Literature

Animal Farm by George Orwell is similar to the fairy tales and fables created to mystify and charm audiences all over the world. Animal Farm is similar to Aesops story of The Eagle and the Arrow and Hans Christian Andersons fairy tale of The Brave Tin Soldier. All three stories use characters that cannot exist, yet each of them has elements that allow the reader to relate to quality of life today.

Animal Farm uses animals to show the roles played by humans today. Animals depict the greed for power and lust for success that exists in every individual waiting to emerge at the slightest opportunity as is proven by Napoleon Napoleon is always right. This is coupled with the goodness and loyalty those who refuse to lower themselves to selfishness and indulgence, choosing instead to follow their conscience as is evident by Boxers continuous belief in a better end I will work harder. The Eagle in Aesops fable is thinking and living being that can decipher the good and bad done unto him it found that the shaft of the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. The sense of inane justice is a concept that is perfectly understood by this animal. Hans Christians tale uses toys to add a mystical but deep feeling in the plot. By employing ordinary toys, a tale of love and woe is created, imprinting a deep impact on the reader. Human feelings are incorporated with the toys as the soldier thinks That is the wife for me, as he looks at the dancing doll.  Thus, all three writers employ magical characters or animals to create a plot that is humanistic and moving.

Each story has a plot and a moral. Be it Orwells novel or Aesops short fable. The stories add a human element which implicates a moral to the story. However, each moral is similar or prevalent in the story, fable or tale placed against it. Animal Farm discusses how by removing one evil, an individual should not find it replaced by a similar one. The animals threw out Jones just to find him replaced by a member of their own community, Napoleon who claimed All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. This moral also rings as a deep undertone in the story of the tin soldier. While pursuing his dream to win over the dancing doll the soldier failed to heed the words of the goblin, eventually leading to his melting. Another moral of the three stories is the vulnerability an individual reveals about themselves, leading to their own doom. This is evident in the Animal Farm where the hard-working animals show their desire to live and fight for a cause, leading to those lusting for power to manipulate them and lead to their eventual death. In Aesops fable, the eagle is killed by an arrow that is unwittingly decorated with its own feathers. The Tin Soldier is also killed not because of any personal defect but because of his frailty when trying to win the heart of the dancing figure. By revealing their emotions or characters be it pride, love or hard-work, each character of these works is rewarded accordingly.

Thus, each story works hard to incorporate the idea that while human feelings need not exist in a human alone, life is difficult for every rational and emotional being.

Gorgias uses a mixture of ethos, pathos, and logos in his Encomium of Helen.  The primary use of logos is Gorgia illuminating the simple fact that history has no definitive reason why Helen was taken to Troy she could have been forced by the gods, physically compelled, mentally compelled through persuasive speech, or emotionally compelled by her love for her captors.  Walking his audience through these possibilities, Gorgias begins imposing his own narratives upon the Helen mythology.  In the face of these myths, the audience faces uncertainty about their view of Helen for perhaps the first time.

The use of logos continues in his discussion of the gods fating Helen to go to Troy.  This same argument has plagued theologians for centuries, and for good reason the belief in fate andor gods pre-ordaining events necessarily removes human agency, for good or for ill.  It is impossible to condemn a mortal for his or her actions if they were compelled by an immortal.

The next argument is one of pathos.  Paralleling the discussion of Helen being forced against her will by the gods, Gorgias discusses the notion of Helen being forcibly kidnapped and brutally raped by her captor.  This cleverly reframes the common view of Helenthat she willingly left with Paris, with little to no regard for the chaos that would be caused in her wake.  Rather, Gorgias brings in a healthy dose of reality when the armed man with an army behind him wants an unarmed woman to come with him, she has very little choice.  The threat of violence as a form of coercion is just as effective as the violence itself.

Gorgias then moves to the ethos of speech itself.  Delivering a kind of mini-prayer to speech and its powers to move individuals in body and spirit, he creates an argument that is hard to attack after all, attacking the rhetorical power of words is to attack several fundamental aspects of Greek societyit would undercut the meaning of stories, the power of politicians, and even the power of prayer to sympathetic gods.  Gorgias points out that if speech can move gods and men, it is absurd to think it couldnt move one mortaland a weak individual being overpowered by strong words is not dissimilar from a weak individual being overpowered by strong arms or stronger gods.

