ESSAY CEMETERY

Preface (signed A.G Pym) Pym meets some people who urge him to write his tale. He is reluctant to publish it for fear he would not be believed because its contents are so marvelous. Also he is a poor writer. Mr. Poe, he says, took great interest in the tale and wrote it up and published it as fiction. Chapter I Pym comes from a respectable family in Nantucket. He goes out to sea on a small sailboat with his friend Augustus. Augustus takes the boat far out and Pym realizes that he is drunk. Pym can't sail well and a storm is approaching. He hears a terrible scream and passes out and wakes up on the deck of a whaling ship. He realizes that the two ships had collided and that they had been rescued, first Pym and Augustus after half an hour. They had both been near death. Chapter II 1.5 years after the Ariel disaster, he deceives his family who is opposed to his seafaring aspirations by telling them he is off to spend several weeks with Mr. Ross to whom he is relate

This is written upon the celebration of the 82 nd July 4 th in 1858. July 4 th is a celebration of liberty that transcends time and space. It is the second most important holiday after Passover. The fourth of July, as a story of liberty, is a second Passover, a second redemption of mankind, as it is a release from slavery to freedom. The exodus is similarly a first declaration of independence. These two events form a history. In fact, the American Revolution is "the ultimate result of biblical theories", that is, a product of the bible and the exodus. The doctrines (of America and the Bible, I suppose) will ultimately revolutionize all nations. Their effect is registered all over the world, with population growth and increasing civil rights everywhere. Soon liberty, equality and justice will vanquish monarchies and other forms of non-democratic government and conquer the world. There is one God, "one law and one judgment" and in celebrating the 4 th

At times it seems that art cannot help but be self-reflexive. In the poetry of both Shakespeare and Keats, literature and the creative process are themes that surface and dominate their work, even when the presumed subject of their work is entirely unrelated. Shakespeare's Sonnet "66" and "76", despite being written in a form that traditionally celebrates love, explore the difficulties of the artistic process. "Sonnet 66" addresses the issue of external hardships imposed upon the artist, whereas "Sonnet 76" concentrates on difficulties that originate within. John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" seems to be more of an ode to imagination and the creative process, defying its self-proclaimed subject, the urn. External examination of the vessel inspires questions as to the events depicted on it, resulting in speculation that goes beyond the urn and creates vivid, colorful poetry. Through the form of their poetry and the various sound

In the poem "When You Are Old" by William Butler Yeats, love is a major theme. However, it is by no means a love poem. The poem describes a future in which the subject, the poet's beloved, reminisces about her past relationship with the poet, a relationship that is no more. Even though its opening lines relay a gentle, soothing mood, this sense of security is quickly upset, as the tone becomes labored and remorseful. The voice of the lover, too, diverges from the conventions of love poetry. There are few traces of the amorous, doting suitor. Instead of celebrating his beloved, the poet predicts for her a lonely future filled with regrets. The effect is that of a warning: since the future has yet to arrive, his beloved ought to examine her choices now, before it is too late. The first stanza of the poem seems to paint a pleasant enough picture. The poet addresses his beloved in a future he imagines, where the beloved is "full of sleep / And nodding by the fire"

Themes ·        Cotton Mather's Tales of Witchcraft lend a feel of realistic supernatural, of historical accuracy ·        Tentative language in regards to the supernatural “This has ever since been considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark” Devices ·         Lists “Under this were hung flails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were built along the sides for summer use; and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted” ·         Run-on sentences ·         Lots of semi-colons ·         Maxims “I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a thousand avenues, and may be captured i

The story is set in the small market town or rural port Tarry Town. Two miles of the village is a little valley called Sleepy Hollow, inhabited by peculiar people of Dutch descent. It has a drowsy, dreamy quality to it. There is much speculation about a spell of some sort that was cast over it. Strange things happen there; its inhabitants behave strangely and see strange things. Visitors of the Hollow too soon acquire a dreamy quality. The Hollow seems not to change with time. The dominant spirit is the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, said to be seeking his head. Thirty years before, Ichabod Crane, a Connecticut man, comes to the Hollow to be a schoolmaster. He is gangly and odd-looking. His schoolhouse is patchily constructed and in a secluded location. Crane employs the rod and is a strict but just teacher, sparing the weak and disciplining the strong. He lives at the houses of the children whom he teaches, and is on good terms with them, for his salary is low and he nee

Themes ·        Slavery as corrupting the slave-owner “The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage” ·        Literacy makes slaves rebel “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.” ·        Epiphany “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” ·        Whipping “During the first six months, of that year, scarce a week passed without his whipping me. I was seldom free f