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The use of symbolism in the novel
Importance of symbolism in literature
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There were many of artists and writers, who demonstrated symbolism and imagery within their work of art, set in nineteenth century New Mexico. Willa Cather and Georgia O’Keeffe were best known as an author and an artist in the nineteenth century. Willa Cather had a long memorable career writing novels, short stories, poems, and essay, and contributing to any newspapers, editor, and journals as writer. She travels at length to gather material for her narrative and characters, and was recognizable with and respect by many other popular writers in the nineteenth century. In one of her novel, “Death Comes for The Archbishop”, Willa Cather demonstrates her unique ability to show remarkably compound landscapes within delightfully expressive writing. She brilliantly includes symbolism and imagery to express lowest point of emotions that are generally applicable, while artfully portraying the victories or failures of her characters. Georgia O'Keeffe spending most of her summer in New Mexico, delighted by the desolate landscape and extensive atmosphere of the desert, would explore the subject of animal bones in her paintings while she in New Mexico. The flowers, she painted the bones puffed up and captured the stillness and isolation of them, while expressing a sense of beauty that lies within the desert. She explored the symbolize and imagery in her magnified paintings of flowers that attract people emotionally, although her purpose was to express that nature in all its beauty was as powerful as the extensive of the period. As an author, Willa Cather demonstrated a history of New Mexico through her writing. As an artist, Georgia O’Keeffe was using paint and canvas to verify the loveliness scene of New Mexico. Even though, Willa Cather and...
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...exico. Cather is considering as a local writer, but she wrote proficiently of imageries and symbolism in her best known works. The novel presents an outstanding opportunity to discuss class members' perceptions of New Mexico, the class structure of small town America in the nineteenth century, the religious and ethnic differences that all come into play in the story. Discussing any of these questions would enhance students' awareness of the complexity that underlies the calm prose style of this story. In New Mexico, O’Keeffe found much similar to her surroundings in New Mexico, but was enthralling by the beauty of the environment she found there. She never felt the urge to travel there repeatedly, being instead fascinating by the environment in New Mexico. Both of them demonstrated symbolism and imagery within their work of art, set in nineteenth century New Mexico.
The poem “Behind Grandma’s House” by Gary Soto is a poem about rebellion, through the eyes of a boy who desperately needs attention, who has a lack of respect, and who ironically receives a lesson from his grandmother as a consequence from his behaviors. During the reading of this poem, the reader can feel somewhat caught off guard by its abrupt and disturbing ending. However, after analyzing the author’s own idea of who he was as a child, and the behaviors that may have been expected from him, it gives the reader a better understanding behind the inspiration the author used for his work, more specifically “Behind Grandma’s House.” Many articles have been wrote about Gary Soto’s life and work. However, there is an article titled “About Gary Soto: A profile” by Don Lee, which gives the reader a better understanding of Soto’s background. It also helps in understanding the character that is being represented in the poem.
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
Throughout the short story “The Last Hunt of Dorax” many scenes are exposited upon in great detail in an effort to draw the reader deep into the weave of words spun by the author. Even though she used few words I often found the settings described by Olive Huck to be exceptionally beautiful, often reminding me of my own experiences in the brush lands of east Texas and southern California. Reading her work, I can truly see and feel the detail around me, pulling me in, forcing me to become invested in her characters and the outcome she has planned. After reading this short story there can be no doubt that the written word is art and in the hands of an artist such as Olive Huck can be arranged
William Faulkner in his book, As I Lay Dying, portrays a Mississippi family which goes through many hardships and struggles. Faulkner uses imagery to illustrate an array of central themes such as the conscious being or existence and poverty among many others. From the first monologue, you will find an indulgence of sensual appeal, a strong aspect of the novel. Each character grows stronger and stronger each passage. One of the themes in As I Lay Dying is a human's relations to nature. Faulkner uses imagery to produce a sense of relation between animals and humans.
"Paul's Case," by Willa Cather, is a story that deals with a young boy who does not feel that he lives a life befitting of him. Upon a close reading, it is evident that "Paul's Case" is ruled by irony and symbolism, which are apparent in the story through the words of the narrator. The irony woven throughout the text builds up to an epiphonic moment, a main paradox in the story, which reveals to the reader Paul's true nature.
