Academic Honesty Statement and Title Page

Final Synthesis Paper

Jason Groth

Mrs. Wilson

English IV B

28th May 2013

Academic Honesty Statement

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

Prompt

The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Other individuals that I have worked with: Tyler Justice

Final Synthesis

Jason Groth

Ms. Wilson

English IVB

28^th May 2013

The True Good vs. Evil

“Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them”(Nathaniel Hawthorne). Anyone can say or do anything that they want to express their feelings and emotions through good vs. evil. In the pieces, “A Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, “A Poison Tree” by William Blake, “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning and William H. Pritchard’s, Publish and Perish. While showing true good vs. evil, the authors of these works demonstrate characterization, symbolism and foreshadowing bringing out great detail the characters behold. Good vs. Evil allows these individuals to express their works in words to give the character they have created a personality and emotion.

Characterization can be seen throughout many of these pieces. In John Bunyan’s, “Pilgrim’s Progress” he used characterization to give the characters a name of sin. In the quote, “[T]hen went the jury out, whose names were Mr. Blind-man, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, Mr. Love-lust, Mr. Live-loose, Mr. Heady, Mr. High-mind, Mr. Enmity, Mr. Liar, Mr. Cruelty, Mr. Hate-light, and Mr. implacable…” (Holt 422). The names of these individuals indicate that something will soon occur. As the story continues, the death of Faithful comes with a price because Mr. Cruelty believes that a hanging is not cruel enough. In “A Poison Tree” by William Blake he uses characterization to describe the situation his characters are in. “I was angry with my friend: / I told my wrath, my wrath did end. / I was angry with my foe: / I told it not, my wrath did grow” (ll. 1-4).He is describing his anger towards his foe and over time his anger kept growing and growing. As he, “…watered it in fears, / Night and morning with my tears; / And I sunned it with smiles, / And with soft deceitful wiles” (ll. 5-8). It was this anger that the narrator had, which allowed him to grow this apple which contained all his anger and killed his foe.

During the Victorian times women were not allowed to show any skin, they were to be covered at all times (Holt 878). Browning used lots of characterization to describe the lover’s murder in “Porphyria’s Lover”. “Perfectly pure and good: I found/  A thing to do, and all her hair / In one long yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around,  / And strangled her. No pain felt she; / I am quite sure she felt no pain” (ll. 37-42). This quote tells the reader in just enough detail and characterization of what he has done to his lover. The reason he did this is because of the social class difference between the two. Her being in a higher class than him meant that they could not be seen together at all. In Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam, he used his characterization to describe a situation that Clive was a part of but didn’t really help with. “‘I want you to go to the police now and tell them what you saw.’ ‘Out of the question.’ ‘You could identify this man.’ ‘I’m in the final stages of finishing a symphony that-‘(130). This portrays Clive’s inner self because he doesn’t want to help with someone who could have died. He didn’t want to put himself into that situation that could have hurt him trying to save someone else.

Symbolism is something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign (Dictionary.com). In Amsterdam there are many symbols that show death. “There would come a day when nothing would remain of Vermin Halliday, but what would remain of Clive Linley was his music” (149). This quote symbolizes what will happen later to Vernon and Clive when they both try to poison each other.

 “Porphyria’s Lover”, the lover is sitting with the dead body of Porphyria and is symbolized by what he has done is the right thing. “Porphyria’s love: She guessed not how / Her darling one wish would be heard. / And thus we sit together now, / And all night long we have not stirred, / And yet God has not said a word!” (ll. 56-60). When God has not said a word yet, he assumes that the death of Porphyria was a necessary loss because of their difference.

The apple in “A Poison Tree” is the symbol of the ending death of the foe. As the narrator grew it with his tears, he was able to put all his anger into the apple. “And it grew both day and night, / Till it bore an apple bright; / And my foe beheld it shine, / And he knew that it was mine, / And into my garden stole” (ll. 9-13). This quote marks the spot where the foe meets his death as he ate the apple, like Adam and Eve when they ate from the garden. In the Neoclassical period Bunyan used his symbolism of Faithful’s death as a quicker way to get to Celestial City. “Now, I saw that there stood behind the multitude a chariot and a couple of horses, waiting for Faithful, who (so soon as his adversaries had dispatched him) was taken up into it, and straightway was carried up through the clouds, with sound of trumpet, the nearest way to the Celestial Gate” (Holt 423). Since, Christian and Faithful were trying to get to Celestial City without dying. Faithful managed to be put to death and found a quick way to the golden gates of Celestial City.

