Context The Canterbury Tales is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of Geoffrey Chaucer‚ a late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer’s personal life‚ and even less about his education‚ but a number of existing records document his professional life. Chaucer was born in London in the early 1340s‚ the only son in his family. Chaucer’s father‚ originally a property-owning wine merchant‚ became tremendously wealthy when he inherited the property of relatives who had
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In the short story‚ "The Things They Carried”‚ Tim O’Brien writes about the soldiers of Vietnam and the burdens they had to carry with them. In this story‚ O’Brien uses symbolism‚ irony and the theme of burden and guilt to portray how the war has affected the men and the ways they cope. O’Brien’s usage of these literary devices serves as a remembrance of what the soldiers have left behind and a false sense of security about the violence and death that surrounds them. We are able to see the way each
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Poet’s Page Poems Comments Stats Arthur Nortje : Letter from Pretoria Central Prison The bell wakes me at 6 in the pale spring dawn with the familiar rumble of the guts negotiating murky corridors that smell of bodies. My eyes find salutary the insurgent light of distances. Waterdrops rain crystal cold‚ my wet face in ascent from an iron basin greets its rifled shadow in the doorway. They walk us to the workshop. I am eminent‚ the blacksmith of the block: these active hours
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Voices of Dramatic Monologues - A Poetry Comparison Nearly all of Rita Dove’s poetry deals with aspects of history. Shakespeare‚ Boccaccio‚ and Dove’s grandparents are topics of her poetry. Dove puts a light on the small truths of life that have more meaning than the actual historical facts. In a time when African-American poetry has been criticized for too much introspection‚ Rita Dove has taken an approach to emotion and the person as human. Dove’s poetry is not about being black‚ but
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An exemplum is a tale that teaches a moral lesson by an example. The Canterbury Tales displays exempla in “The Prologue‚” “The Pardoner’s Tale‚” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by using each character to teach a moral lesson to the audience. “The Prologue” shows the audience that some people are different from their appearances‚ “The Pardoner’s Tale” teaches the audience that greed is the root of all evil‚ and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” teaches the audience the true nature of women. “The Prologue”
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In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer‚ many characters go on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. On the way to Canterbury‚ each person on the journey tells a tale. Whoever tells the best story‚ gets rewarded a lavish free meal. The pilgrimage includes people from the nobility‚ clergy‚ and commoner class. For each class‚ Chaucer develops many different character types that were representative of the society of the time. With a broad spectrum of
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The Pearl‚ by John Steinback‚ recalls a parable in the bible. In the novella‚ the pearl is the central symbol‚ and unlike in the bible‚ is never clearly defined. Kino‚ Juana‚ and Coyotito are affected the most by the product of the pearl. At first‚ the pearl is seen as a stroke of divine providence‚ but through-out the novella‚ it will bring misfortune. The flawless pearl is deceiving and its true essence contrasts between its apparent‚ good outcome‚ and its intended‚ bad outcome. When Kino finds
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One could often hear politicians to be regarded as charismatic or charming. However‚ seldom‚ if ever‚ does one associate these adjectives with a political system. The lack of connection between the two words did not stop a great philosopher‚ Plato‚ to describe democracy exactly with one of these terms: “Democracy … is a charming form of government‚ full of variety and disorder; and dispersing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike” (Plato 214). The underlining message of the quoted sentence
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In Chaucer’s prologue to The Canterbury Tales‚ Chaucer describes two men who are associated with the church of that day. The two men that Chaucer describes are complete counterparts of what one would expect to find in men of their positions. Firstly‚ Chaucer mentions a “Monk”. When one thinks of a monk of the church‚ one thinks of a person who practices religious asceticism‚ but the “Monk” that Chaucer describes does not necessarily match up to any of the qualities that would come to mind. When most
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My Preference of The Doctor’s Tale The tale that I selected to read was the astronomy practicing Physician. This story of love‚ in hatred and bigotry was extremely interesting to read however‚ on the same note the wording was tremendously derived in Middle English tone which made a few sections difficult to understand and comprehend. The non-bible reading doctor’s tale is interesting from beginning to end‚ he paints a vivid picture of all his characters and there attributes using immense direct
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