Compare and Contrast Literature
Compare and Contrast Essay
Crystal Hunter
ENG 125
Julie Alfaro
March 19, 2013
Compare and Contrast Essay I have chosen to compare and contrast a short story, written by Kate Chopin titled “The story of an hour,” and a poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson titled, “In Memoriam.” I chose these two pieces of work because I was drawn to the short story and when I read the poem it had the same theme of hope in the face of death. The topic, or theme of these particular literary works is death and impermanence. I will compare and contrast the elements of symbolism, point of view, theme, and setting. The comparison of these particular works will provide deeper insights to the hope that develops within a person when confronted with death, as well as further insight to the symbolism used within the choice of words written by the authors to convey their feelings at that particular time that the work was written. Authors are sometimes likely to deal with the superficial appearance of things rather than showing genuine knowledge of what is actually real (Evans, 2010). In the poem by Lord Tennyson the genuine knowledge of reality is definitely present, however, the short story by Kate Chopin seems to become somewhat illogical in the end when the wife dies of “joy that kills” In an analysis of short fiction, the text points out that authors will know how to manipulate words but not know how to examine the ideas seriously (Evans, 2010). “In Memoriam,” is a poem that was written in response to the death of a close friend of the author. His reflection is written to show that hope may be a sustaining factor in the face of death (Clugston, 2010). The author of this work is showing his hopefulness for all, not just himself or the deceased. “That not one life shall be destroy’d, / or cast as rubbish to the void” (as cited in Clugston, 2010, 11.6). Which sounds like he feels as if his friend was “cast as rubbish to the void.” The author continues on with his words as if
Crystal Hunter
ENG 125
Julie Alfaro
March 19, 2013
Compare and Contrast Essay I have chosen to compare and contrast a short story, written by Kate Chopin titled “The story of an hour,” and a poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson titled, “In Memoriam.” I chose these two pieces of work because I was drawn to the short story and when I read the poem it had the same theme of hope in the face of death. The topic, or theme of these particular literary works is death and impermanence. I will compare and contrast the elements of symbolism, point of view, theme, and setting. The comparison of these particular works will provide deeper insights to the hope that develops within a person when confronted with death, as well as further insight to the symbolism used within the choice of words written by the authors to convey their feelings at that particular time that the work was written. Authors are sometimes likely to deal with the superficial appearance of things rather than showing genuine knowledge of what is actually real (Evans, 2010). In the poem by Lord Tennyson the genuine knowledge of reality is definitely present, however, the short story by Kate Chopin seems to become somewhat illogical in the end when the wife dies of “joy that kills” In an analysis of short fiction, the text points out that authors will know how to manipulate words but not know how to examine the ideas seriously (Evans, 2010). “In Memoriam,” is a poem that was written in response to the death of a close friend of the author. His reflection is written to show that hope may be a sustaining factor in the face of death (Clugston, 2010). The author of this work is showing his hopefulness for all, not just himself or the deceased. “That not one life shall be destroy’d, / or cast as rubbish to the void” (as cited in Clugston, 2010, 11.6). Which sounds like he feels as if his friend was “cast as rubbish to the void.” The author continues on with his words as if