Caitlin Machnicki
April 15, 2014
English 1020- 113729
Andrea Spearman
In Emily Dickinson’s poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, death is being described as a human characteristic and redefines the conflict between life and the peaceful eternity of death. Considering Dickinson’s poetic history, she was greatly influenced by the seventeenth- century of New England and had a fascination with death. Most of the time death is portrayed as something inevitable, irreversible and scary, but in this poem Dickinson does a great job reversing these ideas into something much more appealing. The authors use of alliteration, personification, and imagery throughout the entire poem helps mold the main themes of life, death, and eternity that she is so prominent for writing about.
Firstly, the use of alliteration in lines nine through twelve are used to emphasize the importance of what the speaker is trying to say. “At Recess—in the Ring/ We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—/We passed the Setting Sun—“ are all used to help the poem flow smoothly, somewhat like the peaceful carriage ride with death that the speaker is partaking in (Dickinson). Also, these three phrases help contribute to the overall theme because they all can be viewed as a simple ending. When the bell rings after recess that means that the break is officially over, fields of gazing grain are written almost as if they are lifeless just staring out into the present world with great wonder, and the setting sun is describing the sun at its last couple minutes right before it disappears into the night. All of these metaphoric terms are essential to this poem because as the speaker physically rides off with death, she knows that her time is officially over in this substantial...
... middle of paper ...
...final stanza, the speaker says that the centuries in which she had been dead seem to be shorter than the days which show the reader how her perception of time is somewhat off. Also, that the second she saw the horse’s heads and carriage she knew that she was going to be on her way to eternity. After the last line in the poem, it is left up to the reader to decide what exactly eternity holds and whether it is good or bad.
In conclusion, Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is a poem describing life, death, and eternity all in one. Considering Dickinson’s isolated past, and many years of writing influential poetry she became an expert in using figures of speech, symbols and themes throughout her work. In this specific poem she uses alliteration, personification, imagery and her cultural beliefs to emphasize her popular themes of life and death.
From mapping it is clear that the night represents death by meeting night, the narrator is saying that he encounters death. Thus, the idea of death is reinforced by the conceptual metaphor A LIFETIME IS A DAY and activates the general metaphor DEATH IS A JOURNEY TO A FINAL DESTINATION. The experiential basis of this metaphor can be traced from different sources, for example the person usually is active and feels alive during the day. Moreover the phases of life can be also expressed in terms of
Death occurs to people every single day, it’s how those people died that makes the death significant. There are some people who die of old age, illness, or by an accident. However, some people end their lives or are murdered. In the play Hamlet, almost every single character introduced ends up dying. These characters end up dying, because Hamlet, the main character, wants revenge on his Uncle Claudius for killing his father; instead, he kills and causes many more deaths in the play. William Shakespeare
Death is something at affects all of us and all cultures have certain ways of thinking about and handling this unfortunate fact of life. Many don’t look forward to it or don’t want it to happen to others. The way people react or think about death is strongly tied to the individual’s culture. Religion which is a part of culture affects the way a lot of people view death considering the fact that 84 percent of the world follows a religion. Rituals of death vary from culture to culture in the way they
she has to undergo in killing her son. Eva preserves Plum in death, as she has to do the best for him, and cannot see him in pain. Morrison describes Eva’s act of dousing Plum in kerosene, in a ritualistic way, as if it were “Some kind of baptism, some kind of blessing”(Sula 47). The ritualistic terms used by Morrison connate to Eva’s maternal love. Eva can be viewed as a destroyer after the death of Plum, which is fallacious. In fact, death liberates Plum from his painful life. This act of Eva has
In modern society, death is the end of all things. Death brings nothingness to some and a second chance at life to others; a new and better life than what can be lead on Earth. This idea of the life beyond death was celebrated and anticipated by the ancient Greeks. Death brought with it a reunion of loved ones, an existence with eternal youth, and an abundance of happiness. The most important aspect of this experience, however, was the continuation of love and marriage after death. Several ancient
