American Literature

History has been filled with creative artists in a variety of fields. Much of the contribution has come in the field of literary works. Writers have tackled taxation without representation, civil rights, womens rights, abortion, euthanasia, and numerous religious and political views. Writers have also influenced the creative minds of children through fairy tales, stories of adventure through countless time periods, imaginative accounts of history and culture. Words surround us and have influenced each of in many ways. My life has been no different. Writers of past and present have been responsible for building my life and shaping it into what it is today.
  
 Growing up, my first introduction to literary works was in the form of pre-school books introducing me to different ways to explore the world around me. Nursery rhymes in their song like fashion taught me to memorize rhymes and recite them to a fun melody. My parents read to me as often as time allowed and it helped grow my curiosity to explore books with them even more. When I entered kindergarten, I discovered an even wider range of stories and words through books. My teacher held circle time where she read to us and told us stories about giants, trolls, princesses, princes, witches, and dragons. The Busy World of Richard Scarry brought to life an entire town of animals of all kinds. These stories and illustrations placed an emphasis on action and minute detail in depicting everyday activities (Richard Scarry 2008). These friends as I called them as a child went to school, work, and lived in homes with families just like me and my friends.
  
 My teachers daily circle times encouraged a deeper yearning inside of me to discover more stories like those of Richard Scary and even the fairytales of the Grims brothers. I was so excited on the day the teacher informed the class that we were going to learn to read stories just like she read to us. I wanted that very much. Another scale of literary works was introduced in the form of See Jane run and Spot likes to jump in mud. The world of words came to life in a new way and by the middle of elementary I was checking out as many books in the library as possible. I could read on my own and that meant I could escape into any story whenever I wanted. It was an amazing experience that was paving the way for a greater influence of literary artists through the next several years to come.
   
All throughout my schooling, teachers enforced the importance of reading. My teachers read to the class for daily story time all the way into middle school. If students didnt want to read, the teacher didnt give up or walk away, but instead sat down and read to the students ensuring the words were poured into the minds of each of us. I remember by elementary teachers reading novels like Charlottes Web by E.B. White, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine LEngle, and Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. All of these books taught me as a child to use my imagination, keep an eye out for adventure, and above all keep reading to find out what will happen next. The way the stories were read and the animation my teachers put into them made them come to life even more. This furthered my thirst to read, but also began to open up a new world of creative writing as well.

Moving farther into middle school and early high school introduced an entirely new world of literary figures including names like E.B. White, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jane Austin, Jack London, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, and the list goes on. Literature and reading classes were required courses and ensured students learned at least the foundations of the literary world and how authors used the written word to express views and share stories of imagination with not just their own children, but hundreds and thousands of others around the world.

At the same time the literary classics were being introduced through school, the bookshelves of local bookstores and grocery stores were being lined with the amazing adventures of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book industry entered into a time of demand as Hollywood movie studios began producing real life motion pictures depicting our favorite characters. Avid readers were flocking to the theatre to see the movies, while avid movie goers began gathering at local bookstores to buy the books to learn even more about the on screen characters and story lines. The literary craze was picking up and I was right there with it standing in line to catch the latest movie and holding a spot in line for the next great book release.

Teachers played a great role in encouraging me to read on my own and explore history and culture through a variety of books. Teachers also were a great source of encouragement to take the love of reading step further by putting my own thoughts down on paper. All throughout elementary school, students participated in writing exercises that complimented reading assignments. Reading comprehension was a daily routine for as long as I can remember. Yearly testing always included sections of reading comprehension where stories were read, questions answered, and essays written. As far back as I can remember, writing was encouraged just as much as reading. I remember putting together my first book in sixth grade. All of the students in sixth grade had to take a class in which they were required to write their own short story, illustrate it, and then put it together in a handmade book form. I was so proud of the book I wrote. It was a crazy story about animals and their crazy adventures (most likely inspired by the early stories of Scarry and Grim). It was childish of course, but it was my work and it was my book. To this day I have no idea what happened to that book, but I remember the process of creating it, writing it, and reading it to friends and family. It was a wonderful sense of accomplishment and was just another stepping stone into the future.

Parents and teachers alike were the primary influences in my life when it came to learning to read and write as well as continue to develop my own skills in reading and writing. Yet, it was the books and stories themselves that really shaped my life and my thoughts and actions of the past and of the present. Reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn brought to life the real issues involved in the Deep South most specifically slavery and civil rights (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 2010). Red Badge of Courage depicted real life stories from the Civil War sharing the heartache and pain of the war as well as the mixed emotions of those torn apart from family and friends. The classics laid a foundation for future literary courses into high school and on into college. The higher the level of learning, the larger the literary world became ranging from American literature to Greek mythology and legend.

The importance of learning to read and to study literary authors is not something that can be taught by one teacher during one particular time in life. It takes the entire core of teachers during the education process to teach, instruct, and inspire students not only to learn to read to get by, but also to learn to read for the sake of learning. My parents started it all by simply taking the time to introduce me to books by reading them to me long before I understood what they were. From there, it became the role of each of my teachers throughout schooling to continue reading to me and teaching me to read for myself. Literature classes were needed to help me understand what it was I was reading as well as to learn about great authors that used their knowledge of words to make a difference in the world around them. Even the media played a hand in the literary process bringing books to life and encouraging the reading of additional stories. All of this together made my role as a reader and writer possible.