The final argument returns to one of pathos, as Gorgias addresses the notion that Helen may have truly loved Paris.  He points out that through the lens of love, eyes can perceive the inner greatness of a person.  This, he says, is the basis of sculpture individuals wish to recreate the greatness they have seen in others, and audiences are drawn to this beauty.  He says that Helen viewing Paris may not have been that dissimilar from someone viewing a great statue of Alexander the Greatin that scenario, her leaving with Paris was not an intentional crime against the Greeks, but was simply her following the mandates of her heartmandates which, of course, are set by the gods, and individuals cannot be held responsible for.

Though all of these arguments are very thorough and articulated very clearly, the glue that holds them together is logosspecifically, the audiences lack of certainty about Helens actions.  Gorgias forces his audiences to realize they were imposing a narrative upon Helen, a narrative that was fueled by their own patriarchy and misogyny.  By imposing his own narratives, Gorgias did not necessarily have to prove how amazing his own arguments were, he simply had to prove how easy it was to provide an alternative.  Faced with all of these alternatives, one is left uncertain if they can ever definitively judge Helen.

Jawaharlal Nehru once said, We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell (Williams, 2009). This statement is discussing the new free country of India in 1947 when dreams were still alive. Despite the greatest of dreams, some of the realities plaguing the country are living nightmares, and above all, children cannot freely dwell. There is an existing problem in the world today with illegal human trafficking. Many people do not even know this is an issue however, in recent years, there have been numerous accounts of young women in Nepal and other remote areas being sold into slavery and taken to India.

In Sold by Patricia McCormick, a young Nepali girl reaches a breaking point when she is visited by an American. Throughout the entire novel, she does not lose her spirit to live or her will to survive. She does not know whether to trust him or not however, his relief efforts are relentless to save these young women. She does not know English, and it is hard to communicate with him, thus adding to her cause for concern. In the end, though, with the efforts of a non-profit relief organization she runs towards her freedom saying the little English she knows her name, her age, and where she is from (McCormick, 2006).  Although illegal child trafficking is a key issue that needs to be focused on, there is a much deeper issue at hand. It is extreme poverty that forces these families to abandon all reason and send their children away for a little sum of money. The conditions of the slaves are harsh. Lakshmi says, Tonight when Mumtaz comes to my room, she sees that her strap has left raw sores on my back and neck, arms and legs. So she hits me on the soles of my feet (McCormick, 2006). It is unbearable to know a little thirteen-year-old girl is enduring these conditions right now because her family does not have food to eat.

The target audience consists of individuals looking for a cause to donate to or to act on, immediately. In recent years, there have been novels written, such as Sold, as well as an HBO special called The Red Light District to shed light on this growing epidemic. There are small accounts of child prostitution in Slum Dog Millionaire also. The audience age ranges, but young adults can be a key target since the people interviewed are typically between the ages of nine to twenty. The target audience can also be adapted with additional means of getting the message out about this issue such as songs or videos. What ever the means, there is a great effort to document these accounts and share them globally.

The solution for child trafficking is somewhat costly because it involves a task force in the country to save them and resources to take care of them after they are saved, but there are ways to raise funds to assist with the problem. There are currently many non-profit organizations that are raising awareness and funding for this specific issue. Although this solution is costly, there are less expensive efforts to stop the underlying cause of these incidents. For starters, there are many charitable organizations such as www.freerice.com that are enjoyable games for young people to practice basic skills and raise funds for impoverished countries. As seen with the efforts in Haiti, there should be funds that can directly connect to peoples needs in poverty-stricken areas during natural disasters such as the monsoon. Lastly, there should be education resources for those living in remote areas, like Nepal. Young people from America can teach basic English skills to these children and create an alliance with them. This would be a life skills lesson for Americans, plus, the children in these areas would not be taken away from all they know with no means of communication. As Nehru says, as long as there are tears and suffering, our work will not be over (Williams, 2009).

