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Literary analysis - creation story of adam and eve
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We all have knowledge; it is what we do with it that makes us fail or succeed. In the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is presented with a choice; she can gain knowledge by eating the fruit from the tree of good and evil, or live in ignorance. She chooses knowledge, resulting in her exile from the garden. This parallels Stephen Vincent Benét’s short story, “By the Waters of Babylon,” in which the protagonist, John, is forbidden to seek knowledge, but his internal desire is to seek this knowledge and the truth. Benet’s story is written in the first person narrative, which helps the reader gain insight into John’s simplistic mind. Through this point of view, Benét highlights Man’s thirst for knowledge and the truth.
Benét writes in a simplistic and primitive way that demonstrates John’s lack of understanding of his world. John’s society is right after the “Great Burning, ”after the prosperous times (Benét 1). He lives in a world similar to the ‘hunter-gatherer’ age, in which they focus on hunting for a “good piece of meat” and “search[ing] for the metal” (1). John is unlike the others, because he values knowledge by reading “the old books” and studying “how to make the old writings” (1). John wants to discover the truth about his past, which contrasts
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John has a limited amount of knowledge so there is suspense because the reader is left in the dark about where and when the setting is. The exposition of the short story appears primitive through the shared diction; however, as John unravels his knowledge along his journey, we see that this setting is not primitive at all: it is in ruins with “shattered images of a man or a god [Washington]” (Benét 5). This abandoned setting is known to be New York City filled with many “towers” that are “like a giant tree in a forest” revealing the suspense we feel from John’s restriction on knowledge,
Knowledge can be the key to success and can lead people to happier life. However, there are some instances that you can not gain any more knowledge because of how it would change your whole life. The drive of wanting more and more knowledge is best portrayed through two well -known books. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, and in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon, both the creature and Charlie are ostracized by society because they are different from everyone else but this distinction gave way for distinct fallouts because of their quest for knowledge beyond their reach to achieve happiness.
In John Irving's novel titled, A Prayer for Owen Meany, suspenseful events are of abundance, and there are multiple ways the author creates this suspense. Among these methods of creating suspense, four that stand out are the use of setting, the pace of the story, the involvement of mysteries to be solved, and the ability of the reader to easily identify and sympathize with the protagonist. By placing a character in a gloomy or solitary place, uncomfortable feelings are created, which append to the suspense. Pace and structure of the story also play into the foundation of suspense, as shorter sentences and stronger, more cutting verbs and adjectives are often used to keep the reader highly interested and reading at a rapid speed. Of course, suspense could not be considered what it is if there were no mystery involved. The element of not knowing what is in store for the future and having the urge to find out is the essence of suspense. Also, if the reader cannot easily relate to and sympathize with the character in the suspenseful situation, a loss of interest can arise, and therefore spoil the spirit of the tension. Uncomfortable settings, pace and structure, use of mysteries, and capability to relate to the main character are four techniques that John Irving uses to create suspense.
David W. Blight's book Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War, is an intriguing look back into the Civil War era which is very heavily studied but misunderstood according to Blight. Blight focuses on how memory shapes history Blight feels, while the Civil War accomplished it goal of abolishing slavery, it fell short of its ultimate potential to pave the way for equality. Blight attempts to prove that the Civil War does little to bring equality to blacks. This book is a composite of twelve essays which are spilt into three parts. The Preludes describe blacks during the era before the Civil War and their struggle to over come slavery and describes the causes, course and consequences of the war. Problems in Civil War memory describes black history and deals with how during and after the war Americans seemed to forget the true meaning of the war which was race. And the postludes describes some for the leaders of black society and how they are attempting to keep the memory and the real meaning of the Civil War alive and explains the purpose of studying historical memory.
Finally, the analogy to the fruit of knowledge and the downfall of man is played out by Sethe as she gathers her children (her fruit) to her. The text continues the analogy as Sethe does something unthinkable, something evil, and she is cast out of the garden for it. These passages serve to reaffirm the never ending battle between good and evil.
