Flannery O Conner Essay -- essays research papers

Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah Georgia, on March 25, 1925. In her works she portrays the southern character and atmosphere. Her obsession with the grotesque is revealed in the dark and morbid plots of her stories. In the short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† she uses Christianity as a fundamental thesis. The search for the meaning of the Christian faith in the story is based on her view that modern society was changing for the worst. O’Connor views the lifestyles of the elite Southern people to be a front. This story focuses on Christianity being filled with sin and punishment, good and evil, belief and unbelief. The grandmother fully tells her opinion as she tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good Christian man before he kills her. The grandmother is representative of Christianity which O’Connor apparently believed to be more hypocritical than prevalent in the traditional Old South, â€Å"the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collar and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace, and at her neckline, she pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady†(138). In this reading, the prominence is on purity and southern Christianity as if she is getting ready to attend church. The grandmother displays the proper image of a southern Chr...

The Road Not Taken Explication

The Road Not Taken Explication Stanzas 1 and 2: It is evident that the scene in the poem takes place during an autumn setting which is implied when line 1 it states, â€Å"TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood†. The â€Å"yellow wood† simply means that the leaves are changing colour; therefore, it is autumn. Frost also portrays the narrator as observant and cautious speaking with an almost regretful tone. This can be seen in line 2 where he says â€Å"And sorry I could not take both†, the narrator’s observant behaviour is also evident in line 3 and 4 when he says, â€Å"And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth;†.The road that branches off in two different ways gives the narrator a difficult time with choosing which way to go and this adds confusion and uncertainty in the atmosphere as well as a calm and reflective mood. In stanza 2, it describes the physical appearance of the two paths stating that neither best the oth er; â€Å"Then took the other, as just as fair,/†¦ Had worn them really about the same,†. The diction also amplifies the idea of equality within both roads; words include â€Å"fair† and â€Å"same†.The road is also describe to be well worn meaning that many people have passed by facing the same situation and seemed to have chosen the two paths equally as well. The path is likely to be a symbol of the different choices that a person must make and while both are equal and alike in many ways, it remains a concern to whoever the decision maker is due to the possibility of choosing the worse of the two. Stanzas 3 and 4: More information on the setting has been stated, it’s an autumn morning in a forest with a lot of yellow leaves on the ground.In line 13, â€Å"In leaves no step had trodden black. †, it means that the narrator is alone. The narrator later says that once he has picked his path, he can no longer go back. The roads have now become a symbol of pivotal moments in which the narrator has only one chance to make a decision. This adds tension to the atmosphere because, although there is no time frame, the narrator is still force, by his conscience, to pick a path which, in turn, takes away his ability to pick the other path.Lastly in stanza 4, the narrator decides to pick one road deeming it the different one because, even though both roads were the same, what makes them different is that one has been chosen by him to walk on. Overall, this poem shares mostly the emotion of regret due to the fact that regardless of how joyful the narrator is of picking one road, there is still â€Å"what if† hanging in the back of both the narrator and the readers mind.

Television and Society Essay - 763 Words

Television and Society In Marie Winn’s Essay â€Å"Television: The Plug In Drug,† she states, â€Å"Television’s contribution to family life has been an equivocal one.† Winn focuses on the issue of televisions influence in the lives of American families. Her emphasis is on the mediums influence on children. Although she makes a strong case for the negative influence of television, she fails to consider all of the benefits television has brought to American families. On its own, the television is neither bad nor good. It offers many benefits: awareness, entertainment, and relaxation. Depending how the television is used, it can have a positive, or negative, effect on the family. In many cases it can lead to less quality time for the family,†¦show more content†¦It is the demands of the children that build the future relationships among the family members. Today, families now spend more time watching T.V. than engaging in the special family traditions once shared. These rituals, not only brought the group together, but also gave a â€Å"special quality† to their family life. By not participating in these activities, families too lose their individuality and sense of â€Å"belonging†. The television not only affects the family rituals, but has an impact on the connection between the family members as well. It weakens relationships by reducing and sometimes eliminating, normal opportunities for talking, and communicating with each other. It is well established that excessive television viewing breaks apart the family bond. Within the â€Å"breakdown† of many families, television may have played a serious role. The T.V. prevents families from forming that personal connection they need to develop as people. Reduced communication within the family, and too much television watching, also negatively affects the ability of the child to carry on future relationships with others. Children often perceive the images they see as reality, for they often are too young or too absorbed in the television viewing to recognize and distinguish the differences between television drama, and real life. In Winn’s essay, she has made it very apparent, thatShow MoreRelatedTelevision in Society600 Words   |  2 Pages Synthesis Essay Television, a widely accepted form of media and communication, has spread into the political world with an amazing speed. There are both useful and detrimental aspects to this newfound relationship between television and politics. Sources A and E describe the more useful aspects of television within the political sphere, whereas Sources B and C portray the contrastingly detrimental aspects. 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