Death is an unfortunate aspect of life that we have no control over. When it comes to death, this can be a sensitive topic to discuss. At one point, or another we have experience death first hand whether it is losing a loved one, losing a friend, losing a pet, or losing a family member. Death can bring fourth several different emotions, and actions. Each and every single individual handles death differently. Each and every culture handles death differently. Some individuals may be calm, angered,
Jacob Fuessel Fuessel 1 Mrs. Mallon Composition January 18, 2014 How can Death, Dying, and Religion differ per person? Throughout Tuesdays with Morrie written by Mitch Albom, Morrie discusses his outlook on Dying, Death, Religion, and how Religion can help someone cope with these topics. Morrie’s experience with dying is talked about often in and is a major topic of the novel. Death, which is the end to life, is different to everyone who experiences it partially due to beliefs. Morrie’s understanding
Buddhism, there are different ways in which death is thought of. One of the ways death is pondered is in the “Recollection of Death” through inference. Buddhism teaches us about not thinking as much as where you’ll go but rather that everyone dies —no one is free from such a fate. Through the idea of death through inference, if someone famous such as a king, warrior, actor, singer, etc., dies, therefore, we all will die. Not even the greatest warrior can escape death. We are all bound to it and regardless
Death is a central focus of conversation that individuals and society discuss when analyzing the meaning of life. It is an aspect of life that everyone at some point must become acquainted with. There is one thing that every living thing can be sure of: “I will eventually die.” This paper will examine a number of issues that can arise once an individual reflects on their own mortality. All living organisms have a beginning and an end. Tomorrow is promised to anyone. Death is an unavoidable and definite
inevitability of death. The piece is abundant with imagery, careful diction, and religious undertone. McCarthy employs these literary devices in order to convey the protagonist’s deep concern for a wounded wolf he encounters in the wilderness and his quiet sense of reverence, loss and even fear when confronted by the animal’s death. This section of The Crossing begins in media res and the tone is one of frantic concern. Diction plays an enormous role in expressing the impression the wolf's death (and circumstances
Fall Apart, Death and the King’s Horseman, and So Long a Letter all have similar and different qualities on how the concept of death is viewed in their respective cultures. A western English-speaking reader knows that death is the end of a biological, physical, and mental life. Western culture generally accepts end of life due to “natural” causes such as disease or old age. Any “human involvement” in taking a life is treated as a crime or sickness. In Death and the King’s Horseman, death is not the
Death anxiety is the apprehension generated by death awareness (Lehto & Stein, 2009). It is a multi-faced and encompasses concerns related to the denial of death, the dear of death for oneself and for others, avoidance of death, and the reluctance to interact with person who are dying (Quinn-Lee, Olson-McBride & Unterberger, 2014). According to Lehto and Stein (2009), death anxiety is an evolving concept that involves six attributes which are emotion, cognitive, experiential, development, sociocultural
the poem “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” by Dylan Thomas, he explains how death will happen to everyone but the memory of those dead will be remembered. Similar to the powerful poem by Thomas, Michael Robbins’ recent poem “Not Fade Away” reminds the readers about the music artists whom have died and their legacies that carry on through different generations but in the end he is afraid to die. Both poems are inspired by older works of literature and share the common theme of death with their use
Religion is an important aspect for understanding both life and death in many cultures. It provides a structure and set of moral guideline for many people all over the world. Religion especially plays an important role in the process of dying and in death because it is often what people turn to in their last days of life in anticipation of what, if anything, comes after life. While the belief in an afterlife is not consistent throughout all religions and cultures, many of them do believe in some
Death is a natural part of life that we all have to face one day. The way in which friends and love ones cope during this time is based on their culture or religious belief and their support system. Different religion or culture has different mourning customs which are unique to their own believes. For this project, three religious practices: Christianity, Muslim and Catholic were examined along with their own unique customs and believes. Despite the wide array of differences between each culture