A Comparison of Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break and Digging
I am comparing two poems by Seamus Heaney- `Mid-Term Break` and
`Digging`. Both of the poems are written about his childhood and his
family.
The first poem I analysed was `Mid-Term Break`, where the simple and
straight forward title `Break` caught my attention suggesting to me
that this poem is going to be a positive experience, a break from
work, a time to relax.
The commencing stanza, the first line reads, ?I sat all morning in the
college sick bay?, which has connotation of depression, illness and
suffering suggested from the word `sick`. Also with the reference to
college the reader gathers that the boy is in his late teens. Second
line, ?Counting bells knelling classes to a close?, the word
`knelling` in that line is associated with funerals and death so we
get the feeling that something might be wrong and gather a sense of
foreboding at what is to come. The final line, ?At two o?clock our
neighbours drove me home?, is unusual, why are his neighbours driving
him home and not his parents? The question why are his parents driving
him home this increases the sense of foreboding. Also there is falling
rhythm in this stanza.
In the second stanza, the line begins, ?In the porch I met my father
crying?, and this confirms to the reader that something is wrong, that
something tragic has happened. The second line mentions that he takes
`funerals` in his stride, so that says to me that he?s attended quite
a lot of funerals even though he?s not that old. The final line, ?And
Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow?, leads me to believe that Big
Jim Evans is a close friend and also that he is quite large suggested
by the adjective `Big` to descri...
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...o poems `Mid-Term Break` and `Digging` are both good poems,
which are both about families. `Mid-Term Break` is about when he
leaves college and returns home to find out the news about his little
brother. `Digging` is about his grandfather and how he?s getting old
and finding work difficult, so both poems are about family, but quite
different circumstances. The layout of the two poems is very
different. `Mid-Term Break` being very straight forward, just having
three lines to each stanza and `Digging` being completely opposite and
following no strategic pattern.
Overall I think that `Mid-Term Break` is a better poem, as I find it
more serious and was personally more effective by this poem due to it
being quite sad talking about his brother and that last line, ?A four
foot box, a foot for every year?, which is a very emotional last line
to finish a poem.
The average NFL player takes up to 1,000 blows to the head throughout their football career. Some of those blows can have the force of a sledgehammer (“RealNatural”). Based on a research study by Dr. Jesse David, there were 265 concussions reported in the 2012 season, during the 2011 season there were 266 concussions, and 270 concussions in 2010 season (Kacsmar). It has been known that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term brain damage since at least the 1950’s, long before most of the NFL players had begun their careers (“RealNatural”). Past infractions of the NFL have already resulted in over 4,500 forme...
Everyone has their own perception on what defines a hero; some may argue that they exhibit characteristics such as honesty or courage, while others may think that heroes have special power. Our society may have changed the values in which we associate heroes with, but one thing seems to have never changed: the main character of the book turns out as the hero. In my analyst, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is put on trial as we see through our own eyes how Caulfield can not be considered a hero in modern society.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
...time the athlete is just fine, but there is the small chance that the brain injury is worse than it appears. If I were in this situation, to me the health of the athlete is more important than winning a game. If the blow was an extremely hard hit than I would be worried for further injury of the brain, such as swelling and bleeding.
Protected by a cocoon of naiveté, Holden Caulfield, the principal character in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, therapeutically relates his lonely 24 hour stay in downtown New York city, experiencing the "phony" adult world while dealing with the death of his innocent younger brother. Through this well-developed teenage character, JD Salinger, uses simple language and dialogue to outline many of the complex underlying problems haunting adolescents. With a unique beginning and ending, and an original look at our new society, The Catcher in the Rye is understood and appreciated on multiple levels of comprehension. The book provides new insights and a fresh view of the world in which adolescents live.
If you have the brains when you start, you are aware that banging your head into people is not the best thing for your body,” stated Chris Cooley, tight end and a 2 time Pro Bowler with the Washington Redskins (Do No Harm, 2). Research over the years has gathered extensive data on the mental and physical illnesses of retired NFL football players. It has proved that players who accumulate numerous concussions are at a higher risk of health problems after their football career than players who’ve sustained fewer. This data is proven by various studies that have caused worry for many retired NFL football families. The examples of deaths resulting from past concussions are astonishing, and the stats that show high risks for the possible problems can prove why they possibly died. Countless retired players are now frightened by the potential hazard of destructive health problems.
A. Subpoint: Many people do not like to focus on the violent nature of the game. Big hits and tackles are frequently praised and seen on top plays. But there are too many cases where these big hits result in serious concussions.