Foreshadowing is one of those concepts where it is harder than it actually is (Kim). Foreshadowing is to show or indicate beforehand. The purpose of foreshadowing to create the suspense in a piece of writing. The object is to not give away all the information (Kim). In Amsterdam, the author tries to not write only what happened, but more like how or why it happened. The death of Clive and Vernon was foreshadowed by the quote, “He knew from long experience that a letter sent in fury merely put a weapon into the hands of your enemy. Poison, in a preserved form, to be used against you long in the future” (149). This tells us that sometime later when the reader reads, that the poison is going to be used and soon death with come. “Finally, after two hours of meandering and backtracking, George Lane had a good idea. ‘Look, there was nothing wrong in purchasing those photographs. Actually, I can tell you this, I heard he got a jolly good deal. No, Halliday’s mistake was in not pulling the front page the moment he saw Rose Garmony’s press conference’” (138). This quote will soon foreshadow the job-destroying of Garmony, but also of Vernon. Clive warned Vernon of his choice to publish the pictures, but didn’t listen.

At the beginning of “Porphyria’s Lover”, the poem opens up with foreshadowing. The detail of the storm indicates the gloomy and dark feeling the characters might experience later in the poem. “The rain set early in tonight, / The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm tops down for spite, / And did its worst to vex the lake: / I listened with heart fit to break” (ll. 1-5). Line three really does get the attention since the tops of trees were being torn off, that maybe later this foreshadows the death of ones lover. The reader sees more foreshadowing around line twenty-nine. This foreshadowing is a lead up to what the lover will do. “For love of her, and all in vain: / So, she was come through wind and rain. / Be sure I looked up at her eyes / Happy and proud; at last I knew / Porphyria worshipped me: / Surprise made my heart swell, and still it grew / While I debated what to do” (29-35). When he is looking at her, he is deciding what he should do. Then he gets the idea that he must end her life to protect his own.

Continuing with “A Poison Tree” there is foreshadowing in the middle of the poem. “And it grew both day and night, / Till it bore an apple bright; / And my foe beheld it shine, / And he knew that it was mine…” (ll. 9-12). This quote sets up what the foe will experience and that is his death. The narrator of this poem tells us that the foe knew the apple was his, but the foe doesn’t know that the apple will kill him when he takes a bite into it. This small part of the poem is very similar to the Godfather Part III. This is when everyone is at Tony’s opera in Sicily and Connie gives a gentleman a birthday gift full of sweets. Even though the gentleman did not steal the gift, but he knew that they were from Connie. When he kept eating and eating the sweets, he soon finds his place in death. Very like the apple being the sweets.

The “Pilgrims Progress” contains some foreshadowing as it relates to Faithful and Christian being at the Fair causing ruckus. “Now was word presently brought to the great one of the Fair, who quickly came down and deputed some of his most trusty friends to take these men into examination about whom the Fair was almost overturned….” (Holt 422). While Beelzebub came to the scene and took them for examination, the reader can assume that Bunyan wants the reader to become aware that something soon will happen to Christian and Faithful. After Faithful was tried and put to death by all ways possible by the jury. “Christian continues on his journey and finds another companion, the convert Hopeful” (Holt 423). By finding a new person named Hopeful, allowed Christian to let hope in him to lead the way, because faith was not able to get Christian to Celestial City.

Death is necessary at times. Most individuals would never want to die because they fear death. Throughout the pieces we experience death not being feared. Porphyria’s lover not feeling guilty of killing the one he loved and when the narrator killed his foe with an apple and still not feeling sorry. Some may say bringing death to one person is a must in order for self-defense.

In Publish and Perish by William H. Pritchard, he has talked a lot about how McEwan might have compared some of his other books to Amsterdam. One thing he mentions in his piece is how McEwan avoided the first-person style of writing and trying to stay away from writing about one character at a time. Amsterdam allowed him to write the speakers, “with a strongly sardonic edge” (Pritchard). Pritchard called Amsterdam, “…very British” except for the title because of the choice of location McEwan chose for the book, which is in London and the Lake District. Pritchard is very excited about the making of McEwan’s new book, “[T]his is the book at its best. But when the cruel wit is turned on the two central figures, especially on Clive, I wondered whether he (or McEwan) had quite deserved or earned it.” This book was the winner of the Booker Prize even though none of his previous books have won it.

In the pieces, “A Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, “A Poison Tree” by William Blake, “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning and William H. Pritchard’s, Publish and Perish. The authors of these wonderful pieces of writing were able to include characterization, symbolism and foreshadowing to show the good vs. evil in each of the characters. Allowing these to be a part of their writing, helped the reader easily understand the true meaning of good and evil in the characters’ lives. Remember, “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God” said Albert Einstein (goodreads).