The Lamb by William Blake is one of the authors most acclaimed work along with another poem of his of having a title named after an animalThe Tiger. The Lamb is a poem that relates the creation of humans to God, explaining that everyone on this planet came from the source of all things, and that is God. The following paragraphs are explication of the lines of the poem.

Line Analysis
Little Lamb ,who made thee (Line 1) Notice that the Lamb is capitalized suggesting that it is proper noun. Another first interpretation that can be done on the line is that it is referring to Christ since Jesus is known in the Christian world as the Lamb of God. The speaker is asking The Lamb who created Him but he knew very well who did as seen on the lines of the second stanza. The rest of the lines in stanza one bears the same question of asking the Little Lamb who created Himgiving examples of the wonderful things that the Creator has done for Him. Gave thee, life and give thee feed, (3) This particular line states that the Creator of The Lamb is the one that gave The Lamb the gift of life and the food that requires this life to be sustained. This part of the poem goes with belief of the dual identity of Christ, that Christ became man and that He is also God.  But it is not just the gift of life that God has given His Son, Christ. God has also given Christ another basic need, which is clothing. But not just any other kind of garment since, Christ is the son of God after all. Gave thee clothing of delight  Softest clothing woolly bright (5-6). Of course the line does not mean that Christ wore expensive clothes. The line is more likely to be an allusion for the cloth that wrapped Jesus when he was born because new born babies are wrapped in soft cloth after being born. And it is also probably because of the depictions of the baby Jesus on images and sculptures that Blake based his assumption. The last two lines that the first stanza holds is found on lines 7-8 where the speaker talks about the voice of Christ. Gave thee such a tender voice,  Making all the vales rejoice (7-8). What tender voice means is the work that has dome through his teachings when He came down to Earth. Christ spread the word of God through his preaching. His good news that He has spread made His voice tender. His voice is so tender that even the all the vales rejoice which is a generalization of all the places on Earth.

On the second stanza, the speaker finally tells the Little Lamb who His Creator is although this is done indirectly. He is called by thy name  For He calls Himself The Lamb It is only through this line that the identity of the Little Lamb is made clear. The Little Lamb that the speaker is talking about is us, all of Gods children. Christ, as mentioned is also known as The Lamb. The story of how Christ became a lamb (or a child) is then mentioned in the next line. He became a little child (16).  The story of Jesus is that God the Father sent The Holy Spirit to Earth and through the Holy Spirit that Mary conceived Christ, thus God Himself, in the person of Christ became a child. The relationship that men have with God is then explained on the last part of the poem. I a child, and thou a lamb  We are called by His name. (17-18). Man (being represented by the speaker) is the child while the lamb is Christ both being referred to in the poem as The Lamb.

Conclusion
Blake has a written a religious poem through The Lamb. But his greatest accomplishment with this poem is his ability to show the close relationship that man has with his creator. Though God is supreme creator, He also became man through the person of Christ.

The Tiger by William Blake is a sort of contrast to the authors other but equally popular poem The Lamb. The Tiger is a poem that asks readers that How could the powerful and good Creator, who is God, make such a fearsome creature like the Tiger if the same Creator has the ability to create a docile and perfectly harmless creature like the lamb This paper aims to explain the poem through close reading of the lines.

Analysis of Lines
Tiger, tiger burning bright  In the forest of the night. (Lines 1-2).  In the first two lines of the poem, the speaker introduces the subject of the poem which is the Tiger. Blake describes the tiger as a creature that is burning. This allusion to the tiger burning is due to the skin of the tiger which is made of golden brown with black stripes that makes the a tiger look like it is on fire especially during the night. The next two lines on the other hand, the speaker wonders who could possibly have the power or the willingness to create such a creature of paradox. What immortal hand or eye  Could frame thy fearful symmetry (3-4).  The existence of a tiger is a paradox because it is such a beautiful creature, as noted by its symmetrical figure and yet it is feared creature that is capable of tearing most other creatures into shreds.