Emily Dickinson, one of the enigmatic poets of the nineteenth century in her poem The Brain  is wider than the sky attempts to compare and contrast human brain with three entities namely the sky, the sea and God. This poem provides a deep insight into the creation of God Almighty on one plane and on other hand provides a profound scientific enquiry in simple terms. This essay explores the significance of the creations of God and emphasizes the superiority of God over all His creations.

Dickinson, through her verses, does not attempt to provide a direct knowledge of the omnipotent God but is offering a conclusion that Brain is similar to God because of their vastness. Sielke states that, Interrogating how interactions between brain, mind, world, and media figure in Dickinsons poems, this essay explores cognition as both individually embodied and embedded in a history of metaphor and mediation. (The Emily Dickinson Journal) The two vast creations of God, namely the sky and the sea with immense width and depth are conceived as ideas by the human brain. Hence the human brain is dominant enough to hold them as ideas.

Dickinson juxtaposes the human brain with the sky in the first stanza and illustrates that the brain is wider than the vast stretches of the blue sky. The human brain is superior to the sky because brain is capable enough to think about the sky and take it further it is also competent enough to think about a person who is thinking about the sky and this insightful comparative operation is executed through effortless means.
In the second stanza, the poet contrasts the human brain with the deep blue sea and once again ascertains the superiority of the human brain by proclaiming that the brain is capable of absorbing the sea akin to a sponge absorbing a bucket of water. This comparison once again reiterates the depth of the human brain in contrast with the deep ocean. The unfathomable human brain once more positions its superiority against the bottomless sea.

Dickinson takes the comparison further and in a bold attempt, compares and contrasts human brain with God. This stanza is a little tricky and can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. When read superficially, it appears as though the poet is making a blasphemous statement by placing human brain parallel to God. Hence this part of the poem demands a deeper insight. Human brain is a creation of God similar to the vast sky and the deep ocean and the Creator is definitely superior to his creation, the human brain.  But when the poet states that The Brain is just the weight of God, it appears as though Dickinson is trying to claim that both God and Brain are sharing similar status.

A deeper analysis of the last three lines of the final stanza reflects the message of the poet. She states, For heftthem Pound for Pound   And they will differ  if they do   As Syllable from Sound. The poet though claims that the Lord almighty and the human brain are similar, still she brings out the fact there is a difference between these two entities similar to the difference that exists between a syllable and a sound. The central idea of the poem is definitely the celebration the greatness and the vastness of human brain which is superior enough to conceive the idea of God similar to the conception of the idea of the vast sky and the deep ocean. But still, by bringing the comparison of sound and syllable, Dickinson proclaims the greatness of God. A syllable is a representation of sound. Therefore by stating that God is sound, the poet claims that the human brain is a representation of God.

The poem is written in the usual Dickinson pattern with the three four-line iambic meter stanzas. Tetrameter is employed in the first and the third lines whereas trimester is used in the second and the fourth lines of each of the stanzas. The rhyme scheme used is ABCB and the rhythmic device followed to provide the short pauses and break up in the flow of the meter is the long dash. Dickinson by stating that the human brain is a representation of God, reminds the readers of Genesis 126 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Hence the conception of the idea that man was made in the image of God is already found in the Bible.  The poem thus reflects upon one of the most complex relationship between the outer world and the inner self.

The poet though outwardly appears to signify the prominence of brain over the colossal entities of the universe namely the sky and the sea, a deeper analysis of the poem reflects a different sense altogether. Brain is definitely superior to sky and sea, but God, the creator of universe and the brain does not share the platform with human brain. He is above all His creations, or in other words, it is from Him that all other creations emerge like the emergence of syllable from the sound. Thus with the excellent choice of metaphoes Dickinson has explored the vastness and greatness of both God and his creation, the human brain.

Sylvia Plaths Mirror presents the truth of the personas functionits ability to reflect what it sees through its glass no more, no less. This is also an inherent function of art and literature. Like the mirrors function in the poem, it has the ability to reflect life as how it happen. Personification is one of the literary devices used in the poem. This is through giving an inanimate object the ability to speak, which is a human trait. In understanding the bigger role of the mirror as a reflection of life, it is important to see the function of the mirror its ability to present us reality with no hesitation.

The mirror describes itself as exact and with no preconceptions (1). This describes the mirror as being direct to the point, and it does not hesitate in presenting anything that faces it. Unmisted by love or dislike pertains to the objectiveness of the mirror (3). Emotions do not affect the way it presents things, nor does the mirror try to force anyone into believing what it shows. The mirror asserts its difference from humans in saying that it has The eye of a little god, four-cornered (5). Sometimes, humans can be selective in the things they wish to perceive. They choose what they want to accept and leave out the other details. The mirror is god-like in the sense that it presents things unedited and with accuracy, seemingly near to perfection.

I meditate on the opposite wall somehow includes a human quality to the mirror (6). Reflect is the usual word linked with mirrors since it can present something we perceive with our own sense of sight. The word meditate can be considered an intellectual or mental activity (6). Meditation is more of an introspection and it is the other meaning for reflect. In addition, meditation is linked with hermits. They are people who renounce worldly things and choose to seclude themselves. The line It is pink, with speckles presents again the objective view of a mirror (7). Pink represents youth, and life (7). It represents a person full of life since blood is surfacing to ones cheek and makes the skin pinkish. The other thing the mirror sees immediately balances the view of the mirror. It is unable to oversee the speckles found in the pink wall (7). These represent the deterioration of things. Something so alive and pink can chip off, have discoloration, and become old (7).