People normally tend to assume that plants in the past vary in differences and traits compared to species that are present. People have the impression that the past species had diverse weather conditions and nature related incidents forcing them adapt and become different from others. In the book, Andrew Knight had the idea that the food that was available could have tampered with their genes. Reproduction could have something to do with species changing. With plants, minor situations could determine whether they disperse a seed. It happens quickly and changes the genes of the plant causing a new formation that is disseminated through plant. Reproduction inheritance of genes is an important aspect when trying to determine ancestor’s life. By studying these pigeons, Darwin decides that all pigeons have originated from the rock-pigeon. Many people believe that pigeons have descended from a numerous amount of species and birds. Pigeons mate for life and by doing so the breeds are kept together and have markings in same areas of body. They mold into different species as years have passed because of the natural selection or an idea that Charles called unknown selection.
In the book “The Great Sea”, author David Abulafia goes thru the history of the Mediterranean. Trade starts in one place and will link to other civilizations in the Mediterranean.
In conclusion, in Naguib Mafouz’s Fountain and Tomb, we are faced with a central theme of Truth. It can be reasoned that most of the time the Truth (or knowledge) isn’t always something that it is necessary to know. The Truth can bring about happiness, prosperity, or a positive affect, but that seems to happen much less frequently. Sometimes being ignorant of the Truth is better because it makes lives easier and happier. People don’t necessarily need to know everything (the whole Truth), because what they don’t know can’t really hurt them. Truth comes with excess baggage, and it sometimes leads to conflict, hurt feelings, alienation, or broken hearts. As the old saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss.” Fountain and Tomb does an excellent job of illustrating that cliche.
Alex Kotlowitz’s gut-wrenching, non-fiction work entitled The Other Side of the River: A story of two towns, a death and America’s Dilemma focuses on the aftermath of one tragic circumstance: Eric McKinnis’ death. On May 22, 1991, the body of a battered teenage boy was found in the river that separates Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. It was no secret that these two towns previously had a wedge between them in regards to racial segregation; Benton Harbor was a poor city that consisted of 92% African-Americans, while St. Joseph’s make-up was 95% Caucasian -- predominately wealthy. St. Joseph was not a place known for murder, although what really shook these polar opposite communities was that Eric’s brutal death turned into a cold case --
Robert Walton, an Artic explorer, demonstrates the idea of knowledge as “dangerous” through his letters to his sister. He shows determination while on his quest, but it is glory that he seeks the most. Walton states, “I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man”(8). The statement implies that Walton seeks “dangerous” knowledge; the type of knowledge that only God possesses. Although he wants glory, he refuses to do whatever it takes to get it. Walton expresses that by saying, “I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land of mist and snow”; but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my safety” (15). Although Walton seeks glory or forbidden knowledge, he is aware that it comes with consequences that he is not willing to face. He has no interest in betraying people or upsetting nature to get to the level of greatness that he wants. Upon...
The story takes place in the mid-19th century in a remote settlement of Queensland, Australia. One day as a group of children are playing at the edge of the village, a remarkable figure stumbles out of the bush. This dark, unkempt person (Gemmy) turns out to be a white man who fell from a ship 16 years earlier (when he was a 19 year old sailor) and has lived with an aboriginal tribe ever since. He hardly remembers English, and his culture and sensibility have become those of his adopted people. At first Gemmy creates a sensation in the settlement and people want to help him, despite his obvious savage mentality (after all, he isn't even embarrassed by nakedness!). He goes to live with the McIvor family, whose daughter, Janet, and nephew, Lachlan Beattie, were among the children who found him. While Mrs. McIvor accepts Gemmy with Christian love, her husband Jock is skeptical. In fact, it soon becomes clear that there are major tensions in the village regarding Gemmy. Has he really become "one of them" (a black)? Can he be trusted? He seems harmless enough--almost a pleasant imbecile--but perhaps it is all a subterfuge. Perhaps he is in contact with THEM. Among the European settlers, there are two views of how to handle the blacks. One group believes they should simply be wiped out--every one of them killed--because they are savage, worthless, and couldn't possibly become (real) Christians. A second group has a more romantic view. They think the black people could be "tamed" and become their servants. They envision themselves as owners of large plantations (as in the southern United States) worked by multitudes of happy and harmless black servants. Representatives of both groups try to win Gemmy's confidence and obtain information regarding the whereabouts and plans of the black tribes. He, however, remains silent about these matters, although pleasant and deferential toward everyone. An uneasy truce holds until one day two aboriginal people are observed visiting with Gemmy on McIvor's property. This creates an uproar, which eventually leads some of the God-fearing whites to commit acts of vandalism and to injure Gemmy. To preserve the peace, the McIvors send Gemmy to live with Mrs. Hutchence, an eccentric woman who lives on the margin of the settlement. However, he soon disappears into the wilderness, but not until he retrieves--and destroys--what he thinks are the seven pieces of paper on which Mr.
