... after the road the speaker avoids. This word choice makes the reader interpret the poem in a tone of remorse. This title choice causes the readers to look back into his/her life and revisit the feeling of regret of not choosing that rare opportunity the reader was offered by life. In the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, the speaker uses symbolism to illustrate the process we go through when making decisions. One symbol ... one encounters "yellow wood" (line 1). The significance of autumn as the setting is a symbol of where the speaker is in his life. The speaker finds him/hers...

• Word Count: 1342
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Robert as "she could only realize that she herself - her present self - was in some way different from the other self". On the other hand, sleep has also been a means of escape and of repairing her tattered emotions, like when Edna met Robert after returning from Mexico he seemed to be quite formal in his behavior and that night before sleeping "she writhed with a jealous pang wondered ... probably represent Edna's inability to stop her from fulfilling her own desires and return to a more conventional life after experiencing the sense of awakeness. It has become quite difficult for her ...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... There was something insistent, as if it were pressing in on him" (pg. 8). The house, his refuge away from the world, in reality is a prison. Macon finds solace in the organization of his household and systematic ways. The systems aid Macon in coping with his failing marriage with Sarah Leary. Furthermore, Tyler's symbol of a 'Macon Body Bag', implies that he ... death, as an invention and a creation to take pride in; whereas, is a symbol of a system encouraging his socially recluse personality, hindering any possibility of growth or change (pg. 11). Secondly, Tyler's use of the cas...

• Word Count: 1496
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble" (106). Jennifer Hicks, literary critic, writes that "Chopin is engaging in some heavy handed irony." The heart is traditionally the symbol of an individual's emotional core. Ironic symbolism is illustrated by showing that her physical heart problems symbolize her emotional heart problems as ... the essential foundation of the family and the "heart" of any society; therefore, Mrs. Mallard's heart troubles represent the decline of marriage in the late nineteenth century. Further illustrating symbolism, Chopin writes about an open window in this ...

• Word Count: 1729
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... habit. Later, Tom will confess to his mother that he believes Laura "lives in a world of her own" (1430). Laura quickly avoids an uncomfortable first meeting with Jim, by saying she hasn't "finished playing the Victrola," unwilling to attempt any conversation (1435). The unicorn is a symbol of Laura's uniqueness. The unicorn is translucent much like Laura's character. Jim sees right through Laura's psychological problems ... had just made Laura feel normal by saying that the world is "full of common people" (1447). Many people hide from reality by avoiding challenging situations, while o...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. (Exodus 24:3-4 KJV). After Moses made his announcements to the Israelites, he took the blood of the ... Supper, asking God for blessings and forgiveness for their sins was necessary before death. Since the wine represented the blood of the covenant, the disciples dra...

• Word Count: 1674
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... not seem consistent with the images following it, this first use of flight opens the rest of the story to the symbol. Also, it shows that having the joy of flying brings risks, including that of death, as well as freedom. Milkman, born Macon Dead, the third to bear that name, is born the day after Smith's flight off Mercy Hospital and is the one most affected by the image of flight presented in the book, even from ... his infancy. " When the little boy discovered, at ... ...

• Word Count: 1472
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... still in his glory. The theme is keeping your glory, during and after life. The irony is that the same crowd of townspeople who previously carried the athlete on their shoulders after he had won a race now carries him to his grave. Throughout the poem, the narrator emphasizes the idea that it is better to die young at your peak than die old and without glory. In the first line the poet ... him because they died after their glory and when they were forgotten. The athlete died while he was young and at his peak. The laurel wreath has not withered, mentioned in line 27 because he died at ...

• Word Count: 1428
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... our conclusion/finding. The question about life's meaning is not one where you can go, and discover the answer to. It is rather a set of values, images, visions, some sort of ones creation- a metaphor, a symbol. Each and everyone one of us has a different meaning to his/her life, and in this paper I will ... of time, and it will bring up ideas of maybe making that bridge we built a little better by adding some parts to it. Now, we have a new meaning to our life- adding that one part that will make the bridge twice as strong. After being done, we go through the same procedure again, and a...

