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the human life journey
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Some people may describe their lives as being ordinary while others may say that their life is extraordinary in comparison. People at some point in their lives will have to make decisions that will take them down different paths, and the paths people choose will determine what journey they may face and what will become of their future. While human life can be described as a journey, it is often described as being either a physical or spiritual one for its travelers.
First, human life can be depicted as a spiritual and physical journey for people in life. In the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, it tells of a man being hanged over the edge of the bridge and the events that transpire after the noose around his neck breaks. The journey for Peyton Farquhar in the story is a spiritual one based on the fact that while he is waiting to be hanged he imagines trying to get away and overcoming certain obstacles to reach the safety of his family. Bierce writes, “By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famishing. The thought of his wife and children urged him on” (87). The obstacles that Peyton overcomes in his mind is a way for him to find an escape from the idea of him being hanged, and while he is dodging bullets and refraining from drowning he is thinking of his family as a safe place. In his story, Bierce states, “He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine” (88). He reaches his beautiful home and he sees his wife gliding down the stairs with her arms outstretched for an embrace. Peyton’s family and home symbolize heaven in the way it is described as being perfect and unearthly. His home is where his mind carries him as he is about t...
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...her small body. Some people may experience a more spiritual journey by strengthening their religion, accomplishing certain goals, or making peace with others. For example, the person in Dickinson’s poem makes peace with her death and passes on into an afterlife with Death at her side. People have different experiences in their life to find their way and those decisions can be a meaningful journey for the people who travel it.
Works Cited
Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Roberts and Zweig 83-88.
Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” Roberts and Zweig 653-54.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Roberts and Zweig 1096.
Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 10th ed. Boston: Longman-Person, 2012. Print.
Welty, Eudora. “A Worn Path.” Roberts and Zweig 314-19.
Kirsznerand and Mandell, Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Earl McPeek. USA: Harcout, Inc., 2001, 1997,1994,1991. 388-395
...X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 8th Ed., edited by Joseph Terry. New York: Longman, 2002.
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Abcarian, Richard. Literature: the Human Experience : Reading and Writing. : Bedford/Saint Martin's, 2012. Print.
Roberts, Edgar V., Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th Compact Edition, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008, print
Meyer, M. (2013). Bedford introduction to literature: Reading, thinking, writing. Boston: Bedford Bks St Martin’s.
Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. A7
Roberts E V, Jacobs H.E (2000) Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (6th Edition) Prentice Hall College Div
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading & Reacting & Writing. 4th ed. Boston: Earl McPeek, 2000. 388-423.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. Literature:An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Fifth compact edition ed. Glenview: Pearson, 2012. Print.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. 7th compact ed. /Interactive ed. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, 2012.
Emily Dickinson became legendary for her preoccupation with death. All her poems contain stanzas focusing on loss or loneliness, but the most striking ones talk particularly about death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her fascination with the morose gives her poems a rare quality, and gives us insight into a mind we know very little about. What we do know is that Dickinson’s father left her a small amount of money when she was young. This allowed her to spend her time writing and lamenting, instead of seeking out a husband or a profession. Eventually, she limited her outside activities to going to church. In her early twenties, she began prayed and worshipped on her own. This final step to total seclusion clearly fueled her obsession with death, and with investigating the idea of an afterlife. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson rides in a carriage with the personification of Death, showing the constant presence of death in her life. Because it has become so familiar, death is no longer a frightening presence, but a comforting companion. Despite this, Dickinson is still not above fear, showing that nothing is static and even the most resolute person is truly sure of anything. This point is further proven in “I heard a Fly buzz”, where a fly disrupts the last moment of Dickinson’s life. The fly is a symbol of death, and of uncertainty, because though it represents something certain—her impending death—it flies around unsure with a “stumbling buzz”. This again illustrates the changing nature of life, and even death. “This World is not Conclusion” is Dickinson’s swan song on the subject of afterlife. She confirms all her previous statements, but in a more r...
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact 8th. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.