I have looked at it so long I think it is part of my heart pertains to understanding the mirror has for pink walls and speckles which is in truth youth and deterioration (7-8). Faces and darkness separate us over and over symbolizes the passage of time (9). Many people may have looked in the mirror to see their reflection, and they come and go separating the view of the wall and the mirror. This situation is constantly repeated as depicted by the words over and over (9). This repetitiveness of life and deterioration is the source of meditation for the mirror. It may be that he knew this fact too well, experiencing it over and over, and this may be the truth the mirror is trying to present (9).

The space in between the two stanzas presents the transition or shift to another aspect of the mirror. In stanza one, the mirrors tone is more impersonal and impassive. It objectively defines its function. Stanza two shows a more personal side of the mirror as it relates an experience. The mirror in the first stanza tries to present the functions the mirror thinks it perform, stanza two presents another reflector. It begins by creating a metaphor. The mirror says Now I am a lake (10). It equates itself to a lake. Similar to the mirror, the lake has the ability to reflect what is before them. However, unlike the mirror who shows clearly and precisely what it sees, the lake does not. A lake is not stable and it is fluid. A small movement can cause ripples in the water distorting what it reflects. But unlike the mirror that is an inanimate object, the lake is naturally full of life.

The line A woman bends to me. Searching my reaches for what she really is shows an encounter with a particular woman (10-11). It may be that it is this woman who views or equates the mirror to a lake. As previously mentioned, the lake can provide an unclear and distorted view of what it reflects. Incorporating the ideas in stanza one regarding the mirrors truthfulness, it may be that this woman is unable to accept the mirrors honesty as tries to know what she really is (11). This tells a lot about the character of the woman. She seems inclined to deceiving herself for instead of choosing to look at the mirror in stanza one, she wanted to view herself from a lake who can present only half truth since it is unstable and it cannot clearly show the things it reflects.

The woman and the lake being natural things symbolize the truth about humanity people cannot accept reality in its wholeness. They wish to only see part of it and select what appeals to them. This is linked to the line Searching for my reaches for what she really is (11). This line can also be pertaining to what the woman really wanted to affirm or see herself, her identity. This idea is further emphasized by Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon (12). Like the lake, the light coming from the moon and candles will not be able to present the womans reflection in exactness like the mirror of stanza one (12). The light they can provide is not clear enough for the woman to see herself fully, and this show that there is still distortion of the truth since these objects are labeled as liars which connote deceitfulness (12).

It can show the beauty of an object but it is not truthful in presentation. tears and an agitation of hands is the reaction acquired by the mirror upon reflecting the woman faithfully (13-14). These strengths the fact that the woman is unable to accept reality as a whole, and what she is doing is selecting the facts presented to her in order to suit what she wants. The faithfulness of the mirror is like a threat to the woman. This brings it back to the previous stanza on the meditation of the mirror on pink walls and speckles (7). The mirror know too well about youth and deterioration. The woman is concerned with the mirrors knowledge of this reality. She is concerned with the truth that she is getting older like every face that separated the wall and the mirror over and over she is deteriorating which is the main reason why she resorts to candles and the moon since their light is wavering enabling her to hide the signs of age. This is clearly seen in agitation over the mirrors truthfulness.

 I am important to her. She comes and goes is an understatement (15). Although the woman is afraid of seeing the truth and tries to even distort these truths that she sees, her reflection in the mirror is important to her. Evidence of this is the line Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness, just like the relationship of the wall and the mirror, the woman returns to the mirror to acquire from it the truth (16). This reflection is her only means of affirming to herself that she is existing and finding out her identity.

The use of the lake as a metaphor is used to its full capacity in the last two lines. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish presents the woman in different stages, the young and old (17-18). The use of the word drowned has its implications (17). This may mean that the passage of her youth was sudden, it may mean that the woman was unable to appreciate her youth for she was concerned with the aging, and this fear prevented her from enjoying it. This sudden loss of youth gave rise to the terrible fish which may pertain to the age of deterioration or aging (18).

Based on the difference in ideas of the two stanzas and the real function of the mirrorto reflect life faithfullyit may also be said that the mirror is a metaphor for literature and art. Like the mirror literature and arts aim is to present life in its truthfulness. The truthfulness of art and literature present an understanding of life for people who read or look at it. Similar to the function created for the mirror. With this in mind, the poem talks about the functions of the mirror in ones life and the realization one can gain from it, and the use of art and literature which mirrors life. If one will observe, since there is no article in front of the title Mirror, there is a duality of meaning even for the title. It is both a noun and a verb. The poem may be talking about the mirror and to mirror. In relation to that, shape of the poem somehow attempts to be a mirror or to mirror. With that shape, it can be said that the second stanza is reflected by the first stanza. Similarly, the reader is the woman looking at his or her reflection, the woman who can easily be disappointed by the truth the mirror can reveal.