• Word Count: 1475
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... be possible or quite frankly, against the law. Human cloning is good example of what is seen in movies. As people dwelled on the thought, especially after Dolly the sheep was born, it has become a realistic issue that is seen within our laws as well as on screen. In movies that portray the act of cloning, you see many different issues present and most of the films I found followed a very similar ... because there are such high failure rates in cloning that makes it inhumane to even attempt to clone (The Sixth Day 2000). There are always complications before, during, and after pregnancy ...

• Word Count: 1292
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... as long as he wanted, Jack still found a sort of spiritual meaning to the visit. This helped him think that his life does have a meaningful purpose. Throughout the story Jack never does find happiness. Once back in San Francisco, Jack finds out that his cat Tyke has died. Tyke was a symbol for Dulouz of a younger brother dying in his early childhood. Jack is extremely upset, and feels ... like some mythical being is playing a big trick on him. The only thing he thought to do was to get into the nearest bar and come out unable to stand. Jack finds some old friends who ... goes outside a...

• Word Count: 1449
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... ! never mind!- laughed Madame Ratignolle. "I am not quite so exacting. I will not let you off this time. It is really too hot to think, especially to think about thinking."" After her little periphery of Adele's subject she goes onto describe a day in her childhood, only to further reinstate her young emotions. Chopin manages to give Edna these emotions through an almost sarcastic habit ... her life first began to regress to take her final steps into the water. As she wades out, the reader is given the idea of a rebirth and a death all in one. Water has long been a symbol of rebirth and ...

• Word Count: 1658
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... by attaching a piece of white paper to the shutter in order to announce something unusual happening (179). The paper symbolizes corruption because they met outside behind Emma's house instead of a more secretive place, increasing the probability of getting caught. Flaubert includes this symbol to emphasize Emma's carelessness which reveals her dissatisfaction in her life with Charles and her demand for a more enjoyable life. After Rodolphe ends the affair, Emma becomes sick ... and "she hated the garden now and the shutter on that side was always closed" (197 ... ...

• Word Count: 1465
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... is very much paralleled to his father through his desire to escape reality and leave Amanda and Laura. The idea of magic in the play provides more insight into Tom's motives regarding his aspirations to escape. In the beginning of scene four, Tom returns home late at night after hours of drinking, explaining to Laura how he was enjoying a magician's show. Tom is fascinated and he recalls that & ... I buy a drink" (258). Although he eventually fulfilled his dream of leaving the house, his problems weren't solved and he was never able to truly escape everything. The fire escape leading int...

• Word Count: 1672
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... he submits himself to vulnerability as his jacket is a symbol of wild vitality like that of an animal. The dogs constantly baying in the background and his warm temperature like that of a dog's are symbols associated with Val, as he is in some ways not quite human. He has the ability to influence and persuade people so easily, while at the same time bringing life and fulfillment to a dry town ... and says, "if you ask a question you wait for someone to answer, but you ask the wrong question or you ask the wrong person and the answer don't come (63)." Life continues after that in the sam...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... everyone else and not stand out as immigrants. Estevan and Esperanza are definitely support for each other to thrive and keep the one thing they do have alive, their love for each other. In Guatemala the national symbol of the Indian people is a bird called a quetzal, it is a green bird with a long, long tail. Estevan states an interesting fact about this bird, "If you tried to ... starting to feel more free, like she had been let out of her cage and she wasn't going to die. In the novel, Taylor is helping Lou Ann thrive. Lou Ann is struggling to find herself after the awful breakup wit...

• Word Count: 2103
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... one spouse at a time". "(Zeitzen 3) Research revealed two groups residing in South Africa the Zulu, and a small population of Muslims who practice polygamous relationships. The Zulu culture has practiced polygamy for decades and it has become a symbol of the male's social status as well as wealth. Interesting enough even the president of South Africa: Jacob Zuma is involved in a polygamous relationship. President Zuma has three wives and two fiances. Polygamy ... when you live as closely as possible to the people you are studying, in this particular case the Zulus, while still participa...

