PAPER Topics

... the cruelty of life" (Bryfonski and Senick 614). This cruelty stems from death, time, renewal, war, and the lack of compassion for human life; all large themes "inextricably bound up" (Bryfonski and Mendelson 529) in this cyclically natured novel that tries to solve the great mystery of death for us, once and for all. Billy's life had revolved around these ideas from the time he was a child. At the age of twelve Billy "had undergone the real crises of his life, had found life meaningless even if he could not then articulate that concept, and was in desperate need for reinventing himself and his universe" (Bryfonski and Senick 615). These feelings stayed with Billy throughout the strang ...

... first encounters with the mechanical hound (a robotic dog that is programmed to find books). The dog growls, which are what Montag dislikes. The growling alerts him of his unhappiness. Montag thinks that the dog knows that he had snuck some books from the home of their last burning. Montag doesn't talk to Mildred about his unhappiness with his job. But Beatty knows of Montag's unhappiness, and makes a visit to his house. He gives Montag a pep talk about his curiosity about books. He tells him that all firemen have a curiosity about books sometime. He says that books are merely stories, only fiction. He tells him that books make people unhappy, but books can be burned with fire. Montag co ...

... empress of India in 1876. Britain seized control of Egypt and many other areas. British colonies united in Australia and Canada, and these countries became important members of the growing British Empire. The development of a worldwide colonial empire made Britain the richest country in the world. Britain ended restrictions on foreign trade, and its colonies became both sources of raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods. Britain was called the workshop of the world. The British Empire included a quarter of the world's land and a quarter of its people. The population of Britain itself increased 50 per cent during Victoria's reign, and Britain changed from mainly an ...

... reader through sentences such as the following, after Gordon has explained the technical meaning of irony, "In today’s context, irony is a sensibility that values cleverness and style above passion and commitment. It attacks bad taste by seeming to celebrate it. It mocks devotion to important causes by feigning devotion to trivial causes… Which makes it sound pretty awful, and it can be." After the first few paragraphs in his essay, it becomes clear which side Gordon is on. However, he does show that he is not totally putting down irony, just the people using it incorrectly, "… there is a line between irony and cheap cynicism that not everyone finds easily. The skillful iron ...

... for help. Unfortunately, Clarisse mysteriously disappeared and is later reported dead. But, Montag did not give up. He soon remembers an old retired English professor, Faber, he met one year earlier. Faber jumps at the chance to help Montag and together they venture into the unwelcoming world to try to show others the importance of knowing their past. In light of these facts, one theme of this story, it is not necessarily the eldest, who is the wisest, can be found in the relationship between Clarisse and Montag. The relationship that they have is somewhat difficult to figure out completely; they are so far apart in age, yet they seem as if they are in love with each other, or at leas ...

... thinks the nobility of Rome is responsible for the government of Rome. Cassius strongly dislikes Caesar personally. He sees Brutus as the person that will unite the nobles in the conspiracy. Cassius tries to use Brutus to achieve his goal. His main goal is to remove Caesar from power by using his persuasive speaking. Antony first appears in the play as a devoted follower of Caesar. He is also one of the great triumvirs. When he gains permission to speak at Caesar's funeral he undermines the public confidence to seize the power of Rome. In his speech at the capitol he concentrates on Brutus and appeals to the emotions of the people of Rome. At the end of the play, he publicly glorifie ...

... lack of individuality that is present throughout the society. A reader will enjoy this because individuality is a key aspect of life. People strive to make themselves known for who they are and not for what nation they represent. Society is trying to detract itself from discrimination due to race, gender or any other characteristic. The lack of individuality present in "Brave New World" appeals to the reader's need for individuality and causes them to take interest in the plot of the story. This story is based on happiness of the people and the way that it is attained is by the absence of love, motherhood, family and freedom. One has to wonder whether happiness would be achievable ...

... on the rim of the wood-lot were darkly blue, and beyond the white scintillating fields of far-off forest hung like smoke.’(pg.41) It also seems that whenever Mattie is around, Ethan’s view of the world improves. This is shown on his walk home from the church social with Mattie when the narration states, ‘The night was so still that they heard the frozen snow crackle beneath their feet. The crash of a loaded branch falling far off in the woods reverberated like a musket-shot, and once a fox barked, and Mattie shrank closer to Ethan . . .’(pg.35) Much the opposite, imagery can be used to make the reader dislike a certain setting in order to further the theme of the novel. The use o ...

... a man-of-war shelling the continent, which is quickly clarified, by a pilgrim, to be a front against "a camp of natives - he called them enemies! - hidden out of sight somewhere" (Conrad 78) Marlow felt a "touch of insanity" in the whole concept of shelling the natives, who had done nothing to be considered enemies or criminals and had very likely fled the area a long time ago. Yet the Europeans feel that the natives are truly a threat and must be controlled. Further along, Marlow meets a pilgrim who is called the brick-maker, yet promptly notices that there is "not a scrap of brick anywhere in the station". This is another example of how something, in this ca ...

... thoughts, in turn imprison the people whom the speaker sees on the street. When the speaker says that he can hear the "mind-forged manacles" he doesn't mean that he can literally hear the mind forged manacles but that he can hear the cries of the people which show their mind-forged manacles. In the second stanza, the speaker focuses on two specific occupations, the chimney sweeper and the soldier. The word blackening in the second line of the 3rd stanza is used in an interesting context. Why would a church be blackening? Blackening can mean getting dirty, but I don't think that the speaker is using the word blackening in that sense. I think it means that the church doesn't want to d ...