Absalom, Absalom is a world renowned novel of William Faulkner published in 1936. It is a tragic novel that revolves around a familys unfortunate demise because of their patriarchs ambitions and mainly racial discrimination and prejudice. Faulkner also presented in this novel the steady decline of the south which his plagued by corruption and discrimination. The novel also touched themes regarding incest, miscegenation and community values. This novel largely helped Faulkner win his Nobel Prize for Literature. Consequently, this is also one of the reasons why the author was called a pioneer of the modernist movement which was helpful in his publication of other novels. Absalom, Absalom also shows the family values that are important. However, it was also shown that these values are easily broken by the ambition and the want to uphold a good image instead of giving importance to family ties, ethics, and truth. The highlight of these themes in the novel is the main characters outlook on racial discrimination and racial prejudice which is most often the center of all the misfortunes of the family. Further analysis of this recurring theme in the novel will be done.
   
The novel Absalom, Absalom is set in the America South and is located in the Northeastern, Mississippi. The novel is headed by the main character in the name of Thomas Sutpen who comes from a poor family from Virginia and has the ambitions and dreams to be rich, to have a dynasty and to acquire Negro slaves. Thomas is center of the novel and all twists and turns and misfortunes come from him. Thomass son, Henry Sutpen is also an integral part of the novel it is from him that Thomas outlook to racial prejudice mostly flows into. Lastly, as part of the main characters, Judith Sutpen the daughter of Thomas doesnt have any strong significant part but towards the ending it is through her that the tragedy ends.
  
 In this tragic novel, the protagonist of the story is Thomas Sutpen. However, he is also the antagonist. Sutpen was a victim to his desires of having a legacy. The misfortune arises from the wants of Sutpen to have a suitable heir to his legacy. He wants a son to be his heir and the term son means - of pure white blood. Thomas Sutpen regards purity of race as a very important value  particularly of a white race. It is in this racial prejudice and discrimination that the conflicts start to arise. Sutpen married previously and had a son. On the other hand, he rejects and leaves his first family upon knowledge of the fact that his wife had Negro blood and that this means that his first son is not of pure white blood. This rejection flows through the whole story and haunts down Sutpen in the end. The recurring theme of racial prejudice exhibited in Thomas Sutpens character shows that interpretation of the author of the current social situation in the South. 

This strong sense of racial prejudice and discrimination aroused from the fact that the predisposition of the Southern societies are grounded in advocating to an explicit form of caste system or stratification in the society. Racial discrimination in the Southern society also originated to the lack of self motivation to uphold what is right and what is appropriate. This was shown in the novel by Thomas that despite the fact that he knows all the right family values, he chose the path to his dynasty which utilized denying his own sons rights and giving more importance to his image. Faulkner used such line of thought of the main character to highlight the reality in the Southern culture that social prejudice and discrimination rules the communal minds and morality.
   
Similarly, the Southern culture also became known as a place of discovery and fulfillment. However, it was evident that the dreams and ambitions of most of the people who succeeded were attained by going against the flow of family values and morality by upholding selfishness, committing misdemeanors against their own people and family. Faulkner used the theme of racial prejudice to highlight the fact that exploitation happens in many ways to a post-war period that happened during the authors time. He used this theme to depict the state of mind of most of the people in the Southern areas during the Civil war and after the war which is materialistic. This is evident in the desire of Thomas Sutpen to acquire black slaves. Slavery as a materialistic desire integrates racial prejudice to the story and this also hubs the strong concept of desire to possess a thing during the 19th Century.
   
The portrayal of such racial prejudice and discrimination also helped Faulkner to give his novel a more concrete historical perspective  the slavery, the black people and rights movement. The style of multiple narration from different characters helped gave the theme of discrimination a firmer grip on the novel by allowing different sources of opinions and view in the story to suggest to the reader their own beliefs and evaluations of what they have witnessed to have happened. The setting of the novel was also very important to the story as it gives a near real setup to the social and racial prejudice and discrimination that is happening. In the novel, Thomas Sutpens planned approach to reach his goals compels the reader to reexamine values and morals due to the debates that emanated from the slavery and discrimination of black people.

These violations of human rights urged Faulkner, who is also against this harsh treatment of black people to showcase the rejection of morals of Southern people to this harsh reality. This harsh treatment was embodied in the novel through Thomas Sutpen and Rosa recognized this and had her own distinct but similar narration Oh he was brave. I have never gainsaid that. But that our cause, our very life and future hopes and past pride, should have been thrown into the balance with men like that to buttress it - men with valor and strength but without pity or honor. Is it any wonder that Heaven saw fit to let us lose (Rosa, Absalom Absalom)
   
Rose contemplates the abilities of Thomas to accomplish his dreams but she also agrees that Sutpens valor and strength was wasted because of lack of honor and pity. Further analysis of the theme of racial prejudice will tell us that the Southern areas were interpreted by Faulkner to be of dishonest and inhumane status. Women were objects of sex and were mostly viewed as possessions just like the plan of Sutpen that he needs a wife to accomplish his design in mind.  In addition, this also enhances the level of exploitation and lack of any human moral that guides the main character. Sutpen views the family and people around him as objects that can be used to accomplish his goals and ambitions.