• Word Count: 1726
• Approx Pages: 7

... Even before he faces it, it is clear from the early stages of the novel that fire is his element of the most consequence. The use of fire through the whole novel makes this fact indisputable. Fire is also commonly used as a symbol of Hell, which in the novel is represented by the wartime setting. For Robert Ross' final hurdle, he must pass the test of fire. Although fire ultimately brings about his death, it ... to stand their ground shooting aimlessly as their friends "were blown apart where they stood - blown apart by the combustion." The fire transformed the young men mentally and emo...

• Word Count: 1291
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , there is an awareness of death for the characters of Hemingway. There is also the notion that conventional and traditional ways of coping with the fact of man's mortality are based on romantic illusions which cause the character to avoid thinking about the central fact of existence: that eventually everyone must die. In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, the older waiter's actions and his personal thoughts as well as the symbol of the café leads to ... man who indulges in shutting out the world and finding peace in the quietness of a clean and well-lighted place in which he spends his time....

• Word Count: 1785
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , but because he needs his sex in order to be able to produce the music. However, as we can see later in the plot, he finds a substitute for Victoria quite easily. A very important point to make in this segment is that all women can be replaced in the life of Frederick Pope, but the violin cannot. The movie flies us all the way to China after England, where we see young Xiang ... Pei's mother buying the violin for the little girl. We do not know what her career as a musician is, it is only ... , she risks her life and her rank to save her violin. The violin is a symbol of moving forward....

• Word Count: 2426
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... closely to him (Richert). This is also the physical symbol of Christ's sacrifice of his body and blood for all the sins of the world, and all that is asked of in return is to let one's grace grow and a live a good, Christian life, by following the ways of the Lord. The sacrament of confirmation brings closure to the sacrament of baptism. With the precedence of baptism being of re-birth to a new and supernatural life ... last supper with his disciples, he made them aware of what was to come and let them know that one of them would be betraying him later, but that they would all be forgive...

• Word Count: 2086
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... even years. Baptism of Infants is the Rite being explored. Reception of the Children Baptism usually takes place on a Sunday and is performed in front of the congregation with important and meaningful people who are involved in the child's life. The decision is made by the parents as to who the Godparents are and all are present to partake in the ceremony of baptism. After greeting and welcoming everyone the priest attends to the parents who are waiting ... asking God to bless them and help in the journey to achieving a Christian life. The candle symbolizes a beam of light for his world...

• Word Count: 2136
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... is referred to throughout the novel as dangerous and an instrument of death. Zeena becomes connected with this symbol of death when Ethan sees a vision of her "face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust between himself and his goal- (Wharton 122). Wharton's use of Zeena in conjunction with the elm tree allows her to foreshadow the fact that Ethan will not die as he hopes to in the smash-up, but rather ... to further emphasize how much like death Ethan's life is. This becomes strikingly evident through Wharton's depiction of his physical appearance after the accident as a man who "l...

• Word Count: 2068
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... also advises Sam not to sell the house on Cloudstreet after the twenty years as "you shouldn't break a place. Places are strong, important". This is because Aboriginal beliefs place a great importance on land, and home. Thus, we can see how Tim Winton uses the Aboriginal man as a symbol for the spirituality present in life. Tim Winton makes a comment on the racial policies of Australia in the 1950s and endorses love, family ... and spirituality as being important in the search for ... ...

• Word Count: 1957
• Approx Pages: 8

... ). This description of the "hollow" cedar tree foreshadows Ishmael's state of mind after the war, a feeling of emptiness, and loneliness, an exception, someone who stands out in the rest of the people, his stumped arm. Also portrays Ishmael's feeling of being uncompleted. This also results him hanging on feeling of the past and not moving on, his emptiness and loneliness are like the odd cedar tree. This also pertains to vengeance, a symbol for the cedar tree ... truth that "after every difficulty, follows relief". Kabuo is set free and cleared of his allegations in affect to the so-call...

• Word Count: 1696
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School