Death and Grief in Midterm Essay Example for Free

Death and Grief in Midterm Essay Out Out was written by Robert Frost who was an American poet born in 1874. He moved to New England, a farming region, where most of his poems were inspired. Mid Term Break was written by Seamus Heaney, who was born on a farm in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is evident that both poets backgrounds have had much influence in their poetry writing which can be seen from these two poems. Although, Robert Frost attended Harvard University he had to leave early to support his family by moving to a farm in New Hampshire. He also had six children but four of them died before he did. In Out Out, he writes about the harsh reality of a young boy from a poor working class background having to work on a farm in order to help his family which led to his horrific and unmourned death. Apparently this was based on a true event. Seamus Heaney was one of nine children. When he was twelve he won a scholarship to St Columbs College in Londonderry. When he was studying there his four year old brother, Christopher, was killed in a road accident. Mid Term Break is based on this event. In contrast the death of Seamus Heaneys brother is described as a very emotional event mourned by family and friends. I am able to point out many similarities between these the poems but also a number of differences. The themes of the two poems focus on the death of two young boys. However in Mid Term Break the focus is on the aftermath and emotional responses of friends and family to a terrible accident. The boy is dead at the start of the poem. In Out Out the boy dies during the poem. This poem is written like a running commentary and his family show little emotion when he dies. I find this shocking. Also, both boys have died due to an accident at the hands of a machine. In Mid Term Break, the boy was killed by a car and in Out Out he was killed by a buzz saw. The difference is that one boy is left with hardly a scar, only a poppy bruise yet the other boy sustains horrific injuries by losing his hand and bleeding to death. One boy is killed instantly by a car and the other boy slowly bleeds to death. Both poems create an uneasy opening and an atmosphere of suspense. In Mid Term Break, Seamus Heaney describes the knelling of bells which is a sinister phrase used to describe funeral bells. He is also waiting to be picked up by his neighbour which indicates something may have happened to a family member. In Out Out, the poems tone begins with the description of the buzz saw which is threatening and sinister. The poet uses words like Buzz, snarled, rattled. These words are words used to describe a hungry ferocious animals like a venomous snake or a wild dog. The words are a good use of onomatopoeia. They introduce a sense of threat into the poem as they might be associated with danger and accidents. Robert Frost uses sibilance at the start of his poem. He changes the tone of the poem and refers to Sweet scented stuff when the breeze blew across it. This sentence appeals to our sight, smell and hearing. These are calm, gentle words in contrast to the threatening words used to describe the buzz saw. Seamus Heaney uses alliteration at the start of his poem, Counting bells knelling classes to a close. The sounds used here make you think of the tick tock of a clock. It also a metaphor as knelling bells are also bringing his brothers life to a close. Both of the poems have shocking endings. In Mid Term break we realise that the dead child was only 4 years old. A four foot box, a foot for every year. Nearly every word in the last line is short. It gives a sense of shortness and comes to an abrupt ending just like the brothers life. The ending in Out Out is equally appalling as it ends with the family showing little or no emotion to the death of their son. It also had an abrupt ending. Another similarity between the poems is that time is referred to in both of them. In Out Out, reference is made to the sunset far in Vermont. This suggests that light is becoming dimmer and the dim light could also have led to the accident occurring and the eerie atmosphere. In Mid Term break the poet refers to 10 Oclock twice which is a bright part of the day. Both poems use language with attitude. In Mid-Term Break Seamus Heaney uses metaphors wearing a poppy bruise this helps create an image because even though we know the dead child is not literally wearing a poppy bruise we can imagine what the bruise would look like and it is also a symbol of death. Also alliteration is used in a four foot box, a foot for every year. This makes the text seem more aggressive. It uses this technique to show the families anger at the death of the young child. Both poets use caesura in their poems. The effect of this is to build up tension and perhaps prepare the reader for unexpected events. Caesura is used in Mid Term Break just as Heaney is about to enter the room where his dead brother was resting. He does not know what to expect. It is used in Out Out at And nothing happened: day was all but done. The effect of the caesura is to put on pause the scene painted. It is near the end of the working day and the work is nearly completed and everything appears to be normal. In the first line of the poem we had that feeling that something sinister and threatening was going to happen and this pause may be used to allow the reader to prepare us for an expected significant event that was about to take place. Enjambment is used throughout Mid Term break. It gives the effect that the poet is in a sort of daze. There are also many differences between the two poems. The two families are from a different class. One boy comes from a working class background and another boy is from a more affluent background as the other boy is attending boarding school. Also, Mid Term Break was written in 1st person while Out Out was written in third person. You can understand more about the emotions that are felt in Mid Term Break. Although, Out Out has more action in it as it is a fast flowing poem. There is also a striking difference in how the families react to the death of the children. In Out Out there was no real emotion shown when the boy finally died. He is left alone and they then return to their work. In contrast, Mid Term Break describes the scene of the father crying uncontrollably. This would not be an expected reaction for men in Ireland to cry as they would normally bottle their emotions up. The fact that Jim Evans said it was a hard blow shows that it was someone close to the family. Friends and family gather at the house to offer their condolences. The body was then brought home and viewed in a coffin. Another difference is how the two boys are treated by their families. The boy in Out Out is treated as an adult who is doing a mans job. He is treated no different than anyone else. In Mid Term Break, the boy is being educated. He is however treated like a man when old men stand up to shake his hand as his father is in a bad state, people told strangers that he was the eldest. However, he is then reduced to a small child again when his mother holds on to his hand as she doesnt want to let him out of her sight. There is also a difference in the acceptance of the two deaths. In Out Out there wasnt any grieving amongst the family members but in Mid Term Break there is little acceptance particularly from the boys mother. The poem says she coughed out angry tearless sighs. She may be blaming herself as should have been with her child or not let him out of her sight.