...Down and Inches: Concussions and Footballs Make or Break Moment. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, 2013. Print.
... is trying to catch Holden in the midst of a “fall.” But Mr. Antolini “fall” describes is very different from the one Holden had imagined. Holden desires an idyllic world of childhood innocence; But Mr. Antolini describes that Holden is giving up or disengaging himself from the real world, or that he would fall in a void that removes life around him. In both these cases, we see that Holden envisions himself as the protector rather than the one to be protected. Holden is the one who really needs to be “caught”. But Mr. Antolini thinks that Holden feels disconnected from his environment, and, his assessment is accurate. Holden wants to attempt to be his own saviour, but Mr. Antolini’s imagines Holden’s falling presents in a more accurate image of what awaits Holden on the other side of the “cliff.” This thus reveals the weaknesses of Holden’s romantic outlook.
A door slams. A muffled scream echoes through the house. Someone shouts, “This is so unfair!” No one gets hurt, but no one remains unscathed. A typical scenario in the house of a teenager, but why? Throughout life, people only see the world from their point of view, and many never attempt to view their actions in any way but their own. J.D. Salinger penned the auspicious novel, The Catcher in the Rye. This classic tells the story of a mentally disabled teen that grew up too fast. Holden, the aforementioned teen, distances himself from personal connection after his younger brother, Allie, dies. By cutting himself off from the love of those around him, he feels lost and misunderstood. Holden begins to hate the world, and soon gives up on attempting
In The Way to Rainy Mountain, the author Scott Momaday uses the theme of a journey to drive this story. He begins his journey after the passing of his grandmother, the journey to reconnect and rediscover his own culture. He shares this moment on page 10, “I remember her most often in prayer. She made long, rambling prayers out of suffering and hope, having seen many things…the last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed at night, naked to the waist, the light of a kerosene lamp moving upon her dark skin…I do not speak Kiowa, and I never understood her prayers, but there was something inherently sad in the sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow”. The passing brought a realization upon him to have to keep the culture going. He can barely speak Kiowa, while his grandmother was one of the few members who were completely fluent. I believe this book is a call out to his tribe to take the same journey Momaday took.
Robert Ackley is an absolute slob who is excruciatingly irritating as well, yet Holden is still friendly with him, unlike most of the other boys from Pencey. This is most likely because Holden is very lonely in his dorm and will take any company he can get and also because Holden is actually a kind-hearted young man. When Holden and his friend Mal are going out to watch a movie, Holden asks Ackley to come and join them because he felt sorry for him, “I asked was because Ackley never did anything on Saturday night, except stay in his room and squeeze his pimples or something” (Salinger 41). Holden is compassionate when he invited Ackley, simply because he did not want Ackley to be lonely on a Saturday night. Even though Holden is troubled in
In Seamus Heaney’s poetry, there is a recurring theme of his talking of the past, and more predominantly about significant moments in time, where he came to realisations that brought him to adulthood. In “Death of a Naturalist” Heaney describes a moment in his childhood where he learnt that nature was not as beautiful as seem to be when he was just a naive child. Heaney does this on a deeper level in “Midterm Break” describes his experience of his younger brothers funeral and the mixed, confusing feelings he encountered, consequently learning that he no longer was a child, and had no choice but to be exposed to reality. Robert Frost in one sense also describes particular moments in time, where his narrator comes to realisations. However, Frost writes more indirectly than Heaney, and all together more metaphorically. In “A Leaf Treader” he symbolically talks about life and death through the autumn season. He does the same, in “The Road Not Taken” where the two roads are described to be a metaphor for the decisions one makes in life, and the inevitable regrets we face due to those decisions. In “Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening” Frost directly talks directly of a moment in time, however the significant meaning being that in life one needs a moment of solace to appreciate peace and beauty.
death is of the way the poet feels about the frogs. In the first verse
In Kew Gardens, Virginia Woolf takes advantage of the liminal quality of the short story in order to highlight the suspended world that she creates in the garden. For Woolf, the lyrical short story’s subversion of traditional narrative structure allows her to focus on creating a world rather than a plot. Further, the short story creates a liminal space by the very nature of its form. Caught in a space where it is not considered a poem or a novel, the short story exists as undefined. The liminality of the short story, however, is both liberating and restricting. Woolf explores this feature in order to suggest the unsustainable nature of Kew Gardens. While Woolf utilizes the form of the short story to create a liminal, impressionistic space that eradicates the boundaries between human and nature, she also uses the transitory quality of the short story to suggest that such a space can only exist for a short duration due to the restrictions of the imposing outside world.