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Good And Evil Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Holt McDougal Online." Holt McDougal Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Kim's Craft Blog -- Fiction, Memoir, Creative Writing." : Fun with Foreshadowing. Blogger.com, Dec. 2012. Web. 27 May 2013.

McEwan, Ian. Amsterdam. New York: N.A. Talese, 1999. Print.

Pritchard, William H. "Publish and Perish." Books. The New York Times, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Quotes About Good And Evil." (131 Quotes). Goodreads, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

Victorian: "Porphyria's Lover"

Jason Groth

Ms. Wilson

English IV B

28^nd May 2013

Victorian Period

The Victorian Era was a time of overwhelming growth, prosperity, and progress in England (Holt 878). Individuals had questions to whether or not if they should question traditional values and questioned the most if all things should move forward and change? (Holt 878). Browning experimented with different styles of literature to challenge the traditions of most English poetry (Holt 907). Robert Browning used dramatic monologue, pathetic fallacies, and sexual undertones to expose his readers to the unthinkable minds of his speakers.

“Porphyria’s Lover” opens up with pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy is “giving nature, inanimate objects, etc., with human traits and feelings” (Dictionary.com). Browning includes this technique to give the speaker a natural tone to the setting of the poem. This is proven by, “The rain set early in tonight, / The sullen wind was soon awake, / It tore the elm tops down for spite, / And did its worst to vex the lake: / I listened with heart fit to break” (ll. 1-5). These lines set the mood of the poem by setting up the gloomy and dark poem as it foreshadows Porphyria’s death at the climax of the poem. The imagery of the storm shows destructiveness and its violence as for the attitude of Porphyria’s lover.

The title that Browning has chosen for this poem is for importance of the meaning of Porphyria. Porphyria is a type of disease. This disease has many symptoms and they include, “[P]ersonality changes or mental disorders, cramping, vomiting and chest pain. When skin is exposed to sunlight the individual may have increased hair growth, blisters and swelling of the skin” (WebMD). Based on the symptoms of Porphyria we can assume that she has it in the poem because she has pale white, “… [a] sudden thought of one so pale…” (ll. 28). We also know that she could have this disease because of her long blonde hair that ended her life, “… [i]n one long yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around…” (ll. 39-40). Her lover has Porphyria disease too because of his personality changes or mental disorders. We know this because it, “[m]ade my heart swell, and still it grew / While I debated what to do. / That moment she was mine, mine, fair / Perfectly pure and good: I found / A thing to do, and all her hair / In one long yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around, / And strangled her” (ll. 34-41). This change in the story could have made Porphyria’s lover start his mental disorders causing him to kill Porphyria.

The use of sexual undertones is easily shown throughout Porphyria’s Lover to show the feeling of love the two individuals share with one another. This is shown by, “[s]he put my arm about her waist, / And made her smooth white shoulder bare…” (ll. 16-17). This quote shows the trust the two have for each other because during this era it was consider inappropriate for women to show their body. Porphyria seems to be very comfortable with her lover because she is able to trust her lover, but it is her being comfortable that ends up causing her death. “And all her yellow hair displaced, / And, stooping, made my cheek lie there, / And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair, […] In one long yellow string I wound / Three times her little throat around, / And strangled her” (ll. 18-20, 39-41). This relaxed vibe she gets with her lover takes fair advantage over her and kills her.

The dramatic monologue that Browning has put into Porphyria’s Lover is to get the view of the lover’s perspective and understand exactly what happened the night Porphyria was killed (Holt 990). Dramatic Monologue is when, “a poetic form in which a single character, addressing a silent auditor at a critical moment, reveals himselfor herself and the dramatic situation” (Dictionary.com). Browning also used social commentary to show that the two lovers can never be together because of the social class difference between the two. “Murmuring how she loved me—she / Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor, / To set its struggling passion free / From pride, and vainer ties dissever, /  And give herself to me forever” (ll. 21-25). The lover being in a lower social class than Porphyria the reader can get the sense that no matter how much their love for each other is unimaginable, they could never be together (Wilson).

While reading through Porphyria’s Lover, the narrator of the poem must be unreliable. Since the poem is in dramatic monologue, the lover must be telling the story because Porphyria is dead at the end of the poem. “…No pain felt she; / I am quite sure she felt no pain” (ll. 41-42). The lover says this after he strangled Porphyria because he claims that he did this murder was for the best for their lives. “And thus we sit together now, / And all night long we have not stirred, / And yet God has not said a word” (ll. 58-60). What he says here further backs up his claim that Porphyria’s murder was justified. Near the end of the poem, there is no sign of the lover feeling guilty of what he has done. When God has not answered to his murder the reader can assume that this was a wish by God and that their love for each other was soon to be done because of the social difference between the two.

