... Sea" by Ernest Hemingway appears to be just another fish story. Underneath the fish, however, lies a much deeper meaning. It is a story about an old man searching for purpose in the autumn of his life. It is a story about a battle between a noble character and a noble foe. It is a ... finding greatness in a world that seeks to deprive one of it. Although the old man suffers greatly throughout his ordeal, he is far from defeated. Some readers would say the old man is defeated because he loses the marlin, his trophy. However, the old man, Santiago, kills the fish not only to sell for food b...

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• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Old South, and he protected Emily when her father died. As mayor of Jefferson at the time, he remitted her taxes, and since no aristocratic woman such as Miss Emily could possibly lower herself to accept charity, came up with a story of how her father had loaned money to Jefferson and this was how Miss Emily was to be repaid. "Only a man ... help one another whenever possible. Most importantly however, they always retained their dignity, no matter what. Miss Emily preserved her world of the Old South by hanging on to her dignity. It was because her dignity was so essential to her that a m...

• Word Count: 1338
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• Grade Level: High School

... Neddy experiences a symbolic journey through his life from the happiness of youth to the loneliness of old age. He goes through a journey of realization from the ignorance and innocence of being young. It is the story of a youthful man who discovers suffering as he moves forward in life. The main aspect of the subtext is ... the idea of growing old. The story begins with Neddy at the peak of his life. He is full of youth and ... in his arms and shoulders had gone, and he paddled to the ladder and climbed out." This again emphasises the fact that he is growing old. Another aspect with i...

• Word Count: 915
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• Grade Level: High School

... that he is " clutching a horsewhip- (Faulkner 38) illustrates an image of violence and abusive power toward Emily (and women in general), and an old-fashioned value. In addition, Emily is persuaded that her father is not dead and even keeps his body in her house for three days (immediately ... , Emily's house, which once was " big, squarish white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies- (Faulkner 37), remains the same and eventually becomes old and dusty as time goes by. Therefore, Emily rejects the idea of modernization and clings onto the past. The words "dust", "disu...

• Word Count: 834
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

John Betjeman's " On a Portrait of a Deaf Man" portrays a beloved father through an elegy constructed of disquieting contrasts, creating a poignant but incongruous tribute to a dead, deaf father. The poet's loving ... relationship he has with God and his lack of faith. The poem is one of significant contrasts such as: life and death, past and present, youth and old age and noise and silence. The pun in title on the word 'deaf', though truthful, plays on the word 'dead' and introduces the comic ... with the dark themes and sensory imagery of the poem. The first stanza presents affe...

• Word Count: 1321
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• Grade Level: High School

... his strengths and encouragement to continue his journey across amerce and eventually to Alaska, and then after reading this book as a class we watched the movie "Grizzly Man"" which was a story about Timothy Treadwell, a man who decides to spend his summers by going off and living in harmony with bears in Alaska to express his feelings on why bears are not our ... the clothes which he ultimately left on the hood of the car when he left one night. When Chris finally made it to Alaska he set up fort inside of a old run down school bus which was parked in the Denali for hunters to camp out...

• Word Count: 968
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of the childhood and go on,may change at all stages of their lives .Particularly fear appears in a old person even if he or she was brave in the past . As far as these things are concerned old peaple have various examples of fears suc as being away from their children ,losing their abilitiesand death. One ... moreover if they have a baby ,some times they can not get round visiting her parents. Consequently their parents who are very old people miss their children very much. Another example of fear that old people have is losing their abilities which is very difficult for them .At the la...

• Word Count: 299
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... with people forever in a form of memory. Memory doesn't fade away since it is intangible even when one's partner dies. Through the old woman in the poem, "When You Are Old,"" Yeats conveys his belief of love when one's partner became old. This opening line, "When you are old and grey and full of sleep,"" (864) strongly connected with the title, "When You Are ... the exact words of the title is in the first line. The line states that the woman is old and has grey hair and is easily tired; thus, she needs to sleep more. In the second line, "the fire- (864) symbolizes the intensity of her ...

