Working on my final paper

How Poe died continues to be a mystery. It is said it could have been: murder, epilepsy, diabetes, heart, rabies, dipsomnia, hypoglycemia, or it could have been delirium tremens brought on by end-stage alcoholism.

Sweeney Todd

Direction techniques used in the movie Sweeney Todd are:

• In the beginning, bright colors. As the movie goes on, its gets darker.
• At the beach, bright yet there were clouds.
• On boardwalk, mostly sunny.
• In the church, dark but the sun is shinning through
• Blood imagery

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd is a dark comedy. Three examples of this are:

1)blood
2)Light fixtures
3)Death

Final Paper

Right now I am working on finishing my final paper. I have pages of notes, I just have to put all the pieces together. It is very stressful but hopefully all of the work with end with a good result!

Sonnett

Without my family, lost I would be,

Along with twenty-one years of memories,

A branch added on a family tree,

I would like to speak of my clarities.

Built by my loving parents who are strong,

A twin brother, and two younger siblings,

I learned mostly a sense of right and wrong,

And, also how to care for my belongings.

It is amazing to think of the bond,

A family with a special effect,

There is no question why I am so fond,

And so quick to jump and overprotect.

Oh how I love my family so much,

They all give my life such a special touch.

Short Stories Essay

Short Story Essay

In the three short stories, “The Black Cat,”“The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses death in all of these. I believe death is used so much in his stories because he is afraid to die. Poe had seen people around him die and was scared to experience this.

            To begin with, Poe lost both of his parents at the age of two years old. He was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan, but he became estranged from his new father due to gambling debts which lead to him not having enough money to pay Poe’s tuition. Poe enlisted in the Army in 1827 at the age of eighteen and was discharged in 1829. He went to live with his widowed Aunt, Cousin Virginia, and his brother who died two years later. In 1835, he married the love of his life Virginia and she passed away in 1847, ten days after Poe’s birthday. “Poe collapsed from stress but gradually returned to health later that year.” (Merriman) Poe died in a hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849. “Much of Poe's best work is concerned with terror and sadness, but in ordinary circumstances the poet was a pleasant companion. He talked brilliantly, chiefly of literature, and read his own poetry and that of others in a voice of surpassing beauty.” (Edgar Allan Poe Biography) The mystery still surrounds his death. His life had not been easy and the people he loved passed away. It is understandable why he would fear death.

            Secondly, in “The Black Cat,” the narrator suffers from violent mood swings due to Alcohol. He begins mistreating his animals as well as his wife. Arriving home drunk one night, he lashes out at Pluto and the cat bites him on the hand. In turn, the narrator cuts out one of Pluto’s eyeballs. This leads the narrator to hang Pluto from a tree. That same night the house burned down. He saw his neighbors gathered around a wall with an impression of a gigantic cat on it and tries to explain but can not find the words. Months go by and a new cat appears. One day the narrator almost trips over the new cat and grabbed an axe to kill the cat. When his wife defends the cat he hits her in the head with an axe. Not knowing where to dispose her body, he ends up emtombing her body in a wall in the basement. The police show up four days after he killed his wife and the narrator shows them to the house and even the basement. Telling them about the house, he hits the wall with a cane. All of a sudden, a loud cry was heard. The police storm wall and rip it down finding his hidden dead wife with the new cat above her head.     

“The Cask of Amontillado,” tells about the narrator Montresor, and a guy he knows Fortunado. Montresor wants to seek revenge and sets a plan that he follows through with. Deciding to use Fortunato’s fondness of wine against him he asks Montresor to taste a wine that could pass for Amontillado. He leads him down to the cellar and as Fortunado begins to cough Montresor only pushes him farther by saying things like they could turn around. At the bottom, Montresor builds a wall around Fortunado and he could not get out. Fortunado died in this wall.

 “The Masque of the Red Death” relates most to Poe’s life by the Red Death being a plague. Poe’s wife Virginia died of Tuberculosis. In the story the Red Death plagues the country and causes victims to die quickly and gruesomely. Prince Prospero locks the gate of the palace to fend off the plague. Months later he throws a fancy masquerade ball. At midnight a new guest arrives at the party and the mask looks like a corpse with blood spots all over its face making it seem like he could be a victim of Red Death. Prospero catches him and when he confronts him Prospero dies. The guests then attack the man and find out no one is under this mask and everyone dies. Red Death killed the whole castle.

            In conclusion, within the three short stories, “The Black Cat,””The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Mask of the Red Death,” it is evident that Edgar Allan Poe was terrified at the thought of himself dying. He shows death as scary and painful. Poe’s life was hard and once the people he had left in his life passed away he was left sad and hopeless.

Reading Autobiography

My Reading Autobiography

The earliest experiences I remember with reading or being read to would be my family constantly reading to me. My parents, grandparents, and my aunt all knew the importance of reading and read to my twin brother and I. When my mom had my little brother and sister the reading continued and we passed down the importance of reading a young age.

Three of my favorite books from my younger days would be: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”, “Rainbow Fish”, and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.

Now I chose to read works that are based on real life events, or love stories. The last three books I read are “90 Minutes in Heaven”, “The Last Song”, and “Dear John”. Currently I am not reading any books.

Besides books I like to read poems, essays, and articles. I chose which one to read based on the information provided by the title or an overview.

When I have time to read I like to read where it is quiet and I have found that the best place to read is at the beach.

I discuss what I read with people that have the same interest with me or with people who I know have also read the same book.

As a reader, I would describe myself as someone that likes to read but honestly never finds time to.

I would define literature as works that make us look at things as a different perspective. Through stories we learn about different people from different backgrounds.

Goals for English 113: Enhance my knowledge of literature and improve my writing skills. By the end of this course, I would like to be able to write an essay in MLA form without having to look at the requirements and directions while writing it.

1st Blog

This is my first blog ever. I am not really sure what to do but I am going to say a few things about the movie we watched in class, Sweeney Todd. I am not a fan of dark comedy's but this movie was okay. I do not like watching movies about blood and death so I guess that was a major reason why I wasnt so interested in it. The only good part I liked about the movie was when Mrs. Lovett was daydreaming about the good and bright things. For example, the beach and boardwalk. I also liked how the lighting was used in this movie to help express it.