In this short story Sandra uncover the tension between Mexican heritage and demands of the American culture. Cleofilas life consisted of never ending chorus, no good brothers, and a complaining father. She is so excited when the day come for her to become married so she can move away from her town where she grew up, were there isn’t much to do except accompany the aunts and godmothers to the house of one or the other to play cards. She was excited to be far away, all she could think about was to have a lovely house and to wear outfits like the women on the tele. Her picture of the ideal Mexican wife soon became a nightmare when she finally arrived to Texas, where she
Junot Diaz’s “Otravida, Otravez” depicts a perspective of life where one’s present and future always reflects their past in some way. Diaz’s representation of symbolic figures, convey how a person’s past can be carried into the future. Diaz’s use of symbolic figures includes the dirty sheets washed by Yasmin, the letters sent by Virta to Ramon, and the young girl who begins working with Yasmin at the hospital. These symbolic figures and situations remind the readers that the past will always play a major role in one’s present. Additionally, Diaz’s word choice, where Spanish words appear in many different parts of the reading, suggests that indirectly, one’s past habits are not easily broken.
Writing in the 20th century was great deal harder for a Chicano then it was for a typical American at this time. Although that did not stop this author, Sandra Cisneros. One of her famous novels, Woman Hollering Creek was a prime example of how a combined culture: Mexican-Americans, could show their pride and identity in this century. In conjunction, gave the opportunity for women to speak their voice and forever change the culture of Latino/a markets. Not only did it express identity/gender roles of women and relationships, but using these relationships to combine the cultures of Mexican and American into a hybrid breed. This novel, should have been a view-point for the future to show that there is more to life than just gender and race. Concluding this, the articles that helps define this is “The Latino/a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature” and “What is called Heaven”.
The Landscape and the Looking Glass: Willa Cather's Search for Value, John H. Randall III, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1960.
To sum up, the use of imagery by Edgar Allan Poe in his stories results in his stories being very poignant. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe describes the catacombs
While reading short stories, two stood out: Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. The themes in both stories are powerful and convey strong messages that really pose existential thoughts. Not only is each story’s theme attention grabbing, but so is the common and reoccurring use of symbolism throughout the stories. They did not just use the Element of Fiction symbolism, but even used one common symbol. Ernest Hemingway’s story Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s story Cathedral each contain existential and similar themes such as talking versus communicating and looking versus seeing, as well as demonstrating creative and comparable symbolism throughout.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
In William Faulkner’s world, what is often portrayed as morbid can also be taken as tongue-in-cheek by the reader, especially when it comes to his most beloved and troubled clan, the Bundren family. Throughout the novel, the Bundrens are beset by numerous, unfortunate burdens on their journey to bury their nine-day-dead mother, most of which find the reader both wincing and giggling at the same time. I will be using the new critical approach for my paper, which treated literary texts as autonomous and divorced from historical context in order to bring the focus of literary studies back to the analysis of the texts. New Critics also intended to exclude the reader's response, the author's intention, cultural and historical frameworks, and moralistic bias from their analysis. Through New Critical analysis, readers can discern how different themes in the work come together to complete the novel as a whole; in this case, the theme of black comedy plays a large role in controlling the otherwise dark moments in the novel, creating a spectrum of emotion that completes the experience of the reader. By implementing humor into the macabre circumstances of the treatment of Addie’s body, Anse using his wife’s funeral for personal gain, and Dewey Dell’s quest for an abortion, Faulkner uses black comedy in order to lighten the theme of death in his Southern Gothic literature.
Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” tells a timeless tale of troubled youth filled with feelings of spite towards society and feelings of alienation and depression. Throughout the story, Paul’s artistic tendencies are constantly suppressed by his father and other characters, and his hate for society and dissatisfaction with his lifestyle lead him to commit the crime that makes his dreams immediately possible. Cather portrays her opinions of the money and its effect on the actions of people using Paul’s theft and lavish lifestyle, and symbolizes many of society’s flaws using the various characters and their actions throughout the story. While many think that Willa Cather’s
My short story “Mi Casa et su Casa” focusses on the theme of a veneer which is also addressed in Sam Mendes’ film American Beauty. The intention of the text was to present the narrator’s mother, Alejandro, in the way in which she represented in central concept that was also portrayed through various characters in the film. Significant motifs and symbolism present in American Beauty was mirrored in the narrative to place emphasis on important events and objects. Like the Character of Lester in the stimulus material, Alejandra comes to a resolution about the beauty of life, especially the one she once possessed in Mexico, coming to understand what is really beautiful about life.