Posts by Aztec1

Aztec1

May 17, 2012

Book Reports / "The Lottery" and "Lord of the Flies" are similar - help developing my thesis [2]

"The Lottery" and Lord of the Flies are similar in how fear plays a role in authoritarian power, how the black box and the beast both represent tradition, and how standards for what is considered civilization change in isolation.

These words that I just highlighted are your flaws to your thesis. A thesis needs to be straight forward and that the reader knows the main idea of your whole essay. When you say "how", you have to incorporate the details of exactly HOW you're going to show the standards for what is considered civilization change in isolation. Be careful in using these words such as how, when, what, why and where, because these are the words that some people may fail to give more detail to the idea you're trying to convey.

Cheers,

Matthew.

Aztec1

May 17, 2012

Writing Feedback / 300 Word Analysis of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" [2]

Approximately 300 word analysis of Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken". The analysis is purely to focus more on themes, but also how each theme is conveyed using techniques. Could you take the time to check/review my analysis and give any advice if possible. Thanks in advance.

The major theme in Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is based on choices and life decisions that may or may not contain risks involved. The speaker in the poem is travelling and comes upon a cross road or a fork-in-the-road, whom now faces the tough task of choosing whether to follow the path that has a greater or smaller risk. As the narrator's tone becomes more dark and mysterious, the applied tension increases and emphasises the important decision to be made. This is also shown at the last stanza where words such as "sorry" and "sigh" make the tone of poem somewhat gloomy and reflects the amount of risk that could occupy in the decision made. Meticulous examination of both paths provides insight on the different and similar characteristics involved, where the use of symbolic imagery is evident. "And having perhaps... grassy and wanted wear..."The vivid imagery and symbolism of the path as "wanted wear" highlights how decisions can create a sense of curiosity and adventure through the risk that may involve in taking the path. Through that risk, leads to the continual difficulty of making life choices in the future and the agony of ambivalence that arises in the decisions made.

As the story progresses, the narrator becomes more independent in his own decisions and less dependent on other people's influences in the choices they make. Taking the less travelled path provides strong evidence of the increase in self-esteem and independence of the speaker. Audiences can identify this change in the narrator through the line, "I took the one less...made all the difference", where the use of unusual sentence structure presents a reflective tone of the speaker that he/she feels relief of the decision. This degree of confidence employs a sense of admiration and liberation towards the choice of taking the less travelled path, where the implication of high risk high reward, generates.