Writing Feedback / The Act of Revenge, The Cask of Amontillado Essay [4]

I feel I have all of the guidelines, so I don't really need help with that. But if someone could just look over the grammar and point out anything that needs to be corrected then I would be very grateful.

"The Act of Revenge"
In Edgar Allan Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" we learn of a man who seeks vengeance on an acquaintance, named Fortunato, who irreparably insulted him. "THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge." (1) The story starts by defining a grudge that Montresor holds against Fortunato, and then goes on to explain that Montresor seeks vengeance in an impunitistic way. Leading Fortunato deep into his family's catacomb on a quest for a sherry known as Amontillado, Montresor's idea of plastering Fortunato into a brick sepulcher quickly becomes a reality. Once ensnared, Fortunato was left to die. His tomb was left untouched for years to come. We learn in the story that revenge is a dish best served cold.

The theme of revenge in the story is strongly advised. The story begins with Montresor explaining the he has been irreparably insulted. Every time he sees his wrong doer he acts as if there is no grudge held, when in reality Fortunato's insult is all but forgotten. Montresor lives as if there has been no wrong doing, until he ponders up what he feels is the perfect impunitistic act of revenge. "I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." (1) Once his plan has been thought of as an act of impunity Montresor acts. Leading Fortunato away from the carnival and deep into the catacombs of his family, Montresor's plan of revenge quickly falls into place.

The characters costumes and names play a major role of setting the theme. We find that Fortunato is ironically named. Fortunato, closely resembling the word fortunate, actually ends up being very unfortunate in the story. He is manipulated by Montresor and gets buried alive. Fortunato wears a jest costume as well, full with the cap and bells. This provides early signs that Fortunato is going to become the fool of the story, and also shows the reader a bit about his playful personality. Montresor wears a silk black mask along with a roquelaire showing the readers that he is the dark manipulative figure in the story. Leading Fortunato deep into his family's catacombs, Montresor plasters Fortunato into a brick grave, and leaves him there to die.

Setting played a huge role in identifying the theme as well. The story starts with Montresor running into Fortunato at a carnival that everyone attended. I feel the carnival in the story represents Montresor's actions towards Fortunato. Montresor has been holding a grudge towards Fortunato for a while, yet Fortunato has no idea that a grudge is being held. Just as a carnival puts on a show for its audience, Montresor puts on a show for Fortunato acting as if everything is fine between them. "You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat."(1) As the story progresses into the catacombs of Montresor's family we begin to see the real feelings that Montresor possesses. I feel the cold dark catacombs of Montresors family represent the cold dark feelings that we see Montresor really holds for Fortunato. In the end we find the catacombs do not just hold a pipe of rare amontillado, but we find they hold the fate of Fortunato as well. "In pace requiescat!"(1)

Overall, I feel the writing style of "The Cask of Amontillado" is very original and well thought out. From the costumes to the setting I feel that every aspect of the story contributed greatly with explaining the theme. Not only did it show us the theme of revenge but it showed us we will never know what even the friendliest of people are thinking until ones pushes them to a breaking point. I feel that the author intended on providing the reader with a sense of insanity using a first person unreliable point of view. By allowing the audience to see what the narrator sees and thinks, the audience gathers a bond with the character. The audience then has the capability of tapping into the insane characters mind.

In conclusion, I find that every aspect of the story was very well thought out, from the setting to the costumes, the structure of the story, and the actions of the characters. From the beginning to the end I was strongly intrigued and couldn't help but to feel anticipation, wondering what the final retribution of Fortunato's wrong doing was going to be.

Writing Feedback / Fear of Change - The Lottery Essay [3]

I had to write an essay on Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery". I'm new to these forums, but am very open to criticism. So If anyone can help me out and let me know of any changes that you would recommend, and/or what you think of my writing style, et cetera, then I would greatly appreciate it.

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a story of a small town whose citizens are required to participate in a yearly "lottery". The reader soon finds, however, that unlike most lotteries this is not a lottery that you hope to win. Although we do not find out what the prize of the lottery is until the end, we do find that the town gathers yearly and when they gather each citizen is required to draw a paper from a black box. The family that receives the "winning" paper is required to place their papers back in the box and the whole family is required to draw again. Whatever family member draws the paper with the black dot wins the lottery. We do not find out until the end that the winning family member is sentenced to death in an unusual way.

The setting of Jackson's story is a deceptively tranquil village which gives little hint of its inhabitants potential for violence. We learn the lottery takes place on a warm summer day and the kids of the town have just got out of school for summer break. The story begins with the sound of happy kids in the background gathering stones to pile around the square for the lottery. The women and men of the town gather around as well, happy and gossiping while they wait for the lottery to begin. The setting for the story is very specific and we know of everything that is going on while the lottery is taking place. We learn of the emotions that some of the villagers are beginning to have and we learn that for some reason certain villagers turn two-faced. The setting hardly contributes to the central idea of the story, but it does stimulate the climax greatly.

Although it is not fairly clear who the main character of "The Lottery" is we learn that Tessie Hutchinson ends up being the dynamic character of the story. When she finds out that her husband, Bill Hutchinson, is the winner of this lottery she begins to complain saying that he did not have enough time to choose any paper he wanted. Bill, still not having a problem with the lottery, tells Tessie to shut up and they continue on. All of Tessie's life she has been peer pressured into thinking that the lottery was just a fun thing that the town had always done. It is not until she is declared the winner that her attitude changes about the lottery, and she learns that peer pressure can sometimes lead you to a position that you never wanted to be in.

In "The Lottery" there are two types of conflict that the reader learns about, internal and external. While we do not learn of either conflict until the end of the story, the author begins setting up the conflict from the very beginning. In the beginning of "The Lottery" we are told of a town whose inhabitants lead very average lives that we can relate too. The narrator talks about the kids playing in the square, and the towns' people that have gathered and are chit-chatting and making jokes with one another. It is not until the lottery takes place that we learn of the potential for violence that the towns' people have grown into. Externally, we find that once Tessie is declared the winner of the lottery she turns on the very people that she loves and wants to redo the lottery so that another person can be declared the winner. Internally, she finds that the lottery is not what everyone has made it out to be, peer pressure is what was controlling her entire life.

People often fear change, scared that it will be a turn for the worse. The characters in "The Lottery" are no different. Being born into peer pressure, the towns' people grow up believing that the violence of the lottery is a fun necessity that the town needs in order to survive. They are not capable of seeing the fact that what they are doing is cruel and unnecessary. In the end the winner finds that the lottery is far overdue for change, but by then it is too late.