John is the main character and the protagonist of the story. He becomes a priest in training under his father. He tells his father about his vision that he sees in the smoke of the fire. After that he sends his son on the journey of discovery required as the final initiation into the priesthood. The story, By the Waters of Babylon, revolves around John and his journey around to New York, a place that’s considered God’s land. As John is the first of his people to go east, across the great river, enter the Dead Places, or touch metal not purified by priests tells the readers that he is venturesome because of his curiosity, determination and bravery which makes him a developing character.
John meets the family and is delighted by the excessive kindness he receives from the man’s wife and six children, they all ate beans and the loaf of bread that John had just bought at the café and for a dessert they all split the thinly sliced Milky Way bars that John had also gotten from the café. Afterwards, John and the father walk outside and talk about how he never makes enough to pay his debts but he doesn’t give up. They go and urinate and John remembers when he was a child reading the story of a black boy stopping to urinate in the swamp and it’s at his moment that john feels like he has completely made the transformation from white boy reading about a story in a big house to the black man urinating in the swamp. John later ask about the population of alligator around his house and then asked why he doesn’t hunt them and eat the meat in their tales, and to that the man responds with the law that states that you can be charged a fine for killing alligators. They return to the house after fetching some well-water for the kids to bathe and for them to shave. Before they all fall asleep all of the kids give their parents and John a kiss and a hug goodnight. While the others sleep John is still awake and witnesses the reasoning behind why they had so many children, and he described it as being because of the despair of living in the swamp and the smell of poverty drives a man to cling to his
Why do humans reading in order to gain knowledge? In this paper I'll explain how a reading of chapters 2-3 in Genesis can be combined with psychological research to partially explain why we may read. The two chapters of Genesis I’ll discuss demonstrates that acquisition of knowledge implies that it is impossible not to acknowledge that you were once ignorant of whatever it is you have learned. The psychological research explains that whenever you read a story (like this story within Genesis), what you feel during the experience is based on the order of your memory, not on the order of the actual experience depicted. I'll then combine these two threads together to show that reading allows us to gather knowledge that augments our consciousness. It does this by surpassing the highest level of consciousness that we are capable of knowing without it.
The novel practically begins with John enlisting in the army after his rough time as a teenager. John stops speaking with his father considering coins are all his father wants to talk about, and this begins the small talk between John and his father. John grants a leave from the army and visits home in New Wilmington, North Carolina. He flashes back to his time at home, and is determined to find something to do rather than spend time with his father that just ignores him. As John walks along the beach, he catches a glimpse of a girl and then her purse drops into the ocean. Not once did he think before jumping into the water to retrieve it; and it was not to impress her. John wanted to make a new mark on the town as the favorable samaritan that helped someone. Savannah invited him to join for dinner, and that’s where the start of their relationship begins. As it progresses over his two week leave, they devote a lot of their time to each other to get to know one another. She not only encourages him to be the best he can be, but also helps him assist with his father that was recently diagnosed with autism. Because John has to report back to Afghanistan for the army, Savannah promises she would send handwritten letters to John. Letters later, John received another
The story is about John’s exploration through the east and what used to be New York. The point of view is important because throughout the story, it shows him trying to explain the rooms he had seen and the items he had found in the city of the gods that were all new to him. At one point he had a dream about what the city looked like back then when it was inhabited with people instead of gods. Later he found out that in reality, all the new strange technology that he had seen was just modern civilization that was inhabited by modern people before they were all wiped