What is a well-known story about the Greek god Hermes (aka Mercury to the Romans)?It cannot be about the time when he was a baby and he stole...

The great Greek messenger god (known to the Romans as
Mercury), Hermes served as the guide to the Underworld, best remembered for his cunning
and winged sandals.

One story relates his killing of Argus
Panoptes, a 100-eyed giant. Argus' responsibility was to watch over the nymph Io, a
subject of Queen Hera. Hermes cast a spell over the giant which put him to sleep and
closed all of his eyes. Once done, Hermes killed the giant and then put his eyes into
the tail of a peacock.

Why is Bram Stoker's Dracula considered Gothic Literature?

Mysterious castles, isolated landscapes, stormy skies, dark interiors. All tropes of Gothic literature, which, as author Joyce Carol Oates states, is “the most imaginative of all literatures, bearing an obvious relationship to the surreal logic of dreams.” This literature of dreams, or nightmares as its imagery implies, takes roots in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is a literature typified by ruined castles, secret passageways, concealed portraits, and claustrophobic labyrinths. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is situated in the genre of the Gothic because it complies with these tropes.

Gothic literature finds roots in Tzvetan Todorov’s definition of the fantastic. Todorov contends that the fantastic exists in the real world, one we know, a world without devils, sylphides, or vampires. The fantastic arises within this world when an event occurs that cannot be explained through rational thought. When this happens, the individual must admit that the event is either a mere illusion, a product of the imagination, or that the event has really taken place. In the first instance, the laws of reality remain unchanged; whereas in the latter, the event is controlled by laws unknown to nature. Dangling in this mode of uncertainty, the individual experiences the fantastic. Has the event actually occurred or is it simply an illusion of the imagination? We see this with Jonathan Harker’s experience in Dracula. At first, he does not want to admit that the laws of reality have changed. He believes that his experience has all occurred in his imagination. As the novel progresses, Jonathan Harker comes to terms with supernatural events.

Once a choice has been made (is the event real or not), Todorov suggests that the individual moves from the fantastic and into a neighboring genre of either the uncanny or the marvelous. If the individual decides that the laws governing reality remain intact and permit the phenomenon to be described, Todorov argues that the event belongs to the genre of the uncanny. (We see this in the Gothic literature of Ann Radcliffe, for example.) However, if the laws of nature must be altered to account for the event, the phenomena becomes the marvelous. (This is what happens in Dracula.) Thus, the fantastic exists as a genre wavering between two adjacent realms; a period in milieu where the individual attempts to decipher reality. Therefore, it is precisely this state that, Todorov argues, embodies the Gothic novel.

Gothic fiction hovers between the uncanny and the marvelous, offering little explanation of events, often leaving ambiguous endings, and forcing the reader to examine the limits of reality. Unlike its predecessors, Gothic literature seeks to identify readers’ feelings with the characters’ emotions, or to arouse readers’ sympathy by evoking pity and fear; and to explore the mind of man and the causes of evil in it. In order to fully explore the subconscious, symbols and figures of this genre are deliberately hazy; thus, the surface narrative contains vague, unexplained horrors that refuse precise explanation. Tropes such as labyrinths and haunted houses are employed in the Gothic to penetrate the subconscious and evoke the emotion of horror. More than ever before, these tropes frightened 18th century readers because the referents exist in the real world and are already the figments of our dreaming imaginations.

It is no wonder then that Gothic literature evokes the emotion of horror when a referent, such as a house, corresponds with something both known and unknown. In the known, the house traditionally symbolizes a place of comfort and welcoming. However, when this known referent becomes a screen to project the individual’s fears, the fantastic is evoked, creating a sensation of horror. Therefore, the emotion of horror occurs when the trope, such as the haunted house, corresponds to something that is actually feared, whether that be known or unknown. The relationship between Gothic and horror lies in the relationship between the cognates of fear and a readership. In other words, ‘Gothic’ implies that the reader actually experiences an emotion of horror when the fantastic is evoked in the text.

Discuss the irony in of the following: W. Somerset Maugham’s The Appointment in Samarra, and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.

I will answer the question about Maugham's short story.
 The irony here is primarily situational.  The unexpected happens.  In trying to avoid
his fate, the servant actually fulfills it.  He sees Death at the market place, and
flees to Samarra.  Death explains to the servant's master that he was surprised to see
his servant at the market-place this morning when he had an appointment that night with
the servant in Samarra.  The irony is particularly effective because Death's response
surprises the reader with the unexpected, and we know that the servant's fate will be
the opposite of what he expects.  The irony works to show that
there is no escaping  fate.  When we think we are avoiding it, we actually are working
to make it happen. Oedipus Rex is an example of this type of
irony.

I'll let another editor respond to the "Tell-Tale
Heart."

May you help me about a rose symbolizes and why is her first name " Emily " used instead of zmiss Emily in the story' s stitle?

I believe this title is meant to sound like "A Tribute
to..." I usually have my class brainstorm what kind of a story they think this is going
to be, based on the title alone.  The most common answers are: "Romantic," and "Somebody
dies."  When you think about it, these are two pretty good summations of the story.  I
think the title is meant to be foreshadowing, but also cryptic.  It is, after all,
modern Gothic Literature.

