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common themes in stories and poems
common themes in literature
archetypal themes in literature
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There are many great modern British authors today. One such author is Philip Pullman. His fantasies have been captivating readers in England for several years, and have been filtering there way across the pond and worldwide. Pullman was born on the 19 of October 1946 in Norwich. Because his father was in the Royal Air Force Philip spent much of his childhood traveling. His father died at age seven and he and his brother Francis were moved back to Norfolk to live with his grandfather while his mother went to London to find work. At eight years old his mother remarried another RAF soldier and Philip was forced to move once again. During a short stint in Australia he was introduced to comic books, which would become a strong influence on his writing as well as illustrating. Then at ten, his stepfather would retire and the family would move back to Britain to focus on the growing family. This time to North Wales, where Pullman would study at a prep school. From the prep school he went to a state school where he would meet Miss
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Enid Jones. She was an English teacher who would play a large role in inspiring Philip to write. He even sends her copies of his books to this day.
Philip Pullman entered college as an enthusiastic teenager. Because of his prowess in English he was awarded a scholarship to study at Exeter College in Oxford. However, his education was “largely unenthusiastic”(1). Even to the point that he attacks the National Curriculum saying it “crushes imagination in students”(1). Upon graduation he participated in several medial jobs before landing back in Oxford to become a teacher. During this period he wrote several plays that would be preformed by students and would later be a platform for his children’s boo...
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...ust only accumulating on adults shows that experience is worth volumes in their world.
The Golden Compass is a great literary adventure led by Philip Pullman. His crazy ideas and twisted logic send the reader on a roller coaster through out. However, not only is it just entertaining, it also has the literary aspects necessary to be considered a good novel. For these reasons and others Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass is a great example of theme, diction, and motif’s in literature.
Works Cited
Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. New York:
Ballentine, 1997. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on His Dark Materials.” SparkNotes.com
SparkNotes LLC. N.d.. Web. 29 Mar. 2011
Anonymous. “Author Profile: Philip Pullman.” Teenreads.com. Web.
29 Mar. 2011
Anonymous. “Philip Pullman’s Biography.” HisDarkMaterial.org. 2 Nov. 2008
Web. 29 Mar. 2011
The world of English Literature captures the minds of millions of people worldwide. The stories that are read are new and old and continue to capture the attention of people even to this day. Each piece of literature can go in-depth into settings, themes, characterizations, have great styles and the thing most people enjoy... conflict. Most people don't understand or see the messages these pieces may have in them. Hidden sometimes within complex statements or meanings that the everyday person might not recollect. These "treasures" are waiting to be found and are gold waiting to be found.
Pullman has written a basic adventure story laced with multiple themes, metaphors and ideas. He uses intertextuality to enrich his text and enhance his ideas and arguments (Squires, 2009). His novel is mainly a critique of the theology surrounding the Judaeo-Christian myth of the Fall where the gaining of experience replaces the loss of innocence. He compares this idea with the journey of his m...
"Themes." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie R. Napierkowski. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale, 1998. 6-7. Print.
Richard E. Miller, the author of The Dark Night of the Soul, is an English professor/executive director of the Plan-genre Writing Center at Rutgers University. He studies the English curriculum in the U.S and questions if it is successful or a dying art. This is evident in The Dark night of the Soul,
...at could these five pieces of literature possibly have in common?’ The answer to this question is very simple, these pieces of literature each possess symbolic colors that represent something different. Yellow wallpaper represents a deteriorating mind, a shabby, black box represents a gruesome, sacrificial death, green is the physical representation of power and wealth in society, a mixture of blue and yellow represents the confusion of a clear sky with dead grass and ‘Blue Roses’ and Blue Mountain represent the longing someone feels for something they can never have. Perhaps a paining is not the only symbol for the universe. Perhaps every piece of literature is related to each other in such a way that by reading each piece of literature, one can connect the different symbols an author chooses to use and recognize the complex harmony that binds the literature world.