• Word Count: 514
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• Grade Level: High School

... Hard to Find Flannery O"Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" displays evil by foreshadowing events that happen in the story. A family that goes on vacation to Florida displays them. The vacation leads them to death at ... of everything that happens in the story. Everything she does gets the family killed. She brought the cat. She had to convince the family to take a side trip to an old house that she lied about how it had a secret panel to convince the kids to go which led them into an accident. Then she had to open her mouth ""You ... ""it would have been better for all of you, lady...

• Word Count: 594
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• Grade Level: High School

... towards finding people equal to him loosening. When Horse got " first coop" his status was boosted up from horse to man, finally regaining his right as a man, gaining the same respect as others. At this point, horse finally attained emotional and physical freedom, being among his equals. Horse rose ... up the ranks as he gained respect from the Crows over time and recognition within the tribe as a man, allowing him to have a "crow marriage." In his plan to successfully escape, he married pretty calf in hope that she will be the key ... of the story. When Yellow Robe's wife left him for...

• Word Count: 781
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• Grade Level: High School

... child, but does so in his own way. The lack of communication between them causes tension in their home. In "Death of a Hired Man," Warren and his wife Mary have a discussion about their former worker, Silas. Warren has resentful feelings toward Silas, yet Mary has compassion towards him ... representation of death in Home Burial is the husband and wife's young child, and Silas is the representation of death in Death of a Hired Man. The third difference between the stories is the overall theme of the poems. In "Home Burial," the overall theme of the story centers ... communication cause...

• Word Count: 604
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• Grade Level: High School

... emotional wave ran through the women as they removed items from his face. Who was he, and where did he come from absorb their thoughts. The drowned man becomes a symbolic artifact for the village and it's people. Marquez begins with symbolism with the subtitle, "A Tale for Children," (1465) when in fact ... , for he did not have the lonely look of other drowned men." (1466) Marquez uses this line to symbolize the magnitude of the drowned man's size, and how it intensifies the imagination of the women in the village. This body also represents a greater force of nature than any other ... f...

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• Grade Level: High School

... thing by crossing Creon's strict decrees on burying Polynices because the unalterable laws of the gods and our morals are higher than the sometimes blasphemous laws of man. Creon gave strict orders not to bury Polynices because he lead a rebellion, which turned to rout, in Thebes against Creon, their almighty king. Antigone ... in Antigone's point-of-view, which is how I believe also. In death, you will answer to your god, whomever you may believe in, and no man will have control of your fate in the world that lies hereafter. Therefore by obeying the gods, hopefully, will result in a e...

• Word Count: 682
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• Grade Level: High School

Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," is a short story about a family on a vacation. Throughout the story the grandmother is vain, hypercritical and superficial, not to mention, annoying. On the vacation, after ... he could be doing this to people. Her understanding towards the Misfit shows that she has found the ability to use compassion towards others. In the end of "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the grandmother's thoughts towards people are totally different. She opens up and offers her heart towards the Misfit. In her last moments alive, the grandmother starts ... ...

• Word Count: 523
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• Grade Level: High School

... wife as well. Throughout the play the newly crowned king Claudius misleads the state of Denmark by keeping the death of Old Hamlet a secret and does not let the rumour believed to be that Old Hamlet was killed by a serpent be known as untrue. It is not until later in Act 1, scene 5 when ... merely the shadow of a dream. " (1.5.257-259) Rosencrantz: "Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. " (1.5.261-262) Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Hamlet's old friends, Claudius thinks Hamlet might reveal his ideas to them before he is put to...

• Word Count: 1918
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• Grade Level: High School

... their former desire to defy both gravity and nature by walking on water, and likens themselves to a pumpkin growing "from earth to the fastness of light" in "airy defiance of nature". Harwood's depiction of pumpkins as a "parable of [the speaker]" and as a symbol for their wish to "rise above their humble station" elucidates ... ...

• Word Count: 856
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... patience and understanding, which can only come with the experience of life. Because of this lack of experience, he is not capable of compassion for the old man "You have youth confidence and a job- the older waiter replies (258). The older waiter symbolizes the "living- stage of life. He is filled ... When hope has waned, despair overwhelms and we see the transition from the living to the time of dying. The old man has journeyed through all the progressions of life. The old man's death wish is further played out through the metaphor of insomnia, an ailment that he apparently shares wi...