You see, I had a design in my mind. Whether it was a good or a bad design is beside point the question is, Where did I make the mistake in it, what did I do or wrongly do in it, whom or what injure by it to the extent which this would indicate. I had a design. To accomplish it I should require money, a house, a plantation, slaves, a family - incidentally of course, a wife. I set out to acquire these, asking no favor of any man. (Thomas Sutpen, Absalom Absalom)

Sutpen aims for a perfect image with a perfect family and in doing so he upheld racial discrimination of people around him and even of his own son. He viewed black people as inferior and treated them like animals. Sutpens design reflected the most of the dreams and ambitions during the civil war of the people.

Often, materialistic and twisted these people also turned to black slaves for their entertainment. Cruel treatment can be imagined easily upon reading the novel and the highlight of this cruelty is the straightforward denial and rejection of Thomas Sutpen of Charles Bon who is his son. This scenario is a direct metaphor to the denunciation of black people in the South. Furthermore, since Faulkner designed Sutpens character as that of a typical southern person, it was evident that Sutpens goals and ambitions were the very foundations that he will go against in fulfillment of his approach and due to this his conceived design of his ambitions were fated to fall short of his expectations.

In order to further analyze the theme of racial prejudice and discrimination, it is important that Sutpens origin be looked upon.

Thomas Sutpen came from a low class white family in Virginia. Growing up, he realizes that he is not of great significance to the environment around him and started creating his plan. He had tragic experiences of discrimination and social prejudice also and from that experience he learned a lot. Similar to any ambitious person in the South, Faulkner showcased through the ideas and plans of Sutpen the usual plans of the Southern people  which are to improve their current situation relative to the society and disregard any discrimination and inequality happening in the society. So basically, one of the origins of the harsh treatments of the black people was the initial attitudes of the Southern people to their own people. Social prejudice was already there before the Negroes came and when they came in it only got worse. Dividing the society between the upper class and lower class further gives enough backbone for any racial discrimination to keep on occurring.

Harsh treatment to a lower class person only adds up and highlights the differences that each class has. Analysis of these upper-lower class divisions in the novel will also lead us to the understanding that similar to the rejection done by Sutpen to his son with negro blood, the upper class in the South will by no means accept someone who is not a natural born to that high class. In the novel, this is exemplified when Sutpen, coming from a low class position follows his design and moves up the classes. Being on the upper class, he assumes he is completely assimilated and moves on to reject any low class person such as his son with Negro blood.

Finally, a good conversation between Compson and Sutpen will shed more light on the overall analogy of the recurring theme of racial prejudice and discrimination. Compson narrated that Sutpen has revised himself in a process of artificial learning. Sutpen copied the movement and behavior of upper class men and learned their accents.

Compson also pointed out that Sutpens design ignores the social elements and only focuses on the requirements that he setup and of course the materials things that he wants to achieve. In doing so, Compson concluded that Sutpen follows that idea of Machiavelli  which is the end, justifies the means. More importantly, the clear-cut disregard for the long term effects of his actions led to his doom. Sutpens ignorance of the consequences like his disregard of his son, disregard of his family led to his greatest problems and eventually his death  such an irony for a person who discriminates a black person when he himself came from a lower class family. The racial prejudice and discrimination showed by Sutpen eventually reveals his guilt about his origins, his shame of where he came from and ultimately his hunger for vengeance for all the suffering and shame he experienced.

Antigones character has a very complex personality as a character in the story. Antigones character is very unpredictable throughout the play. One cannot be sure of what she will do because she tends to change directions all the time. It is because of her being unpredictable that makes her character seem very much hypocritical. She will say something but end up saying the total opposite. Her intriguing character makes people to guess on what her next words or actions will be. Her physique is quite boyish and she never liked her girlhood. Her character is the antithesis of a melodramatic female protagonist,

Her heroic characteristic is noticed when she speaks to Creon, reasoning for trying to bury her brother. She sneaks out twice reflecting a character of a hero but more so when she defied Creon. However, the unpredictability of her character catches up because in a short span of time her being heroic made her look quite selfish. She wanted to bury her brother because of herself. Her actions were done in order to satisfy her personal needs. Her character being a tragic hero is manifested with her having a high social position and being persistent when it comes to her actions.

A seen characteristic of Antigone that is constant all throughout the story is her stubbornness. From start to finish, her stubbornness was seen as in beginning of the play, Antigone sneeks out to bury her brother, even after Creon had specifically reminded her not to. And at the end of the play, she chose death over the opportunity to marry Haemon and stay alive. Obviously, her stubbornness ultimately killed her. There was no easy way out for her especially when in compromises her beliefs, for she always fight everything as long as possible. The first time she was found out, Creon confronts her but she pushed on that she had to do it for Polynices. But when the time came that she changed her story that she had to bury him herself, and still she said she was bound to do it, representing Antigone who wanted to look innocent by saying she had to do it. Is she innocent or not  The question went on throughout the play. Even the description of her character being stubborn gives her prevalence of stubbornness in all. Her character is a complex mix of emotions, thus making her the most complex in all of the play.

In Antigones view the dead will give her honor in the afterlife once she goes through with it  hence she killed herself. Even if she didnt do it, shed die in time so why not do it with a bang. Her character decided to be in charge and take matters personally because of her anger. She decided that she would rather kill herself than let Creon be satisfied of the deed. Antigones character catches the attention and sympathy of the people with her actions, regarding her as tragic hero in the story.

