ESL Essay, Writing World

Re: Check my essay Please!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:32:13 GMT

Can a mod please delete my essay from here so that it doesn't get copied in the future. Thanks.

Re: Check my essay Please!

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:59:50 GMT

Thanks for correcting my essay

Anonymous
WHAT is "yellow and moldy with age" - the coffin or the pillow?

What was it about the culture of this town that allowed Emily to live/die like she did?

How is it that "no one saw" her bedroom for 40 years. Do you think a person lives in a town that long and no one has even seen her room? What does that tell you about friendships, etc. Emily had?

The pillow is yellow and moldy with age.

The story of the town represents the society in real life.

No one entered her house for that long.

Re: Check my essay Please!

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:42:21 GMT

Culture is defined as a set of customs and traditions that characterizes a group of people from a particular region. It is common practices among people that help define who they are. Culture can be very beneficial. However, if it isnât subject to limits, it can cause harm by destroying the identity of the individual. This topic of culture vs. identity is clearly presented in Taslima Nasrinâs poem, âThings Cheaply Had, â as well as in William Faulknerâs short story, âA Rose for Emily. â By analyzing the images and symbols within these pieces, we can learn where to draw the line between culture and identity to prevent culture from acting as an illusionary mask that destroys real identity.

Taslima Nasrin's poem presents images of false beauty. The title âThings Cheaply Hadâ is referring to women (Nasrin 608). However, women are not things and are not commonly referred to in this way. Referring to them as "things" treats them as objects and indicates that their beauty is a fake beauty (Nasrin 608). Furthermore, beauty cannot be âcheapâ (Nasrin 608). âCheapâ beauty is an oxymoron (Nasrin 608). It only emphasizes the point that itâs a false beauty. Moreover, Taslima Nasrin mentions âmangy curâ in her poem (Nasrin 608). âMangyâ means filthy and unwanted (Nasrin 608). âCurâ is an inferior dog (Nasrin 608). It is as if Taslima Nasrin is saying that these women have gone astray just like stray dogs.

The poem contains images of death as well. For instance, the writer says they âscoop out chunks of their fleshâ (Nasrin 608). The word "chunkâ gives the reader an image of the women dying, piece by piece (Nasrin 608). They are dying slowly, one piece at a time. At the end of the poem Taslima Nasrin also says that âover the mouths of women cheaply had there's a lockâ (Nasrin 608). This lock is over their mouths so they canât speak. In other words, they are silent just like dead people.

Just as images of death are important in the poem, it is also the case with the short story. In âA Rose for Emilyâ there are many images of natural death. Throughout the story, the deaths of various people are mentioned including Emily, her father, "Colonel Sartoris" and "Homer Barron" (Faulkner 526-32). After her father's death, the townspeople chose to spray "lime" around Emily's house as a way to deal with the developing bad smell (Faulkner 528). "Lime" is often used to conceal the smell of a dead body (Faulkner 528). The townspeople did not deal with the problem by finding its root cause. Instead, they just covered it up because they were afraid of facing Emily. Faulkner's message here is that we will tolerate what we don't want to face or are afraid to face. In passage IV, we are told Emily's hair grew "grayer and grayer" until it became "a pepper-and-salt iron gray" (Faulkner 531). "Gray hair" always indicates old age (Faulkner 531). It's the age when people are close to the end of their life. When we read that Emily's "tax notice would come back a week later unclaimed" it's as if Emily doesn't exist in that town (Faulkner 531). She is dead just like the dead letter.

In the short story there are also images of structural death. For example, the townspeople would, every once and a while, see Emily standing by her window just like âthe carven torso of an idol in a niche" (Faulkner 531). âCarven torsoâ here describes Emily as a statue that just sits there doing nothing (Faulkner 531). Emily represents death in the same way that the statue does. Another example of structural death is Emilyâs house. Her "old, decaying" house was at the center of the town, surrounded by the newer houses (Faulkner 526). Emilyâs house represents the death which is at the center of this society. The case is the same with the little town. Even though the outside of the town appears to be alive and beautiful, the center of it is the complete opposite. As the women in town entered Emilyâs house after her death, they had to climb up the stairs to see the room âwhich no one had seen in forty years" (Faulkner 532). When a person dies, he ceases to exist. The room âwhich no one had seen in forty yearsâ is, just like the person, dead (Faulkner 532). This room that represents death is situated at the center of Emilyâs house. William Faulkner is showing us in a clever way that just like death exists at the center of Emilyâs house - which was in the center of town - it exists deep inside the heart of the society. When Emily dies, she is âin one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlightâ (Faulkner 532). When a coffin is underground for a long period of time, it becomes rotten and moldy. âYellow and moldy with ageâ indicates that her bed resembles a coffin that has been underground for a while (Faulkner 532). âLack of sunlightâ indicates the darkness and obscurity that is found inside a coffin (Faulkner 532). The âcurtainâ hides what is inside the bed just like a coffin has a cover that hides what is inside it (Faulkner 532). When Emily died she clearly was already in her coffin. The state of this old and rotten coffin tells us that Emily and the old ways of society were already dead for a long time.

