, to wildness, and much
company.



Then consider the
permission that Brutus gives to Marc Antony to bear the body of Caesar and address the
crowd. Cassius in vain tries to warn him of Marc Antony´s skills in
rhetoric:



Know
you how much the people may be moved


By that which he will
utter?



This of course allows
Marc Antony to sway the populace to his side.


Then consider
Brutus´decision to march and meet the troops of Octavius and Marc Antony in Philippi in
Act IV scene 3, again against the better judgement of Cassius. A tactical error which
gave their enemies the advantage.


So, many mistakes, which
makes us question Brutus and his character - why did he ignore Cassius so much? Was it
his own sense of arrogance or did he genuinely feel that he new
better?

Friday, July 29, 2011

Comment on the tittle Waiting for Godot.

We have been told that those who 'stand and wait' also
serve God. The two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, in Samuel Beckett's play,
Waiting for Godot, stand and wait, not for God but for Godot. They
do not serve anybody. Do they? In Beckett's 2-act play, Didi(Vladimir) &
Gogo(Estragon) wait and wait all day long for a certain Godot to come. At the end of the
day, they are told that Godot would come the next day. A to-day is followed by a
tomorrow which is another to-day, and again the two tramps are told that Godot would
come the day after. Beckett's play thus allegorises on the futility of man's waiting in
a world where all promises are perpetually deferred.


In
1935, T.S.Eliot wrote a commissioned play on the theme of Christian
martyrdom--Murder in the Cathedral--in which the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Thomas Beckett, had been waiting to be martyred in the cathedral itself. For
Thomas Becket it was waiting for God. Samuel Beckett's play could be seen as an
existentialist parody of that other Becket's waiting, waiting for Godot being waiting
for nothing. After the massive and extensive destructions of the two Great Wars, men can
only stand and wait at the center of paralysis, doing nothing, getting nothing,
begetting nothing.In my reading of Beckett's play, I rediscover those immortal lines
spoken by Macbeth:'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from
day to day.....'

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

What is the symbolism of birds in The Woman Warrior?

Birds in The Woman Warrior are
auspicious symbols (opportune; promising success) and they appear in talk-stories that
Maxine hears. In "White Tigers" birds are guides who lead the way up a hill, thereby
representing courage and rising above circumstances. Birds symbolize good luck when
birds painted on Brave Orchid's boat keep her safe from pirates who board the very next
boat. They also symbolize fortune and wealth because Brave Orchid's wallet opens up and
looks like wings. One seeming contradiction puzzles Maxine. Her Fourth Uncle is killed
by Communists while trying to catch birds with which to feed his family. This seems to
symbolize that birds become inauspicious when their beauty and independence is violated,
even when done for good reason.

Discuss Phoenix's.......Like many classic works of literature, "A Worn Path" features a journey and a quest. Discuss the elements of plot and...

Wikipedia defines a "quest" as "a journey towards a goal used in mythology and literature as a plot. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and the overcoming of many obstacles, typically including much travel..."

In literature, a quest can be as simple as going to the store for a loaf of bread.  It doesn't have to be Perseus in pursuit of Medusa's dangerous head.

Phoenix Jackson begins her quest on a cold December morning. She already has lots of things against her:  her failing eyesight, her age, her aching body.  She does have knowledge of the path and experience on her side.  She talks constantly to the animals--could be seen as comfort or a way for her to pass the time, could be interpreted as her spiritual side, or maybe she's just losing her mind.  She trips and falls, she meets with a hunter who points his gun at her.  All the while, she is convinced that her goal--the medicine for her grandson--is a quest for life not death.  Her persistence and devotion, as well as her optimism keep both her and the plot of the story moving.  Each time we, the reader, think she will turn back now or she will give up.  However, Phoenix does not.  She gets up when she falls, she keeps moving through snow and wind, and she does not cower in the face of a loaded rifle.  She takes what is dealt and keeps moving forward with the determination and resolve of Job in the Bible. 

How far is Iago justified in hating Othello?

Iago hates Othello for some of reasons. First reason could be that Othello promoted Cassio in his place; however, Iago wants it and he cosid...