Her variations as a character made her the most interesting of all the characters in the play. She is not the most beautiful of all the characters but she shines in a bright and beautiful way. Very unpredictable and complex, Antigo.

In the wake of current events, one cannot help but just assume that America is more violent than it has ever been. However, violence has been in the world as well as in the United States since time immemorial. The only thing that has happened is that it has changed and taken on a new form. Crimes do not choose the group of people they are going to affect they occur to everyone regardless of their religion, age group, ethnic group, and socioeconomic status (Trend, p 17). The current trend in crime has greatly desensitized the society. In movies as well as televisions, Americans can watch violence as well as sexual movies wherever they desire. This has led to crime becoming more commonplace in the society today. One just wonders whether the reason as to why violence and voyeurism are on the rise in America is because the society is watching more movies related to violence and sexual activities than ever before.
Voyeurism and violence in American society

Anderson, (para, 6) states that the exposure to violence in the society today is pervasive. Children for example watch violence scenes at school, in the neighborhood, and also in their homes. The greatest source of visual crimes for children is the television in the homes. Children as well as adults are exposed to televised murders and other forms of violence. Daily news also adds up to the sources in which children as well as the general society is exposed to crimes of all kind. News concerning wars in foreign lands as well as reports of daily murder, kidnaps, rape and robberies increase the notion about crime in the society.

It is a culture for the movie making industries to use violence in their work. These violent movies in the past were only watched by a small group of people. According to Ferret (para, 2), very violent and bloody films are being watched by everybody today. Some of the violent movies that are shown in our TVs today could not have been displayed sometimes back even in theaters. Movie makers are now using sophisticated technologies that depict more of a real thing in movies leaving nothing to imagination. All these make TV shows and movies more appealing. The kind of violent episodes that are being displayed in our screens today could only be witnessed by police officers as well as military personnel. Coster, (para, 7), notes that episodes that appear more real than fake such as shooting, beating, and assaults are a common scene into our homes as well as theaters daily. This violence behavior and aggression displayed on our televisions finds its way into our children as well as teenagers. It finally spills over to the streets and the playground. The effect of violence displayed on TVs is cumulative the more violent programs a child watches, the more aggressive heshe becomes.

Children also watch sexual images that are way far beyond the advertising range. Television is believed by many as the major cause of voyeurism. The images that are displayed on televisions are very catching and are the ones that made the voyeur culture to take off. The internet revolution is another factor that has aggravated the voyeurism culture (Shaver para, 1).

Discussion
Extensive exposure to televised violence is one of the leading causes of increased felony, aggressive behavior and violence in society. Television and movies have either negative or positive effects to young people of both genders in the society depending on the type of images being displayed. The issue of violence in the media must be seriously addressed. It is very important for the movie making industry to learn about the impact of violent episodes in movies to the society. Parents should play a vital role of restricting the amount and types of movies a child is exposed to. Broadcaster guidelines should be established to limit the quality of images displayed for view to children.

Tone does to literature what cinematography does to a movie.  Regardless of the kind of literature, tone is important in setting the mood of a literary piece and creating a pseudo atmosphere conducive to the reader of a literary piece.  Why is this necessary  Literature is considered as an elite art form and literary appreciation requires a certain level of intelligence.  Other than this, the only visual input that one would get from literature are the words on the page, or in some cases, the voice of someone on a recorder or a speaker, reciting a poem or telling a tale because of this, the rest is to the audience unlike the visual arts where the visual stimulus is immediate or the performing arts which consist of a conglomeration of many art genres that complement each other resulting in a multi-layered perspective of art. 

This quality of literature requires that for the audience to appreciate it better, the right amount of stimulus is given through the words to create a mental atmosphere that will allow the story or the poem to unfold and the imagination to supply the missing details that are not visually available on a page of literature.  With words as the basic media in the achievement of tone, literature uses two basic devices to do this, style and language.  Style includes such other literary devices as point of view, figurative language, and line cutting to achieve tone, while language includes vocabulary as well as the sentence patterns used.  In Alice Walkers Everyday Use, Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour and Langston Hughes Dream Deferred style and language play a very important role in the achievement of tone.  To understand how style and language both work to achieve tone in a piece of literature, it is first necessary to go deeper into the conventions of style and language.
   
Style, as mentioned, includes elements like point of view, figurative language, line cutting, as well as the mode of deliver for some pieces of literature.  This serves to achieve tone by creating consistency in the piece.  For instance, if a story is awash with figurative language instead of direct statements a reader would perceive the story to be more meditative instead of aggressive.  IN the same manner, in poetry, line enjambment also achieves a contemplative tone in the poem instead of the formalistic and almost structured feel of a poem written in bound and uniform lines.  As for point of view, Edgar Allan Poe was the master of achieving tone using the point of view.  In most cases, the point of view is often overlooked, but what most people do not know is that the point of view actually does many things to a piece of literature.  In fiction, for example, a first person point of view situates the reader as a participant spectator to the events that unfold participant to the narrator of the story who is also a character in the story.  This gives the story a more distant tone, quite like knowing what happens in a movie when someone tells you all about it.  As a result, the audience does not have control over what happens in the story, and so the one builds an imaginary wall between the reader and the story, somewhat isolating the audience. 