In stanza two, the speaker continues to wonder on the origin of the creator of the tiger. In the first two lines of stanza two, the speaker ponders on whether the creator of the tiger is from hell or whether the creator of the tiger is from heaven. In what distant deeps or skies  Burnt  the fire of thine eyes (5-6). The distant deeps is pertaining to hell while the sky is of course the heavens. The speakers doubts over the creator of the tiger shows on the 7th and 8th lines of the poem. On what wings dare he aspire  What hand dare seize the fire (7-8). The speaker wonders if the creator have wings, how could he have reached the fire that was used to create the tiger This line shows that the speaker is thinking that the creator of the tiger maybe from hell or at least it is not someone who is from heaven since the fire is located in hell. Even if the supposed creator of the tiger has reached hell for the necessary fire, how could he have ever worked with an element such as a fire

On stanza three, the speaker admires the creator of the tiger because of the combination of both strength and beauty of the tiger. And what shoulder and what art  Could twist the sinews of thy heart (9-10). The speaker likens the creator of the tiger as someone who is like a blacksmith because of his reference to fire being used to make the tiger and the twisting of the tigers person.

On the fifth stanza, the speaker questions the creator of the tiger whether he is happy with his creation of not. Did He smile His work to see (19). The speaker wonders whether God, like a true artist that He is, is pleased with creating such a paradoxical creature of having both beauty and fearsome characteristics. And as a final question, he asks whether the same God has created tiger who also has created the lamb, a harmless creature incapable of doing all the violent things that a tiger could do.

Conclusion
The Tiger is one of those poems that go best with another poem of the same author. In this case, The Tiger is best read and contrasted to Blakess other work which is The Lamb. A close reading of the lines of The Tiger would reveal that the author despite his religious nature still has a lot of questions about his faith.

Drama began in Ancient Greece and at the time, they were featured in two categories   tragedy and comedy, underscored by the masks worn by the performers which later on became the iconic symbols of the performing arts of theater and even movies.  As the names suggest, tragedy is characterized by a sad ending where one or all the main protagonists  die  in the end, or the dreams or goals are left unfulfilled. Comedy, on the other hand is meant to entertain people through humor and feature scenes that are funny which are interspersed with sobering scenes. William Shakespeare is one of the most renowned playwrights the world has ever known, and he wrote a plethora of plays both in tragedy and comedy.

Romeo and Juliet is a well-known case of a play written with a tragic end. It  is set in Verona, Italy and the plot is centered on two young lovers, Romeo of the Montagues and Juliet of the Capulets who are in love with each other in the midst of the feud between their families. Romeo is immediately smitten by Juliet whom he met at a masquerade ball, and he becomes totally and nearly madly in love with her despite the fact she belongs to the  enemy.  They secretly get married, but their road to complete marital bliss is fraught with many obstacles which tend to sabotage or scuttle their relationship, thereby breaking them apart. The first instance is the scene where Romeo kills Tybalt, Juliets cousin who kills Romeos friend Mercutio when the latter challenges Romeo to a fight which he refuses to accept, prompting Mercutio to intervene on behalf of his friend.  This incident makes Romeo a wanted man and further stalls the happiness he and Juliet seek as he is forced to go into hiding lest he be arrested and executed (Shakespeare,  Romeo and Juliet  3.1.195-197).

Another instance that leads to tragedy is the failure of Friar Laurences messenger to tell Romeo of an elaborate plan he devised to help the young couple live happily. The plan calls for Juliet to take a special drug that would render her unconscious for several hours but giving the impression she died. Romeo is supposed to meet her at her grave and once she is revived, they would forever leave Verona and live happily together to Mantua (4.1. 93-96).  Unfortunately, trouble emerges and the messenger fails to get the message through as Romeo hears the other version through his servant (5.2.17).  It is from these scenes that the stage is set for the tragic end as Romeo feels his world fall apart due to the death of his one and only love, takes his own life, not knowing Juliet regains consciousness and she too feels distraught seeing her love dead that she takes her own life as well.  As the members of both families gather at the tomb and see the two lifeless lovers, they finally make peace with one another after being admonished by the Prince who says,  Capulet Montague See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate  (5.3.291). As a tragedy, there is no  happily ever after  in this story.  The lovers, instead of a happy life together, are joined in death.  They did not live to have a chance to experience the joys of togetherness and marital bliss.  The irony of this tragedy is that it finally brings peace to their feuding families.