Carlsen, G. Robert. Insights Themes in Literature. New York: Webster Division, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.
Imagery has enormous influence in an individual’s comprehension of a novel. It permits the onlooker to envision the surroundings of the character as well as the characters themselves in the novel. There are two books in particular where imagery and symbolism are significant factors. In Lord of the Flies and Frankenstein, symbolism helped book lovers rouse a thought of how Frankenstein’s beast looks. Also a thought regarding how the island the young men crashed on in Lord of the Flies was conjured up through the words. Without the utilization of imagery and perhaps symbolism, books might be meaningless and uninteresting to readers.
Kennedy, X J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Sixth ed. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995. Print.
Pullman's first novel from the His Dark Materials collection, The Golden Compass has many imaginary and realistic modern-day aspects of the world he envisions; such as Daemons, Dust, and the Alethiometer. The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe with definite similarities to that of our own Earth. Slight differences, however, define this innovative and beautiful world Pullman has created for his audience. A key difference between the two worlds is the existence and association of Daemons with Humans. These otherworldly creatures known as Daemons are the window to a person's soul. They expose you for who you really are as a person in the world. Daemons are representation of the emotional and mental state of a person, especially the humans' ‟ souls" which can communicate with their "owners”. Ultimately, revealing their true inner self, intentions and a way of life. Daemons are important throughout the entire novel, because it gives us a look under the mask of each main character presented to us in the novel. This relationship between daemon and human can be observed heavily through Lyra, the main protagonist and her daemon; Pantalaimon and Lord Asriel and his daemon; Stelmaria the Snow Leopard and finally, Mrs. Coulter with her daemon, The Golden Monkey. Daemons associated with different lifestyles and mindsets of their owner. They not only help their predestined owner with various tasks and devising plans, as shown from Lyra, but as well are an external representation of themselves that understand the owner's motives and thinking shown by Mrs. Coulter.
A compelling story reveals a deeper level of meaning without committing the error of defining it. In Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, Le Guin utilizes allegory, realism, and symbolism. By applying these literary elements into her short story, Le Guin has made “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” effectively compelling.
When authors set out to impact the lives of readers, a diverse utilization of literary aspects is often required. It is easy to come across many differences and similarities between literary aspects when one delves into a plethora of works. In the book Life of Pi author Yann Martel harnesses the use of a varied first person point of view in order to accurately portray the sense of panic and urgency in given situations; adversely, in the short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, a detached third person point of view is taken into account in order to drag the reader along on the drawn-out, suspenseful journey that the families involved had to endure. Despite the difference in narrators amongst Life of Pi and “The Lottery,” the points of view of both of these works are exercised in order to drive the plot of two very effective literary gems.
These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to. While each of these tales is not exactly alike, they do share a common core of events. Some event and or character flaw necessitates a journey of some kind, whether it is an actual physical journey or a metaphorical one. The hardships and obstacles encountered on said journey lead to spiritual growth and build character. Rarely does a person find himself unchanged once the journey is over.
Symbolism is commonly used by authors that make short stories. Guin is a prime example of how much symbolism is used in short stories such as “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “Sur.” In both of these stories Guin uses symbolism to show hidden meanings and ideas. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” there is a perfect Utopian city, yet in this perfect city there is a child locked in a broom closet and it is never let out. A few people leave the city when they find out about the child, but most people stay. Furthermore, in “Sur” there is a group of girls that travel to the South Pole and reach it before anyone else, yet they leave no sign or marker at the South Pole. Guin’s stories are very farfetched and use many symbols. Both “Sur” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” have many symbols such as colors, characters, objects, and weather. The four types of symbols that Guin uses help the readers understand the themes in her short stories. Although her stories are farfetched, they need symbolism in them or the reader would not understand the theme; therefore the symbols make Guin’s stories much more enjoyable.
Most often, people assume literary devices in fiction stories were created to provide structure. To explore theme, one
de Maupassant, Guy. "The Necklace." Understanding Fiction. 3rd ed. Eds. Clanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hill, 1979. 66-72