This is effective in achieving a tone where the reader does not have to agree with the protagonist-narrator, and the reader only needs to appreciate the story as it is written, devoid of the intrusion of hisher personal opinion.  Such stories also aim to win the sympathy of the reader to the narrator or other characters in the story in relation to the events that unfold or the circumstances that surround the narrator or any other character which may be considered in literature as the significant human experience (SHE).  A third person point of view on the other hand allows the audience to access the internal workings of the characters and so gives the story an almost psychological feel to it.  The third person point of view is often termed as the god point of view because the teller of the tale has access even to the thoughts of the characters in the story.  This gives the story a broader tone and allows more participation from the reader not that the reader can influence how the story will unfold, but at least it gives the reader this kind of illusion of control.  In poetry, the point of view is often tied together with the I of the voice in the poem. 

The reader sees things from the point of view of the voice that should not be automatically equated with the poet as most poets create a separate persona in their pieces to give their poems more flesh and so achieve what poetry is often attributed with achieving, concreteness of abstract emotions or ideals.  Therefore, in poetry, the point of view is a main element that determines the tone of the poem the take of the voice of the issue at hand is very important in setting the tone and how the voice handles the subject becomes the basis for the tone of the poem.  Finally, the mode of delivery, if it is epistolary or confessional, or straight narrative, also affects the tone of the piece.  In many stories and poems the mode of delivery often allows the audience to easily associate the piece with something in real life and so contributes to the general experience of literature.
   
In terms of language and how this affects tone, each piece of literature uses a distinct kind of language to give it a unique feel.  For instance, in the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of Alice Walker, The Colour Purple, which is an epistolary novel, she uses Creole language to give the novel an authentic African-American tone.  In the same way, the kind of language used creates a cultural platform for the tone of literature.  If the writer uses language associated with young people, then the piece will achieve a more juvenile tone, while using formalistic language will give the piece a period or archaic tone.  These are the ways by which language and style affect the tone of a piece of literature.
   
In the three pieces concerned, the two stories both by Alice Walker and Kate Chopin, and the poem by Langman Hughes all illustrate how style and language are used to achieve certain tones in each of the pieces.  Initially, upon reading the three pieces, what is immediately noticeable is the fact that Walkers story is heavy with figurative language, while the story by Chopin is more direct in approach.  The interesting thing is when language is taken into light.  In Walkers story she combines heavy figurative language with the stark language of the blacks and achieve a contemplative but at the same time, aggressive and urgent tone.  This is not true with Chopins story which consistently uses direct language giving the piece a more indifferent tone.  Hughes poem, as the third piece, like Walkers piece, is suffused with figurative language but also presented in the stark language of the blacks, achieving a contemplative and somewhat playful tone, despite the seriousness of the subject being tackled.  Considering the themes of the pieces, the reason for the style and language employed becomes clearer. 

Walkers story is generally about the preservation of heritage but makes references to the difficulties of African-Americans during contemporary times and how this time is different from the past Chopins story is about liberation on a more personal level, as well as death and Hughes piece is about ambition and not being able to achieve ones goals  verily, one can conclude that the reason for the employed style of Walker is her piece is to direct the audience to the greater issue of heritage and history, hence, the use of symbolism and figurative language which gives the story a hidden tone which is the typical tone of most of the African slaves art genres during the transatlantic slave trade.  Chopins piece, on the other hand, because of the abstract matter tackled, has to be indifferent in ton to allow the audience of the reader to make hisher own conclusions.  Finally, Hughes poem is reminiscent of the work songs and shouts of the African slaves of the past, songs that were not actually for entertainment but for communication, hence, the hidden and figuratively presented messages.
   
Walkers story is about a mother who has two daughters, Maggie and Dee.  Dee ran off to marry a well-off lad while Maggie remained with her mother in a decrepit house in a farm because she was the less intelligent of the two, as is suggested in the story.  Soon, Dee returns to visit her mother and tries to impose black liberal contemporary beliefs on her mother and her sister but the mother reminds her that they should not forget what their ancestors had gone through.  Dee then attempts to take the quilts made by her ancestors from her mother saying that she would preserve these and hang them up, but the mother refuses because according to her these quilts were reserved for Maggie.  Dee insists on having the quilts saying that Maggie would just use these until they were old useless rags.  Then, the story takes an unexpected twist when Maggie, hearing the argument between her mother and her sister, agrees to give the quilts to Dee.  The mother still refuses and Dee leaves the house empty handed.  The story is told in the first person perspective or point of view, from the point of view of the mother and this creative decision by the author gives the narrator a more authoritative stance, giving the story a very ancestral and advocating tone. 

The suffusion of figurative language in the story serves to complement the general symbology of the quilt and what it represents.  This abundance of figurative language is textually evident, such as in the lines, She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, (Walker) a hyperbole referring to the sisters dominant, outgoing, and controlling personality, My fat keeps me hot in zero weather, (Walker) another hyperbole referring to the heavy built of the protagonist, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake, (Walker) a simile describing the skin colour of the protagonist to be mottled, and She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didnt necessarily need to know, (Walker) which is a metaphor symbolizing the efforts of the protagonists mother to conceal the truth from her children and teach them things that an ordinary child is not supposed to learn at a juvenile age. These figures of speech in the story give it an almost guarded tone, perhaps in preparation and in anticipation of the larger symbolism represented by the quilt in the end.  In terms of language, as the story is told from the point of view of the mother, contemporary black language is used adding to the authenticity as well as to the aggressive and quite urgent tone of the story. 

