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In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, is the story of four sisters who take an emotional journey while becoming a symbol of hope in the corrupt Dominican Republic, as they seek to make a political revolution. Throughout the story, we dig deeper into each sister’s life and learn more about her individual traits. In the book, Alvarez makes the Mirabal sisters come alive throughout the book with her use of foreshadowing, detailed characterization, and selection of detail. The more the reader journeys farther into the book, the more the aforementioned devices become of importance…
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In “The Death of the Moth,” Virginia Woolf describes her experience of watching a moth in the window. Woolf takes time to pay attention to every detail involving this moth in the window. She starts out describing the moth as content with life. She defines the day as an opportunity for pleasure and talks about the lack of change the moth has. She goes on to describe the motions and eventually begins to see the moth dying in the window.…
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In this excerpt, from A White Heron, by Sarah Orne Jewett, a number of literary techniques were used. All of them contributing to the excerpt's excellent flow. This essay will focus on three literary techniques Jewett used "" imagery, tone, and symbolism.…
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Although a butterfly and a moth go through the same metamorphosis, butterflies are recognized as a symbol of elegance and freedom while moths are symbolized with darkness and captivity. People would consider moths as a worthless nuisance, but the author, Virginia Woolf, thinks otherwise. In The Death of The Moth, by Virginia Woolf, she examines the detrimental struggle of a moth seeking freedom by escaping through a closed windowpane to reach the outdoors. Woolf identifies the significance as of the moth, a small and unimportant creature, as still being blesses with the gift of life. Shortly after the moth’s attempts at liberation, it then runs out of energy and dies. Woolf praises the moth’s life, perseverance and relates the moth’s fate to her own.…
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The writer is unable to concentrate, captivated by the moth, but also distracted by the work in the fields and the movements of the birds. The life of the moth she considers "pathetic," especially as this is not even a real moth because it flies during the day. It is insignificant in the scheme of things. This, Woolf reveals however, is exactly the point. It becomes apparent that the moth is dying and, the writer, at first intending to help the creature, decides that she should not. On further reflection, Woolf points out that the moth's struggles are indicative of life in general as nothing "had any chance against death." The moth's last efforts are dignified and admirable and his appearance in death is significant. Death is all consuming and somehow conflicting as the moth lies there "uncomplainingly…
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"at once, the whole moth, already years dead, disintegrated, collapsing into a soft, formless heap of dark dust“Ch 1, “Death’s head moth” Hooper’s interest in his grandfather’s moths illustrates his macabre character as well as bring to light his interest in death and decay.…
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The essay quickly changes into speculating the moth. Personifying the moth to a tiny bead of pure life, it was set “dancing and zig-zagging to show us the true nature of life.” The moth has a symbol. That symbol is life; it has a purpose if you will to go out and explore the world’s mystery and what it all holds. In real life, we all feel like we have a purpose on this planet. Whether it’s to make a difference in the world, in another’s life, or to just explore and observe just as the moth is represented as.…
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The author uses metaphors to describe the situation he is currently in. A metaphor that he uses is “I am a lonesome hobo” (1). This is a metaphor because he is not literally a homeless person but the metaphor implies that he is. The author means that the speaker has lost everything meaningful to him (ie: “family and friends” (2)), and all his riches (“fourteen-karat gold in my mouth / And silk upon my back (11-12)). This metaphor helps the reader…
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To live and to die are the two sides of the same coin. Death is natural; yet, it is the subject of utmost contemplation. No one knows what death is like but everyone can feel its power, its magnitude and its presence. Life and death almost seem like riddles that most humans are incapable of comprehending and answering. Virginia Woolf, in her essay ‘The death of the moth’, has confronted this very issue- the vitality of life and the force of death.…
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Woolf’s essay starts with the description of the moth- a male day moth to be precise. Her essay has a beginning a body and ending about a moth with the whole essay revolving around that moth other…
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Her personal life was no stranger to emotional issues; she had several nervous breakdowns during her life, and suffered from depression. Virginia Woolf’s life ended suddenly in 1941 when she drowned herself in the river Ouse. She believed she was losing her mind. The suicide note left for her husband, Leonard Woolf, will be used as a primary source in this paper.…
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Woolf incorporates symbolism in her essay by describing the moth as life and energy. "So simple a form of the energy" and "taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zig-zagging to show us the true nature of life" quoted from the essay. Another way she incorporates symbolism is by describing the months journey to death. Woolf also describes the scenery, the horses, and the farm itself. The month had traveled from one windowsill to the other.Flying from one end to the next. Eventually it's movements become awkward. The month wasn't filled with much "life or energy". It stops flying until it can't anymore. Slowly excepting it's death after fighting it back for as long as it could.…
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Through this poem, Karl Shapiro explores the significance of a life despite the creature’s diminutive size, and questions the persona’s own ethical standards. The use of stylistic features such as imagery puts forth the moral dilemma that the persona underwent after killing an insect. Through the eyes of the persona, we as readers are made to ponder over the issue of our own moral standards, by questioning the importance we give to the worth of a life. Furthermore, Shapiro sets the poem in the first-person perspective that allows the readers to empathize and connect to the feelings of the persona on a more personal level.…
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The central idea presented by the poet in this poem is that like the flowers we humans have a very short life in this world. The poet laments that we too life all other beautiful things soon slip into the shadow and silence of grave. A sad and thoughtful mood surrounds the…
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The passage “The Death of the Moth” has been excerpted from Virginia Woolf’s (1882-1941) collection of essays and published one year after her death. Throughout this particular passage, she symbolizes a moth and its insignificance yet contribution to nature, along with her views on life and death. She skillfully elaborates about this moth, providing information that reveals it is much more noteworthy than it is treated.…
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