On the distaff side, A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comedic play. Some of the characters are based on personalities in Greek mythology. The story begins with Egeus coming to the court of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to help him persuade his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius.  The reason behind Hermias intransigence is that she is in love with Lysander. In addition, Demetrius originally had a relationship with her friend Helena whom he jilts in order to pursue Hermia. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to decide lest she be sent to a convent or be executed. In a bold move, Hermia and Lysander elope to be married at the house of his aunt. Their departure does not go unnoticed as Lysander follows them who is in turn, followed by Helena into a forest. In this forest is the kingdom of the faeries ruled by Oberon and his estranged wife, Titania.  Embittered by her refusal to give him her Indian changeling, he instructs Puck to use a special drug called  love-in-idleness.  What would happen is when this is sprinkled over ones eyes, the affected person would fall in love with the first thing the eyes see. Oberon intends to punish Titania by making her fall in love with something vile and hideous. When Oberon sees the two couples in the forest noting Demetrius cruelty to Helena, he decides to punish the man by instructing Puck to give him the same treatment. Unfortunately, Puck mistakenly applies the drug on Lysander who immediately falls in love with Helena (Shakespeare,  A Midsummer Nights Dream  2.2.65, 84). This is where the comedy begins as the relationship between these couples take a strange turn. Puck finally applies the drug on Demetrius to rectify his mistake, and what happens now is both men are pursing Helena much to the consternation of Hermia who could not seem to understand what is going on. While this is going on, Puck decides to have some fun as he chances upon a group of  hempen home-spuns  rehearsing for a play.  He plays a trick on one of the performers, Bottom, by changing his head into that of an ass which frightens his colleagues (3.1.103).  Thinking it is a joke, he carries on and sings his song to prove he is not scared of their tricks. His singing awakens Titania who by that time is already drugged and immediately falls in love with the clueless weaver and takes him into the forest (3.1.197-201).

Going back to the two couples, Oberon and Puck see the rather convoluted predicament they caused and move in to do damage control before someone gets killed. Puck mimics one anothers voices to confuse them and keep them confused in the forest until they fall asleep to allow him to rectify the problem. With that done, he leaves saying,  all shall be well  (3.2.463). They are discovered the next day by Theseus and his hunting party and here, he realizes that Hermia and Lysander love each other, as well as Demetrius and Helena who are back in each others arms he enjoins them to celebrate their wedding with his own. The play ends with Puck giving the parting shot by saying he will restore amends (5.1.438). What makes the story hilarious is the convoluted relationship caused by Puck who serves as the plays comic relief owing to his bungling of the task which has set everything in motion. There is of course the separate scene where Bottoms head turns into that of an ass which also provides comic relief as well as the scene where Titania, under the spell of the drug, fawns over him.

In terms of similarity, both stories by Shakespeare have romantic themes and the lovers involved are young people. The only difference is the outcome. Being a tragedy, Romeo and Juliet ends on a sad note as the two lovers did not live to be together to enjoy martial bliss but were rather joined together in death. It should be noticed that a series of misfortunes have led to this end. In contrast, A Midsummer Nights Dream ends happily, though the path leading to the happy ending is amusing given the convoluted plot that follows after Pucks mistake which makes for a very good entertainment. The lovers go through ridiculous situations especially Lysander and Demtrius who were under the influence of Pucks potion, appearing to lose all sense of reason as shown by their being madly in love with Helena. The same is also true with the case of Titania who was also under the same spell fawning the clueless Bottom who played along. In conclusion, Shakespeare provided us with plays that show the different aspects of life, in this case, love, and he did so by presenting it in two ways it can happen, tragically or hilariously.

The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, is a shocking exploration of the formidable years of the Walls children, and the dynamic between them, particularly that of Jeannette and her parents.  From the beginning of the book, where we see three-year-old Jeannette horribly burned while cooking hotdogs on the stove by herself, it becomes clear that Rex and Rose Mary Walls are not your average parents.  Jeannettes burns conjure no guilt or serious emotional distress for either parent.  Rather, the reader sees right off that Rex and Rose Marys involvement with their children seems to consist of little raising and nurturing, and more tough love and trial-by-fire.  They teach that life is full of lessons to be learned, experiences to be had, and the consequences that result belong to the children alone.  There is no stability in the life of the Walls family, few necessities such as food, clothing or acceptable shelter, and an abundance of hardship.

