The poem Matilda

The poem Matilda, by Hilaire Belloc is a typical story written in simple verse format which tells of Matilda, who was prone to telling lies. Known for works which were popularized in the late Nineteen Century and early Twentieth Century,. The book containing the poem also appeals to those who enjoy satire, and are familiar with the political time setting of the book.

This particular poem is an example of the messages written by Belloc for a audience of children, and one can imagine the nanny reading this to the children with a very animated voice, so as to entertain and to educate the children in the particular vice of telling lies and the consequences of being untruthful. Popularized in this edition, the poem was illustrated by his friend Edward Gorey in almost a Monty Python sketch style.

Matilda comes over as the daughter of a wealthy family, and when she calls for the services of the London fire brigade in a moment of boredom, this causes chaos. Her aunt was aware of her vice and certainly had more respect for people who told the truth. Coming to terms with the vice the child had and her ability to tell such whopping lies, her aunt was to live to tell the tale of how Matilda had indeed given the fire brigade a false alarm.

The meaning is very plain in the way the poem is written. There is no real need to make an analysis of the meaning of the poem, though the message is very subtle and the verse contains clever use of words, the simplicity of which add to the impact of the message. Much as the “Boy who cried wolf” fable by Aesop, Hilaire Belloc appeared to have a good understanding of the vices of children, and although not clear from this verse, one may even assume that he had a love/hate relationship with youth. He demonstrates this in attempting to address the folly of their ways in many of the cautionary verses presented, as well as admonishing the folly of adults in other satirical works within the book. Having had five children, they would certainly have influenced the writer and encouraged him in his humorous attempt to provide guidelines for children with vices.

The story continues and Matilda’s Aunt is rather cross at Matilda’s lies. Having to deal with the harm done to the family portraits by the fire brigade hoses, the Aunt decides to punish Matilda by not inviting her to a popular play. The very fact that the Aunt would normally have invited her niece gives the impression of wealth and status, since at this juncture in British history, working class people would not have had much to do with the performing arts.Left at home, presumably alone, Matilda finds herself engulfed in a real house fire, and opens the window and screams, her voice being ignored by all and sundry

Ozymandias

“Ozymandias” is a masterful sonnet. Essentially it is devoted to a single metaphor. It was written by Shelley in competition with his friend Horace Smith. Shelley appears to have borrowed the subject of Ozymandias from the Greek history of Diodorus Siculus, who describes a memorial of a king Ozymandias. The speaker recalls having met a traveler “from an antique land,” who told him a story about the ruins of a statue in the desert of his native country. Two vast legs of stone stand without a body, and near them a massive, crumbling stone head lies “half sunk” in the sand. The traveler told the speaker that the frown and “sneer of cold command” on the statue’s face indicate that the sculptor understood well the passions of the statue’s subject, a man who sneered with contempt for those weaker than himself, yet fed his people because of something in his heart. On the pedestal of the statue appear the words: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” But around the decaying ruin of the statue, nothing remains, only the “lone and level sands,” which stretch out around it, far away. The statue of king Ozymandias depicts the expression of arrogance, contempt, cruelty and confidence even today. His face depicts his frown and sneer nature with his upper lips curled as if in scorn.

Shelley describes Ozymandias as being full of ‘passions’ and ‘heart’ but also as ‘cold’: his passion is for power, as where he commands ‘Despair!’ and describes himself as ‘king of kings’. In this image, which evokes Christ, Shelley shows the hubris of Ozymandias since he compares this man’s god like arrogance to Christ, unfavorably. Ozymandias seems to believe his works will live forever ‘Look on my works’, but as the traveller shows, there’s little left of the ‘colossal wreck.’ The oxymoron shows the contradiction in the poem of Ozymandias’ self-perception of immortality, and the reality that all earthly power will pass away, leaving the world ‘boundless and bare’. The desert’s power is emphasized over that of Ozymandias: it stretches, vast, infinite. The only real legacy the king leaves is evidence of his pride, and cruelty: ‘nothing beside remains’.The statue, and the words of the king, Ozymandias, are symbols of the transience of man’s greatness and self-belief. This sonnet from 1817 is probably Shelley’s most famous and most anthologized poem—which is somewhat strange, considering that it is in many ways an atypical poem for Shelley,

Alice Walker's short story Am I Blue?

Alice Walker's short story  Am I Blue?, is on the surface, an assertion about how humans treat animals and the right's of animals. However, on a deeper level, Walker is making a very powerful argument about how human animals treat each other much the same way they treat non human animals. We will examine how Walker organizes her points, and analyze those points as they relate to her argument. Human beings have always prided themselves with being the most intelligent species of animals on Earth. While no one, that people know of, is saying otherwise, even we humans cannot deny that other species of animals have higher intelligence than what we give them credit for. Animals are very social, interactive creatures, and if you look closely, they have characteristics and personalities much like our own.