In the first chapter, Emily says, "See Colonel Sartoris," when she was asked to pay her taxes (Faulkner 527). Yet "Colonel Sartoris has been dead for almost ten years" (Faulkner 527). This shows us that it's not clear which people of this town are dead and which are alive. "Colonel Sartoris" has been dead for ten years and yet they talk about him as if he were alive (Faulkner 527). Another good example would be Emily herself. The story begins by saying "when Miss Emily Grierson died" (Faulkner 526). Faulkner also ends his story with the death of Emily. Throughout the story Emily appears to be alive, but she is really dead. Again, it is not clear which people from the town are alive and which ones are dead.

After carefully analyzing the images in the poem and the short story the message of both writers clearly surfaces. Nasrin and Faulkner emphasize the same points. Society is corrupt from within. It always hides its dead core and doesn't want to look behind the mask. Culture is good but it is just an illusion. It serves as a mask that can destroy an individual's identity. The only way for the individual to survive is to step away from this mask. Otherwise, with no individuals to support a society, it will slowly die from within and eventually implode.

__-

WHAT is "yellow and moldy with age" - the coffin or the pillow?

What was it about the culture of this town that allowed Emily to live/die like she did?

How is it that "no one saw" her bedroom for 40 years. Do you think a person lives in a town that long and no one has even seen her room? What does that tell you about friendships, etc. Emily had?

Check my essay Please!

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:10:13 GMT

Culture is a set of customs and traditions that characterizes a group of people from a particular region. It is common practices between people that help define who they are. Culture can be very beneficial. However, if it isnât subject to limits, it can cause harm by destroying the identity of the individual. This topic of culture vs. identity is clearly presented in Taslima Nasrinâs poem âThings Cheaply Hadâ as well as in William Faulknerâs short story âA Rose for Emilyâ. By analyzing the images and symbols within these pieces, we can learn where to draw the line between culture and identity to prevent culture from acting as an illusionary mask that destroys our real identity.

The poem contains images of death as well. For instance, the writer says they âscoop out chunks of their fleshâ (Nasrin 608). âChunksâ tells us that the women are dying piece by piece (Nasrin 608). They are dying slowly one piece at a time. At the end of the poem Taslima Nasrin also says that âover the mouths of women cheaply had there's a lockâ (Nasrin 608). This lock is over their mouths so they canât speak. In other words, they are silent just like dead people.

Just as images of death are important in the poem, it is also the case with the short story. In âA Rose for Emilyâ there are many images of natural death. Throughout the story, the deaths of various people are mentioned including Emily, her father, "Colonel Sartoris" and "Homer Barron" (Faulkner 526-32). After her father's death the townspeople chose to spray "lime" around Emily's house as a way to deal with the developing bad smell (Faulkner 528). "Lime" is often used to conceal the smell of a dead body (Faulkner 528). The townspeople did not deal with the problem by finding its root cause. Instead, they just covered it up because they were afraid of facing Emily. Faulkner's message here is that we will tolerate what we don't want to face or are afraid to face. In passage IV, we are told Emily's hair grew "grayer and grayer" until it became "a pepper-and-salt iron gray" (Faulkner 531). "Gray hair" always indicates old age (Faulkner 531). It's the age when people are close to the end of their life. When we read Emily's "tax notice would come back a week later unclaimed" it's as if Emily doesn't exist in that town (Faulkner 531). She is dead just like the dead letter.

In the short story there are also images of structural death. For example, the townspeople would, every once and a while, see Emily standing by her window just like âthe carven torso of an idol in a niche" (Faulkner 531). âCarven torsoâ here describes Emily as a statue that just sits there doing nothing (Faulkner 531). Emily represents death in the same way that the statue does. Another example of structural death is Emilyâs house. Her "old, decaying" house was at the center of the town, surrounded by the newer houses (Faulkner 526). Emilyâs house represents the death which is at the center of this society. The case is the same with the little town. Even though the outside of the town appears to be alive and beautiful, the center of it is the complete opposite. As the women in town entered Emilyâs house after her death, they had to climb up the stairs to see the room âwhich no one had seen in forty years" (Faulkner 532). When a person dies he isnât seen for a long time, almost forever. The room âwhich no one had seen in forty yearsâ is, just like the person, dead (Faulkner 532). This room that represents death is situated at the center of Emilyâs house. William Faulkner is showing us in a clever way that just like death exists at the center of Emilyâs house which was in the center of town, it exists deep inside the heart of the society. When Emily dies, she is âin one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlightâ (Faulkner 532). When a coffin is underground for a long period of time, it becomes rotten and moldy. âYellow and moldy with ageâ indicates that her bed resembles a coffin that has been underground for a while (Faulkner 532). âLack of sunlightâ indicates the darkness and obscurity that is found inside a coffin (Faulkner 532). The âcurtainâ hides what is inside the bed just like a coffin has a cover that hides what is inside it (Faulkner 532). When Emily died she clearly was already in her coffin. The state of this old and rotten coffin tells us that Emily and the old ways of society were already dead for a long time. During the first chapter, Emily says, "See Colonel Sartoris," when she was asked to pay her taxes (Faulkner 527). Yet "Colonel Sartoris has been dead for almost ten years" (Faulkner 527). This shows us that it's not clear which people of this town are dead and which are alive. "Colonel Sartoris" has been dead for ten years and yet they talk about him as if he were alive (Faulkner 527). Another good example would be Emily herself. The story begins by saying "when Miss Emily Grierson died" (Faulkner 526). Faulkner also ends his story with the death of Emily. Throughout the story Emily appears to be alive, but she is really dead. Again, it is not clear which people from the town are alive and which ones are dead.