• Word Count: 967
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• Grade Level: High School

... "while he was a good client they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without paying, so they kept a watch on him."" (149). The old man had recently tried to commit suicide, he is deaf, lonely, and has nothing else to live for. "Last week he tried to commit suicide- one waiter said. ... "Why?- "He was in despair."" "What about?- "Nothing."" "How do you know it was nothing?- "He has plenty of money."" (149). As an old man, his age is depicted as a tragedy. His life is meaningless, all he can do is sit and wait for his eventual death as he is, "drunk every night- ... in his mou...

• Word Count: 1009
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... see if the eye is open. He realises that the eye will not be open but despite that he springs on to the bed and suffocates the old man. He buries the old man under his floor boards thinking that no-one will find out. After a while as part of their investigation the police search the flat. He ends ... " This shows that he thinks that he's the best and that he is so intelligent. That he is fixed on destroying the eye even though he likes the man. "I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye" This shows that...

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• Grade Level: High School

... the story develops. The young waiter's character, like many adolescents is illustrated as being impatient, inexperienced, rude, self centered, and disrespectful towards the old man. The first impression of the young waiters insensitivity is stated in the dialogue about the old man's suicide attempt, which according to the young waiter was "nothing- (Ernest par 1), of no importance because, "he has plenty of money- (Ernest ... states, "What does it matter if he gets what he's after? (Ernest par 2)."" The young waiter also perceives the old man as a nuisance and wished the old man had bee...

• Word Count: 867
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• Grade Level: High School

... is totally unable to empathize with an emotion that is unfamiliar to him. Hemingway explores the attitudes of the waiter about old age through conversation and their comments about the old man who is the last patron in the café. The young waiter is disgusted and frustrated with the patron, because ... he is staying so late. The young waiter has no sympathy for the old man and just wants him to leave. The impatient waiter says, " I wouldn't want to be that old. And old man is a nasty thing- (156). Instead of having respect for his elders and thinking that, with ... . The older waiter ev...

• Word Count: 772
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• Grade Level: High School

... the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty; but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference" (Hemingway). Although these opening ... was in despair'" (Hemingway). The older waiter seems to understand the importance of the café, especially for lonely people with empty lives like the old man and himself. These characters symbolize the realization that when alone, life can seem like a meaningless existance that will inevitably end in death. This thought r...

• Word Count: 549
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• Grade Level: High School

... than usual, the reader should have a clue as to what could happen next. London's character decides to ignore the advice of the old man. The old-timer had instructed the man not to hike alone in "those parts". His advice was ignored and the ultimate sacrifice was paid. The superior force in both stories ... devour his prize. Santiago puts up a great fight, but takes defeat calmly: "He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy the old man paid no attention to them and did not pay attention to anything except steering. He only noticed how lightly and how well the skiff sailed now ....

• Word Count: 1216
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• Grade Level: High School

... is not so much a story of three men, but of the aging process of one man. One of the waiters is a young man with a wife, and the other is a middle aged unmarried man. they have a running commentary throughout the story about the old man, and how they feel about him. The beginning of the story is mostly concerned with ... which makes sense because that allows the reader to look at the three men's lifes as one life from youth to being old. One of the topics that the two waiters discuss is that the old man tried to commit suicied. This is the first example of the ignorance of youth. When th...

• Word Count: 825
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• Grade Level: High School

... but now he has only a niece who visits him quite seldom. He feels desperate and sad to stay alone in his apartment. The old man feels like a dead person, and helpless. The old man is only a subject, a passive figure; furthermore, he is the reason for the dialog between two waiters. In other words, there are ... his own. Even though he has only one client, he does not close the cafe. He understands the problems of the old man and tries to help him, because he is also lonely, old and does not have a family at home to go to. The older waiter says, "I"m of those who like to stay ... On the ...

• Word Count: 713
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School