   Alice Walker's extraordinary use of imagery effectively creates scenes of beautiful country life in the readers mind.  'Am I Blue?' is about a horse named Blue. The author describes Blue by comparing him to human beings and human experiences. At the start, the author talks about feeding apples to Blue. She says that oftentimes, Blue just waits by the apple tree until someone comes, then he snorts or whines as if to say ' I want an apple'. However, like any human being, Blue gets very lonely and bored whenever no one is around. He is the only horse being kept in the area. The author then reflects on how animals are 'completed creations'. This mean that their personalities are constant despite changes in their appearance and their environment. They are who they are since the day they were born. Blue, being a social animal, can only look forward to people feeding him apples, and that makes him very lonely and bored.

 One day, Blue gets a companion, a brown horse. The author notices that Blue is happier with his new friend and he does not frequent the apple tree as much as he used to. People often behave like Blue did too. When something or someone new comes into our lives, we often try to spend time learning more about that person to break the monotony of daily life. However, we are told that life has its ups and downs. For Blue, his down came when his companion was taken away after they had mated and she had conceived. The author compares Blue's look of pain and despair to the slaves whose family members have been taken away from them. The look in Blue's eyes are strikingly human.

This essay then dwells on how nothing is ever as it seems. The animals, like Blue, represent images and ideas for us. For example, a white horse in the meadows gives us an image of freedom, but we never know the real condition or state that animal is in. The author provides more examples but the her point is that people always talk about equality, freedom and justice for everyone. Unfortunately, we seem to have forgotten that those idealism can, and should, also apply to animals. This story is quite beautiful in a way that the author describes how even animals can feel. How she relates the apple at the end is also very clever. I liked this story a lot because we, humans, can feel what Blue is feeling... which is in fact, being Blue. We all have experiences in life which makes us Blue. Alice Walker conveys her high regard towards animal rights through the use of many different rhetorical devices such as description, anecdote, metaphor, personification, irony

O.Henry --The Last Leaf

The Last Leaf is an interesting short story about a sick girl who is late affected by a scanty ivy vine. Johnsy speak outs that she testament top as soon as the last ripple on that vine falls. She becomes close to remainder, but a neighbor called Mr. Behrman, an artist, saves her lifetime and dies. We want focus on different causes and make involved in, first, Johnsy’s case and, second, the death of Mr. Behrman.

First, many occasions lead Johnsy to be touched with the idea of death. When Johnsy becomes ill with pneumonia, she loses her strength and her body becomes weaker. That makes her think that it is the end of her life. She also believes that her doctor says she will not await very long. Ive known that for three daylights. Didnt the doctor tell you? When soul loses hope, surely he will find everything around him suffering and disappointing. This is exactly what happens to Johnsy. The thing that has the greatest impact on her is the ivy vine. Johnsy keeps watching the vine while its leaves fall one after the another. This lower-ranking point that may be a usual thing for some people is unusual in the case of Johnsy. That bare vine which has only a few leaves on it, affects Johnsy Psychologically. Johnsy starts to feel that she will also die when the vine dies. In other words, when the last flip falls.

Psychologists might stir that it is because of a negative feeling in her subconscious mind. However, when she wakes up after a rainy night and finds that the last leaf is still there, Johnsy begins to think wisely. She tells Sue how bad she is because of her silly ideas. purpose that the last leaf is still there is a twist point in Johnsy’s case. She begins to recover and think optimistically. She says, Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples. Instead, someone else dies and gives his life as a gift for Johnsy. Mr.Behrman, the artist who dreams of painting a masterpiece one day, is the neighbor of Sue and Johnsy. When he knows about Johnsy and the vine, he tries to do something in exhibition to help her. In a rainy night, when the last leaf falls, he takes a ladder and there he paints a leaf that will never falls.

Because of the cold weather that night, Mr. Behrman becomes ill with pneumonia too. He

cannot crusade the disease so he dies in the hospital.Another thing leads to Mr. Behrmans death is his dream. Some people will sacrifice their selves in order to achieve their dreams. Mr. Behrman has a great challenge with himself, so he does not care about the bad weather. All what he wants is to paint his masterpiece and its time arrives. He paints the last leaf, which gives a new life to Johnsy and gives him a feeling of triumph.Hope is the hero of that story. On one hand, when Johnsy is hopeless, she makes her steps closer to death. However she changes when she finds the leaf. On the other hand, Mr. Behrman dies after he becomes hopeful. However, he dies with success.