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.

Compare and Contrast Poems #9

Thesis: Emily Dickinson's poems "I never saw a Moor" and "'Faith' is a fine invention" use punctuation and a theme of vision to emphasize the different perspectives and opinions on faith.

1. The use of punctuation in the two poems help point out important points and perspectives. The dashes Dickinson uses act as means to make the reader pause and consider the content just read before continuing on to the next line. In "I never saw a Moor", Dickinson expresses, "I never saw a Moor-- / I never saw the Sea--" (1-2). The simple statements seem to be obvious to the speaker, but the reader might find it hard to imagine not knowing what such basic sights look like. The dashes act as a reminder that the speaker is drawing importance from her inexperience that needs to be understood in order to understand the rest of the stanza. In "'Faith' is a fine invention", Dickinson uses the dashes to separate the two main ideas being expressed. But the more important use to punctuation in the second poem involves the way the words "faith" and "microscopes" are expressed. The very first word of the poem boldly defines the speaker's opinion about faith's validity. By placing faith in quotation marks, falseness and artificiality extend from the word. It is then described as a "fine invention" (1), implying faith as being man-made and used as a tool. The Gentlemen use the false tool for status as it is expected by all of higher class. "'Faith'" is highly contrasted by the word "Microscopes" (3), both italicized and capitalized for emphasis. Dickinson draws attention to it and its importance. The microscopes show what faith alone cannot cause or explain. The over-emphasis shows the speaker's desperation to make the point that the correct way to go about a distressful situation is by relying on scientific facts and medicines. The use of punctuation in the second poem adds a humorous tone to it all, whereas "I never saw a Moor" remains almost entirely at peace and serious.
2. Though both poems highlight the importance of vision, they do so in such ways in order to come to different conclusions of faith. In "I never saw a Moor", Dickinson develops a speaker who uses their imagination without having experience. She is adamant about the power of her ability to see a "Moor"(1), "the Sea" (2), and "a Billow" (4). Her assurance is expressed with, "Yet I know how the Heather looks" (3). The entire first stanza makes known the speaker's unique connection with reality, strengthened by her strong faith. The second stanza refers to her belief in God. Though the speaker has no direct experience with God or heaven, "Yet certain am I of the spot" (7). Once again, the assurance is emphasized, therefore highlighting the speaker's unbreakable connection with religion and her vivid imagination. She can see without truly seeing, and knows without having had experience. The second poem takes an entirely different perspective on faith through vision. Using the word "see" (2) refers to the literal act of looking at the general picture. This kind of seeing skims the surface, skipping over details. The Gentlemen see with such a vague lens and they are in turn seen with a similar vagueness that guarantees their status and respect. Ambiguity is then compared to the "prudent" (3) way of seeing things when in a time of danger or distress: looking through "Microscopes" (3). Seeing scientifically under such magnification makes it easier to see factual details that could otherwise be missed. The speaker of this poem encourages microscopic vision as a way to see past the falseness of a status, for times of crisis call for the most precision.

Picture of Dorian Gray #5

           After Dorian Gray first notices the change in the portrait and once he makes the connection that the shift represents the degradation of his soul, he becomes increasingly paranoid about it. He frets when Basil comes to visit him, and even worries that his servants and the framer will see the revealing masterpiece. He refuses to allow others to look upon it, and decides to hide it away into his abandoned play-room. When he enters the room, he "recalled the stainless purity of his boyish life, and it seemed horrible to him that it was here the fatal portrait was to be hidden away" (89). Dorian's placement is ironic. Dorian chooses a place where he spent most of his innocent childhood, before having met Lord Henry. After the encounter and the transfer of influence, Dorian begins to lose his once naive purity, and instead his soul begins to decay. He tries to conceal the decay by hiding its only proof in a room that is yet untouched by the new Dorian Gray. The sheltered play-room is the only place "secure from prying eyes" (89), and before the painting is placed there, it was also the most restored part of Dorian's life. He would have remained untouched by sin if he had only chosen to listen to Basil's warnings about Lord Henry's influences.