This type of language is seen in the dialogue between the mother and the daughters, such as in the line, Why shouldnt I I asked. If thats what you want us to call you, well call you., (Walker) indicating how the protagonist seems to have a problem with grammar, typical of black speakers, and the line, I said.Ream it out again. (Walker) illustrating the use of unconventional and relatively endemic idiomatic expressions.  This use of black language is even portrayed in the narration, which incidentally is also narrated by a black protagonist, such as in the lines, I wanted to ask him was he a barber, but I didnt really think he was, so I didnt ask., (Walker) and chitlins and com bread, the greens and everything else. She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes. (Walker) both portraying a speaking pattern that intentionally omits certain sentence essentials and bases sentence and word construction on sound instead of grammar. 

The most important symbology in this piece is when the mother describes the quilt to be a patchwork of fabric from past ancestors, and when Maggie says to her mother in the end, I can member Grandma Dee without the quilts. (Walker)  This line from Maggie forms a critical point in the story as it validates that the quilt is not really the item being quarrelled over but the memory of black slavery.  All these stylistic and language elements all contribute to the establishment of the tone in this particular story.  The same is true for the second story written by Kate Chopin.

Chopins story is about Mrs. Mallard, a lady whose husband was supposedly killed in a vehicular accident.  Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as someone with a heart condition, so when news of the death of her husband came in, her sister Josephine took extra care in revealing this to Mrs. Mallard.  Surprisingly, the protagonist does not show the usual reaction to the news of the death of a loved one instead she quietly retires to her room and spends time contemplating about herself and her life with her husband.  Later, while contemplating, she concludes that the death of her husband was necessary for her to enjoy self-liberation and freedom and to begin living for herself as she felt constrained in the presence of her husband.  She then takes on upon herself a somewhat sick sense of joy at the loss of her husband.  In an exciting ending to the story, it turns out that the husband was alive and his death was reported mistakenly.  The husband returns to their home and upon seeing him alive, instead of rejoicing, Mrs. Mallard drops dead.  This story is told in the third person point of view and the reason for this is that it is necessary in the unfolding of the story that the audience be given access to the thoughts of the protagonist. 

This gives the story a meditative tone.  There are barely any metaphors in the story indicating the absence of much figurative language, giving it a more direct tone of storytelling as well as a more sterile feel to it. We see this directness and formalism in narration in lines like, She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength., (Chopin) and Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. (Chopin) and even in dialogue lines like, Go away. I am not making myself ill. (Chopin)  These lines show how clean and stiff the narrative style is, making the reader conclude that the story is told in an almost academic, matter-of-factly tone.  

The direct language gives the story an indifferent tone in such that reading the story one would feel a bit detached from the characters and the protagonist.  This is a requirement in the story because as mentioned, it is about a lady with a heart condition and giving the audience unabashed access to the unfolding of the story would overdo the plot and would make it sound begging and contrived.  Hence, the language and style serves to achieve an indifferent tone to keep the audience at bay and allow the events to unfold without compromising the plot.
   
 Hughes poem, A Dream Deferred is written in the tradition of the work song of the slaves during the transatlantic slave trade.  As history would tell us, the work song was a song that the white masters of slaves had them sing during work for entertainment, but since the slaves were not allowed to talk during their work, they used these songs to convey messages to the other slaves who were working in the plantation.  In terms of style, the poem achieves a melodic or playful tone with the proper placement of sounds in the poem.  First, we see this clever placement of sound in the terminal rhyme, such as in the lines, Does it dry up  like a raisin in the sun  Or fester like a sore--  And then run. (2-5) Other than just the internal rhyme, the short brief lines also contribute to this jazzy rhythmic tone, such as, And then run... Maybe it just sags Or does it explode (5,9,11)  Then, in terms of organization the poem also builds up the imagery with vivid verbs, as in, dry-upfesterrunstinkcrustsagsexplode.  (2-11)  The explosion in the end is suggestive of the long-drawn emotions that eventually go over the top, and explode. The conveyance of the message is mostly seen in the symbology of this very short poem as it is as well heavy with figurative language. 

Most of this figurative language are similes such as in the second to fifth lines which describe a raisin drying up referring to or symbolizing the hard labour that the blacks had to go through in the presence of white masters, or in the same lines where an deferred dream (1) is described as a festering sore, indicative of the physical pain the slaves had to go through.  Of course the most important metaphor is when the dream is portrayed as something that will explode in the end, which is symbolic of the liberation movement of the slaves that resulted in the abolition of slavery and freedom for the blacks.  At first reading one might dismiss the poem as an immature musing because it is presented in al almost nursery-rhymey tone, but on close perusal, it becomes evident that this tone is used to conceal the mores serious message of individuality in the pursuit of ambition.  The language used in the poem contributes even more to the playful tone.  The use of black language and vocabulary serves to make it more authentic and reminiscent of the poems early ancestors, the work song and the shout. 
   
Literature is indeed very interesting and as shown in these three pieces of literature, a very important element of literature, tone, can be achieved in more ways than one, in particular by using style and language to endow the piece of literature with qualities that are instrumental in building tone.