The relationship between Jeannette and her mother is complex.  Rose Mary Walls is a free spirit, artistic and flighty.  She shows little maternal instinct and is painfully uncaring of the effect that this has upon her children.  Relying solely on her husband to provide for the family, Rose Mary allows her children to go without food for days or even weeks at a time when the family has no money to purchase groceries.  The children are left to starve, rely on the kindness of others, or forage to feed themselves.  Jeannette, as a sixth grader, begins taking food from the trash cans at school when other students discard bits of his or her lunch.  When food is available at home, it is often spoiled, which also does not seem to trouble Rose Mary, as seen when she is caught by Jeannette and Jeannettes brother, Brian, eating a slice of ham that has long gone bad.  When Jeannette points out to her mother that the meant is full of maggots, Rose Mary responds with, Dont be so picky.  Just slice off the maggoty parts.

As the memoir reveals one incident after another, it becomes apparent that Rose Mary is not only free-spirited and non-maternal, but also self-centered and terribly impractical.  On one occasion, Jeannette and Brian, who have been literally starving for weeks, catch their mother with a stash of Hershey bars that she has hidden from the children and secretly eats when they are not around.  At another time, starving yet again, the children can find nothing to eat in the house except a stick of margarine.  When Rose Mary comes home, she becomes wildly angry that the children ate the margarine because she claimed to be saving it to butter bread.  The children point out that they have no bread, at which point Rose Mary responds that she was thinking of baking some bread if a neighbor would loan us some flour.  When it is mentioned that the gas has been turned off, Rose Mary is still insistent that the margarine should have been saved, stating, Miracles happen, you know.  Throughout it all, Jeannette takes her mother in stride, with a begrudging, if embarrassed, acceptance.  Jeannette and her siblings are just as much parents as their mother is, and that is a reality that they have come to terms with, even if they do not enjoy it.

The relationship between Jeannette and her father is just as complicated and tumultuous as her relationship with her mother.  As a child, Jeannette puts her father on a pedestal, saying in my mind, Dad was perfect,  believing that Rex is a brilliant man just one step away from making a fortune and saving them all, as he constantly claims will be the case.  Though an irresponsible alcoholic who allows his children to go without most of what they need for much of the time, Rex is also, when sober, an upbeat dreamer who teaches his children to treat hardships as adventures.  When Rex skedaddles yet again and the family is left without a home, Jeannette takes after her father and waxes poetic about how lucky they are to be able to sleep under the stars.  During this time, Rex claims that someday he will build his family a Glass Castle and all their worries will be gone.  The idea of this Glass Castle becomes a metaphor for hope to Jeannette, as she tries hone the optimism and self-preservation that seem to be the main qualities that Rex attempts to instill in his children.  Even as Rex abandons the family cat, Quixote, offers Jeannette no protection when she is beaten by a group of Mexican girl, has one raging alcoholic episode after another, or abandons the family repeatedly to fend for themselves, Jeannettes eternal worship of her father never wavers.

The magnitude of Jeannettes adoration of her father is especially obvious when the children are left with their grandmother, Erma.  Erma is described as cantankerous (146), a mean-spirited woman who mistreats the children in a number of ways.  One evening Jeannette catches Erma molesting Brian, and calls for her sister Lori who rushes to the room.  Lori and Erma engage in a physical altercation.  A couple of weeks later, Rex and Rose Mary reappear at Ermas house to collect the children and Rex verbally assaults them for causing Erma grief.  When they protest and mention the molestation, Rex says, Brians a man, he can take it.  Yet even after this incident, Jeannette still respects and admires her father.

The Glass Castle is a moving book full of complicated emotions.  Walls manages to relay her childhood to the reader without giving the impression that she wants anyone to pity her for the way that she was raised, and the struggles that she encountered.  Though Rex never gave his family a literal glass castle, Walls still took what she had and made the best of it, becoming not only one who survived, but also one who thrived.