Musical Devices:

Thesis: Maya Angelou incorporates the usage of musical devices, such as rhyme and anaphora, as well as tone to portray the speaker's deep love for nature's release from her hard labor.

           The use of rhyme scheme in the poem adds a nostalgic and playful tone for the poem. The first 14 lines list the speaker's chores, but they are written in a way that sounds both tedious and playful. The chores themselves are many, but the rhyme scheme and rhythmic meter lighten the burden of the speaker ever so slightly. The rhyme scheme changes from AABB to ABAB, and the rhythm becomes less simple and even. The shift shows how the speaker's feelings become more complicated as she thinks of the ways in which she enjoys herself. For her, the chores are automatic and stand as obstacles that keep her from letting go. The beauty of nature is the only source of comfort for her. By using anaphora, she emphasizes her need to indulge into happiness. She prays, "Rain on me, rain" (16). The urgency to be released from the tedious and monotonous chores can be explained by observing the evenly monotonous writing in the first 14 lines. The chores are void of any emotional excitement. The speaker can only look forward to the way nature comforts, for nature is all that is left that holds no grudges or prejudices. Nature also has no schedule or strictness--it's essence is free-flowing, spontaneous, and pure. Thus it is so that the the speaker feels that nature is "all that I can call my own" (30).
         

The Stranger #2

                Mersault's feelings of indifference towards the rest of the world is further explored as the story progresses. His view towards women is quite shallow. The only reason he spends time with Marie is to look at her and use her for pleasure. When she asks him if he loves her, he "told her it didn't mean anything but that I didn't think so" (35), and when he is asked later, he responds with a similar indifference. Then, later, when she asks him if he would marry her, he responds in the exact same way: "I explained to her that it didn't really matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married" (41). When faced with such strong and serious emotions, Mersault reacts in the same indifferent manner. He is void of emotion. His mind fixates on giving in to cravings, such as smoking another cigarette, or sleeping with Marie, or eating a meal. All of his actions benefit him in some way, and those that involve others are pushed aside in his mind as being of less importance. There is some vacancy in his soul, something that isn't being fulfilled. Raymond is the only person he feels somewhat connected to, and the reader can notice the path to ruin that Raymond leads. Mersault follows closely down this path, as he becomes closer to Raymond and decides to defend him against domestic abuse charges.

"The Oxen" Tone Analysis

Thesis: Thomas Hardy uses imagery and rhyme scheme to develop the superstitious and nostalgic tone of the speaker on Christmas night.
     
               The speaker uses various techniques to develop the central mood of the poem.  By including descriptions of a farm and creating the warmth of the "embers in hearthside ease" (4), Hardy begins to establish a setting of simplistic comfort. The time being Christmas Eve adds an even calmer scene, one of religious awareness and respect. The "meek mild creatures" (5) are perceived as innocent and well-treated. The speaker presumes they are feeling similar religious tranquility and connectedness, as he explains how "Nor did it occur to one of us there / To doubt they were kneeling then" (7-8). However, the feeling of stillness is disrupted by the end of the poem. There is more depth to the seemingly tranquil setting, as the speaker refers to a different time: "'Come; see the oxen kneel / 'In the lonely barton by yonder coomb / Our childhood used to know,'" (12-14). The familiar bittersweet feeling of nostalgia overcomes the reader. The childhood is associated with a loneliness felt by the speaker, and he is propelled to see whether the animals too feel a religious connection on Christmas.

Dorian Gray #7

        Dorian's inability to continue with his Hedonistic lifestyle becomes even clearer towards the end of the book. No longer can accessible pleasures quench his desires--he finds the need to travel an hour to get an edge off of opium, the only pleasure he can think of. He fantasizes of opium-dens, "where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new" (135). Dorian tries to find more ways to distract his mind from the terrible deed he committed the night before, to the point where he develops a "hideous hunger for opium" (136) in order to make him forget. The hunger can be explained by the failures of choosing to live a Hedonistic lifestyle. One of the faults is the fact that pleasures don't last long, every time creating a deeper yearning for more pleasure. Also, Dorian chose to give in to an urge by murdering Basil and is now suffering the mental consequences. He later describes his inner struggle: "He was prisoned in thought. Memory, like a horrible malady, was eating his soul away" (138). His friends are noticing he is not himself. With James Vane determined to murder him, and his constant memory of killing Basil, Dorian will soon either admit his deeds or make them noticeable to all.

DORIAN GRAY #6

              The deterioration of Dorian Gray's soul becomes ever apparent as the story progresses. Years pass, and Dorian's corruption and evil become regularly talked about throughout England. His reputation crumbles. When he sees Basil, he is reminded of the one person left that is unaware of his soul's impurities. After Dorian reveals to the painter the truth of the transformation as seen through the portrait, "suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred for Basil Hallward came over him, as though it has been suggested to him by the image on the canvas, whispering into his ear by those grinning lips" (115). The surge of uncontainable hatred that possesses Dorian shows how powerful the evil within him has become. Furthermore, the evil convinces him to passionately murder the old man with ruthless revenge. Even after the deed has been done, it takes some time before Dorian even realizes the severity of it. He justifies his horrid actions: "The friend who has painted fatal portrait to which all his misery had been due, had gone out of his life" (116). Dorian blames his wretchedness on the painting and its creator, even though it was truly Lord Henry's influence that is the cause of Dorian's dilapidation.
               The uncontrollable evil of that night turn to panic by the morning. The shift is very evident. Whereas the night before, Dorian feels "strangely calm" (116), as he awakes the following morning, he reflects, "How horrible that was! Such hideous things were for the darkness, not for the day" (118). Later, Dorian plays back memories he has with Dorian, and concludes, "Poor Basil! what a horrible way for a man to die!" (120). Feelings Dorian has about the whole situation are strange. Some degree of regret seems to be hidden in his thoughts, but more than anything, he seems to think of Basil's body as being an inconvenience. This then changes to terror when he realizes the portrait has changed again, this time with a "loathsome red dew that gleamed, wet and glistening, on one of his hands, as though the canvas had sweated blood" (127). The evidence is clearly portrayed in the portrait. Even if Allan Campbell disposes entirely of Basil's lifeless body, there is proof dripping on the canvas. Dorian's response is to quickly cover the painting, as he covers his sins while they decompose the good of his soul. It is only a matter of time before he will be unable to continue to escape and to cover his evil.