Robert Browning’s, “Porphyria’s Lover” uses dramatic monologue, sexual undertones, and pathetic fallacies to help the reader become exposed to the darker side of the Victorian Era. The use of these techniques help show the evil side of love and the evil side of a man who used murder to help him not become caught with a woman in a different social class. Browning used “Porphyria’s Lover” to help the reader become ‘scientific interested in evil’ to explore the complexity of human motivation (Holt 878).

Works Cited

"Holt McDougal Online." Holt McDougal Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

Romantic: "A Poison Tree"

Jason Groth

Ms. Wilson

English IVB

28th May 2013

Romantic Period

During the Romantic Period it allowed artistic freedom, creativity and experimentation (Holt 731). With the help of freedom and creativity, William Blake was able to include imagery, symbolism, ABAB pattern and allusion to his poem, 'A Poison Tree'. Literary devices in his poem are used to help define what an individual should not do when he or she is angry with their foe.

In order for Blake to create this poem, he had to have other individuals start this so called Romantic Period. With the publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, it allowed people like Blake try experiment with their ideas and create these poems that focus on human nature and natural places (Holt 731). With the experiments, he got a creation that was called 'A Poison Tree'. Blake really shows the true meaning of hatred through his words allowing the reader to easily follow the situation the narrator is having.

'A Poison Tree' confronts a problem the narrator was having because the narrator was, “…angry with my friend…” (ll. 1). This buildup of anger the narrator germinates allows foreshadowing of the word “grow” at the end of the first stanza. The apple that is grown by the tree signifies this anger. When the narrator first mentions his anger, this was the beginning of the growing of the apple. As time continues, the anger that the narrator has, “…grew both day and night…” (ll. 9) eventually growing to a full apple. Then the foe was able to get on the narrators nerves one last time, which allowed the apple to be picked, eaten and kill the foe.

Blake incorporating allusion and natural curiosity helped him greatly throughout the third stanza. Since, “…the possibility of salvation through the contemplation of nature” (Romantic) was one of the four principles of the Romantic Era. It allowed poets like Blake to include human nature to his poem. “And my foe beheld it shine, / And he knew that it was mine…” (ll. 11-12), the narrator was able to fool his foe by taking advantage of his natural curiosity. This curiosity the foe has creates the climax of the poem, bringing anticipation with the comma after the word “mine” in line 12. The allusion that Blake includes is the narrator being the evil Serpent that was able to tempt Adam and Eve to consume the apple of knowledge that they took from Gods tree in the garden. Just like in the Bible Adam and Eve both, “…knew that it was…” (ll.12) Gods and “…beheld it shine…” (ll. 11). The foe did know that the apple was the narrator’s, which he stole and later killed him because he took a bite out of it. This relates to Adam and Eve when they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

While Blake used allusion and natural curiosity, he also uses metaphor, imagery and ABAB pattern. The use of metaphor in the first stanza, “…my wrath, my wrath did end. […] I told it not, my wrath did grow” (ll. 2, 4). Wrath in these lines is the plant that will grow into the apple. It is very important to know the connection of the metaphor because it is the connection at the end of the poem that will address the apple as the killer. The ABAB pattern throughout the piece that Blake has added creates emphasis on key words to help get his point through. “In the morning glad I see / My foe outstretched beneath the tree” (15-16), the emphasis on the of the rhyming words helps the reader understand what Blake is trying get through using the words. Just like an accent note in a song, the note is tonged just a little bit harder than the normal note to get that sound through the full band.

Blake’s theme of good vs. evil is shown through the narrator and the apple. The apple is doing the good by being bate that snaps the trap on the foe. Even though the narrator never kills the foe with his bare hands or with a weapon of some sorts, the apple does the dirty work. The good that it is done is the death of the foe. The narrator grew the apple and was intended for the foe to find and steal. Since the narrator was angry at the foe, the evilness has prompted him to go forward with his plan to grow this good apple that kills the foe in the end.

With creativity, experimentation and freedom to express the poets feeling through different literary devices, Blake was able to accomplish this task easily in 'A Poison Tree'. Throughout 'A Poison Tree', Blake was able to create this poem with allusion, imagery, and symbolism. He created allusion by going back to biblical times and creating the narrator as the Serpent that was able to tempt Adam and Eve to eat the apple, as with the foe being Adam and Eve. His imagery with, “…watered it in fears, / Night and morning with my tears…” (ll. 5-6), tell help the reader visualize the tree being watered by his tears of anger that the foe has brought upon him. Lastly, symbolism Blake includes about the narrators wrath as a tree, helped give it some meaning so when we get to the bottom of the poem we see why the symbolism of the tree is his wrath. With the help of William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, Blake was able to achieve what an individual should not do and solve things out with your foe.