Consider what you already know
about tributes to people after death.  They are done in a spirit of reverence and
usually great respect.  Details throughout the story seem counterproductive to reverence
and respect for this woman who seems to hide so many weird (to say the least) and
twisted secrets.  But based on such a title, we continue to read with some sense of hope
that she deserves the rose at the end.  This title sets a perfect tone to build the
mystery and suspence, and even succeeds in allowing Emily a bit of dignity in her death,
despite the gruesome way in which she is found.

How does the setting affect the plot?

Edith Wharton is an amazing woman to study.  Her writing focuses on everything from home decoration to satirizing the American situation in the late 1800's early 1900's.  Edith was a member of the aristocratic group and lived in New York much of her life; however, she was not a happy member of this society.  She loathed the rules and the hypocrisy of the aristocrats--especially the way men suppressed women's abilities and achievements.  

Ethan Frome is written to satirize secret wants and society's rules on people.  Ethan is married to Z, but he secretly loves Mattie (young, beautiful relative of Z's) who comes to live with them to help care for the house and Zeena who is ill.  Zeena knows (woman's intuition) about the affair, and sends Mattie home.  Ethan and Mattie take one more sled ride before she is set to leave and have a horrid crash which cripples them both.  Zeena has a miraculous recovery and becomes the caregiver to the two of them.  Their accident has changed the way they feel about each other and about life in general.

The setting is stark, lonely, winter.  Zeena's sarcastic and bitter personality adds to the ugliness of the whole scene.  Without this, Ethan would never have sought comfort in Mattie.  It also helps to showcase the poverty level of the family--both monetary, emotional, and spiritual.  There is a lack of love and faith in the beginning. Everything changes with the crash.

List in point form the teachings of King Lear from Act 4. For each of these, add a comment of your own on how true you think it is.

• In Act IV of King Lear, Shakespeare shows that men are.  .   playthings to the cruel, wanton gods.

Edgar says:
O Gods! Who is’t can say, “I am at the worst”?
I am worse than e’er I was.
And worse I may be yet: the worst is not
So long as we can say, “This is the worst.”

• The degree of suffering is relative to our own experience, and, therefore, we can never say “This is the worst.”  He illustrates two Christian Theological terms:


• deus absconditus: (the Hidden God): man, in his fallen condition, cannot understand God through reason--only through suffering


• theodicy: the evil in the world does not conflict with the goodness of God


• In scene 2, Albany is certain that if the heavens do not show their powers soon to vindicate the good and punish the evil in the kingdom, chaos will be the result.

It will come
Humanity must perforce prey on itself,
Like monsters of the deep.

• In scene 3, Kent focuses on fate and "the stars" in his effort to understand how Lear could have fathered the virtuous and loyal Cordelia and her self-seeking sisters as well.


• In scene 4, we do not hear from Lear, but his healing has begun.  Symbolically, Cordelia’s tears are called upon to water the rare herbs that will aid the King in his “repose.” If rest is, indeed, the cure for her father’s illness, her tears, symbolic of her love, will be a remedy for his distress, allowing him to rest peacefully.


• In scene 5, Goneril, Regan, and Edmund have all aimed their vicious cruelty at their own fathers, making their wickedness seem more atrocious than that of the other evil characters in the play.


• In scene 6, it is Edgar who observes that Lear reaches “Reason in madness.” Lear reasons that even “a dog’s obey’d in office.” He has learned profound truths through his suffering. “Robes and furr’d gowns hide all. (Plate sin) with gold,” but if that same sin is found on one wearing rags, he will be quickly punished by the law. He has learned the difference between appearance and reality. Ironically, Gloucester must lose his sight before he learns to see.


• Later in scene 6, we see stages of Lear's awakening:

(1) from the grave
(2) in hell
(3) alive & abused
(4) self-test by pain
(5) old man (exact age) in imperfect mind
(6) dawning recognition of Cordelia & Kent
(7) no "short-term memory"
(8) Cordelia's wet tears (touched by Lear) = sign of her reality & caring

• In scene 7, through suffering, Lear has cast off that illusory world, and he has a new capacity to feel.  Like Gloucester, he now sees the world “feelingly.” When he first sees Cordelia, he no longer makes demands on her.

I know you do not love me, for your sisters
Have (as I do remember) done me wrong:
You have some cause, they have not

If Beowulf is an archetype of an epic hero, what is Grendel an archetype of?

I thoroughly agree with the answers above, but want to add that Grendel is integral to  Beowulf achieving his status as an epic hero. 

Joseph Campbell, in his classic work, The Hero With A Thousand Faces articulated the phases in which the hero must go through in order to be considered worthy of the title.  Here are a few of the key steps in which Grendel "helps" Beowulf: 

 ·  The call to adventure or to a quest for identity and the realization that the hero or heroine has special duties or responsibilities in this world.

·  Revelation of the nature of the hero or heroine's true identity and birthright and their special responsibilities.

·  The discovery of personal virtues and strengths and usually at least one great weakness.

·  The discovery and development of special powers which are unique to the hero or heroine.  These are often gifts from the gods or other powerful beings who the hero or heroine has assisted, and such gifts usually compensate for the weakness.

·  An arduous physical or psychological journey fraught with trials, testing and temptation.

·  Ultimately the hero or heroine must rely on his or her own strength, wits and resources to emerge victorious.

 Without Grendel, there would be no Beowulf. Grendel is the first and arguably toughest test for the hero.