Euthanasia Essay - Concerns About Euthanasia -- Euthanasia Physician A

  Ã‚   A medical examiner from Oakland County, Michigan and three researchers from the University of South Florida have studied key characteristics of 69 patients whose suicides were assisted by Jack Kevorkian between 1990 and 1998. Their findings are published in the December 7 New England Journal of Medicine. Autopsies show that only 25 percent of Kevorkian's clients were terminally ill when he helped them kill themselves. "Seventy-two percent of the patients had had a recent decline in health status that may have precipitated the desire to die." However, "no anatomical disease was confirmed at autopsy" in 5 of the 69 people. In light of the generally lower rate of suicide among women, it was notable that 71% of these patients were women. Persons who were divorced or never married were over-represented among Kevorkian's clients, "suggesting the need for a better understanding of the familial and psychosocial context of decision making at the end of life" [L. Roscoe, J. Malphurs, L. Dragovic, and D. Cohen, "Dr. Jack Kevorkian and Cases of Euthanasia in Oakland County, Michigan, 1990-1998," Correspondence, 343 New England Journal of Medicine 1735-6 (Dec. 7, 2000)].    Numerous studies have established that the Americans most directly affected by the issue of physician-assisted suicide -- those who are frail, elderly and suffering from terminal illness -- are also more opposed to legalizing the practice than others are:    * A poll conducted for the Washington Post on March 22-26, 1996, found 50% support for legalizing physician-assisted suicide (Washington A18) Voters aged 35-44 supported legalization, 57% to 33%. But these figures reversed for voters aged 65 and older, who opposed legalization 54% to 38%. Majo... ... suicide: attitudes and experiences of oncology patients, oncologists, and the public." 347 The Lancet 1805 (June 29, 1996):1809    Humphry, Derek. "What's in a word?" Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization 1993, Table 1-A.    Koenig, Dr. Harold et al.. "Attitudes of Elderly Patients and their Families Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide." 156 Archives of Internal Medicine 2240 (Oct. 28, 1996)    Lee v. Oregon, 891 F.Supp. 1429 (D. Or. 1995), vacated on other grounds, 107 F.3d 1382 (9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 328 (1997).    "Poll Shows More Would Support Law Using Gentler Language," TimeLines (Jan.-Feb. 1994):9    Washington v. Glucksberg, 117 S. Ct. 2258, 2262 n. 7 (1997. -- -- --. 117 S. Ct. at 2272, quoting United States v. Rutherford, 442 U.S. 544, 558. 1979.    Washington Post, April 4, 1996.