Works Cited

"Holt McDougal Online." Holt McDougal Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

Neoclassical: The Pilgrim's Progress

Jason Groth

Mrs. Wilson

English IV B

28^th May 2013

Neoclassical Period

                  In Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan uses allegory to both satirize the debauchery of the time period, and to reveal the difficulty of the spiritual journey of salvation (Wilson). After King Charles I, Olive Cromwell who was not heir to the throne put his country in solitude confinement by getting rid of anything that he seemed unnatural. He got rid of theater  When Cromwell died, King Charles II came to take back his broken country and brought back the beloved theater  but added his taste of prostitutes, gambling and anything that society thought was inappropriate. Bunyan disliked this new addition and began to preach. After these new rules were added about not preaching without a license he was arrested.

            During Bunyan’s arrest, he wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress that might have been about his own life experience. In this excerpt, we meet the character Christian that might have been Bunyan himself and Faithful as one of his followers. When the two characters were “…walking to the Celestial City, as these two honest persons are; and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion…” (Bunyan 421) one might think that Beelzebub could represent King Charles II. We can assume this because “all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places […] pleasures, and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children…” (Bunyan 421) can all follow under King Charles II with his new addition to theatre.

            Bunyan goes on about Christian and Faithful being different by their “…clothed with such kind of raiment […] likewise at their speech […] cared not so much as to look upon them…” (Bunyan 421). Then they are jailed for doing so. In Bunyan’s life he was jailed for preaching without a license which was a big no by Charles II. This imprisonment that he took part of, allowed him to create the story to fit his background. “[O]utlandish-men” (Bunyan 422) could mean that he, Bunyan is different than the average person because he enjoys the preaching to individuals that the King took away from him.

            The use of irony is mostly seen during the examination of Faithful. When they begin to talk about what they should do with Faithful, Mr. Blind-man says, “I see clearly that this man is heretic” (Bunyan 422). Mr. Blind-man is basically saying that he can see Faithful and that he is heretic. Then when we swing to Mr. Cruelty he says that a hanging isn’t severe enough, even though a hanging to most people is considered just as cruel.

            We also experience the allegory that is present throughout the entire piece. It could Celestial City as Bunyan’s goal to have finally finished Pilgrim’s Progress. Faithful and Hopeful could be symbols for Bunyan’s followers as he preached to them in secret. Beelzebub, as mentioned before as King Charles II when he began his rule with new laws that got rid of most religion and adding in gambling and prostitutes and is seen in the town of Vanity. Bunyan is very smart for disguising his story through allegory and creating symbols that everyone during his time and even today understands.

            When Faithful is being tried by the jury, he is quickly sentenced to death. During this painful scene “…they scourged him, then they buffeted him, then they lanced his flesh with knives; after that they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords; and last of all they burned him to ashes at the stake” (Bunyan 423). With this imagery we can feel the pain and suffering Bunyan has put into the death of Faithful.

            As Christian has escaped the prison he was help at, Bunyan uses more imagery to describe Celestial City. “…the City shone like the sun, the streets also were paved with gold…” (Bunyan 423). This use of imagery helps define what the character is seeing and is helping the reader understand even more that Celestial City could be a city made out of gold.

            The theme of good and evil also play a huge role in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. When both Christian and Faithful refuse to partake in the “fun of the fair”, the evil and envious men Beelzebub, Apollyon and Legion seize and take them away. There are also the evil acts of cruel punishment that Mr. Cruelty says is not severe enough. It is disgusting to think that these evil acts had an impact on society as a whole to scare people to not steal food or pickpocketing. Theme of good allows people to have hope and joy that one day they will experience the good inside of them. As Christian headed to Celestial City, he was accepted as good individual by God to come forth and present himself in front of the gates.

            John Bunyan has allowed the use of irony, symbolism, allegory and imagery to help individuals understand the wrong doing of King Charles II as it relates to the factual history and life of Bunyan. The text evidence that help support that this story is about a portion of Bunyan’s life helps the reader fully understand the era of the Neoclassical Period as it follows the rule of King Charles II.

Work Cited

"A Commentary on John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress"" By The Revd. Eric Little. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

"Holt McDougal Online." Holt McDougal Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.

"Types of Punishment - Hanging - Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN." Types of Punishment - Hanging - Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN. East of England Broadband Network, 2006. Web. 08 May 2013.