Misuse of Plastic Essay

Human being plays a key role in environment as he has a capable mind and will power to do everything by the skill and technology he has developed so far. But most of his activities done for his development and welfare have been causing seriously negative impacts on the virgin environment he has been blessed with. We can prepare a long list of human activities that have been disturbing, destabilising and degrading the natural environment. The explosion of human population has enhanced the negative impacts of human activities on environment. Man has adopted such a life style which has no room for conservation and preservation of environment as he has become just a consumer in the modern world. He has destroyed many terrestrial and aquatic habitats causing numerous species of plants and animals to go extinct. He has cleared forests and has killed numerous wild animals to disturb the balance of the nature. His activities leading to pollution have been causing a number of local and global environmental problems ranging from spread of epidemics, depletion of ozone layer, global warming and climate change. The fertile land degraded by human activities has been converted into vast desert and his activities of misuse and overuse of water and reclamation of water bodies has been leading to the crisis of water in many parts of the world. Most of the fossil fuels have so far been used up by him due to whom an energy crisis is overhead. Most of the human population of urban areas has been migrating towards cities leaving agriculture aside and this is causing urban congestion, encroachment to monuments and government land on one hand the a steep fall of agricultural production on the other. Lots of wastes created by humans have spoilt the landscape and urban areas are under immense stress due to over congestion. Civic bodies in urban areas are under hard pressure to manage civic amenities and improper management of civic facilities is sure to endanger the community life. The word civic relates to the life of city or town area and amenities are features of city or town area that make the place pleasant, comfortable and easy to live in. Thus,civic amenities are features of a city or town area that make the area pleasant, comfortable and easy to live for human beings.

Nelson Mandelas Fight for Freedom - 1646 Words

Imagine yourself growing up in a country where you might get thrown in jail for drinking from the wrong water fountain; where just because of your skin color, you get paid less money than your neighbor who has the same job; where you can’t even walk on the same sidewalk just because of the pigment in your skin. For Nelson Mandela, this situation was a reality. This style of living began in 1948 and, thanks to Mandela, ended in 1994. Problems began when the National Party---dominated by Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch settlers—came to power in South Africa. Segregation and mistreatment of the less superior—non-whites--became a government policy called â€Å"apartheid,† which means â€Å"apartness† in the Afrikaans language. Nelson Mandela†¦show more content†¦He was disguised as a white friend’s chauffer. At this point in time, the government was arresting all black leaders that took part in the Anti- Apartheid movement. S o, in an attempt to avoid being arrested, Mandela was forced to live apart from his family. He moved from place to place to avoid being detected by government informers and spies. Usually during important events, like rallies, he would often disguise himself as a chauffer or a gardener. Mandela was nicknamed, â€Å"the Black Pimpernel,† because he was so he was so successful at dodging the police. However, he was not successful enough. After being arrested, Mandela was charged with inciting strikes and illegally leaving the country. He had often traveled to countries in North and West Africa to gain support. He also traveled to England where he met politicians. Throughout his trial—the Rivonia Trial---Mandela carried out his own defense. In the end, Mandela was found guilty and sentenced to prison at Robben Island for five years. This jail was bleak, unwelcoming, and depressing. It is about 7.5 miles off the coast of Cape Town. Robben Island was one of the harshes t prisons in South Africa. The island was bitterly cold in the winter and scorching hot in the summer. Prisoners could only wear short trousers with no shoes. The imprisoned were to sleep on mats that lay out on their cell floor. Mandela’s cell was less than thirty-two square feet. He was confined to it for sixteen hoursShow MoreRelatedNelson Mandela1187 Words   |  5 Pagesconcept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group (Wikipedia). Abraham Lincoln and George Washington are examples of individuals who are important cultural icons to many Americans. Another person who is considered a cultural icon is Nelson Mandela; an individual who took a stand against apartheid in South Africa and established great strides toward racial equality in that part of the world. 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